by Christina Sterbenz, 1-2-14
Getting pulled over can make even the most law-abiding citizen’s heart race. You should understand what you can and can’t do.
Most people know they don’t have to take a breathalyzer. But in 26 states, you don’t have to show an officer your ID during detention either. And refusing a search doesn’t serve as an admission of guilt.
Read the rest of your rights when interacting with police below:
If you’ve been on the Internet at all today, you’ve almost certainly seen the story claiming that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had his uncle executed last month by stripping him naked and feeding him to 120 hungry dogs. The story was first reported by a minor Hong Kong outlet on Dec. 12, was picked up by a Singaporean newspaper on Dec. 24 and since late Thursday has been sweeping through nearly every corner of the U.S. media. The only problem is that it’s probably – probably – not true.
It was indeed a big surprise last month when South Korean intelligence revealed that Kim had purged his own uncle, Jang Song Thaek, which North Korea confirmed a couple of days later with a long screed in its state media. The highly public nature of the purge, which ended with Pyongyang announcing Jang’s execution, was totally unprecedented and legitimately shocking, which is a high bar for North Korea news.
Crazy-sounding stories happen with some frequency in North Korea, where the government has a well-earned reputation for taking political punishments to medieval extremes. But there are five big reasons that this story just does not seem particularly plausible. The fact that the Western media have so widely accepted a story they would reject if it came out of any other country tells us a lot about how North Korea is covered — and how it’s misunderstood.
First and foremost, let’s consider the source. The story originated in a Hong Kong newspaper called Wen Wei Po, which oddly makes the claim without citing a source. With a couple of high-quality exceptions, Hong Kong media have a reputation for sensationalist and tabloidy stories that do not always turn out to be true. But, even by Hong Kong standards, Wen Wei Po is considered an unusually unreliable outlet. A recent study found that, out of Hong Kong’s 21 newspapers, Wen Wei Po ranks 19th for credibility. (Thanks to Asia-watcher Taylor Washburn for flagging this.)
Second, consider the fact that the rest of the Chinese media have not touched this story in the almost-month since it came out. Some observers are treating the story as credible because Wen Wei Po is aligned with the Chinese government in Beijing; if anyone would know what really happened in Pyongyang, it would probably be the Chinese government, right? But Wen Wei Po is not anywhere near as close to China’s power centers as official outlets such as Xinhua and the People’s Daily. The entire remainder of the Chinese media have been sticking to the same story that everyone else has: that Jang was killed by either machine gun or anti-aircraft guns (the two could plausibly be conflated). China has not been shy about expressing its displeasure with North Korea lately, but the fact that little Wen Wei Po is all alone on this story should tell us something.
Third, South Korea’s media have also not touched the story. “This story has hardly been picked up on by Korean media which is one reason to be suspicious,” Chad O’Carroll, who edits the news site NKNews.org (their invaluable e-mail newsletter is here), told me via e-mail. “The other reason to be suspicious is because the rumor surfaced ages ago — but no one paid attention to it,” he said. South Korean media are quite plugged in to North Korean defector communities, to sources still in the country and most especially to South Korea’s intelligence agency. Some of those outlets can be eager to pick up stories or rumors that portray North Korea in a negative light. And, as O’Carroll pointed out, they’re not shy about running single-source stories. But South Korea’s many news outlets, big and small, seem to be treating this story as so implausible it’s not even worth mentioning. And they would know.
Fourth, the time lapse: this story has been around for almost a month, and it’s not been anywhere near confirmed. That alone is not surprising, but the fact that Asia’s many media circles have not even deigned to acknowledge the report is pretty telling. You might say that Asian media are treating it the way U.S. outlets respond when the National Enquirer reports that Hillary Clinton is ensnared in a sex scandal — by ignoring it.
Fifth, the predominant story of what happened is much more plausible. It’s not as though we’re operating completely in the dark about Jang’s execution. Far more credible outlets with far more credible sourcing have consistently described Jang ashaving been executed by firing squad; typically he is said to have been killed by anti-aircraft guns, though sometimes that is rounded down to machine guns. This is just much more consistent with what we know about North Korea. “He was in a military tribunal so it seems logical he would be executed by firing squad,” O’Carroll said. The fact that South Korea’s better-sourced and more credible media outlets continue to maintain that Jang was executed by firing squad, and not by 120 hungry dogs, as reported by a lone Hong Kong newspaper, should really underscore which version of events is more likely.
Sixth, as the satirist Karl Sharro put it, “The clue about the story of Kim Jong Un’s uncle being fed to 120 hundred dogs being false is who has time to count dogs at a time like that.” Okay, so that’s not a real reason to disbelieve the story. But it was too funny not to include.
