Is it just me or does anyone else find it distasteful that someone who willfully allowed himself to become detained in North Korea and become a bargaining chip for the Kim regime is now trying to profit off of his infamy?:
Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen who was detained in North Korea for two years before his release last November, plans to tell his story in a book.
W Publishing Group, an imprint of the Christian publishing firm Thomas Nelson, says “Not Forgotten: The True Story of My Imprisonment in North Korea” will be released next spring.
Bae, a Christian missionary and pastor, has family in the Seattle area but moved to China in 2006. He began leading tours to North Korea in 2010. He was arrested in 2012 while leading a tour group to a special economic zone and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for alleged anti-government activities. [Washington Post]
As with the Ling and Lee harpies, irritation and failure are rewarded… even glamorized.
The only thing worse than these opportunists seeking to exploit their mistakes is the number of even bigger losers who are willing to spend money to read this shameless self-promotion.
The government should start billing these jerkoffs for all the man-hours expended cleaning up their messes the moment they start profiting from their messes.
Funny how, when forced to take responsibility, people get so much more responsible.
setnaffa
9 years ago
Freedom is at times distasteful; but it’s more beautiful than the alternative. 🙂
ChickenHead
9 years ago
They are free to go to North Korea if they wish.
They are not free to stick everyone else with the bill.
…and charity certainly ends when they start to profit.
setnaffa
9 years ago
“…and charity certainly ends when they start to profit.”
Ethically, perhaps; but which laws are involved and which prosecutors are going to indict them? I mean, the FBI can’t even get an indictment on any of Hillary’s team for the email server in the bathroom…
We’re past the tipping point…
Bruce K. Nivens
9 years ago
It’s his experience to write about. If he wants to earn some money from writing about it, who are we to judge?
I don’t find it any more distasteful than the idea that no one — not the U.S. or South Korea, or the U.N. for that matter — wants to do anything to bring the whole North Korea situation to a conclusion, even if it’s a messy and expensive one.
ChickenHead
9 years ago
Look at it this way…
If I want to work honestly, smartly, and diligently to open a small business in America, the government us not there to assist me.
Apart from endless (and sometimes conflicting) regulations and requirements, there are any number of fees, inspections, and delays. There is a convoluted tax structure that requires paying a third party. The tangled legal requirements also may require paying a third party. Any mistakes I make will cost me a lot of money as the government is always looking to issue a fine.
If I want to be a selfish fuuck-up and intentionally violate the reasonable laws of a sovereign nation, the government is quick to spend a lot of money… especially if I am aligned with the right politicians.
The same laws that don’t allow criminals to profit from selling their story… or that require restitution to be paid to their victims (the taxpayer, in this case) are certainly applicable in this situation.
…even more so with the trend of enforcing American laws on Americans not in America and even the occasional foreign law on Americans in America.
Whatever the case, it is not just to reward the selfish or the stupid while discouraging those who wish to succeed.
…but that is the New American Way… easier to get on welfare than open a business.
And it’s not so much and “American” way as it is human. I’m inclined to agree that the idea of leaving the Norks in slavery to the Kim regime is very un-American… Perhaps if Barry had drawn more red lines…
Why not?
As with the Ling and Lee harpies, irritation and failure are rewarded… even glamorized.
The only thing worse than these opportunists seeking to exploit their mistakes is the number of even bigger losers who are willing to spend money to read this shameless self-promotion.
The government should start billing these jerkoffs for all the man-hours expended cleaning up their messes the moment they start profiting from their messes.
Funny how, when forced to take responsibility, people get so much more responsible.
Freedom is at times distasteful; but it’s more beautiful than the alternative. 🙂
They are free to go to North Korea if they wish.
They are not free to stick everyone else with the bill.
…and charity certainly ends when they start to profit.
“…and charity certainly ends when they start to profit.”
Ethically, perhaps; but which laws are involved and which prosecutors are going to indict them? I mean, the FBI can’t even get an indictment on any of Hillary’s team for the email server in the bathroom…
We’re past the tipping point…
It’s his experience to write about. If he wants to earn some money from writing about it, who are we to judge?
I don’t find it any more distasteful than the idea that no one — not the U.S. or South Korea, or the U.N. for that matter — wants to do anything to bring the whole North Korea situation to a conclusion, even if it’s a messy and expensive one.
Look at it this way…
If I want to work honestly, smartly, and diligently to open a small business in America, the government us not there to assist me.
Apart from endless (and sometimes conflicting) regulations and requirements, there are any number of fees, inspections, and delays. There is a convoluted tax structure that requires paying a third party. The tangled legal requirements also may require paying a third party. Any mistakes I make will cost me a lot of money as the government is always looking to issue a fine.
If I want to be a selfish fuuck-up and intentionally violate the reasonable laws of a sovereign nation, the government is quick to spend a lot of money… especially if I am aligned with the right politicians.
The same laws that don’t allow criminals to profit from selling their story… or that require restitution to be paid to their victims (the taxpayer, in this case) are certainly applicable in this situation.
…even more so with the trend of enforcing American laws on Americans not in America and even the occasional foreign law on Americans in America.
Whatever the case, it is not just to reward the selfish or the stupid while discouraging those who wish to succeed.
…but that is the New American Way… easier to get on welfare than open a business.
“New”? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum
And it’s not so much and “American” way as it is human. I’m inclined to agree that the idea of leaving the Norks in slavery to the Kim regime is very un-American… Perhaps if Barry had drawn more red lines…