This is a story that should start with a description of how it ended. Other than a few well-connected activists, most of those in the room had been a select group–congressional staffers, think-tankers, diplomats, attaches from embassies . . . even Nelson Mandela’s nephew, a pleasant enough man, now wearing the uniform of a general. Before the event had even begun, one bored staffer had whined to another, “I’m sooooooo ready for the weekend. When the two men we had...

Thursday, April 21, 2:00 PM, Myongdong Catholic Cathedrale, downtown Seoul; Speeches about North Korean human rights; March around the church, urging the new pope to try to go to North Korea Friday, April 22, 12:00, noon, UNHCR-Office, downtown Seoul, Demo against the inactivity of the UN regarding North Korean refugees Thursday, April 28, 12:00, noon, Across the Chinese Consulate, downtown Seoul in front of the Dongwa Duty Free Shop, Part of the 2. worldwide protest against China`s repatriation of NK...

NORTH KOREA FREEDOM WEEK CONFIRMED PUBLIC EVENTS FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2005: —————————————————————————————————– CAPITOL HILL FORUM HONORING ROK POWS 12 noon: Half a Century in the Hellish Nightmare: South Korean POWs Tell Their StoryChang-Ho Cho, the first South Korean POW to escape from North Korea in 1995, and Chang-Seok Kim, who escaped in 2000, will tell their stories for the first time in the United States. (There are an estimated 500 South Korean POWs still being held in North Korea!) Hosted...

Thursday, April 21, 2:00 PM, Myongdong Catholic Cathedrale, downtown Seoul; Speeches about North Korean human rights; March around the church, urging the new pope to try to go to North Korea Friday, April 22, 12:00, noon, UNHCR-Office, downtown Seoul, Demo against the inactivity of the UN regarding North Korean refugees Thursday, April 28, 12:00, noon, Across the Chinese Consulate, downtown Seoul in front of the Dongwa Duty Free Shop, Part of the 2. worldwide protest against China`s repatriation of NK...

The infamous commenter Jing of Marmot’s Hole fame has started his own blog. Not being one who subscribes to the theory that decorum requires us to conceal the abhorrent beneath a blanket of smiley equivalency, I’d like to welcome Jing to this tough room we call the blogosphere by engaging in a little Maoist criticism of what I like to call Jing’s Rules of Discourse: 1. If someone criticizes your position, go for the anti-Semitic angle: Ahh the covetous shylock...

The infamous commenter Jing of Marmot’s Hole fame has started his own blog. Not being one who subscribes to the theory that decorum requires us to conceal the abhorrent beneath a blanket of smiley equivalency, I’d like to welcome Jing to this tough room we call the blogosphere by engaging in a little Maoist criticism of what I like to call Jing’s Rules of Discourse: 1. If someone criticizes your position, go for the anti-Semitic angle: Ahh the covetous shylock...

ADVANCE DEMOCRACY ACT SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS The ADVANCE Democracy Act reaffirms that the promotion of democracy, freedom, and fundamental rights constitutes an essential element of U.S. foreign policy; strengthens the ability of the Department of State to promote of democracy, particularly with respect to non-democratic countries; and requires a study of U.S. democracy assistance in order to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness. In particular, the Act includes the following key provisions: Declares that it is the policy of the United States...

The four co-sponsors present, as follows: Sen. John McCain, R, Arizona Sen. Joe Lieberman, D, Connecticut Rep. Frank Wolf, R, Virginia Rep. Tom Lantos, D, California I walked in during their introductory statements, maybe five minutes late. Rep. Wolf was speaking when I walked in. Of the four congressmen, he’s the one you’re least likely to have heard of, which is a shame. Rep. Wolf seemed to belong in the presence of giants and spoke cogently about the importance of...

Be very afraid for the security of this country, for just as the scandal over Jeff Gannon started to die down, I’ve proven again that any schmoe without the slightest big media imprimatur can wander right into a high-level government press conference. And it’s not the security stuff you ought to be worried about; I went through security three times, and by all appearances, it works very efficiently. It’s the fact that I’ve learned how weak a weak link the...

The four co-sponsors present, as follows: Sen. John McCain, R, Arizona Sen. Joe Lieberman, D, Connecticut Rep. Frank Wolf, R, Virginia Rep. Tom Lantos, D, California I walked in during their introductory statements, maybe five minutes late. Rep. Frank Wolf was speaking when I walked in. Of the four congressmen, he’s the one you’re least likely to have heard of, which is a shame. Frank Wolf seemed to belong in the presence of giants as he spoke cogently about the...

ADVANCE DEMOCRACY ACT SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS The ADVANCE Democracy Act reaffirms that the promotion of democracy, freedom, and fundamental rights constitutes an essential element of U.S. foreign policy; strengthens the ability of the Department of State to promote of democracy, particularly with respect to non-democratic countries; and requires a study of U.S. democracy assistance in order to ensure its efficiency and effectiveness. In particular, the Act includes the following key provisions: Declares that it is the policy of the United States...

The four co-sponsors present, as follows: Sen. John McCain, R, Arizona Sen. Joe Lieberman, D, Connecticut Rep. Frank Wolf, R, Virginia Rep. Tom Lantos, D, California I walked in during their introductory statements, maybe five minutes late. Rep. Wolf was speaking when I walked in. Of the four congressmen, he’s the one you’re least likely to have heard of, which is a shame. Rep. Wolf seemed to belong in the presence of giants and spoke cogently about the importance of...

Be very afraid for the security of this country, for just as the scandal over Jeff Gannon started to die down, I’ve proven again that any schmoe without the slightest big media imprimatur can wander right into a high-level government press conference. And it’s not the security stuff you ought to be worried about; I went through security three times, and by all appearances, it works very efficiently. It’s the fact that I’ve learned how weak a weak link the...

Be very afraid for the security of this country, for just as the scandal over Jeff Gannon started to die down, I’ve proven again that any schmoe without the slightest big media imprimatur can wander right into a high-level government press conference. And it’s not the security stuff you ought to be worried about; I went through security three times, and by all appearances, it works very efficiently. It’s the fact that I’ve learned how weak a weak link the...

The four co-sponsors present, as follows: Sen. John McCain, R, Arizona Sen. Joe Lieberman, D, Connecticut Rep. Frank Wolf, R, Virginia Rep. Tom Lantos, D, California I walked in during their introductory statements, maybe five minutes late. Rep. Frank Wolf was speaking when I walked in. Of the four congressmen, he’s the one you’re least likely to have heard of, which is a shame. Frank Wolf seemed to belong in the presence of giants as he spoke cogently about the...

The four co-sponsors present, as follows: Sen. John McCain, R, Arizona Sen. Joe Lieberman, D, Connecticut Rep. Frank Wolf, R, Virginia Rep. Tom Lantos, D, California I walked in during their introductory statements, maybe five minutes late. Rep. Frank Wolf was speaking when I walked in. Of the four congressmen, he’s the one you’re least likely to have heard of, which is a shame. Frank Wolf seemed to belong in the presence of giants as he spoke cogently about the...