Tallifornia dreaming...: February 2017

Did you know that when Kim Il Sung was born in a poor hut high up in the mountains hundreds of thousands of Swallows flew above the sky, and his Grandfather proclaimed that this baby was set for greatness. Actually his Father was a Presbyterian Minister, and Kim Il Sung sang in the choir. His family were actually Middle Class, in equivalent terms they were like a family living in Rathgar, not humongously wealthy by any stretch, but they led a more than comfortable lifestyle. He also went to School and achieved good grades. Only about 10% of Koreans attended school at this time.

Did you know that the year Kim Jong Il was born, it was the harshest winter in Korea for over 100 years. The snow covered some houses. However, when whilst in the middle of a battle with the murderous Japanese Imperialist dogs, his Mother gave birth on the foot of Mount Peaktu, the sun appeared, melting the snow away in mid winter, the birds flew about, animals came out of hibernation and grazed on the grasses and a triple rainbow appeared.

In truth Kim Jong Il was actually born in a Soviet Army camp near Khaborovsk, which bordered China, and was a fair distance from North Korea. In 1920, the young Kim Il sung and family fled to Manchuria, and then in 1940 he and wife joined a band of other Korean Exiles and fled to the Soviet Union after Manchuria was overridden and essentially occupied by the Japanese. When the Soviets liberated the Northern Half of Korea, and the tanks drove through Pyongyang, Kim was still in Russia. The Soviet commanders initially had problems communicating and fraternalising with the locals. The Russians of Korean Descent they had brought with them were deeply mistrusted by the locals, especially as these Korean Russians had little understanding of the traditions and nuances of the people they now mingled with, and tried to help their Soviet Generals gain control over.

Photo from: Emaze.com

The first de facto leader of what became North Korea, was the famous Linguist, University professor, and politician Kim Tu Bong. He was a very popular figure, but had little gra for the Stalinists and their modus operandi. He very quickly snipped the strings on his arms, and began to make speeches and behave in a way that oft made the Soviets aghast. In a desperate attempt to put some order on proceedings, they framed Kim Tu Bong on flimsy charges and arrested him. But this left a desperate need to find someone to replace him as the de facto head of the Korean Peoples Assembly, and in a way that really was sort of like an eenie-meeny-miney-mo process, Kim Il Sung was picked. But the Soviets did not realise just how cunning and deceptive a man they had picked. They quickly had to rewrite history to make him seem a lot more heroic than he was. “So in truth he and others killed 6 Japanese soldiers, and nicked about 20 rifles from an observation post? Lets scribble that out, and say it was 100 soldiers, and a whole array of munitions that they grabbed, with Kim il sung killing the bulk of them.”

There were essentially 4 main factions in North Korea at the time – 1, The Soviet Koreans, Soviet Citizens of Korean extraction. 2. The Ya’nans, Chinese of Korean origin, whose parents or Grandparents were born in Korea, but who had moved or fled to China, 3. The Domestics. Those members of the Communist Party of Korea who operated as an underground resistance force under Japanese occupation. The leaders of this grouping were mostly based in Seoul. When the Soviets liberated the Northern Half of Korea, many fled North. Others who had stuck around in the Southern part were executed by the Blood thirsty Synghman Rhee dictatorship, that executed many people to ensure a strong grip on power. 4. The last group were the Nationalists of whom Kim Tu Bing was seen as their leading light. There were generally right wing persons whose families were quite wealthy, and held various positions of wealth and power before and in some cases during the Japanese occupation from 1911 til the Soviets and US forces pushed them out.

Syngman Rhee was the first ruler of what became South Korea. He was a US puppet. It is worth noting that South Declared itself a separate state before the North did. At this point Kim Il Sung harboured genuine ambitions that Korea would soon be reunited once again, albeit under his rule. Many who had been in authoritive positions and collaborated with the Japanese occupiers, were kept in their posts by Rhee’s South Korean administration. This caused immense anger in Southern Korea at the time. Rhee was a US born He was born in Korea but moved to the US and was educated there, and attended various Universities and gained a number of degrees and doctorates. Whilst there his accent apparently morphed into a US accent. Thus when he came back and spoke at rallies etc, some people found it hard to understand what he was saying, and were also wary of him due to his accent.

