Great Moments in Great Leaderhood: Songun Underwear

"Anti-Japanese heroine Kim Jong Suk" is the invariable North Korean News way of referring to the Dear Leader's mother. More creepy sycophancy that North Koreans are supposed to find inexpressibly moving:

The anti-Japanese heroine Kim Jong Suk was engaged in knitting by a campfire one night in November of Juche 26 (1937).

A guerrilla silently approached her and said that she should have a rest as the night was far advanced.

She made haste with her work, saying that it should be finished within the night.

He was surprised to see what she was doing.

She was knitting gloves by unraveling her woolen underwear.

The underwear was presented to her by members of a revolutionary organization.

She came back to the unit after carrying out the underground work a few days ago. Then she told guerillas that she was moved to tears by the sincere souvenir the people had arranged by sparing every penny in dire poverty and would preserve the underwear with care and make revolution with credit until the day of the national liberation and live up to their expectation. And she had kept it in her knapsack with care.

Next morning she handed to an orderly of the headquarters a package of the gloves which she had knitted all night.

She asked him to give the gloves to General Kim Il Sung without fail when it got colder and detailed him how to protect the General on march and during break.

Later General Kim Il Sung was told about the story. Then he stood still for a long time, thinking of days of trial she had to undergo in the terrible winter without the underwear.

"Great," he thought, "I'll be warm, my wife will freeze--nothing like being the Great Leader . . ."

Haaretz becomes right-wing and more from the Mullah-sphere

This is from a PressTV article about European moonbats making lists of Israeli "war criminals":

The list includes military officers holding ranks of battalion commander and higher who were in command during various stages of Operation 'Cast Lead,' the right-wing Israeli daily, the Haaretz reported, adding that the number of officers and their identities were not released.

Elsewhere in the Iranian press we learn that, according to one Ayatollah, "Wahabies’ crimes" are "worse than Zionists’":

Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani condemned the recent terrorist blast and reiterated that Wahabi sect's resorting to such cruel massacres is worse than Zionists' crimes.

According to IRNA, the Source of Jurisprudence made the comment at his high level jurisprudence course before beginning his lesson, adding, "This sect, with the endless and brutal massacres it has begun launching, has ashamed the Muslims and gained dignity for the Zionists."

He stressed that it makes no difference whether they call themselves Al-Qaeda, Taliban, or any other name, but they have gone so far that the Muslims in both Islamic lands, and in non-Islamic world do not dare to declare their Islamic identity. They have unjustly defamed Islam and the Muslims.

Why can't they be moderate like Iran? Speaking of Iranian moderation, the Iranian Press regularly gives a sympathetic presentation of Palestinian terror-rumblings. IRIB currently features articles entitled "Hamas urges renewing martyr ops on Israel" and "'Quds Brigades committed to Shaqaqi's path."' It's PIJ founder Fathi Shaqaqi's "14th martyrdom anniversary." According to Wikipedia, "Among the Sunnis, Fathi Shiqaqi was the first individual who published a booklet which legitimized, for the first time the justification of suicide in jihad." Finally, at Fars we learn that "Ahmadinejad Lauds Erdogan's Anti-Israeli Stance":

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday praised Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his stance against the Zionist regime of Israel.

"Your clear stance against the Zionist regime (of Israel) produced positive effects in the world of Islam and the entire world, and no doubt this position of yours gladdened all nations," Ahmadinejad said in a meeting with visiting Turkish prime minister.

Erdogan arrived in Tehran Monday night heading a high-ranking delegation which includes several cabinet ministers, parliament members, representatives of the private sector and media.

"The reality is that the Zionist regime is a threat to all nations, and if it finds the chance, it will annex all regional states," Ahmadinejad went on saying. [...]

