http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=peasants Sun, 19 May 2013 14:19:20 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?q=peasants Fri, 17 May 2013 11:01:51 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=416_1368802319 Alois Philby COMMUNISM WILL RETURN! "We fully regard civil wars, i.e., wars waged by the oppressed class against the oppressing class, slaves against slave-owners, serfs against land-owners, and wage-workers against the bourgeoisie, as legitimate, progressive and necessary." "Capitalism has triumphed all over the world, but this triumph is only the prelude to the triumph of labour over capital." "When feudalism was overthrown and "free" capitalist society appeared in the world, it at once became apparent that this freedom meant a new system of oppression and exploitation of the working people." "People always have been the foolish victims of deception and self-deception in politics, and they always will be until they have learnt to seek out the interests of some class or other behind all moral, religious, political and social phrases, declarations and promises." "If tomorrow, Morocco were to declare war on France, India on England, Persia or China on Russia, and so forth, those would be "just" "defensive" wars, irrespective of who attacked first; and every Socialist would sympathise with the victory of the oppressed, dependent, unequal states against the oppressing, slave-owning, predatory "great" powers." "Convert the imperialist war into civil war." "Socialists must explain to the masses that they have no other road of salvation except the revolutionary overthrow of "their" governments, and that advantage must be taken of these governments' embarrassments in the present war precisely for this purpose." "Socialists cannot achieve their great aim without fighting against all oppression of nations." "The Socialists of oppressed nations must, in their turn, unfailingly fight for the complete (including organisational) unity of the workers of the oppressed and oppressing nationalities." "Monopolies, oligarchy, the striving for domination and not for freedom, the exploitation of an increasing number of small or weak nations by a handful of the richest or most powerful nations - all these have given birth to those distinctive characteristics of imperialism which compel us to define it as parasitic or decaying capitalism." "We must display determination, endurance, firmness and unanimity. We must stop at nothing. Everybody and everything must be used to save the rule of the workers and peasants, to save communism." Quotes from Lenin http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=416_1368802319 Alois Philby The Sacred Banner of Lenin lenin, communism, russia, ussr, marx, engels, kant Fri, 17 May 2013 10:09:53 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=25f_1368799511 Alois Philby Far away across the ocean, Far beyond the sea's eastern rim, Lives a man who is father of the Indo-Chinese people, And his name it is Ho Chi Minh. /: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh :/ From VietBac to the SaiGon Delta From the mountains and plains below Young and old workers, peasants and the toiling tenant farmers Fight for freedom with Uncle Ho. /: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh :/ Now Ho Chi Minh was a deep sea sailor He served his time out on the seven seas Work and hardship were part of his early education Exploitation his ABC. /: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh :/ Now Ho Chi Minh came home from sailing And he looked out on his native land Saw the want and the hunger of the Indo-Chinese people Foreign soldiers on every hand. /: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh :/ Now Ho Chi Minh went to the mountains And he trained a determined band Heroes all, sworn to liberate the Indo-Chinese people Drive invaders from the land. /: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh :/ Fourteen men became a hundred A hundred thousand and Ho Chi Minh Forged and tempered the army of the Indo-Chinese people Freedom's Army of Viet Minh. /: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh :/ Every soldier is a farmer Comes the evening and he grabs his hoe Comes the morning he swings his rifle on his shoulder This the army of Uncle Ho. /: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh :/ From the mountains and the jungles From the ricelands and the Plain of Reeds March the men and the women of the Indo-Chinese Army Planting freedom with vict'ry seeds. /: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh :/ From VietBac to the SaiGon Delta Marched the armies of Viet Minh And the wind stirs the banners of the Indo-Chinese people Peace and freedom and Ho Chi Minh. /: Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh, Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh :/ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=25f_1368799511 Alois Philby Ho Chi Minh: America's Vanquisher ho chi minh, communism, usa, imperialism, china, ussr, lenin Wed, 08 May 2013 22:50:11 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=36c_1368067514 Detroit Iron China's catch-up spurt has a few more years to run in the Western hinterlands perhaps, but when the full story comes out we may find that nationwide growth has already fallen below 7pc. Doubts are growing about whether China can pass the US to become the world's biggest economy this century amid warnings that the country's 30-year miracle is nearing exhaustion. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard 3:21PM BST 08 May 2013 The world's tallest tower should have been built by now. Officials said last year that the great edifice with 220 floors would be erected in three months flat in China's inland city of Changsha by March, snatching the crown from Dubai's Burj Khalifa. The deadline has come and gone, yet the wasteland sits untouched. It now looks as if the fin d''epoque project - using prefab blocs - may never be approved. Even China knows its limits. Prime minister Li Keqiang has asked the State Council to clamp down on the excesses of the regions. Not before time. A top regulator says local government finances are "out of control". Mr Li aims to cut China's economic growth to a safe speed limit of 7pc next year and rein in rampant investment - still a world record 49pc of GDP - before it traps the country in a boom-bust dynamic of frightening scale. Vested interests are conspiring to stop him, launching a counter-attack from their power-base in the $6 trillion state industries. Even so, uber-growth is surely over. Related Articles China slowdown feeds 'sense of crisis' 06 May 2013 Euro founder calls for currency to be broken up 05 May 2013 Debt-crippled Holland falls victim to EMU blunders 01 May 2013 Eurozone risks Japan-style trap 30 Apr 2013 Japan's 'wall of money' eludes global markets 25 Apr 2013 China's catch-up spurt has a few more years to run in the Western hinterlands perhaps, but when the full story comes out we may find that nationwide growth has already fallen below 7pc. Mr Li complained in a US diplomatic cable released on WikiLeaks that Chinese GDP statistics are "man-made", confiding to a US diplomat that he tracked electricity use, rail cargo, and bank loans to gauge growth. For a while, analysts use electricity data as a proxy for GDP but the commissars kept a step ahead by ordering power utilities to fiddle the figures. The National Bureau of Statistics has since revealed that data collected by the regions overstates GDP by 10pc, though they have not acted on the insight. It is well-known why this goes on. The reward system of the Communist hierarchy has been geared to talking up growth, and officials gain kudos by lowering the stated "energy intensity" of their zone. China's Development Research Council (DRC) expects growth to drop to 6pc by 2020. It could be much lower. The US Conference Board says it will average 3.7pc from 2019-2025 as the ageing crisis hits. Michael Pettis from Beijing University thinks it is likely to slow to 3pc to 4pc over the next decade, deeming this entirely desirable if it comes from taming the runaway state enterprises. If so, China's growth may not be much higher than the new consensus estimate of 3pc for a reborn America, powered by its energy boom and the revival of the chemical, steel, glass, and paper industries. All those charts showing