NB. Korea was a country with a rich and varied past. It was said, in the 1700;s and before, if a foreigner was unlucky to stray into Korea, he would be killed almost on the spot, with many cannibalised. The Koreans were a very inward looking population who had a massive distrust of foreigners.

Mount Paektu.
Photo from: Slate.com

So Kim slowly and cunningly played a slow game of political dominoes. He firstly placed some of the lead persons of the Yan’an and Domestics groups into his inner circle, and used them to direct their peoples into helping to purge the Nationalist group from any positions of influence and power they may have had. Once they were out of the picture, he then rounded on the Yanan’s, andt then the Domestics. He elft the Soviet Koreans well alone (Well until the mid 70’s anyways) as he knew not to overplay his hand visa vis the Soviets,

On June 25^th 1950, the Two Korea’s went to war. Kim Il Sung was itching to do battle for sometime, but only moved after receiving assurances of a military nature from Stalin. EG The Soviet Airforce would be used to help the North Koreans overcome the South. This never happened. Whilst the US and British forces forced the North Koreans back as far as the banks of the mighty Yalu River (And for a time the North Korean leadership fled to Manchuria, the Soviets stood still. It took a massive intervention by Chinese troops to force back the US and British commandeered South Korean Troops, and a stalemate ensued on the 37^th Parallel. After truce talks, China, USSR, USA, and North Korea signed a peace treaty, but the South Refused to be a signatory. Hence the two states are still technically at war.

Til the day he died Kim Il Sung remained very bitter by what he saw as his ‘betrayal’ by Stalin. But he badly needed the economic support of his neighbour, so fiercely bit his lip and danced to the tune of whomever was offering the most gifts at that time, be it China or USSR. Up until 1972, officially, the Capital of North Korea was Seoul! But Pyongyang was then designated the Capital officially in that year.

One of the first major programs Kim il Sung sought to initiate was the mass collectivisation of farming. The North Korean army and implementation officials from the various departments of the state met very hostile responses almost everywhere they went. There were many examples of Soldiers and officials being ran out of villages, whereupon they would have to return a few days later with a much bigger force to violently quell any dissent. Many farmers preferred to burn crops and slaughter animals rather than hand them over to the state. Initially the state tried to effectively implement a produce tax, ie the farmer would have to hand 60-70% of his crops/animals to the state, and was allowed to sell the remaining 30-40% at local state sanctioned markets, were prices were fixed. But by the Mid 60’s the regime implemented the collectivised farming model in full. Many huge industrial factories were also built in North Korea.

In fact, up until the mid to late 60’s the GDP per Capita Ratio in North Korea far surpassed that of the South. By 1970, the South had caught up with the North, and signs were it would surpass it. In desperation North Korea sought huge loans from Western banks to further develop it’s economy. But it spent a fortune buying in industrial machinery, for example, that it’s workers hadn’t an iota as to how to work them, or even had huge machines delivered that were too big and powerful to be fitted and operated inside any North Korean factories. Thus scores of very expensive machinery and the like lay in storage gathering rust. Also due to very bad planning money was wasted on badly constructed infrastructure projects. Many apartment complexes were built, but toilets would not flush due to badly designed piping/sewerage systems, Electricity supply was not enough to meet the full needs of the cities, and domestic supply was oft cut off for a time in order to ensure the factories and hospitals had an unfettered supply. Pyongyang became the first Stalinist state to officially enter into a default. The North Korean economy went into a tailspin, and it was blacklisted by the Western Financial conglomerates, and the value of it’s exports plummeted almost overnight too.

