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Nonsense
Jan 26, 2007

Uglycat posted:

Of course not. Brown people are incapable of democracy.

How long until there are conservatives demanding the Libyan protesters thank George W. Bush for disarming Gadaffi of his WMD's to fight the WAR ON TERROR.

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farraday
Jan 10, 2007

Lower those eyebrows, young man. And the other one.

Nonsense posted:

How long until there are conservatives demanding the Libyan protesters thank George W. Bush for disarming Gadaffi of his WMD's to fight the WAR ON TERROR.

You're going to force me to find someone doing that already and make all of us sad aren't you?

5 Seconds later and 3 days ago.
This is YOUR FAULT

Uglycat
Dec 4, 2000
MORE INDISPUTABLE PROOF I AM BAD AT POSTING
---------------->

Nonsense posted:

How long until there are conservatives demanding the Libyan protesters thank George W. Bush for disarming Gadaffi of his WMD's to fight the WAR ON TERROR.

Honestly, I think that rhetoric - as ridiculous as it is - is far better than the 'radical Islam' fear-mongering I hear from the right-wing. I'd rather they get on board with the optimistic, positive narrative (in a self-serving, historically ignorant fashion) than actively work to undermine that (possible) outcome.

A world where stable, sound, secular democracy takes hold in the middle east; where the Right falsely claims "credit" for that outcome; and where the Left insists that the people on the ground who overthrew their oppressors (while utilizing a variety of intelligent methods including but not by any means limited to new communications technologies) - is preferable, to me, to a world where the Right works to erode support for and confidence in the possibility of a peaceful, prosperous future.

Uglycat fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Feb 25, 2011

Narmi
Feb 26, 2008

Uglycat posted:

Honestly, I think that rhetoric - as ridiculous as it is - is far better than the 'radical Islam' fear-mongering I hear from the right-wing. I'd rather they get on board with the optimistic, positive narrative (in a self-serving, historically ignorant fashion) than actively work to undermine that (possible) outcome.

A world where stable, sound, secular democracy takes hold in the middle east; where the Right falsely claims "credit" for that outcome; and where the Left insists that the people on the ground who overthrew their oppressors (while utilizing a variety of intelligent methods including but not by any means limited to new communications technologies) - is preferable, to me, to a world where the Right works to erode support for and confidence in the possibility of a peaceful, prosperous future.

I'd have to disagree with you there. The thing is that democracy in the Middle-East is being achieved in spite of the right's (or the left's, since it seems like everyone supported "progressive" Ghaddafi) efforts, not because of it, and believing it's because of them justifies (to them at least) their actions, as well as any further actions which might destabilize the region because they were "right" this time.

For example, in the article quoted, the author uses Libya as an example as to why Bush was justified in his invasion of Iraq, going as far as to say this is what GWB envisioned, when the lack of WMDs here is a by-product, not a direct consequence, of the invasion of Iraq.

Pine Cone Jones
Dec 6, 2009

You throw me the acorn, I throw you the whip!
Mustafa Abdel Galil, who resigned three days ago from his post as the country's justice minister, spoke to Al Jazeera at a meeting of tribal leaders and representatives of eastern Libya in the city of Al Baida.

He warned that Gaddafi has biological and chemical weapons, and will not hesitate to use them.

'We call on the international community and the UN to prevent Gaddafi from going on with his plans in Tripoli,' he said.

'At the end when he’s really pressured, he can do anything. I think Gaddafi will burn everything left behind him.'"

From the Al Jazeera live blog, how true this is i do not know, but I hope for the peoples sake this isn't the truth.

Vladimir Putin
Mar 17, 2007

by R. Guyovich
How do events in Libya contribute to the theory that the US unpopular regimes that that eventually draw the ire of their people? Libya wasn't propped up by the US, in fact the US would like to see nothing more than Gadaffi to die.

To me it means that dictators will sprout up no matter what, and US support doesn't mean all that much in the end in terms of generating tyranical assholes.

thunderspanks
Nov 5, 2003

crucify this


Pine Cone Jones posted:

'At the end when he’s really pressured, he can do anything. I think Gaddafi will burn everything left behind him.'"
I guess at this stage it wouldn't be too much of a stretch for him to try out a scorched earth policy. Whether or not he's got the resources or required people people behind him though, that's a different situation all together.