China's economy surging past the US by 2030, or 2025, or even 2017, will look very credulous. China may not surpass the US this century. A Nation Losing Ground As of last year US GDP was roughly $15.7 trillion, compared to $8 trillion for China on a nominal exchange rate basis, the measure that matters for gauging economic power. China's output is 75pc of US levels on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis but even on this measure the Chinese `sorpasso' is looking less certain. Clyde Prestowitz, an arch US `declinist' who has just thrown in the towel, says China may "never" catch the US on any relevant measure. That is a stretch, but not impossible on a forecastable horizon. "Keep in mind the next time you are in China and find yourself choking on the foul air that the things making the air foul are counted as positives for GDP. If you adjust Chinese GDP for environmental degradation and for over-investment in things that will never be used, it falls in size by 30-50 per cent. Much of this would show up as non-performing loans in most economies but since such loans are never recognised in China, it will show up as slower growth in future years," he said. A new view is taking hold in elite circles that the banking crash in 2008 was a nasty shock for the US, but not a crippling blow to America's creative enterprise. US governing institutions rose to the challenge. It was however a crippling blow to Europe, and a more subtle blow to China in all kinds of ways. Richard Haass, president of the US Council of Foreign Relations, says the world may already be in the "second decade of another American century" without realising it. On almost every key measure, including the fertility rate and high science, there is no credible challenger. Core US defence spending is still greater than that of the next 10 countries combined. "The American qualitative military edge will be around for a long, long time," he said. Mr Haass says America has managed its dominance in such a way that it has not brought about a containment alliance against it by threatened powers, and that is no small achievement. Like Wagner's music, US diplomacy is better than it seems. Yes, the US faces a debt hangover, but so does China after the state banks let rip with private loans keep the boom going through the downturn. Fitch Ratings has just downgraded China's debt, warning that credit has jumped from 125pc to 200pc of GDP over the last four years, with mounting reliance on shadow banking that lets banks circumvent loan-to-deposit curbs. This is why George Soros has been warning that there could be a "run" on China's state banking system akin to the Lehman bust. Total credit has jumped from $9 trillion to $23 trillion in four years, an increase equal to the entire US banking system. America has moved in the opposite direction. Its banks now have loan-to-deposit ratio of around 0.7, and the biggest safety buffers in three decades. The Congressional Budget Office says US Treasury debt held by the public has jumped from 40pc to 73pc. This is the sort of damage normally seen in wars, but the US has recovered from bigger wars before, and from much higher debt levels. The CBO thinks the budget deficit will fall to 2.4pc by 2015. Growth will then whittle away the debt ratio for a few years. China's premier Li is fighting a battle against those in the Politburo who delude themselves that the Lehman crisis validates China's top down control. He gave his "unwavering report" last year to a joint DRC and World Bank report on the dangers of the "middle income trap". Dozens of states in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East have hit an invisible ceiling over the last fifty years, languishing in the trap with per capita incomes far behind the rare "breakout" stars, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. The trap is the norm. The report warned that China's 30-year miracle is nearing exhaustion. The low-hanging fruit of state-driven industrialisation and reliance on cheap exports has already been picked. Stagnation looms unless Beijing embraces the free market and relaxes its suffocating grip over the economy. "Innovation at the technology frontier is quite different in nature from catching up technologically. It is not something that can be achieved through government planning," it said. Even if Mr Li succeeds in pulling off this second economic revolution - and we should salute him for trying - China's growth rate is going to slow drastically. Demography will see to that. The work force began to contract in absolute numbers last year, falling by 3.5 million. The International Monetary Fund says it will now go into "precipitous" decline, and much earlier than thought. If you are wondering why police are still seizing pregnant women in Chinese cities and delivering them to clinics for forced abortions when they cannot pay the fine for breaching the one-child policy, you are not alone. The IMF says the reserve army of peasants looking for work peaked at around 150m in 2010. The surplus will evaporate soon after 2020, the so-called Lewis Point. A decade later China will face a shortage of almost 140m workers. "This will have far-reaching implications for both China and the rest of the world." China's working age population: Source: IMF China's ageing crisis is tracking Japan's tale with a 20-year delay. China can expect to see the same decline in "marginal productivity" that has afflicted every other facing a rise in the old-age dependency ratio. The authorities can of course keep the game going if they wish with another burst of credit, but risks are rising and the potency of debt is wearing off. The extra output created by each yuan of lending has halved in four years. Mr Li knows the game is turning dangerous. A 2010 book by People's Army Colonel Liu Mingfu - "China Dream: Great Power Thinking and Strategic Posture in the Post-American Era" - is still selling like hot cakes in China. Yet it already has a dated feel, a throwback to peak hubris. China has everything to play for. With skill and a blast of freedom, it can take its rightful place at the forefront of world affairs. But nothing is foreordained. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=36c_1368067514 Detroit Iron China may not overtake America this century after all China Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:08:56 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=866_1366901563 AlunHill North Korea: Kim Jong Il Saves Life Of American Tourist From San Francisco - 9 Litres of Blood and over 100 pieces of flesh donated by staff and peasants. A Japanese-American Tourist was taken ill on a mountain trip in North Korea and Dear Leader Kim Jong Ill sent a helicopter and film crew to rescue her. He also paid for her family to visit and stay in Pyongyang's top hospital for 120 days while she recovered. This film shows her rescue, her hospital care in North Korea and the visits by her tearfully grateful family. (Err, it's a comedy / parody. Probably.) http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=866_1366901563 AlunHill North Korea: Kim Jong Il Saves Life Of American Tourist From San Francisco north korea, north korea tourist, north korea healthcare, north korea comedy, Tue, 23 Apr 2013 00:21:12 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9b4_1366689549 dcmfox by Matt Wilstein 9:04 pm, April 22nd, 2013 Bill O'Reilly used his "Talking Points Memo" segment Monday night to criticize the "left-wing media" for politicizing the Boston Marathon bombings. In particular, O'Reilly set his sights on NBC's Tom Brokaw , who suggested on Meet The Press this weekend the U.S. should examine its drone policy in light of latest attacks in Boston. O'Reilly challenged Brokaw to come on his show and defend his assertions, asking, "do you want to sit back and let terrorists hatch their plots and watch Americans die at home and on the battlefield?" O'Reilly was clearly seething at Brokaw for "putting some of the motivation for the Boston bombings on his own country," but predicted that the veteran reporter would reject his offer of a debate so he doesn't have "associate with the peasants here on The Factor ." He went on to explain why he thinks it's absurd to equate an "act of terror" that kills civilians to an "act of war" that does the same. "This ridiculous left-wing moral equivalency is insulting." The