Reader Tips

Reader Tips 43 Comments

As a special salute to SDA’s infamous trolls, we’re offering a fascinating documentary about North Korea, which the journalist/narrator describes as “A Giant Socialist Themepark”! For those interested in a little something somewhat less surreal, here’s an aesthetically pleasing fractal animation.
As always, your hard news and/or phantasmagorical Reader Tips are most welcome in the comments!

43 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  5. I figured you were talking about this movie, which follows the story of Korean war era defectors – those that defected TO North Korea.
    Did you know that we allow North Korean students into Canada? I only learned about this a few months ago after stumbling upon one.

  8. With North Korea in mind, a little something from the CBC…
    “According to the CBC news anchor Kim Brunhuber this morning, quite possibly, Republican candidate Michelle Bachmann “has ‘outwhackied’ Sarah Palin, which is hard to do…” clearly implying – no not implying, clearly LABELING — Sarah Palin as a whack job; and Michele Bachmann an even bigger whack job.”
    http://boldcolors.ca/

  12. What stuns me is how the North Korean people are so utterly brainwashed. The hunger and discomfort must give them some kind of clue that they are being cheated. When they see that South Korea is coasting along fine, they know it.
    The Soviet colonialism is also a source of puzzlement. All socialist countries must have soldiers in the same uniforms goose-stepping with machine guns and the same oversized melodramatic statues and the same kids with accordions? The accordion isn’t even a Korean instrument, for crying out loud! Surely, there was some cultural consultant pointing this out!

  13. What a horrible injustice for the Dippers, and not only for not walking the picket lines, but for also riding those scab airlines.
    Shouldn’t they ride Greyhound instead?

  14. Osumashi Kinyobe – “All socialist countries must have soldiers in the same uniforms goose-stepping with machine guns and the same oversized melodramatic statues…”
    Here’s my favorite: The statue of Saparmurat “Turkmenbashi” Niyazov in Ashgabat which, as we all know without googling, is of course the capital of Turkmenistan. It was gold-plated and it rotated 360 degrees every day. Tasteful, no? Sadly the thing was toppled. Turkmenbashi had started naming the months after members of his family around the time he kicked it in 2006.
    Who knows, we may wind up celebrating Christmas is Michellember.

  15. But hey kiddies,North Korea is doing its part to help CAGW!!!! No nasty CO2 there! The leftards must be so proud.

  17. Black Mamba, I’m getting ready for Thermidor II (not a Schwartzenegger movie). The inhabitants of New Versailles must be getting a bit nervous. If they come through here, I’ll recognize Obama from his commemerative plates advertised on CNN. (ie the golden ecu). And then I will kindly ask them to return to Chicago.

  18. Erik – is it a video game? One of those things where you can become absolute ruler? “And then I will kindly ask them to return to Chicago.” – And that’s when you nuke Chicago.
    Now look, should I get five more cats?

