Saturday Live on the 16th had an interesting little report. (about 0945)…all the way from the delightful People’s Republic of North Korea.
John McCarthy hears about the Arirang or Mass Games in North Korea’s capital Pongyang; a dazzling display by thousands of marching, dancing, skipping, gymnastics and… flip charts. He talks to visitors to the games photographer Jeremy Hunter, former diplomat James Hoare and tourist Tony Pletts.
Fascinating what an upbeat little tale we have about one of the cruellest regimes in the world from the BBC….
We are witnessing an ‘ amazing stage, an incredible event….there is something here that these people have got, this system has got….the minders are really really wonderful…you only get to see what they want you to see but you really do get a sense of what life is like for Koreans…picnics and dances at the weekend….an element of Disney involved….it makes you appreciate just how different life could be from the life you lead at home….absolutely a thumbs up to go see one of the great spectacles of the world’
Thumbs up for those unspeakable atrocities!!!!……
World must act on North Korea rights abuse, says UN report
The international community must act on evidence that crimes against humanity are being committed in North Korea, says a long-awaited UN report.
A panel of experts mandated by the UN’s Human Rights Council said North Koreans had suffered “unspeakable atrocities”, and that those responsible, including leader Kim Jong-un, must face justice.
Let’s hope you now….’appreciate just how different life could be from the life you lead at home’
Yodok Concentration Camp:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yodok_concentration_camp
“Some prisoners sneak into the pigsties and steal pig slops or pick undigested corn kernels out of animal feces to survive.”
Say what you like about North Korea their film makers and actors are worthy of BAFTA Awards.
All good practice for Nelson Mandela though…see how many BBC types like Sweeney are doing their Benny Hill approximation of how an Asian chap looks.
Note how many Milibands there are… I did wonder where they cloned them.
Personally, we could see this for ourselves at Salforrd Market if we all ensured that Labour were binned, and a new Party would send the whole BBC shebang up in a Chinese rocket-to foster international harmony.
Has Branson got many more of those overblown branded condoms of his that he once tried to fly about in?
Reckon there`s a global warming balloon experiment to be made here…use them all as tracers like those rubber ducks-only in the jetstreasm to mark warm air gradients.
Johnny Ball and David Bellamy to design it all-proper scientists…Harrabin as ballast to be jettisoned early on please.
I`d watch it anyway-and it`s my BBC so I demand they make this…it`s my human right , you know…
The BBC likened the regime to Nazi Germany. I think this is very wrong. Its much more like the Russian and Chinese Communist Governments who murdered millions of their own countrymen and women who they thought disagreed with them They did not persecute minorities but everyone . North Korea is like most communist regimes are or have been.
I agree with you but the BBC believes that at the heart of Stalinist Russia there was something good and wholesome, whereas they don’t believe this of Nazi Germany. This is the view of the liberal left who are always willing to turn a blind eye to the awfulness of life in a communist state. They then have clever, articulate folks, like the late Mr R Miliband who actually preached that we would be better off in a Marxist state thanin a democracy. But, as his Marxist son Ed says, he still really loved Britain despite that !? Of course the liberal left always imagine that they themselves will be amongst the elite who rule in the name of the proletariat.
The liberal left are not to be trusted with democracy which is why their massive propaganda machine, the BBC ,should be got rid of.
Doublethinker, Yes indeed. And with all communist tyrannies there lies a heart of good intentions, somehow corrupted by either evil forces outside (US capitalists) or internal traitors. Thus Labour lefties, Ken Livingstone, Dianne Abbott, and the numerous far left blogs will understand the current oppression in Venezuela. I am awaiting BBC reports and interviews with ‘activists’ in Venezuela following the closing down of Twitter, arrest of the opposition and killing of student demonstrators.
Don’t be silly!
According to the Beeb, there’s no unrest in Venezuela…or at least you wouldn’t think so if you tune into their TV news.
There is a little on their webstye (sic), including a nice piece which examines the disinformation and notes that some images posted by the protesters, which it shows, are fakes…However, rahter conspicuously, it doesn’t mention any government disinformation, nor has it shown the shooting of Bassil Dacosta or mentioned the shooting of Genesis Carmona.
For a clearer picture try the link below. It’s not objective, but it at least will tell you what the BBC (and Channel 4) seem to have missed.
http://caracaschronicles.com/2014/02/21/censorship-paramilitaries-abuses-and-some-blood/
Good point, Fred, they are making totally the wrong comparison but in the most convenient way – can’t compromise the socialist ideal, can we BBC, regardless of its ‘faults’ (about 50 million dead)?
