I’m sure everyone knows of the horrible things Kim Jong II has done in his own country, such as the rampant famine he has done nothing to stop. For me, this article in the Times Online was new information. I guess it is not really surprising; but it is nonetheless really horrible:

THE North Korean regime’s obsession with racial purity has led to the killing of disabled infants and forced abortions for women suspected of conceiving their babies by Chinese fathers, according to a growing body of testimony from defectors.

The latest description of Kim Jong-il’s policy of state eugenics came from a North Korean doctor, Ri Kwang-chol, who escaped last year and told a forum in Seoul that babies with deformities were killed soon after birth.

“There are no people with physical defects in North Korea,” Ri said. Such babies were put to death by medical staff and buried quickly, he claimed. He denied ever committing the act himself.

Exiles in Seoul said Ri was now keeping a low profile, fearing retaliation by North Korean agents, who have assassinated foes in the South Korean capital before. But his account added to the evidence that the Kim family dictatorship is founded on mystical notions of Korean racial superiority rather than Marxism — a reality that explains its deepening estrangement from China.

Why do we learn history? So we can learn from our past mistakes, or so we can repeat them? Ought a man like this be left to slaughter his own people, and stockpile weapons for use against us in the future? Is not this what Hitler did, and was allowed to do — because the world was afraid of war? And was it not so much worse because of there tardiness?

Yes, North Korea has tested its nuclear weapon. South Korean scientists have felt the tremors, and China is no longer the only nuclear power in that part of the world.

According to Hot Air, “The Russian officials claim that the bomb has a 20-kiloton yield, similar to the one used on Nagasaki, and would be capable of killing 200,000 people.”

I’m sure everyone in Japan is sleeping quite comfortably at that thought.

HT: Hot Air

Every time I stop by Watching America, I’m astonished by the breadth of articles from foreign news services they’ve translated. Besides the regular news and opinion articles translated from European languages, they also have articles translated from Arabic and Chinese.

A couple months ago Watching America did a redesign and added an archive to make the site more user-friendly. I would suggest adding the page to your list of bookmarks and stopping by regularly. Also, since the Watching America staff unaffiliated with any organization or corporation, consider donating to help with the costs.

BBC has always reported the news with a decidedly liberal slant and pro-European Union bias. However, I have always found them the best main new service in interacting with their readers. On their website one of ways they do this is with a “Have your say” section where readers can write in their thoughts.

This time several Dutch people wrote in some very insightful e-mails, letting on that the Dutch have not lost yet all of their common sense.

Erik Ijsselstein writes:

“I’ve voted a strong ‘No’ today. It’s not that I am against Europe, but I am against this constitution. I often hear that a No vote is a vote against Europe or the Euro, but I think this is not the case (at least for me). There are factual arguments against this constitution (liberalisation is for me the main argument against) and I’ve heard no factual argument in favour.”

Simon Goetzel says the people want to be able to think for themselves:

“I live in Amsterdam and have done the past four years. My girlfriend, a Dutch lawyer, was in the dressing room of a department store the other day when she overheard two shop assistants. One saying to the other “Which way are you voting?”. “I’m going to vote No” says the second. First: “Why?” Second:” Because everyone wants us to vote Yes”. This is the mentality we are dealing with here.”

Jesse from Utrecht writes:

“The [yes] campaign here in the Netherlands was terrible. They tried scaring no-voters into voting yes and pretended that all no-voters were going to vote no for reasons outside of the referendum. This has done the yes-side no good.”

And Johann Pranger asks for a little less misinformation:

“What we are doing is asking for clarification. We have never been informed or consulted in all these years regarding the EU, at all. Now the government has proposed a 2 inch thick constitution and given the Dutch citizens a 3 page pamphlet explaining the whys and why nots. We in Holland have been ill-informed and mis-informed for two decades and the result is that we now have a monster in Brussels (or is it Strasbourg?).”

N. Klaus writes further:

“. . . I’m fed up with the money wasting and arrogance from overpaid people discussing chocolate cigarettes and things like that. The EU is ok, as long as it goes about economic cooperation. The EU of this moment isn’t about that. Besides, the Constitution, (Grondwet in Dutch Main Law) isn’t a Constitution at all. So why vote for something not real?”

