Kim Jong-il is an Ex-Dictator

A bad year for tyrants
World • Views: 22,900

The BBC reports tonight that North Korean despot Kim Jong-il is an ex-dictator.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has died at the age of 69, state-run television has announced.

His death was announced in an emotional statement read out on national television.

The announcer, wearing black, said he had died on Saturday of physical and mental over-work.

UPDATE at 12/18/11 8:57:14 pm

The emotional announcement on NHK:

Youtube Video
Also see
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il, 69, Has Died

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616 comments
2 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:26:18pm
The announcer, wearing black, said he had died on Saturday of physical and mental over-work.

Over-work....on what?

3 The Mountain That Blogs  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:26:29pm

Good opportunity to post one of the funnier tumblrs out there:

[Link: kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com...]

So how long has he actually been dead for? Over/under set at one month.

4 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:27:09pm

re: #2 NJDhockeyfan

Over-work...on what?

He worked for the happiness of the glorious nation of North Korea, sacrificed everything!///

5 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:27:24pm

re: #1 Sergey Romanov

[Video]

Heh. I showed that movie to my mom a few months ago. She loved it.

6 Lidane  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:27:38pm

re: #2 NJDhockeyfan

Over-work...on what?

On being a dick dictator, of course.

7 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:28:31pm

Things are going to get very tense and interesting in the peninsula - dollars to doughnuts he hasn't been all here for awhile which would explain the crazyness coming out of the norks for a bit.

Shorter - Shit just got real, yo.

8 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:28:38pm

All the money and power in the world can't stop you dying.

9 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:28:38pm

I just read that he died of physical fatigue while riding on a train. All this time and we could've taken him down with Amtrak...

10 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:29:17pm

re: #9 JasonA

I just read that he died of physical fatigue while riding on a train. All this time and we could've taken him down with Amtrak...

LOL

11 darthstar  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:30:16pm

I won't speak ill of the dead...who am I kidding...of course I will. I'm guessing taking a shit constituted hard physical and mental work for Kim Jong Il. Let's hope his successor makes the changes North Korea needs to join the 21st century.

12 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:30:30pm

I am thinking that NK military is the real power. And nothing has changed there.

13 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:30:30pm

re: #7 theliel

Things are going to get very tense and interesting in the peninsula - dollars to doughnuts he hasn't been all here for awhile which would explain the crazyness coming out of the norks for a bit.

Shorter - Shit just got real, yo.

Shit's always real and it stinks, too. ;)

14 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:30:30pm

I have a question only Lidane can answer.

The Old Republic: great game or greatest game?

15 _RememberTonyC  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:30:34pm

Wouldn't it be great if the next one to croak is ayatollah khamenei followed closely by the chinless ophthalmologist?

16 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:30:50pm

Under normal circumstances I feel it is in poor taste to applaud someone's death in a forum like this. For instance: I can't stand Micheal Moore, but I would never think to express joy at his passing in this forum.

Yet in the case of dictators? Fuck 'em. Never soon enough.

17 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:31:34pm

re: #2 NJDhockeyfan

Over-work...on what?

He inherited Qaddafi's body guards.

18 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:31:42pm

re: #15 _RememberTonyC

Wouldn't it be great if the next one to croak is ayatollah khamenei followed closely by the chinless ophthalmologist?

Yes, yes!

MOAR!

19 Meitantei  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:31:42pm

I'm confused. How can a God be overworked?

20 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:33:00pm

re: #16 Slumbering Behemoth

Under normal circumstances I feel it is in poor taste to applaud someone's death in a forum like this. For instance: I can't stand Micheal Moore, but I would never think to express joy at his passing in this forum.

Yet in the case of dictators? Fuck 'em. Never soon enough.

Would doing the happy dance if Frank McCourt died be a bad thing?

//

21 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:33:09pm

re: #16 Slumbering Behemoth

Under normal circumstances I feel it is in poor taste to applaud someone's death in a forum like this. For instance: I can't stand Micheal Moore, but I would never think to express joy at his passing in this forum.

Yet in the case of dictators? Fuck 'em. Never soon enough.

Yup, it's more than a diff. in political opinion. A dude who ran modern day GULAG and who followed Orwell's book as if it were a script deserves a dance on his corpse.

22 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:33:21pm

re: #11 darthstar

I think they'd be stoked just to join the 19th century.

23 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:33:21pm

re: #16 Slumbering Behemoth

I agree. This is one grave I would love to take a piss on.

24 Killgore Trout  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:33:40pm

Castro and Chavez can't be far behind.

25 Cheeseland  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:33:51pm

re: #3 The Mountain That Blogs

Good opportunity to post one of the funnier tumblrs out there:

[Link: kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com...]

So how long has he actually been dead for? Over/under set at one month.

If not good looking, he was a good looker.

26 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:34:20pm

Another one bites the dust. Merry Christmas to the world.

27 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:34:25pm

My brilliant Korea: Kim Jong Il's weird world

Even for the weird world of Kim Jong Il, it has been an eventful week. He was dead, then alive but felled by a stroke, or a heart attack; bedridden, unable to walk more than 30 yards; healthy as a horse, but fed up with speculation about his health. On Friday, South Korean sources reported that North Korea's 66-year-old leader was suffering from "convulsions". From across the Sea of Japan came the most alarming claim of all: the Dear Leader went to the Great People's Republic in the Sky five years ago, and has been replaced by a double.

Sparked by Mr Kim's no-show at the North's 60th anniversary celebrations, the stories piled up like crash-test dummies, fuelled by "unnamed US intelligence officials", while Pyongyang responded with its usual irritation, blaming Western "conspiracy theories". Wiser heads reminded us that we know almost nothing about what goes on in the Dear Leader's court, except for what comes from the odd insider lucky enough to escape, and the extravagant propaganda pumped out of Pyongyang – and that's wacky enough.

...Mr Kim's eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, 37, often considered his heir apparent, seems to be continuing the family tradition of generating bizarre stories for the international press. As an eight-year-old, Jong Nam reportedly ordered the kidnap of a South Korean comedian whom he grew to like while watching TV.

He may have been copying his father, who ordered the 1978 kidnapping of one of South Korea's most famous film stars, Choe Eun Hee. She was forced to make propaganda films with her movie-producer husband, Shin Sang Ok, until they escaped nine years later. "He likes horror and sex movies, and James Bond," Ms Choe later told the world.

A huge Mickey Mouse fan, Jong Nam caused a major diplomatic flap in 2002 when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport, apparently on his way to Tokyo Disneyland. Mr Kim's second son, Jong Chol, also a possible successor, admires the music of Eric Clapton. Japan's Fuji TV secretly filmed him at a Clapton gig in Germany in 2006.

28 Big Joe  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:34:25pm

re: #23 JasonA

I agree. This is one grave I would love to take a piss on.

You'd be about the 25 millionth in line.

29 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:34:37pm

re: #12 boxhead

I am thinking that NK military is the real power. And nothing has changed there.

The question becomes who in the military has the power - unless the last few years have basically been everyone figuring that out. We'll see if the Chinese put the fear of Beijing into whoever takes over.

30 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:34:42pm

re: #24 Killgore Trout

Castro and Chavez can't be far behind.

Hopefully this year. Then it will be complete!

31 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:34:48pm

re: #20 boxhead

Would doing the happy dance if Frank McCourt died be a bad thing?

//

I wouldn't know. I am woefully ignorant about that person. I don't even recall hearing that name before.

32 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:34:57pm

re: #24 Killgore Trout

Castro and Chavez can't be far behind.

They always come in threes.

33 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:35:04pm

re: #21 Sergey Romanov

Yup, it's more than a diff. in political opinion. A dude who ran modern day GULAG and who followed Orwell's book as if it were a script deserves a dance on his corpse.

Followed by a trip on the express train to Hell, where hopefully he''l be forced to eat the bugs and stems his intransigence reduced his people to eating.

34 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:35:19pm

re: #24 Killgore Trout

Please lord, take Chavez and his father Castro next.

35 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:35:35pm

re: #31 Slumbering Behemoth

I wouldn't know. I am woefully ignorant about that person. I don't even recall hearing that name before.

The current owner of the Dodgers. blech!

36 _RememberTonyC  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:36:35pm

re: #31 Slumbering Behemoth

I wouldn't know. I am woefully ignorant about that person. I don't even recall hearing that name before.

LA Dodgers owner ... Ruined one of baseball's great franchises

37 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:36:36pm

re: #29 theliel

The question becomes who in the military has the power - unless the last few years have basically been everyone figuring that out. We'll see if the Chinese put the fear of Beijing into whoever takes over.

China has always had the power to reign in NK. China likes NK as a wild card. It gives them options.

38 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:37:01pm

re: #32 NJDhockeyfan

They always come in threes.

But that would make Gaddafi the first one. I'd like Castro as number 3, but given that his brother has gotten himself entrenched, I'm not sure it would matter.

39 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:37:20pm

It's a bit upsetting to me that I won't get to read Hitchens' obituary of Kim Jong-Il.

40 Targetpractice  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:37:55pm

And we'll hear that this is all Obama's fault in 3...2...1...

41 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:37:59pm

re: #39 negativ

It's a bit upsetting to me that I won't get to read Hitchens' obituary of Kim Jong-Il.

If there's a fundy hell, and Hitch is there, he is there to make Kim his bitch.

42 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:38:30pm

re: #40 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

And we'll hear that this is all Obama's fault in 3...2...1...

I heard the train was hit by a drone...

//

43 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:38:36pm

re: #39 negativ

It's a bit upsetting to me that I won't get to read Hitchens' obituary of Kim Jong-Il.

*Psssttt*
Hitchens killed him.
Said, "BOO!"

44 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:38:49pm

re: #34 Venezuela lover

Please lord, take Chavez and his father Castro next.

Sean Penn and Danny Glover would be devastated.

45 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:38:55pm

Václav Havel on Kim Jong-il

Circa 2004.

46 Meitantei  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:39:03pm

So, Castro, Chavez, and David Stern are next?

47 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:39:26pm

re: #44 NJDhockeyfan

Sean Penn and Danny Glover would be devastated.

Danny Glover? He's too old for that shit.

48 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:40:30pm

re: #40 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

And we'll hear that this is all Obama's fault in 3...2...1...

The line will be that Obama's handling of the situation represents a "squandering of a historic opportunity". Unless reunification takes place, if which case extensive aid will be needed. Then the meme will be "Obama puts our kids in hock with his Socialist aid to Korea."

49 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:40:45pm

re: #38 Dark_Falcon

But that would make Gaddafi the first one. I'd like Castro as number 3, but given that his brother has gotten himself entrenched, I'm not sure it would matter.

Normalized relations with the US would actually do wonders - but that won't happen until Castro is dead.

50 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:41:24pm

I do still wonder how he really died. The system is such that we won't know what happened for many, many years.

51 _RememberTonyC  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:42:23pm

re: #50 Sergey Romanov

I do still wonder how he realy died. The system is such that we won't know what happened for many, many years.

Maybe he died of "roneriness"

52 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:42:27pm

re: #50 Sergey Romanov

I do still wonder how he realy died. The system is such that we won't know what happened for many, many years.

Probably never.....

53 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:43:06pm

re: #51 _RememberTonyC

Maybe he died of "roneriness"

LOL... damn you... beer is on my screen now...

54 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:43:09pm

re: #52 boxhead

Probably never...

We eventually found out what happened to Hitler so I'm sure in 50-60 years it'll be a special on some media stream.

55 Targetpractice  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:43:18pm

re: #48 Dark_Falcon

The line will be that Obama's handling of the situation represents a "squandering of a historic opportunity". Unless reunification takes place, if which case extensive aid will be needed. Then the meme will be "Obama puts our kids in hock with his Socialist aid to Korea."

Yep, unless North Koreans are chowing down on Big Macs by Friday, it will be a "failure" on his part.

56 Lidane  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:43:54pm

re: #14 JasonA

I have a question only Lidane can answer.

The Old Republic: great game or greatest game?

Greatest game, of course. I'm loving it. I'm finally getting to be a female version of Han Solo with my Smuggler. It rocks. :D

I've seen some morons bitching that this is the WORST MMO LAUNCH EVAR OMG because they have to wait in line to get on their server of choice, but whatever. That's a good problem for Bioware to have, since it means that a lot of people want to play and that the servers are popular. Plus it's a sign that the formal launch should go well.

57 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:44:01pm

Maybe this will change. Maybe not.

58 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:44:09pm

re: #46 Meitantei

So, Castro, Chavez, and David Stern are next?

Castro, Omar al-Bashir and Limbaugh.

59 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:44:27pm

re: #51 _RememberTonyC

Maybe he died of "roneriness"

Youtube Video
60 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:44:38pm

I question the timing! This must be a false flag operation and Amerika is planning on starting WWIII with the Chinese to get to the Iranians and win the election in 2012 for Obamabushhitler!!11ty Soon every one that opposes the Amerikan government will be sent to FEMA camps for indefinite detention! Tonight is the night peoples!!

//

61 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:44:40pm

re: #55 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

Yep, unless North Koreans are chowing down on Big Macs by Friday, it will be a "failure" on his part.

Oh come now - if we don't invade it's a wasted historic opportunity, if there is unification he'll be responsible for the destruction of one of our strongest partner's economies.

It's Win/Win all over.

62 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:45:11pm

re: #52 boxhead

Probably never...

Not necessarily, depends on how open NK might get and how soon. Then there might be witnesses, even documents...

63 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:45:47pm

re: #60 Gus 802

I question the timing! This must be a false flag operation and Amerika is planning on starting WWIII with the Chinese to get to the Iranians and win the election in 2012 for Obamabushhitler!!11ty Soon every one that oppose the Amerikan government will be sent to FEMA camps for indefinite detention! Tonight is the night peoples!!

//

I was with you until you said "FEMA".
Complete fantasy.

Also, CNNI is reporting Il died of a massive heart attack.

64 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:45:58pm

re: #50 Sergey Romanov

I do still wonder how he really died. The system is such that we won't know what happened for many, many years.

He had a lot of edema, which points to liver or renal problems. My wife figured liver, since renal normally kills you pretty quick but the liver is tough and takes awhile to die.

65 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:45:58pm

re: #60 Gus 802

Go back to 4chan, asshole.
/

66 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:46:08pm

re: #56 Lidane

Greatest game, of course. I'm loving it. I'm finally getting to be a female version of Han Solo with my Smuggler. It rocks. :D

I've seen some morons bitching that this is the WORST MMO LAUNCH EVAR OMG because they have to wait in line to get on their server of choice, but whatever. That's a good problem for Bioware to have, since it means that a lot of people want to play and that the servers are popular. Plus it's a sign that the formal launch should go well.

Good to see success for our Kanukistani overlords.
Also you need to post pictures of the quadruple digit wait queues from WoW's early days.

67 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:46:12pm

DEARD LEADER!

FTFY

68 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:46:37pm

re: #62 Sergey Romanov

Not necessarily, depends on how open NK might get and how soon. Then there might be witnesses, even documents...

One can hope..... A unified Korea would could be a interesting thing.

69 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:46:51pm

re: #55 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

Yep, unless North Koreans are chowing down on Big Macs by Friday, it will be a "failure" on his part.

To be fair, though, if John McCain were president we'd be seeing a somewhat milder, but similar thing in reverse. The party out of power going into an election year is not going to give the president credit for a recent victory, because if they do that they give a reason not to vote for them.

70 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:47:04pm

re: #38 Dark_Falcon

But that would make Gaddafi the first one. I'd like Castro as number 3, but given that his brother has gotten himself entrenched, I'm not sure it would matter.

All Cuba needs is normalized relations. Once that happens, then the floodgates on western goods & money from relatives opens things up and you'll end up with something like Czechoslovakia. The biggest danger will be preventing the same old crooks from moving in and making the people decide that Castro wasn't so bad after all - and for most he was better than Batista. Bad as Castro is, for many people life is still better. We forget that at our peril.

71 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:47:10pm

re: #56 Lidane

Those servers? Ghost towns by next year. Bet me.
/

72 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:47:43pm

re: #63 Varek Raith

I was with you until you said "FEMA".
Complete fantasy.

Also, CNNI is reporting Il died of a massive heart attack.

Guess what was on TV today? "The Train" with Burt Lancaster. Of course it's unrelated. Just a train thing.

//

73 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:47:48pm

re: #68 boxhead

One can hope... A unified Korea would could be a interesting thing.

No more bark soup and bugs for dinner would be a great start.

74 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:47:58pm

re: #69 Dark_Falcon

Except historically we've seen presidents from both sides being congratulated on their successes by the other.

The new normal is new. The absolute, foaming, insane opposition to Obama really is extremist and unprecedented in modern history.

75 Renaissance_Man  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:47:58pm

re: #64 Obdicut

He had a lot of edema, which points to liver or renal problems. My wife figured liver, since renal normally kills you pretty quick but the liver is tough and takes awhile to die.

Oedema is most commonly CHF, rather than hyperosmotic causes.

76 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:48:45pm

re: #70 wlewisiii

Bad as Castro is, for many people life is still better. We forget that at our peril.

Interesting.....

77 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:48:53pm

re: #60 Gus 802

I question the timing! This must be a false flag operation and Amerika is planning on starting WWIII with the Chinese to get to the Iranians and win the election in 2012 for Obamabushhitler!!11ty Soon every one that opposes the Amerikan government will be sent to FEMA camps for indefinite detention! Tonight is the night peoples!!

//

Perfect for posting on Faildoglake or Weird Nut Daily.

78 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:49:03pm

re: #56 Lidane
So which are the best servers?

79 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:49:19pm

re: #75 Renaissance_Man

Oedema is most commonly CHF, rather than hyperosmotic causes.

Yeah, sorry, I don't know why else she thought liver and not heart, and she's asleep now so I can't ask her. Anyway, she filed it under 'rank speculation'.

80 Targetpractice  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:49:33pm

re: #74 Obdicut

Except historically we've seen presidents from both sides being congratulated on their successes by the other.

The new normal is new. The absolute, foaming, insane opposition to Obama really is extremist and unprecedented in modern history.

Exactly. Even in administrations past, the opposition would offer congratulations, even if it grudgingly.

81 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:49:50pm

re: #73 NJDhockeyfan

No more bark soup and bugs for dinner would be a great start.

It's scary when you think about it. Total isolation of the whole people, not even Stalin achieved this completely. Dear Leaders did. Several brainwashed generations. What will happen if NK opens up?

83 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:50:00pm

re: #70 wlewisiii

Dark Falcon,
The only people who are better off under Castro are Castro's family and a few high ranking generals.
Everyone else is worse off. See [Link: www.therealcuba.com...] for details.

84 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:50:17pm

Man, some on the teevee are way too optimistic....

85 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:50:21pm

re: #76 boxhead

Interesting...

Look back at how the mob and Batista ruled Cuba and you might get an idea of why Castro was welcomed in by the majority.

86 Page 3 in the Binder of Women  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:50:27pm

re: #31 Slumbering Behemoth

I wouldn't know. I am woefully ignorant about that person. I don't even recall hearing that name before.

Frank McCourt died, awesome author. frank McCourt owner of the dodgers, maybe former owner? Hated dude.

87 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:50:38pm

re: #76 boxhead

Interesting...

Better than Batista, not better than they could be if Communism had not been the result of Castro's take-over.

88 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:50:49pm

Obama's in the White House kitchen getting some coffee and eating a Pop-Tart while rubbing his face.

89 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:51:01pm

re: #83 Venezuela lover

The only? Everyone else? That's rather dramatically absolutist, don't you think?

90 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:51:03pm

re: #70 wlewisiii

Yeah, neither Castro, nor Chavez are even nearly comparable to Kim. Still evil fucks tho.

91 Lidane  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:51:22pm

re: #66 theliel

Good to see success for our Kanukistani overlords.
Also you need to post pictures of the quadruple digit wait queues from WoW's early days.

