TresSugar

Bounce With Me, Bounce With Me...

GiggleSugar — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 08:00:00 -0700

Just when you think this is a professional baseball game, it turns into a one-footed bounce off. Someone please explain what's going on here...

Hard-Core Crazy Boy Band Sh*t

GiggleSugar — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 15:45:00 -0700

I have no idea what they're saying, so I haven't a clue what kind of song would warrant the use of polka-dot bow ties, furry hand puppets, animal ear headbands, and excessive ear bling. My hunch is that they want on that new Search For The Next (Pussycat) Doll show and this is their sad excuse for an audition tape. Sorry boys, but you need to be a little more masculine to keep up with those tough divas.

Korean Girls Get Krunk

GiggleSugar — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 10:45:00 -0700

I have no idea what these girls are up to, or why they even have an audience. It's like a train wreck, though; I'm compelled to look and watch out of morbid curiosity. That's right, they're not just tone deaf, they're tone dead...which explains why those dance moves are out of this world.

Headline: China to Give US Access to POW Records

LibertySugar — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 11:00:54 -0800

China is set to give the US access to sensitive military records which will help answer questions about thousands of US soldiers that went missing during the Korean War and other Cold War conflicts. As a result of the Korean War, which lasted between 1950 and 1953, 8,100 US soldiers are still classified as missing in action (MIA) or as a prisoner of war (POW). During the war, China fought with the North, managing POW camps, while killing and capturing Americans, eventually pushing the US out of the North.

Since the end of the conflict, the US has been urging China to open its archives, in the hopes of locating American remains, or answering questions for the families of missing soldiers. Under the deal which will be announced Friday, Chinese archivists will do searches and provide information to the Pentagon. While the US won't have direct access to the files, the limited opening is a positive step forward for US-Chinese relations.

Source

See North Koreans Flee For China in the Middle of the Night

LibertySugar — Thu, 29 May 2008 11:00:42 -0700

Starving and desperate North Koreans flee their homes for relative paradise in China. But as this astonishing footage shows, the journey to China is nightmarish. Naked North Koreans swim across a freezing river, often trading drugs or women with corrupt boarder police.

North Korea is facing a grave food shortage and hunger crisis right now. During the 1990s, 1 million of the country's 23-million citizens perished during a famine caused by a mismanaged farm sector and flooding. Another disaster appears on the horizon. Unfortunately, North Korea's isolationist character, as well as South Korean political demands, are preventing South Korea from providing crucial food aid. Thus, many people have no choice but to flee.

China does not consider North Koreans refugees but rather economic migrants. To find out what that means for the escapees, read more.

If the escapees manage to avoid being sent back to North Korea and punished with time spent in labor camps, they have no real protections in China. Some are sold into the sex industry, some get married for papers, some try to escape to South Korea.
Sadly, a risky crossing and clandestine life in China exceeds their quality of life (or potential death) back home.

Should the surrounding countries like China and South Korea do more to address the humanitarian crisis, or is it North Korea's problem? South Korea is reluctant to send food aid if North Korea does not make concessions regarding its nuclear program - but is that a fair trade? Will a starving population put pressure on North Korea to change its international policy?

Source

2.7 Million North Koreans Will Starve This Month Without Aid

CitizenSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:30:04 -0700

According to the World Food Program, North Korea may be facing one of the most serious food crisis in its history. Nearly 2.7 million people who live on the country's west coast are facing starvation this month unless food does not reach them. 2.7 million. Hungry millions recalls the similarly stark problem in India.

The cause of the food shortages are for a variety of reasons, devastating floods in 2007, lack of employment, and a centralized leadership that has mismanaged resources. It is estimated that a recent famine has been responsible for nearly 2 million deaths already. The country has been relying on aid to feed its 23 million people.

To see who's been called upon to give them aid, read more.

South Korea, which has a typically hostile relationship with its northern neighbor, has not committed to sending aid as yet, despite the fact that the World Food Program has requested it. Their reluctance is due in part to heightened political tensions, including the shooting death of a South Korean tourist by a North Korean soldier at a resort.

In oddly related food news, scientists in England are developing foods that slow down the digestive system, signaling the brain to suppress appetite. It's a discovery that according to one professor, "would be a big help for people having trouble losing weight." It's a poignantly stark contrast between the global tug of the problems of the have-nots and have-way-too-muches.

