Man, between him, Bin Laden and Gadahfi the CIA is having a good year.

I don't think the CIA has anything to do with Kim Jung Il's death. The instability of the region worries a lot.

For some years, I've had North Korea's official English news website in my bookmarks folder. Just checked and it hasn't been updated since Wednesday, and I don't recall missed days in the past. Could be this happened a few days ago and the backroom boys took a few days to tee up the announcement.

I hope his successor will put his people before his ego.

I love Asia and hope that his successor will bring more stability to the region. However, I am sure the old adage is true, the Devil you know, is better than the Devil you don't.

For some years, I've had North Korea's official English news website in my bookmarks folder. Just checked and it hasn't been updated since Wednesday, and I don't recall missed days in the past. Could be this happened a few days ago and the backroom boys took a few days to tee up the announcement.

I hope his successor will put his people before his ego.

Apparently they waited two days to announce the death. Isn't his son a little cutie? I just want to grab those love handles and poke some sense into him.

I love some of the crazy claims he made during his lifetime.

North Korean schools teach children that Jong-il's birth was "supernatural." He was born in a log cabin inside a secret base on the sacred Mt. Paekdu, the story goes, and his arrival was accompanied by the apparition of a new star. The seasons then spontaneously changed from winter to spring, and a double-rainbow appeared, followed by a talking iceberg. (Western accounts say he was born in a guerrilla camp in Russia.)

State textbooks claim Jong-il does not produce urine or feces.

Jong-il long claimed to be the world's greatest golfer. In 1994, Pyongyang media reported that he shot 38 under par on a regulation 18-hole golf course, including 5 holes in one.