Seriously. The WoW queues were insane because Blizzard didn't expect the response they got. I'm pretty sure Bioware has planned on a big crowd upfront, given the sheer number of pre-orders.

I'm actually in a queue to get on my server right now. I'm at #210 and counting down quickly. The wait for this game is nothing compared to the crazy ones in WoW's early days, and the launch so far is one of the smoothest MMO launches I've experienced in over a decade of playing these games. There are companies that would kill to have Bioware's "problem" of server queues.

92 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:51:24pm

re: #74 Obdicut

Except historically we've seen presidents from both sides being congratulated on their successes by the other.

The new normal is new. The absolute, foaming, insane opposition to Obama really is extremist and unprecedented in modern history.

Well, that largely ended in 2000, owing in large part to the way George W. Bush won (understandable, given that disputed elections have always produced bitterness from the side that lost). Also relevant is the 24-hour news media and internet based propaganda mills.

93 steve_davis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:52:00pm

gotta wonder if obama is going to be giving a seal team high-fives privately in a couple of days :-)

94 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:52:10pm

re: #81 Sergey Romanov

It's scary when you think about it. Total isolation of the whole people, not even Stalin achieved this completely. Dear Leaders did. Several brainwashed generations. What will happen if NK opens up?

Many family members who escaped along with help from all over the world would help them see what exists outside of the NK fence.

95 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:52:25pm

re: #81 Sergey Romanov

It's scary when you think about it. Total isolation of the whole people, not even Stalin achieved this completely. Dear Leaders did. Several brainwashed generations. What will happen if NK opens up?

We'll see a lot of lost, directionless people who know nothing about how to operate in a global economy.

96 Lidane  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:53:05pm

re: #78 JasonA

So which are the best servers?

That depends. PvP or PvE? I don't know a damn thing about PvP in this game.

I'm on Corellian Run, which is a PvE server. The folks there seem pretty cool and there's always people looking to group up and run content together. I like it.

97 Targetpractice  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:53:36pm

re: #95 b_sharp

We'll see a lot of lost, directionless people who know nothing about how to operate in a global economy.

So, basically much of Eastern Europe, post USSR.

98 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:53:39pm

re: #83 Venezuela lover

Dark Falcon,
The only people who are better off under Castro are Castro's family and a few high ranking generals.
Everyone else is worse off. See [Link: www.therealcuba.com...] for details.

HEY, blame me for my quote, not DF. He's likely to agree with you.

That said, the poorest masses have some food, some education and some health care. Under Batista they had less food, no education & no health care. Will they be better when the join the West? Sure. Does that mean we should let the Mob and the fascists take back control? Hell, no.

99 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:53:56pm

re: #93 steve_davis

I doubt Kim was on our radar in that kind of way.

100 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:54:08pm

re: #94 NJDhockeyfan

Many family members who escaped along with help from all over the world would help them see what exists outside of the NK fence.

Many of them think they do live in the best country, that everyone around them doesn't have even the bark soup, and thouse Southerners are under fascist oppression. I can imagine the rage, when ...

101 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:54:19pm

re: #85 wlewisiii

Look back at how the mob and Batista ruled Cuba and you might get an idea of why Castro was welcomed in by the majority.

What was welcomed has come to be reviled.

102 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:54:36pm

re: #70 wlewisiii

All Cuba needs is normalized relations. Once that happens, then the floodgates on western goods & money from relatives opens things up and you'll end up with something like Czechoslovakia. The biggest danger will be preventing the same old crooks from moving in and making the people decide that Castro wasn't so bad after all - and for most he was better than Batista. Bad as Castro is, for many people life is still better. We forget that at our peril.

I think the Cuban people would differ. Ask them.

103 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:54:52pm

re: #96 Lidane

That depends. PvP or PvE? I don't know a damn thing about PvP in this game.

I'm on Corellian Run, which is a PvE server. The folks there seem pretty cool and there's always people looking to group up and run content together. I like it.

PvP would be fun if not for all the assholes...

104 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:54:57pm

re: #92 Dark_Falcon

Well, that largely ended in 2000, owing in large part to the way George W. Bush won

Again, this is not true. Even fucking recently, Pelosi thanked Bush for his role in finding Bin Laden.

[Link: thehill.com...]

The opposition to Obama, reflexive, on every subject, even when he is holding positions previously held by the GOP, really is unprecedented.

And sickening.

105 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:55:08pm

re: #97 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

So, basically much of Eastern Europe, post USSR.

Not comparable, by degree.

106 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:55:08pm

re: #93 steve_davis

gotta wonder if obama is going to be giving a seal team high-fives privately in a couple of days :-)

How long before Israel gets blamed? or am I too late?

107 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:55:12pm

re: #97 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

So, basically much of Eastern Europe, post USSR.

That was the thought that struck me.

108 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:55:43pm

re: #102 NJDhockeyfan

I think the Cuban people would differ. Ask them.

Have you asked the Cuban people what life was like under Batista and the mob?

109 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:55:52pm

re: #97 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

So, basically much of Eastern Europe, post USSR.

Worse, most likely, as they've been even more isolated. But the North Koreans will be far damaged than the Iraqis were when Saddam was finally overthrown.

110 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:56:12pm

re: #87 b_sharp

Better than Batista, not better than they could be if Communism had not been the result of Castro's take-over.

Both are/were douche bags.... bottom line is that Castro is not good for Cuban people.

111 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:56:29pm

re: #97 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

So, basically much of Eastern Europe, post USSR.

Worse - the Iron Curtain was still current as of early 60's - so the population was fairly educated just with out of date technology and industry.

The Norks are basically a bunch of 1700 farmers who will be transported into the 20th century - millions of them. Starved and full of long term health care problems.

It's a nightmare scenario even worse than eastern Europe or Germany.

OTOH most of North Korea's resources are untapped so once you get through a generation or so you'll wind up with a pretty powerful country - much like Germany now.

112 Big Joe  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:56:35pm

Ha ha, now that's a short mourning period for a Great Leader.

"Kim's funeral set for Dec. 28 in Pyongyang; mourning period to last till Dec. 29: KCNA"

113 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:56:55pm

re: #98 wlewisiii

I hear you can make a bundle smuggling in memory chips.

114 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:57:05pm

re: #111 theliel

That's assuming another dictator doesn't step into place and stay in the same medieval groove.

115 Lidane  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:57:21pm

re: #85 wlewisiii

Look back at how the mob and Batista ruled Cuba and you might get an idea of why Castro was welcomed in by the majority.

Yep. It's the same reason why the Mexican people welcomed the idea of presidents serving a single six year term in office and why they opened themselves up to the PRI. After Porfirio Diaz, anything sounded good. These days? Not so much.

116 _RememberTonyC  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:58:17pm

Osama
Khadafy
Lil Kim

117 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:58:34pm

re: #101 boxhead

What was welcomed has come to be reviled.

Reminds me of...

Youtube Video
118 Targetpractice  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:58:38pm

See, this is why I love LGF, there's always somebody knowledgable in the subject at hand.

119 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:59:11pm

re: #102 NJDhockeyfan

I think the Cuban people would differ. Ask them.

wles is right though. It's about perception, not so much facts. In a 2010 poll 41% of Rumanians said they would vote for Ceausescu if he ran for a President today. Makes you think.

120 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:59:15pm

ahhh.... a strong middle class would make all these despots impotent. Wonder why our "leaders" are trying to rid USA of its middle class?

:p

121 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:59:26pm

re: #114 Obdicut

That's assuming another dictator doesn't step into place and stay in the same medieval groove.

Oh absolutely - this whole problem has been one of the driving factors keeping the South Koreans from being more interested in unification.

122 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:59:32pm

re: #108 Obdicut

Have you asked the Cuban people what life was like under Batista and the mob?

For the record, under Batista incomes, health care, education, and freedom of speech, religion, and emigration were all better than what the bastard Castro has done to Cuba.

Exactly where do you get your facts?

123 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 7:59:57pm

re: #108 Obdicut

Have you asked the Cuban people what life was like under Batista and the mob?

Most of them weren't around during that time but they know what it's like today and it really sucks.

124 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:00:19pm

re: #119 Sergey Romanov

They just thought it was cool to be ruled by a vampire supervillain.

125 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:00:36pm

re: #120 boxhead

ahhh... a strong middle class would make all these despots impotent. Wonder why our "leaders" are trying to rid USA of its middle class?

:p

because they want to BE the despots. There's pretty much no othe rreason but to simply want to murder our way of life so they can rule with iron fists.

126 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:00:57pm

re: #117 Slumbering Behemoth

Reminds me of...

[Video]

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss... --World History 101

127 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:01:33pm

re: #118 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

And yet no one asks involved questions about pr0n, and so my vast knowledge sits idle. :(
/

128 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:02:27pm

re: #123 NJDhockeyfan

Most of them weren't around during that time but they know what it's like today and it really sucks.

One would think no Russian would want a return of Stalin. Well...

129 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:02:53pm

re: #101 boxhead

What was welcomed has come to be reviled.

Yes, now. Then they compared their state to what they experienced with Batista. Now they compare what they have with the US, Canada, UK and the rest of the Western nations.

Better is a relative term, not an absolute one.

130 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:03:02pm

re: #122 Venezuela lover

For the record, under Batista incomes, health care, education, and freedom of speech, religion, and emigration were all better than what the bastard Castro has done to Cuba.

Exactly where do you get your facts?

CIA public documents, Janes Defense, The Economist... basically all the usual non-classified, non-biased & competent sources. You?

131 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:03:16pm

re: #128 Sergey Romanov

One would think no Russian would want a return of Stalin. Well...

Look how many in the US today think the 50's are the golden age of whatevers.

132 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:03:20pm

re: #127 Slumbering Behemoth

And yet no one asks involved questions about pr0n, and so my vast knowledge sits idle. :(
/

Uh, uh. Not gonna say it, wouldn't be prudent.

133 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:04:04pm

re: #102 NJDhockeyfan

I think the Cuban people would differ. Ask them.

Did you miss the point about being compared to Batista during the '50s?

134 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:04:57pm

re: #129 b_sharp

Better is a relative term, not an absolute one.

QFT.

135 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:05:09pm

re: #122 Venezuela lover

For the record, under Batista incomes, health care, education, and freedom of speech, religion, and emigration were all better than what the bastard Castro has done to Cuba.

Exactly where do you get your facts?

The place most everyone gets their facts, by reading texts on the matter.

So in 1952, Batista didn't suspend the constitution?

Didn't kill thousands of Cubans who were dissidents?

Didn't enact a nation-wide curfew?

Etc. etc.?

136 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:05:10pm

re: #133 b_sharp

Did you miss the point about being compared to Batista during the '50s?

How many Cubans remember the 50s?

137 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:05:39pm

re: #129 b_sharp

Yes, now. Then they compared their state to what they experienced with Batista. Now they compare what they have with the US, Canada, UK and the rest of the Western nations.

Better is a relative term, not an absolute one.

It is in Castro's power to change relations with USA very easily and thus make the lives of Cubans much better. Castro likes his strangle hold on Cuba. He is a douche.

138 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:05:39pm

re: #131 Varek Raith

Look how many in the US today think the 50's are the golden age of whatevers.

My point is, don't fuck it up for the "political infants"! There's time for them to grow up and be healthily cynical, of course, but the way the transition happened, say, here in Russia only led to widespread political nihilism (and rise of Putin).

139 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:05:47pm

re: #123 NJDhockeyfan

Most of them weren't around during that time but they know what it's like today and it really sucks.

Sure. And it sucked really badly under Batista, too.

Which is why there was a revolution against him.

140 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:05:48pm

re: #110 boxhead

Both are/were douche bags... bottom line is that Castro is not good for Cuban people.

I don't think anyone here suggested he is.

141 Altermite  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:06:21pm

Seoul is about to run out of liquor.

142 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:06:36pm

re: #128 Sergey Romanov

One would think no Russian would want a return of Stalin. Well...

Ask the 20,000 plus Cubans who were murdered by Che and Castro. It is still happening today.
[Link: therealcuba.com...]

[Link: therealcuba.com...]

143 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:06:45pm

Sorry, Batista waited until 1955 to impose a curfew.

How liberal of him.

144 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:07:11pm

re: #119 Sergey Romanov

wles is right though. It's about perception, not so much facts. In a 2010 poll 41% of Rumanians said they would vote for Ceausescu if he ran for a President today. Makes you think.

Makes you gag.

145 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:07:13pm

re: #131 Varek Raith

Look how many in the US today think the 50's are the golden age of whatevers.

I believe the term is "Authoritarian Nutjobs" mixed with threatened privilege (Caucasian Male) combined with years of voting against their own self interests resulting in a worthless retirement and sense of resentment vs. anyone who has anything.
These are the people who watch Mad Men or Mississippi Burning and year for the good old days when a man was free (to trample the rights everyone else).

146 boxhead  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:07:40pm

re: #140 b_sharp

I don't think anyone here suggested he is.

Then why is it even worth the bits suggesting Castro was better that Batista? Both are kooks.

147 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:09:01pm

re: #131 Varek Raith

Look how many in the US today think the 50's are the golden age of whatevers.

I've related this before, but fuck it...

In my naive teenage years, I made the mistake about waxing stupidic about "The Good Old Days" in front of my friend's elderly aunt.

She lit right into me. "No vacuum cleaners, no elevators, no dishwashers, no washer/dryers, no electricity or indoor plumbing in many places! Good old days my ass, there was nothing good about 'em".

148 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:09:09pm

re: #142 Venezuela lover

Ask the 20,000 plus Cubans who were murdered by Che and Castro. It is still happening today.
[Link: therealcuba.com...]

[Link: therealcuba.com...]

That's the problem, isn't it? Generations change, people forget, and if the new rulers fuck up, the people begin to long for "good old days". The task is not to fuck things up after the transition.

149 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:09:37pm

It was probably when Batista shut down the University of Havana that his vision of education for Cubans really took flight.

150 Page 3 in the Binder of Women  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:10:51pm

re: #136 NJDhockeyfan

How many Cubans remember the 50s?

Uh, a lot of them? Like how many Americans remember the 50's? That is insulting actually. You are dismissing their experience, real experience for your so typical America Fuck Yeah blind ideology.

151 CriticalDragon1177  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:10:53pm

Charles Johnson,

Can't say I'm sorry to see him gone. The man ruled his country with an iron fist, while his people starved, and few would dare openly resist him, given what his regime might do to them. Hopefully now that he's gone, things will begin to improve over there. Unfortunately, I have a bad feeling.

152 theliel  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:11:03pm

re: #146 boxhead

Then why is it even worth the bits suggesting Castro was better that Batista? Both are kooks.

The discussion is on how things got that way - Castro is the guy who saved them from tyranny and foreign enslavement. That's the way two generations of Cubans were brought up.

Until the USSR failed they even had decent trading partners but until Castro dies AND congress manages to ease sanctions Cuba is going to continue to suck.

Also note that nothing aside from killing himself on stage Castro could do would normalize relations with the US - the Cuban block is just too powerful.

153 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:11:35pm

re: #142 Venezuela lover

Ask the 20,000 plus Cubans who were murdered by Che and Castro. It is still happening today.
[Link: therealcuba.com...]

[Link: therealcuba.com...]

Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant

A stunning expose' of the real Fidel Castro and the hypocrisy, ignorance and inexcusable appeasement that makes his liberal admirers notorious.

"Cuba's own Elvis" - that's what Dan Rather calls him. Funny name for a man who has threatened the United States with nuclear war, who has made common cause with Islamic terrorists against the United States, and whose people risk death to escape him. But there's a lot that Hollywood liberals and other Fidel Castro admirers would rather you didn't know about the dictator of Cuba - like how he imprisoned more people as a percentage of population than Hitler or Stalin; how Fidel's firing squads killed thousands of Cubans; how Fidel's subjects would rather inject themselves with AIDS than live under his tyranny.

Drawing on a wealth of research - including interviews with former Castro regime officials, anti-Castro freedom fighters, and Castro's political prisoners - acclaimed author Humberto Fontova reveals the ugly face of the Castro regime. Along the way, he punctures some of the egregious myths about Cuba - The Motorcycle Bore: The real Che Guevara - not the rebel rock star of T-shirt fame, but a battlefield incompetent, a puritan-Stalinist bore, and the man who sent thousands of innocent Cubans to the firing squads - Communist Economics 101: How Castro took Cuba from being a First World economy that had to turn away European emigrants to a country that even impoverished Haitians won't emigrate to, with among the highest suicide and abortion rates in the world - The Saddam Hussein Next Door: How Castro has not only had nuclear weapons (and wanted to launch them) but has plotted massive terrorist outrages against the United States - Fidel the anti-black racist and unrepentant Communist - and his long list of useful idiots: from Jesse Jackson to Oliver Stone, George McGovern to Ted Turner, Bill Clinton to Steven Spielberg, to Katie Couric and many others - The Left's favorite racism: against conservative Cuban-Americans

Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant is a stunning expose of the real Fidel Castro and of the hypocrisy, ignorance, and inexcusable appeasement that makes his liberal admirers notorious.

But he's not the bad after all.
//

154 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:11:50pm

re: #151 CriticalDragon1177

Look, a dragon! Where are my spells?

155 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:12:22pm

re: #109 Dark_Falcon

It will end up like Albania.

Enver Hoxha nearly completely isolated Albania, if you remember.

Although, I hope that this might get the ball rolling towards reunification of Korea.

156 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:12:38pm

re: #146 boxhead

Well, it sucks less to get stabbed in the arm than it sucks to get stabbed in the face. So, win?

157 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:12:48pm

re: #120 boxhead

ahhh... a strong middle class would make all these despots impotent. Wonder why our "leaders" are trying to rid USA of its middle class?

:p

Capitalism requires a medium paid workforce and a medium paid consumer. Corporatism requires a bare subsistence level workforce and a high paid consumer with any middle class gradually absorbed into one or the other group.

158 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:12:54pm

re: #153 NJDhockeyfan

But he's not the bad after all.

Good that nobody here wrote or implied this. Right?

159 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:16:03pm

re: #146 boxhead

Then why is it even worth the bits suggesting Castro was better that Batista? Both are kooks.

Would anyone in the U.S. want to live in Cuba as Cuban's do today? I will pay your fare if you agree never to leave Cuba and give up all your possessions.

160 Page 3 in the Binder of Women  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:16:17pm

re: #158 Sergey Romanov

Good that nobody here wrote or implied this. Right?

Analyzing situations in a coherent, thoughtful way always gets shut down by blind ideology. Wonder why we aren't progressing faster. Always a stupid battle against the ones who won't budge.

161 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:16:23pm

Korean sites not answering for me.

162 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:16:24pm

re: #154 Sergey Romanov

Look, a dragon! Where are my spells?

Image: 2817729-1324267859.jpg

163 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:16:51pm

re: #136 NJDhockeyfan

How many Cubans remember the 50s?

Irrelevant to the point being made. Nobody questions they are not as well off as they could or should be right now, but the point being made was about the '50s when Batista gave way to Castro.

164 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:17:05pm

re: #159 Venezuela lover

Would anyone in the U.S. want to live in Cuba as Cuban's do today? I will pay your fare if you agree never to leave Cuba and give up all your possessions.

Congrats on a reply that completey ignored what was said. You win the Intentionally Obtuse prize.

Unfortunately, this is one of the most common prizes on the interweb, and can only be redeemed for $8.2 million dollars in a Nigerian bank.

165 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:17:23pm

re: #161 Sergey Romanov

Korean sites not answering for me.

Did you call the wrong number?

166 Page 3 in the Binder of Women  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:17:52pm

re: #163 b_sharp

Irrelevant to the point being made. Nobody questions they are not as well off as they could or should be right now, but the point being made was about the '50s when Batista gave way to Castro.

Too deep.

167 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:17:55pm

re: #156 Slumbering Behemoth

Well, it sucks less to get stabbed in the arm than it sucks to get stabbed in the face. So, win?

Only if the stab doesn't hit a major blood vessel, because then you start losing your tiger's blood.