Erdogan is evidently Mahmoud's kind of guy, and he, in turn, recently revealed that "'Lieberman threatened to nuke Gaza.'" Maybe I need to start covering the Turkosphere.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

"The Green Book Emancipates Humanity From its Bonds"

That's the "theme" of "The First International Conference of the World Association of Supporters of the Green Book." The Green Book, you will recall, is just like Mao's Little Red Book except that it is green, written by Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi, and easily five times as liberating. If humanity is going to get emancipated from its bonds, the least I can do is merge the first JANA article in this series with a few of its addenda and fix up the spacing a bit for your reading and emancipation pleasure:

The First International Conference of the World Association of Supporters of the Green Book kicked Off in Tripoli Sunday afternoon under the theme "The Green Book Emancipates Humanity From its Bonds".

The opening session was attended by a host of writers, professors and those interested in the thought of the Green Book from Libya and from Europe, Asia, North America, South America Australia and Africa.

***

The Secretary General of the Association saluted the Leader of the Revolution Muammar Gaddafi who initiated the world Third Universal Theory, the thought of the Green Book.

He said "in your name I salute the Leader of Gt al Fateh Revolution, the Philosopher, and the author of the Third Universal Theory whose thought ushered in the era of the peoples . . . the masses who have the power, wealth and arms.

"we have been honoured by his patronage of this event and call on him to participate in the proceedings of this conference.

***

The Secretary General of the Association expressed pride of the leader's speech before the UN General Assembly.

He pointed out that during this First International Conference a work plan will be set up for its members and branches worldwide and to get informed about its statute and the Green Charter which is the guideline of this Association in carrying out its functions.

He added: "During this conference, a future plan is to be worked out aiming at spreading the Third Universal Theory.

On the other hand, he underlined that this conference assumes the responsibility of establishing the most important scientific, intellectual and cultural association in modern time, namely International Association for the Supporters of the Green Book, in addition to establishing branches for this association in all continents and countries of the world.

Meaning that there will be continental branches in addition to the national ones, or that the continents will be included automatically once the national branches are all in place? No need to worry--we'll know soon enough (unless we're so busy being emancipated that we don't notice).

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

That's about it for imperialism

It says so at Korean News, the news source powered by "invincible Songun politics"!

It is definite and a matter of time for the doom of imperialism to become a reality. With no machination can the imperialists bring under control the situation in the world political arena which has already turned unfavorable to them.

Rodong Sinmun Friday says this in a signed article.

It goes on:

The imperialists are driven into an uncontrollable crisis at present and the fact that the popular masses are getting awakened in a revolutionary manner is a clear proof that the doom of imperialism is coming nearer.

The contradictions and conflicts among the imperialist powers to dominate markets and expand the sphere of their influence are now festering and the imperialists are hard hit by the strong resistance of people in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The balance of forces in the world is tipped more favorable to the side of the revolution and that of progress and independence while the anti-imperialist independent forces are decisively prevailing over the reactionary forces of imperialism.

Even the working people in the capitalist countries are intensifying their struggle for democratic freedom and right to existence, greatly inspired by the present trend of the times in which the desire of progressive mankind for independence is growing exceptionally stronger and the world is heading for it.

Socialist Korea emerging victorious and displaying its might thanks to Songun serves as a beacon of hope and banner of victory for the world people aspiring after independence, the article notes, stressing that the invincible Songun politics is injecting strength and courage into the progressive people and precipitating the downfall of imperialism.

The latest editions of Haveil Havalim and KCC are also a beacon of hope and banner of victory for the world people.

The chickpea war

The latest salvo:

Hundreds of garlic-loving Lebanese came together on Saturday to make the largest hummus serving on the world's biggest plate, claiming ownership of the dish with a new Guinness world record.

A Guinness representative was on hand to certify the record set by 250 Lebanese chefs and their trainees, who joined efforts to mix over two tonnes of the chickpea-based dip.

Under the watchful eyes of the adjudicator, they poured 1,350 kilograms (2,976 pounds) of mashed chickpeas and 400 litres (13,525 ounces) of lemon juice into the mega-sized pottery dish, cheered on by hundreds of onlookers.

