In which Jams O' Donnell increases his vockablary

I would recomend that everyone visits the Korean Central News Agency (a propaganda organ of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea... Hah) at least once in their life. It is not, most definitely not,  that I endorse the North Korean regime in any way, shape or form; it is just that the way English is used by the KCNA is a sight to behold. 

Here is an extract from a report entitled Dissemination of Juche Idea to Be Intensified in Various Countries

Pyongyang, May 25 (KCNA) -- The Bangladesh Institute of the Juche Idea made public a statement on May 18 in support of the decision of the 13th enlarged meeting of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the International Institute of the Juche Idea and the appeal to the Juche idea followers of the world adopted at the Latin American regional seminar on the Juche idea.

The statement noted that President Kim Il Sung founded the Juche idea to clearly indicate the way for the accomplishment of the human cause of independence and ushered in the rise of the Songun revolution under the banner of the Juche idea, thus making immortal contributions to global independence.

Under the Songun leadership of Kim Jong Il perfectly carrying forward the idea and cause of the President the Korean people are setting a shining example in defending the sovereignty of the country and the socialist gains and building a great prosperous and powerful country of Juche, it added.


But I digress. A couple of days ago this headline had me scratching my won head in puzzlement: 1,551 Macrobians in Cuba

"What on earth is a macrobian?", I asked myself. The text was of little help:

There are 1,551 Macrobians above 100 years old in Cuba at present. This is an increase of 10 over that last year, Cuban newspaper Granma said.


A Google search of the word pointed me to Wikipedia/ It seems that Macrobians were an ancient people who lived on the Somali peninsula during the 1st millennium BC. They were mentioned by Herodotus as being a nation of people that had mastered longevity with the average Macrobian living till the age of 120. They were said to be the "Tallest and Handsomest of all men"

So Cuba is home to over 1,500 elderly Somalis? Perhaps they moved there to take advantage of Cuba's high standard of healthcare.

Wiktionary defines macrobian as "having an exceptionally long lifespan"

So there you have it. a macrobian is basically someone who is very old. I live and learn. Had it not been for an occasional dip into the surreal world of North Korean propaganda I may never have encountered this word.

Make of this what you will...
Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/DPRK
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An opportunity lost

So dull he even sends himself to sleep



Despite not being desperately taken by the content of the Wikileaks cables there are some gems including this one reported in yesterday’s Obsever.

It seems that North Korea wanted the US to arrange for Eric Clapped-out to play a concert in Pyonyang,

A confidential cable dated 22 May 2007 from the US ambassador in Seoul to Washington reveals North Korean officials "suggested" to the Americans that because Kim Jong-il's second son, Kim Jong-chol, was "a great fan" of the British guitarist, a "performance could be an opportunity to build goodwill". The report adds that "arranging an Eric Clapton concert in Pyongyang… could be useful, given Kim Jong-il's second son's devotion to the rock legend".

Rock and pop are forbidden in North Korea because of their western influences but of course some people are more equal than others – Heaven forbid that one of the Kims would have to endure the restrictions of one of the family’s millions of serfs.

The request was portrayed by North Korea as a way to "promote understanding" between the communist nation and the west. Clapton apparently agreed in principle but the plan later appeared to stall, however, with Clapton denying that he had agreed to take part.

Ah given the behaviour of the Kims in the past it may have been that Clapton would have bee kidnapped – the fate of at least on Japanese film director… Frankly they would be welcome to the over rated tosser. In fact it is a shame that there had not been a whole festival. I can think of plenty of artistes who could have spent the rest of their careers performing for the Kims!Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/DPRK
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Kim Jong Cartman opposes DPRK dynasty

Kim Jong Cartman, sorry Kim Jong-nam is the oldest of Kim Jong_il’s sons. Aged 39, he lives with his wife and family in Macao, the former Portuguese colony. On a $500k per annum allowance.

Cartman was the the Dear Leader’s anointed successor until he blotted his copybook (rather he dipped the whole damn book in the ink!) in 2001 when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false Dominican Republic passport. He had, reportedly done so in order to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

According to today’s Telegraph it seems that he does not now approve of th North Korea’s hereditary principle which is grooming his 27-year-old half-brother Kim Jong-un to be the next leader.