/winning

168 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:18:43pm

re: #159 Venezuela lover

Would anyone in the U.S. want to live in Cuba as Cuban's do today? I will pay your fare if you agree never to leave Cuba and give up all your possessions.

If given the choice between today's North Korea or Cuba I think I'd pick Cuba.

169 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:19:27pm

re: #153 NJDhockeyfan

Fidel: Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant

But he's not the bad after all.
//

Let's look back at #70 shall we?

for most he was better than Batista. Bad as Castro is, for many people life is still better. We forget that at our peril.

Bolded to help you see what was actually said.

I have no particular love for Castro. I have even less love for the scum that made his revolution happen.

170 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:19:30pm

re: #164 Obdicut

Congrats on a reply that completey ignored what was said. You win the Intentionally Obtuse prize.

Unfortunately, this is one of the most common prizes on the interweb, and can only be redeemed for $8.2 million dollars in a Nigerian bank.

Huh??

171 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:19:43pm

re: #161 Sergey Romanov

Korean sites not answering for me.

I can get to Google South Korea okay.

172 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:20:25pm

And the music is way way better!

173 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:20:26pm

Whatever this turn of events entails remains to be seen. Yet I feel compelled to remind everyone that the Beholder Corps is still out there, and that fact has me quaking in my Boots of Speed.

174 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:21:22pm

re: #173 Slumbering Behemoth

Whatever this turn of events entails remains to be seen. Yet I feel compelled to remind everyone that the Beholder Corps is still out there, and that fact has me quaking in my Boots of Speed.

Yeah, you're fucked.

175 Digital Display  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:21:22pm

The Geo-Political impact of this event is completely in unknown waters..
I would send Jimmy Carter over on the first flight..He seems to be able to talk to them..

176 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:21:42pm

re: #164 Obdicut

Congrats on a reply that completey ignored what was said. You win the Intentionally Obtuse prize.

Unfortunately, this is one of the most common prizes on the interweb, and can only be redeemed for $8.2 million dollars in a Nigerian bank.

Even better than your reply to b-sharp earlier. Thank you! I needed to read this.

177 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:22:08pm

re: #175 HoosierHoops

The Geo-Political impact of this event is completely in unknown waters..
I would send Jimmy Carter over on the first flight..He seems to be able to talk to them..

Nice thought. Is it possible?

178 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:22:09pm

re: #170 Venezuela lover

Huh??

Nobody here wants to live in Castro's Cuba. Nobody here wants to live in Batista's Cuba, either. Castro is an evil dictator who oppressed his people and slaughtered his political opponents. Batista was an evil dictator who oppressed his people and slaughtered his political opponents.

Castro was best friends with evil commie bastards, Batista was best friends with mobsters.

There's not so much to choose between them. Batista killed a ton of Cubans. So did Castro. Neither are good, neither are governments you'd want to live under.

179 CriticalDragon1177  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:22:21pm

re: #154 Sergey Romanov

Don't even bother looking for your spells. I only burn people in self defense.

LOL! : )

180 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:22:23pm

re: #174 Varek Raith

Dust of Disappearance. That is our only hope.

181 Page 3 in the Binder of Women  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:22:43pm

re: #169 wlewisiii

Let's look back at #70 shall we?

Bolded to help you see what was actually said.

I have no particular love for Castro. I have even less love for the scum that made his revolution happen.

Ah, let's talk Hollywood. It matters!

182 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:22:52pm

re: #175 HoosierHoops

The Geo-Political impact of this event is completely in unknown waters..
I would send Jimmy Carter over on the first flight..He seems to be able to talk to them..

Maybe he can get the signed Michael Jordan basketball back.

183 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:22:52pm

Many people also forget that America's manufacturing dominance of the 1950's was the product of the smashing of much of the rest of the world's manufacturing base during World War II, and as such was only temporary. Our collective refusal to plan for the days when we'd have to face effective competition again was a massive failure whose consequences still haunt us unto this very day.

184 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:22:52pm

OK. So did Fidel Castro die or Kim Jong-il?

//

185 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:23:26pm

re: #146 boxhead

Then why is it even worth the bits suggesting Castro was better that Batista? Both are kooks.

Perhaps a quote from the comment that started it all will make things clear:

"The biggest danger will be preventing the same old crooks from moving in and making the people decide that Castro wasn't so bad after all - and for most he was better than Batista. Bad as Castro is, for many people life is still better [than with Batista]. We forget that at our peril."

186 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:24:53pm

[Link: www.kcna.kp...]

187 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:24:57pm

re: #183 Dark_Falcon

We didn't refuse to plan for it, though, we loved it. The offshoring of manufacturing (and remember, the US manufacturing base hasn't shrunk, it's just manufacturing jobs that have shrunk) was intentionally done on the part of US businesses.

Manufacturing prowess in other countries doesn't beggar us at all-- that's real wealth creation, which, as long as we have stuff to trade for it, makes us richer in a real sense as well.

188 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:25:03pm

re: #173 Slumbering Behemoth

Whatever this turn of events entails remains to be seen. Yet I feel compelled to remind everyone that the Beholder Corps is still out there, and that fact has me quaking in my Boots of Speed.

The Eyes have it!!

///

189 Digital Display  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:25:04pm

re: #177 Venezuela lover

Nice thought. Is it possible?

I'd like to see us use some of that famous Diplomatic Ju Ju shit on them..
Offer friendship and light at the end of the tunnel...

190 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:25:06pm

re: #184 Gus 802

OK. So did Fidel Castro die or Kim Jong-il?

//

I think we need to see pictures to be sure.

191 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:25:35pm

North Korean dictator Kim Jung Il is dead. experts in the State Department say he could be replaced by his son, Menta Li Ill.

192 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:26:04pm

Derp

193 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:26:29pm

re: #187 Obdicut

We didn't refuse to plan for it, though, we loved it. The offshoring of manufacturing (and remember, the US manufacturing base hasn't shrunk, it's just manufacturing jobs that have shrunk) was intentionally done on the part of US businesses.

Manufacturing prowess in other countries doesn't beggar us at all-- that's real wealth creation, which, as long as we have stuff to trade for it, makes us richer in a real sense as well.

Offshoring is a different, though related, matter. What I was talking about is things like the Big Three's inability to quickly adapt to Japanese competition.

194 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:26:46pm

post deleted by author

195 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:27:03pm

re: #183 Dark_Falcon

Many people also forget that America's manufacturing dominance of the 1950's was the product of the smashing of much of the rest of the world's manufacturing base during World War II, and as such was only temporary. Our collective refusal to plan for the days when we'd have to face effective competition again was a massive failure whose consequences still haunt us unto this very day.

Ah, DF, these are the moments when I appreciate you the most. You're actually willing to think about the consequences of your beliefs (in this case what conservative capitalism needs for long term survival). We may not always agree but let me lift a shot of good whiskey to your good name!

196 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:27:11pm

re: #191 Venezuela lover

You forgot this.

197 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:27:19pm

re: #159 Venezuela lover

Would anyone in the U.S. want to live in Cuba as Cuban's do today? I will pay your fare if you agree never to leave Cuba and give up all your possessions.

Where the hell did that come from?

198 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:27:24pm

re: #186 Sergey Romanov

The North Korean government has a shittier website than most frat houses.

199 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:29:01pm

re: #164 Obdicut

Congrats on a reply that completey ignored what was said. You win the Intentionally Obtuse prize.

Unfortunately, this is one of the most common prizes on the interweb, and can only be redeemed for $8.2 million dollars in a Nigerian bank.

ROTFLMAO.

200 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:29:21pm

re: #198 Obdicut

The North Korean government has a shittier website than most frat houses.

It's sloowwwwww

201 engineer cat  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:29:43pm

kim jong un is of course the inventor of the un-cola, the perfect beverage to have with the traditional north korean meal of lack of food

202 goddamnedfrank  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:29:55pm

re: #183 Dark_Falcon

Many people also forget that America's manufacturing dominance of the 1950's was the product of the smashing of much of the rest of the world's manufacturing base during World War II, and as such was only temporary. Our collective refusal to plan for the days when we'd have to face effective competition again was a massive failure whose consequences still haunt us unto this very day.

When one of the two major parties wants a do-over of the Scopes Monkey Trial, is dominated by climate change deniers and advocates destroying the Department of Education, it's easy to see what's holding us back.

203 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:30:03pm

re: #200 Varek Raith

It's sloowww

Throw away some ingots and dragon bones.

204 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:30:08pm

re: #179 CriticalDragon1177

Red dragon? Hang back Sergey, I got this.

205 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:30:35pm

re: #193 Dark_Falcon

Offshoring is a different, though related, matter. What I was talking about is things like the Big Three's inability to quickly adapt to Japanese competition.

Oh. Well, that's a specific failure of the automotive industry. In a lot of other manufacturing industries, we continued to be the world leaders. We're still leaders in many, including chemical manufacturing, where we're highly dominant.

Again, we have as large a manufacturing base as we did during WWII. Less making big things out of steel, but in economic terms, just as huge. But the money made by that sector doesn't go to workers, it mostly goes to those who own the stock.

206 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:31:09pm

I am without hope that things will dramatically improve for the North Koreans.

I challenge the world to prove me wrong.

207 Obdicut  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:31:41pm

And I need to grab five or so hours of sleep.

See y'all in a bit.

209 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:36:07pm

Was there a Kim Jong-Il? Could that have been a Team America Puppet all along? Developing...

210 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:38:06pm

re: #207 Obdicut

And I need to grab five or so hours of sleep.

See y'all in a bit.

Weinie.

A real man would eschew sleep in favour of beer, football and political argument.

211 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:38:50pm

No more Lil' Kim?

But, there will be Lil' Kim II?

212 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:39:45pm

re: #207 Obdicut

And I need to grab five or so hours of sleep.

See y'all in a bit.

I'm going to sign off as well. I'm just too tired.

213 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:40:58pm

re: #212 Dark_Falcon

I'm going to sing off as well. I'm just too tired.

What tune?

214 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:41:02pm

I won't be here long either.

But between hormones and dogs, I'm sure I'll be back in the wee hours.

215 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:41:38pm

Video of announcement...

Youtube Video
216 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:41:47pm

re: #209 Sergey Romanov

You're only at the rim of the rabbit hole, buddy. First, they are marionettes, not puppets. Second, they are an ancient, alien race that have been enslaved by Hollywood libruls and made to dance for our entertainment. Those strings? Actual ligaments strewn from those poor alien's bodies in order to control their movements.

Puppets, on the other hand, ironically control everything that moves in this world.

217 Dark_Falcon  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:41:54pm

re: #212 Dark_Falcon

I'm going to sign off as well. I'm just too tired.

fixed, thanks to the pencil.

218 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:43:19pm

re: #216 Slumbering Behemoth

So that scene in the Nightmare on the Elm street was a secret message? How could I have been so blind!

219 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:44:55pm

re: #215 Gus 802

Video of announcement...

[Video]

Whew. This lady should be in the theater.

220 Dancing along the light of day  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:45:10pm

re: #168 Gus 802

If given the choice between today's North Korea or Cuba I think I'd pick Cuba.

Well, yeah it's warmer there!
/// sorta

221 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:45:33pm

re: #219 Gus 802

Whew. This lady should be in the theater.

Creepy doesn't begin to describe it.

222 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:45:58pm
Darth Vader
Just hope North Korea doesn't bust out the Ewoks & fireworks for the funeral. #KimJongIl
223 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:46:43pm

re: #218 Sergey Romanov

Completely forgot about that scene, but that's likely where I subconsciously got that idea from.

224 b_sharp  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:47:52pm

G'night crazy cats.

225 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:47:58pm

re: #220 Floral Giraffe

Well, yeah it's warmer there!
/// sorta

The fishing's better.

226 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:48:28pm

re: #219 Gus 802

If you read the afterwards to Red Scarf Girl, people who live under a Cult of Personality actually worship the individual and cannot see how oppressed they are.

That could be genuine.

227 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:48:34pm

re: #217 Dark_Falcon

fixed, thanks to the pencil.

All sing great praise and glory
to the joy of the holy pencil
As it writes the way through our nights
of typographical error

228 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:48:43pm

re: #221 Sergey Romanov

I was thinking "sad". It's possible that that poor woman would love to shout for joy, but feels compelled to feign mourning for fear of her life.

229 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:48:55pm

re: #225 NJDhockeyfan

The fishing's better.

THAT is so important!

:)

230 Gretchen G.Tiger  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:49:40pm

bbl

231 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:49:51pm

Ladies and gentlemen of North Korea! I present to you the next Dear Leader of the Workers' Party of North Korea...

[drumroll]

Ron Paul-il!

//

232 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:50:10pm

re: #228 Slumbering Behemoth

I was thinking "sad". It's possible that that poor woman would love to shout for joy, but feels compelled to feign mourning for fear of her life.

I may be mistaken, but possibly anyone they let out on TV is either totally brainwashed or a bastard (or both).

233 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:50:10pm

Breaking news

I'm tired.
Also, I blowed up the sun.
Y'all got 8 minutes.
:P

234 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:50:46pm

re: #229 ggt

THAT is so important!

:)

Beats living on bugs and tree bark.

235 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:50:56pm

re: #233 Varek Raith

Breaking news

I'm tired.
Also, I blowed up the sun.
Y'all got 8 minutes.
:P

Now blow Uranus.

236 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:52:15pm

re: #232 Sergey Romanov

I may be mistaken, but possibly anyone they let out on TV is either totally brainwashed or a bastard (or both).

I wouldn't really know. I've never lived under a dictatorship before.

Well, excepting that time before I turned 18.

237 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:52:24pm

re: #233 Varek Raith

Breaking news

I'm tired.
Also, I blowed up the sun.
Y'all got 8 minutes.
:P

Youtube Video
238 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:53:00pm

We now turn to Russia Today for an analysis of the implications Kim Jong-il's death.

Thank you for joining us Naomi Wolf...

//

239 The Optimist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:53:25pm

Good night. Kim Il Jung won't wake up. Great night.

240 SpaceJesus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:54:20pm

hahaha, suck it you motherfucker

241 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:55:19pm

re: #240 SpaceJesus

hahaha, suck it you motherfucker

You are the Id of Little Green Footballs.

242 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:55:20pm

re: #240 SpaceJesus

hahaha, suck it you motherfucker

What he's doing up there?!

243 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:56:04pm

re: #236 Slumbering Behemoth

For only luck of birth, I am a citizen of the USA. I understand we are a work in progress, but all things considered, I proudly fly Old Glory, and I don't give a shit if anyone thinks me a jingoist for it.

244 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:56:08pm

So, Paul is leading in Iowa (Although it is inside the margin of error).

245 calochortus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:56:19pm

The Cleanest Race is an interesting read about how the North Koreans see themselves and what the propaganda is intended to portray. I'm not in a position to say whether or not Myers is correct in his thesis, but it is, IMHO, a good place to start on the issue. Apparently their view of themselves is a combination of uncritical acceptance of the moral superiority of N. Koreans, and a certain amount of cynicism.

246 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:56:26pm

WTF?

This is from 2008...

Youtube Video
247 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:57:05pm

re: #246 Gus 802

WTF?

This is from 2008...

[Video]

I TOLD YOU IT'S PUPPETS ALL THE WAY DOWN

248 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:57:22pm

THE WHITE HOSUE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 18, 2011

Statement by the Press Secretary on reports of the death of Kim Jong Il

We are closely monitoring reports that Kim Jong Il is dead. The President has been notified, and we are in close touch with our allies in South Korea and Japan. We remain committed to stability on the Korean peninsula, and to the freedom and security of our allies.

249 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:57:51pm

re: #240 SpaceJesus

hahaha, suck it you motherfucker

NO U

250 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:58:01pm

re: #246 Gus 802

WTF?

This is from 2008...

[Video]

1994 tho.

251 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:58:53pm

re: #248 JasonA

Him and Clinton ain't getting sleep tonight.

252 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:59:28pm

A comment under that vid:

Im a marxist, and the thing is, i started to consider a few minutes ago, Maybe DPRK is like Cuba, and u have to see through the propoganda and its really not that bad. But then i look at this, and i cant imagine this happeneing unless there brainwashed or something. This is crazy and nuts. I dont blame the peopel, but i blame the leaders, and gahh it just makes me really sick, cuz this kills the reputation of communism, diminishing our hope of freedom even more
Hmsheen10 3 г. назад 49

253 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 8:59:46pm

re: #251 ProLifeLiberal

Him and Clinton ain't getting sleep tonight.

Bet a lot of our men on that border aren't either...

254 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:02:38pm

re: #253 JasonA

South Korea and Japan too.

255 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:02:40pm

Pakistani President Returns From Medical Treatment

Pakistan's president returned home early Monday, nearly two weeks after a surprise trip to Dubai for medical treatment sparked rumors that he might step down under pressure from the country's powerful military.

President Asif Ali Zardari's arrival will likely help quell speculation about his future. But officials have not spelled out exactly what was wrong with the president, and he is still under threat from a memo scandal that has upset the army and already forced the Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. to resign.

Zardari's plane landed at an air base in the southern port city of Karachi shortly after midnight, said Manzoor Wassan, the home minister in Sindh province where Karachi is the capital.

I question the timing.
//

256 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:03:37pm

re: #254 ProLifeLiberal

South Korea and Japan too.

China is probably wondering who to deal with next right now.

257 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:04:15pm

Speaking of timing, today is South Korea's President's birthday.

258 Gus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:04:27pm

Suddenly I'm a little skeptical.
re: #250 Sergey Romanov

1994 tho.

Ah. Thanks.

259 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:04:28pm

Rambo and Friday the 13th.
Kim's top movies.
Lol.

260 SpaceJesus  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:04:57pm

re: #242 Sergey Romanov

no, he is in space hell

261 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:05:03pm

re: #258 Gus 802

Suddenly I'm a little skeptical.


Ah. Thanks.

But for a moment there your universe was torn apart! ///

262 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:05:29pm

re: #260 SpaceJesus

no, he is in space hell

So it's just your way of showing off the length? //

263 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:05:56pm

re: #256 NJDhockeyfan

North Korea is their little pawn. They might have mild concern, but us, Japan, and South Korea are probably ready for the Korean War to go hot again.

264 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:06:03pm

re: #260 SpaceJesus

no, he is in space hell

I just booted him into a quantum singularity.

265 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:06:50pm

re: #264 Varek Raith

I just booted him into a quantum singularity.

Good idea, Sherlock. It's right next to the pocket where you keep your soul phylacteries.

266 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:06:57pm

re: #243 Slumbering Behemoth

For only luck of birth, I am a citizen of the USA. I understand we are a work in progress, but all things considered, I proudly fly Old Glory, and I don't give a shit if anyone thinks me a jingoist for it.

Heh. I love being a US Army vet, I fly the colors at my house every day, I go to church every week, I own a boat load of guns and I voted for Obama, am a card carrying Socialist & my economic policy preferences would freak out at least 90% of the posters here.

Fuck yeah, USA, but only so long as you damn sure remember just how many different Americans there really fucking are. 'Cause that's why I did my years in the green, why I fly those colors & stand ready to defend our special experiment.

267 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:07:56pm

re: #263 ProLifeLiberal

North Korea is their little pawn. They might have mild concern, but us, Japan, and South Korea are probably ready for the Korean War to go hot again.

The nuke issue makes it so much worse than it was. The South Koreans must be shitting bricks right now.

268 Dancing along the light of day  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:08:14pm

re: #266 wlewisiii

Thank you for your service.
*smooch*

269 Big Joe  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:08:24pm

re: #259 Varek Raith

Rambo and Friday the 13th.
Kim's top movies.
Lol.

Everybody knows First Blood was the only good Rambo movie.

270 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:09:19pm
Youtube Video

And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free not pressed under the thumb of an oppressive dictatorship that can't or won't keep sewage/water/electricity and food supplies moving.

