What Caught My Eye Today - North Korea, Death Star, Potpourri

We start off with a daily double from the "powerful and prosperous nation" of North Korea.  Really? That's their motto?  Maybe something got lost in translation.

North Korea (Part I) - News out of North Korean in notorious unreliable, but food shortages in the country have gotten so bad and people so desperate that there are now reports of men murdering their own children for food. Dude, that just ain't right. Reports are being filed by independent reporters commissioned by Asia Press, a independent press agency focusing on Asia. Among the stories: "While his wife was away on business a man killed his eldest daughter and, because his son saw what he had done, he killed his son as well. When the wife came home, he offered her food, saying: 'We have meat'. One hopes that there is a bit of journalistic hyperbole going on here, but even so, if these stories are remotely close to being true... Seriously, what hope do future generations have when this sort of thing is allowed to happen?

North Korea (Part II) - And now for something just a bit lighter. You may notice a larger than normal  amount of references to official agencies and historical locations.  I did this intentionally to prove that this is an actual news story.  That just makes this all the more amusing.  Archaeologists of the History Institute of the DPRK Academy of Social Sciences have recently reconfirmed a lair of the unicorn rode by King Tongmyong, founder of the Koguryo Kingdom. Say what?  A lair of unicorns? The lair is located near the Yongmyong Temple in Moran Hill in Pyongyang City. A rectangular rock carved with words "Unicorn Lair" stands in front of the lair. The carved words are believed to date back to the period of Koryo Kingdom (918-1392). The discovery of the unicorn lair, associated with legend about King Tongmyong, proves that Pyongyang was a capital city of Ancient Korea as well as Koguryo Kingdom." It's kind of impressive, if you think about it, that the North Koreans can find the time to make these important archaeological discoveries despite the fact that most of the scientific community is dedicated to building a nuclear arsenal to launch against the evil empire across the Pacific Ocean.

Speaking of "evil empire," what a great segue to our next item.

Death Star - A White House petition requesting the United States government “secure funding and resources, and begin construction on a Death Star by 2016” garnered well over the 25,000 required supporters needed for the White House to provide a response. You know, after the official English-language North Korean news agency's website, The "We the People" site is quickly becoming my go to source for comic relief. The official response is as follows:

The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons: 

• The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.

• The Administration does not support blowing up planets.

• Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?

I'm not sure there's anything I can add here.

Potpourri - Let's go ahead and call this the "So this is what a civilized world looks like" edition.

• Health - Americans under the age of 50 are more likely to have poor health and die prematurely than people in 16 other developed countries. Car accidents, gun violence, obesity, diabetes and drug overdoses are the leading contributors to the U.S.'s comparatively low life expectancy. Clearly, the folks that conducted this study forgot the unofficial motto of the people -- "Fat, dumb and happy."
• India - In India, about 100,000 women are burned to death each year by husbands or families.  Another 125,000 die from injuries in domestic violence that is never reported to police. It seems the world's largest democracy has some work to do with regard to gender equality and rights.
• Email - The average office worker spends 650 hours a year (28% of working hours) reading and writing emails. The total number of words in those emails, about 41,400, is equivalent to a novel 166 pages long. If think that's a lot, you should see the statistics for texts and tweets.
• Gun Control About 80,000 people were caught lying about prior criminal records when attempting to buy a gun in 2010. Only 44 of them were charged with a crime. I wonder what the Second Amendment says about the right to possess arms under false pretense?