Pillowpants
Aug 5, 2006

Uglycat posted:

Of course not. Brown people are incapable of democracy.:rolleyes:

Hey, I just asked because it is really really hard to get a functional government going after a dictator lead for almost half a century. I WANT to have hope, but I don't have faith in people anymore.

Mozi
Apr 4, 2004

Forms change so fast
Time is moving past
Memory is smoke
Gonna get wider when I die
Nap Ghost

Crazy Ted posted:

I just want to get this straight since I've been at work all day...

So Qaddafi claims that Al Qaeda is behind the revolt by spiking Libyan coffee with acid and that Osama Bin Laden is receiving help from the United States?

This is totally incorrect and patently ridiculous - they are in fact being drugged with ecstasy and methamphetamines.

BIG HORNY COW
Apr 11, 2003

Pine Cone Jones posted:

From the Al Jazeera live blog, how true this is i do not know, but I hope for the peoples sake this isn't the truth.
It would be a whoooole different ball game.

A gas attack on a major metropolitan area like Tripoli would be unprecedented. It would make Halabja look like a sour fart.

stereobreadsticks
Feb 28, 2008

Vladimir Putin posted:

How do events in Libya contribute to the theory that the US unpopular regimes that that eventually draw the ire of their people? Libya wasn't propped up by the US, in fact the US would like to see nothing more than Gadaffi to die.

To me it means that dictators will sprout up no matter what, and US support doesn't mean all that much in the end in terms of generating tyranical assholes.

What it means is that the people of the Arab world are fed up with dictators whether they're supported or opposed by the US. The US backed regimes aren't the only ones that are unpopular but the US supporting unpopular dictatorial regimes undermines US credibility when we claim support for democracy in countries with regimes we don't support.

sweeptheleg
Nov 26, 2007
al jazeera is reportedly dropping shipments of the drugs into lybia from their secret hover drones.

BIG HORNY COW
Apr 11, 2003
Basically CQ's idea of what is happening is akin to a COBRA plot from an episode of G.I. JOE.

Narmi
Feb 26, 2008

Vladimir Putin posted:

How do events in Libya contribute to the theory that the US unpopular regimes that that eventually draw the ire of their people? Libya wasn't propped up by the US, in fact the US would like to see nothing more than Gadaffi to die.

To me it means that dictators will sprout up no matter what, and US support doesn't mean all that much in the end in terms of generating tyranical assholes.

I might be misunderstanding you, but you're saying that Libya's case negates the theory that the US is solely responsible for supporting dictators? Except that people aren't saying the US is/was solely responsible for all the dictators out there, just that they DID support some, and that these are backfiring spectacularly. Anyways, I don't think I've seen anyone specifically say that the US supported Ghadaffi in the first place. He was, however, supported by England, Italy, and a bunch of other Euoprean countries that are backpedalling as fast as they can to distance themselves from him.

The theory that you are referring to basically states that a dictatorship is unsubstainalbe and tends to implode due to the very things that makes a dictator a dictator. Supporting the dictator, while at first beneficial, then becomes an embarassement, like with Egypt/Iran and the US or Italy and Libya.

Shageletic
Jul 25, 2007

ChubbyEmoBabe posted:

It has more to do with speculation than anything else really. Basically the price goes up because people think other people will think the price will go up and buy some making the price go up.

There's a really good image to display this phenomenon but I can't find it atm.

Well, I don't think this is the image you're looking for, but here's a pie chart showing Libya and US Oil consumption



And here's a post talking about the oil market

quote:

The Financial Times is reporting that half or more of Libya's oil production has been shut down due to the unrest in the country. That's one reason the price of a barrel of Brent crude broke $110, a two-and-a-half year peak.

In recent times, Libya has exported the vast majority of the 1.6 million barrels of oil a day it produces, according to an International Energy Agency report. The biggest importers of the country's oil are Italy, China, France, Germany and Spain. Interestingly, U.S. imports of Libyan oil have fallen from 122,000 barrels a day in 2007 to just 51,000 barrels a day in 2010. Over that same time span, French and British imports have nearly doubled. Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa.