The chefs gathered around their dish upon receiving the Guinness certificate and sang an a capella version of the national anthem before joining hands to dance the traditional dabke in celebration.

Organisers have hailed the event as "a patriotic event of national scale.

"El Hommos Lebnaneh (Hummus is Lebanese) is an attempt to break the current Guinness world records of hummus and tabbouleh, reaffirming the Lebanese proprietorship of these two dishes," said a statement issued by the industrialist association and food syndicate, which planned the event.

A battle over hummus and tabbouleh between Lebanon and Israel -- two neighbours still technically at war -- emerged last year and efforts have been underway ever since to clearly identify such dishes as exclusively Lebanese. [...]

And what better way to prove that than cooking tons of the stuff with a lot of press coverage? Sorry to tell you this, guys, but every country in which hummus and tabouleh might have been invented, even Lebanon, had a Jewish community. Those countries account for about half the ancestry of Israel's current population. Israel has as much right as anyone else to claim hummus as its national dish. This seemingly trivial story is a good example of a common difficulty: that of seeing Israelis as anything other than transplanted Europeans.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

North Korea goes off the deep end

They've been pooling their resources:

The well-arranged Indoor Swimming Pool of Kim Il Sung University is crowded with teachers, staff members and students building up their physical strength and enjoying a cultural rest.

A rest from culture?

It has a wading pool and a large-sized swimming pool equipped with high-grade facilities for international games.

If you enter the central hall through an automatic revolving door you can see a large-sized Korean painting showing the beautiful sea scenery on the opposite wall.

The swimming pool has eight runways and diving towers. Water temperature of the pool is 27 degrees C and the indoor temperature is 28 degrees C at all times.

And will always remain so, even when the Dear Leader assumes room temperature.

There are recumbent water concussors and shower bath facilities in the wading pool with nearly 50-meter-long slide.

Do you have any idea what this means?

It has also modernly furnished public service facilities such as far infrared ray sauna and other saunas and shower, bath and medical rooms.

North Korea is sure to make a splash with this great leap off the Songun diving board!

Strange Fars Headline: "Presidential Aide Adores Iran's Success in N. Row with West"

They're so adorable and invincible:

A senior aide of the Iranian President on Wednesday lauded the country's success in the nuclear standoff with the West, describing it as an illustration of the Iranian nation's invincibility.

"Today, Iran's nuclear issue is a symbol of national resolve, invincibility, political capabilities, courage of the nation and pursuit of honor and glory by the Iranian Leader, authorities and nation. The issue is a manifestation of our people's national identity," Seyed Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi said, addressing a conference dubbed as "Iran's nuclear successes: cultural aspects and national identity" in Tehran today.

He dismissed western allegations about Tehran's nuclear program, and noted, "The arrogant countries knew that we are not after the acquisition of the nuclear weapons and that our nuclear energy is peaceful, yet they issued resolutions (in the UN Security Council) and asked for suspension of activities in our nuclear plants in an effort to impose their will on us."

Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

The US had long demanded a suspension of Iran's nuclear activities as a prerequisite to talks with the Islamic Republic, but after Barack Obama ascended to power, the White House withdrew its pre-conditions and attended direct talks with the Islamic Republic.
Samareh Hashemi further reiterated that Iran will never back off from its rights because Tehran's experiences prove that bullying powers will retreat when they see Iranians are resolute in defending their rights.

He could still be proven wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

Atzmon: Israel unworthy of China's "unique socially oriented system"

Gilad Atzmon contemplates the prospect that Israelis are cultivating ties with the Chinese and ends up sounds like something invented by the folks at People's Cube:

A lot of China's success story is because it is run by a very unique People's party political system. It is a miracle because it somehow manages to restrain hard capitalism with a unique socially orientated system. It is a big question whether there is room in this system to accommodate Israel, a bourgeoisie nationalist philosophy based on racial supremacy and choseness in general.

