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N. Korea: Kim the geek creates digital Achilles' heel (pining for miracle technology?)
Asia Times ^ | 10/13/11 | Andrei Lankov

Posted on 10/13/2011 4:57:14 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster

Korea

Oct 13, 2011

Kim the geek creates digital Achilles' heel

By Andrei Lankov

SEOUL - Recent visitors to Pyongyang are surprised by many things. They expect to go to the capital of an underdeveloped Stalinist nation, run by a crazy and brutal dictatorship. But the picture they see before them is remarkably different.

No doubt, signs of ideological craziness and political repression abound: people are visibly afraid to talk to foreigners, the Internet is banned unconditionally, and posters glorifying the leader and his wisdom are ubiquitous. However, there are sights and sounds that do not fit easily into the pre-existing image of a starving, destitute and hopelessly backward country.

One is the remarkable abundance of cellphones. Mobile communication has taken the North by storm. Mobiles were first

introduced in the early 2000s, but the service was soon discontinued (only the top brass were allowed to use cellphones after 2004).

(Excerpt) Read more at atimes.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: kimjongil; nkorea; technology
This is a very interesting take on what goes on inside the mind of communist rulers.
1 posted on 10/13/2011 4:57:23 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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To: TigerLikesRooster; AmericanInTokyo; Steel Wolf; nuconvert; MizSterious; nw_arizona_granny; ...

P!


2 posted on 10/13/2011 4:58:59 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster (The way to crush the bourgeois is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
"...inside the mind of communist rulers"

Even those dependent upon a teleprompter? ;)
3 posted on 10/13/2011 5:07:52 AM PDT by mkjessup (Herman Cain is a God fearin', Jesus-lovin', Constitution-revering PATRIOT. What's not to like?)
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To: TigerLikesRooster
his infatuation with a "new kind of biology" that was pedaled by Trofim Lysenko

An over priced flock of windmills far from the grid will power our industrial base!

It's got what plants crave! It's gotelectrolytes.

4 posted on 10/13/2011 6:19:35 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT (The best is the enemy of the good!)
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Interesting article!

I followed the link to the “waves of happiness roll over us” article too and was treated to the lyrics of a national song extolling the virtues of CNC technology! :)

If I were still in the manufacturing world, rest assured those lyrics would go viral among anyone I know!

The “waves..” article should get reprinted and passed around at the OWS protests too. Truly, nirvana has arrived!


5 posted on 10/13/2011 6:30:45 AM PDT by Pessimist
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To: TigerLikesRooster

Fascinating look at the ‘top-down’ mentality. BTW, I hope we’re eavesdropping on all those cell phones.


6 posted on 10/13/2011 11:35:51 AM PDT by tanuki (O-voters: wanted Uberman, got Underdog....)
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