  19. Tuesday, June 14. Manitoba is campaigning against the federal government’s decision to end the Wheat Board monopoly on wheat and barley.
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/manitoba-takes-on-ottawa-over-wheat-board/article2059348/
    http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/Manitoba+fight+changes+wheat+board/4940749/story.html
    Globe: “‘We’re very concerned with the message the federal government is sending to farmers and we won’t just let them pull the plug on the Canadian Wheat Board,’ said Premier Gary Selinger. The province is also worried about the loss of jobs, since the Wheat Board supports roughly 2,000 direct and indirect jobs in Winnipeg, and is concerned over the future of the Port of Churchill, used mainly by the Wheat Board to ship grain to Europe.”
    Maybe those jobs will soon be surplus, like elevator operators? Other jobs will replace them, unless the province goes the socialist stagnation route.
    “Mr. Selinger is backing a call by the Wheat Board for a vote by farmers on the future of the organization. The board is controlled by about 50,000 farmers, who elect 10 of the organization’s 15 directors. ‘This is about allowing farmers a democratic voice in the future of the institution that they control and pay for,’ he said.”
    Now they won’t have to pay for it unless they individually choose to. It’s the contempt for choice and the freedom of the individual that leads Selinger up the wrong path.
    This is not about democracy – democracy is about electing a government. This is about the right of every farmer to sell his product without giving a damn what any other farmer, or Canadian, or person, thinks he should do. Attempting to expand the concept of “democracy” into areas where it does not belong is a standard leftist ruse — hence the fraud of “democratic socialism”.
    National Post: “Manitoba has no direct say in the future of the Wheat Board, which is governed by federal law and controlled by government appointees and farmer-elected directors. But Premier Greg Selinger said the province is joining the Wheat Board and some farm groups in demanding that Ottawa hold a vote by farmers to decide the CWB’s future, as required by the current legislation.”
    The federal government can change the legislation. The last thing Canada needs is overlap of federal and provincial responsibilities and lawsuits between one level of government and another. Unfortunately we have had plenty of both already. Manitoba should stop wasting its citizens’ valuable tax dollars.

  20. National Post, Tuesday, June 14. From a speech by Liberal Party president Alfred Apps to the Empire Club.
    Apps: “The Liberal Party of Canada’s core assumptions in politics are about power. We believe that the inexorable progress of mankind, the constant expansion of freedom, demands the ever more democratic disbursal of power. That the primary ongoing role of the state should be to transfer power from the powerful to the less powerful. And because we believe in the primacy of the individual, we think of that power being placed in the hands of individuals to the maximum extent possible.”
    No, the purpose of the state is to ensure that no one has power over another – that when one individual, whether rich or poor, aggressively uses force or fraud against another, the state steps in to stop him and/or punish him for his transgression.
    Apps: “In order to more properly empower Canadians, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms should be amended to include more positive rights for economic, cultural and social freedom.”
    “As Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, ‘We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men.’ He proposed, but was never able to enact, a bill of rights that would have a guaranteed all Americans’ health care, education, housing, and income and retirement security.”
    The enactment of “positive rights” – that is, the ‘right’ to violate the genuine “negative rights” of others with impunity, and with state backing through taxation and other measures – is precisely the disaster that is killing the Western world today.

  24. “Scientists predict rare ‘hibernation’ of sunspots”
    WASHINGTON — US scientists say the familiar sunspot cycle seems to be entering a hibernation period unseen since the 17th century, a pattern that could have a slight cooling effect on global temperatures.
    For years, scientists have been predicting the Sun would by around 2012 move into solar maximum, a period of intense flares and sunspot activity, but lately a curious calm has suggested quite the opposite.
    The signs include a missing jet stream, fading spots and slower activity near the poles, said a trio of studies presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Physics Division in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
    “This is highly unusual and unexpected,” said Frank Hill, associate director of the National Solar Observatory’s Solar Synoptic Network.
    “But the fact that three completely different views of the Sun point in the same direction is a powerful indicator that the sunspot cycle may be going into hibernation.”
    Solar activity tends to rise and fall every 11 years or so. The solar maximum and solar minimum each mark about half the interval of the magnetic pole reversal on the Sun, which happens every 22 years.
    Experts are now probing whether this period of inactivity could be a second Maunder Minimum, a 70-year period when hardly any sunspots were observed between 1645-1715 known as the “Little Ice Age.”
    “If we are right, this could be the last solar maximum we’ll see for a few decades. That would affect everything from space exploration to Earth’s climate,” said Hill.”
    http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gCyKV3JBekkM64KzB2y5sBT9cmFQ?docId=CNG.0859eaa6a7b504a1beff9276b550af2a.371

