news of the whirled

“One of Hong Kong’s richest men has offered a reward of nearly £40 million ($62.2 million) to the man who can woo his lesbian daughter.” — The Sydney Morning Herald

Also known as “educationists”:

Pyongyang, September 4 (KCNA) — Kim Jong Un, first secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, first chairman of the National Defence Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, together with his wife Ri Sol Ju, visited families of working people who moved to new flats in Changjon Street.

The first leg of his visit was the family of Sim Tong Su, teacher at Pyongyang University of Mechanical Engineering who lives in flat no. 1 on the second floor from the first entrance of Neighborhood Unit 1 of Jongro-dong in Changjon Street.

The new apartment houses in Changjon Street are the ones to which leader Kim Jong Il paid deep attention from sites to designing and building, he said, adding if he were alive, he would visit them before any others.

After looking round every room, he sat down on the floor of the room unreservedly and had a talk with family members.

He kindly asked them if they liked the new flat, saying he wished to visit apartment houses after being told by senior officials that all settlers liked their new flats and at last spared time to come there. He said he was pleased to hear the family members like everything not only the structure of the flat but its furniture.

Saying that it is a custom of Koreans to visit a new house with a box of matches, he added he brought with him household articles as he could not come there with a match box alone.

I have brought with me “Collections of World Famous Juvenile Stories”, he said, asking them to keep them well and hand them over to grandsons to be born. It is not good for eyes if one watches a wide-screen TV from a short distance, he noted. He cheerfully laughed when watching the family members pleased to see a set of vessels.

When he asked them if they have only daughters, he was pleased to hear that a son is now serving in the Korean People’s Army.

Learning that the wife is a teacher at a secondary school and all her daughters are teachers, he said with satisfaction that they are a family of educationists.

Devotion and sincerity of teachers are not to be seen now just as the roots of a big tree are not seen but they will find their manifestation when their students will contribute to the prosperity of the country when grown up, he said, noting this family is a patriotic one devoting itself to bringing up the rising generation of the country. This is a worthwhile visit, he added.

Wishing the family members success in their future work, he offered a toast to them with his loving care before having a photo taken with them.

The next leg of his visit was the family of Pak Sung Il, a worker of the City Beautification Office in Central District, who is residing in Flat No. 2 on the second floor.

Taking hands of the family members greeting him with great excitement, he asked them about their jobs. He entered the room, pleased to hear that all of the family members are workers.

He took deep care of their living down to all details as their real father would do. He unreservedly sat down with them who settled in a modern flat with all amenities and had a talk with them.

Taking on his lap the second son of Pak Sung Il and patting him on his cheek, he asked him to which school he goes, how old he is and asked Pak if he had only one son.

He said it was pity to hear that his first son, a third-year student of a secondary school, had not yet come back from school.

He entered a living room and a study room for children. When seeing a painting drawn by the second son, he kindly taught what should be done to finish the painting.

Pak said he could not believe after moving to the flat that it was their flat as they had lived in a single-room flat in the past and now they have a five-room flat. Hearing that the flat is very nice as it is furnished with all kinds of high quality furniture, Kim Jong Un said he was pleased that the masters of the flat liked it.

It is the socialist system in the DPRK that the interests of the people are placed above everything else and all the policies of the party and the state are enforced to serve the people, he said, adding with deep emotion how greatly Kim Jong Il would be pleased if he had seen this reality.

After receiving greetings offered by the first son back home very late, he was very glad to see him and kindly asked him where he had been to.

Being told by him that he came back from a football group training, he heard about his determination to become a football player in the future and hoped his wish would come true.

Kim Jong Un and his wife Ri Sol Ju also offered toasts to Pak Sung Il and his wife and presented them with gifts.

Ri Sol Ju presented the dishes personally cooked by her and let the children taste them and kindly taught how to prepare them.

Kim Jong Un had a picture taken with Pak Sung Il-Jang Sun Nyo family, wishing them happiness in the new flat.

He visited the newly wed family of labor hero Mun Kang Sun, a worker of the Kim Jong Suk Pyongyang Textile Mill, residing in flat No. 1 on the first floor.

