alfaniner
Penultimate Amazing
I have a photo of the remains of that very tree. Taken in person. But several years after the fact.
-
Security incident: ISF was recently accessed by intruders. Please change your password, and change it anywhere else you used it. Read more
US Citizen Otto Warmbier, returned from North Korea, has died
- Thread starter Vixen
- Start date
I have a photo of the remains of that very tree. Taken in person. But several years after the fact.
How'd you figure that? I would have thought providing financial support to Kims terrible reigeme, just like good ol' Otto did would be more helpful to Kim than me calling him evil, but hey, maybe you just have an odd definition of "helper".
Just cause Otto died does not mean I cannot think he was stupid for going, Just like I think that about everyone else that went but didn't get imprisoned.
I guess the family are not thinking clearly at the moment. Its ashame but semi understandable. Lets just hope they don't regret it later on.
ponderingturtle
Orthogonal Vector
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2006
- Messages
- 54,796
And there is no risk to worthwhile human beings, just american military personnel and south koreans.
Chris_Halkides
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2009
- Messages
- 13,014
“There are mysteries we cannot fathom”
Some of Warmbier’s friends spoke, as candles glowed in the amphitheater around them, about his brilliance, his adventurousness, his boundless joy, his faith in connection. He was the one to call rather than text, often, for routine plans (even if friends initially found that weird). He was the one to ignore a hand proffered for an introductory handshake with a grin and a tight embrace, saying, “Let’s bring it in,” or “Let’s hug it out!” WaPo link to story by Susan Svluga.
Some of Warmbier’s friends spoke, as candles glowed in the amphitheater around them, about his brilliance, his adventurousness, his boundless joy, his faith in connection. He was the one to call rather than text, often, for routine plans (even if friends initially found that weird). He was the one to ignore a hand proffered for an introductory handshake with a grin and a tight embrace, saying, “Let’s bring it in,” or “Let’s hug it out!” WaPo link to story by Susan Svluga.
Last edited:
SezMe
post-pre-born
True. But then we didn't have an idiot for a President.
That said, I agree with Zig - Trump's not going to start a war over this because he doesn't care. After all, how many Muslims live in NK?
Ziggurat
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2003
- Messages
- 64,397
Blaming the victim excuses the perpetrator.
You also called him selfish and a dick. And he wasn't merely imprisoned, he was murdered.
Chris_Halkides
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2009
- Messages
- 13,014
Swimming Coach
"Todd Siler, who taught Warmbier in high school, said his youngest daughter, a sixth-grader, watched the doctors talking last week about Warmbier, who had been her swimming coach. The two of them were close; Warmbier loved that every time she surfaced through the water, she had a big, spontaneous smile on her face, Siler said, and used to tease her, warmly, about that." From an earlier WaPo story.
Whatever mistakes he might have made, he does not deserve to be called names.
"Todd Siler, who taught Warmbier in high school, said his youngest daughter, a sixth-grader, watched the doctors talking last week about Warmbier, who had been her swimming coach. The two of them were close; Warmbier loved that every time she surfaced through the water, she had a big, spontaneous smile on her face, Siler said, and used to tease her, warmly, about that." From an earlier WaPo story.
Whatever mistakes he might have made, he does not deserve to be called names.
Last edited:
The whole point is containing the risk. What do you do with a mad dog that escapes the yard? Put it down. We can't move Seoul, but we can prevent N. Korea from becoming more dangerous, esp. to us.
This is a very superficial view - literally.
Yes skin and soft tissue injuries will have healed. There may or may not be scars. BUT, it is very likely that before allowing him to pass away the medical team will have carried out an MRI of the brain at minimum. The pattern of brain injuries will tell you about the mechanism of injury. A good example is how MRI scans identify brain injury from recurrent concussion in boxers or football players. Boney injury would also be apparent, even invisible soft tissue scarring from physical injury. The pattern of brain injury from oxygen starvation is very different from that due to physical injury.