"Personally I am opposed to the hereditary transfer to a third generation of the family," Jong-nam told Japan's Asahi TV Network in an interview conducted in Beijing on Saturday.

Although disapproving of the hereditary principle, Jong-nam, said he would continue to support his brother from afar, hinting that he had no plans to return home after his brother took power.


Little brother


"As a matter of course, I think it was my father who made the decision. As I have had no interest in the matter, I don't care at all," he said. "I hope my younger brother will do his best to make the lives of the North Korean people affluent. For my part, I am prepared to help my younger brother whenever necessary while I stay abroad."

Jong-nam also maintain a second property in Beijing and make visits to Bangkok and Moscow….


Mm is this a case of sour grapes? But perhaps the grapes are not so sour as to see his allowance cut off...Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/DPRK
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If only we had leaders like this...

It looks like KCNA runs an "On this day" item This is from 27 August 1975...

"President Kim Il Sung gave field guidance to a cooperative farm in Anju City, South Phyongan Province.

On a snow-covered field he talked with a soldier-turned sub-workteam head about corn farming for a while. He asked the sub-workteam head about the way of transplanting the maximum number of humus-pot-grown corn seedlings per phyong (3.954 sq. yds).

With a poor knowledge of corn farming, he could not properly answer to the question.
Finding him at a loss for an answer, the President leveled snow piled up between furrows. He then taught the sub-workteam head a new method of planting the prescribed number of bunches of seedlings perphyong, drawing it on the snow.

Hmm I wonder if said sub-workteam head learned a lot more about agriculture at a gulag or the North Korean equivalent...Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/DPRK
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Heroic tweets of glorious leader and shing Juche path

According to the Telegraph the DPRK has rather surprisingly gotten on the Twitter bandwagon! The secretive regime has begun micro-blogging under the name @uriminzok, with a number of posts pointing its followers to anti-Seoul and anti-US statements on the website. Uriminzokkiri.com


I can’t read the tweets, they being in Korean but the website can be translated using Google’s translation function

On this site we find out that Songun is brilliant in August (if it is brilliant in August then it must be blinding in mid-winter)

At 08,12 there is a link to the tweet Complement each rub the sophistry of the absurd

With translations like that I will be back. On the other hand the KCNA manages to commit atrocities on our language without the aid of a translation function!Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/DPRK
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Hot news from DPRK

Yes I know that making fun of Korean Central News Agency stories (the organ ofthe DPRK) is like shooting fish in a barrel... but what the hell, here goes

Art Performances Given by Art Squads of Mills

Pyongyang, July 26 (KCNA) -- The art squad of the Kim Jong Suk Pyongyang Silk Mill and the itinerant art squad of the Pyongyang Textile Mill gave their art performances at the People's Palace of Culture from July 21 to 25.

The performances were enjoyed by officials of party and power organs, working people's organizations, ministries and national institutions, servicepersons and working people from all walks of life in the city of Pyongyang.

In such numbers as chorus "The General Is Our Father", dialogic poem "We Sing of the Loving Care Shown by the Three Commanders of Mt. Paektu", female chorus and pangchang "Recollecting the Birthplace" the performers highly sang of the immortal feats of the great persons of Mt. Paektu who put forward the working class as the driving forces of the revolution and led them to become performers of heroic feats.

Tale and singing "My Beloved Workplace", female chorus "Oriole Chirps in Compound of Our Mill", female solo and Janggu ensemble "Let's Go to Pick Mulberry Leaves" and witty talk "Hot Wind of Emulation" struck a deep impression on the audience as they truthfully represented the devoted efforts of the working people and their worthwhile life.

Put on the stage were also numbers reflecting the faith and will of the workers to uphold the party and the leader with victory in the drive for great surge.

AH what would I give to hear songs with such snappy titles!

Source URL: http://idontwanttobeanythingotherthanme.blogspot.com/search/label/DPRK
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