Bridge linking Sinuiju North Korea, with Dandong, China.
Photo from: Huffington Post

Yes there was Central planning in North Korea, but just like the Soviet states you could in no way characterise it was being democratic. If an order came from above, you got on and did it, regardless of whether you KNEW it to be correct or not. There are numerous examples of people being arrested and sent away for merely pointing out to his Factory head etc, that a there was serious flaws in a design his boss and drawn up, with the employee explaining a better solution to the design and so forth. People were oft put into position of influence in factories simply due to their loyalty to the regime, in a lot of cases with no proper know how as to what the factory manufactured. This was also quite evident in planning too, when officials with no knowledge of the subject matter, would often make disastrous decisions, that simply could not, and were not questioned/ countermandered. Thus you had yields for crops that were far lower than the Western average, goods manufactured in factories that were of a very poor quality and the like.

In the USSR we had at first Leninism, then Stalinism. In China we had Moaism, in Yugoslavia what was known as Titoism, and in North Korea they developed their own ideology based around the cult of the leader, Jucheism. The first known reference to Juche as a domestic, North Korean ideology was an anti-Soviet speech given by Kim Il-sung on December 28, 1955. Titled "On Eliminating Dogmatism and Formalism and Establishing Juche in Ideological Work". Kim realised that whilst both China and the USSR got pissed off with him from time to time, neither wanted to fall out with him and see him side firmly with the other (Or more importantly for South Korean Capitalism to gain a foothold in the state), so both continued to indulge him. The official North Korean Calender was switched to the Juchean Calender, where day 1 was Kim il Sung’s Birth date. As well as being an attempt at further tightening his grasp on power, it was also a way of the regime trying to proclaim (or pretend) that it was powerful too, and that it also had an ideological ferment that should be feted and praised around the world, like many groups did of Stalinism or Maoism. Large sums of money were spent setting up Juche learning centres, in other Third world countries, especially in Africa. But in reality many of these persons in Africa who claimed to be adherents of Jucheism and were given money to supposedly spread it’s influence across Africa, were little more than charlatans, who spent most of the money either on themselves, or furthering the reach of their own organisation, who’s actual ideals and policies were in truth anything but like those espoused by Pyongyang.

North Korean soldiers in the DMZ
Photo from: Dreamstime.com

Even to this day each village, and area in the cities have their own Minomin. These persons are supposed to conduct an audit of their area every night. Are the Family next door in? If not, where are those not present? Oh look, they have a visitor from elsewhere. Have they got their identity papers with them, and their authorisation letter allowing them to be here? Also have the family been reading the Juche texts as required, and are the portraits of the Two Kim’s properly positioned and polished? Right that’s my check list filled in, and additional information added in were necessary. I’m off to the police station to hand in my report as required.

There are also many detention camps in North Korea, were many people have been worked to their deaths, if not tortured to death before then. These make many goods for sale in China, and some also make very fine suits for sale in Japan. For example, a Japansese trader could buy suits from these camps, and easily sell them at 20 times that amount in a store in Tokyo. Many Chinese businessmen are nw dealing with the North Koreans too, as they can get goods produced there at far lower prices than it would be to have them made in a Chinese factory. It is getting to the sickening stage now, were people are being sent to these camps on ever flimsier charges as they simply need more “workers” to keep up with the illegal supply and demand. Obviously those places are kept far from the tourists eye when they visit North Korea on an organised trip.

Kim il Sung passed away in 1994, amid scenes of crazy mournful adoration across all of North Korea. Many people genuinely believed he was a demi god who would rule forever and so forth. His son then took over the reigns. He was a recluse who was rarely seen in public, loved to drink good Cognac, and the company of pretty women. In fact in each of the handful of mansions across North Korea that the leader resided in had a harem of young pretty women in them. If of an evening he got bored, he would ring for one or more of the girls to be sent to his chambers. In fact there were “scouts” who used to travel around the country visiting various secondary schools to source these women for the leaders pleasure. Once one was identified, she would be soon whisked away to be trained in etiquette and manners etc, before being placed in one of the mansions. Once she reached her early 30’s she would then be released from duties, and placed in a nice apartment in Pyongyang, with a huge monthly payment by North Korean terms, on the agreement that she would never seek to contact her family again, or tell anyone of her recent “duties”. In Korean society, especially North Korean society, it is a cherished norm of parents that their son or daughter would still be a virgin at marriage. So if word of Kim’s trysts became public knowledge, it would likely cause outrage.