They did not persecute minorities but everyone .
Oh yes, they really were/are equal opportunity genocidal maniacs! Which is why they off-ed more unfortunates than the Nazis could dream of.
Only beaten in death rate by the environmentalists.
The BBC is very good at showing the flip side – remember all the videos about South Africa under apartheid, showing happy kids playing football in the sunshine, the poor people with the highest standards of living in Africa, free healthcare, free schooling, etc. Oh, no, I missed that one too!
Not only is it ‘like’ a murderous communist government, it ‘is’ a murderous communist government. There is no need for the BBC to liken it to a fascist government when it would be simple enough to just describe as it is.
Wonder if John Sweeney, his “partner” who happens to do the student tours for the LSE-and the BBC will try once again to show us something.
Only this time, be brave enough to show us the real stuff, not old library footage whilst pretending that he`s actuially taking a risk in being there.
Oh yes, and this time could Sweeney and “LSE partner” be brave enough to NOT use innocent or gullible students as sandbags, lightning rods, canaries, straw men, shilll, stiffs goons, patsies and all other terms that the BBC must(by now) have for the dupes that they hide behind to “investigate”.
We rally should have left John McCarthy to the Beirut militias…a complete Stockholm syndrome stooge totally captured by his new BBC militia…and will say ANYTHING to please those who pay him to shovel this shit.
Poor old Brian Keenan-a great man, and no stooge-but he`d have had to listen to John practicing his telephone BBC voice for years, whilst chained to the next radiators.
I have also got the feeling that the BBC is trying to humanise North Korea and paint it as a weird, eccentric socialist experiment.
Perhaps they should show the conditions of the work camps as their front headlines rather than wondering what JK Rowling is thinking today or which rich twat has won which BAFTA.
It won’t come as a surprise to anyonethat crimes against humanity are being committed in North Korea. I’m just surprised Alan wants to bring up that old post again given it was based on his lying.
I would encourage you to read the comments under that post. If theBBC’s bias is so blatant why the need to lie Al?
What will next spring next from the Borg ‘H’ box is always a winner.
‘Lying’ is such a strong word too, when poorly supported in accusation.
Much better to take a leaf from BBC high command’s manual and conjure up astounding lacks of curiosity or failures in memory when dealing in matters forked tongue.
Strong but true. I refer you to the original post.
Oh, and I’m watching you.
‘Oh, and I’m watching you’
O00000h get her ! well that’s me scared out of my wits !pmsl!
Don’t tell ‘im, Mat!
Priceless!
Now I have contributed to making the thread look
L
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‘Oh, and I’m watching you’
No good unless you are also prepared to take notes.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kombat-Waterproof-Zipped-Notebook-Multicam/dp/B00C27BJ18/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1392743907&sr=8-11&keywords=a5+waterproof+notebook
This one is probably good to 3m, which is extra doubleplus helpful at the mo’. Especially in Somerset. Or Chertsey. Or Pyongyang.
Yeah, that was a joke. Not something I’d usually think funny, but I thought it might resonate.
It was intended to be a reference to your paranoia Guest Who.
Still avoiding the point though. Usually an accusation you’re quick to jump to with others.
Guest Who isn’t paranoid. It’s just that others say he is …
🙂
Given what pervades the politico-media estate in guise of sanity, it can seem slightly over-rated anyway.
But no fears, I am not worried they are out to get me.
Nor would I dream of pointing out the volume of personal posts that are either post-flagged as ‘jokes’ or hard to see as addressing matters of BBC accuracy, objectivity or integrity.
Et Tu in terms of addrssing such matters. I Guess you could be the sane one, and the rest of the world sane.
‘Et Tu in terms of addressing such matters. I guess you could be the sane one, and the rest of the world sane.’
And I’m Guessing you again didn’t read what you wrote (Latin was a promising ‘nar-nee-nar’ counter touch at the start, but it all went downhill after that), or maybe failed to understand your own prose, before hitting ‘post’. On current form, entirely possible.
Unless the intention was to look foolish deliberately, in which case… top job!
Just read this bbc idiots blows your views clear out of the water in NK…..
The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag
Oh! And I’m watching you.
