So incredibly brave of them to immediately go into those places knowing that there very well may be another bomb coming their way. Unbelievable.
Chicago story is just sad. Years of racial profiling finally are stopped by the by-product is that cops are afraid to stop black people who are committing crimes and more and more people are dying. Seems like you could just wear body cams and do your jobs and things should improve and you can protect yourself against any false claims of racial profiling.
Easier said than done. I don't envy police nowadays but I absolutely repect the job they have to do. If they confront suspects or what they think is suspicious activity then they are "profiling" and people get on them about being too aggresive. If they don't proactively investigate and talk to suspicious characters then those people shoot each other and people bitch about them doing too little. Of course there's a middle ground that needs to be reached but not everyone will ever agree on what that is. I wish all the best for dudes like NoleNBlue
I just watched that segment and thought it was pretty well done. I live in Chicago and it really is tough spot for the cops. Rahm has also been willing to throw cops under the bus for his benefit which certainly complicates the situation. The crime is usually concentrated to the south and west sides of the city. Living on the north side seems almost like a world away when you hear of what's happening.
These parents seriously expected the US government to spend $137 million on a ransom to free their kid who was dumb enough to go into Syria?
I doubt they expected $137 million. If a bunch of other countries are paying the ransom it is probably about $1 million.
That's a pretty aggressive statement. Do you have proof that ISIS has received a ransom payment for an American hostage and still killed them?
Can you imagine hearing like 100 of those little fuckers come over your shanty with their high pitched buzzing knowing what's going to happen next.
I can't imagine killing your brother on accident, and you father was convinced it was on purpose. And conversely the guilt of the father realizing youve falsely blamed your son for killing his brother. Also, what the hell was that former serviceman thinking keeping his hunting rifle loaded? THere's like zero reason for it and just dumb.
The father is what got to me. Losing a son in that manner, blaming the other son, realizing you were wrong, and then your son gets out of prison early. Sheesh
I couldn't do it unless I somehow had information or ability to bring down Kim's regime. And even then I don't think I could.
The Aquariums of Pyongyang (non-fiction) and The Orphan Master's Son (fiction) are both great reads about North Korean work camps and life there in general. It's such an absurd place.
I am absolutely fascinated with North Korea as well. The 60 Min segment led me to watch Under the Sun, a doc on Netflix that follows a North Korean family for a period of time. The govt basically scripted everything about the film, but the filmmakers kept their cameras rolling even when officials thought they were off. It was reasonably interesting. Sad for the kids.
Was anyone else super skeptical of the defector? I just found it real hard to believe anything he said.
A VP from my former employer went on a govt sponsored trip to NK to discuss opening the country to more western business/capitalistic ideas. I think it was mostly window dressing and nothing was really accomplished, but the most interesting take away form her stories was that when they were there, one of the guys reads a paper and throws it away. He has to hand write an apology leader to Kim Jong Un for throwing something away with his face on it. I'm sure if govt officials hadn't been involved that person would be in a labor camp.
It makes zero sense that NK stopped holding children hostage so the son could go to London and the family could defect.
My brother went to NK as a tourist for a couple days when he was traveling Asia. Didn't see anything crazy but had a few stories. Basically he doesn't have but a few pics on camera bc if police see your phone out taking pics they'll take it and delete your whole camera roll with the quickness. He said the synchronized propaganda dances (idk if right word) were incredible to see. Also the beer there made by the state is some of the best he's had anywhere. That kid from UVA who stole the propaganda sign is a perfect example of why you shouldn't go there period. If he's alive, he's working in a prison camp for the next 19 years.
Yeah definitely not worth going there on the off chance that you piss them off and get sent to a labor camp for some minor indiscretion.
