In between launching rockets, testing nuclear bombs and threatening the United States and South Korea, there appears to be a growing rate in North Korea of cannibalism. Stories of cannibalism spreading coincide with the ongoing famine which in two provinces, has caused some 10,000 deaths recently, according to the Sunday Times. Then there is the father who was tried and found guilty of murdering his two children so he could eat them. The Asia Press ran a story recently about a man who dug up his departed grandchild to eat. Boiling children and eating them seems to be the New Normal in North Korea.
Such stories are not new. North Korea has had a famine now for well over a decade. Reports of people dying in the streets from starvation have been floating for many years. Part of the justification for easing sanctions on currency transactions with the Communist nation was to allow them to buy food in exchange for scrapping their nuclear weapons program. But, as we all know, the government in Pyonyang went forward anyway. Now they appear to have the capability of launching an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, ICBM, at the United States. They have also warned South Korea that any further economic sanctions would result in war.
There had been some hope that North Korea′s new leader, Kim Jong Un, might be more open to negotiations due to his being educated abroad, mainly in Europe. That his taste for all things Western may sway him to make dramatic reforms. But alas, it seems that he is just going through the motions, keeping the ruling class of Old-Guard, hard-line military and party officials happy.
So while North Korea cannibalism is nothing new, it does appear that the famine is getting worse and more people are partaking in eating their children. Not all that different from us, except that under the New Normal of Barack Hussein Obama, we are eating our children and grandchildren financially. Destroying whatever future prosperity they might hope to have one day.
January 29th, 2013 at 3:35 pm
How has Obama’s policy of liberal nicey nice hug the dictators working out?
January 29th, 2013 at 6:08 pm
Do I think things will ever be the “way they used to be”? No, this is the new normal, but that is as much a result of an upside-down demographic as anything else and that is not going to change.
In addition, many of the advantages we enjoyed are no longer present.
However, many of the numbers cited below are promising. Of course I have no doubt that it is somehow bad news to many of you.
I will pose this question, however. I ask because I remember Rush stating something to the effect that he was hoping our economy failed to make a point or something (about Obama’s administration”.
Is that true of many of you? Are you happy and/or hopeful when certain economic indicators go up?
“Orders for durable goods jumped by 4.6 percent in December, the Commerce Department said Monday, more than double what private forecasters had expected. Though many business managers complained loudly that uncertainty in Washington had left them unwilling to take on new workers, they were busy investing in new plant and equipment to keep up with rising demand from customers.
“CEOs may have been worrying about falling off the cliff but demand for big-ticket items still soared,” said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors.
The report followed wider signs of a broad pickup in demand throughout the economy.
Rising home sales, which began to pick up in the second half of last year, continue to push prices higher, helping convince reluctant buyers and sellers that the market has finally bottomed out.
Car sales jumped 16 percent in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the previous year, and are on pace for another annual sales increase. Automakers will report monthly sales on Friday and are expected to post another month of robust demand.
Despite a lackluster holiday shopping season, overall retail sales in the last three months of the year were up 6 percent from a year ago. Manufacturers are also seeing a solid pickup in orders for new goods. Lower energy costs — the result of an ongoing boom in natural gas production — have helped them win bids against low-cost foreign competitors.
Stocks are up 15 percent since June. In January alone, investors sank $55 billion in new cash into stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, the biggest monthly inflow on record, according to TrimTabs Investment Research.
Financial information firm Markit on Thursday said its preliminary Purchasing Managers Index for manufacturing rose to 56.1 this month, its best showing since March 2011. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.”
January 29th, 2013 at 6:58 pm
Buzz, that was the same thought during the Carter Administration, the new normal, America’s stature was permanently on decline, blah blah. The genius of Reagan was refuting that concept entirely by getting the American people to reject it with the morning in America theme, and they did, and with optimism comes economic activity. Someone else will inject that same optimism someday, and the country will rally. Prolly more difficult this time given how the last two presidents have thrown money down the drain with poor management.
January 29th, 2013 at 7:16 pm
Things are in no way similar to the time of the Carter administration.
We have a population with an imbalance of seniors and that is rapidly increasing.
No economy can excel when a significant number of the population is retired.
You make it sound like America simply needs a pep talk.
I am still curious if a long list of positive indicators is that the readers here view as a positive.
January 29th, 2013 at 8:06 pm
Same things said 30 years ago. They have been fixing the senior “problem” for two generations with older and older retirement ages, and they will fix it next time with means testing and health care rationing, which will suck but that’s where Obamacare will take us.
Some guy like Reagan will come along and convince people to finally cut the liberal spending madness. And we will grow and thrive again with an optimist in the White House who understands that economic direction involves choices and incentives.
The problem with liberals is they are so so pessimistic, part of that self-loathing psyche. Hard to see the long-term, I know I know.
January 29th, 2013 at 8:44 pm
Watching a great show on the local Public Television Station about Henry Ford.
I love how strategic the $5 a day was over his competitors. They didn’t have the economy of scale to compete at that rate and it solved his problem of having to hire 1000 people to fill 100 positions because so many people quit due to the physical and mental toll of the job.
I worked at a Chrysler plant and can attest to the mind-numbing boredom.