Kim gives field guidance to Salmon

He urges them to swim upstream with the might of single-mindned unity:

General Secretary Kim Jong Il gave on-site guidance to the Salmon Breeding Institute.

He made the rounds of an artificial insemination room, a room for spawn growth, a laboratory, a feed processing room and other places of the institute to acquaint himself in detail with its construction and researches there.

After going round the interior and exterior of the neatly-built institute, he noted that the institute stands in a good place and has been well built as required by the new century. And he highly estimated the laudable feats performed by soldier-builders, expressing his great satisfaction over the fact that they have successfully built the modern fish breeding institute in a matter of one year.

Bright prospects for salmon youth:

Seeing the research processes equipped with ultra-modern facilities and shoals of young salmons in each breeding pond at the institute, he was very pleased to learn that its employees opened up a bright prospect of breeding salmon in a big way. He praised them for having done a lot of work.

The party members and other working people of the institute are front rankers in the drive for self-reliance and ardent patriots as they have created everything from nothing and devoted themselves to the development and prosperity of the country, he said, urging all other units to earnestly learn from their revolutionary and go-ahead work style. [...]

Now if the soldier-builders at the Hungnam Youth Cream Cheese Complex also make a great leap forward and if they smoke the salmon . . .

PressTV (Iran): "Israel plans to devour the world: Hungarian MP"

You may have seen this as a story about a crazy anti-Semitic Hungarian politician. When Iran's PressTV picks up something like this, it generally means its audience to believe in the conspiracy. Interestingly, the PressTV version credits Ha'aretz but plagiarizes whole paragraphs anyway, retaining some of the skeptical-sounding wording of the Ha'aretz article in the process. Maybe they weren't being careful?

A Hungarian lawmaker has voiced worry over Israel's expansionist policies, saying Israel is trying to take over the world.

"I'm a Hungarian nationalist. I love my homeland, love the Hungarians and give primacy to Hungarian interests over those of global capital - Jewish capital, if you like - which wants to devour the entire world, especially Hungary," Oszkar Molnar said in a television interview.

Molnar's comments come as there are reports of a mass Jewish exodus from Israel to Hungary, Haaretz reported.

As proof of his assertion that Israel is plotting to take over Hungary, Molnar claimed to have discovered that the language of instruction in Jerusalem's ( al-Quds') schools is Hungarian, and when asked why, students said they were "learning their future homeland's language."

Molnar's party, Fidesz, has not condemned his remarks saying they "did not violate the party's bylaws."

According to the polls, Fidesz party is expected to take power when elections are held this spring.

PressTV omits the following from the Ha'aretz version:

The statement sparked an outcry among Hungarian politicians, with protests coming from, inter alia, the ruling Socialist Party, the youth wing of the Alliance of Free Democrats, and a group of intellectuals known as the Democratic Network, as well as the Jewish community.

Did Molnar stumble across across some badly-digested bit of information about Ungarishe Chassidim?

English: Language of the Enemy

In which we learn that some adorable little Hamas pioneer wants to be an English major in the Gaza Strip. Somebody tell that kid that English majors can't even get jobs in the Big Satan. From J-Post:

The Hamas children's television program, Tomorrow's Pioneers, last week included a part in which children were told it is important to know English, because it is "the language of their enemy."

Following is the transcript provided by Palestinian Media Watch:

Child host: What do you want to be in the future, Allah willing?

Child caller:A teacher of the English language.

Host: Why do you want to be specifically an English teacher?

Child: To teach children the language of their enemy. (Child host smiles.) [...]

Ah, when you put it that way, maybe there is a place for the English Profession in Gaza. Isn't that going to lead to unwanted cultural influences in Jihad-land? Maybe it's too late already.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Asharq Alawsat: "Hamas and Islamic Jihad Fight for Control of Gaza's Mosques"

Did you know that there is "War of the Mosques" going on?