To give you some perspective, U.S. oil consumption is over 20,000,000 barrels a day. Given Libya's relatively small contribution to the global oil supply, the turmoil in the energy and stock markets resulting from Libyan unrest lets you know how little slack there is in the oil market. As long as we use as much oil as we do, there's no way to avoid vulnerability to price spikes for geological or geopolitical reasons. It's a hidden cost of oil and one that we tend to forget any time the price of crude goes down.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/02/at-least-half-libyan-oil-production-shut-down/71618/

Leperflesh
May 17, 2007

Oil consumption is not very flexible. If prices rise by 5%, you don't see a 5% drop in consumption because of the higher prices. That's what contributes to sudden price spikes; if production drops by even a very small amount, buyers are all competing to try and get the same amount of oil as they were already using, so they rapidly bid up the price far in excess to the amount of the defecit until someone is finally "priced out" and accepts a lower quantity. Most oil is used for transportation and power plants, and most transporters and power-producers have a job to do. It's easier for them to pay 10% more for fuel, than it is for them to reduce how much they're using, especially on short notice.

The futures market speculation is a big part of that too, but the markets are all aware of the inflexibility of demand and take it into account in their valuations. It's not totally speculative to predict a 10% rise in prices from a 1% drop in production.

Narmi
Feb 26, 2008
Life has some pretty interesting pictures/info related to Ghaddafi for anyone interested:

Gaddafi's Craziest Quotes

Gaddafi: The Last Supervillain?

When Gaddafi Was Cute

He's also featured here: The World's Worst Dictators (no idea if it's in any particular order or just random).

Jack Napier
Aug 5, 2010

by Ozma
Asianews.it (reliable?) is saying that North Korea is having a few protests, the first in Kim's history, due to the food shortage :x

http://www.asianews.it.nyud.net/news-en/First-public-protests-against-the-Kims%E2%80%99-regime-20861.html

quote:

Seoul (AsiaNews) – The wave of protests that began in the Mideast appears to have reached even North Korea. For the first time in the history of the Stalinist regime, groups of ordinary citizens have protested in three cities demanding food and electricity, sources say. The event is exceptional and confirms the economic difficulties, especially concerning food supplies, people have to face under the Communist government.

According to South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper, citing a North Korean source, demonstrations broke out on 14 February, two days before Kim Jong-il’s birthday, in the cities of Jongju, Yongchon and Sonchon, not far from the border of China.

The State Security Department (the all-powerful agency under Kim Jong-il’s direct control) investigated the incident but failed to identify the people who started the commotion when they met with a wall of silence.

“When such an incident took place in the past, people used to report their neighbours to the security forces, but now they're covering for each other," the source said.

Korean sources told AsiaNews that this represents a crack in the prevailing mindset. “Different factors are at play. On the one hand, the country’s worsening economic situation is certainly one reason. The regime is in fact unable to feed most of its people. On the other, changes at the top are another as Kim Jong-un gets ready to succeed his father on the throne in Pyongyang.”

The younger Kim is “feared by the population,” the source said. “He is viewed as bloodthirsty and mad. “Almost everyone thinks he was behind the military attacks against ROKS Cheonan and an island under South Korean control, which led to restrictions on humanitarian aid from the South. This has further worsened standards of living in the North. North Koreans are ready to do just about anything to stop the succession.”

So, uh. Yeah?

Ashmole
Oct 5, 2008

This wish was granted by Former DILF
That's interesting. I thought they had some kind of news blackout over there.

BIG HORNY COW
Apr 11, 2003

Jack Napier posted:

Asianews.it (reliable?) is saying that North Korea is having a few protests, the first in Kim's history, due to the food shortage :x

http://www.asianews.it.nyud.net/news-en/First-public-protests-against-the-Kims%E2%80%99-regime-20861.html


So, uh. Yeah?

Would be pretty interesting but yeah I'd call bullshit on this one. No way has news of whats happening in the middle east propagated that well through the DPRK.

State media is so tightly controlled there that nobody would even want to MENTION a crazy dictator being overthrown by the angry, poor masses.

Kenning
Jan 11, 2009

I really want to post goatse. Instead I only have these🍄.



Patter Song posted:

After Libya (which I would've said was impossible a few weeks ago), I'm not writing off anything, but I highly doubt we'll see a major rising in any of the Gulf States apart from the ongoing one in Bahrain. (No, despite being on the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen is not a Gulf State)

I will admit to being disappointed about the lack of a rising in Syria (which I would've personally thought far more unstable than Libya).

A lot of people in Syria are proud of the way Bashar Al-Assad is "standing up to America" and stuff. Also poverty is relatively low (compared to, say, Egypt), and food is pretty cheap (i.e. well-subsidized). When I was there a few months ago there didn't seem to be much heart for regime change except among certain Muslim activist groups who chafe a bit at the official secularist ideology of the Bacath Party. It's worth considering too that Al-Assad is an educated, charming, and competent character, much more like Saif Gaddafi (or at least, like he used to be) than the big old crazy Colonel.