I got it wrong. They met a tourist who had to write the letter. Email from the trip below: Spoiler I am just getting back from two weeks in N Korea and found it so fascinating I wanted to share it with you. I was nervous to send it after I sent one to a few girlfriends but now that I am back on US soil, I thought you might be interested in hearing about North Korea. This is what I sent earlier: We had a great two days in N Korea. We are back at the China border (on the free side) and feel grateful for our freedom which still isn't very free compared to what we take for granted every day! We head to Pyongyang via flight first thing this morning where we have to return our phones etc. We are heading to the Arirang Games. It is a big deal over here with 120,000 people participating for a fraction of visitors - less than 1,000 mostly from China and about the same amount of locals. Their Great Leader will likely be there tonight as it is their independence day today which means no pictures. The trip has been extremely eye opening! Everything you do that isn't expected and outside the tight parameters and rules you don't yet know exists gets reported. Less than 8 hours across the border deep in their country I took an unauthorized photo of a cute house with a fence. An old lady was making soup and her family went crazy. The man chased me and grabbed the phone out of my hand. They are very aggressive! One of the three Minders sent to watch over the 16 of us plus our 4 guides helped me to get the camera back and we deleted the picture but it was reported to the authorities. They are afraid not to report incidents because everyone watches everyone and if you don't report and someone else does, that could mean camp or demotion of class etc for the person responsible for you. In this case the Minder that was supposed to be watching me was responsible for my actions. I was told our departure took longer due to this and a few other minor incidents caused by the others when I left the border last night. The sad thing was we were on the street pretty far away and I had a friend from the group in the background of the picture. After interrogation as to why I took the picture (because I liked the blue border on the brick fence), they shook their heads as to why I would want that picture and the heartburn it caused for all the reasons mentioned earlier. They are very paranoid. Imagine the mounds of paperwork just on all of this policing of people. They would not let us interact with any locals unless it was totally pre-approved with the specific people you are allowed to speak with. This was just one of many stories. Henry, the Polish American, tried to give a child some money by walking out to the street from the factory we toured and the Minders ran after him and scolded the family and Henry for trying to give them money. They made the kid give the money back. This was just after we pulled up to the factory we were to tour and a huge group had gathered outside the factory for a meeting. We couldn't tell exactly what it was but initially we could look at them from the bus. Once we started taking pictures, they punished us by driving the bus further up the street and we had to wait until they dispersed. They were trying to figure out what to do with us and who to report it to since we took photos. We were left on the bus without the Minders when they were preparing our arrival. We think it was a normal propaganda meeting and self criticism meeting where they tell on themselves and explain how they will do better. They say these gatherings are a regular daily thing. These meetings also reaffirm how great their country is as well as their Great Leader. The issue is they don't want us to have any pictures where they don't look like an absolutely prosperous country and any "unplanned" photos could be used as negative propaganda. Remember, this is the most isolated country in the world. The factories we toured yesterday all made everything by hand. Assembly lines were filled with women performing their one simple task over and over for 10 hours a day 6 days a week. It was surreal and extremely inefficient, nothing automated about it! They cut all the molds and sew each piece together. They also put various labels from "Made in China" to Vietnam to DPR Korea. They know people don't want to buy anything from N Korea so they switch labels. It is especially difficult to get the trade going post sanctions. We went to a bustling market (remember, this is a limited economic trade area set up as an experiment and it is illegal to trade in the (only) black market. We were not able to take photos anywhere in the market which was a shame since there were 8-10 workers for every shopper. I saw where they kept the dogs (a delicacy) for sale. They had been boiled slightly to get the fur off. They looked every bit a dog despite removing the heads. We crossed back into China last night for the night before our flight back into another area of N Korea early this morning. The border crossing takes over 2 hours each way and you must go through 3 stations getting 3 stamps each way. When we were getting ready to leave, the minders went through every picture we took so many changed memory cards to show vanilla photos. Even those had several photos we were forced to delete. The border patrol also went through every picture from every camera. They deleted 8-10 