Sources in the Islamic Jihad movement have accused the deposed government in the Gaza Strip of launching a large-scale campaign to arrest a number of its members in the Gaza Strip following disagreements between the two movements after previously closed dossiers were reopened and Hamas attempted to control mosques belonging to the Islamic Jihad.

The sources said that Hamas security agencies pursued Islamic Jihad members in various areas in Gaza, particularly in Khan Yunus and Al-Shujaiyah, after the public prosecutor issued an arrest warrant against members of the Al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's armed wing. The arrest warrant was issued in connection with an old shooting incident that was resolved at the time with approval by the then Interior Minister Said Siyam who was assassinated by Israeli forces during the recent war on the Gaza Strip. The Islamic Jihad members are also pursued because of the ongoing war to control a number of mosques . . .

This war of mosques recently extended to the West Bank, where the Islamic religious trust annexed all mosques to itself. The aim of this move is to drive Hamas away from the West Bank mosques, which it long controlled and which served as a staging point for Hamas. According to sources, the security agencies arrested every person who tried to impede the handover of mosques to the Islamic religious trust even in areas where the PA has no security control.

The whole article is worth reading.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times . . .

If you're an interracial couple and you need a marriage license, go to Plaquemines Parish. (h/t: Discarded Lies)

Ayatollah pulls ahead in Khamenei-Castro-Kim Competition?

We have been wondering for some time which dictator will make it to the next world first. We might have a winner or a near-winner. Then again, we might not. Stay tuned.

Update: Iran is denying it.

Ma'an: "Fatah leaders call Mash'al a Judas who has 'lit sedition' in Palestine"

International Zionist Conspirator Goldstone has the Palestinians at each other's throats (diabolical laughter):

In a joint speech Senior PLO officials Mohammad Dahlan and Yasser Abed Rabbo railed against the recent words of Hamas leader in exile Khalid Mash'al, where Abed Rabbo called him the "Last Supper man" in an apparent reference to the biblical betrayer Judas.

The Tuesday speeches came a day after Mash'al spoke to supporters in Damascus, where he accused Fatah leader and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of betraying the Palestinain people for his government's actions around the Goldstone report, recently dropped from the UN Human Rights Council's agenda.

Abed Rabbo launched his attack on Hamas alongside Fatah leader Muhammad Dahlan at the Palestinian Information Center in Al-Bireh, outside Ramallah. The official used the phrase "Last Supper man" multiple times during his remarks, while Dahlan said "Mash’al has lit sedition again in Palestine."

"You can take supper in Damascus, lunch in Tahran, and breakfast in Qatar, yet we will not let our national cause out of our hands," Abed Rabbo said referring to Hamas leaders, and specifically Mash'al whose Sunday night speech was filmed in front of supporters dining in Damascus. [...]

More great new diabolical plots are afoot from the lads in the subcellar. Business is brisk.

"the best, noblest and most creative human beings"

Members of the Workers' Party of Korea, of course. This little item is entitled "All Party Members Called upon to Exalt Their Honor":

[...] The members of the WPK are the comrades of the leader closest to him. The leader makes a decision on whatever difficult task, believing in the party members while the latter regard anything intended by the leader as indisputable. This is the relationship based on comradeship existing in the WPK.

The party members are the most valuable comrades of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and the ones strong enough to win the whole world.

All the victories of the Korean revolution are those of the party members, the best, noblest and most creative human beings trained by Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. [...]

And that's saying something!

"Graduates of Faculties of Public Security" will never "butter up"

That's what it says:

Graduates of Faculties of Public Security for the school years 2009 congratulated the leader of the Revolution, Chairman of the AU, on the 40th anniversary of Gt. al-Fatah Revolution.

The graduates praised the leader's address at the UN General Assembly.