271 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:09:37pm

re: #266 wlewisiii

Heh. I love being a US Army vet, I fly the colors at my house every day, I go to church every week, I own a boat load of guns and I voted for Obama, am a card carrying Socialist & my economic policy preferences would freak out at least 90% of the posters here.

Fuck yeah, USA, but only so long as you damn sure remember just how many different Americans there really fucking are. 'Cause that's why I did my years in the green, why I fly those colors & stand ready to defend our special experiment.

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

272 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:10:31pm

re: #267 NJDhockeyfan

Japan too.

Part of me says that South Korea should just bum rush the North while the nation is still chaotic to prevent something horrible from happening, Nuclear or not.

273 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:11:27pm

re: #272 ProLifeLiberal

Japan too.

Part of me says that South Korea should just bum rush the North while the nation is still chaotic to prevent something horrible from happening, Nuclear or not.

I don't think that would end as well as you might think it would.

274 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:11:37pm

China Support for Kim Jong Un Key to Stabilization, ING Says

Chung Yun Sik, the Seoul-based chief investment officer for equities at ING Investment Management Korea Ltd., which oversees about $16 billion, comments on the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

“We saw panic selling today amid concerns tensions on the Korean peninsula may intensify. ‘‘If China comes out this time and gives supporting comments for Kim Jong Un as successor, I think South Korean financial markets will quickly stabilize. ‘‘When North Korea’s founder, Kim Il Sung, died, markets stabilized quite fast.’’

How much do we know about Kim Jong Un?

275 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:12:33pm

re: #272 ProLifeLiberal

Japan too.

Part of me says that South Korea should just bum rush the North while the nation is still chaotic to prevent something horrible from happening, Nuclear or not.

I don't think that would be a good idea. We don't know who has their finger on the nuclear button.

276 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:13:05pm

re: #273 JasonA

The other part of me says that.

South Korea's military is powerful, right. And if I'm not mistaken, NOK's military is massively outdated too, right?

277 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:13:49pm

re: #274 NJDhockeyfan

China Support for Kim Jong Un Key to Stabilization, ING Says

How much do we know about Kim Jong Un?

So, he's the successor then. I guess there have to be some in-depths articles on him.

278 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:14:03pm

re: #276 ProLifeLiberal

The other part of me says that.

South Korea's military is powerful, right. And if I'm not mistaken, NOK's military is massively outdated too, right?

In my professional opinion, that would fuck all kinds of shit up.

279 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:14:15pm

re: #265 Sergey Romanov

Good idea, Sherlock. It's right next to the pocket where you keep your soul phylacteries.

Oh you silly humans and your inability to grasp ten dimensional quantum physics.

280 sagehen  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:14:16pm

re: #178 Obdicut

Nobody here wants to live in Castro's Cuba. Nobody here wants to live in Batista's Cuba, either. Castro is an evil dictator who oppressed his people and slaughtered his political opponents. Batista was an evil dictator who oppressed his people and slaughtered his political opponents.

Castro was best friends with evil commie bastards, Batista was best friends with mobsters.

There's not so much to choose between them. Batista killed a ton of Cubans. So did Castro. Neither are good, neither are governments you'd want to live under.

But the mobsters were better dressed than the evil commie bastards... and their nightclubs had better entertainment. (which doesn't help the random Cuban, but sure makes a difference for the American tourist).

281 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:15:06pm

re: #266 wlewisiii

Not really down with the socialist thing totally, but...

Fuck yeah, USA, but only so long as you damn sure remember just how many different Americans there really fucking are.

I am all about that. We are a nation of immigrants, full of many different ideas. That's what makes our nation strong.

/sure, the native americans got fucked in the process, but my kin had nothing to do with that.

282 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:15:50pm

re: #271 JasonA

Go to your local library and look up anything with the word Socialism in the title by a good man named Michael Harrington (an irish catholic atheist who died too young). That will get you most of the way to me. ;) If you have spare time, start with his book "The Other America" which was an expose of poverty that shamed the Kennedy Administration into action and is still more true than not today.

283 engineer cat  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:16:41pm

re: #272 ProLifeLiberal

Japan too.

Part of me says that South Korea should just bum rush the North while the nation is still chaotic to prevent something horrible from happening, Nuclear or not.

i'm pretty sure the actual day to day dictator of north korea has been in place for a while now, and will continue

in fact i venture to guess that kim jon un will be publicly replaced by somebody more suitable to task of communist dictating in the next few days or months

284 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:16:51pm

re: #279 Varek Raith

Oh you silly humans and your inability to grasp ten dimensional quantum physics.

Meh. You can't even blow up the Sun. You said you did, but it's still there. :P

285 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:17:33pm

re: #284 Sergey Romanov

Meh. You can't even blow up the Sun. You said you did, but it's still there. :P

I don't know. I can't currently see it.

286 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:18:06pm

re: #282 wlewisiii

Go to your local library and look up anything with the word Socialism in the title buy a good man named Michael Harrington (an irish catholic atheist who died too young). That will get you most of the way to me. ;) If you have spare time, start with his book "The Other America" which was an expose of poverty that shamed the Kennedy Administration into action and is still more true than not today.

Catholic Atheist?

287 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:18:20pm

re: #284 Sergey Romanov

Meh. You can't even blow up the Sun. You said you did, but it's still there. :P

Yes.
In this universe.

288 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:18:48pm

re: #277 Sergey Romanov

So, he's the successor then. I guess there have to be some in-depths articles on him.

Wiki:

Kim Jong-un (Korean: 김정은,[1] Hanja: 金正恩,[2]) also known as Kim Jong-eun or Kim Jung-eun,[3] formerly Kim Jong-woon or Kim Jung-woon[4] (born 1983 or early 1984),[5] is the third and youngest son of deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his consort Ko Young-hee.[6]

Following the announcement of his father's death, Kim Jong-un was announced as his father's successor by North Korean state television.[7]

He is a Daejang, the equivalent to an American four-star general[8] in the Korean People's Army and the presumptive head of state of North Korea in the wake of his father's death. Since late 2010, Kim Jong-un has been viewed as heir presumptive to the leadership of the nation.

It has been claimed that he studied computer science privately in Korea.[9][dead link]

...Kim Jong-un is expected to become leader of the country after his father. His eldest half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, had been the favorite to succeed, but reportedly fell out of favour after 2001, when he was caught attempting to enter Japan on a fake passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.[26]

Kim Jong-il's former personal chef, Kenji Fujimoto, revealed details regarding Kim Jong-un, with whom he shared a good relationship,[27] stating that he is favored to be his father's successor. Fujimoto also claimed that Jong-un is favored by his father over his elder brother, Kim Jong-chul, reasoning that Jong-chul is too feminine in character, while Jong-un is "exactly like his father."[28] Furthermore Fujimoto stated that "If power is to be handed over then Jong-un is the best for it. He has superb physical gifts, is a big drinker and never admits defeat." When Jong-un was 18, Fujimoto described an episode where Jong-un questioned his lavish lifestyle and asked, "We are here, playing basketball, riding horses, riding Jet Skis, having fun together. But what of the lives of the average people?"[28] On 15 January 2009 the South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported that Kim Jong-il appointed Kim Jong-un to be his successor.[26][29]

On 8 March 2009, the BBC reported rumors that Kim Jong-un appeared on the ballot for elections to the Supreme People's Assembly, the rubber stamp parliament of North Korea.[30] Subsequent reports indicate that his name did not appear on the list of lawmakers,[31] however he was later elevated to a mid-level position in the National Defense Commission, which is a branch of the North Korean Military.[32] Reports have also suggested that he is a diabetic and suffers from hypertension.[4][33]

From 2009, it was understood by foreign diplomatic services that Kim was to succeed his father Kim Jong-il as the head of the Korean Workers' Party and de-facto leader of North Korea.[34] He has been named "Yŏngmyŏng-han Tongji" (영명한 동지) which loosely translates to "Brilliant Comrade."[35] His father had also asked embassy staff abroad to pledge loyalty to his son.[33] There have also been reports that citizens in North Korea have been encouraged to sing a newly composed "song of praise" to Kim Jong-un, in a similar fashion to that of praise songs relating to Kim Jong-il and Kim Il-sung.[36] Later in June, Kim was reported to have visited China secretly to "present himself" to the Chinese leadership, who later warned against North Korea conducting another nuclear test.[37] The Chinese Foreign Ministry has strongly denied that this visit occurred.[38][39]

289 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:18:58pm

Like father, like son?

[Link: www.nytimes.com...]

290 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:19:00pm

re: #285 EmmmieG

I don't know. I can't currently see it.

It's been more than 8 minutes. Even from the wrong side, we'd know if that puppy went boom :D

291 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:20:07pm

re: #287 Varek Raith

Yes.
In this universe.

In the same universe you made the threats. Or was that your clone again?

292 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:21:01pm

re: #290 wlewisiii

It's been more than 8 minutes. Even from the wrong side, we'd know if that puppy went boom :D

Anyone who isn't sufficiently sneaky to blow up the sun without our knowing it is unfit to be ruler of the universe.

293 engineer cat  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:21:22pm

If power is to be handed over then Jong-un is the best for it. He has superb physical gifts, is a big drinker and never admits defeat.

exactly the reasons why i have been supporting newt gingrich for dictator president

294 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:21:29pm

re: #291 Sergey Romanov

In the same universe you made the threats. Or was that your clone again?

Look, being onmi-dimensional gets real confusing real fast.
You try keeping tabs on an infinite number of universes and which one you're currently in.
Not easy.
:P

295 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:21:48pm

More good news from his death...

Oil falls below $93 after North Korean leader dies

296 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:22:37pm

re: #294 Varek Raith

Look, being onmi-dimensional gets real confusing real fast.
You try keeping tabs on an infinite number of universes and which one you're currently in.
Not easy.
:P

Use Chrome.

297 Kronocide  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:22:42pm

Anybody on all the lefty blogs to get their take on this?

298 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:23:41pm

re: #286 JasonA

Catholic Atheist?

Yes.

Ok, that obviously confuses you. Irish catholicism is more than just a religious identity, it's an ethnicity in and of itself. He was born and raised Irish Catholic. He can no more escape that than I can escape growing up in Wisconsin. He later became an Atheist and a Socialist but those identities will only build on his childhood identity, for good bad or indifferent.

299 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:23:47pm

re: #297 BigPapa

Anybody on all the lefty blogs to get their take on this?

The hippies obviously mourn the death of their Dear Leader.

//

300 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:24:09pm

re: #278 JasonA

You're right on there. It was a kneejerk reaction.

301 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:24:10pm

re: #297 BigPapa

Anybody on all the lefty blogs to get their take on this?

I thought this was a lefty blog?

/

302 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:26:05pm

I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.
~ Mark Twain

303 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:27:13pm

re: #301 JasonA

I thought this was a lefty blog?

/

No no no no....

According to KT it's a "radical lefty" blog. Please, you must keep your insults correct.

304 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:27:16pm

re: #302 NJDhockeyfan

I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.
~ Mark Twain

I have lots of trouble believing that you didn't wish this man dead.

(Not that I would think ill of you for it...)

305 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:28:06pm

re: #287 Varek Raith

Yes.
In this universe.

And thus the northern star was born, leading those three Persian astrologers towards a barn in which a pair of bums gave birth to the cantankerous god which now rules this earth.

Nice going, Varek. You suck.

306 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:28:34pm

re: #302 NJDhockeyfan

I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.
~ Mark Twain

No, Kim Il Jong I have wished dead. Not from revenge or hatred, but because I hoped it might lead to a better way of life for his people.

BTW, did you know that South Korea has an entire miniseries centered around a baking dynasty? I got sucked into it on youtube after watching that announcement.

A North Korean miniseries about baking would involve people fighting over a loaf of bread, because it's the only one in town.

307 Mocking Jay  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:29:36pm

Judging from the comments on the Kos thread about this, I can report that that lefty blog fully supports this development.

Also, this comment had me in stitches:

Fox News response: (4+ / 0-)
Obama refused to admit that Kim Jong Il's death was a direct result of the policies put into place by George W. Bush.

308 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:30:32pm

re: #303 wlewisiii

I've been out of circulation for a while. Got a link for that?

309 moderatelyradicalliberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:31:27pm

re: #307 JasonA

Judging from the comments on the Kos thread about this, I can report that that lefty blog fully supports this development.

Also, this comment had me in stitches:

Fox News response: (4+ / 0-)
Obama refused to admit that Kim Jong Il's death was a direct result of the policies put into place by George W. Bush.

LOL!

Are we sure the president didn't send a drone to kill Lil' Kim? Seriously, dictators and bad guys of all kinds that have survived other presidents are not surviving Obama.

310 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:31:37pm

re: #307 JasonA

It's not like there was any doubt. (However, when Chavez croaks, there will be mourners there.)

311 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:32:24pm

Apparently, in 2004 Vaclav Havel wrote an opinion piece slamming Kim Jong Il.

312 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:33:54pm

re: #311 ProLifeLiberal

Apparently, in 2004 Vaclav Havel wrote an opinion piece slamming Kim Jong Il.

Haven't you posted it above? Or was that another guy?

Well, that's just a reminder of how much it sucks to lose a true democrat like Havel.

313 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:34:32pm

re: #309 moderatelyradicalliberal

I wouldn't be surprised if Obama was doing this kind of stuff.

This is, what, the 4th significant asshole to die this year?

(Bin Laden, Qaddafi, Awlaki, now Kim Jong Il)

314 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:35:41pm

re: #306 EmmmieG

No, Kim Il Jong I have wished dead. Not from revenge or hatred, but because I hoped it might lead to a better way of life for his people.

BTW, did you know that South Korea has an entire miniseries centered around a baking dynasty? I got sucked into it on youtube after watching that announcement.

A North Korean miniseries about baking would involve people fighting over a loaf of bread, because it's the only one in town.

I'm extremely happy with this scumbag's death. He just got scratched off the list of many I hope to die right now.

315 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:35:56pm

re: #269 mracb

Everybody knows First Blood was the only good Rambo movie.

Missed this earlier. I agree. But I think they made one big mistake - they changed the ending.

In the book, that old officer who so gently talks him into surrendering? He takes a pistol and executes him in the last scene as a rabid dog, too dangerous to let live.

That was far more real than anything in any of those disgusting movies.

316 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:35:57pm

re: #312 Sergey Romanov

Another guy, I think.

317 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:36:07pm

re: #313 ProLifeLiberal

C'mon, guys. Obama is good but not that good. It's age + illness.

318 moderatelyradicalliberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:36:13pm

re: #313 ProLifeLiberal

I wouldn't be surprised if Obama was doing this kind of stuff.

This is, what, the 4th significant asshole to die this year?

(Bin Laden, Qaddafi, Awlaki, now Kim Jong Il)

Obama deserves re-election if for no other reason than some more dictators might croak. Maybe Mugabe is next.

319 moderatelyradicalliberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:36:56pm

re: #317 Sergey Romanov

C'mon, guys. Obama is good but not that good. It's age + illness.

We're joking. ;)

320 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:36:57pm

re: #317 Sergey Romanov

C'mon, guys. Obama is good but not that good. It's age + illness.

OK, I should say "likely". That, or a hidden coup. But not Obama.

321 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:37:15pm

re: #313 ProLifeLiberal

I wouldn't be surprised if Obama was doing this kind of stuff.

This is, what, the 4th significant asshole to die this year?

(Bin Laden, Qaddafi, Awlaki, now Kim Jong Il)

Obama killed him?

LOL!

322 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:37:27pm

Merry CXhristmas, y'all!!!

Youtube Video
323 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:37:28pm

re: #319 moderatelyradicalliberal

We're joking. ;)

You - are.

324 moderatelyradicalliberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:37:48pm

re: #321 NJDhockeyfan

Obama killed him?

LOL!

Why not? Everything else is his fault.

///

325 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:38:56pm

re: #323 Sergey Romanov

Same here.

Did Kim have a stroke about 2 years ago. Since then, he looked really bad. Gaunt, overly thin.

Though, I didn't expect it today.

326 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:39:08pm

re: #321 NJDhockeyfan

Obama killed him?

LOL!

Yeah, it's almost as funny as that ole "Reagan destroyed USSR" meme.

327 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:39:12pm

re: #308 Slumbering Behemoth

I've been out of circulation for a while. Got a link for that?

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

My reply at the time is here:

[Link: littlegreenfootballs.com...]

328 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:40:22pm

N. Korea urges nation to pick 20-yr-old

North Korea on Monday urged its 24 million people to rally behind 20-something heir-apparent Kim Jong Un as the nation mourned the death of supreme leader Kim Jong Il.

..The North's official Korean Central News Agency said the country, people and military "must faithfully revere respectable comrade Kim Jong Un."

"At the leadership of comrade Kim Jong Un, we have to change sadness to strength and courage and overcome today's difficulties," it said.

It looks more and more like junior is going to take over.

329 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:41:38pm

re: #328 NJDhockeyfan

> to pick 20-yr-old

Misleading.

> It looks more and more like junior is going to take over.

Hasn't already? Officialy he has.

330 moderatelyradicalliberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:42:18pm

re: #325 ProLifeLiberal

Same here.

Did Kim have a stroke about 2 years ago. Since then, he looked really bad. Gaunt, overly thin.

Though, I didn't expect it today.

Yeah, he didn't look long for this world. He looked like he was on death's door in that picture he took with Bill Clinton when he went to go get those two journalists. He was obviously sick.

[Link: nymag.com...]

331 ProGunLiberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:44:18pm

re: #328 NJDhockeyfan

I see absolutely no possible way that could go wrong.

////////////////////////////

332 goddamnedfrank  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:45:36pm

Prosecutorial misconduct, Texas style:

For six years, the Williamson County district attorney, John Bradley, fought the request for DNA testing, based on advice from Judge Anderson, his predecessor and friend. In 2010, however, a Texas court ordered the DNA testing, and the results showed that Mrs. Morton’s blood on the bandanna was mixed with the DNA of another man: Mark A. Norwood, a felon with a long criminal history who lived about 12 miles from the Mortons at the time of the murder. By then, Mr. Morton had spent nearly 25 years in prison.

Mr. Norwood has been arrested and charged in Mrs. Morton’s death and is a suspect in a similar murder from 1988.

...

In August, however, a different judge ordered the record unsealed, and Mr. Morton’s lawyers discovered that Mr. Anderson had provided only a fraction of the available evidence. Missing from the file was the transcript of a telephone conversation between a sheriff’s deputy and Mr. Morton’s mother-in-law in which she reported that her 3-year-old grandson had seen a “monster” — who was not his father — attack and kill his mother.

Also missing were police reports from Mr. Morton’s neighbors, who said they had seen a man in a green van repeatedly park near their home and walk into the woods behind their house. And there were even reports, also never turned over, that Mrs. Morton’s credit card had been used and a check with her forged signature cashed after her death.

In October, Judge Sid Harle of Bexar County District Court freed Mr. Morton based on the DNA evidence and authorized an unusual process allowing his defense lawyers to investigate the prosecutor’s conduct in the original trial.

333 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:47:28pm

re: #332 goddamnedfrank

Prosecutorial misconduct, Texas style:

Unless a dozen or so prosecutors go to prison for a long time, I don't know what can possibly change.

334 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:47:42pm

re: #327 wlewisiii

"Recent turn towards..."

Hmm... I've been out of the loop, so I'll wait and see.

335 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:48:08pm

re: #326 Sergey Romanov

Yeah, it's almost as funny as that ole "Reagan destroyed USSR" meme.

I've po'd more than one right wing american by simply saying that Ronnie got lucky in that the Soviets went broke first (and not by much, either, when you look at the crash in GHWB's administration)... Gorby should be better thought of in his nation than he currently is - without his work they'd have been even worse off.

336 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:48:26pm

re: #334 Slumbering Behemoth

"Recent turn towards..."

Hmm... I've been out of the loop, so I'll wait and see.

It's OWS related. We weren't accusatory enough.

337 moderatelyradicalliberal  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:48:37pm

The Onion on Kim Jong-Un

[Link: www.theonion.com...]