They have now moved to the social engineering phase where Henry Ford did home visits and dictated how they would live.
I assume the anti-Semitism is up next.
January 29th, 2013 at 9:20 pm
Great Buzz, were still 16.5 trillion in the hole and not paying off our debt anywhere near its rate of growth. Deficit spending is still nuts.
Employment has failed for the 4th year in a row to keep up even with population growth.
Inflation is above normal projection and bolstered by a lesser median income per household.
The N. African/Middle East situation is not helping energy costs.
All our taxes have and will go up.
Banks arent loaning unless your credit is immaculate.
Insurance is up about 20%
You think a boost in car sales (GM/Chrysler still owe us)and durable goods makes a difference ?
Four years and a few trillion bucks and you’re enthusiastic about this cheesy little payoff were seeing ?
How many bridges do you own ?
Or think you own ?
January 30th, 2013 at 7:18 am
Hey Buzz,
4th Quarter numbers are in and the economy grew only 1.1%, well below expectations. Bernanke wraps up this month’s Fed manager’s meeting and they will continue the cheap money flow until 2015, at least.
Incomes are still down. Unemployment is still high, and ended the year even higher for Blacks, Women, young adults under 25 and Hispanics. That Obama Recovery sure is wonderful, is it not?
January 30th, 2013 at 7:21 am
Hahaha! I can see Buzz, Ronald, Snow and Klo living it up in Brazil at Fordlandia! Social engineering at its finest, until the bubble burst and now the place is a grown-over wasteland (just as much of Detroit has become).
January 30th, 2013 at 11:46 am
I in no way was claiming that we are in a booming economy.
There are, however, economic indicators that often precede a momentum shift in an economy.
Housing starts, manufacturing indices and durable goods purchases are important steps.
Would it be better if the stock market was down rather than up? Are housing starts a bad thing. Do we want manufacturing to less?
I am well aware of the pain that people are feeling. Living in the Detroit area offers an illustration of how things are certainly “not the way they used to be” as people that used to be country club members now can’t pay the light bill.
I knew it was inevitable that I would get multiple responses relevant to how bad things are, but I was merely trying to elicit a response to ascertain if people that are opposed to the very existence of Obama are actively rooting for an economic recovery or think that suffering thought an extended recession is ultimately good if it “makes a point” and results in a “changing of the guard in both the executive office and the White House.
In reference to North Africa, it is certainly true that there is chaos, but I am not overly alarmed. Why? Because it is more, dangerous than it has been for decades.
The thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, etc., etc. There is always a “hot spot” or two or three that are in upheaval. Consider the global tensions during these other decades. This is the norm and relevantly calm compared to other eras. WWII, Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War, etc.
Think about the other decades and compare it to now. We may soon be out of Iraq and Afghanistan. It has been a long time since we have not been actively involved in a conflict.
What is different now? 24 hour cable news networks, Internet sites, magazines that pander to specific sectors, etc. We used to all get 30 minutes of news on three networks and it all emanated from similar sources. The only thing that makes it appear worse is that is happening now.
In regard to global calamities this is not “the worst of times”, unless it is consistently viewed in a “glass half-empty” environment. But then, we live in a time when people are actively “prepping” for the end of times. Reminds me of people building air raid shelters during the cold war. Of course, I wasn’t worried because I had a school desk to hide under.
January 30th, 2013 at 2:25 pm
I in no way was claiming that we are in a booming economy.
There are, however, economic indicators that often precede a momentum shift in an economy.
Housing starts, manufacturing indices and durable goods purchases are important steps.
I am well aware of the pain that people are feeling. Living in the Detroit area offers an illustration of how things are certainly “not the way they used to be” as people that used to be country club members now can’t pay the light bill.
I knew it was inevitable that I would get multiple responses relevant to how bad things are, but I was merely trying to elicit a response regarding if people that oppose the very existence of Obama are actively rooting for an economic recovery or think that suffering through an extended recession is ultimately good if it “makes a point” and results in a “changing of the guard” in both the executive office and the White House.
January 30th, 2013 at 4:57 pm
“Boiling children and eating them seems to be the New Normal in North Korea.”
At least they dont toss em in a dumpster.
Just think of the moral equivalence.
Eating an egg would be no different than eating your fetus
January 31st, 2013 at 6:27 pm
Buzz was chewing on a Poo Poo Platter as he posted
January 31st, 2013 at 7:25 pm
“I knew it was inevitable that I would get multiple responses relevant to how bad things are, but I was merely trying to elicit a response regarding if people that oppose the very existence of Obama are actively rooting for an economic recovery or think that suffering through an extended recession is ultimately good if it “makes a point” and results in a “changing of the guard” in both the executive office and the White House.”
I’d give my left nut if the morons who elected him would hold him accountable for just a few of his numerous screw ups.
Nobody wants to see anyone anyone suffer for some diabolical ulterior motive.
Or do they Buzz ?
February 3rd, 2013 at 11:19 am
I think that North Korea is nothing more than China’s drone. It caters to “PRC”’s every whim without regard to it’s own citizens loss of life. China can vicariously try anything militarily it wants via their highly favoured little pet scapegoat. Anyone who thinks China is anything less bad than the Soviets on their worst day is watching to much tv.