  25. If: “a big “if””.
    …-
    “if solar activity drops significantly and stays there for several decades, the possibility exists that the worst effects of anthropogenic climate change could be delayed.”
    However, if the sun goes quiet for longer — as it did between 1645 and 1715 — temperatures could start to dip. That 70-year period, known as the Maunder Minimum, co-incided with lower temperatures on Earth (and, perhaps more importantly, an upswing in volcanic activity). In Europe, the chill was dubbed the Little Ice Age.
    Given the dramatic rate at which emissions are increasing at the moment, we’re unlikely to be skating on the Thames in the near future. But if solar activity drops significantly and stays there for several decades, the possibility exists that the worst effects of anthropogenic climate change could be delayed. That’s a big “if”, and not one that humanity can rely on.”
    “Sun could be heading for a ‘Maunder Minimum'”
    http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-06/15/sun-heading-for-hibernation

  27. Frau Merkel: Ich Bin Ein Fossil Fuel/Nuclear Troll.
    “The more wind energy Germany produces, the more fossil fuel backup it will require.”
    “it will be compelled to import it – either in the form of nuclear power from France, or fossil fuels from Russia.”
    …-
    “German irony: Will it have to import nuclear power?”
    “German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany will shut its 17 nuclear power plants by 2022 and replace its lost electricity production – one-quarter of the country’s supply – with more renewable energy, such as wind, solar and biomass.
    Let’s assume that Germany meets Ms. Merkel’s goal. In that case, it will still rely on fossil fuels for more than half its electricity, roughly the same percentage a decade forward as it did a decade past. In fact, its reliance on fossil fuels would necessarily expand. The more wind energy Germany produces, the more fossil fuel backup it will require.”
    http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/neil-reynolds/german-irony-will-it-have-to-import-nuclear-power/article2060358/

  28. nv53 @ 2:47, the former Liberal Party communications director, a fellow named Hurst (I believe) said on Sun News TV that Apps advocated amalgamating with the NDP.
    Black Mamba @ 3:50, would Chris Matthews be including his own IQ in that figure?

  31. Talk about a country hypnotized by militancy and militarism. I always thought the Nazis were the kings of turning people into machines, but Communist North Korea makes the Nazis look like a bunch of laid-back hippies!
    The Mandelbrot fractals were a welcome contrast — repetition based on something ever-changing and ever-adapting.

  32. Dear sweet gods and angels…Obama is now blaming ATM machines and airport self-checking machines..for unemployment.
    Obama said: “There are some structural issues with our economy where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM, you don’t go to a bank teller, or you go to the airport and you’re using a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate.”
    I can hear the gods laughing themselves silly right now. Hey, Obama-boy; have you ever heard about Investment ?
    Investment emerges when the people, yes, the people, keep most of their profits from their work, and INVEST it in new business. Or in banks, which can then INVEST by giving out small loans and mortgages. And can INVEST by even hiring new workers!
    If there isn’t any INVESTMENT…there aren’t any new jobs…or machines to deal with increased volume of use.
    Oh, Mr. Obama, did it ever occur to you that making those machines…creates jobs? Hmm?
    The man is so stupid, so ignorant, so arrogant..it’s almost beyond belief. But i believe it. He’s stupid, ignorant and arrogant.

  33. Yes, ET. And how come virtually all of our beloved Canadian journalists fawned all over O during his campaign – to the point of being pathetic ?! Are they just that clueless? An agenda? Spiteful?

  34. Yes, and speaking of Obama’s ‘caring about jobs’…he and his administration are trying to prevent Boeing from opening a new plant in S. Carolina..to create 1,000 jobs.
    Why? Because SC is a ‘right-to-work’ or non-unionized state. Obama wants the plant moved to a union-state. Since when does the govt have the right to dictate to a private company where they do business?
    But Obama needs to have his union buddies support him for his re-election. He needs their money and their worker-brainwashed support. That’s why he’s attacking SC. Obama doesn’t give a hoot about jobs; his only concern is, as usual, Himself. His power, his re-election. Period.