host was surprised to find out that his frequent guest and usual sparring partner Juan Williams actually agreed with his assessment of Brokaw, but things between the two men turned sour when O'Reilly started attacking President Obama for not using the term "Muslim terrorism" to describe the Boston bombings. Williams said that it would be jumping the gun to call the attacks "Muslim terrorism" since we don't yet know the motives of the suspects. "It's terrorism," he said, "I don't care where it came from." O'Reilly turned his anger towards Williams at that point, screaming at him "yes we do" know that the attacks were driven by Islam and "I'm not leaping" to conclusions. He asked if Williams had seen "all of the reportage about the guy on social media putting all of this stuff about jihad on there. Don't you know that Juan?" Mary Katharine Ham jumped into the conversation, saying, "everybody in the media is happy to leap to conclusions when they think it might be somebody right of center." She added that the media only hesitates to make assumptions when "when the guy in question has YouTube links going to al Qaeda and other extremist imams." O'Reilly is right that Brokaw is unlikely to come on his Fox News show for a debate, but it would certainly make for some entertaining television. Watch video below, via Fox News: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9b4_1366689549 dcmfox O'Reilly Blasts 'Irresponsible' Brokaw For Comparing Terror And Drones: Should We 'Sit Back And Watch Americans Die? Bill O'Reilly, Boston Marathon Bombing, fox news, Juan Williams, Mary Katharine Ham, Tom Brokaw Sun, 21 Apr 2013 11:04:10 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=200_1366555109 waterlawman I'm only reproducing this for the readers of LiveLeak. This is not my work. I thought it would be compelling reading for LiveLeaker's. Gary Leupp wrote this he is Professor of History at Tufts University, and holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Religion. April 16, 2013 What's Really Going On? The Mindset of North Korean Elites by GARY LEUPP On March 27 Kim Jong-un, the "Dear Respected Marshal" and leader the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, severed the last military hotline between North and South. Three days later he announced that the DPRK was renouncing the armistice agreement of 1953 and "entering the state of war." On April 2 he announced the reactivation of a plutonium reactor closed in 2007, and the closure of Kaesong Industrial Park the next day. (Pyongyang bravely declared that it receives "few economic benefits from the zone," where 53,000 North Koreans work for 123 South Korean companies, "while the South side largely benefits from it.") On April 4 U.S. intelligence reported movement of a medium-range missile to an eastern location for possible testing. The next day British and Russian diplomats reported that their missions in Pyongyang had been encouraged to evacuate family members. Two weeks have gone by. Pyongyang is reportedly calm, and there are some reports that-after some rather provocative moves-the Pentagon seems to have canceled or postponed some actions, perhaps to defuse the situation. (A nuclear-capable B-2 flew in from Missouri March 28 and dropped "inert ordinance" while nuclear-capable B-52s participated in "routine" drills and a destroyer and sea-based radar platform approached the North Korean coast.) Meanwhile the press reports that the U.S. has ruled out hitting missiles on the launch pad without evidence of plans to attack the U.S.-surely a small comfort. Everyone seems to agree that, since the North Koreans do not seem anywhere near to having deliverable nuclear warheads-and if they did they'd realize their use would surely doom themselves and tens of thousands of others-it's extremely unlikely that all the rhetoric and dramatic moves will truly lead to war. But how to explain them? One must imagine that Kim Jong-il and his courtiers are not the South Park cartoon characters created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. They are in fact "rational." Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton's Secretary of State, met at length with Kim Jong-il in 2002 and pronounced him both "rational" and "pragmatic" (as well as "charming"). The reverends Billy and Franklin Graham, who have preached in North Korea and are seen by the Foreign Ministry as "friends of Korea" have also averred that the Kims are rational. (Yes, I agree that Albright and the evangelicals are themselves no models of rationality or morality. My point is just that the DPRK leaders are no nuttier than the global ruling-class norm.) Those in Kim's circle are well educated, can access the international media, and despite North Korea's reputation for "isolation" (Korea was called "the hermit kingdom" long before its division in 1945) well aware of the outside world. Dynasty founder Kim Il-song left Korea for Manchuria at age eight and didn't return to 1945. Kim Jong-un, now 29 or 30, apparently spent seven of his formative years enrolled first in the International School near Bern, Switzerland, from around age 10 to 14, and then the nearby Liebefeld Steinh"olzli from age 14 to 17. (He later obtained a degree in physics from Kim Il-song University.) His slightly older brother Jong-chul studied in Switzerland as well. His oldest (half-) brother Jong-nam (b. 1981) visited Tokyo from at least 1995. (Caught entering Japan on a forged passport in 2001, he embarrassed his father Kim Jong-il, was removed from his heir apparent position and now spends much of his time in Macao.) Indeed quite a few descendents of dynasty founder Kim have spent long periods outside the DPRK. Kim Il-song's second oldest son (after Jong-il) has been ambassador to Poland since the 1980s and his two children grew up in Warsaw. Kim Il-song's daughter Kim Kyong-chin has been living in Vienna over twenty years as wife of the DPRK ambassador to Austria. Another daughter, Kim Kyong-hui, studied in Moscow 1968-69. Her own daughter, Jong-un's cousin, studied in Paris (and as we will see, died there). Clearly the elite is aware of the realities of global capitalism, and aware that the U.S., however crisis-ridden its system may be, remains a hyper-power, the world's greatest purveyor of violence. It has over 7000 nukes in its arsenal. DPRK leaders also grasps the magnitude of the changes in China, where a "communist" party with fraternal ties to the DPRK's ruling Korean Workers Party has maintained its hold on power while overseeing the restoration of capitalism (and coping with the stormy social consequences). Kim's advisors presumably realize that without international relief and Chinese goodwill, the DPRK would become so destitute that social explosions would be inevitable. They know that actions seen as provocative by both the U.S. and China could result in sanctions producing mass suffering. One doubts that many in this stratum would welcome war. But then, who knows? All the commentators state that little is known about the North Korean leadership. What do we (outsiders in general) really know about how they think? The Songbun System First of all we must assume that having grown up under the songbun status system, they accept it or do not overtly challenge it. This system, little known to people outside the DPRK, places people in one of 51 categories based on songbun (background "components"). These categories were announced by the Great Leader Kim Il-song in 1957 and subsequently elaborated in party documents. The first group consists of "friendly" (or "core" forces). These as of 1957 consisted of the peasant and working classes, Party members, veterans of the wars against the Japanese and U.S., revolutionary intellectuals, etc. Kim estimated these at 25% of the population. Meanwhile "hostile" or "enemy" forces, such as former landlords and entrepreneurs, Christian missionaries, shamans, collaborators with the Japanese, etc. were about 20% of the people. The remaining 55% (including, for example) "former small venders" were "neutral" or "wavering." These are not all economic class categories but include "Chinese Koreans who returned from China to Korea in the 1950s," "Buddhists and people observing Buddhist rituals," etc. Status assignment, made at birth, has usually determined one's eligibility for education, employment, location, housing, food rations, access to