pictures on average from each person's camera. If any signage or picture of Kim Il Jong that missed even a corner of the photo was considered disrespectful and we were forced to delete them. We met another tourist who had to write an apology letter to the government for throwing a newspaper in the garbage of his hotel room which contained a picture of Kim Jung Il. They see it as an offense for anyone throwing a picture of him away. Instead, you must hand the newspaper (or whatever has his picture on it) to someone who will collect it and neatly fold the paper. I don't know what they do with all the papers?! Another person in their group had to write an apology letter for stepping inside the room where the Great Leader was born to get a better photo. They take these shrines very seriously! You can't even sit on the ledge by a monument or painted mural of him and there are over 20,000 such monuments in the country. Someone in our group sat by a ledge far from the mural and a traffic police from the neighboring intersection blew his whistle and kept waving his traffic paddle until he got up. Everything is so surreal here and there is absolutely no element of choice. All locals must wear a pin of the leader on the left side of their chest and will be written up if they don't. You can't buy a pin, you must earn one as a citizen. The most shocking thing so far was the paintings and painted murals both in the shoe factory and the middle school where we met with kids. The pictures were all of war and showed the Koreans fighting the US soldiers. They all wore helmets with USA written across the top. We saw everything depicted from children pulling chained US soldiers along and bazookas being stabbed into US soldiers surrounded by the fire to N Korean female soldiers showering fire on a USA tank. This was in an area we weren't supposed to see in the middle school leaving me shocked at how friendly and interested the kids were in getting to know us. The other propaganda painting was proudly displayed in the factory with no other art to be found. I snuck up to the second floor of one of the middle schools we visited and they had an entire wall with real photos of dead people - the atrocities of the Korean War. I couldn't read the signs but am sure it didn't portray the US in a positive light. We visited a maritime university yesterday and it was all scripted. We never go anywhere until the Minders get the clearance. Everything we saw at face value was orchestrated for our benefit. The problem is they are so far behind the times and don't even know it so it is awkward. We saw a room full of kids studying but they all looked like they were posing - stuck on the same pages of their notes like they were just re-writing them. The other class showed a maritime docking ship simulation which barely moved. I wasn't even sure the steering wheel was connected to the cartoonish graphic of the ship. Last night's meeting was completely out there! We met all of the heads of Rason and gave a 90 minute presentation with power point on how Rason will look in 5-7 years according to them. They have less than 200,000 people now and no cars, small 3-4 story buildings max. They showed all of the reasons they think this area would be a good investment and explained their 3 largest investments from outsiders - a repaved freeway from the China border to this town (a 2 hour drive) with no expectation in return (other than water rights by their docks for a fee), a casino that sits totally vacant because N Koreanscan't go in leaving such a small possible client base even able to go in, and another one that hasn't returned a dime of investment yet. The plans for this expanded city look like 8X more people will move into Rason. The graffics look like parts of other RE developments as if someone cut and pasted Miami and Dubai into a graphic to visualize the new plan. There are no cars and really in most places, no people. They whole thing is surreal! With a straight face, the key leader lit cigarettes and told us we should invest in Rason! We definitely entered the surreal world in the huge room. There was a large conference table with the middle cut out for dozens of cheery, multi colored flowers which are the norm everywhere! At the end of a long dinner, I retreated to my room and tried to sleep on a wooden frame with a 2 inch thick mat. My room was connected to the Karaoke room. I don't know what it is but all Koreans belt it out to the karaoke music as they are confident in their ability to sing. They are the worst singers but they always grab for the microphone. I finally fell asleep with earphones in my ear trying to block the screeches coming from the next room. More to follow next weekend after Pyongyang. Once again, they will keep our phones and other electronics at the border in an effort to keep their people from knowing anything about the outside world. Update: We had a few more incidents before leaving N Korea the second time. One of the men on our trip collects sickles from around the world and he was able to get one from a farmer in a large city. He tried to pay for it but with another man standing by the farmer, he couldn't accept money. Their average income is $30 a month and the government pays for all jobs so no one is allowed to have any additional money (legally). They actually changed their currency in 2002 to wipe out the system and start