Steve Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Apparantly North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has died. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/18/world/asia/north-korea-leader-dead/?hpt=hp_t1 I actually think its a good thing. I have to assume his son is more pragmatic and will move towards some sort of normalization. The people are starving. However, some say its the military thats actually in charge. If so, then the threats will continue but nothing large scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Lets hope he doesn't rest in peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneSoup Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Ah .... Kimmie sleeps on the wrong side of the dirt. 'Hope he enjoys lava baths with Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, the previous Kim (Il Sung), and the rest of the murderous panoply of asshole dictators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unit731 Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I always wished to travel to North Korea as a tourist. I have always wanted to travel to Cuba as a tourist. I did travel to East Germany before the wall came down. I have been to North Vietnam before the influx of tourism and US recognition. I just like to view how Communism screws things up so badly. Example: In Hanoi, stayed at one of the "modern" Communist hotels. Ten or eleven floors. And price for room went down the higher the floor. As when constructed in the 1970's there was no elevator/lift. When I stayed there there was an elevator installed but it didn't fit the opening correctly. There was a gap on each side of door. But the old price structure remained. Cheaper rooms the higher one goes. I got up early one morning and all of the employees were sleeping on the floor of the main dining room. Later that morning went down for breakfast in the smaller dining room. Ordered a Western style breakfast. Was told that breakfast had to be ordered one day ahead. There were a bunch of Koreans sitting having a big breakfast. I asked how they got their breakfast. Waitress stated that they had ordered breakfast "yesterday". The breakfast dining room did have coffee and juice. So that was the breakfast at that modern Communist hotel. Gotta love the Commies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Not much seems to have changed in Laos. I was there both before and after the reds took over. It looks more or less the same, except the Royal Lao flag has been replaced by the banner of the Laotian Communist Party. In Wiengchan the people ignore the government, though student protests for democracy were stomped on hard a few years ago. A colleague from Vietnam told me that for a few years after the communists took over the South, they were very dogmatic. Everything was straight out of Marx, with members of the defeated regime being thrown into "re-education camps" for years. But then the government relaxed and officials became just as corrupt as in the rest of SE Asia. He said to me, "Remember how the mountains were covered with forests?" I said I certaily did. He repplied, "Not any more. The communist officials cut them down and sold the wood." His father was a forestry official, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 They were doing their best to cut down all the trees in Tasmania as well but those dirty commie greenies stopped 'em. I don't think greed follows any ideological pattern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Ah, but evil capitalists don't pretend to be immune to the lure of money. The commies do (sort of). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allistar Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/czechrepublic/8965923/Czechs-mourn-death-of-Vaclav-Havel.html Someone died that actually made a big difference for the better in this world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unit731 Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted December 27, 2011 Report Share Posted December 27, 2011 ... But then the government relaxed and officials became just as corrupt as in the rest of SE Asia. Singapore is SE Asia, does it fall into that "as in the rest of SE Asia"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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