electricity, and rights to purchase certain goods such as television sets. But some argue that the recent collapse of the state distribution system, rise of the black market and access to Chinese-made electronics and social media have reduced the importance of songbun . It should go without saying that this system of privilege by hereditary status has nothing in common with Marxism-Leninism, which has in fact long been replaced with "the Juche Idea" in official DPRK propaganda as the ideology of state. There is no pretense to either classlessness or strategy for the attainment of a classless society; the existence of privileged strata is taken for granted. Maybe the idea is that the hostile groups will either gradually wither away due to the discrimination they face or at least be denied the ability to inbreed with the "core." The system deeply impacts the minds of many. For example, an effort to promote a cult around Kim Jong-un's mother Ko Young-hee has apparently been stymied by her songbun . Born in Japan in 1952, in Osaka where there is a large ethnic Korean population, she moved with her family to North Korea at age nine. Koreans born in Japan hold low status. It does not help that a younger sister defected to the U.S. There are some in the elite who would have liked to prevent the circulation last year of the documentary "The Mother of Great Military-first Korea," in which Ko is shown as a loving wife and doting mother comparable to Kim Jong-suk, glorious spouse and comrade to Kim Il-song. Parents are often deeply opposed to marriages with families of inferior songbun , partly because they know that any grandchildren born to offspring "marrying down" will suffer disadvantages. One prominent example: Jang Kum-song-the daughter of Kim Kyong-hui, the sister of Kim Il-song mentioned above, and her husband, Gen. Jang Sung-taek-died at age 29 in Paris in 2006. Educated in Europe, she wished to marry a North Korean man but her parents opposed the union due to the songbun gap. She committed suicide by drug overdose, a child of extraordinary privilege perhaps protesting the unfairness of the system that had coddled her so far. (Her first cousin Jong-un was around 23 at the time. One wonders when he became aware of this, and what he thought. There are rumors that his own marriage to Ri Sol-ju-who studied music in China-was opposed by his father Jong-il and concealed before his death.) Kum-song's mother Kyong-hui had studied in Moscow in 1968-9 alongside her boyfriend Jang; although the Kim family had reportedly opposed their relationship, they married in 1972. (It appears obvious that the songbun system produces ongoing conflicts within the elite, especially within families.) As a director of the International Liaison Department of the ruling party she promoted relations with Singapore and Thailand in the 1970s. She's accumulated posts in industrial management and the military. She's been described as a "personal aide" to Jung-un and has been present with her husband at meetings with Chinese diplomats. (It's been reported that Kyong-hui has missed meetings due to depression, which would not be surprising given how and why her daughter died seven years ago.) Jong-un's uncle by marriage, Gen. Jang, held top party positions from the 1980s but disappeared from November 2004, probably for criticizing economic policy. His wife dropped from view too. But in March 2006 he resurfaced in the entourage of his brother-in-law Kim Jong-il then travelling in China. Apparently someone thought him indispensible to the management of the DPRK's relationship with the PRC. Now he and Aunt Kyong-hui are regarded as Jong-un's closest advisors. Everybody living within the songbun system must understand that they belong to a status group which determines their options in life. They realize furthermore that their fates rest on decisions made by faceless generals in line with the Songun ("military first") policy announced in 1995. Rare among self-pronounced "socialist" states, North Korea places military authority ahead of party authority. China's Mao Zedong once declared "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun," but added that "...the Party the gun, the gun must never be allowed to command the Party." In North Korea it is just the reverse. The army-led only by men of highest status, with an interest in maintaining it-eclipses the party. Wherever the young Kim goes, or at least wherever he is photographed, he's surrounded by grim uniformed men at least twice his age. Their material interests are a driving factor in policy. The Kims have kept these brass (relatively) fat and happy with imported whiskey and luxury cars, yachts and jewelry, and all-night parties with the Leader. The people around Kim Jong-un affecting current policy, including the handling of this current standoff with the U.S. and the South, realize that the masses of North Koreans do not have access to much of the information available to themselves. (According to one industry source, only 6% of households have television sets.) Most quite likely believe what the mass media, education system and ubiquitous propaganda organs teach: that Kim Il-song, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un are a line of geniuses who, with their boundless energy and through their ceaseless inspection tours, are personally responsible for all the DPRK's comforts and accomplishments. Surely most of the "core" believes that, although there must be a stratum that knows better and is quietly cynical (the alternative being suicide); and much of the "wavering" may believe too. We should not assume that people blame all hardships on the system or the Kims; quite likely, many feel a variety of religious reverence for the Kims that impedes their ability to analyze their situation. Even some of the "enemies" (if they survived the famine of 1994-98, estimated to have taken between several hundred thousand and two million lives) might accept the system, love the leader and believe what his government says. Believing this, the elite thinks it can do pretty much what it wants to do. Kimilsongism, Shinto, and Neo-Confucianism North Korea, as I've argued before, should be understood as a religious state . I do not mean one in which Marxism-Leninism has ossified into a type of state religion, as it did in the Soviet Union; Marxism-Leninism really has little to do with it. Mainstream journalists refer to it misleadingly as "Stalinist," and surely Kim Il-song emulated Stalin in forging a personality cult with omnipresent self-glorifying posters, statues etc. But while Stalin-whatever else you can say of him-took Marxism-Leninism seriously, the Kims have pretty much tossed it out. The official ideology of the DPRK is "Kimilsongism-Kimjongilism" (formerly just "Kimilsongism"), based on the (vague, infinitely flexible) Juche concept that officially supplanted Marxism-Leninism in 1972. The 1998 and 2009 versions of the DPRK Constitution make no reference to Marxism whatsoever although they refer to " Juche- based" socialism which is something quite different. The North Koreans wouldn't argue otherwise. The study of Marxist theory is not encouraged in North Korea. It's not even possible for most. A Russian scholar wrote in 1995, "the works by Marx, Engels, and Lenin are not only excluded from the standard curriculum, but are generally forbidden for lay readers. Almost all the classical works of Marxism-Leninism, as well as foreign works on the Marxist philosophy are kept in special depositories, along with other kinds of subversive literature. Such works are accessible only to specialists with special permits." How could any real Marxist believe what DPRK school children are taught? They're told that the Kim family originated on Mt. Paektu, a mountain held sacred to Koreans and Manchurians for 2000 years, the place of origin of both peoples, according to their mythologies. (According to an ancient myth, the Korean nation of Choson was founded by the son of a bear who had been transformed into a woman by Hwanung, ruler of a divine city on Mt. Paektu, and a tiger. It rather reminds me of the Japanese Shinto myth in which the grandson of the Sun Goddess descends from heaven to Mt. Takachiho in Kyushu and begets two sons. One of these married the daughter of the Sea God, who turned out to be a dragon. She gave birth to the first emperor of Japan before slinking