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.

338 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:49:44pm

Live streaming tweets from Blogs of War

339 Varek Raith  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:52:22pm

re: #326 Sergey Romanov

Yeah, it's almost as funny as that ole "Reagan destroyed USSR" meme.

Image: Oh-snap-gif__3.jpg

340 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:53:53pm

re: #326 Sergey Romanov

Yeah, it's almost as funny as that ole "Reagan destroyed USSR" meme.

We all know Jimmy Carter did it.
//

341 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:53:56pm

re: #339 Varek Raith

Reagan is all like, pew pew pew.
Commies are all like, vee giv ap vee giv ap!
So it went.

342 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:54:47pm

re: #340 NJDhockeyfan

We all know Jimmy Carter did it.
//

You and the Voices? A good band name, btw!

///
/

343 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:55:53pm

re: #342 Sergey Romanov

You and the Voices? A good band name, btw!

///
/

That is a good band name.

344 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 9:59:52pm

re: #336 Sergey Romanov

It's OWS related. We weren't accusatory enough.

Dunno. Before I went on hiatus, it seemed there was all kinds of accusatory boot stomping when KT expressed even the tiniest of criticisms about OWS, no matter how valid.

Not that I agree with him completely on the subject. For instance, I do not agree that this 'movement', regardless of what I may think of it, will pose a threat to Obama's potential re-election. It's possible, but I think that would require a dark horse, third party candidate capable of peeling off a chunk of voters from Obama's base. I'm skeptical about that.

345 Nadnerb  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:00:33pm

re: #60 Gus 802

This is hilarious!! When I heard the news, I thought, oh jeez the nuts are going to run with this. That's probably what they're saying....

346 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:01:06pm

re: #344 Slumbering Behemoth

Dunno. Before I went on hiatus, it seemed there was all kinds of accusatory boot stomping when KT expressed even the tiniest of criticisms about OWS, no matter how valid.

Well, you know how it goes. Boys, wolves...

347 reine.de.tout  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:02:57pm

re: #344 Slumbering Behemoth

Dunno. Before I went on hiatus, it seemed there was all kinds of accusatory boot stomping when KT expressed even the tiniest of criticisms about OWS, no matter how valid.

Not that I agree with him completely on the subject. For instance, I do not agree that this 'movement', regardless of what I may think of it, will pose a threat to Obama's potential re-election. It's possible, but I think that would require a dark horse, third party candidate capable of peeling off a chunk of voters from Obama's base. I'm skeptical about that.

KT is now the official RWNJ of LGF. Can you believe it?

348 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:03:25pm
PDubCO RT @BlogsofWar: I would have caught this earlier but I spent 2 hours in the gym. Yes, I was surrounded by 20 TVs, but there were Kardashians on all of them.

Heh.

349 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:04:44pm

re: #348 NJDhockeyfan

Heh.

Are we sure this individual was out in public, and not in some horrible torture chamber?

350 tnguitarist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:05:02pm

California politician advocates assassination of Obama and family

351 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:06:50pm

re: #347 reine.de.tout

KT is now the official RWNJ of LGF. Can you believe it?

Sorry, entirely self-inflicted.

352 Dancing along the light of day  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:08:04pm

re: #347 reine.de.tout

KT is what ever you say he is!
He's back searching for & finding negative karma.
Merry Christmas to you & you family, my friend!

353 Velvet Elvis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:08:09pm

I'd like to dedicate a song:

Youtube Video
354 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:08:33pm

re: #350 tnguitarist

California politician advocates assassination of Obama and family

On Sunday, many Facebook users were greeted by the shocking spectacle of a California libertarian and Ron Paul supporter by the name of Jules Manson advocating for the assassination of President Barack Obama. Manson, a failed politician, recently ran for and lost a seat on the City of Carson’s City Council last March.

Well how about that.

355 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:09:16pm

re: #346 Sergey Romanov

Don't bring Petrov into this.

357 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:09:31pm

re: #350 tnguitarist

California politician advocates assassination of Obama and family

If you find yourself writing or saying the equivalent of "Surrender Dorothy" or "And your little dog, too," it's time to evaluate your life choices.

And stay away from buckets of water.

358 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:09:40pm

re: #344 Slumbering Behemoth

Dunno. Before I went on hiatus, it seemed there was all kinds of accusatory boot stomping when KT expressed even the tiniest of criticisms about OWS, no matter how valid.

Not that I agree with him completely on the subject. For instance, I do not agree that this 'movement', regardless of what I may think of it, will pose a threat to Obama's potential re-election. It's possible, but I think that would require a dark horse, third party candidate capable of peeling off a chunk of voters from Obama's base. I'm skeptical about that.

KT started with a semi-legitimate critique. After a week or so he started mentally associating everyone in OWS(at all locations) with the next door hippies whos badly maintained compost pile attracted rats that ate his frogs. Ever since his hate for everything OWS or associated (in his mind at least) has occluded any possible bit of sanity regarding the movement. They are all inherently evil and must be beaten to death. No, I am not exaggerating - this is how KT has come across in the past month or two.

It's an unfortunate over reaction that has left me unable to take him seriously about anything any more.

359 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:10:15pm

re: #347 reine.de.tout

I know. :(

I missed my chance.

How's the Roi?

360 engineer cat  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:11:19pm

i've had an interesting weekend myself. met a wonderful young lady through the most excellent introduction of jamming with her band for four hours

then got home at dawn in a giddy state, slept for four hours, and have spent the entire day feeling physically awful

sort of an evening out of the karma thing

361 tnguitarist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:11:54pm

re: #354 NJDhockeyfan

On Sunday, many Facebook users were greeted by the shocking spectacle of a California libertarian and Ron Paul supporter by the name of Jules Manson advocating for the assassination of President Barack Obama. Manson, a failed politician, recently ran for and lost a seat on the City of Carson’s City Council last March.

Well how about that.

It really opens a window into someone's soul. To call for violence against anyone, but especially children......

362 tnguitarist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:12:48pm

Guess I need to change my profile pic. I sold my Les Paul. :(

363 BeenHereAwhile  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:13:27pm

re: #275 NJDhockeyfan

re: #272 ProLifeLiberal

Japan too.
Part of me says that South Korea should just bum rush the North while the nation is still chaotic to prevent something horrible from happening, Nuclear or not.
"I don't think that would be a good idea. We don't know who has their finger on the nuclear button."
China would not allow any invasion of North Korea.
We found that out during the Korean war.
China also wants North Korea to maintain closed borders to keep migrating North Koreans from over whelming adjacent Chinese resources.

364 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:13:30pm

re: #351 Sergey Romanov

Meh. He was the most hated, left-wing, atheist, commie liberal before you, or even I, showed up here.

He's not much different now than he was then. Least as I can tell.

365 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:16:42pm

re: #364 Slumbering Behemoth

Meh. He was the most hated, left-wing, atheist, commie liberal before you, or even I, showed up here.

He's not much different now than he was then. Least as I can tell.

Well, I judge by what I see now, not what was then. Back then (long before I registered here) I defended him against accusations of racism by stalkers (the Hot Air incident). OWS-related outbursts were a bit shocking.

366 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:19:57pm

re: #358 wlewisiii

I suppose I'll wait and see. But I remain dubious about the alleged connection between OWS and the disgusting hippies' hipsters' compost heap.

367 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:21:20pm

re: #2 NJDhockeyfan

Over-work...on what?

Hot blonde, about five-nine.

368 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:23:12pm

This NK blog is keeping updates.

369 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:24:59pm

re: #16 Slumbering Behemoth

Under normal circumstances I feel it is in poor taste to applaud someone's death in a forum like this. For instance: I can't stand Micheal Moore, but I would never think to express joy at his passing in this forum.

Yet in the case of dictators? Fuck 'em. Never soon enough.

'People I don't like', fall under the category of 'Be polite about their passing'.

'Kim Jong Il' falls under the category of 'ding dong, the witch is dead'.

370 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:25:13pm

re: #364 Slumbering Behemoth

Meh. He was the most hated, left-wing, atheist, commie liberal before you, or even I, showed up here.

He's not much different now than he was then. Least as I can tell.

Really? Then that shows, to me, how little was actually known about the left then. He has no blinking clue what the hard left is like. And that is, seriously, putting it as nicely as I can find a way to.

He has no clue. Hilariously so if you have ever dealt with any lefties more hardcore than, say, some young idiot selling "Socialist Worker".

As a result I have been really unable to take his complaints about OWS as anything other than cheese-less whines.

There is much to be concerned about in the far left just as there is in the far right. But fools like KT?

371 Dancing along the light of day  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:25:17pm

re: #367 SanFranciscoZionist

Hot blonde, about five-nine.

With big tits, real ones!
LOL!

372 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:26:24pm

re: #24 Killgore Trout

Castro and Chavez can't be far behind.

Well, Castro is a hundred and thirty or some damn thing. Great genes, though.

373 William Barnett-Lewis  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:26:30pm

G'Night all.

374 Dancing along the light of day  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:26:46pm

re: #369 SanFranciscoZionist

'People I don't like', fall under the category of 'Be polite about their passing'.

'Kim Jong Il' falls under the category of 'ding dong, the witch is dead'.

And, you'd have poured a bucket of water on her to accomplish it!
BRAVO!

375 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:27:27pm

re: #369 SanFranciscoZionist

'Kim Jong Il' falls under the category of 'ding dong, the witch is dead'.

My first thought, but I was determined not to link that. He doesn't deserve it.

376 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:29:23pm

Once again good ole Klaus is useful:

Youtube Video
377 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:32:32pm

re: #51 _RememberTonyC

Maybe he died of "roneriness"

I gotta rent that and watch it again.

378 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:32:54pm

re: #369 SanFranciscoZionist

'People I don't like', fall under the category of 'Be polite about their passing'.

'Kim Jong Il' falls under the category of 'ding dong, the witch is dead'.

This song is dedicated to Kim Jong Il and his next of Kim who takes his place.

Youtube Video
379 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:34:43pm

re: #73 NJDhockeyfan

No more bark soup and bugs for dinner would be a great start.

Unfortunately, to North Koreans, that's a familiar situation. It means you've run out of bark and bugs.

380 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:35:55pm

re: #379 SanFranciscoZionist

Unfortunately, to North Koreans, that's a familiar situation. It means you've run out of bark and bugs.

You know how to raise the Christmas spirit, don't you? /

381 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:36:49pm

re: #97 Targetpractice, Worst of Both Worlds

So, basically much of Eastern Europe, post USSR.

A lot worse than that ever was, if the reports reflect at all accurately what's been going on in there.

382 engineer cat  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:37:36pm

roneriness

i've heard that the han liver is the wrongest liver in korea

(a friend of mine told me that the korean tour guide said exactly that)

383 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:37:54pm

re: #114 Obdicut

That's assuming another dictator doesn't step into place and stay in the same medieval groove.

I don't see them opening up now.

384 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:38:10pm

re: #381 SanFranciscoZionist

A lot worse than that ever was, if the reports reflect at all accurately what's been going on in there.

Much worse. Basically, an almost literal population of slaves. Life in commie-occupied Europe was not anywhere near normal, but it wasn't this.

385 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:39:00pm

re: #370 wlewisiii

Really? Then that shows, to me, how little was actually known about the left then.

Not really, it only shows the atmospheric consensus of this forum, at that time.

386 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:42:00pm

re: #226 EmmmieG

If you read the afterwards to Red Scarf Girl, people who live under a Cult of Personality actually worship the individual and cannot see how oppressed they are.

That could be genuine.

One my mother's former coworkers remembers crying her eyes out when Stalin died. It was genuine.

We can't imagine. If you're not raised in this kind of a thing, you just can't imagine.

387 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:42:15pm
UPDATE 11: (via Luke) The day that Kim Jong-il’s death was announced (Dec 19th) is South Korean President Lee Myun-bak’s birthday!

Coincidence?

388 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:42:31pm

re: #387 NJDhockeyfan

Coincidence?

ha

389 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:42:44pm

re: #231 Gus 802

Ladies and gentlemen of North Korea! I present to you the next Dear Leader of the Workers' Party of North Korea...

[drumroll]

Ron Paul-il!

//

Ya know, let him go for it. It'll get him out of our hair, and frankly, he probably can't screw up the place much worse than it's already screwed up.

390 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:44:07pm

re: #274 NJDhockeyfan

China Support for Kim Jong Un Key to Stabilization, ING Says

How much do we know about Kim Jong Un?

Not enough.

391 engineer cat  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:45:45pm

what are the odds that kim jong un will have any actual power?

je pense qui'l serait un roi faineant

392 Alexzander  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:46:33pm

Evening everyone.

393 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:46:52pm

re: #391 engineer dog

what are the odds that kim jong un will have any actual power?

It's looking pretty good from reading all the reports right now.

394 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:47:32pm

re: #356 Sergey Romanov

gah

Two hours after making the offensive post, and after being bombarded by hundreds of Facebook users outraged by his racist call to assassinate the leader of the free world, Manson made a bizarre Facebook post, presumably in the hopes of justifying his unjustifiable rant. There Mason argued that using the word “n-----” does not make him a racist. However, most reasonable people would disagree with Manson’s assertion.

Jesus. I was hoping he was going to claim his page got hacked.

395 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:49:05pm

re: #394 SanFranciscoZionist

> There Mason argued that using the word “n---” does not make him a racist.

Did he forget the whole assassination thing?

396 engineer cat  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:49:11pm

re: #393 NJDhockeyfan

It's looking pretty good from reading all the reports right now.

a 27 year old playboy who looks like fatty arbuckle? i find it hard to believe...

397 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:52:06pm

re: #395 Sergey Romanov

> There Mason argued that using the word “n---” does not make him a racist.

Did he forget the whole assassination thing?

That doesn't make him a racist either! He'd have advocated killing the President and his family no matter what color they were!!

//Oh God, this is just not good.

///He had to be from California, right?

398 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:53:28pm

re: #396 engineer dog

a 27 year old playboy who looks like fatty arbuckle? i find it hard to believe...

Anything is possible in that part of the world.

399 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:54:12pm

People annoy me. A commenter writes:

BOTH SIDES -
Every story has two or more sides, unfortunately in our corporate media, we rarely hear from both sides. Usually we hear what our experts or journalists have to say about this country or that country, but rarely hear from those countries or their representatives, on what they have to say about themselves. How can we possibly know the whole truth, when we only hear from one side? Imagine if in a court case the judge only heard testimony from the accuser, without hearing from the accused?
Western news reports about North Korea, may be true, but how do we know, without hearing North Korea's side of the story? Can everything we hear about North Korea from western sources be trusted, when the west is also determined to bring down or destabilize North Korea? Can North Korea's enemies be reliable sources of information regarding North Korea?
Indeed, North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, but not by choice. Western countries have pressured many countries from dealing with North Korea. And North Korea has been hampered by sanctions, imposed by the west for daring to have what the west has in abundance - nuclear weapons.
North Korea is accused of taking a hardline by the west, which has also taken a very hardline against it? Can those who threaten North Korea, tell North Korea how to defend itself from their threats?
North Korea is not a paradise, but let's be objective.

400 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:54:20pm

re: #395 Sergey Romanov

That's my California. Full of love, light, hippies, surfers, pot heads, liberals, and... DEAR GAWD!! IS THAT A NOOSE!!!
//

401 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:55:25pm

re: #399 SanFranciscoZionist

People annoy me. A commenter writes:

BOTH SIDES -
Every story has two or more sides, unfortunately in our corporate media, we rarely hear from both sides. Usually we hear what our experts or journalists have to say about this country or that country, but rarely hear from those countries or their representatives, on what they have to say about themselves. How can we possibly know the whole truth, when we only hear from one side? Imagine if in a court case the judge only heard testimony from the accuser, without hearing from the accused?
Western news reports about North Korea, may be true, but how do we know, without hearing North Korea's side of the story? Can everything we hear about North Korea from western sources be trusted, when the west is also determined to bring down or destabilize North Korea? Can North Korea's enemies be reliable sources of information regarding North Korea?
Indeed, North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, but not by choice. Western countries have pressured many countries from dealing with North Korea. And North Korea has been hampered by sanctions, imposed by the west for daring to have what the west has in abundance - nuclear weapons.
North Korea is accused of taking a hardline by the west, which has also taken a very hardline against it? Can those who threaten North Korea, tell North Korea how to defend itself from their threats?
North Korea is not a paradise, but let's be objective.

That's the HuffPo. Over at Fox, the commentariat refuses to be diverted from their usual concerns: He died laughing at Ovomit... he couldn't control himself and popped a vein.

402 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:56:52pm

Some folks have a sense of humor, too: such a terrible loss...and right before the holidays. my thoughts are with his family in this difficult time.

403 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:57:45pm

Armed Troops at 4m Intervals

Following on from news of the closure of North Korea’s border with China, Daily NK has learned that armed soldiers have been deployed en masse to the center of the city of Musan.

A source from the border city in North Hamkyung Province told Daily NK this lunchtime, “Troops were mobilized from 9AM this morning and they chased out all the grasshopper traders from the alleyways around the market here. The people, who didn’t know the reason for it, all withdrew to watch and wait.”

Grasshopper traders are those traders who operate in the alleyways outside officially sanctioned markets in North Korea. As reported earlier this afternoon by Daily NK, official markets have been shuttered by the North Korean authorities.

“Now there are armed troops standing guard at four meter intervals downtown, and every available National Security Agency and People’s Safety Ministry agent is out there on guard duty,” the source added.

According to the source, a number of long sirens rang out immediately after the news of Kim Jong Il’s death was reported by state media, and it was after this that troops and the security forces emerged onto the streets and ordered everyone to return to their homes.

“Not even children are allowed to go out,” the source said.

404 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 10:59:23pm

Another goodie: Kim Jong is dead? I didn't know he was Il!

405 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:02:43pm

Here is North Korea's official website. Not very impressive.

406 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:04:42pm

Brief review--HuffPo readers are pleased he's dead, with an occasional "But America's not perfect, who are we to judge!" wail going up.

Fox is split between, "Pleased he's dead" and "We still hate Obama".

407 Dancing along the light of day  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:08:14pm

re: #404 SanFranciscoZionist

Another goodie: Kim Jong is dead? I didn't know he was Il!

You know, you are just very, very sick. And that is what I love about you!
Yes, I realize the quotes were from another site.
Floral

408 NJDhockeyfan  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:08:36pm

I am slipping out of consciousness. It's either from being tired or from multiple shots of bourbon. I'm going to bed. I hope I don't wake up to WWIII.

Cheers!

409 Alexzander  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:08:56pm

North Korea is a testament to the fact that as social groups, we are vulnerable (if not disposed) to being run by mad men.

410 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:11:01pm

I don't know what it was like for anyone else in California, but for me...

I was born and raised in the Bay Area, from '71 to '93, and for the large chunk of the early part, you couldn't swing a dead rat without hitting a racial supremacist. Whether it be NOI or Neo-Nazi, or some other brand new thing that you just heard of, and wished like hell you hadn't.

Ain't no special place, full of unicorns, surfers, and sentient plant life. It's full of the same old assholes you'd find anywhere else on the planet. And just enough cool folk to help you forget the knee deep garbage you're standing in. Just like anywhere else.

411 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:21:29pm

re: #410 Slumbering Behemoth

I don't know what it was like for anyone else in California, but for me...

I was born and raised in the Bay Area, from '71 to '93, and for the large chunk of the early part, you couldn't swing a dead rat without hitting a racial supremacist. Whether it be NOI or Neo-Nazi, or some other brand new thing that you just heard of, and wished like hell you hadn't.

Ain't no special place, full of unicorns, surfers, and sentient plant life. It's full of the same old assholes you'd find anywhere else on the planet. And just enough cool folk to help you forget the knee deep garbage you're standing in. Just like anywhere else.

California is a lot like everywhere else, except for the parts that are like nowhere else--which makes it just like anywhere else.

