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With the death of Fidel Castro today I thought this article from a Cuban-American journalist that criticizes San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s support of Castro was worth sharing:

And because Kaepernick apparently doesn’t understand his words apply to him before he can apply them to others, I ask the man who protests oppression why he wore the Castro shirt when the tyrant is demonstrably a star on the world’s All Oppressor team?  (………….)

At this point I hope Kaepernick is starting to realize how untenable his position is relative to the Castros. Even Malcolm X, who met with Castro in New York, for years afterward declined invitations to visit him in Cuba. I’m hoping Kaepernick understands one should not make broad statements about standing up for people’s rights, then slip into a Fidel Castro shirt, suggesting approval for a man who has spent his days on the planet stifling people’s rights.

And that’s exactly the moment Kaepernick shows how lost he truly is. Because in the next breath, Kaepernick, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, explains to me, the guy born in Havana, how great Castro really is.

“One thing Fidel Castro did do is they have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their education system than they do in their prison system, which we do not do here even though we’re fully capable of doing that,” Kaepernick said.

Is this real life?

First, Cuba does not have the highest literacy rate. Second, don’t be surprised if the same people who report Cuba’s admittedly high literacy rate are related to those who report its election results — the ones in which the Castros get 100 percent of the votes.

Third, could it be Cuba doesn’t have to invest a lot in its prison system because, you know, dungeons and firing squads (El Paredon) are not too expensive to maintain?

Finally, it’s bizarre that Kaepernick is extolling the education system of a country where people believe launching out into shark-infested seas to flee is a better idea than staying there.  [Miami Herald via This Ain’t Hell]

You can read much more at the link, but someone should ask Kaepernick if he would where a Kim Il-sung t-shirt?

He might as well because Kim Il-sung and Fidel Castro have done much of the same things to establish oppressive one party rule in their respective countries.  It just that the leftist ideology that Kaepernick advocates for tends to overlook Castro’s oppression compared to Kim Il-sung.  This just shows what a hypocrite Kaepernick is to be protesting supposed oppression in America, but is happy to be seen wearing a shirt featuring Fidel Castro.

President Park has double down on her policy of encouraging the mass defections of North Korean refugees which the Kim regime has responded to by calling her a “impudent bitch”:

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Tuesday told her government to prepare for large-scale defections from North Korea, just days after direct appealing to its citizens to flee their country.

A recent spate of high-profile North Korean defections have provided a propaganda windfall for Seoul, which has spun them into a narrative of a Pyongyang leadership in crisis and riven with descent.

Notable defections have included the North’s deputy ambassador to Britain and a rare, group escape by a dozen waitresses from a North Korean-run restaurant in China.

In an address to mark Armed Forced Day earlier this month, Park had vowed to “keep the road open” for future escapees and urged North Koreans to “come to the bosom of freedom in the South.”

Pyongyang’s response was to call Park a “bare-faced and impudent bitch” in a commentary carried by the ruling party newspaper, Rodong Sinmun.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Park reiterated her defection appeal, and stressed the importance of preparing the ground for any new arrivals.

“Defectors are like unification that has arrived early, and a test bed for unification,” Park said.

“I hope we can swiftly secure sufficient system and capacity to accommodate North Korean citizens who come seeking freedom,” she added.  [AFP]

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest supposed activism from a sports athlete:

New York Knicks center Joakim Noah chose to sit out a dinner with West Point cadets during the team’s training camp this week, citing his pacifist viewpoints and the fact that it was hard for him to “understand why we have to go to war, why kids have to kill kids around the world.”  [USA Today]

Here is an awesome response from a former West Point graduate, Captain Nick Palmisciano:

“Whenever one of these types of things pop up, I kind of have an eye roll moment. I see this kind of stuff as self-aggrandizing. This doesn’t solve anything, it shows a lack of understanding about what it is that the military does, and really only calls attention to the individual. I see them as publicity stunts by people who think too highly of themselves.

He judged an entire group of people based on their chosen profession. This is no more ignorant than judging all police because of one bad shooting or all black people because of one criminal. As soon as you start generalizing people, their motives, their beliefs, you are part of the problem.”

“There are plenty of people in the U.S. that are strong supporters of the military. That isn’t present in a lot of countries, and we are very fortunate. Is it irksome when someone takes the national stage to talk down to the military? Yes. But does anything change because of Noah? No. Guys still deploy tomorrow. National policy doesn’t change.

There is still a job to do. And the men and women in uniform rely on each other to get that done, not a guy who plays a game for a living.

And again, it’s their right. I think both of these guys, Kaepernick included, think they are doing the right thing and they think that what they are doing is important, so I can’t really judge them for that. But the reality is that these pseudo-stands are just as worthless as the hashtag of the day. #bringbackourgirls”  [IJR.com]

You can read much more at the link.

It seems the tremors in the southern portion of South Korea is really getting people rattled:

After a 4.5-magnitude aftershock hit the North Gyeongsang city of Gyeongju on Monday night in the same place as two large earthquakes only a week ago, residents are fleeing the region and making preparations for emergency flights.

“I cannot stay here anymore,” said Kim Ok-sun, a 67-year-old resident of Gyeongju. “I am going to my son’s house in Jecheon, North Chungcheong, where I will be far from all these tremors.”

Kim’s house is close to the epicenter of the 4.5-magnitude aftershock that came at 8:33 p.m. on Monday, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration, and only a few kilometers from the epicenter of the 5.8-magnitude earthquake of Sept. 12, the largest Korea has seen since 1978. There were no deaths, though 48 people were injured.