Of course, I would have never pegged Libya to explode like this either, so there's that.

Narmi
Feb 26, 2008

Jack Napier posted:

Asianews.it (reliable?) is saying that North Korea is having a few protests, the first in Kim's history, due to the food shortage :x

http://www.asianews.it.nyud.net/news-en/First-public-protests-against-the-Kims%E2%80%99-regime-20861.html


So, uh. Yeah?

Sounds more like a story the South made up to take advantage of the Middle-East protests. While it is possible (though higly, highly, unlikely), that the people might protest in some form, a lot of the story doesn't add up with the nature of the North Koreans, who venerate their dear leader god-like.

Nyyen
Jun 26, 2005

MACHINE MEN
with MACHINE MINDS
and MACHINE HEARTS
This was just posted in the LF cartoon thread. I don't even know what to say.

shortprsn posted:


Delta-Wye
Sep 29, 2005

Ashmole posted:

That's interesting. I thought they had some kind of news blackout over there.

North Koreans have smuggled in radios they can listen to broadcasts from outside the country, and some North Koreans work outside of the DPRK. Supposedly they've been getting more antsy as of late; they did successfully get the government to renege on their currency revaluation plan after all.

Shageletic
Jul 25, 2007

BIG HORNY COW posted:

Would be pretty interesting but yeah I'd call bullshit on this one. No way has news of whats happening in the middle east propagated that well through the DPRK.

State media is so tightly controlled there that nobody would even want to MENTION a crazy dictator being overthrown by the angry, poor masses.

I remember watching a documentary once, it won some awards, that interviewed north korean refugees in China. They talked about still managing to contact relatives in the south while still living in the north, and from what I remember, even sometimes can tuning into South Korean TV and telecommunication

Fake edit: Here's a thing I found on Wikipedia about NK cell phones.

quote:

Rebecca MacKinnon, a research fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard, says that Chinese cellphones have reached North Korea through the black market in spite of government efforts to ban them. As the number of people using them grows, it is likely that cellphones that are web-enabled through Chinese servers will become more common. In addition, South Korean companies such as Samsung have been increasing their market share in China, which will likely lead North Koreans to have Korean-language information through their cellphones.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_North_Korea

Patter Song
Mar 26, 2010

Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man.
Fun Shoe

BIG HORNY COW posted:

State media is so tightly controlled there that nobody would even want to MENTION a crazy dictator being overthrown by the angry, poor masses.

I decided to check if you were right. Let's see what North Korean state media is reporting today:


quote:

Anecdote about Kim Jong Il
Pyongyang, February 23 (KCNA) -- It happened early in summer of 1999 when General Secretary Kim Jong Il gave field guidance to an unit of the Korean People's Army.
Looking round various places of the unit, he showed profound loving care for its soldiers.
He had a photo session with them.
As it was over, he asked them to sing in chorus.
No sooner had they finished their enthusiastic chorus than he warmly clapped hands, asking for an encore.
After their chorus was over, he again gave them a big hand.
He said that the soldiers sang very well, adding that he was very glad to see the well-built soldiers.
It was known later that he delayed the departure from the unit that day, asking them to sing the chorus again because he was reluctant to say goodbye to them.

...

(In all fairness, today's news does include the slightly more newsworthy headline "One More Ancient Tomb With Murals Unearthed")

EDIT: I just checked, through the entire three week Egyptian Revolution, for any mention. All I found was this:

quote:

Kim Jong Il Receives Egyptian Businessman
Pyongyang, January 24 (KCNA) -- General Secretary Kim Jong Il on Sunday received Naguib Sawiris, chairman and CEO of the Orascom Telecom Holding of Egypt, on a visit to the DPRK.
Present there was Jang Song Thaek, alternate member of the Political Bureau of the C.C., the WPK and vice-chairman of the NDC.
Kim Jong Il received a gift from him.
He thanked him for the gift and warmly welcomed his DPRK visit taking place at a time when Orascom's investment is making successful progress in different fields of the DPRK, including tele-communications.
He had a cordial talk with him.
After receiving him, Kim Jong Il hosted a dinner for him.