Kim Yong Il
Photo from: ABC Australia

Kim Jong Il passed away on the 17^th December 2011, and was succeeded in power by his third song Kim Jong Un. One of Kim’s other 3 sons now lives in Macau, loves gambling, and has at times spoken out publicly against the regime, which angered his father enormously. Then the other of the 3 was arrested in Japan after travelling there on a false passport. It was said he had planned to visit Disneyland in Tokyo, and was found with quite a bit of money on his person This also annoyed his father somewhat. The elite in Pyongyang live in a sealed off gates part in a fine houses, with shops that sell imported goods smuggled into the country from Japan and elsewhere. Many are truly oblivious to the suffering that people all over North Korea, outside Pyongyang are suffering.

Forced Labour camp in North Korea
Photo from: Daily Mail

Make no doubt about it Kim Yong Nam is a stooge. His Auntie, Kim il Sung’s daughter, and the military top brass call the shots. In a nod and a wink way, they’ve told him – “Leave the politicking to us, and we’ll leave you and your fancy wife alone to live your life of luxury”. So as peoples living standards continue to plummet, many especially older persons begin to (secretly in their own minds) question the way country is being run. They genuinely thought Kim il Sung was the real deal, but are not sure about his successors. How do you maintain a grip on your people? Why ratchet up the fear doctrine, claim that barbarous forces are intent on invading and killing one and all. They also keep pushing mountains of propaganda painting South Korea and the United States as in a far worse predicament that they are in – As bad as things are now, you wouldn’t like to be in the position they’re in, trust me! Did you hear that the US population are so poor, that millions are forced to live on the streets and eat snow, and drink cups of hot snow (Snow mixed with boiling water) as food supplies are reserved only for the rich elite in the US? No, no! That video clip of people queuing at a van really IS people queuing for a cup of hot snow, (as the North Korean voiceover person claims) NOT coffee...

North Korean loggers in Vladivost6ok Russia
Photo from: NKNews.org

North Korea has long harboured ambitions to be a nuclear power, as Kim il Sung saw this as a guaranteed way of ensuring South Korea or Japan would never think of invading etc, once they knew the North could use nuclear weapons in response. Thus the North Koreans asked the USSR, and then Russia, what the going rate was to receive Nuclear materials, and have their own personnel trained in the area of Nuclear science, and then handed over the cheque. It is estimates that about 4 years ago, The main Nuclear reactor in North Korea, Yongbong, was repaired and retrofitted by Russian contractors for a considerable sum, while many died due to an unprecedented famine.

On 9^th October 2006 North Korea detonated what is now known, was a very small nuclear device. This was merely seen as a tool of brinkmanship, trying to send a signal to the outside world that they were not bluffing, when they claimed to have nuclear capabilities. On July 4^th 2009, US Independence Day, North Korea fired of 2 missiles, thought to be scud missiles, with a range of up to 400 KM into the Sea of Japan. This evoked worldwide condemnation, and further sanctions were imposed on the hermit kingdom. These rockets had no GPS devices on them, which most countries would have put onto their rockets, as they didn’t have the capability to develop such a system. Thus they had no real control over the rockets, and they could have landed anywhere. A big question now is as to whether or not North Korea have the ability to attach nuclear warheads to conventional missiles, and thus could be in a position to target Japan, South Korea, or the US dependency of Guam with such weapons. The view of most analysts is that they have not, and that despite all it’s rhetoric North Korea really hasn’t the ability to carry out it’s threats, so we shouldn’t be too worried about them. On the other hand, others are of the opinion that we don’t REALLY know what’s going on inside North Korea vis a vis it’s military and nuclear capabilities. It has the 4^th largest standing army in the world.