However Rob Oliver from Leiden is worried that there is still much to be done to roll back the undemocratic gains made by pro-European Union politicians:

“Whatever happens today, the ‘no’ camp will wake up tomorrow with the Netherlands still a member of the EU, an unwieldy and impersonal organisation which is palpably not living up to its original ideals. At some point the No campaigners will have to start presenting some positive and new proposals for the future of Europe, rather than relying on a negative rhetoric based on rejection.”

Geert Wilders, who seems like one of the Netherlands’s more sensible politicians declared: “I had not expected this massive turnout. I am proud of the Dutch people.” As an American who lived in Netherlands and whose mother is Dutch, I also am proud of the Dutch people. Maybe there is still a small chance the Dutch people will shake off the chains with which they have been bound by the elite and rise to choose their own destiny. I surely hope so.

The latest exit polls in the Netherlands are projecting a overwhelming rejection of the mass of regulations commonly known as the EU constitution. Turnout, like in France three days ago, was exceptionally high. According to Reuters:

Well, with a turnout of more than sixty percent, hopefully the ‘political elite’ will be more than just slightly guided. Time will have to tell.

Mendsaikhan Enkhsaikhan has conceded the election to now President Enkhbayar. Enkhbayar is from the Mongolian People’s Republic Party, and a former Prime Minister of Mongolia. Although the official results will only be in in a few days, it looks like he will be the new President. Democracy flourishes in Mongolia, and so opinions vary as well, but from what I heard he is a much less corrupt, and keeps good track of what’s going on in the country. I’ve heard that he does not drink that much–maybe not at all, and that he is a early riser and late night person. I do know for a certainty that the country in general does run a bit better though, when the Communists are in charge, and small things like electricity and running water in the cities are more reliable.

Elections were underway today in Mongolia.

Publius Pundit has more.

Watching America is a very interesting blog that just started recently. They find out what the media in places like France, Germany, Iraq, Poland, and Saudi Arabia are writing about America,translate it into English, and make it accessible to everyone via the net.

It is the only site that I know of that does this kind of thing, and a lot of their material could formerly only be found through special channels, or something like a CIA office. (In fact, it has reportedly already become a regular stop for some CIA people).

Regardless, it’s a great place to go–especially if you want to know what the media in other countries thinks of the United States. Check it out, and consider adding it to your list of daily reads.

In the words of Robin, one of the founders:

We have developed a website called www.WatchingAmerica.com - which is the first of its kind. We present links to news about the U.S. written outside the U.S. Much of it is written originally in other languages - so we provide translations, which you can access at a single click. You can therefore read what the Iraqis, French, Israelis, Saudis, Poles etc. are saying to each other about the U.S. A lot of the material we have is therefore not available in English anywhere else in the world. It is updated continually. We have foreign multimedia content to add extra dimensions to the stories.

Great Britain is getting ready for elections, and they will be held on the fifth of May. It will be interesting to see what the outcome will be.

The main players in this election will be Michael Howard of the Conservative party, and Tony Blair of the Labour party — possibly also Charles Kennedy of Liberal Democrats. Mr. Howard is more pro-life then Blair, but I am unsure how pro-America he is. Mr. Blair is very pro-American, he is “personally” pro-life, but he is a strong opponent of it becoming a political issue –that is why I have a problem with him.

It would be very nice if the ProLife Party had a chance to win, but I fear it is just about is great a chance as the Constitution party has here in America.

Both Margaret Thatcher and Sir Winston Churchill belonged to the Conservative Party.

Below are a list of blogs that will be covering the elections. (Let me know if there is a good one that I missed.)

The Times’ Election Blog
The Guardian’s Election Blog
Labour Watch (Anti Labour Party)
2005 UK Elections (By one of the bloggers of A fistful of Euros)
UK Political Blog Feeds (Syndicates a lot of the blogs)
Tony Blair’s camping Trail Blog

Update (Coyote): The BBC also has an election blog.