Hatchi
Spoken like a true communist.
these disgusting nazi commie sons of stalin fascists have got away with this holocaust of the north korean people for to long with impunity.where are the left,where are the far left,where are the likes of agent smith, george galloway and the guardianistas holding demonstrations outside the north korean embassy the same way they bait and harrass the staff at the isreali embassy every week,where are you cowards,why are you not speaking up on behalf of the north korean people.the time is coming soon when we will have to wipe off the face of the earth this evil nazi communist evil fascist dictatorsahip and the fascist leaders of north korea,i hope that time come very soon.
Galloway is probably on his way to ingratiate his wretched, poisoned, living corpse upon Kim, shaking his hand and admiring his ‘ indefatigability ‘.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2561686/LITTLEJOHN-Jolly-Jihadi-Boys-Outing-Legoland.html….boycott legoland
Well, actually, Denmark seems to be well on the way to becoming the first European country to become Islamic and be the first to form the new Caliphate……..what happened to the Norse fighting prowess? Do these modern vikings just roll over and die……shame on them.
There’s a bit of that spirit left.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/denmark-bans-halal-and-kosher-slaughter-as-minister-says-animal-rights-come-before-religion-9135580.html
I can’t see this happening here since animal rights fall some way below Islam in the Lefty Top Trumps Hierarchy of Hypocrisy.
The scale and scope of man’s inhumanity to man meted out to the poor people of North Korea is so appalling, I would respectfully request that all the outrage expressed and time and energy spent on this site (rightfully) against the BBC should be re-aimed at a far worthier target, the NK regime. Maybe there is nothing we can do to stop these lunatics but why not try. Let’s abandon the BBC to their own devices, they are small potatoes, meaningless chaff and a collection of nothings. Instead, let’s contact our MPs and find out what they are doing about NK and harass and annoy them endlessly, let’s mention it time and time again to people we meet and do whatever else you think is helpful. It is a pretty poor show to sit in comfort at our keyboards, writing inconsequential stuff, while our fellow human beings are living a life of horror we scarcely can imagine.
‘request that all the outrage expressed and time and energy spent on this site (rightfully) against the BBC should be re-aimed at a far worthier target, the NK regime’
An interesting suggestion.
However, to make one of my own, maybe this needs to be viewed as a more complex campaign?
One thing abusive autocratic regimes can see as weakness, and hence be further inspired by, is poor or mixed messages from outside, more often than not conveyed by such as state media.
Hence when shelling civilians across borders gains coverage extent and duration on said media that pale in comparison to higher profile topics of interest to their newsrooms, then it may be the regime doesn’t feel too concerned about further stiff letters from the UN?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11818005
Note the passive headline, where ‘artillery hits an island’. Only reading on does one discover the human cost.
Unlike, say, a cross border exchange when a sniper’s shields suffer from return fire in other parts of the world.
If ‘Kin Whack Job had called the residents of Yeonpyeong island ‘plebs’, or hacked their phones, one is pretty sure the event would have been higher and longer on the BBC pages.
So may I offer that maintaining pressure on the globally-adored, most-trusted UK state medium to cease the editorial by omissions and selective propaganda stories for those contrary to British values and interests, is still worthwhile and actually very consequential in the free-speaking, policy-neutral democratic scheme of things?
It would also avoid the Flokker Hall Monitors turning parrot on when posts are not about topics they hold dear.
Blatant logical fallacy. “North Korean concentration camps are worse!” is not a blank cheque for injustices, provided they aren’t, of course, worse than NK concentration camps.
Charlie
Write to the BBC and tell them that!
Well said Charlie.
Guest Who……..Wow. A new kind of crazy.
‘A new kind of crazy’
Well, good to be a trailblazer anyway.
Not sure the kind of crazy espoused by some of your colleagues is working too well, even for them, here or elsewhere, so maybe I’m onto something with my version?
Charlie came out with an interesting suggestion, and precedent.
I have to say I saw some flaws, shared these and offered alternatives.
You agree with Charlie. You don’t agree with me.
So you call me crazy. Nothing else, bar ‘I agree with him’. Not only fact, but argument free. Excellent debating strategy. Hope it works well for you.
On the subject of this precedent, if you share the notion that all outlets of commentary or centres of influence should cease paying heed to anything bar the NK abuses of its own people, one presumes you would see the BBC as front and centre in leading this? It seems they are pretty good at missing out what they don’t fancy, so focussing on what you think they should would appear doable.
Let us know how that works out for you both when you approach them.
Can’t wait for when ‘Horlicks’ gets generated by the Borg box.