I'm a horrible person because despite following this story and being fairly involved in it, the first thing I thought when seeing that photo was "Is she wearing a nameplate necklace?!"
Thanks, Anna, for posting this link. Lisa and Laura may be in the national spotlight, but to us Sacramentans, they're hometown girls and we care about them deeply. Euna, too! Bring 'em home, Bill!
I like to imagine that what Bill Clinton is REALLY doing in Korea is donning a mask, cape, tights, and thigh-highs; using toilet plungers to scale the wall of their prison; and then breaking them out of the clink to whisk them away on his magical Pegasus. On their way out he'll point his laser finger at Kim Jong Il, causing his pants to fall down in front of the nation. This will cause so much national shame that Kim Jong Il will have to be exiled, and everyone will be freed.
Oh, also, there will be a national party to celebrate the return of the journalists. Everyone will get cake, and no one will have to go to work that day.
I honestly can't believe this is still going on either. I saw this morning that Bill Clinton is heading over. Wonder if that will make any difference...
@bluebears: Both Jesse Jackson and Bill Richardson have gone to North Korea, seeking and obtaining the release of prisoners. This is part of a pattern -- North Korea does this to a) get attention and b) signal that they are willing to sit down and negotiate, without looking weak.
@bluebears: Actually, Clinton is probably the only person who can pull this off. I'm really happy that he's on the case and am confident he'll succeed in the mission.
I wonder how Hillary feels about this? Although, perhaps, this is a case of good cop-bad cop, where she has been the bad cop, and now they send in Bill to schmooze and generally make nice.
@NefariousNewt: This makes sense to me. I am not well-versed on Korean culture (so someone who is, feel free to school me!), but I can see Bil being able to say in kind a bro to bro way with KJ "Yeah, well, you know how women can be sometimes." Not RIGHT, of course, but whatever it takes to build some rapport and get those journalists out of there....
@NefariousNewt: I think Hillary knew from the start Kim Jong Il wanted the rock star. I say let him have his Teen Beat moment if it brings those women home and gives an opening to reach out to the next in line.
@elsamorante: Yeah, but still... you know she didn't appreciate being snubbed by NK. She is Secretary of State, after all. But didn't they snub Condie, too, once?
@NefariousNewt: I think Hillary might be seeing the big picture rather than her own ego. If she has to call in Bill to get those women home, she'll do it. And I'm delighted that she'll put them before herself.
@dianersb was bit by a zombie: I think because of protocol. While he is not now, he was a President of the United States, so that means he is treated with the highest respect accorded a head of state, though not as much as if it were President Obama.
@dianersb was bit by a zombie: Kim Jong Il is an attention whore. The man loves the spotlight. If he didn't meet with Clinton, that's a whole bunch of photos that will go all over the media in several countries that he won't be in! He's the dictatorial equivalent of a 13 year old girl with her first LiveJournal or Myspace or whatever the kiddies are doing these days.
@Zombie Ms. Skittles: I can just see him now. Taking glamour photos of himself in the bathroom mirror, writing long and winding posts about the inherent nothingness of life, crushing on sparkly vampires.
@dianersb was bit by a zombie: The article seemed to imply that Zombie Ms. Skittles is right -- Kim Jong Il can't pass up a photo op under normal circumstances, and if he does, it means he's real sick.
People need to stop hurting animals. Seriously. There was a story in our local paper on monday: a cat was found outside a library in my county on sunday morning. The cat had fourth-degree burns on most of his body, and had evidently been wrapped in plastic before he was torched. He was ALIVE. The animal hospital also determined that he had some broken bones, indicating that he'd also been beaten. Again, he was ALIVE. The hospital did everything they could, but he didn't make it. Want to know who the "person of interest" was? A NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY. Shit makes me so sick. I know he's only a child, but I'd like to see him locked up permanently and kept away from all other living beings. It's just my natural response in cases of animal abuse/murder. Sorry to be a downer on a lovely friday evening, but this has been on my mind all week. I just feel so bad for that poor darling little cat.
@..now it's just Aesop's Foibles.: I'm fairly certain animal abuse is the saddest thing in the entire world. I believe that anyone who kills a cat should be tried in the same manner as if they had killed a human being. It's so awful and sickening and inexcusable. I cannot even wrap my mind around a nine-year-old ... what will they do with him?
@..now it's just Aesop's Foibles.: I am so completely with you. Perhaps it means I fail on some level as a human being, but nothing, I mean NOTHING, gets to me like hearing about an innocent animal being made to suffer. Not massive genocide, not poverty and starvation and war, not even child-killing type stuff -- all of which, obviously, are HORRIFIC and which of course I do care very much about. But, nope. If you want me turning on the waterworks, tell me about some sick fuck who's decided to torture a puppy. Only sure way to get yourself treated to some serious sobbing and fist-pounding.
I think it has something to do with the pure innocence of animals. They have an innocence I think human beings, by virtue of our superior intelligence, on some level just aren't *capable* of.
@LawFairy: I hear you. I can watch the saddest, most ridiculous things on the news and not shed a tear, but then an ASPCA commercial comes on and I literally sob. It's not that I don't care about human beings, of course, but I agree with your comment about their innocence and utter defenselessness. It really, really gets to me.
I think the monkey thing was (should have been?) more about naming a monkey after a famous person who's last name is unique enough to unequivically tie that person with the association. So, yeah, maybe the zoo SHOULD have changed the name to a more neutral (or first) name, but the fact that it's another common name in Africa? Kinda irrelevant.
@schweppes: How is it irrelevant? It seems the real problem was that giving the monkey an African name perpetuates an ethnic slur. From the article: “Black people continue to be confronted by associations with the animal kingdom and primitivity.” How is giving the monkey a different African name resolving that issue?
@doodley is not amused: Because, as almost every commenter in this thread has pointed out (correctly): MOST animals in zoos are given names that are traditional in the region that they hail from.
I am really disappointed about the ski jumping thing. I thought it would've been so great for the 2010 Olympics to have the first women's ski jumping event. This is the second time you've disappointed me this week Vancouver, what's up with that, yo?!
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Oh, also, there will be a national party to celebrate the return of the journalists. Everyone will get cake, and no one will have to go to work that day.
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North Korea is decades behind the West's insult technology.
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I think it has something to do with the pure innocence of animals. They have an innocence I think human beings, by virtue of our superior intelligence, on some level just aren't *capable* of.
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