Kim jong Un
Photo from: National Report

Whilst they may not have the ability to send nuclear missiles to Japan or the West coast of the USA, they might very well have the ability to nuke Seoul for example. The North Korean TV, the official newspaper Radong Signum are ratcheting up the rhetoric, will the regime now have no choice but to do something, be it launch another missile or otherwise to justify all the rhetoric? Surely if it does a total climbdown, and ends up doing nothing, this would lead it with a lot of explaining to do amongst it’s own people? So whilst mad men in Colorado are busy buying goods at Wal Mart to store in their bunker, as they convince themselves that Obama being re-elected is going to lead to a nuclear attack on San Francisco by North Korea, many South Koreans go about their business as normal, as they’ve heard it all before, and have long stopped caring or being afraid. So when will all the talking stop, and some if any action be taken by the North Korean Military? Only time will tell.

In 1998 I was 17 years of age, and in advance of starting college my first ever computer was bought.
I was very friendly with a neighbours nephew from Belfast, who was staying with her for 2 weeks.
Niall is his name, and he handed me a disk and urged me to put it into the computer, load it up, and life would never be the same again.
Back then very few games had activation codes etc, so you could load the one game onto as many computer as you liked.
So I popped in the disk and Clicked on “Run97-98” as requested, and a life long computerised love affair was born.

Photo from: Abandonware.com

I loved my football, and many an evening I’d sit in the kitchen with the radio on Medium Wave, straining my ears to hear the crackly up and down sound commentary of a Premier League game on BBC Radio, so I could join in the conversation on the match in school the next day.
At this time I spent hours playing “Kevin Keegan Manager” on my Super Nintendo, but it was nowhere near as good, or came close to the buzz I got playing Championship Manager.
Back then there were no Irish teams in it, but I didn’t mind that omission, so long as I was doing well in the league, and managed some cup giant killings with Torquay United.
I also dabbled in other managerial games, such as “Premier Manager” and “Total Club Manager”, and while these had better graphics, and you could build stadiums and so forth in them, the gameplay just didn’t cut it.

In 2004, Eidos Interactive, who held the licence to the Championship Manager franchise, fell out with Sports Interactive, the firm that developed the bulk of the in game match engine.
Sony happily snapped up Sports Interactive and the “Football Manager” franchise was born.

Photo from: Wikipedia

With more money to play with, S.I. were able to hire more staff, and had a longer lead in time, so a sleeker, more detailed game was produced.
Thus it was no surprise that, on the day of it was released, I visited a number of shops that sold computer games after work, and they were all sold out.

Thus to me, it is no surprise, that despite being very much a niche game, in a genre that generally would not be a big seller, the Football Manager series has sold over 7 Million copies to date, far outselling other titles in the football management category.

Some of my friends are not into football, and can’t understand how I could spend so many hours glued to a computer screen, willing on some player I had never heard of in my life until then.
They just don’t get the fact that, to me and many others, it is the ultimate Walter Mitty indulgence.
The adrenaline rush you get from seeing your team climbing up the table, aligned with the fact the Macedonian International you got on a free transfer has just scored his 16^th goal in 12 games.

Hence once I ended up playing the game for hours everyday for 2 weeks straight, as it just seemed that everytime I clicked my mouse things turned to computer game gold.
starting off with Bohemian FC, and then Norwich, in my 12^th season I ended up with Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League.
Again with a bunch of free/very low fee transfers, I managed to come second in the league agonisingly finishing second a point behind Celtic.

Photo from: Gamehack.com

This got me a move to Fulham, where I ended up winning the Premier League and getting to the Champions League final.
Many’s a night I stayed up til 2am playing it, such was the rush I was getting from playing the holy grail of computer games.
How I wailed and gnashed my teeth when soon after the saved file crashed, and all my 15 seasons of work, and hopes I could retain the

Premier League title with Fulham had vanished.

I am on my mid-term from College next week, and I am really looking forward to having the time, between assignments, to give the game another go, with the latest instalment Football Manager 2017 that I plan to purchase next Saturday. Be it watching it happening for real in Dalymount Park, or seeing it on my computer screen, as I am manager of Bohs in Football Manager, nothing comes near the feeling you get when you’ve beaten Shamrock Rovers!

Given the amount of effort that goes into producing the FM games, and the fact that each year, somehow, they genuinely manage to make the current instalment better than last years, I can see this game franchise selling many more millions of copies, as the series just runs, and runs and runs!