Free Republic

The profound disconnect between the attitudes shared by the ‘top’ 1% elites in American society and the rest of the population is laid bare by the results of an illuminating new poll. Nearly six in 10 elite members believe there is too much individual freedom in America, more than two-thirds favor rationing of food and energy to combat climate change, somewhere between a half and two-thirds favor banning things like SUVs, gas stoves, air conditioning and non-essential air travel, while two-thirds believe teachers should decide what children are taught. Meanwhile, 70% of those polled trust Government to “do the right...

/begin my translation In Pyongyang, No Food Ration Until October As of late March, food situation in Pyongyang is serious. Pyongyang (city authorities) stopped food ration in all districts for six months starting April. Some officials in Pyongyang say that food ration has never been stopped this long even during the "March of Suffering"(note: massive famine in mid-90's.) Still Pyongyang residents have some spare cash. They can go out and buy food in Pyong-sung, Sariwon, and Nampo, when their food runs out. They also have some food in stock now. There are few starvation victims so far. However, their food...

/begin my translation The Great North-South Divide of Public MoodHamkyong/Yanggang (N. East)  -- "War is not my concern" Pyongan/Hwanghae   (S. West) -- "Will follow (Kim Jong-il's) order" [ 2005-05-20 11:34 ] Pyongyang citizens passing by(Yonhap News)  A N. Korean defector, Ahn Young-bae(alias, entered S. Korea in 1998) in Pusan, had a phone conversation with his family back in N. Korea not long ago, and they told him, "There are words going around here, which say, 'The South goes its own way, and so does the North.'"We are not talking about S. Korea and N. Korea. What it means is that public mood in the Southern region of...

July 20, 2002 North Korea Ending Rationing, Diplomats Report By DON KIRK SEOUL, South Korea, July 19 — North Korea is transforming its Marxist economic policy to cope with chronic shortages, disease and starvation, according to reports reaching here. South Korean officials this week have been privately discussing the reports of a more open approach to the country's markets, wondering what the accounts mean and whether the North is really carrying out the changes that are said to have been decreed on paper, a leading economic consultant said today. "We're not sure if they've really given up their old ways,"...