fargin' funny

I once spent about 2 or 3 solid months several years ago sitting in a cubicle, translating the North Korean Labor Party Newspaper (No-dong Shinmun) into English. It was pretty much an exercise in futility. Apart from the vanishingly small intelligence value in an open source newspaper designed purely for domestic consumption, with and English-language version published as well, it was also made clear to me when I started the task that it was only to keep me out of the way. I had just transferred into that agency and I was told bluntly: "We don't have time to train you on what we're doing. I don't even have time to evaluate whether you have the ability to contribute. So just do this, and you'll look busy, and I'll look like I've tasked you."

Nah, there's nothing wrong with our intelligence services, why do you ask?

But I digress. This would have been maddeningly dull and frustrating if it weren't for the occasional absolutely hilarious and completely unrelated-to-reality stuff I read there. As it was, it was just average dull and de-motivational.

Today, I read something just as funny. This Songun blog is great. I can't stress enough, that this is exactly the kind of stuff that you would read in No-dong Shinmun. If you don't believe me, the No-dong shinmun is available in English in the U.S. if you really look for it. The Korean version is even more hyperbolic than the English version. Read the Songun blog. If you dialed it back between 5% and maybe 10%, you'd have No-dong Shinmun exactly. Especially watch the you-tube videos on "Always Working Together For The People," keeping in mind they are actual n. Korean video footage.

h/t Samizdata