Hammer Mill Days

Well, it's finally coming down. The snow that is. And the lamp post. Yes, you heard me right - the lamp post came down ... and Jim Bob is responsible. Okay, truth is... I don't know for certain that Jim Bob is responsible. It may well have been Marvin (my personal robot assistant) who knocked the lamp post down during the first snow storm of the year. Here it is, the week after Christmas, and people are still driving like it's July. Spoiled by global warming, I suppose. In any case, I only have myself to blame. It was I who suggested that Marvin serve as our chauffeur until a suitable replacement might be found. What? You didn't know we had people driving us around? Well, that's because we haven't up until now. We've just recently adopted the Bowie-esque doctrine of acting successful to become successful. It's like priming the pump, man. Why this sudden obsession? Well, as you know, we of Big Green weren't exactly born with the word "success...

Lots of news about official enemies this past week. Plenty of footage from the funeral of Kim Jong Il, showing legions of North Koreans - many in uniform - displaying their exaggerated grief. (Hey... those folks know what they need to do to get ahead.) And of course the Iranian threat to shut down the Strait of Hormuz if the latest round of draconian sanctions recently passed by the Senate - 100 to 0, mind you - become law. The latter is, naturally, the primary obsession of our news media and our government; the former a mere source of fascination and amusement. Both provide ample opportunities to perpetuate the official line on each of these societies, about which the less we know the better. But let's look a little closer. Why is North Korea such a strange, strange place? Lots of reasons. The hermit kingdom is a major thread running through Korean history. More importantly, though, is the experience of the last century - namely, that of the thirty year Japanese occupation, follow...