Comments on: Kim Jong Il Death Watch

By: kushibo

kushibo — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:39:02 +0000

I should add that some of my observations about strokes come from two close relations who had them. Witnessing the demise or recovery of a stroke victim provides insight into the unique nature of stroke damage that the uninitiated might not fully appreciate. Moreover, I think there has been a hope that KJI’s health was in decline, so the emotional investment in demise-by-stroke was high. And the speculation lasted well into the following year in part because the reports and speculations kept feeding on each other in the absence of new information. But the murmurs last year were echoes of the murmurs from the year before.

By: kushibo

kushibo — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:35:42 +0000

OP:

In the first post-stroke pictures of Kim Jong Il, he looked like he was in the HOV lane for the embalmerâ€™s slab.

Rumors and reports of Kimâ€™s imminent demise continued into the summer, when he looked awful and when multiple reports claimed that he was fading fast.

As I’ve said numerous times (including in the link to my blog that was included above), his appearance last year and now is easily explained as someone having had, and then survived, a significant stroke.

Now, if KJI has pancreatic cancer, that changes everything, but if his appearance is due solely to his stroke, it actually means very little. The clot is like a bullet: Heâ€™s been shot and the damage has been repaired as much as it can be; that same bullet canâ€™t do him any more harm. Itâ€™s the next stroke (which Iâ€™m sure theyâ€™re working feverishly to prevent) that could do him in. But barring that new stroke, he could go on for as long as if he hadn’t had the first one.

Something will eventually do him in, but it may be a long time from now, and the hope for regime change may lie elsewhere.

By: Ernst

Ernst — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:38:40 +0000

KJI’s demise will probably result in a lot of volatility on the stock markets, which is not ideal in the current climate.

For the sake of economic recovery, let KJI live for a few more years, or upstaged by a double.

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:06:31 +0000

HGH injections might explain why he looks relatlvely healthy in photo-ops, but they won’t cure whatever ails him.

By: DragonTail

DragonTail — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:30:29 +0000

“DragonTail, with all due respect, isnâ€™t a humanitarian disaster of the worst kind already happening in North Korea? ”

Yes. But I don’t believe God controls what man or in this case, KJI does or how he behaves (free will). I do believe He intercedes based upon His mercy and understanding (both of which, humans can’t even begin to comprehend).

China’s explosive economic growth and the fact South Korea will be hosting the G-20 economic conference later this year, only a few generations removed from the Korean War serve as lucid examples of that divine intervention.

I do fear the extent of China’s aid/involvement. But even China’s reformed market principles would alleviate the atrocious reality that now exists in NK. My hope is China’s public stance with regards to the “Contingency Plans” now circling Seoul, Tokyo and Washington differs starkly from their private one.

By: Horace Jeffery Hodges

Horace Jeffery Hodges — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:58:37 +0000

Yes, if the Great Dictator dies, we can always hope for a replacement as naive as Gorbachev.

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:44:08 +0000

DragonTail, with all due respect, isn’t a humanitarian disaster of the worst kind already happening in North Korea? I understand the point you’re making, and to some degree I concur on the resources argument because I’m afraid that there won’t be enough “boots on the ground” coordinating and managing the early parts of a Post-Kim government relief effort (i.e. food and medical care distribution). However, with that said, things in North Korea are so abhorrant now and only getting worse – my biggest concern would be a Chinese puppet government continuing more of the same when Kim finally meets his maker. As an outsider just generally concerned with the horrible plight of the North Korean people, I hope more than anything Kim dies and those who gain some form of “power” open up the borders and ask the world for assistance.

By: ComradeMarc

ComradeMarc — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:12:24 +0000

If Kim Jong Il needs a new kidney, he can have mine, so he can gloriously continue to lead the revolution.

[OFK: It must have hurt more when you donated your brain.]

By: DragonTail

DragonTail — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:54:38 +0000

“Again, we ask the timeless question: If God exists and intervenes in human affairs, why doesnâ€™t he plant bigger, chunkier clots and more aggressive tumors in awful people the world would be so much better off without?”

Simple, Josh. Korea isn’t ready for unification.

North Korea will need such a massive amount of aid that even Germany will cower at the sheer crisis that will envelope the Korean peninsula, both financial and humanitarian.

It is my sincere belief South Korea (and China) are benefiting from booming economies for just this event – unification. Maybe, there just isn’t enough cash and resources in South Korea, China and the U.S. to prevent a humanitarian disaster….yet.

God does care.

By: impervius

impervius — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:53:03 +0000

Fidel Castro has for years looked like he is at death’s door.. but he is still kicking.