I'm just embarassed for my state, in a routine kind of way, and also, pointing out that if this asshole were from, say, Alabama, everyone would be saying how typical it was. But we got these guys everywhere.

As a friend of mine likes to say, "We don't need all kinds. We just have all kinds."

412 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:31:25pm

re: #411 SanFranciscoZionist

And it is embarrassing. A damn shame, really. And I bet there are plenty of people in those other states, native born, that find this kind of crap embarrassing.

Where I live now, in my neck of CA, 'legend' has it that not far from my town there was the HQ for the CA branch of the KKK. Not 1880 recently, but 1980 recently.

413 SanFranciscoZionist  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:33:30pm

re: #412 Slumbering Behemoth

And it is embarrassing. A damn shame, really. And I bet there are plenty of people in those other states, native born, that find this kind of crap embarrassing.

Where I live now, in my neck of CA, 'legend' has it that not far from my town there was the HQ for the CA branch of the KKK. Not 1880 recently, but 1980 recently.

Family legend has it that my great-grandfather tried to join the Klan back in the twenties--this was in Fresno--and chickened out.

414 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:39:03pm

At any rate, CA is a big state, full of such diversity from north to south, east to west, that it crushes all stereotypes about what it means to live on the west coast.

Not sure why I'm on this rant right now. I blame...

415 engineer cat  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:53:40pm

re: #414 Slumbering Behemoth

At any rate, CA is a big state, full of such diversity from north to south, east to west, that it crushes all stereotypes about what it means to live on the west coast.

Not sure why I'm on this rant right now. I blame...

if we seceded, we'd be one of the most dynamic and interesting countries in the world

hell, the flag already says 'california republic'

416 Big Joe  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:54:38pm

re: #315 wlewisiii

Missed this earlier. I agree. But I think they made one big mistake - they changed the ending.

In the book, that old officer who so gently talks him into surrendering? He takes a pistol and executes him in the last scene as a rabid dog, too dangerous to let live.

That was far more real than anything in any of those disgusting movies.

Wow, didn't know it was from a book.

417 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Sun, Dec 18, 2011 11:58:22pm

re: #413 SanFranciscoZionist

Chickened out, or came to his senses? I've heard similar stories, and yes, Fresno was the spot.

And the central valley is like that. Cliques at JC campuses broken off by skin.

And even though you could find that kind of shit back in the '80s, in the bay where I was born...

I hung out with a clique of stoners that had three standards:
1) Do you like Iron Maiden?
2) Do you smoke weed?
3) Do you know not to snitch about points one and two?

Certainly the social dynamic was more complicated than that, but there was barely much else.

418 engineer cat  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:04:33am

(from the bear flag revolt proclamation of independence)

He also solemnly declares his object in the Second place to be to invite all peaceable and good Citizens of California who are friendly to the maintenance of good order and equal rights (and I do hereby invite them to repair to my camp at Sonoma without delay) to assist us in establishing and perpetuating a "Republican Government" which shall secure to all: civil and religious liberty; which shall detect and punish crime; which shall encourage industry, virtue and literature; which shall leave unshackled by Fetters, Commerce, Agriculture, and Mechanism.
He further declares that he relies upon the rectitude of our intentions; the favor of Heaven and the bravery of those who are bound to and associated with him, by the principle of self preservation; by the love of truth; and by the hatred of tyranny for his hopes of success.
He further declares that he believes that a Government to be prosperous and happyfying in its tendency must originate with its people who are friendly to its existence. That its Citizens are its Guardians, its officers are its Servants, and its Glory their reward.

419 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:05:52am

re: #417 Slumbering Behemoth

Chickened out, or came to his senses? I've heard similar stories, and yes, Fresno was the spot.

I guess it depends how you define it. He wanted a group to sit around with and bitch about black folks. They were more...action oriented. Legend has it he drove to the sheriff's house after excusing himself, to report that there were crazy people who were talking about killing folks.

The sheriff told him, "Yes. I know. Go home. We're not going to get the Klan out of Fresno County tonight."

420 Gretchen G.Tiger  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:06:12am

Hello all!

;|

421 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:06:35am

re: #415 engineer dog

For all it's faults, foils, bubbles, and boils, I'd fight to see CA remain in The Union. Despite all the stupid, disparaging, politically weighted slings we suffer, we have much to offer this great nation. And for all the arrogance that this might imply, I believe she would stumble and starve without us.

422 HappyWarrior  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:09:05am

Who takes his place as World's most crazy dictator? He's been a winner in my paegant for a while now. And rumors I hear are his son who is only a few years older than myself (under 30) is taking his place.

423 Gretchen G.Tiger  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:09:34am

re: #421 Slumbering Behemoth

For all it's faults, foils, bubbles, and boils, I'd fight to see CA remain in The Union. Despite all the stupid, disparaging, politically weighted slings we suffer, we have much to offer this great nation. And for all the arrogance that this might imply, I believe she would stumble and starve without us.

In one of the Heinlein books, the Republic of California is it's own country. It's citizens decided it was discrimination to require a college degree for some jobs, so it legislated everyone a college degree.

I always thought that was so funny. For some reason, I think of that everytime I hear anything about California.

424 Gretchen G.Tiger  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:19:30am

Stop the War on Drugs:

Now, it must be obvious to a mentally retarded marmoset that nothing can stop the flow of drugs to the United States. Any drug anyone might want is available at reasonable cost to anyone who wants it.

When the cartels make $40 billion a year (a common figure, however arrived at) there will always be those wanting to work in the trade.

Am interested in the figure.

425 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:27:34am

re: #419 SanFranciscoZionist

One story I recall...

A man in a desperate place. The death of a child, followed by divorce. A heart so full of pain and hate, questioning the world around him, and looking for an outlet.

He went to a certain convention, seeking relief. And he found it.

Not a relief in the hateful words or the schismatic conventions expressed there, but a relief in knowing that no matter how much hurt he felt, he could never be the kind of bitter, fucked up haters he found himself surrounded by.

426 Gretchen G.Tiger  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:53:13am

re: #425 Slumbering Behemoth

You killed the thread.

THREAD KILLER!

427 Slumbering Behemoth Stinks  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 12:58:44am

re: #426 ggt

The world is a lonely place...

Youtube Video

Night Lizards.

428 Gretchen G.Tiger  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 1:08:40am

Monday Morning Puppy

Sleep well all!

429 researchok  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 1:28:19am

Morning, all

430 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 4:35:02am

So, are they going to taxiderm his hide and put it on display in a glass coffin?

431 AK-47%  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 4:37:45am

re: #415 engineer dog

if we seceded, we'd be one of the most dynamic and interesting countries in the world

hell, the flag already says 'california republic'

re: #429 researchok

Morning, all

Then Northern Calfornia would secede from Southern California, Mendocino would become its own Republic, as would the Tijuana/San Diego Free Trade Zone...

432 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 4:53:32am

And to think, just yesterday he was listed in Parade Magazine as the "Worlds Worst Despot".

433 Shropshire_Slasher  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 4:53:42am

re: #430 Alouette
I hope so!
I wonder if Kim's populace will get a fresh change of pajamas for the funeral?

434 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 4:58:55am

2011 has been an outstanding year for the river Styx and bad guys.

435 Shropshire_Slasher  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:07:50am

This made me laugh till I got dizzy:
[Link: www.timesunion.com...]
Hmmmm, white powder in a donut shop PANIC!!!!!!

436 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:08:36am

re: #434 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

2011 has been an outstanding year for the river Styx and bad guys.

And for good guys.

Like it is every year, unfortunately.

437 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:11:31am

re: #436 Obdicut

Yeah, but to get a trifecta like OBL, Q-Daffy, and 'Lil Kim is notable; dontcha think?

438 steve_davis  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:15:04am

re: #119 Sergey Romanov

wles is right though. It's about perception, not so much facts. In a 2010 poll 41% of Rumanians said they would vote for Ceausescu if he ran for a President today. Makes you think.

Be careful. Iowa is still a couple of weeks away. Now that Gingrich is falling, there's still time for a mavericky totalitarian like Ceaucescu to jump into the frame. And he's Rumanian, so he may be a vampire, which means other than the lack of daytime appearances, he'd have little trouble campaigning.

439 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:31:42am

yo

440 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:33:02am

re: #359 Slumbering Behemoth

I know. :(

I missed my chance.

How's the Roi?

Just coming back in!

The Roi is fine thank you! Though he won't be home for our Christmas holiday; he is offshore trying to help Shell bring in some oil so we can all run our cars.

I know those oil companies (persons!) are persona non grata 'round these parts these days - but these operations do run 24/7/365 and will until alternate energy sources are found. A lot of folks do without holidays so that we can get to work and take our trips. Me? I'm thankful for 'em.

441 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:40:25am

re: #437 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Yeah, but to get a trifecta like OBL, Q-Daffy, and 'Lil Kim is notable; dontcha think?

The death of bad people doesn't please me near as much as the death of good people saddens me.

I don't know what that says about me.

442 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:41:02am

re: #440 reine.de.tout

I may be able to take Christmas off.

Maybe.

443 kirkspencer  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:42:15am

re: #416 mracb

Wow, didn't know it was from a book.

Yes. Though I disagree with wlewisiii about the book being "better". Different, yes. But if they'd stuck to the book, the movie would have been one of those art house classics that get tiny box office numbers and the sort of 'in the know' praise that drives most people away.

I mean, consider that ending. Rambo was going to commit suicide (by blowing himself up with a stick of dynamite), but the sheriff couldn't stop chasing him. Rambo much prefers death at the hands of the sheriff; not macho honor, but death at the hands of someone who understands him. (That last phrase, by the way, should tell you enough about the rest of the book to understand my "art house classic" above.) They shoot each other, Rambo, who is DISAPPOINTED he won, goes back to lighting the dynamite only to be shot by the dying sheriff. Sheriff has expository scene of sympathy and admiration for Rambo, then dies.

444 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:45:52am

re: #443 kirkspencer

I think the book was, in ways, more macho than the film. Kind of reminds me of Mishima.

445 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:46:35am

re: #442 Obdicut

I may be able to take Christmas off.

Maybe.

Aren't you atheist, though?
I mean, I know you prolly still want holidays, but Christmas shouldn't mean anything special, any day would do, wouldn't it? I always miss the Roi especially when he's got to work Christmas. Followed by Thanksgiving.

446 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:50:43am

re: #441 Obdicut

The death of bad people doesn't please me near as much as the death of good people saddens me.

I don't know what that says about me.

Says yer a bleedin' heart, Forester drivin', pot smokin', patchouli oil sportin', tree huggin', hemp wearin', anti-gun totin', Alinski readin', God hatin', tofu eatin', kum-bah-yah singin', birkenstockin flopping hippie.

Or, it says you're kinder than me.

One or the other.

447 Shropshire_Slasher  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:51:21am

re: #445 reine.de.tout

I think the atheist should suffer on Christmas, for our sins.
/

448 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:51:49am

re: #445 reine.de.tout

Aren't you atheist, though?

Sure.

I mean, I know you prolly still want holidays, but Christmas shouldn't mean anything special, any day would do, wouldn't it?

Nope.

Christmas is not celebrated primarily as a religious holiday. It's mostly just, you know, a shared holiday. It's not just a day off. The values of Christmas-- charity, thankfulness, gift-giving-- aren't tied to any religion at all. I can celebrate them every bit as much as a religious person can.

I also dislike the commercialization of Christmas a hell of a lot. My great memories of Christmas aren't the presents I received, but being with family and friends and feeling that togetherness.

449 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:52:07am

re: #447 Shropshire_Slasher

I think the atheist should suffer on Christmas, for our sins.
/

I don't.
But it's not like it's anything special for anybody but a Christian, ya know?

450 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:52:07am

re: #445 reine.de.tout

Shh... that's how we got the Grinch. Christmas morning... heart five sizes too big... all that....

451 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:52:20am

re: #446 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

God I hate patchouli.

"Dirt that's been fucked by a hobo"-- Patton Oswalt's definition of patchouli.

452 Sionainn  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:53:42am

re: #448 Obdicut

Sure.

Nope.

Christmas is not celebrated primarily as a religious holiday. It's mostly just, you know, a shared holiday. It's not just a day off. The values of Christmas-- charity, thankfulness, gift-giving-- aren't tied to any religion at all. I can celebrate them every bit as much as a religious person can.

I also dislike the commercialization of Christmas a hell of a lot. My great memories of Christmas aren't the presents I received, but being with family and friends and feeling that togetherness.

I'm an atheist and I celebrate Christmas for the above reasons as well.

453 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:54:34am

re: #445 reine.de.tout

Aren't you atheist, though?
I mean, I know you prolly still want holidays, but Christmas shouldn't mean anything special, any day would do, wouldn't it? I always miss the Roi especially when he's got to work Christmas. Followed by Thanksgiving.

Speaking for myself, I don't celebrate Christmas in any way, but our New Year is basically a secular version of your Christmas, which apparently was introduced specifically as a replacement for the old holiday. So, in general, it's just a joyful celebration, with beautiful Christmas trees, good food, alcohol, night walks, fireworks, gifts, etc. After the fall of USSR Orthodox Christmas was introduced in January, as an official holiday, but it hasn't assumed the status of the "new "New Year"" - the New Year eve is still the biggest celebration. (Although I haven't been celebrating NY Russian style for years, because for years I've been leaving Russia during the holiday season).

454 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:54:42am

re: #448 Obdicut

Sure.

Nope.

Christmas is not celebrated primarily as a religious holiday. It's mostly just, you know, a shared holiday. It's not just a day off. The values of Christmas-- charity, thankfulness, gift-giving-- aren't tied to any religion at all. I can celebrate them every bit as much as a religious person can.

I also dislike the commercialization of Christmas a hell of a lot. My great memories of Christmas aren't the presents I received, but being with family and friends and feeling that togetherness.

Hanukkah and Christmas coincide this year and I'm looking forward to getting together with a bunch of my kids. We also have a lot of family birthdays clustered at Hanukkah: 2 grandsons, 1 granddaughter, and me!

455 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:56:01am

re: #454 Alouette

My dad's birthday is on the 26th, my brother's is on the 28th, and my wife's is on the 30th. We just need to have a significant event on the 27th and 29th and we'll have the whole week sewn up in one long string of celebration.

456 funky chicken  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:58:41am

How sad that he had a chance to groom a successor before his death. The kid looks like a chip off the old block.

457 kirkspencer  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:59:02am

re: #444 Obdicut

Depends on your definition of macho, I think. Me, I always thought it was spanish for "asshole". /

I haven't read much Mishima. I've had the Sea of Fertility recommended to me a few times, but Spring Snow bored me most of the way through and I couldn't muster the stamina to finish Runaway Horses.

458 AK-47%  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 5:59:37am

re: #456 funky chicken

sure does:

[Link: thegamesgonecrazy.blogspot.com...]

459 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:00:24am

re: #456 funky chicken

How sad that he had a chance to groom a successor before his death. The kid looks like a chip off the old block.

Let's just hope he didn't think dad was "getting soft in his old age".

460 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:00:29am

re: #457 kirkspencer

I don't actually like Mishima much either. But I just mean that the book's focus on the intense, very male relationship between the Sheriff and Rambo is something that fits into a realm I'd call 'macho'. Not cardboard-cutout macho, but a real recognition of a variety of male-male relationship that's based on highly masculine attributes.

461 AK-47%  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:05:13am

I think this has been posted here before: KJI Looking at things:

[Link: kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com...]

from now on it is Kim Jong Ill looking at the lid of his coffin.

462 Fat Bastard Vegetarian  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:05:37am

re: #404 SanFranciscoZionist

Another goodie: Kim Jong is dead? I didn't know he was Il!

That made me happy. Heh.

463 AK-47%  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:06:46am

Kim Jong-After-A-Long-Illness

464 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:09:00am

re: #410 Slumbering Behemoth

I don't know what it was like for anyone else in California, but for me...

People should not be surprised to find all manner of confederates here. I have grown up with them, gone to school with them, lived next door to them, and worked with them all my life.

They are every bit as vile as the ones elsewhere.

465 kirkspencer  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:09:25am

re: #460 Obdicut

Ah. I'm not sure I agree about that for First Blood. The relationship is at a remove, at best, and is predominately one way. (On the part of the sheriff.)

466 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:11:18am

re: #449 reine.de.tout

I don't.
But it's not like it's anything special for anybody but a Christian, ya know?

Not really, given that it's imposed on everyone in some way in our country.

One may not celebrate it, but it is basically impossible to ignore it.

467 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:13:24am

re: #465 kirkspencer

Maybe it's been too long since I read it.

468 AK-47%  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:15:32am

re: #466 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin

Not really, given that it's imposed on everyone in some way in our country.

One may not celebrate it, but it is basically impossible to ignore it.

A lot of "War-on-Christians" just overlook the fact that there has been some sort of winter solstice festival in nearly every northern culture long before it was pre-empted by the Feast of the Nativity.

469 prairiefire  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:16:29am

I love patchouli oil. I wore it almost every day of Reagan's second term as a silent olfactory protest.

470 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:16:56am

re: #447 Shropshire_Slasher

I think the atheist should suffer on Christmas, for our sins.
/

We do suffer the constant overexposure to trecly Christmas carols.

471 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:18:04am

re: #450 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

Shh... that's how we got the Grinch. Christmas morning... heart five sizes too big... all that...

Doesn't too many cookies and then a latte' or two cause that effect as well?

472 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:18:37am

re: #470 oaktree

We do suffer the constant overexposure to trecly Christmas carols.

Let's all talk about the Worst holiday songs, ever!

473 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:19:20am

re: #469 prairiefire

It is true that there's such thing as high-quality, nice smelling patchouli. But most of it is cheap stuff that goes stale so quickly and ranks up the place.

474 AK-47%  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:19:34am

I got no problem with peace on Earth and good will to all. And even if I do not believe in your God or your version thereof, I got no problem with you wishing me his/her blessing.

475 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:19:54am

re: #445 reine.de.tout

Aren't you atheist, though?
I mean, I know you prolly still want holidays, but Christmas shouldn't mean anything special, any day would do, wouldn't it? I always miss the Roi especially when he's got to work Christmas. Followed by Thanksgiving.

We celebrate the solistace and getting family together.

476 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:21:01am

re: #473 Obdicut

It is true that there's such thing as high-quality, nice smelling patchouli. But most of it is cheap stuff that goes stale so quickly and ranks up the place.

Can you name a popular fragrance that includes patchouli?

477 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:21:09am

re: #472 Alouette

This is my most-hated Christmas song, that luckily almost never gets played.

Please, Daddy (Don’t Get Drunk This Christmas)

Youtube Video
478 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:21:37am

re: #476 Alouette

Can you name a popular fragrance that includes patchouli?

No.

479 kirkspencer  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:22:12am

re: #467 Obdicut

In fairness it's been a couple of decades for me as well, so it could be me who is misremembering.

480 prairiefire  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:22:51am

"It's a marshmallow world in the winter, when the snow comes a tumblin' down."

481 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:22:55am

re: #472 Alouette

Let's all talk about the Worst holiday songs, ever!

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.

End of discussion.

482 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:23:48am

My most hated holiday song:

"Jingle Bells" sung "scat" style. For some reason, this is the ONLY version of "Jingle Bells" that is played over the mall loudspeakers.

I hate "Jingle Bells" sung any style but the "scat" version just makes me want to run screaming out of the store.

483 AK-47%  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:23:50am

re: #481 oaktree

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.

End of discussion.

One of those songs that makes you dread tuning into an AM radio station in December...

484 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:26:42am

re: #482 Alouette

My most hated holiday song:

"Jingle Bells" sung "scat" style. For some reason, this is the ONLY version of "Jingle Bells" that is played over the mall loudspeakers.

I hate "Jingle Bells" sung any style but the "scat" version just makes me want to run screaming out of the store.

Oh yes. At this point it's listening to versions to see who butchers it the least trying to be original and trendy. Sort of like listening to the National Anthem at sporting events nowadays for the same reason.