The Kyrgyzstan parliament has accepted former president Askar Akayev’s resignation. Finally it is official — and the tulip revolution is officially over. I still wonder whether it was good for the country or not. It definitely was not as successful as the Orange Revolution. New elections will be held on July 10.

The Guardian also has a good article on this.

Registan.net has completely redesigned his site. It looks really nice! He has also completely changed the name of the blog, from it’s old name,The Argus

Powerline also completely redesigned their website. It is nice, though I find that ads rather repulsive to enjoyable reading — and I kind of liked their old names, like “The Rocket”, etc. . .

Update (Coyote): Yes, I agree with Raccoon. First Polipundit started hosting a large annoying ad in the text space (main column) above the fold, and now Powerline has done the same thing. Are they trying to compete for Drudge for the worst ad-laced layout? Does it pay enough for the annoyance it causes us the readers?

I used to enjoy going to Powerline just to enjoy the layout — now as Raccoon sadly notices they have even shed their old monikers. Oh dear. . . I guess things can’t stay the good old way.

According to Mosnews.com, Vladimir Kulakov, the deputy director of the Russian Women�s Health Center has reported in a video confrence last Friday that:

Two million abortions are performed in Russia every year, with only 1.5 million children actually being born. Moreover, badly performed surgeries kill every third patient and leave many infertile for the rest of their lives.

And still feminists around the world, and other orginizations support having abortion a choice-because of the women!?

Hat Tip: Pro-Life Blogs

Protestors have taken control of the main government buildings in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital, including the presidential palace. President Akayev has fled, some say by helicopter to Kazakstan.

Hat tip: Registan

Update (by Coyote): Actually, it seems President Akayev has resigned, at least according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Also, Publius Pundit has a neat survey of the last month’s revolutions in flowers.

Update (Coyote again): According to the Argus, Akayev has not yet resigned, although much of his cabinet has.

Here are some neat pictures of the Lebanese protests this Monday:

(Via Carpe Bonum.)

Robert Mayer over at Publius Pundit has a great roundup of the latest news out of Lebanon.
(Hat tip: The Corner)

According to VOA news the polls have closed in Kyrgyzstan. It will be interesting to see what the result is; so far it seems to have not been all fair play:

“The Kyrgyzstan election comes after several-thousand people in northern and eastern regions of the country blocked roads to protest court rulings that banned several popular candidates from running. According to the country’s Central Election Commission, in the eastern Tong district, the voting for one parliament seat was delayed for two weeks because the roadblocks made it impossible to deliver ballots.

“The blockade ended on Saturday, but the disqualified candidates have called for their supporters to vote against all candidates. If a majority of voters vote against all the candidates in a particular district, a second election would have to be held. Preliminary results are not expected before Monday. “

Could this become the next orange revolution? Perhaps. In any case, Argus has been doing a great job following this story.

Over in England the former head of the Conservative party, Iain Duncan Smith, says the blogosphere may change his party’s fortunes. As he writes:

“But the blogosphere will become a force in Britain, and it could ignite many new forces of conservatism. The internet’s automatic level playing field gives conservatives opportunities that mainstream media have often denied them. . . .

“Blogger communities are going to be much more powerful. They will draw together not only local people but patients who have waited and waited for NHS care. They will organise parents of disabled children who oppose Labour’s closure of special-needs schools and evangelical Christians who see their beliefs caricatured by ignorant commentators.

“All this should put the fear of God into the metropolitan elites. For years there have been widening gaps between the governing class and the governed and between the publicly funded broadcasters and the broadcasted to.

“Until now voters, viewers and service users have not had easy mechanisms by which to expose officialdom’s errors and inefficiencies. But, because of the internet, the masses beyond the metropolitan fringe will soon be on the move. They will expose the lazy journalists who reduce every important public policy issue to how it affects opinion-poll ratings.

“Tired of being spoon-fed their politics, British voters will soon be calling virtual town hall meetings, and they will take a serious look at the messenger as well as the message. It’s going to be very rough.”

Let us hope he is right.

SCSU Scholars has noted that Yulia Tymoshenko is the first female prime minister in all of CIS.