Korea

Do we have another war to look forward to in Korea, or is this Korean Dictator simply calling USA bluff?

I think he is, but he is dangerous too. I think he could well bomb S Korea, he is nutty enough.

magica wrote:Do we have another war to look forward to in Korea, or is this Korean Dictator simply calling USA bluff?

I think he is, but he is dangerous too. I think he could well bomb S Korea, he is nutty enough.

He should be assassinated.

I can't work it out at all.
We are always being told how broke and hungry the nation is but ... to maintain a million man army and all the logistics that go with that plus the food the textiles the weaponry etc etc. Then we are told about their nuclear ambitions which need a very good education system good metals plastics electronics industry.
All those massive buildings take food oil concrete steel glass etc etc so ... who are these starving millions?
What is the truth about these strange secretive people who we are told behave like automatons at the flick of a wrist?
Are they suffering from austerity measures and privatising the health service ....

They are not sure if he is bluffing Jack. Apparently a lot of the scenes are doctored, so they say he hasn't got much in the way of rockets etc.

Thing is, they ignored Hitler as a nutter at the beginning, so anything is poss I guess.

I feel sorry for the people, they must be scared witless.

magica wrote:They are not sure if he is bluffing Jack. Apparently a lot of the scenes are doctored, so they say he hasn't got much in the way of rockets etc.

Thing is, they ignored Hitler as a nutter at the beginning, so anything is poss I guess.

I feel sorry for the people, they must be scared witless.

According to south K's who work in the north the people there aint hearing much about anything.
The drumbeats of war are sounding the loudest in the south.
Now I'm in two minds how to interpret that.
As for some halfwhit fat karaoke singer kid weilding so much power that the angry populace or miltary haven't strung him up shot him from a distance or his dad before him well ... I just don't buy it all.
I think the guy with the bad haircut is making his mark ... in a dangerous manner maybe but ... the axis of evil are being picked off one after the other always precceeded by the hype.
They weren't hungry or backward enough for the west to defeat back in the fifties were they ....

Look what has happened to the Middle East since the first drum beats about the evil Saddam and his terrifying WMD.... If you remember he had just decided to sell Iraqi oil for Euro and not $$.. the rest as we say is History.

BRICS, have decided to not trade in euro.. and go a step further, establish their own Monetary fund. This monetary fund could cause a headache for the IMF.. You know who the BRIC countries are?? Brazil, India Russia and China..

A bit of conflict and disruption for the big guy on the new monetary block, the guy holding US debt.. its been tried, tested, it works, a bit of war on China's doorstep. Now all they need is a loonie, a new bogey man... think of anyone??

Groundhog day.

Uploaded on 17 Mar 2007

In an interview with Amy Goodman on March 2, 2007, U.S. General Wesley Clark (Ret.), explains that the Bush Administration planned to take out 7 countries in 5 years: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Lybia, Somalia, Sudan, Iran

just over a minute long and preceding all the media bullshit ... very informative and disturbing ...

magica wrote:They are not sure if he is bluffing Jack. Apparently a lot of the scenes are doctored, so they say he hasn't got much in the way of rockets etc.

Thing is, they ignored Hitler as a nutter at the beginning, so anything is poss I guess.

I feel sorry for the people, they must be scared witless.

I think they're more or less brainwashed in North Korea. They are told how to behave, how to "emote" in accordance with state doctrine and to obey without question.

They get very little in the way of real information about the outside world and what little they do hear is all in keeping with state propaganda.

Chances are they're not even scared because they are probably told that North Korea could take on and defeat any other nation on earth.

What do we know of them;
except what we are told?

We get so little in the way of real information about them...

vills wrote:We get so little in the way of real information about them...

There's something in that, I suppose but if the odd bits of film footage that we are permitted to see are genuine, I think that the way that the North Korean people seem to behave is rather worrying. Any emotion they are permitted to exhibit seems over the top , contrived and not at all "real" but instead it looks like a mass reaction borne out of a sense of duty, combined with a fear of not wishing to stand out as being different by not joining in.

I think they probably are a fearful people and it would take exceptional courage and probably a certain death wish to rebel against the regime under which they live.

Are we so different though..?

vills wrote:Are we so different though..?

Well, I think so.

I expect nobody would try to order me to have screaming ab-dabs and weep copious tears if David Cameron kicked the bucket.

We conform in our own way.

vills wrote:We conform in our own way.

There's a world of difference between conformity with choice and indoctrination.

We are as indoctrinated as they are.
I suggest.

vills wrote:We are as indoctrinated as they are.
I suggest.

Well, suggesting is your prerogative, I suppose but I have to disagree.

We enjoy immense personal freedoms in this country and whilst there is always societal pressure to conform significantly to various norms, for the most part we are free to express ourselves as we choose, within the normal rules, mores and parameters of the society in which we live.

Agreed Dimps.

Within the normal rules, mores and parameters of the society in which we live.

vills wrote:Agreed Dimps.

Within the normal rules, mores and parameters of the society in which we live.

A dictatorship, despotic or totalitarian regime is not indicative of a normal society, by the way.

Dimples wrote:

vills wrote:We are as indoctrinated as they are.
I suggest.

Well, suggesting is your prerogative, I suppose but I have to disagree.

We enjoy immense personal freedoms in this country and whilst there is always societal pressure to conform significantly to various norms, for the most part we are free to express ourselves as we choose, within the normal rules, mores and parameters of the society in which we live.

How strange that you appear to value norms and mores above the rule of law, which is the only real limit on our freedom in this country.

Taken wrote:

Dimples wrote:

vills wrote:We are as indoctrinated as they are.
I suggest.

Well, suggesting is your prerogative, I suppose but I have to disagree.

We enjoy immense personal freedoms in this country and whilst there is always societal pressure to conform significantly to various norms, for the most part we are free to express ourselves as we choose, within the normal rules, mores and parameters of the society in which we live.

How strange that you appear to value norms and mores above the rule of law, which is the only real limit on our freedom in this country.

I didn't say that I personally valued anything over anything else in that post.

Norms and mores are things which develop in a society over time and they also tend to hold firmly over time. These are what binds a society together, whereas rules and laws are imposed and may be changed according to the agenda of the prevailing government.

Norms, mores and societal taboos are generally borne out of the traditions or religious backgrounds of particular societies and they generally don't require the endorsement of law for them to be enforced within these societies because most people generally choose to adhere to them (although things like incest and murder are also legislated for).

Laws, however, are often established because of the pressure and presence of particular societal norms and similarly laws can be changed to reflect shifts in such norms, as and when they occur.

You should never underestimate the power of societal norms and taboos in any society.

Well put that!

N Korea is playing a very dangerous game here. If it is bluff, then I hope they stop before S Korea or America lose patience.

http://news.sky.com/story/1074212/north-korea-warns-foreign-embassies-of-risks

My prediction for NK.
Obama will phone the bad haircut basketball fan and they will start to talk.
The bad haircut will puff his chest out with pride.
NK is wanting to come into the world I reckon and the west especially America will be stealing one of Chinas closest.
The world will rejoice and the growing tensions between America and China will be played down ... ignored even ....
Another market opens.

All I could think was wow!
Five six years old?
I gets better as it goes on too.

North Korea children playing the guitar.[i]