After being told that they had a wedding ceremony in May last and received a new flat two months later, he asked with smile if they are happy and how many babies they wish to have in the future.

He laughed a hearty laugh, hearing their wishes to get a son and a daughter who will resemble her mother, hero weaver.

Hearing the workers’ family say words fail to describe how nice their new flat is, he said, adding he feels easy about at the apartment houses in Changjon Street as all people like them so much.

He offered toasts to the newly wed couple, had a picture taken with them and gave them household articles as souvenirs.

Before leaving the flat, he kindly took the hands of the couple with tears rolling down their cheeks, he wished them happiness, adding that he would come to see a baby any time when he passes Changjon Street.

Pyongyang, August 1 (KCNA) — Athletes of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have become a focus of world media for their good results in London Olympiad.

Reuters, BBC and other media of UK and media of China, Russia, the United States, Japan and other countries have introduced DPRK athletes’ achievements in the Olympic Games.

AP of the U.S. reported that the DPRK was winning in a big way and its flag was raised in the ExCel center for the second consecutive day.

On July 30 south Korea’s Economic Daily said that the DPRK places sixth in the total standing of the ongoing Olympiad three days after its start though an American sports magazine predicted it would take only one silver medal.

Leading media of south Korea, too, reported that the DPRK won three gold and one bronze medals in four days after the start of the Olympiad to take the fourth place in its total standing by demonstrating a great power in weightlifting.

China’s Xinhua and Russia’s ITAR-TASS reported in detail about the DPRK athletes’ successes, praising its rapid progress in sports.

Those media said that the secret of the DPRK athletes’ victory is deep concern of leader Kim Jong Il and strength, courage and deep trust from the dear respected Kim Jong Un.

Yep. We all said that.

The People’s Daily just keeps on giving:

The 2012 London Olympic Games are only 4 days old.

However, Kenyans have already compared the 2 successive opening ceremonies and passed a unanimous verdict that the 2008 Beijing Games set the bar so high that it might never be matched at any Olympics.

Kenyans are keen followers of the Olympic Games since they first won an Olympic medal (bronze) during the 1964 Tokyo Games and the first gold medal during the Mexico City Games in 1968.

Kenya has continued to perform well in the subsequent years with the 2008 Beijing outing being the country’s best ever in terms of medal tally and the Games still continuing to resonate well with Kenyans.

David Kilundo, who was the Assistant Team Manager of Kenya’s athletics team and attended the opening ceremony on August 8, 2008 at the ‘Bird’s Nest’ said though the London Games opening ceremony was unique in its own way, the spectacular performance by the Chinese raised the bar so high in terms of performance that it may never be surpassed.

“I said 4 years ago upon arriving from the Olympics that the Chinese set the bar so high and now I hereby confirm that the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony remains one of the most spectacular shows on earth. You needed to be there to feel it.”

Olympic Opening Ceremonies once were primarily a showcase for athletes themselves, marching in the stadium to the applause of a packed audience.

Though that is still a vital part of the show, the last few Olympiads have become theatrical undertakings that have served as the host countries opportunity to dazzle the world with choreography, creativity, costumes and technology.

Kilundo says the Chinese culture, which is rich and diverse contributed highly in making the Opening Ceremony the success that it was.

“In Kenya we have a saying ‘mwacha mila ni mtumwa’ which translates into ‘he who abandons his culture is a slave’. Beijing gave the world a glimpse of the Chinese ancient culture which has no replica elsewhere in the world.”

From the irrepressible People’s Daily:

Many media outlets regard 2011 as the first year of government microblogging in China. The total number of verified government-run microblog accounts on Sina Weibo, China’s leading microblogging service, had exceeded 25,000 as of June 2012, according to statistics from People’s Daily Online’s Public Opinion Monitoring Center.

By spreading positive information online, announcing authoritative news, refuting false information, and bringing government agencies closer to the masses, China’s government microblogging has passed its trial period, and is reaching maturity, making the Internet a warmer place.

Totally.