But all of this raises the question: why are so many people – and so many major U.S. media outlets – still willing to treat this implausible story as plausible? This seems to be a problem particular to stories out of North Korea, about which almost any story is treated as broadly credible, no matter how outlandish or thinly sourced. There’s no other country to which we bring such a high degree of gullibility.
A friend who’s covered North Korea for several years and has visited the country, Isaac Stone Fish, now of Foreign Policy, once joked to me that as an American journalist you can write almost anything you want about North Korea and people will just accept it. Call it the Stone Fish Theory of North Korea coverage. We know so little about what really happens inside the country, and especially inside the leader’s head, that very little is disprovable. But the things we do know are often so bizarre that just about anything can seem possible.
And, there’s no getting around this, we in the media have a certain incentive to pick these stories up. “As you know, NK stories tend to get a lot of hits, so its easy to see why editors will want to pursue these stories,” O’Carroll said. “I guess editors feel it is more legitimate to publish unverifiable, sensationalist information on North Korea because they can always fall back on the defense: ‘How could we check? North Korea is so closed.’ ”
There’s also a lost-in-translation element to American credulity about outlandish stories out of North Korea; to some degree, we fall victim to our own ignorance of how that society actually works. As I wrote in 2012 when the U.S. media were briefly aflame with nonsensical rumors that Kim had been assassinated in Beijing, the images out of the country are so bizarre and hard information so scant that there’s little to prevent our imaginations from running wild. We are ready to believe anything.
Still, the thing about this story and so many others like it from North Korea is that there is a chance, however remote, that it could still be true. Yes, there is an awful lot of evidence suggesting it’s probably false, but this being North Korea, there are also some reasons to allow for its plausibility.
“Bottom line is: unlikely but I can’t rule it out,” O’Carroll, whose NKNews site is known for its sober and careful coverage of North Korea, acknowledged. “While this one definitely feels exaggerated, who knows? With North Korea’s KCNA publishing films showing the destruction of effigies of [former South Korean President] Lee Myung-bak by hungry dogs last year, and of course publishing several cartoons depicting the gruesome death of the same president, at least parts of the story could be within the realm of true. Don’t forget the North Koreans even hosted competitions last year to think up the most gruesome way to kill ‘Traitor’ [Lee Myung-bak]; the prize? The winner could carry out that particular death sentence!”
Ultimately, while North Korea-watchers are certainly not buying this story, O’Carroll wouldn’t take the bait when I gave him an opportunity to scold American outlets for picking it up. He asked me, rhetorically: “What are editors meant to do? Ignore a story because it ‘feels’ wrong, but could end up later to be true? I don’t know.”
The following chilling video shows a child of around 10 dying of starvation in a gutter while soldiers close by load enough rice on to trucks to feed their families for weeks:
The grim reality of life in North Korea
Dying in the gutter: Food is put in truck as boy lies starving
American Immigration Gulag
Perhaps a country (China) which cannot/won’t protect it’s own infants from illness and death from tainted infant formula, exports toxic pet food and dangerous counterfeit drugs used in critical surgical procedures can be expected to revert to type in a massive food fraud scheme involving tainted honey masquerading as being produced in nations which will not tolerate adulterated foods.
Honey’s in everything. Check out any bakery product, sauce, processed food. A little dab of nectar makes anything smoother.
Toronto’s Globe and Mail ran a great feature a few days ago about the international honey cartel – so realistic it could be based in Jersey. Excerpts are below:
As crime sagas go, a scheme rigged by a sophisticated cartel of global traders has all the right blockbuster elements: clandestine movements of illegal substances through a network of co-operatives in Asia, a
German conglomerate, jet-setting executives, doctored laboratory reports, high-profile take downs and fearful turncoats.
What makes this worldwide drama unusual, other than being regarded as part of the largest food fraud in U.S. history, is the fact that honey, nature’s benign golden sweetener, is the lucrative contraband.
Honey has become a staple in the North American diet. Those that do not consume it straight from bear-shaped squeeze bottles eat it regularly whether they know it or not – honey is baked into everything from breakfast cereals to cookies and mixed into sauces and cough drops. Produced by bees from the nectar of flowers and then strained for clarity, honey’s all-natural origin has garnered lofty status among health-conscious consumers who prefer products without refined sweeteners (think white sugar and processed corn syrup). About 1.2 million metric tons of honey is produced worldwide each year.
What consumers don’t know is that honey doesn’t usually come straight – or pure – from the hive. Giant steel drums of honey bound for grocery store shelves and the food processors that crank out your cereal are in constant flow through the global market. Most honey comes from China, where beekeepers are notorious for keeping their bees healthy with antibiotics banned in North America because they seep into honey and contaminate it; packers there learn to mask the acrid notes of poor quality product by mixing in sugar or corn-based syrups to fake good taste.