Since then, residents in Gyeongju have felt some 400 aftershocks. After the Monday aftershock, around 25 people additionally reported injuries, mostly from falling down as they fled their homes.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

Soldiers of the 2-8 Cavalry Regiment affiliated with the U.S. Army’s 2nd Infantry Division unfurl the unit’s colors at Camp Humphreys in the city of Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on July 18, 2016, as they take part in a ceremony to hoist them following the unit’s relocation from Dongducheon, north of Seoul, in this photo released by the division. The relocation is part of a plan to move U.S. bases north of Seoul to Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers southeast of the capital, by the end of 2017. (Yonhap)

North Korea as expected fired off two more Musudan missiles.  The first one was considered a failure after it blew up shortly after launch.  However, the second launch analysts have not determined if it was successful or not:

North Korea launched what appeared to be two Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) from its east coast early Wednesday morning, with the first test-firing assumed to have been unsuccessful, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

At around 5:58 a.m., North Korea fired off what is presumed to be a Musudan missile from near Wonsan along the east coast, but it seems to have ended in failure, the JCS said, without further details

About two hours later at 8:05 a.m., the North launched another missile presumed to be the same type of IRBM from the same area, the JCS noted.

Whether the second missile’s launch was successful was not immediately known. All previous launches of the missile ended in failure, dealing a blow to the credibility of North Korea’s missile program.

On April 15, North Korea first test-fired the Musudan missile as the country kickstarted its ballistic missile tests and development following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s much-published orders to accelerate the country’s nuclear and missile sophistication the previous month.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but the Joong Ang Ilbo is reporting the first one traveled 150 kilometers before exploding and the second one traveled 400 kilometers:

North Korea launched back-to-back Musudan missiles Wednesday, one of which flew 400 kilometers (250 miles), South Korean military officials said.

While 400 kilometers fell far short of the Musudan’s 3,500-kilometer capability, which puts U.S. military bases in the Pacific within range, South Korea was alarmed at the technological progress shown.

Pyongyang carried out its fifth and sixth intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) tests at 5:58 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. Wednesday from the eastern coast city of Wonsan in Kangwon Province, the Joint Chiefs of Staff reported.

“The first one disappeared after it was detected by radar while the second one flew about 400 kilometers,” said a Joint Chiefs of Staff official who asked not to be named.  (……..)

The South Korean military believes the first missile exploded in midair after flying about 150 kilometers. The second missile fired two hours later appeared to have exploded or crashed into the sea after flying 400 kilometers.

The exact causes of the failures are still being determined by Seoul and Washington.

It is possible that North Korea intended its sixth Musudan missile to fall after flying 400 kilometers to prevent it from going over Japan, which would have prompted the country to respond militarily.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I doubt North Korea would try and fly a Musudan over Japan without being very confident that the missile would work.  They have fired over Japan before, but never with a missile under development like the Musudan is.  I don’t think Kim Jong-un would want to deal with a potential retaliatory military response if a failed missile landed in Japan.  It is pretty clear though that Kim Jong-un is committed to testing the Musudan until his scientists perfect the technology.  These latest missile tests seem to indicate they are getting closer to that goal.

I would not be surprised if the perpetrators thought they could get away with this simply because they were on a remote island that had no police station:

Koreans have been appalled by a gang rape of a female teacher in her 20s on Heuksan Island off Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, after the case was made public last week. The predators included the parents of the teacher’s students, triggering public uproar about the blatant disregard for teachers and women.

The authorities need to ensure that the men in this case are duly punished and that the victim is given proper physical and emotional care before resuming her duties.

The rape case is a shocking reminder of the unsettling work conditions women are exposed to in remote areas such as Sinan County.

What is also shocking is the reaction from some of island’s residents, who seemed to be siding with the predators and blaming the victim for getting drunk in media interviews. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but the Korea Herald had more details about the case:

The police revealed details of the case on June 3. The victim’s distress call came in the wee hours of May 22.

According to police, the victim had dinner at one of the local restaurants where she was asked to join the three suspects, two of whom are parents of children at her school.

The men insisted that the victim drink, despite her repeated refusal as she had plans to explore the village the next day.

Once the victim was inebriated, one of the men volunteered to drop her home and raped her at her residence, followed by the other two. [Korea Herald]

I wonder if the perpetrators will try and use the she didn’t resist enough excuse that has worked before with Korean courts?

Kids and parents look around KidZania Busan which opened in South Korea’s largest port city on April 8, 2016. The indoor theme park, the 22nd of its kind in the world, enables children to role-play and experience a variety of professions. (Yonhap)

This would be a great memorial to see built one day to commemorate this mostly forgotten but important event from Korean War:

Lee Gyeong-pil was born aboard the last escape vessel out of Hungnam Port in North Korea during the mass evacuation known as the “Miracle on Christmas” in 1950, in the midst of the Korean War. He is a living embodiment of Deok-soo, the protagonist in the popular movie “Ode to My Father” (2014), which depicts the evacuation.

Lee was born on the SS Meredith Victory, the last ship out of Hungnam, as it reached Jangseungpo Port in Geoje, South Gyeongsang. During the evacuation, the ship carried about 14,000 refugees in a space originally built for 60 people.

Born last among five babies on the ship, Lee is nicknamed “the last Deok-soo.”

But at the time of his birth, Lee had another nickname; he was called “Kimchi-5” by the crew members, who named newborn babies aboard the ship “Kimchi-1,” “Kimchi-2” and so on, by order of birth.

The 66-year-old director of the Peace Livestock Hospital in Geoje is also director of the “1090 Unification Movement,” which raises awareness on and supports peaceful unification process.

He is currently raising support for the establishment of a monument for the Hungnam evacuation at Jangseungpo Port.
[Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link.

Informative piece from @Michael_NKLW on the fall (execution or otherwise) of Ri Yong Gil https://t.co/eQKzn0FyGm pic.twitter.com/D9yApaZ4qn

— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) February 16, 2016