everyone back at square one financially. Overnight, the old currency people squirreled away became completely worthless! Within 3 hours of Henry getting the sickle, a report went from Kaesong to Pyongyang and the officials came looking for the sickle. Turns out the bus driver saw him with the sickle and had to report him for fear if he didn't and someone else did, he would be in trouble. The government took the sickle off of Henry within a matter of hours. They couldn't believe someone would actually give somebody something. It is really a sad state of affairs. Probably the most eye opening experience was when we had been driving all day visiting various rural areas and were 20 minutes from Nampo (our next stop). A wood burning truck with a load of coal was stopped in the middle of the road. Normally the main roads are very wide (up to 10 lanes for military planes to land if needed because there truly are no cars in this country) but this wasn't a main road so it was narrow. The road was impassable with the broken down truck in the middle so our group jumped out and asked if we could push the truck out of the way. The Minders agreed as did the man sleeping in the truck. We pushed and the man couldn't operate the truck so it crashed into a deep ditch in the middle of a corn field. Luckily no one was hurt but the frame on the 1970's truck bent and windshield broke. They don't have enough equipment to pull that truck out so I don't know how they will dislodge it. Within 2 minutes, several police were there. The most telling thing about their country is both the assistant watching the truck, the Minders, and the police told us to leave immediately. This would be horrible to have an incident involving foreigners. We were forced to leave before all of the villagers came out. Having us there would have completely muddied the report and created exponentially larger issues. As it stands, both the assistant and the driver (who was in town looking for repair equipment) probably lost their jobs and may have had to attend re-education camp for a week or two despite doing nothing wrong. What I find incredible is that I can get reported for taking a photo of something I shouldn't but it is perfectly okay to push a huge truck into a ditch and leave without any responsibility as if the incident didn't exist. We really struggled with that. The men who were in control of the truck could never in their lifetime afford to buy the truck though no one owns a vehicle. It is not allowed as only the government owns vehicles or property for that matter. Having said all of this, I do believe they are going to open the country up to capitalism in controlled fashion. Kim Il Un just got rid of the top Military putting himself in charge and rid the government of his Dad's leaders. They are also talking about letting farmers keep some amount of surplus over the quotas they have to produce for the government. We also visited a university allowed in by the government. It was founded by an American Korean and Americans are paying for it. We went to speak to one classroom studying capitalism (they all want to learn about it despite it being illegal to have any type of capitalism outside of the special economic area of Rason). I picked up a book and it had all American companies from Blackstone to EBay and Disney with case studies and pictures of the leaders of these firms. It was a very strange text book - almost as if someone copied several articles from Forbes magazine. When I asked the college students where they wanted to visit, they individually said they hadn't thought about ever leaving N Korea even for a visit. These poor people have no confidence to even speak up in an isolated setting. They are afraid to even dream of a better life. The brain washing and indoctrination is incredible. The DMZ was also very interesting! We saw it from the North and South. The South surprisingly was very uptight and wouldn't let us take photos of their building or sit in the chairs in the neutral room we were in just days before sitting in those same chairs taking photos we now were no longer allowed to photograph. There were millions of mines in the 4Km neutral zone and the SKorean/ US soldiers had to wear sunglasses to avoid irritating the NKorean soldiers. The N Korean soldiers would taunt the S Koreansoldiers by making faces and pointing then report the incident if the SKorean soldiers reacted. They are always reporting incidents which are costly and a waste of time to address so they wear sunglasses to avoid interaction. Both soldiers guard their area and the separation is a 6inch high, one foot wide curb so they truly are right beside each other. We also toured the tunnels the N Koreans made to invade post 1953 Armistice agreement. They denied the 4 large and long tunnels which can pass 30,000 troops per hour through and tried to say they were abandoned coal mines. They painted the tunnels to look like coal. The problem is there was no coal nearby and the direction of the tunnel boring proved it came from the North. A defector working on the tunnels alerted the S Koreans to these tunnels. There are at least 4 they know of. Overall, the experience was incredible with a great group of YPO'ers from 9 countries. We are planning Iran for 2014!
That group kinda sounded shitty. Like typical obnoxious American tourists only theyre acting that way in North Korea.