None of this is on the label. Rarely will a jar of honey say “Made in China.” Instead, Chinese honey sold in North America is more likely to be stamped as Indonesian, Malaysian or Taiwanese, due to a growing multi-million dollar laundering system designed to keep the endless supply of cheap and often contaminated Chinese honey moving into 
the U.S., where tariffs have been implemented to staunch the flow and protect its own struggling industry.
Savvy honey handlers use a network of Asian countries to “wash” Chinese-origin product – with new packaging and false documents – before shipping it to the U.S. for consumption in various forms.
Fifteen people and six companies spanning from Asia to Germany and the U.S. were recently indicted in Chicago and Seattle for their roles in an $80-million gambit still playing out in the courts. That case has been billed as the largest food fraud in U.S. history. But American beekeepers, already suffering from a bee death epidemic that is killing off a third of their colonies a year, say the flow of suspect imports has not let up.
In the honey world, there are two types of countries: producers and consumers. The United States is one of the largest of the latter, consuming about 400 million pounds of honey a year. Its beekeepers can produce only half that amount leaving exporters to fill the rest. Canada produces about 65 million pounds of honey a year and ships its surplus, 20 to 30 million pounds, south of the border.
China, the world’s largest producer of honey, would seem a natural candidate to fill the gap. But Chinese honey is notorious for containing the banned antibiotic chloramphenicol, used by farmers to keep bees from falling ill. The European Union outlawed Chinese honey imports because of it.
Dilution is another issue. According to Grace Pundyk, author of The Honey Trail, Chinese manufacturers will inject a type of honey with litres of water, heat it, pass it through an ultrafine ceramic or carbon filter, and then distill it into syrup. While it eradicates impurities such as antibiotics, it also denies honey of its essence.
Ten years ago, the U.S. Department of Commerce accused the Chinese honey industry of dumping cheap product into the American market at prices well below the cost of production. Canadians also detected surprisingly low-priced product crossing its own borders.
Australian investigators uncovered the roots of a global conspiracy when they intercepted a large consignment of “Singapore” honey bound for the U.S. in 2002.
At the time, Singapore didn’t produce honey. The shipment was traced back to China, opening the first window into a worldwide scheme in early bloom: The industry had figured out they could launder Chinese honey through neutral countries able to ship into the U.S. without paying tariffs.
Food poisoning isn’t as uncommon in Olympia as residents like to think. Too many restaurant/deli owners try to make that slice of ham or bowl of chicken gumbo stretch another day or two in an effort to cut costs. The fact the refrigerator may be too warm or the facilities unclean or the cook’s nose is wiped w/unwashed hands doesn’t help.
The following list may be bistros you want to stay away from if you value your health/life. Food poisoning CAN be fatal. Many sufferers mistake it for flu symptoms. Additionally, the effectiveness of ‘hand sanitizers’ has come under scrutiny and been challenged by recent research.
Comments are taken directly from the latest Thurston County inspection reports, which are available at each food establishment and at the Thurston County Environmental Health Office. For questions concerning these reports, contact the health office at 360-867-2667.
Reading Inspection Scores:
Tofu Hut
4804 Pacific Ave. E, Lacey
Dec. 3: Routine check
15 red; 14 blue
Comments: Red — Several employees were missing food handler cards. Tofu in top of small make case was 60 degrees, and eggs in top of make case were 47 degrees. Cold storage must be 41 degrees or colder. Blue — No thermometer was found in make case. Mats on floor of kitchen collect food and other debris and should be cleaned regularly. Two boxes of produce were sitting on floor in basement. Lights were not shielded in basement storage area.
Happy Teriyaki
2915 Harrison Ave., Olympia
Dec. 4: Routine check
25 red; 28 blue
Comments: Red — Head cook failed to wash hands or had to be reminded when it was necessary to wash hands. Head cook was observed wiping his nose, washing utensils, and picking items up off the floor and did not wash hands or put on new gloves before returning to food prep. Blue — Employee’s open drink was on counter near food prep area. Sanitizer cloths on counter were both without sanitizer residual. Restrooms need better care and attention. They appeared filthy with paint peeling, dirty floors, holes. In general, most walls and floors, are in need of attention.
O’Malley’s
2200 Garfield St., Olympia
Dec. 6: Routine check
30 red; 13 blue
Comments: Red — Couple of cooks had expired food handler cards. Cook making several hot sandwiches without the use of gloves. Blue — Open employee drink next to slicer. Interior of ice machine has scum build-up on inside plastic deflector lip. Shelves in dry storage with bare wood due to paint being worn down. Shelves must be resurfaced.
