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Post by Michael Coello on Dec 19, 2011 15:50:12 GMT -5
Don't forget Bashar al Assad in Syria. I think people need to bare in mind the sheer power that a personality cult can give a single man. Not long ago I read a fascinating book about, of all things, Joseph Stalin. The author had grown up during the Stalin era, and he opened the book by describing how the Russian people at the time heard his name and saw his face every single day; every household had his picture in the family room watching over the house, every school used his name for their student prizes, all the most important buildings and projects were all named after him. The author summed it up well by saying "To think how much he meant to us!" And in this same book he described in frightening detail the brutality and repressiveness of Stalin's regime and the sheer terror people felt. Yet at the same time they had been so inundated with the man that the very idea of life without him was unthinkable. Its hard for people here in the USA to grasp. Of course we understand. The WWE Champion is fully of personality cult!
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Post by Orange on Dec 19, 2011 16:14:57 GMT -5
I just couldn't imagine what it'd be like to live in North Korea, and to find out (assuming they ever become part of a different governing program) that there was a whole world out there that you were never told about. I couldn't imagine anything more shocking, to be completely honest.
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Post by dlg3000 on Dec 19, 2011 16:25:11 GMT -5
Seriously, I had no clue he was ill until his death. It seems like I'm the last to know.
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Post by Orange on Dec 19, 2011 16:29:20 GMT -5
Seriously, I had no clue he was ill until his death. It seems like I'm the last to know. Well duh! It was right in his name! BA DUM DUM PSSH! I'm pretty sure I'm the first person to ever make that joke, yes....absolutely ;D
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Sephiroth
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Post by Sephiroth on Dec 19, 2011 18:51:23 GMT -5
I'm not one for conspiracy theories(In fact I pretty much hate them) but I've heard that kim jom has probably been dead for like two years, and they used prerecorded footage(made when he first got sick) to keep up an appearance of him alive while they groom his son to succeed him. I guess those in charge think the son is ready(or they've run out of kim jong footage to use). It's unlikely this is true but I can imagine north korea being very easily able to pull it off. I doubt he was dead, but virtually dead I can very easily imagine. Just about everything that came out of North Korea for the last several years, which was little enough, indicated that his health was declining. I remember reading a report that pointed out that his public appearances had become very rare, and that when he did appear he wore these huge sunglasses to hide part of his face and would only gesture to the crowds with one arm, giving some credence to the rumors of a stroke. And it was pretty obvious they were getting his son ready to succeed him; suddenly his sons picture was everywhere and he started attending government functions, even if all he did was sit there and look bored.
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erisi236
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Post by erisi236 on Dec 19, 2011 18:57:53 GMT -5
This new dear leader the 3rd looks like a fat little mental patient.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 19, 2011 19:09:00 GMT -5
Whoever the new guy is comes from a long line of mental defectives. It will be business as usual.
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Post by Orange on Dec 19, 2011 22:22:37 GMT -5
I'm not one for conspiracy theories(In fact I pretty much hate them) but I've heard that kim jom has probably been dead for like two years, and they used prerecorded footage(made when he first got sick) to keep up an appearance of him alive while they groom his son to succeed him. I guess those in charge think the son is ready(or they've run out of kim jong footage to use). It's unlikely this is true but I can imagine north korea being very easily able to pull it off. Eh, I don't know about that one - that's just somebody looking for something that's not there. I love reading conspiracy theories, but the majority of them are too rooted in fiction to believe, like that one (IMO). You really have to treat most of them as works of fiction, almost like stories - well thought out, but very unbelievable for the most part. I've never really believed in the "he's been dead for a while" conspiracies, there's too many moving parts for things like that to work IMO.
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El Pollo Guerrera
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Post by El Pollo Guerrera on Dec 20, 2011 0:12:48 GMT -5
Is this the same son that was arrested trying to use a fake passport to get into Tokyo Disneyland? According to news links on Wikipedia, it wasn't. That was Kim Jong-Il's older son Kim Jong-Nam.
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Post by Drillbit Taylor on Dec 20, 2011 0:18:44 GMT -5
I don't know. I've heard his son is a real nitwit. There was an article about how he was possibly more incompetent then his father not too long ago. Is this the same son that was arrested trying to use a fake passport to get into Tokyo Disneyland? What would make that better would be trying to use a fake passport at Epcot.
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mattperiolat
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Post by mattperiolat on Dec 20, 2011 3:01:49 GMT -5
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fw91
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Post by fw91 on Dec 20, 2011 3:09:49 GMT -5
am i a bad person for getting a kick out of watching these?
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mattperiolat
King Koopa
Thank you, Brodie... for everything.
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Post by mattperiolat on Dec 20, 2011 3:27:49 GMT -5
am i a bad person for getting a kick out of watching these? If you mean a weird combo of fascination and horror, no.
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mcd
Don Corleone
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Post by mcd on Dec 20, 2011 14:01:41 GMT -5
Sorry fellas..I found this and had to share. I'm not trying to be racist..but I did laugh way harder than I should have!
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Post by Michael Coello on Dec 20, 2011 14:08:15 GMT -5
So, is the Un who is suppose to take over, the same Un they said would take over in Homefront?
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dav
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Post by dav on Dec 20, 2011 20:22:54 GMT -5
Pity really. Would have much preferred to have seen him dragged in chains before the Hague. I can only hope something more positive comes out for North Korea over this although even that's doubtful.
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Post by Bravo Echo November on Dec 20, 2011 20:26:07 GMT -5
As the grandson of a South Korean girl who was forced out of her country because of Kim Jong Ill's family... I am happy. Granted this probably won't change much but it's still a victory of sorts.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Dec 20, 2011 20:28:38 GMT -5
Well, here's another concern: does anyone seriously think China would LET regime change take place in North Korea without a fight? Given how royally pissed they were when NK did the rocket tests so close to them without any kind of warning or permission, I would say that they are not exactly buddies anymore.
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dav
Hank Scorpio
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Post by dav on Dec 20, 2011 20:32:45 GMT -5
Well, here's another concern: does anyone seriously think China would LET regime change take place in North Korea without a fight? Given how royally pissed they were when NK did the rocket tests so close to them without any kind of warning or permission, I would say that they are not exactly buddies anymore. Hard to say. A regime change woul probably mean a lot of chaos and the potential for several million refugees streaming north. I doubt China wants that option.
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mattperiolat
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Post by mattperiolat on Dec 20, 2011 22:13:02 GMT -5
Given how royally pissed they were when NK did the rocket tests so close to them without any kind of warning or permission, I would say that they are not exactly buddies anymore. Hard to say. A regime change woul probably mean a lot of chaos and the potential for several million refugees streaming north. I doubt China wants that option. Plus North Korea serves as a buffer state between them and South Korea, as well as a traditional ally ever since the Korean War. God only knows though, the Chinese tend to be rather reactionary than work in the long term.
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