As IF Times

link AFP: Kims 11-ace debut round recalled on Twitter.

This is all about lack of respect.  A guy scores 11 holes-in-one, on the very first time playing golf and yet the world is largely indifferent.  This feat was witnessed by no less than 17 of his personal bodyguards, so it must be true.  While other so called pros manage to finish perhaps 1 or 2 under par in any given tournament,  their exploits are considered heroic.  I don’t recall any kind of coverage of Kim’s feat on the Golf Channel and certainly no pro to my knowledge has paid any respect to this accomplishment.  Makes you wonder about the bias of the western media.

As we know by now, “Dear Leader” as Kim Jong Il was referred to by his subjects, passed away at the too young age of 69 just the other day.  The importance of Kim to his people as the spiritual and political leader was clearly demonstrated by televised footage of massive demonstrations of inconsolable grief by scores of women broadcast  for the outside world to see.  It’s possible that similar outpourings of grief may also be found in the golfing community, but video just hasn’t surfaced.  Nevertheless, to his faithful and his community, the 5 foot-nothing leader was a giant in his exploits and his life.

But Kim was not just a capable golfer, that was just one of his sideline pursuits.  Kim was much too busy doing important nation building things such as, subjugating his own people, exposing them to starvation and random torture and detention.  There was also the delicate task of sabre rattling in order to make sure everyone paid attention to his latest rants.  There were missiles to be fired off to the south, nuclear weapons to build and people to enslave.  Oddly, these kinds of activities are admired by many, even outside of his own culture.

In other parts of the world, many lesser types were doing exactly the same thing, except that they were getting all kinds of attention and adulation.  Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and even Hugo Chavez have managed to draw as their ardent admirers, prominent actors, writers and journalists breathlessly and romantically describing their struggles for their people.  Kim had the misfortune of being short, pudgy and comical looking whereas guys like Guevara and Castro had beards and looked the part of the valiant revolutionary.  It’s hard to portray an Asian Elmer Fudd as a romantic hero I guess.  At least Cuba had the respect to fly their flags at half mast in respect of their kindred dictator.  It was Kim’s unfortunate fate to be physically unimposing and not have as his native tongue, a classic romantic language.

In the USA,  a backbench senator arrives from nowhere and vaults into the highest position in the world.  Before even passing one piece of policy during his first few months  in office, he is awarded the Nobel prize for peace!  Now that’s impressive.  Not 11 holes in one impressive, but impressive.   As of now, he’s even staking the claim to be among the top 4 presidents in history, sounding like the kind of claim Kim would have made, if only he had the support of a fawning press.  It’s possible that all this swooning over Obama drove Kim mad and may have even caused his heart failure.  Obama takes up golf and plays like Urkel whereas Kim gets 11 holes-in-one on his first outing, but Obama gets the Nobel!?  Obviously, everyone else had a better media team than departed Dear Leader.  Did I mention he was also a bowler?

link Carlos the Jackal tells court in Paris: Im a professional revolutionary – Telegraph.

I wonder how he decided on that as a career vocation.  What mixture of family and educational experiences led Carlos, nee Ramirez Sanchez,  to pursue his chosen career of professional revolutionary?  We get that he may have had some bad schoolyard experiences, perhaps some bullying and maybe a few tough girlfriends.  But at what point did he decide that bombing buildings and killing people was his life’s calling?

Apart from the fact that this activity may be construed as anti-social and crazily so, isn’t it illegal?  The first time he was apprehended, wouldn’t it have been prudent to keep this avowed revolutionary behind bars for his activities? From his proud recent proclamations, he is a professional revolutionary, which sounds exactly like professional criminal.  I’m more curious as to how he ever made any money to suppport himself.  Did he bomb buildings for money?  Someone must have supported this guy over the years.  Did he work at a Wendy’s part time to gather enough money to pay the rent as well as buy sacks of nitrogen fertilizer?

Likely he was able to mooch off of other misguided young idealists who were smitten with the romantic notion of the underclass rebel.  While certainly there may have been elements of oppression in his native Venezuela, it’s hard to see that same kind of oppression in his adopted France.  Perhaps the famously haughty waiters set him off.  In any case, he’s in jail and still unrepentant for the mayhem and deaths he caused during his career.  And yet, there are those who probably worship this guy as they also worship and romanticize the exploits of Che Guevara or Fidel Castro.

While Carlos may be misguided, at least he came to his worldview honestly.  It’s hard to understand the views pushed forth by some of the other equally questionable personalities often featured in the news.  In the political space for example, it’s a stretch  that working people would identify with a Nancy Pelosi, the epitome of a privileged limosine liberal, speaking about poverty and oppression.  Or for a Michael Moore whose fortune was made from laughable depictions of the capitalist system he so derides.  Or Al Gore whose carbon footprint is so big, you’d need surveyors to map it.  Carlos at least lived his convictions.  The others are the true mercenaries.