Curry House of India
8765 Tallon Lane NE, Lacey
Dec. 10: Routine check
5 red; 6 blue
Comments: Red — Two food handler cards posted, but four workers were on site. Blue — Ice scoop stored inside ice chest with ice. Restroom door is not self-closing.
Eastside Big Tom
2023 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia
Dec. 6: Routine check
10 red; 5 blue
Comments: Red — One compartment of the three-compartment sink must be kept clear for hand washing. Blue — Keep in-use wiping cloths soaking in a sanitizing solution.
Arcadia Point, Mason County – At 11:00 am, the morning fog clung tenaciously to the headlands across Hammersley Inlet with the air temperature @ 39 degrees, but the water a toasty 40. Participants had been encouraged to wear costumes and many did. Others brought food donations for the Squaxin food bank.
There was an abundance of high spirited squealing, laughing and camaraderie from girls as young as 60 and as old as 6. If you missed this event, you’ll have an opportunity to attend the next one in a year. (Photos had the incorrect date embedded by a year.)
As round above as they were round below
Water cannons, mass baton charges, street battles, and ultimately mobs overwhelming the riot police appeared on Hamburg’s streets after officials attempted to evict the homeless from the Rote Flora squat they’d occupied for over 24 years.
At 13:38 a cop apparently goes for his gun.
On December 21st, the police attacked a large contingent of protesters shortly after the beginning of the noon demo in the Schanze district, to prevent people from continuing their protest. The Hamburg police announced the demonstration “started too early” and was therefore prohibited; later claiming first they were attacked, then unleashed a crackdown. The truth is the demo was halted about 20 meters from the Rote Flora squat, where the police used water cannons, baton charges and pepper spray against protesters. Despite the violent blows/repression, many demonstrators fought back, resulting in strong clashes. Police were pelted with stones, bottles, fireworks, smoke-bombs, and other objects. Additionally, construction barriers and other materials were used for street barricades. The situation escalated out of control; the riot police were massively attacked. Amid the street battles, two officerss reportedly drew their weapons on people (a rumor regarding a warning shot was not been confirmed). Riot police kettled almost the whole of Schanze. Many protesters were badly injured by police, while anti-riot squads attempted to detain demonstrators en masse, hoping to split blocs and chase people away.
The Hamburg police announced that 19 people were taken into custody, investigated for ‘committing a breach of the peace’. The legal aid team (Ermittlungsausschuss Hamburg) counted approximately 260 arrests/detentions, and more than 500 injured protesters. One of the arrestees, who did not have German documents, was kept in custody.
Later that evening, protesters tried to carry out further rallies and spontaneous actions in the inner city, and some skirmishes broke out. Spontaneous gathering and barricading took place in front of the Esso houses, too. Around the St. Pauli district, some of the actions included attacks on the Empire Riverside Hotel, stores, cars (smashed windows), the Hamburger Sparkasse (Haspa) and other bank branches. Surprise demonstrations and direct actions took place the whole night. At the same time, solidarity actions were called in other parts of Germany.
One day before the big demonstration on December 21st, investor Gert Baer and owner Klausmartin Kretschmer demanded the eviction of the Rote Flora squat. Even though it would take them months to get a judicial decision on such an eviction, their ultimatum was a direct provocation.
Late in the evening, the Davidwache police station at the Reeperbahn was effectively attacked by more than 200 people.
Published on Dec 21, 2013
Clashes continued between police and left-wing protesters in the Hamburg suburb of Altona on Saturday. Police are attempting to remove barricades erected by protesters throughout the district.
Bricks, bottles and petrol bombs were earlier launched at police, who responded with water cannon.
The protesters are demonstrating against the possible eviction of the Rote Flora squat, and are calling for the protection of public space and refugee rights. About 4,000 police have been deployed throughout Hamburg, with more having now been called up.
Shelton High Performing Arts Center
w/some TOP String (from Pasco) & Bluegrass Regulators members playing
w/some TOP String (from Pasco) & Bluegrass Regulators members playing
w/some TOP String (from Pasco) & Bluegrass Regulators members playing
Runaway Train — Greg Linder (guitar), Kent Powell (bass), Luke Dewhirst (banjo), Nolan Elwell (mandolin)
Luke & Jake Dewhirst appear together on Christmas break from Coast Guard training and West Point respectively, along with Molly Adkins, Jake’s future bride (on guitar).
Published on Mar 3, 2011
END:CIV examines our culture’s addiction to systematic violence and environmental exploitation, and probes the resulting epidemic of poisoned landscapes and shell-shocked nations.
Based in part on Endgame, the best-selling book by Derrick Jensen, END:CIV asks: “If your homeland was invaded by aliens who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?”
Directors: Franklin Lopez
Language English
Studio: Mvd Visual
Release Date: 25 Jan 2011
Run Time: 75 minutes