Studies suggest that a full body MRI gives as much information as an autopsy, a full body MRI is an effective alternative in cases where the family do not wish an autopsy.
Chris_Halkides
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2009
- Messages
- 13,014
He bought posters
Ria Westergaard Pedersen, 33, who was with Warmbier in North Korea, told the Danish broadcaster TV2 this week that he had been nervous when taking pictures of soldiers, and said she doubted North Korea’s explanation for his arrest.
“We went to buy propaganda posters together, so why in the world would he risk so much to steal a trivial poster? It makes no sense.” link
Ria Westergaard Pedersen, 33, who was with Warmbier in North Korea, told the Danish broadcaster TV2 this week that he had been nervous when taking pictures of soldiers, and said she doubted North Korea’s explanation for his arrest.
“We went to buy propaganda posters together, so why in the world would he risk so much to steal a trivial poster? It makes no sense.” link
Well he was selfish and a dick. He wasn't in North Korea for the benifit of the people. While there he was providing financial support for an evil oppressive regeime for bragging rights. Just because he ended up getting screwed over by that evil opressive regeime does not turn his selfishness to altruisim.
Elagabalus
Philosopher
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 7,051
Blah, blah frikkin' blah ....
ETA: Wooah ... look at me! I'm being all edgy 'n ******!
Last edited:
Oh please give it a rest. Fine he was a gentle giant, great guy, but this is a skeptics board. Do you do this for every thread where someone dies?
- What Korea did to him was beyond terrible.
- Going to North Korea as a tourist, in my opinion, is very stupid. This means, I am calling him stupid. Too bad.
Those statements can both be true.
I can't type what I think about N. Korea here, it would be all asterisks, but that doesn't change the fact.
Stupid is as stupid does, and North Korea sucks.
Last edited:
Elagabalus
Philosopher
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 7,051
SezMe
post-pre-born
How? I'd like to hear your suggestions because many seasoned international experts don't know.
SezMe
post-pre-born
Was a body scan done? No? Then all of your post is irrelevant and my post remains - unsuperficially.
Chris_Halkides
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2009
- Messages
- 13,014
NK Tourism
From Vox. "At least 16 US citizens have been detained in North Korea in the past 10 years, and three have yet to be released. Warmbier is also not the first nor the only American to have been injured during captivity. But many Americans head there anyway. Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours, estimates that some 20 percent of the 4,000 to 5,000 Western tourists who venture to North Korea every year are Americans, according to the New York Times."
From the WaPo: "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has set a goal of attracting a million tourists to the *Communist-ruled county. Critics have said tourism is a significant source of foreign currency for the regime."
More from the same paragraph in The Economist: "The travel company based in China is one of a handful that offer tightly marshalled circuits around mostly beautified bits of the impoverished gangster state. 'Despite what you may hear,' it continued, 'North Korea is probably one of the safest places on Earth to visit.'"
From Vox. "At least 16 US citizens have been detained in North Korea in the past 10 years, and three have yet to be released. Warmbier is also not the first nor the only American to have been injured during captivity. But many Americans head there anyway. Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours, estimates that some 20 percent of the 4,000 to 5,000 Western tourists who venture to North Korea every year are Americans, according to the New York Times."
From the WaPo: "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has set a goal of attracting a million tourists to the *Communist-ruled county. Critics have said tourism is a significant source of foreign currency for the regime."
Ziggurat
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2003
- Messages
- 64,397
And? What about skepticism requires the judgmentalism you've shown? It's one thing to conclude that going to North Korea is dangerous, and it was a mistake for him to do so. But you've got no idea what information (or misinformation) he was basing his decision on. Making judgments about the quality of his character in the absence of any such knowledge has nothing to do with skepticism.
After reading up on this, I've changed my mind. The best strategy is to try and stay one step ahead with our missile-interception program and pray MAD works with N. Korea like it did with the Soviet Union.