  35. MSM now spreads the Cooling with its Spin Machine.
    Warming = cooling.
    AGW-Neo PR says, even AGW fractals are freezing, our BRRMole reports.
    Here’s da scary meat: “A decrease in global warming might result in the years after 2020.”
    The good stuff: “the effects of a calmer sun are mostly good”.
    AGW has died a cold death.
    …-
    “Earth facing a mini-Ice Age ‘within ten years’ due to rare drop in sunspot activity”
    “Sunspots are expected to disappear for years, maybe decades, after 2020
    A sharp decrease in global warming might result
    The sun is heading into an unusual and extended period of hibernation that could trigger a mini-Ice Age on Earth, scientists claim.
    A decrease in global warming might result in the years after 2020, the approximate time when sunspots are expected to disappear for years, maybe even decades.
    While the effects of a calmer sun are mostly good – there’d be fewer disruptions of satellites and power systems – it could see a sharp turnaround in global warming.”
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2003824/Earth-facing-mini-Ice-Age-years-rare-drop-sunspot-activity.html

  38. Whew, am I glad I stopped here, where so many quality, scientific analyses on climate change, can be previewed. Where do you guys post your invaluable research, I’d like to be impressed some more. In fact all your discordant opinions give me a wonderfully bizarre sense of awe. Yeah, but why waste your time when you should be worried more about the future annexation of Alberta, and break up of our country, by our friends south of the border, than fretting over that hot shiny, round thingy up in the sky.
    Cheers fellow Roadkill!

  40. I’ve never been a fan of Conan O’Brien’s (or his top notch!) but he has delivered a rather hilarious commencement address to the most recent Dartmouth grads with a serious entree after a lengthy h’ors d’oevre course.
    Since being shoved aside by Leno, he seems to have matured. He attests to this maturing process in his talk:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELC_e2QBQMk
    h/t The Anchoress

  42. Obamic Semantics is at it again! Remember how he made Islamic terrorism go away by redefining it as ‘man-caused disasters’? And the war on terror disappeared because he renamed it as ‘overseas contingency operations’!!!
    Now, Obama is refusing to ask Congress for permission to engage in the war in Libya (as if he asks Congress for permission to do anything; more and more, Obama is ruling by executive fiat and ignoring Congress).
    Obamic semantics…he’s saying that the war in Libya isn’t really a military action;
    The WH says: “U.S. operations do not involve sustained fighting or active exchanges of fire with hostile forces, nor do they involve the presence of U.S. ground troops, U.S. casualties or a serious threat thereof,” .
    Gosh, so US planes bombing that same ground – which seems to me to be a ‘hostile act’ and presumably, against hostile forces on the ground…isn’t that an ‘exchange of fire?
    Or is war (Obamic War) only when they fire back..and if you fire on them, then it’s not a military action?
    Even if you, in your military plane, and the men who are flying those planes…are in the military? And paid by the military? Even then – it’s not a war? It’s not a hostile act?
    So – what is it? A training exercise? Or a war? Obamic semantics is so difficult…sigh…

  43. And here’s VDH writing in the Corner:
    “In the world of Barack Obama, inflating tires and “tuning up” modern car engines precludes off-shore drilling. Four-dollar-a-gallon gas prices can be ameliorated by having the average consumer trade in his 8-mpg clunker. Medical bills soar because doctors unnecessarily rip out tonsils and lop off limbs. “Skyrocketing” power bills and bankrupt coal companies are abstractions, and do not involve personal tragedies. One third of the border fenced means that the fence is “basically” completed. Nine percent unemployment is due in part to automation like ATMs, which apparently first came on the scene during the Obama administration to eliminate jobs. Shovel-ready jobs were not so shovel-ready. Criticism is dismissed as “enemies” deserving “punishment” or opponents relegated to the “back seat” or adversaries caricatured with “moats and alligators.” And so on.
    Two themes predominate: a cluelessness about how things work outside the Ivy League–Chicago–D.C. political nexus, and a sense that nothing is ever Barack Obama’s fault.”

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