The latter went from a group experience (essentially someone leading the crowd in singing it) to a sort of egotistical performance art.

485 AK-47%  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:27:46am

re: #481 oaktree

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer.

End of discussion.

And that hideous Natalie Cole Xmas song that you cannot escape on FM radio...

486 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:28:49am

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year".

Um, no it's not.

487 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:28:58am

re: #484 oaktree

Oh yes. At this point it's listening to versions to see who butchers it the least trying to be original and trendy. Sort of like listening to the National Anthem at sporting events nowadays for the same reason.

The latter went from a group experience (essentially someone leading the crowd in singing it) to a sort of egotistical performance art.

Every celebrity has to cut a "Christmas" album with their own unique stylings of the classics. For a torture session that surpasses even waterboarding, suspected terrorists could have headsets clamped over their ears and forced to listen to Justin Bieber warbling "Chestnuts Roasting" over and over and over again.

488 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:30:02am

That Paul McCartney "Wonderful Christmas Time" song. Gah.

489 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:31:58am

re: #487 Alouette

Every celebrity has to cut a "Christmas" album with their own unique stylings of the classics. For a torture session that surpasses even waterboarding, suspected terrorists could have headsets clamped over their ears and forced to listen to Justin Bieber warbling "Chestnuts Roasting" over and over and over again.

Hmm, and I probably actually have reduced exposure. Don't listen to them at home. Do most of my shopping on-line and thus am not in the mall/stores. And listen to NPR or CDs when driving the car.

OTOH, my SIL *likes* listening to Christmas music. So I'll get be getting a heavy dose when I head up to my brother's place in a day or two for the holidays. Though if I avoid driving anywhere with her or her home office I can probably avoid an overdose until Christmas Day.

490 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:33:25am

re: #486 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin

"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year".

Um, no it's not.

You're right.

Youtube Video
491 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:33:52am

re: #488 Alouette

That Paul McCartney "Wonderful Christmas Time" song. Gah.

Hmm, would stocks in the center of a mall be considered cruel and unusual punishment? Said terrorists would be exposed to Christmas music, mall rats, Western consumer culture, and probably a preacher or two at some point.

492 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:34:21am

re: #489 oaktree

Hmm, and I probably actually have reduced exposure. Don't listen to them at home. Do most of my shopping on-line and thus am not in the mall/stores. And listen to NPR or CDs when driving the car.

OTOH, my SIL *likes* listening to Christmas music. So I'll get be getting a heavy dose when I head up to my brother's place in a day or two for the holidays. Though if I avoid driving anywhere with her or her home office I can probably avoid an overdose until Christmas Day.

I avoid the malls this time of year, but I do go grocery shopping. WalMart seems to have these songs on a loop: "Jingle Bell Rock," "Rockin Around The Christmas Tree," "Chestnuts Roasting," "Winter Wonderland," "Jingle Bells (scat version)" rinse & repeat

Last week I had to run into WalMart for ten minutes. TEN MINUTES! The "Jingle Bells scat" went on and on and on.

493 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:36:02am

re: #492 Alouette

I avoid the malls this time of year, but I do go grocery shopping. WalMart seems to have these songs on a loop: "Jingle Bell Rock," "Rockin Around The Christmas Tree," "Chestnuts Roasting," "Winter Wonderland," "Jingle Bells (scat version)" rinse & repeat

That's my exposure so far. Restaurants/delis playing FM station doing 24hr/day Xmas music since before Thanksgiving. Plus Target playing the same stuff as Walmart. I don't recall what Wegman's was playing, if anything at all - but probably more of the same.

494 funky chicken  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:36:14am

re: #396 engineer dog

a 27 year old playboy who looks like fatty arbuckle? i find it hard to believe...

His mistresses get to eat and stay out of the gulag. They may even get to bring food home to their families, if they are one of his favorites. It's an evil place, run by evil people.

495 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:37:34am

I am so staying out of WalMart from now on.

496 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:40:46am

re: #495 Alouette

I am so staying out of WalMart from now on.

Other main exposure is commercial versions of carols on TV with alternate lyrics and/or simply making use of the songs. For example, "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" for selling cars, or those annoying cell phone commercials with pink eyebrowed "elves".

And you also get stuff like Bette Midler being hired as a caroler. My brain did not need that.

497 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:41:09am

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".
ugh.

Easier for me to describe my faves - which is what we sing in Mass during the Christmas season, which is NOT what you hear at the mall.

498 garhighway  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:41:41am

re: #494 funky chicken

His mistresses get to eat and stay out of the gulag. They may even get to bring food home to their families, if they are one of his favorites. It's an evil place, run by evil people.

It's clear that in a nation stricken with famine, that kid hasn't missed any meals.

499 funky chicken  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:41:55am

re: #492 Alouette

Just stay out of WalMart. I find that piece of advice works every day of the year.

500 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:42:24am

We Three Kings of Orient Are
Tried to Light a Rubber Cigar
It was loaded, it exploded . . .

oops. Not really a Christmas song, is it?

501 Daniel Ballard  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:42:39am

Washington (CNN) -- House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday that he opposed a temporary extension of a payroll tax cut, saying the two-month plan passed by the Senate "is just kicking the can down the road."

Suddenly that's an issue? I just got a new windshield for my truck. It's less transparent than that line o crap.

502 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:43:48am

re: #496 oaktree

Other main exposure is commercial versions of carols on TV with alternate lyrics and/or simply making use of the songs. For example, "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" for selling cars, or those annoying cell phone commercials with pink eyebrowed "elves".

And you also get stuff like Bette Midler being hired as a caroler. My brain did not need that.

My favorite holiday advert is the Marshall's/TJ Maxx with a flash mob running through the mall, and the gay guys skipping with their shopping bags. That commercial is Teh Awesome!

Youtube Video
503 William Barnett-Lewis  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:43:59am

re: #470 oaktree

We do suffer the constant overexposure to trecly Christmas carols.

My wife loves them. Me? Not so much. I sidestep the problem by playing the Mannheim Steamroller christmas albums. Tolerable since there is almost no vocals & some of the arrangements (joy to the world) are actually very good.

504 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:44:12am

re: #500 reine.de.tout

We Three Kings of Orient Are
Tried to Light a Rubber Cigar
It was loaded, it exploded . . .

oops. Not really a Christmas song, is it?

Gah. Just reminded me how much I hate "The Little Drummer Boy".

:(

505 funky chicken  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:44:44am

re: #350 tnguitarist

California politician advocates assassination of Obama and family

Link is broken?

506 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:44:49am

I will be so glad when this crap is once again over and done with.

/humbug

507 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:44:56am

re: #504 oaktree

Gah. Just reminded me how much I hate "The Little Drummer Boy".

:(

Have you heard Justin Bieber's version? You'll hate it even more.

508 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:45:50am

Wreck the Malls this Christmas Seasons
Fa la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la;
Blow your cash for no good reason
Fa la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la;
Push your charge card to the limit;
Fa la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la;
Your checkbook now has nothing in it.
Fa la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.

509 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:46:03am

re: #500 reine.de.tout

...Batman smells...

510 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:46:10am

re: #506 OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin

I will be so glad when this crap is once again over and done with.

/humbug

Careful, or Varek will exile you to the Christmas Planet. (Imagine Hoth with Ewoks dressed as elves.)

511 William Barnett-Lewis  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:46:26am

re: #443 kirkspencer

Yes. Though I disagree with wlewisiii about the book being "better". Different, yes. But if they'd stuck to the book, the movie would have been one of those art house classics that get tiny box office numbers and the sort of 'in the know' praise that drives most people away.

Part of why I think it would have been better is that it would not have been a big pop hit & there would have been 0 sequels. That would have made the world a better place in and of itself.

512 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:47:28am

re: #497 reine.de.tout

Silent Night, in German, is my favorite Christmas song.

Youtube Video
513 Sionainn  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:47:44am

re: #509 Sergey Romanov

...Batman smells...

My girls were singing that yesterday, for about a half an hour until I finally had to tell them to stop.

514 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:47:50am

re: #511 wlewisiii

Part of why I think it would have been better is that it would not have been a big pop hit & there would have been 0 sequels. That would have made the world a better place in and of itself.

Stallone would have revisited it. Just would have made the sequels "prequels" and representing Rambo doing stuff before "First Blood" takes place.

515 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:47:53am

One of my all time favorite parodies - from POGO: Deck us all with Boston Charlie

516 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:49:17am

re: #515 reine.de.tout

One of my all time favorite parodies - from POGO: Deck us all with Boston Charlie

I have never really understood that. Is it just supposed to be nonsense words, or is there some meaning behind the parody?

517 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:49:23am

re: #515 reine.de.tout

One of my all time favorite parodies - from POGO: Deck us all with Boston Charlie

Classic satire. I had one Pogo book as a child. It included that lyric and also the Pogo gang playing baseball (Whirled Series). Owl without his glasses was the umpire.

518 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:50:10am

re: #515 reine.de.tout

One of my all time favorite parodies - from POGO: Deck us all with Boston Charlie

I have a Pogo book containing that sitting on my desk right now.

519 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:52:05am

re: #512 Obdicut

Silent Night, in German, is my favorite Christmas song.

[Video]

I actually think "Silent Night" from my experience is one of the least abused Christmas songs. Actually respected? Or simply understood that uptempoing it and trying to make a rock version will bring out lynch mobs?
(Though I expect there are rock versions out there, I just have been blessed in not hearing them.)

520 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:53:06am

re: #516 Alouette

I have never really understood that. Is it just supposed to be nonsense words, or is there some meaning behind the parody?

It's mostly making fun of how everyone forgets the words to songs and just sings syllabically.

521 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:53:22am

I recall, a few weeks ago, there was an uproar over some elementary school (not "South Park elementary") making students sing "Don we now our fine apparel" instead of the original lyrics.

522 prairiefire  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:53:56am

There is a designated channel on our cable TV for Christmas songs. The artificial tree with built it lights is up, the new christmas vinyl tablecloth is on the dinning room table. I just need to find two obscure, hard to find toys and we will be all set.

523 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:54:50am

My mom puts in a vote for O Tannenbaum as being an unspoiled Christmas song.

I love it too.

Youtube Video
524 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:55:07am

re: #516 Alouette

I have never really understood that. Is it just supposed to be nonsense words, or is there some meaning behind the parody?

Absolute nonsense.
Which is probably about like it sounds to a small child. I often wondered if Walt Kelly didn't have a kid who sang it this way once, and that's how he came up with it.

525 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:55:52am

re: #518 Obdicut

I have a Pogo book containing that sitting on my desk right now.

I do too.
Love Pogo.

526 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:57:48am

re: #524 reine.de.tout

Absolute nonsense.
Which is probably about like it sounds to a small child. I often wondered if Walt Kelly didn't have a kid who sang it this way once, and that's how he came up with it.

Misheard words, like "There's a bathroom on the right" and "Scuse me while I kiss this guy"

527 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:57:58am

re: #523 Obdicut

My mom puts in a vote for O Tannenbaum as being an unspoiled Christmas song.

I love it too.

[Video]

I had a fraternity brother whose last name was Tannenbaum. I therefore have been exposed to very spoiled alternate lyrics for that tune. Like children coming up with nonsense lyrics but having a larger volcabulary these college students are. (/yoda)

528 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:58:14am

re: #523 Obdicut

My mom puts in a vote for O Tannenbaum as being an unspoiled Christmas song.

I love it too.

[Video]

You know who else sang that song?! //

529 kirkspencer  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 6:59:58am

re: #499 funky chicken

Just stay out of WalMart. I find that piece of advice works every day of the year.

Yeah, sure. I see that advice a lot. Here's the big problem with it: You have to spend more money or take worse quality.

I prefer many places to Walmart. I loved buying from the farmer's markets and small specialty grocers -- I got much better quality and breadth. I also spent half again to double (or more) for groceries. Same for clothes, miscellaneous office supplies, and so forth.

When I had a decent income, this didn't matter -- the quality was worth the price. The problem comes now when I don't have a decent income. To slightly exaggerate the issue: I can choose one very good meal or three full meals per day.

530 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:00:01am

re: #525 reine.de.tout

I do too.
Love Pogo.

I re-read Pogo stuff in college after a roommate had to get a Pogo book for a class. The class text included descriptions of how Kelly was slipping in political commentary and topical events in the comic. All stuff that went totally over my head as a child.

531 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:00:18am

OK, who thinks that Paul can do it in Iowa?

532 Shropshire_Slasher  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:00:37am

Drudge headline is funny right now, Oh crazy Uncle Paul.

533 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:03:22am

re: #528 Sergey Romanov

You know who else sang that song?! //

Kim Jung Il!!!
//

534 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:05:15am

re: #533 oaktree

Kim Jung Il!!!
//

South Park Video
535 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:06:54am

re: #534 Sergey Romanov

[Link: www.southparkstudios.com...]

"South Park" used to do a "Christmas Special" every year but they haven't done one since the "Woodland Critters" episode.

Of course it would be very hard to top that one...

536 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:08:54am

The thought occurred to me that if they want to know how long Kim Il Jong has actually been dead, they need to find out when rehearsals started for the elaborate dances for his funeral, and when the giant posters started being painted.

537 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:10:11am

re: #535 Alouette

Yeah, I've got several songs from Christmas special CD in my music library.

538 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:10:13am

re: #534 Sergey Romanov

[Link: www.southparkstudios.com...]

Isn't that song also important in "The Killer Christmas Trees" sketch?
(SNL season 2)

539 wheat-dogg  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:12:17am

re: #399 SanFranciscoZionist

Right. Internment in the gulags was not so bad, really. And concentration camps? Like a vacation in the Seychelles. Somebody must have been having a good time. Why do we only hear about all the bad things? We need to hear both sides of the story.

Idiot.

540 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:13:26am

re: #536 EmmmieG

The thought occurred to me that if they want to know how long Kim Il Jong has actually been dead, they need to find out when rehearsals started for the elaborate dances for his funeral, and when the giant posters started being painted.

Heh.
Well, that would give away the plot so if there was a mini-coup, it must've looked to the outside (with those preparing dances and portraits being part of the outside) as naturally as possible, so I doubt such hints are available.

541 sattv4u2  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:14:08am

re: #531 Sergey Romanov

OK, who thinks that Paul can do it in Iowa?

Depends on what "it" is

There are many "it"s I do not what to think about Paul doing!!!

542 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:18:37am

re: #540 Sergey Romanov

Heh.
Well, that would give away the plot so if there was a mini-coup, it must've looked to the outside (with those preparing dances and portraits being part of the outside) as naturally as possible, so I doubt such hints are available.

Probably not too hard to have the dancers and poster painters working on projects for commemerating something else - his birthday, a hemorrhoid being removed, etc. and then simply retitling the performance.

543 wheat-dogg  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:19:59am

re: #507 Alouette

Have you heard Justin Bieber's version? You'll hate it even more.

Any version of anything by Justin Bieber is hate-able. Gah

544 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:20:12am

re: #399 SanFranciscoZionist

People annoy me. A commenter writes:

BOTH SIDES -
Every story has two or more sides, unfortunately in our corporate media, we rarely hear from both sides. Usually we hear what our experts or journalists have to say about this country or that country, but rarely hear from those countries or their representatives, on what they have to say about themselves. How can we possibly know the whole truth, when we only hear from one side? Imagine if in a court case the judge only heard testimony from the accuser, without hearing from the accused?
Western news reports about North Korea, may be true, but how do we know, without hearing North Korea's side of the story? Can everything we hear about North Korea from western sources be trusted, when the west is also determined to bring down or destabilize North Korea? Can North Korea's enemies be reliable sources of information regarding North Korea?
Indeed, North Korea is one of the most isolated countries in the world, but not by choice. Western countries have pressured many countries from dealing with North Korea. And North Korea has been hampered by sanctions, imposed by the west for daring to have what the west has in abundance - nuclear weapons.
North Korea is accused of taking a hardline by the west, which has also taken a very hardline against it? Can those who threaten North Korea, tell North Korea how to defend itself from their threats?
North Korea is not a paradise, but let's be objective.

I hate leftist machinespeak.

Also, I don't judge NK by Western sources. I read Russian Korean Studies specialists.

545 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:21:20am

re: #543 wheatdogg

Any version of anything by Justin Bieber is hate-able. Gah

Dear God, please bring back Bob Marley; in return, you can have Justin Beiber

And, NO, I really DO NOT wish any harm whatsoever to Justin Beiber. Seems like a perfectly nice young man.

546 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:21:41am

re: #542 oaktree

Probably not too hard to have the dancers and poster painters working on projects for commemerating something else - his birthday, a hemorrhoid being removed, etc. and then simply retitling the performance.

I'm sure there are enough posters and dancers as it is.

547 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:23:55am

re: #545 reine.de.tout

Dear God, please bring back Bob Marley; in return, you can have Justin Beiber

And, NO, I really DO NOT wish any harm whatsoever to Justin Beiber. Seems like a perfectly nice young man.

God seems to get the worse end of all these deals.

548 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:24:28am

re: #542 oaktree

Probably not too hard to have the dancers and poster painters working on projects for commemerating something else - his birthday, a hemorrhoid being removed, etc. and then simply retitling the performance.

Also, your explanation would mean that there would be no way to tell anything from such preparations, which is the point.

549 sattv4u2  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:25:11am

re: #547 Obdicut

God seems to get the worse end of all these deals.

From what I hear, "He" can handle it!

550 wheat-dogg  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:25:58am

re: #545 reine.de.tout

Bieber will have his day in the sun, then fade into relative obscurity, like Britney Spears has done. Her fan base grew up, but Britney kept singing the same pop shit. And dancing badly. When (if?) Bieber's voice ever changes or when he's over 24, he'll need to find some other shtick to keep the bucks rolling in.

551 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:29:02am

re: #550 wheatdogg

Bieber will have his day in the sun, then fade into relative obscurity, like Britney Spears has done. Her fan base grew up, but Britney kept singing the same pop shit. And dancing badly. When (if?) Bieber's voice ever changes or when he's over 24, he'll need to find some other shtick to keep the bucks rolling in.

His empty shell will be abandoned and the spirit of Ozzy Osbourne (currently laughing at us all) will occupy another puppet. The shell will move on to attempting to star in reality TV shows on MTV2.

552 Renaissance_Man  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:32:11am

re: #545 reine.de.tout

Dear God, please bring back Bob Marley; in return, you can have Justin Beiber

And, NO, I really DO NOT wish any harm whatsoever to Justin Beiber. Seems like a perfectly nice young man.

I have this theory that no matter their age, creed, background or language, all females experience some sort of primal attraction to Neil Diamond songs. I've seen it happen far too many times for it to be coincidence. It was demonstrated most dramatically when I expressed this theory to the girlfriend of a friend, who scoffed at me and insisted she hated Neil Diamond. (It also did not help that she hated me personally as well.) Unperturbed, I insisted she was mistaken, which no doubt only helped endear me to her more, and broke into a rendition of Sweet Caroline followed by Cracklin' Rosie. Afterwards, she glared at me for a while, then said, 'Okay, I guess you're right.'

I bring this up because I've sort of noticed that a similar thing may be true about Justin Bieber. Again, inexplicable, but there does seem to be that sort of visceral reaction in females even if they insist otherwise. I may have to actually learn to perform a couple of Bieber songs to test this theory further.

553 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:33:25am

re: #552 Renaissance_Man

I have this theory that no matter their age, creed, background or language, all females experience some sort of primal attraction to Neil Diamond songs. I've seen it happen far too many times for it to be coincidence. It was demonstrated most dramatically when I expressed this theory to the girlfriend of a friend, who scoffed at me and insisted she hated Neil Diamond. (It also did not help that she hated me personally as well.) Unperturbed, I insisted she was mistaken, which no doubt only helped endear me to her more, and broke into a rendition of Sweet Caroline followed by Cracklin' Rosie. Afterwards, she glared at me for a while, then said, 'Okay, I guess you're right.'

