On the importance of maintaining proper media control

Lets take a second and talk about the president of North Korea. I speak of course, of the benevolent and immortal Kim Il-Sung. Kim Jong-Il is the Supreme Leader of North Korea on account of being the Secretary General of the communist party and supreme commander of the military. This makes North Korea the first viable necrocracy. I think, anyway. That statement is couched in ignorance.

Anyway, Kim Il-Sung, due to poor nutrition as a child (growing up poor in Korea has been rough for a while) and some other complications had a growth on the back of his neck. Towards the end of his life it was roughly the size of a baseball. Due to the fact that it was so close to his spinal chord, it was basically inoperable because of the fear that he would be paralyzed.

This is one of the few photos that actually shows it, because as you might imagine Kim Il-Sung only allowed pictures to be taken from the good angles. Here's the thing though, it's not especially well known about him, so his media manipulation worked brilliantly. Theoretically this is harder now, but when you consider how much a government can clamp down on information, it's pretty amazing.

So if you ever run a third world country, pay attention to North Korea. They're a very tight operation in a lot of respects.