Peerlessly Brilliant Self-Centered Idiot Has a Stylish Party

He doesn't even care that all around him, as he parties to celebrate himself, real people starve. For that reason, I will be hungry for two weeks. I'll think about all the people in North Korea even if their leader refuses to.

From AsiaNews.it

Seoul (AsiaNews) – Even though the average North Korean is facing hunger and famine, the country’s Communist regime is celebrating in style (and at great cost) Kim Jong-il’s 68th birthday. Pyongyang is in fact covered in flower decorations for what is the country’s only official holiday.

Broke it might be but the government did throw a lavish ceremony, including cookies, candies and small gifts for schoolchildren as well as parades and a public display of admiration for the North Korean leader. In a meeting of Communist leaders, Kim was hailed as “the peerlessly brilliant commander”.

If last year’s celebrations took place in a climate of heightened international watchfulness because of North Korea’s missile tests, this year’s ceremony took place against a backdrop of openness by Pyongyang towards Washington and Seoul.

The regime’s number two leader, Kim Yong-Nam, stressed the need to end hostile relations with the United States "through dialogue and negotiations". He also insisted on the need to improve intra-Korean ties.

Pyongyang’s readiness to take the diplomatic route is dictated by the country’s ravaged economy.

A disastrous currency reform, which wiped whatever little savings North Koreans had, has compounded the effect of international sanctions. For many, survival has become impossible. Currently, ten million North Koreans are living on less than a dollar a day.

In the meantime, this year’s celebrations include the traditional Flower Festival.

For Kim’s birthday, the red kimjongilia was all the rave. The flower, a begonia, was created by Japanese botanist Mototeru Kamo of Shizuoka Prefecture and dedicated to Kim Jong-il.

Two sporting events were also held in the capital yesterday (figure skating and synchronised swimming) in honour of Kim who opted instead to attend a concert by the Unhasu Orchestra, organised to mark the new lunar year, which began on Sunday.

A New Level of Misery in N.Korea

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/03/world/la-fg-north-korea-economy3-2010feb03

New strike set to begin Monday, March 1st, 2009. Unbelievable what that little shit of a man does to his own people while he and his cronies live fat.

Walking

Ally and I had another fantastic long walk this afternoon with a little bit of training. One really cool thing about losing weight is that I think it's going to be a lot easier for me to train this dog! And I may have a puppy coming, too, with whom I will no doubt want to be able to keep up. I'm 55 years old and if I don't stay in good shape, this puppy may be my last. Wow, that's a sad thought. If I don't train...well, my dogs will be very bored and I will not have a physical hobby besides walking around thrift stores. Dogs keep a person fit.

I may not get much more exercise for the next week as rainstorms are moving in. I guess I could get out that yoga tape I threatened to do last week. But...walking with Ally is SO much more gratifying. So. Club training on Saturday in Oroville, and private training in Dixon on Sunday. May not be the same as a long walk, but it's getting outside and moving around.

Flogging

P.S. I'm pretty sure I don't have more than 800 leashes!

How to Eat Out and Not Blow It

by DMC

Today, as I mentioned earlier, I had a pre-scheduled lunch appointment with a friend at Chili's. I warned her I was on some kick-ass bootcamp diet so she'd be prepared for my food strangeness at the restaurant. Well, turns out, I did not need to be too strange. Thanks to a new California law that requires most restaurants to have nutritional data available, I was able to select something reasonable from their "guiltless" menu -- specifically, the guiltless chicken sandwich. I took off the top part of the bun, ordered the sauce on the side and spread it on very sparingly, and even ate the side of steamed brocolli. I believe the total calorie count was about 300-350 for that meal. For dinner tonight, I had my 1/4 whole wheat pita with a spread of hummus.

And, yes, I'm hungry...but, as Jackie mentioned, I'm trying to drink lots of liquids to combat the hunger. But, on the positive side, the scale was down a pound a half this morning after not budging yesterday...and my Wii Fit was only slightly obnoxious this morning when I took my body test.

Goals

WEEEEEELLLL, I have to admit that the hot chocolate part is extremely annoying, Dawn, but you probably didn't screw up THAT badly. I mean, I ate a whole bag of lowfat popcorn after being perfect all day. But boy was I hungry. I need to remember that many times, we think we're starving to death when in fact we need water. I find it difficult to drink water in the winter. I need to remember herbal tea or just hot water and I'll do better.

Twice this week I have gone on very long walks (sort of 1.5 miles as the crow flies but with many detours) and trained my dog. I do want to get her titled, and she needs to muscle up, so she is providing a really good exercise method right now. I have to go between rainstorms, of course. And oh my, she is doing really well and having so much fun! All due to going on a diet!

You know, Dawn, I think I messed up when I told you my goal was 30 lbs away. I think it was 18, and 8 of that was the holiday weight I lost. Back about 42 lbs ago, I figured I needed to lose 52 lbs, not 62. HOWEVER, now that 62 lbs of loss is in clear view, I may adjust my goal. Or maybe keep the same goal but pass it up.

Shhhh....Don't Tell Jackie

by DMC

I cheated today, and Jackie is no doubt going to want to flog me with one of her 10,000 dog leashes and then kick me down a flight a stairs if she finds out what goodness I had today. I ate my rice, beans, and corn mixture for lunch -- a very small bowl worth. Around 3:00 at the office, I started to get really tired, and a coworker asked me if I wanted anything from Starbucks. Well, I needed a break, so I went with her and had a hot chocolate and a chocolate biscotti. But, I really only wanted to dip the biscotti into the hot chocolate and have a few sips of the nice, warm chocolatey drink to satiate me. So, I ate my hot chocolate-dipped biscotti and downed a few sips of the hot beverage, then tossed the rest out. Sure, it was a bit of a waste of money, but Starbucks doesn't offer a smaller hot chocolate (they should!), so I had to make do.