dont you think its really sad that a whole nation can be brainwashed into becoming state robots? I cant think of living in constant fear like they do.

Ah, I remember the days when the Indie was a half-decent paper.

Mind you, there was an article by Norman Lamont in last week's [iNew Statesman[/i.
I guess it's all in the interests of "balance".
i.e. In among items from those who can think or write or both, you slip in a an article by someone who can do neither.

For the most part it still is a half-decent paper and one of the few that does still offer a range of opinions, from the likes of diverse commentators such as: Dominic Lawson, Brute Anderson, Rober Fisk etc. Quite why they allow Christina Patterson to stray from her comfort zone of poetry is totally beyond me

Was that deliberate?
Since .......

I now believe that this guy really was a demigod, as the BBc has passed on the following from korean media:

Even nature is mourning, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Thursday. A snowstorm hit as Mr Kim died and ice on the volcanic Chon lake near his reported birthplace at Mount Paektu cracked, it said:

"so loud, it seemed to shake the Heavens and the Earth", and a mysterious glow was seen on a revered mountain top:

"Following the storm's sudden end at dawn on Tuesday, a message carved in rock - "Mount Paektu, holy mountain of revolution. Kim Jong-il" - glowed brightly, it said. It remained there until sunset."

So that must be right. Certainly has removed all my doubts. I mean, how else would that glowing message have appeared if not from the man himself? Eh? Ask yourself that.