away back into the sea. Thus the Japanese imperial family also descended from heaven, and became human.) North Korean school children are now told that the Kims descended from heaven to the top of Mt. Paektu, where they were transformed into human beings. What sort of historical materialist could accept the story that Kim Il-song during the 1940s, fighting Japanese in Manchuria, could cut down trees with his enormous sword as though he were slicing through tofu? Or believe the official biography of Kim Jong-il, beginning with his birth in a humble log cabin on this sacred Mt. Paektu? (He was in fact born in Vyatskoye, a Russian fishing village on the Amur River. His father, then a captain in the Soviet Red Army, had served in the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army in Manchuria from 1935 to 1940. He was a member of the Chinese Communist Party at this time, had been educated in Chinese from age eight and reportedly spoke Korean with some difficulty at this time.) What sort of Marxist can believe that when the Dear Leader was born, a double rainbow appeared over the mountain peak, a new star rose in the heavens, and a swallow descended, heralding the early arrival of spring? Or believe that once when he visited Panmunjom, a fog descended to protect him from South Korean snipers, but when he was out of danger, the mist dramatically lifted and glorious red sunlight shone all around him? Or take seriously the report that he shot 11 holes-in-one to achieve an unprecedented 38-under-par game on a regulation 18-hole golf course, on his very first try at golf? Or accept the somber statement in the DPRK media, on the day of Kim Jong-il's death: "When the Great Marshal died, thousands of cranes descended from heaven to fetch him. The birds couldn't take him because they saw that North Koreans cried and screamed and pummeled their chests, pulled their hair and pounded the ground"? Such attributions of supernatural powers, the suggestion that Heaven endorses the Kims, are just the beginning of North Korean religiosity. If the regime has integrated aspects of native mythology to the Kim cult, it has also drawn upon neo-Confucianism, the dominant ideology in Korea from the late fourteenth century. It formed, as historian James B., Palais states, "the basis not only of the educational curriculum and the civil service examination system, but also of ritual practice, family organization and ethical values" in the country. Confucianism is rooted in the values of filial piety and respect for ancestors, which are viewed as essential for the workings of a harmonious state under rulers who've received the Mandate of Heaven. If children obey their (presumably virtuous) parents, subjects-properly educated and knowing their assigned place in a fixed class system (gentry, peasants, artisans, merchants)-will obey the ruler. But the ruler must also be virtuous. If the ruler behaves badly, or is perceived as lacking virtue, there will be disorder, signaling that Heaven has withdrawn its mandate. That's the gist of this essentially conservative philosophy, which Mao Zedong (to cite the example of a serious, philosophically inclined Marxist-Leninist) found inherently reactionary. (Indeed, Mao endorsed a campaign to "criticize Confucius" in the last few years of his life.) Karl Marx was a family man and dutiful son and I doubt would object to filial piety in principle. But he would certainly take exception to the conflation of filial loyalty and loyalty to a ruling family. What could be less Marxist than the practice of hereditary kingship? But here perhaps is where the elder Kim's innovative "brilliance" shines through. During the Sino-Soviet split in the 1950s, Kim Il-song came to advocate "the Juche Idea ." This vague concept (sometimes translated "self-reliance") originally seemed to connote DPRK political independence vis-`a-vis the quarreling PRC and USSR. But it has in practice meant the creation of a national belief system that freely combines some socialist values (violated in practice) with many elements of the native tradition. Kim advocated, for example, that women dress in the traditional chima-jeogori . (This is rather like Japanese officials urging women to wear the kimono rather than more comfortable modern dress.) His son Jong-il reiterated in 1986 that brides should, due to "traditional custom and national sentiment of the Koreans" to dress in that outfit. Jong-il also urged all Koreans to observe the traditional observances of the Chongmyong holiday (April 6). These include dressing "in turf" and mowing the grass around the graves, and preparing special dishes including "cakes cooked with newly harvested grains." (The DPRK media reprinted his statement for this month's holiday, noting "it is one of the Koreans' manners to visit ancestral graves to pay tribute to the memory of their ancestors on the day. Leader Kim Jong Il in his lifetime had paid deep attention to carrying forward the traditional manners among the people in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.") It is all about filial piety and reverence for ancestors, positively justified as "traditional manners." Shouldn't one revere the ancestors of the leader too? Chinese and Soviet observers alike once looked askance at all of this, but both were obliged to accept this quasi-Marxist/neo-Confucian hybrid as an ally-a member of an imagined "socialist camp." One can say the strategy worked. Kim's grandson reigns in great comfort, after all, the revered heir of beloved forbears. China and Russia remain basically friendly. The Land of the Morning Calm indeed seems calm. The Mandate of Heaven The Great Leader apparently thought that to be thoroughly, independently Korean , the DPRK needed to draw upon its neo-Confucian heritage. This didn't mean reviving the reverence for Confucius himself, which had occurred as temples like the Hamhung Confucian temple in Hamgyongnamdo destroyed like most other monuments by U.S. bombing. The official position on Confucianism remains that announced in 1982: "Confucianism is a religion which believed in 'Heaven' and theologised the feudal kingdom...Like other religions... Confucianism was used as an ideological tool of the feudal ruling class since it arrived in Korea and had a poisonous impact on the People's ideology, psychology and ethics as well as on economic culture and technological development." But it did mean embracing and exploiting old concepts. It meant replacing the old neo-Confucian four-class system with fixed songbun categories, with "revolutionary intellectuals" at the top replacing the old yangban scholar-gentry, and former capitalists and miscellaneous miscreants at the bottom replacing the merchant class disparaged in Confucian thought. It meant replacing the monarchy toppled by the Japanese in 1910 with a new one claiming both ideological correctness and heavenly approval. If what emerged struck and continues to strike most Marxists as simply very bizarre, the North Koreans can defiantly proclaim: "These are our national, independent customs, and nobody else's business!" Korea is, however, very much China's business. The PRC and DPRK are, as the unpleasant Chinese expression goes, "as close as the lips and teeth." They are profoundly linked by history from Neolithic times, a shared written language (Chinese) for over 1000 years, Confucian culture, an 880 mile border, and the shared experience of fighting U.S. imperialism during the Korean War (1950-53). There are two and a half million Koreans in China. From China's point of view, North Korea is a buffer against Russia, Japan and South Korea. The modern Chinese may not have expected that Korean rulers would, like kings in the past, seek Beijing's approval when naming heirs apparent. But this happened with Jong-il in the early 1990s and with Jong-un in 2011. It's a version of the old confirmation of legitimacy sought from the Chinese emperors, themselves in possession of the Mandate of Heaven. (The Chinese leaders are in an awkward spot. Last November a delegation from the PRC delivered a letter to Jung-un from President Xi Jinping demanding that he not launch a ballistic missile. He did anyway, no doubt realizing that China's ability to pressure the DPRK is limited by Chinese fears of catastrophe in the event of a halt in aid and trade. Beijing hopes to nudge North Korea towards its own brand of state