They said in their cable sent to the leader of the Revolution:

"We pledge to always be with you . We will never weaken, butter up or waste any time .. to build the present and secure our future."

The latest Haveil Havalim is also "Gt."

Hegemonic media wars, micro TV sets, and other horrors

Ahmadinejad's worst fears are, as usual, truer than he can possibly surmise. The World Arrogance really shouldn't use the drool ray, however, even on Ahmadinejad. It's cruel, just cruel:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed on the importance of the psychological war at the current situation of the world and said all of the political, social, cultural and economic issues of the world are being affected by the confrontation between hegemonic powers and the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

Addressing the gathering of "Psychological war and media" he said the most important tool of the hegemonic powers for confronting the Islamic Revolution of Iran is propaganda and psychological war.

IRI main war with hegemonic powers is in the media field, he reiterated.

The President described two goals of the psychological war as separating human beings from their nature and civilization and said preventing nations from thinking and making them passive are other results of the psychological war which is followed by the hegemonic powers.

Referring to forging the Zionist regime, President Ahmadinejad said forging the regime and durability by now was based on psychological war.

"Without psychological war nothing would remain from the occupying regime," he added. [...]

There is a lot more in the Iranian press on the same pronouncements. (And is this another victim of the drool ray?) Meanwhile, North Korea is also worried about "psychological war":

To undermine socialism from within is one of the main methods employed by the imperialists for their moves against socialism at present.

The U.S. is busy with the vicious moves to massively smuggle into the DPRK mini-transistors, micro TV sets, undesirable literature, etc. in a bid to break its single-minded unity and destabilize and degenerate the society. This goes to patently prove that the U.S. imperialists are desperately working to destabilize, degenerate and bring down the DPRK, the bulwark of socialism.

They won't succeed, though. North Korea is forging ahead with fertilizer acceleration.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Gaddafi shows Germany "historic way forward"

A new era of statesmanship has arrived:

The Spanish news agency EFE Saturday reported that Germany's fresh government is considering seeking a permanent seat for the European Union at the UN Security Council.

This came days after the historic way forward for the Leader of the Revolution suggested in his speech before the UN General Assembly that membership of the council should be available to unions rather than states so as it can be representative of all nations.

The agency quoted the German magazine Der Spiegal that the German government is considering seeking a permanent seat for the European Union which was a one of the conditions agreed by German parties to form a coalition government due to be announced next month.

The Libyan JANA news agency offers two addenda to this story just in case the measly three paragraphs of heroic leadership exploits offered here don't quite deliver enough inspiration for you.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

Gut Yom Tov!

Sukkos is called "Zeman Simchaseinu"--the "time of our rejoicing." Thus, the holiday is particularly associated with rejoicing, and I hope you have an especially joyous one. I usually don't post on Chol Hamo'eid--see you after Simchas Torah.

Hamas: We'll put someone at the Ezzadin Al-Qassam Brigades Self-investigation Unit right on it

Maybe they could self-investigate jointly with Islamic Jihad and the DFLP. Jessica Montell, executive director of B'Tselem, just wrote in the Jerusalem Post, apparently with a straight face, that Goldstone's commission "calls on both sides to launch criminal investigations into these allegations and to hold accountable anyone found to have committed these crimes." Can you blame Hamas for playing along with the farce?

Hamas is critical of the Goldstone commission’s report on alleged war crimes in Gaza, but will nonetheless accept its recommendations and investigate charges that militant groups violated the rules of war, senior Hamas official Ahmad Yousef told Ma’an.

In an extended interview at his home in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah, Yousef said that while he disagreed with Justice Richard Goldstone’s equivalence between occupying forces and Palestinian resistance, the Hamas-backed government in Gaza would nonetheless "do our best" to pursue investigations into the deaths of three Israeli civilians. [...]

They promise not to give an overly-generous bonus to anyone found responsible or allow him to adopt the name "Abu Goldstone."

Crossposted on Soccer Dad