Patter Song fucked around with this message at 04:13 on Feb 25, 2011

Narmi
Feb 26, 2008
I remember seeing a piece on the news awhile ago that showed how NK intelligence officers in charge of monitoring the south tended to defect once they learned just how bad their lives were. They even tried to join the south's army, but weren't allowed, and ended up forming their own little militia, ready to make war with their former home.

BIG HORNY COW
Apr 11, 2003

Narmi posted:

I remember seeing a piece on the news awhile ago that showed how NK intelligence officers in charge of monitoring the south tended to defect once they learned just how bad their lives were. They even tried to join the south's army, but weren't allowed, and ended up forming their own little militia, ready to make war with their former home.

There's always this ol' chestnut

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_858

quote:

Speaking at the United Nations Security Council, Choi Young-jin, representing South Korea, said that after eight days of interrogation in South Korea, she was permitted to see a film of life in the country on a television screen, and realized that "life ... on the streets of Seoul was entirely different from what she had been led to believe. She began to realize that what she had been told while living in the North was totally untrue."[9] Kim then "threw herself into the arms of a female investigator" and confessed to the bombing.[9] In Korean, she said, "Forgive me. I am sorry. I will tell you everything,"[9] and said that she had been "exploited as a tool for North Korean terrorist activities", and made a detailed and voluntary confession.[9]

I can't imagine the "Holy poo poo I killed a LOT of innocent people for no reason" realization felt too good.

Nucleic Acids
Apr 10, 2007

Nyyen posted:

This was just posted in the LF cartoon thread. I don't even know what to say.

Didn't this guy do a cartoon celebrating the use of white-phosphorous rounds against Palestinians a couple of years ago?

Jack Napier
Aug 5, 2010

by Ozma

Nucleic Acids posted:

Didn't this guy do a cartoon celebrating the use of white-phosphorous rounds against Palestinians a couple of years ago?

It's like if Glenn Beck did comics.

EskimoFreeState
Jul 23, 2007

I AM COMING FOR YOU,

AND YOU WILL LEAD ME TO THE DANCE FLOOR.

Shageletic posted:

I remember watching a documentary once, it won some awards, that interviewed north korean refugees in China. They talked about still managing to contact relatives in the south while still living in the north, and from what I remember, even sometimes can tuning into South Korean TV and telecommunication

Fake edit: Here's a thing I found on Wikipedia about NK cell phones.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_North_Korea

Weird question, but how can you really have covert cell phones without (somehow) covert cell towers? Are they actually satellite phones, or are they piggybacking off of some other kind of tower (military, etc.)?

Narmi
Feb 26, 2008

EskimoFreeState posted:

Weird question, but how can you really have covert cell phones without (somehow) covert cell towers? Are they actually satellite phones, or are they piggybacking off of some other kind of tower (military, etc.)?

quote:

Bloomberg Businessweek has a story on the Chinese cell phones in use in North Korea along the border region. It estimates around 1,000 people use such phones to keep in touch with relatives and associates in China, South Korea and elsewhere. Because the cell phones connect to Chinese cell phone towers it’s difficult for the North Korean government to eavesdrop on the calls, but it does mean use is restricted to the border area.

source

e: The original story has more info:

quote:

As many as 1,000 North Koreans use handsets that connect to Chinese networks to tell people in the South about subjects ranging from food shortages to leader Kim Jong Il’s health, said Ha Tae Keung, a South Korean who runs a Seoul-based radio station that broadcasts daily to the North.

Ha’s Open Radio for North Korea is one of several groups gathering information from people on phones that only work near the 1,400-kilometer (870-mile) border with China. The risks are absolute: One caller was executed, Ha’s employees heard, leading Open Radio to curb contact with informants.

[...]

The man said to have been executed, in his 40s, was shot in public in January in Hamhung, the country’s second-biggest city, Open Radio said March 4, citing a police officer in the North it didn’t identify. The victim had a Chinese cell phone and had confessed to giving details on rice prices and living conditions to a South Korean defector, the report said.

[...]

More than 10 North Korean informants for Open Radio use phones with pre-paid SIM cards bought in China that work as far as 10 kilometers across the border, Ha said. Pre-paid cards accounted for 82 percent of all users at Beijing-based China Mobile Ltd., that country’s biggest operator, in 2007.

Illegal phones started appearing as early as 2000, when defectors living in China and South Korea had them smuggled across the border to relatives, said Sohn Kwang Joo, chief editor at Seoul-based Daily NK.