capitalism, which it thinks will contribute to stability in the region-although the Chinese regime itself faces mounting discontent-and facilitate eventual reunification. It has to maintain friendship with this former tributary kingdom.) Kim Il-song deftly arranged his own succession, as though it were the most natural thing in the world for the president of a republic to pass power on to his son. Jong-il less deftly and more hastily arranged the transfer of power to Jong-un. In both instances, Heaven played a role or at least was invoked. One of Jong-il's monikers was "the Heavenly-Descended General." Kim Il-song, whose motto was "believing in the people as in heaven," wrote a poem in 1991 on the occasion of his beloved son's 50th birthday: "Heaven and earth shake with the resounding cheers of all the people united in praising him." And as Jung-un took the throne, as mentioned above, the sacred cranes (symbols of longevity in East Asia) descended from Heaven to transport his father thence. The image of the sun has been important in this religification. Where does that come from, if not from the next-door Land of the Rising Sun? Korea was colonized from 1910 to 1945 by Japan, with its native myth of the Sun Goddess. State Shinto was promoted among the (partly resistant) Korean population during that period, who like the Japanese were taught that the Japanese emperors were descended from the goddess. Kim Il-song was surely exposed to this notion during his first eight years. Thus it isn't all that strange that the Kim cult similarly links the Great Leader with the sun. The DPRK Constitution states, "The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung is the sun of the nation and the lodestar of the reunification of the fatherland." A monumental artwork called "the Figure of the Sun" erected to mark the 100-day memorial service for Kim in 1994, adorns a hill overlooking Pyongyang. April 15, the Great Leader's birthday and the main North Korean holiday, is called the "Day of Sun." Immediately after Il-song's death in 1994, villages and towns throughout the nation began to construct Towers of Eternal Life, the main one rising 93 meters over Kim's mausoleum in Pyongyang. The Great Leader's son took power, declining to assume the title of President. The Constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea restricts that title forever to the Great Leader, whom the Dear Leader has proclaimed, "will always be with us." In 1997 the DPRK adopted a new calendar, in which the first year of Juche corresponds to Kim's birth year, 1912. Is it not obvious that Kimilsungism is a religious cult? And that it must condition the thinking even of many who silently doubt it? What They're Thinking So we have two control systems operating together: the songbun and a religious thought-control system. When young Jong-un sits down with Auntie Kyong-hui and Uncle Sung-taek, he and they and anyone else in the room realize that they preside over a very well-controlled privilege- and status-based society, in which the most discontented are the weakest, the most kept out of sight, and probably not an important threat; and where despite the hardships caused by famine and human stupidity, there remains a large class of people who dress well enough, eat adequately, have comfortable housing, and find some leisure time to enjoy sports and culture. (I recommend, by the way, surfing youtube for examples of televised popular entertainment in the DPRK, some of which will likely surprise you. Kim Jong-un seems partial to the all-female sixteen member electronic music group, the Moranbong Band. It was just launched last July. Their repertoire ranges from the patriotic, Kim-cult material you'd expect, to themes of the Disney movie "Beauty and the Beast" and "Gonna Fly Now" from "Rocky," to western classical pieces such as Mozart's Symphony no. 40 and P. Mauriat's Minuetto. They debuted last July with a concert extravaganza attended by Kim. He is clearly is a big fan and patron of the group. Having just emerged months after his coronation, it surely reflects his tastes These include a version of the DPRK anthem that begins with wistful violin and cello strings and erupts precisely midway through with the soaring strains of an electric guitar backed by drumbeat. Watch it here on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McBUm8YxHMs or visit the band's Facebook page Servants, Shophands and Laborers in in the Cities of Tokugawa Japan ; Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan ; and Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900 . He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion , (AK Press). He can be reached at: gleupp@granite.tufts.edu Federal law allows citizens to reproduce, distribute or exhibit portions of copyright motion pictures, video tapes, or video disks under certain circumstances without authorization of the copyright holder. This infringement of copyright is called fair use and is allowed for purposes of criticism, news reporting, teaching and parody. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=200_1366555109 waterlawman The Mindset of North Korean Elites. An article by GARY LEUPP north-korea,Kim-Jong-un.Great-Leader,DPRK,quasi-Marxist/neo-Confucian,liveleak,puppy,cat,sex,terrorist,marxist,communist,evolution,Darwin,news,Leninism,Songbun Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:01:36 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=13e_1363791432 Value343 Keep the peasants drunk and stupid...worked on the Irish! http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/beer-cheer-despite-osborne-gloom-2 Beer cheer despite Osborne gloom The Chancellor has cut the price of beer and had some good news for taxpayers as he delivered his 2013 Budget. But he also painted a gloomy picture for the economy, as the official growth forecast was slashed in half and George Osborne admitted the recovery was taking "longer than anyone hoped". He confirmed that September's planned fuel duty rise has been scrapped.He said a planned 3p rise in beer duty tax was being scrapped and replaced by a 1p cut on a pint of beer. And he brought forward a rise in the personal allowance to 2014, meaning no income tax is paid by anyone on the first lb10,000 of their earnings.He also announced a new employment allowance which will take the first lb2,000 off employer National Insurance bills for every company in the country - a move he described as "taking tax off jobs".But George Osborne slashed the official growth forecast in half as he admitted the recovery was taking "longer than anyone hoped". He said that the economy would grow by just 0.6% this year - down from the previous forecast of 1.2% - slower than forecast next year at 1.8% compared to the 2% forecast at the time of the Autumn Statement.He described the package as a "Budget for people who aspire to work hard and get on". But he added: "Today, I'm going to level with people about the difficult economic circumstances we still face and the hard decisions required to deal with them."The sluggish growth figures mean borrowing will be higher than expected - hitting lb114 billion this year compared to a previous forecast of lb108 billion. Next year borrowing will be lb108 billion as against the lb99 billion previously predicted, before dropping down to lb42 billion in 2017-18 compared to lb31 billion forecast in the Autumn Statement. But the Chancellor predicted the deficit would continue to come down thanks to the "many tough decisions" taken by the Government.Tax free child care vouchers worth lb1,200 per child and increased support for families with children on universal credit. The Flat rate pension worth lb144 a week will be brought forward to 2016.Reacting to the statement, Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "This is the Chancellor's fourth Budget but one thing unites them all - every Budget, he comes to this House and things are worse not better for this country." