“The apocalypse is not something which is coming. The apocalypse has arrived in major portions of the planet and it's only because we live within a bubble of incredible privilege and social insulation that we still have the luxury of anticipating the apocalypse. If you go to Bosnia or Somalia or Peru or much of the third-world then it appears that the apocalypse has already arrived.”
-Terence McKenna

Boston.com's Big Picture: Kim Jong-Il/North Korea

I like to check out Boston.com's Big Picture series every once in a while - they're usually comparable to National Geographic in terms of interesting-ness and quality and even though this one of North Korean maniac Kim Jong-Il isn't quite as visibly thrilling as a lightning storm over an erupting volcano, it's awe-inspiring in it's own psychotic way. Looking at the series of undated, uncredited photos of an imaginary industry/economy is chilling.

Kim Jong-Il more often than not looks dumbfounded and out of touch (#5, 10,13,16,17,18,22, etc), marking a chilling resemblance to George W. Bush. More interesting than Gibbler are the people around him and their expressions - they reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode "It's A Good Life" (I think that's it) where the little boy can control the world with his mind and make people disappear "to the cornfield". The adults around the boy are all brown-nosing like there's no tomorrow (cuz their isn't) through their desire to stay alive - if they think bad thoughts, or any thought he doesn't like - POOF! - to the cornfield. You can tell that these people are all watching Jong-Il like a hawk, attempting to anticipate his reactions and stay on his good side. They're either always smiling or they appear totally expressionless. Enjoy.

On The Spot with Kim Jong-Il