Here’s Trouble Brief Blogs for Week Ending 2012-01-12
- NYC Private Detective gets 32 years prison for raping girlfriend, then framing her for armed robbery: http://t.co/aNyCRQ5H 2012-01-06
- Aussie dollar hits record high against the Euro. $1 AUD now buys €0.8035 – http://t.co/SAc03zsx 2012-01-08
- Australian distributor of quack "Power Balance" wristbands goes broke. I have no pity for him: http://t.co/wwIZIRK4 2012-01-08
- Dubai gym "The Circuit Factory" uses photo of Nazi death camp Auschwitz to promote weight loss – http://t.co/toqLz7m8 2012-01-08
- The Lawyer's Guide to Negotiation by Xavier M. Frascogna and H. Lee Hetherington – Extract from Google Books: http://t.co/yvNOc5Nt 2012-01-10
Here’s Trouble Brief Blogs for Week Ending 2012-01-05
- Fantastic explanation: "What is the Money Supply?" from the Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: http://t.co/a9GYv9g7 2011-12-31
- From the Sydney Morning Herald: Technology entrepreneurship in Australia is booming: http://t.co/T6QGyGNG 2011-12-31
- Australian Science discusses how Aussie health funds waste money providing coverage for quack homeopathic treatments : http://t.co/ZxW7zoZn 2012-01-04
Here’s Trouble Brief Blogs for Week Ending 2011-12-29
- Man wins $57 million poker machine jackpot, casino claims malfunction, offers $100 & free dinner: http://t.co/yLIpbUv1 http://t.co/j05DFGfA 2011-12-24
Here’s Trouble Brief Blogs for Week Ending 2011-12-22
- New blog post: Lunatic North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Il Dies http://t.co/WyDET62d 2011-12-22
Lunatic North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-Il Dies
Filed under: International News, International Politics
The death of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il at age 69 has made news all over the world. Apparently, he had a heart attack whilst on a train.
He will be remembered for his skillful use of nuclear brinkmanship to protect his tyrannical regime and how he starved and brutalised his people, whilst lavishing the country’s limited wealth on himself and the military.
Here are a few sites with collections of reputed crazy facts about his lunatic, eccentric and brutal rule:
- http://abcnews.go.com/International/kim-jong-il-dead-top-10-crazy-facts/story?id=15187293#
- http://www.11points.com/news-politics/11_craziest_kim_jong-il_moments
- http://listverse.com/2010/05/30/top-10-crazy-facts-about-kim-jong-il/
- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/kim-jongil-school-days-of-a-tyrant-904130.html
His son Kim Jong-Un has taken over. No-one really knows what to expect – he is young and baby-faced, in his late 20′s. Some in the media hope that he may be more modern-minded as he was educated in Switzerland, and so he may liberalise North Korea. I don’t buy this type of wishful thinking.
I recall the case of another long-ruling dictator – Syria’s Hafez al-Assad. When he died in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad took over. Prior to becoming leader, Bashar was an opthamologist who spent several years studying in the UK – a democratic society. People believed he would bring democratic ideals to Syria. They were proven wrong.
The fact is, Bashar had to maintain the loyalty of the old guard of military men and politicians, and act ruthlessly to prevent civilian unrest from toppling his regime, so he had to continue in his father’s tyrannical ways. It is only due to the momentum of the “Arab Spring” that began at the end of 2010 that Bashar’s rule is now at risk, with popular protests fueled by the Islamic movement.
The people of North Korea are far more isolated that the people of Syria and do not have a passionate political or religious movement to rally the population. Nonetheless, we will see what happens.
Here’s Trouble Brief Blogs for Week Ending 2011-12-15
- Israeli research shows that an injection of cortisone after a traumatic event can reduce the risk of PTSD by 60% – http://t.co/V4FqJG5L 2011-12-09
Here’s Trouble Brief Blogs for Week Ending 2011-12-08
- Slashdot discusses "Is the Apple App Store A Casino?": what chance do typical developers have of making serious money? http://t.co/PEta5Tac 2011-12-08
- Brilliant comic showing how our modern world has become like the dystopic societies in "Brave New World" and "1984": http://t.co/w2Qk4jZB 2011-12-08
- A job in the Australian mining industry – the easy way to wealth? See what the Wall Street Journal has to say: http://t.co/BylgEj3i 2011-12-08
- Richard Stallman's dissenting view of Apple's Steve Jobs – a very polarising piece, but necessary to provide balance: http://t.co/3TPgNqDo 2011-12-08
Here’s Trouble Brief Blogs for Week Ending 2011-10-27
- Why is everything so expensive? A reasonably good explanation about the nature of the cost of living: http://t.co/cHIViYg3 2011-10-24
- Excellent article about double-standards and corruption on Wall St: "Wall Street Isn't Winning – It's Cheating": http://t.co/0S6mvRlK 2011-10-26
Here’s Trouble Brief Blogs for Week Ending 2011-10-13
- Israel agrees to release 1027 Palestinian Arab prisoners in exchange for return of abducted soldier Gilad Shalit: http://t.co/XR4eDWv6 2011-10-13
Here’s Trouble Brief Blogs for Week Ending 2011-08-11
- Article from the Barefoot Investor discusses the threat of online shopping to Westfield: http://bit.ly/oJJsR9 2011-08-10
- For years, Choice Magazine has helped protect consumers. Are they still trustworthy? http://bit.ly/ocTsSN 2011-08-10
- Frequently asked questions about the US National Debt: http://bit.ly/qk866w 2011-08-10
- Cherry Picking, Black Swans and Falsifiability – well argued article on judging global warming as a scientific theory: http://bit.ly/oNgUSo 2011-08-10
- Challenging a Parking Infringement Notice in NSW? No victims compensation levy is payable if you go to court: http://bit.ly/mSCmaw 2011-08-10
- Need to contact Facebook and don't know how? This should help you out: http://bit.ly/ntvxg1 2011-08-10
- The Channel 9 "Cash in toilet" mystery – perhaps it was one of Kerry Packer's tax avoidance strategies? http://bit.ly/rux989 2011-08-11
- The History of the West Bank – facts often omitted from mainstream news coverage of the Arab-Israeli conflict: http://bit.ly/oplvSY 2011-08-11