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=13e_1363791432 Value343 British Rulers Prepare the <span class="highlight">peasants</span> for the UK Economy To Collapse...remove tax from BEER. uk, peasants, drunk, ignorant, lol Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:26:49 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c4c_1363630795 Value343 Poor brits, no freedom, no independence...just bent over peasants and slaves, like they always have been.http://www.france24.com/en/20130318-crucial-vote-looms-british-press-laws PARTY leaders struck a deal on a new newspaper regulator today - amid accusations it will introduce Britain's first ever Press law. Talks between Tory, Labour and Lib Dem chiefs finally led to an agreement in the early hours of this morning. It will lead to the setting up of a Royal Charter to govern the regulation of the Press. The changes follow the publication of Lord Justice Leveson's report on the media last year. Insistent ... Labour leader Ed Miliband In a bid to allay fears that the new set-up will be open to Government intereference, any changes will need the support of two-thirds of MPs. Mr Cameron - who had opposed calls for the new regime to be underpinned by a new law - insisted he had got what he wanted. He said: "It's not statutory underpinning. "What it is is simply a clause that says politicians can't fiddle with this so it takes it further away from politicians, which is actually, I think, a sensible step." But Labour denied the PM's claims. A source said: "This is not a little bit of statute, this is not a dab of statute, this is statute pure and simple." Middle man ... Deputy PM Nick Clegg Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said: "What we have done is adopt the so-called 'royal charter plus' in full. "It is underpinned by legislation - both to install a real system of costs and damages and crucially to make sure that future governments can't mess around with the Royal Charter." In an emegency Commons debate this aftenoon the PM insisted the cross-party deal on a royal charter on press regulation defends the principle of a free press. He added: "As Lord Justice Leveson recommended, we need a system of tough, independent self-regulation that will deliver for victims and meet the principles set out in his report. "This system will ensure upfront apologies, million-pound fines, a self-regulatory body with independence of appointments and funding, a robust standards code, an arbitration service that is free for victims and a speedy complaint handling mechanism." Labour leader Ed Miliband said: "Today we break the pattern of decades and decades, where politicians promised to act on wrongdoings by the press and failed to do so." In a joint statement, representatives of some of Britain's largest newspaper publishing groups said they would need time to study the cross-party proposals. The statement was issued by the Daily Mail Group, Telegraph Media Group and News International - the publishers of The Sun and Times newspapers - as well as the Newspaper Society and Professional Publishers Association. Report ... Lord Leveson They said: "We would like to make it clear that, contrary to reports broadcast by the BBC this morning, no representative of the newspaper and magazine industry had any involvement in, or indeed any knowledge of, the cross-party talks on press regulation that took place on Sunday night. "We have only late this afternoon seen the royal charter that the political parties have agreed between themselves and, more pertinently, the recognition criteria, early drafts of which contained several deeply contentious issues which have not yet been resolved with the industry. "In the light of this we are not able to give any response on behalf of the industry to this afternoon's proposals until we have had time to study them." The party leaders gathered in Ed Miliband's Commons office last night to thrash out the deal. Video:Trevor Kavanagh on Press regulation vote Sky News THE SUN'S Associate Editor gives his verdict on agreement between David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband But David Cameron despatched his Mr Fix-It, Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Letwin, instead. The PM's official spokesman insisted he was "kept in touch" during the talks, but could not say whether Mr Cameron had gone to sleep by the time it was struck at 2.30am. Pressure group Hacked Off, which represents the victims of Press intrusion, backed the deal, which they said would deliver Lord Justice Leveson's recommendations. Britain's first printing press was set up by William Caxton in 1476. But the authorities were so alarmed by the idea of a free Press that the first English-language newspaper had to be published in Amsterdam in 1620. From 1632 to 1638 all newspapers were banned here. During the Civil War, newspapers and pamphlets were printed and distributed nationwide. But when the monarchy was restored in 1662 a free Press was outlawed. The Licensing Of The Press Act, made it illegal to have a printing press without permission. The act was allowed to lapse in 1695 - effectively freeing the Press. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c4c_1363630795 Value343 UK Masters Vote For Press Laws to Keep The <span class="highlight">Peasants</span> Ignorant and Clueless...LOL uk, lol, press, law, free, speech, fail, ruled, owned, peasants, slaves, british Wed, 10 Apr 2013 15:29:44 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e8e_1365621565 Value343 This video is based on real law in the EU. This video was Banned by the EU..guess who made the video? LMFAO! http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e8e_1365621565 Value343 Welcome to the EU, Slaves: When you Vote Like <span class="highlight">Peasants</span>, Expect to be Treated Like <span class="highlight">Peasants</span> eu, lol, free, speech, fail, slaves, peasants, owned, left, wing, elite, masters, socialists, socialism, Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:12:30 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=559_1365541659 Value343 The socialist nanny state is there to make sure you dont do ANYTHING that might POSSIBLY harm you or anyone else...but who is policing the nanny state? They are feeding you donkey dick and horse meat and now this? How much more are you willing to take from your left wing elite masters? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22087123 Veterinary drug found in Asda budget corned beef The food watchdog says bute poses a very low risk to human health Asda is recalling all corned beef from its budget range after traces of the veterinary drug phenylbutazone were found in some batches. The Food Standards Agency said "very low levels" had been detected in the Asda Smart Price Corned Beef product. The painkilling medicine often used on horses is commonly known as "bute". The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was the first time bute had been found in a meat product in the UK since the horsemeat scandal started. Product withdrawn Animals treated with bute are not allowed to enter the food chain because the drug could pose a risk to human health. However, the risk is very low even if people have eaten contaminated horsemeat. The Asda product was tested as part of an industry-wide programme and found to be positive for horse DNA above 1%. It was then further tested and found to contain four parts per billion of bute. Asda had already withdrawn the product on 8 March. Customers who have bought the 340g tins with any date code have been urged not to eat the corned beef and to return it to the supermarket for a refund. Horse carcasses Chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies said: "Horsemeat containing phenylbutazone presents a very low risk to human health. "Phenylbutazone, known as bute, is a commonly used medicine in horses. It is also prescribed to some patients who are suffering from a severe form of arthritis. "In patients who have been taking phenylbutazone as a medicine there can be serious side effects, but these are rare. It is extremely unlikely that anyone who has eaten horse meat containing bute will experience one of these side effects." In the UK, horse carcasses must have a negative bute test before they are allowed to enter the food chain. Asda has also recalled tinned Chosen By You Corned Beef (340g) as a precaution - even though the product has not tested positive for phenylbutazone - because it was made in the same factory. 