I bring this up because I've sort of noticed that a similar thing may be true about Justin Bieber. Again, inexplicable, but there does seem to be that sort of visceral reaction in females even if they insist otherwise. I may have to actually learn to perform a couple of Bieber songs to test this theory further.

Post a video of that theory testing, eh?

554 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:36:00am

re: #552 Renaissance_Man

I have this theory that no matter their age, creed, background or language, all females experience some sort of primal attraction to Neil Diamond songs.

You are wrong. Neil Diamond sucks.

555 lawhawk  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:37:45am

Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area. So, the little dictator is dead. His son is expected to take over. Nice to keep the dictatorship in the family. A dynasty of doom continues.

Kim Jong-il was a rat bastard and had no problem continuing his father's nutty policies and I don't expect Kim Jong-un to be any different.

The country operates on an extreme form of a cult of personality, and the ritualized displays of grief are part and parcel of that craziness; and it's another means of control. Don't publicly grieve enough, and you might find yourself in the North Korean gulag archipelago of prison and labor camps.

This is a country that can't feed itself, but has focused on developing nuclear weapons so as to blackmail and threaten its neighbors, especially South Korea, which has grown into a prosperous and advanced country over the past 30 years. During that same time period, North Korea has slid even further behind the rest of the world, but North Koreans live in a time warp due to the regime controlling information from the outside world -limited telecommunications and no Internet.

I just don't think his son is going to change any of that.

556 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:37:58am

re: #553 reine.de.tout

Post a video of that theory testing, eh?

Wasn't there an old Warner Bros. cartoon of various singers as roosters, with the hens acting all warped as a result of their singing? I seem to recall a Sinatra rooster (Frankie!) as well as Bing Crosby.

557 Renaissance_Man  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:39:51am

re: #554 Alouette

You are wrong. Neil Diamond sucks.

Yes, I do hear that a lot when I bring up this observation. Yet empirical evidence does suggest otherwise.

558 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:39:58am

re: #556 oaktree

Wasn't there an old Warner Bros. cartoon of various singers as roosters, with the hens acting all warped as a result of their singing? I seem to recall a Sinatra rooster (Frankie!) as well as Bing Crosby.

Swooner Crooner?

559 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:41:04am

re: #557 Renaissance_Man

Yes, I do hear that a lot when I bring up this observation. Yet empirical evidence does suggest otherwise.

No one said a word, not even the chair.

560 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:41:40am

re: #558 reine.de.tout

Swooner Crooner?

That was apparently nominated for an Academy Award.

561 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:43:49am

re: #558 reine.de.tout

Swooner Crooner?

That looks about right.

562 reine.de.tout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:45:46am

re: #526 Alouette

Misheard words, like "There's a bathroom on the right" and "Scuse me while I kiss this guy"

Or my favorite, from my daughter, who couldn't understand why we used a bad word when we pray, "HELL Mary, full of grace . . . ".

563 makeitstop  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:46:30am

'Morning, Lizards.

I just got a robo-call from Run Hillary 2012.

Someone's really going to try this? Really?

564 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:50:24am

re: #563 makeitstop

'Morning, Lizards.

I just got a robo-call from Run Hillary 2012.

Someone's really going to try this? Really?

Severe disillusionment with Obama. Or an attempt to split the monolithic Democratic bloc in order to ease the way of GOP victory. Take your pick.
Could simply be nutbars spending money friviously as well.

565 sattv4u2  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:50:40am

re: #562 reine.de.tout

Or my favorite, from my daughter, who couldn't understand why we used a bad word when we pray, "HELL Mary, full of grace . . . ".

As a grade school student, taking American history, I knew all the 'famous" people
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
John Hancock
(et al)
But they never told us who this Richard Stands guy was

I mean, his name was right there in the Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for Richard Stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

566 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:52:20am

re: #565 sattv4u2

As a grade school student, taking American history, I knew all the 'famous" people
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
John Hancock
(et al)
But they never told us who this Richard Stands guy was

I mean, his name was right there in the Pledge of Allegiance

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for Richard Stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

Not to mention the Latino bias of the National Anthem.

"Jose, Can you see?"

567 Meitantei  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:54:29am

re: #563 makeitstop

Genuinely puzzled if that's retarded right-wing nutjobs trying to split the Dems or retarded left-wing nutjobs mad that Obama hasn't fixed everything and is trying to compromise rather than implementing the Glorious Worker's Revolution.

568 sattv4u2  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:56:02am

re: #566 oaktree

Not to mention the Latino bias of the National Anthem.

"Jose, Can you see?"

Mexican comes to America visiting a friend,,,, wants to go to a baseball game,,,,
gets the the stadium and at the ticket counter they say all they have left is standing room,,, so he buys one and they direct him to a spot right under the flag pole

When he gets back to his friends house his friend asks if everything was okay

Guy says "Oh my yes ,, the people, they were so friendly and concerned,,, just before the game started they all stood up, looked at me and said ,, Jose can you see"

569 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:56:45am

re: #564 oaktree

I say PUMAs.

570 Cannadian Club Akbar  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:57:11am

One good thing about rat-bastards dying is there is no 24 hour rule. Screw you Lil Kim.
Morning Honcos.

571 wiffersnapper  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 7:59:53am

Bin Laden, Gaddafi, and Kim Jong-Il? 2011 turned out to be a pretty sweet year!

572 iossarian  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:00:17am

re: #569 Sergey Romanov

I say PUMAs.

That is the most likely interpretation, I agree.

573 socialrepublican  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:09:45am

Chavez may be a demogogue, a blowhard and a derranged presence on the international scene,but to compare him to Il or Castro is wrong-headed.

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans have been "re-educated" since 1959, tens of thousands of them to the point of death. The Kims' monarcho-Stalinist hermit kingdom has consumed millions of its citizens and exported weapons and violence into the world at a furious rate. Chavez's pomposity are insignificant in comparision. Comparing him to Putin or Mubarak or Musharraf illustrates this. These are the killers of thousands.

574 Cannadian Club Akbar  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:13:12am

Oddly enough, speaking of NK, I just finished this book last week. Had it for 5 years with some others in a box. Found it and read it in about 4 days. (it's a short read)
[Link: en.wikipedia.org...]

575 McSpiff  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:13:21am

re: #440 reine.de.tout

Just coming back in!

The Roi is fine thank you! Though he won't be home for our Christmas holiday; he is offshore trying to help Shell bring in some oil so we can all run our cars.

I know those oil companies (persons!) are persona non grata 'round these parts these days - but these operations do run 24/7/365 and will until alternate energy sources are found. A lot of folks do without holidays so that we can get to work and take our trips. Me? I'm thankful for 'em.

My buddy working for the same outfit is home the 28th. Sucks, but not the end of the world. I'm just laying in my old bed with a wicked case of the morning flu ;-)

576 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:15:02am

re: #573 socialrepublican

Not much such comparison is going on. Chavez is still an authoritarian prick and I like when these guys die on their own.

577 socialrepublican  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:18:49am

re: #576 Sergey Romanov

Well that was the troika wished for earlier in the thread. It would be like saying in 1943 that you wished Horthy, Antoneuscu and De Valera dead. Spot the odd one out.

578 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:22:13am

re: #577 socialrepublican

Well that was the troika wished for earlier in the thread. It would be like saying in 1943 that you wished Horthy, Antoneuscu and De Valera dead. Spot the odd one out.

I agree that this is imbalanced, but that's KT, so what do you want. I agree with Chavez being on the list, though (for natural causes; I don't believe a targeted killing is justified in that case).

579 lawhawk  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:23:01am

re: #573 socialrepublican

The Kim dynastic dictatorship is in a class of its own.

North Korea is one of the few countries that still maintains a gulag archipelago of prison and labor camps. Millions have gone to their death in North Korea over the years due to starvation and/or labor camps. It is a country that can't feed itself, and forces everyone in the country to go work the fields to gather crops because they can't do so otherwise (and they still fall short of food production so that they rely on the generosity of the West to provide food for them).

This is another regime, much like East Germany before the reunification, that sought to keep North Koreans from escaping by any means necessary. The borders with its neighbors are meant as much to keep North Koreans imprisoned inside the country as they are to keep the South Koreans out (moreso considering that the South isn't looking to takeover the North and reunification of the Korean peninsula might cost $1 trillion or more considering the dearth of infrastructure, technology, and bass-ackward standard of living).

580 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:24:47am

[Link: www.almasryalyoum.com...]

"Politicians criticize 'Hitler' statements made by army official "

581 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:29:30am

Fun fact: "bic" is Latin for "generosity".

/

582 Killgore Trout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:32:41am

re: #578 Sergey Romanov

I agree that this is imbalanced, but that's KT, so what do you want. I agree with Chavez being on the list, though (for natural causes; I don't believe a targeted killing is justified in that case).

I don't recall advocating the killing of Chavez.

583 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:32:50am

Posters for Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter have been released.

[Link: movies.ign.com...]

[Link: movies.ign.com...]

584 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:33:21am

re: #582 Killgore Trout

I don't recall advocating the killing of Chavez.

I don't too.

585 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:36:40am

re: #582 Killgore Trout

I don't recall advocating the killing of Chavez.

And I don't see anyone saying you did, either.

586 Killgore Trout  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:39:55am

re: #585 Sergey Romanov

And I don't see anyone saying you did, either.

Whatever. I guess I'm not in the mood for the continued lies and people attributing opinions and statements to me. I'll go do something else this morning.

587 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:42:05am

re: #586 Killgore Trout

Whatever. I guess I'm not in the mood for the continued lies and people attributing opinions and statements to me. I'll go do something else this morning.

Good, very good. Can you point out any lies or people attributing opinions and statements to you here? I see none, but maybe I missed something. This is a big thread.

588 kirkspencer  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:42:29am

re: #83 Venezuela lover

Dark Falcon,
The only people who are better off under Castro are Castro's family and a few high ranking generals.
Everyone else is worse off. See [Link: www.therealcuba.com...] for details.

This site - therealcuba.com - has been showing up a lot lately as "proof" of Cuba's evil. I decided to check it out, and can't see why thinking people are using it.

Lots and lots of unsupported allegations, selected links to anti-cuba stories in the media, and some rather interesting polemics.

I'm going to post the first section of one of those same polemics, just so everyone knows why I'll apply truckloads of salt to any further posts using this site as substantiation.

Thanks to Janet Reno, Eric Holder and Bill Clinton, Elian is now a full slave of the Castro brothers

April 5, 2010 - Ten years after his kidnapping and forced return to Cuba, Elian González is now a member of the army that keeps in place the military dictatorship from which his own mother tried to escape. Elian's mother gave her life to make sure that Elian was able to grow in a free country, where he was free to study, express his opinions without going to jail, work for whoever he wanted, start his own business if he chose to do that, in other words, live like a free man. But her sacrifice was in vain.

False religious leaders, high paid lawyers and coward politicians conspired to force Elian to go back to Cuba and become another slave of a regime that the United States labels as "terrorist."

And 10 years after his kidnapping, he is shown here attending a meeting of Cuba's Communist Youths this weekend and wearing the uniform of the army that supports the dictatorship that caused his mother's death.
Shame on all those who contributed to the enslavement of Elian González.

Poor Elian!
For the last six years, after he was forced to return to Cuba to become another slave, Elian Gonzalez had to celebrate his birthday with his real father, Fidel Castro. But now, the Cuban dictator is half dead and unable to attend his young slave's birthday party.

However, that doesn't mean that Elian would be able to celebrate his birthday as a normal child. Not in Castro's Cuba!
Elian, who today became a teenager, still had to "celebrate" his birthday party in the presence of two "viejos cagalitrosos," the new dictator-in-chief and Ricardo "Watermellon Head" Alarcon.
Can you imagine? A teenager having to salute these two sinister characters on his birthday, after having been forced to do the same with Cuba's mass murderer for the last six years?
Poor Elian! I wonder if Janet Reno remembered to send him a birthday card.

589 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:42:34am

re: #585 Sergey Romanov

This sounds like a setup for a comedy sketch, in which the actors recite an increasingly detailed list of highly specific things they all agree they don't recall.

590 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:43:50am

re: #589 negativ

This sounds like a setup for a comedy sketch, in which the actors recite an increasingly detailed list of highly specific things they all agree they don't recall.

It does look like tragicomedy, yes.

591 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:44:53am

re: #589 negativ

This sounds like a setup for a comedy sketch, in which the actors recite an increasingly detailed list of highly specific things they all agree they don't recall.

In other words they were just practicing for a stint in front of a Congressional investigative committee?

592 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:45:24am

re: #588 kirkspencer

There's lots of perfectly good sources about Castro's evil shit-assery. I agree that linking to a site that looks ranty is not the ideal way of going about showing that though.

593 sattv4u2  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:45:36am

re: #582 Killgore Trout

I don't recall advocating the killing of Chavez.

What about pepper spraying him?

:)

594 darthstar  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:51:33am

re: #588 kirkspencer

A six year old floating 90 miles from Cuba to Florida in an inner tube by himself. That story was full of shit from the get-go. I feel bad for Elian Gonzales...he was used as a propaganda piece by both sides.

595 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:52:01am

re: #587 Sergey Romanov

Good, very good. Can you point out any lies or people attributing opinions and statements to you here? I see none, but maybe I missed something. This is a big thread.

*crickets*

It appears that the allegation of lies and attributions of opinions and statements is false at least for this thread.

596 sattv4u2  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:53:02am

re: #594 darthstar

hey ,, don't knock the delivery method

I've gotten plenty of parts for my '57 Chevy via that route!!
/

597 kirkspencer  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 8:59:16am

re: #592 Obdicut

There's lots of perfectly good sources about Castro's evil shit-assery. I agree that linking to a site that looks ranty is not the ideal way of going about showing that though.

There are, I agree. The problem is that recently, every time Cuba's come up the disparagers use this site as their support.

It's not just the polemic. There's the "proof" of how bad cuba is by using paired pictures: this is Castro's home, this is what the cuban slaves use; this is a store for tourists, this is a store the cuban slaves use; etc.

So what I'm doing is putting in print - well, on the site - that this is not a reasonable source for support of a position against Cuba.

598 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:03:32am

re: #597 kirkspencer

It just looks incompetent. If I remember right, one of the weirdos that stalks Sergey isn't a holocaust denier, but just a very, very sloppy holocaust researcher, who accepted some faked pictures from the camps as real, and publicized them as such. since they were fakes, this actually gave ammo to the deniers. Just being on the right side of an argument is worthless if you're not going to argue it well.

599 Kronocide  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:04:48am

re: #586 Killgore Trout

Whatever. I guess I'm not in the mood for the continued lies and people attributing opinions and statements to me. I'll go do something else this morning.

Oh man. KT you've been one of my fav posters since my first days lurking. Despite my disagreements WRT OWS and your glee in seeing stereotypical leftists get sprayed and clubbed I still love you.

But now that it seems you're on some kind of campaign to characterize OWS. Also to paint yourself as the 'against the stream' champion of objectivity regarding OWS, now persona non grata, with the accompanying victimhood. As if negative karma is desired, upon receipt of which proves you're 'doing your job.'

You may not care what I think, I did not write the above to attack or flame, it's just how I see it.

600 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:05:53am

re: #598 Obdicut

Their new site is still full of BS mistakes, and the old site still has the forgeries. Instead of apologizing and deleting this stuff, they prefer to stalk and libel me and my friends. Yet they're still getting linked to by wikipedia.

601 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:07:28am

re: #586 Killgore Trout

Whatever. I guess I'm not in the mood for the continued lies and people attributing opinions and statements to me. I'll go do something else this morning.

Hello? No response? Note that false accusation of lying may be counted as a lie all by itself.

602 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:08:31am

re: #600 Sergey Romanov

It's really weird. Do you think they just have psychological issues with not being able to admit they're wrong, or are they just frauds somehow trying to profit or gain?

603 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:09:02am

re: #602 Obdicut

It's really weird. Do you think they just have psychological issues with not being able to admit they're wrong, or are they just frauds somehow trying to profit or gain?

What, or who are you talking about?

604 Lidane  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:09:05am

Morning, Lizards! It's Monday and this made me laugh:

Pro-Adultery Dating Website Endorses Gingrich

A website that promotes adultery has endorsed Newt Gingrich for president, and even erected a giant billboard in Pennsylvania to announce it. Next to a picture of Gingrich making a “shh” gesture, the billboard reads: “Faithful Republican, Unfaithful Husband.” Ashleymadison.com, a dating website for people looking to cheat on their spouses, welcomes visitors with the tag line, “Life is short, Have an affair.”

I expect Newt's lawyers to have a fit about this anytime now.

605 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:09:31am

re: #601 Sergey Romanov

Hello? No response? Note that false accusation of lying may be counted as a lie all by itself.

Let it go. Please. At least for this thread.

This particular on-going argument/fight doesn't need another meta level added to it.

606 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:11:45am

re: #602 Obdicut

It's really weird. Do you think they just have psychological issues with not being able to admit they're wrong, or are they just frauds somehow trying to profit or gain?

The guy who does the heavy lifting of smearing through sockpuppets was a well-known pathological Usenet troll in 1990s. If you go to groups.google.com and search for "carmlo", you'll see a lot of sick behavior. So it's a general personal problem. No idea what causes it. It's an otherwise functional individual who has (or at least had) a good job and lots of money.

607 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:12:55am

re: #603 Alouette

What, or who are you talking about?

Some goes who run a Holocaust memorial website, except they're incompetent (or maybe evil) assholes who can't do basic research, so they have fraudulent pictures and inaccuracies and stuff, as though getting things wrong about the Holocaust is no big deal.

And then Nazi assholes can point to their mistakes and say, "See? They're making it up."

And Sergey was someone who-- along with some other Holocaust researchers-- pointed out that their shit was broken and they needed to take this seriously, and they lost their minds and started stalking him and posting bizarre crap about him.

608 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:13:23am

re: #605 oaktree

Let it go. Please. At least for this thread.

This particular on-going argument/fight doesn't need another meta level added to it.

I take claims of lies, with implication that I'm somehow involved, seriously. Sorry.

609 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:15:44am

re: #606 Sergey Romanov

Oh, right, now I remember. A total freak. And yeah, I don't get those people. I know one. In his spare time, he trolls hardcore as racist. I pointed out to him that trolling as a racist is also being a racist. He said he didn't care, that this was his way of 'relaxing'. I told him he was a lousy human being.

He didn't appear phased, and continued to talk to me socially as if that conversation hadn't occurred.

Weird.

610 Lord Baron Viscount Duke Earl Count Planckton  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:19:34am

re: #607 Obdicut

Yeah, this "Holocaust memorial site" webmaster Carmelo Lisciotto actually participates at the Holocaust-denying central forum - CODOH under nickname "Blogbuster". To spread his message about our evil blog to the Holocaust deniers. Apparently hoping that they will run with it. Um. Yeah.

611 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:24:46am

Bow to the cuteness:

[Link: www.oregonlive.com...]

612 SmithCommaJohn  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 9:26:42am

The party's over :(

Youtube Video
613 Sheila Broflovski  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 10:14:40am

Where did everyone go?

614 sattv4u2  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 10:15:39am

re: #613 Alouette

Where did everyone go?

To Iowa to get on the Paul bandwagon!

615 I Am Kreniigh!  Mon, Dec 19, 2011 11:14:12am

re: #492 Alouette

WalMart seems to have these songs on a loop: "Jingle Bell Rock," "Rockin Around The Christmas Tree," "Chestnuts Roasting," "Winter Wonderland," "Jingle Bells (scat version)" rinse & repeat

Lousy Baby Boomers...

We need another Vietnam to thin out their ranks a little!
/

616 Decatur Deb  Tue, Dec 20, 2011 3:59:10pm

Evening all. My Christmas requirements have been met. The house is back to its basic load of 2 adults and one dog. Even my Hanukkah shtick is over (we force-fed all eight gifts into one drive-by drop). Envy me ye mere mortals.


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