Source

Lighten Up! North Koreans Protest Regime With Jokes

LibertySugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:47 -0700

While life in North Korea isn't a laughing matter, tough times have given birth to a unique sense of humor. According to defectors who have escaped Kim Jong Il's tight grip, jokes in the Stalinist country revolved around the regime, or the male reaction to women working outside the home to help families scrape by.

Here are some examples pulled together from Radio Free Asia.

Two men are talking on a Pyongyang subway train:

“How are you, comrade?”
“Fine, how are you doing?”
“Comrade, by any chance, do you work for the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Have you worked for the Central Committee before?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Then, are any of your family members working for the Central Committee?”
“Nope.”
“Then, get away from me! You’re standing on my foot!”
At High School No. 1 in Pyongyang, a girl brags to her teacher about the cat she’s got at home: “Our cat has just given birth to seven kittens. All of them just stick close to their mother, they feel really comfortable, and sleep all the time. They’re all true communists.”

A few days later, the teacher asks the girl: “Are the communist kittens at home growing up nicely?”

The girl says: “Comrade teacher, big trouble! They’ve all opened their eyes, and they’ve all renounced communism!”

To see a few more examples, read more.

Chang Man Yong works on a collective farm in North Korea. He goes fishing, gets lucky and brings a fish home. Happy about his catch, he tells his wife: “Look what I’ve got. Shall we eat fried fish today?”

The wife says: “We’ve got no cooking oil!”
“Shall we stew it, then?”
“We’ve got no pot!”
“Shall we grill it?”
“We’ve got no firewood!”
Chang Man Yong gets angry, goes back to the river, and throws the fish back into the water. The fish, happy to have had such a narrow escape, sticks its head out of the water and cheerfully yells: “Long live General Kim Jong Il!"
An Englishman, a Frenchman and a North Korean are having a chat. The Englishman says: “I feel happiest when I’m at home, my wool pants on, sitting in front of the fireplace.”
The Frenchman, a ladies’ man, says: “You, English people, are so conventional. I feel happiest when I go to a Mediterranean beach with a beautiful blond-haired woman, and we do what we’ve got to do on the way back.”

The North Korean man says: “In the middle of the night, the secret police knocks on the door, shouting: Kang Sung-Mee, you’re under arrest! And I say, Kang Sung-Mee doesn’t live here, but right next door! That’s when we’re happiest!”

Jokes sure do give a peek inside this isolated country.

Source

Say What? Laura Ling and Euna Lee Break Their Silence

TresSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

"Most of the North Koreans we spoke with said they were fleeing poverty and food shortages. One girl in her early 20s said she had been told she could find work in the computer industry in China. After being smuggled across the Tumen River, she found herself working with computers, but not in the way she had expected. She became one of a growing number of North Korean women who are being used as Internet sex workers, undressing for online clients on streaming video. Some defectors appeared more nervous about being interviewed than others. But they all agreed that their lives in China, while stark, were better than what they had left behind in North Korea."

- Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee opened up today about their ordeal in North Korea. They were finally able to report the story that led them to the border in the first place, of desperate women who flee North Korea only to be forced into the sex trade or arranged marriages once they get to China. In the article, the pair also describes being dragged into North Korea from Chinese soil by North Korean soldiers.

North Korea Pardons Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee

TresSugar — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:37:37 -0700

North Korea has pardoned American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who might return to the US with former president Bill Clinton tonight. Clinton arrived in North Korea earlier today to negotiate the release of the American journalists. He met with the country's communist leader Kim Jong Il.

The journalists, who were reporting along the Chinese-North Korean border, had been convicted of crimes against the nation and sentenced to 12 years hard labor. North Korea had made two demands if they were to be released - First, an apology, which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered a few weeks ago. And second, a visit from a high-profile emissary, which Mr. Clinton fulfilled today. So, if you ever get stuck in a North Korean jail, you can hope that the Clintons will bail you out. I'm sure the families of Ling and Lee are very happy to hear this news.

Drummer Rocks Out

GiggleSugar — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 07:00:00 -0700

This drummer seems to think he is worthy of bigger and better things. While this singer blandly croons along, he lies in wait until he can deliver a drum solo to end all drum solos - in the middle of her song, of course. What a show off!