Another One Bites the Dust

North Korean Leader Kim jong Il Dies of Heart attack at 69

North Korean state tv reported that Kim suffered the heart attack while riding a train on Dec. 17, and that he had been treated for cardiac and cerebrovascular diseases for some time. Kim is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, but he had appeared relatively vigorous in photos and video from recent trips to China and Russia and in numerous trips around the country carefully documented by state media. An anchorwoman clad in black traditional Korean dress said in a voice choked with tears, "It is the biggest loss for the party, and it is our people and nation's biggest sadness." People in the capitol's streets were in tears as they learned the news of Kim's death. A foreigner contacted at Pyongyang's Koryo Hotel said hotel staff were in tears.

South Korean Yonhap news agency said South Korea put its military on "high alert" and President Lee Myung-bak convened a national security council meeting after the news of Kim's death. Officials couldn't immediately confirm the reports.

Kim ruled North Korea with an iron fist for 17 years. He succeeded his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, after the elder Kim's death in 1994. Kim maintained absolute control of his country and kept the world on edge with erratic decisions regarding the country's nuclear weapons program. The nation remains one of the last remnants of the Cold War era, and is heavily isolated.

Kim Il Sung fought for independence from Korea's colonial ruler, Japan, from a base in Russia for years. He returned to Korea in 1945, emerging as a communist leader and becoming North Korea's first leader in 1948. He meshed Stalinist ideology with a cult of personality that encompassed him and his son. Their portraits hang in every building in North Korea, and every dutiful North Korean wears a Kim Il Sung lapel pin.

When Kim came to power in 1994, he had been groomed for 20 years to become leader. He continued his father's policy of "military first," devoting much of the country's scarce resources to its troops -- even as his people suffered from a prolonged famine -- and built the world's fifth-largest military.

Kim also sought to build up the country's nuclear arms arsenal, leading to North Korea's first nuclear test, an underground blast conducted in October 2006. Another test came in 2009, prompting U.N. sanctions. Alarmed, regional leaders negotiated a disarmament-for-aid pact that the North signed in 2007 and began implementing later that year. The process has since stalled, though diplomats are working to restart negotiations.

Kim's marital status wasn't clear but he is believed to have married once and had at least three other companions. He had at least three sons with two women, as well as a daughter by a third. His eldest son, Kim Jong Nam, who is about 40, is believed to have fallen out of favor with his father after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001 saying he wanted to visit Disney's Tokyo resort. His two other sons by another woman, Kim Jong Chol and Kim Jong Un, are in their 20s. Their mother reportedly died several years ago.

Kim Jong Un, the man named the "great successor" to take control of North Korea in the wake of the death of Kim Jong Il, is a baby-faced twenty-something with virtually no public profile. He has slowly been pushed forward over the past three years as the man to take over from his ailing father.

"Standing in the van of the Korean revolution at present is Kim Jong Un, great successor to the revolutionary cause of juche and outstanding leader of our party, army and people," the country's official news agency said, referring to the official ideology of juche, or self-reliance. It also said saying citizens must "respectfully revere" Kim Jong Un.

"At the leadership of comrade Kim Jong Un, we have to change sadness to strength and courage, and overcome today's difficulties," it said.

But it was only in September, 2010, that the first ever adult picture of Kim Jong Un was run by state media -- after he was appointed as a four-star general and given senior ruling party posts.


Source: www.foxnews.com

Huntsman Lashes Out at Romney and Gingrich

Jon Huntsman is going after Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and President Obama as examples of what's wrong with Washington.

In a speech at the National Press Club, the GOP presidential candidate unveiled a seven-point plan to end what he calls two deficits: one in the economy and the other afflicting politics.

"America suffers from a deficit of dollars and jobs. We also suffer from a deficit of trust -- trust in our institutions of power, from Washington to Wall Street," Huntsman said.

The GOP presidential candidate, also a former Utah governor and U.S. ambassador to China, told The New York Times that Gingrich and Romney are part of a political culture that is destroying trust with the American people and blocking solutions to the nation’s biggest problems.

“We don’t need a lobbyist in chief. And we don’t need a panderer in chief. We need a commander in chief,” Mr. Huntsman said. Huntsman also lashed out at Romney and Gingrich as “no better” than President Obama when it comes to breaking faith with the American people.

“If you are in the hip pocket of Wall Street, you are not going to talk about ‘too big to fail.’ You’re not going to be able to talk about ‘no more bailouts,’” he said. “If you are in the hip pocket of K Street, you’re not going to be inclined to take on Congress to call for term limits.”

Proposals that Mr. Huntsman makes in the speech include:

* To completely rewrite the tax code, eliminating “every last loophole, subsidy and carve-out.”

* To cut spending in “every corner of government.

* To break up Wall Street banks so that taxpayer are never “held hostage” by a Sophie’s Choice between “massive bailouts, or economic calamity.”

* Term limits in Congress. He proposes six two-year terms for House members and two six-year terms for senators.

* To adopt a comprehensive energy strategy making the country less dependent on foreign oil.

* “Systematically streamline” regulations, i.e. reduce big government, and eliminate bureaucracy and red tape.

* Bring home troops from Afghanistan.

In the speech, Mr. Huntsman casts the proposals as the solutions to the broader issue of a breakdown of trust.

“Rather than a limited, efficient government that serves the public’s interest, Washington has grown bloated and bureaucratic, captured and corrupted by swarms of lobbyists, influence peddlers and crony capitalists,” Mr. Huntsman says.

He added that “the American people have been let down, time and again. They have lost confidence in how our nation is run. As a result, anxiety and worry have filled our nation’s psyche.”

Huntsman is bringing up the rear in national polls on the GOP nomination, but his numbers are much better in New Hampshire where he's in the middle of the pack.

Sources:

USA Today,
NY Times

My Note: This article and what Huntsman says about our 'real' problems is spot on. Washington and Wall Street ARE 'f'ed up and need to be fixed. Major changes are needed, not just little band-aid laws. But it goes beyond that. It's not just Washington that lives and spends above it's means, it's our whole society. Every room has cable and a big screen TV. Every 3rd grader has a cell phone. Every 6th grader a lap top. Every 12th grader a car. We spend our money as fast as we earn it on things we can't afford. Then we borrow more and hit the repeat button. It's nuts! Everything is overpriced because everyone is overpaid, and everyone is overpaid because everything is overpriced. Does a guy pushing a broom really need to be paid $12 or $13 per hour? Does a family physician who does nothing more than write out prescriptions and referrals really need to make $200,000 to $500,000 per year? We need to slow down. Save instead of spend. Build rather than buy. When I was a kid, a middle class family of four could survive on one income. Granted, we only had one car, one TV, and one phone, but we managed just fine.

Kids Are So Cool

Flight 19 Lost in the Bermuda Triangle

On this day in 1945, Flight 19, a Navy training flight of 5 planes and 14 men took off from Ft Lauderdale and into American folklore.

According to legend, and much of the mainstream knowledge of that ill-fated flight is just that, a squadron of experienced pilots began a routine training mission in perfect weather, but soon became confused and disoriented, even hallucinating, and suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Cardinals 19, Cowboys 13

We lost to the Cardinals? Are you f##king kidding me?! The Cardinals?!

Cowboys vs Cardinals highlights