“Cell phones are the most powerful and surest way to change the North Korean regime,” said Sohn, whose newspaper was the first to report on North Korea’s bungled currency revaluation last year. “A regime change is inevitable and it may come a lot faster than we expect.”

The government in December knocked two zeros off the currency, wiping out savings derived from the black market. The move backfired when food prices soared, sparking sporadic protests, according to Daily NK and Open Radio. The government executed a senior official, Pak Nam Gi, in February for “intentionally harming the country’s economy,” South Korea’s Yonhap News agency said.

“What the regime is worried about is the North Korean people’s growing awareness that the South Korean people are not only richer but that they also do not want to live under Kim Jong Il,” said Brian Myers, professor of international studies at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea. “You raise in the minds of the North Korean people: ‘Why don’t we just live under South Korean rule?’”

source

e2: So according to the above article, there actually were protests. Doesn't say what came of it (probably nothing good though).

Narmi fucked around with this message at 05:59 on Feb 25, 2011

Shageletic
Jul 25, 2007

EskimoFreeState posted:

Weird question, but how can you really have covert cell phones without (somehow) covert cell towers? Are they actually satellite phones, or are they piggybacking off of some other kind of tower (military, etc.)?

Hell if I know, but couldn't they be piggybacking off SK or Chinese towers, since they're so close geographically?

EDIT: Yup, should read before I hit reply.

EskimoFreeState
Jul 23, 2007

I AM COMING FOR YOU,

AND YOU WILL LEAD ME TO THE DANCE FLOOR.
It's really a bummer that they have smuggled Chinese cell phones, but (if I'm reading this correctly) have to live/be within 10 km of the border to communicate with anyone. I assume that if you live farther south and the government keeps seeing you commute 200 miles out of your way twice a week, they're gonna get suspicious.

Better than nothing, I suppose.

CatchrNdRy
Mar 15, 2005

Receiver of the Rye.
For someone who is always referred to by his military rank, I've always wondered why Colonel Qaddafi hasn't promoted himself to something like generalissimo or some outrageous title.

Slantedfloors
Apr 29, 2008

Wait, What?

CatchrNdRy posted:

For someone who is always referred to by his military rank, I've always wondered why Colonel Qaddafi hasn't promoted himself to something like generalissimo or some outrageous title.
His stated reason is that he didn't promote himself because "general" is to fancy a title for someone as humble as him.

There's also probably a practical reason to it, since in most military systems Colonels are the highest rank that can command troops in the field, allowing him to always have a bodyguard without looking paranoid or relying on someone below him to give orders.

Cjones
Jul 4, 2008

Democracia Socrates, MD

Slantedfloors posted:

His stated reason is that he didn't promote himself because "general" is to fancy a title for someone as humble as him.

There's also probably a practical reason to it, since in most military systems Colonels are the highest rank that can command troops in the field, allowing him to always have a bodyguard without looking paranoid or relying on someone below him to give orders.

Colonel is the highest rank in the Libyan military, period.

Herstory Begins Now
Aug 5, 2003
SOME REALLY TEDIOUS DUMB SHIT THAT SUCKS ASS TO READ ->>

EskimoFreeState posted:

It's really a bummer that they have smuggled Chinese cell phones, but (if I'm reading this correctly) have to live/be within 10 km of the border to communicate with anyone. I assume that if you live farther south and the government keeps seeing you commute 200 miles out of your way twice a week, they're gonna get suspicious.

Better than nothing, I suppose.

It's not like people in NK have any way of commuting 200 miles twice a week. There are very few vehicles, fewer highways, and even less petrol. Sure there are trains, but they aren't really suitable for the job. I'm guessing most people simply are already close to the border.

Herstory Begins Now fucked around with this message at 07:39 on Feb 25, 2011

Jut
May 16, 2005

by Ralp

YouTuber posted:

More like he is rubbing his hands in delight. Iran could have turned out to be a pretty nice Democratic country if the rear end in a top hat religious extremist didn't derail the revolution and that the country over for themselves.

Iran was a pretty nice democratic country, until the CIA engineered a revolution...

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Patter Song
Mar 26, 2010

Hereby it is manifest that during the time men live without a common power to keep them all in awe, they are in that condition which is called war; and such a war as is of every man against every man.
Fun Shoe

Jut posted:

Iran was a pretty nice democratic country, until the CIA engineered a revolution...

That is a gross exaggeration and twisting of the facts of what 1950s Iran was like.

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