'Test commitment' Asda said in a statement on its website : "We have taken an extremely cautious approach since the very beginning and have carried out more than 700 tests, moving swiftly to remove any products from our shelves whenever we've had the smallest concerns. "Our commitment to you is to continue to test our products regularly and update you with the very latest news as soon as we can." Shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh said the discovery was "deeply worrying". She said the fact that the product has only just been recalled "exposes weaknesses in the government's handling of the horsemeat scandal where products were withdrawn, but in some cases not tested". Earlier, the FSA said two beefburger products withdrawn from sale over concerns they may contain horsemeat had tested positive. The King Fry Meat Products burger was from Pig Out in Walsall and the Burger Manufacturing Company product was from Nefyn Pizza and Kebab House in Gwynedd. Five samples were checked for the presence of horse DNA above a 1% threshold. Two samples did not contain horse DNA and one result is still to be returned. What is your reaction to this news? Have you bought the tins of the corned beef in question? You can send us your comments using the form below. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=559_1365541659 Value343 More Food Scandals For British <span class="highlight">Peasants</span>...Veterinary Drugs In Corned Beef... uk, british, peasants, suckers, ruled, owned, again, lol, veterinary, drugs, in food Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:58:30 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=818_1363888370 Value343 Even North Korean Peasants have more access to free press than the average british peasant. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323415304578370200712578048.html A Royal Charter for the Press A new regulator will inevitably mean greater political sway over the media. So Britain will get a new press regulator, established by Royal Charter, but underpinned by a law that will make it difficult to change the way the new body operates. A Royal Charter is a declaration by the monarch granting powers and privileges to an entity. Think the BBC, the Bank of England, or the East India Company. Regulating newspapers by charter was part of the strange compromise struck among the Tories, Liberal Democrats and Labour in the wee hours Monday. The Lib Dems and Labour want a new press regulator established through legislation, with all the muscle that implies. Prime Minister David Cameron opposed a statutory regulator but faced possible defeat in Parliament on this point. Angst is still high in Westminster over the need to "do something" about a press corps supposedly run amok in the phone-hacking scandals. Some are deriding a Royal Charter as a "medieval" institution. Since you have to go back to the 17th century to find a time when the Crown licensed newspaper publishers, the throwback analogy seems apt. This new press regulator is anachronistic in other ways too. Politicians are already arguing over the extent to which Internet blogs would fall under its sway, though membership is supposed to be voluntary. Some of Britain's most prominent bloggers want no part of it. Paul Staines, who blogs under the nom de plume Guido Fawkes, hosts his blog offshore. Even his mobile phone is offshore. Scotland, meanwhile, is asking what this means for the Scottish press. Press regulation is supposed to be a devolved power, say the Scots. So perhaps this will prove to be the Royal Society for the Regulation of the Ink-Stained Wretches of England and Wales. Or just England? It's still unclear, which is what happens when you cook up a scheme in a back room at 2:30 in the morning. Geography aside, the new regulator won't even supervise more than a small fraction of media choices available to Britons, especially online. Today's newspapers compete for readers with other newspapers as well as with the websites of innumerable television stations (including the BBC), foreign media and international papers like this one. Yet the new press-regulation device seems tailored to control newspapers that are already under financial pressure. The Charter's final terms are still being worked out and may not be finalized for months. Newspaper owners, understandably, want some say in who will run what is supposed to be a self-regulatory body. Campaigners for regulation want self-regulation performed exclusively by others. Yet on Monday the Parliament overwhelmingly passed an amendment that will set the Charter's terms in stone once they are finalized. This does not leave room for adjusting to a rapidly changing media marketplace. The Parliament also envisions punitive damages in civil cases against any paper that refuses to join. So a supposedly voluntary operation begins with the threat of ruinous judgments against those who don't sign up. All of this new machinery for media control is being set up even as the current laws are proving to be more than adequate for handling the phone-hacking scandal. Charges have been brought for alleged crimes, and civil cases against newspaper publishers (including our ultimate owner, News Corp NWSA -0.86% .) are being settled, or taken to trial in some cases. The real story here is that the new regulator, however it is chartered, is designed to put the media under the greater sway of politicians. Whatever the excesses of the media, this won't serve British democracy or public scrutiny of government. Thank heaven America escaped the control of British Royal Charters and wrote the First Amendment. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=818_1363888370 Value343 Wall Street Journal SLAMS British Sheep And Goverments Control Over Free Press...UK = North Korea. british, sheep, free, speech, press, ban, north, korea, has, more, freedon, than, british, peasants, slaves, lol, BBC, pedophiles, molesters, criminals, media, masters Thu, 21 Mar 2013 13:52:36 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f0d_1363887070 Value343 United KINGdom And the British peasants have the nerve to cry about Fox News? LMFAO! http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4853515/US-newspaper-blasts-press-clampdown.html BRITAIN'S press clampdown has been blasted by one of America's leading newspapers - warning that new laws "won't serve British democracy". The Wall Street Journal said the rules would place the press "under the greater sway of politicians" and restrict "public scrutiny of government". It added that such "machinery for media control" threatened more than 300 years of free speech and is not needed as current laws are "more than adequate". Britain's quango regulator will enforce a Royal Charter of rules and have a major say on newspaper content. It will be able to hand out lb1million fines and "direct" publications to issue prominent corrections and apologies. Critics also fear that politicians' two-thirds block on any changes to the Royal Charter could be abused in the future. Critic ... The Wall Street Journal said current laws are 'more than adequate' In a lead editorial, the highly respected Wall Street Journal said: "Some are deriding a Royal Charter as a "medieval" institution. "Since you have to go back to the 17th century to find a time when the Crown licensed newspaper publishers, the throwback analogy seems apt. "The real story here is that the new regulator, however it is chartered, is designed to put the media under the greater sway of politicians." It concluded: "Thank heaven America escaped the control of British Royal Charters and wrote the First Amendment." The Wall Street Journal's criticisms came as UK lefty mag New Statesman joined the chorus of opponents, branding the new rules "ill-judged, unworkable and, ultimately, wrong". Inquiry ... Lord Leveson It wrote: "For anyone who believes in a free press, the events of recent days - with late-night deals being agreed between politicians and lobby groups - have been dispiriting and enraging." "The press has good reason to be sceptical of this proposal." The royal charter was "hastily composed and incoherent," it added. Earlier this week, the New York Times warned that new regulations would damage democracy and "do more harm than good". Even broadcaster Russia Today - funded by Russia's repressive Kremlin - warned the guidelines were a "threat to press freedom". http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f0d_1363887070 Value343 Wall Street Journal Blast British Free Press Bans: British Press Now Under Complete Control Of British Government....Just like China. uk, free, press, banned, total, failure, free, speech, british, peasants, slaves, lol