26 May 2011

In which Jams O' Donnell increases his vockablary

I would recomend that everyone visits the Korean Central News Agency (a propaganda organ of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea... Hah) at least once in their life. It is not, most definitely not,  that I endorse the North Korean regime in any way, shape or form; it is just that the way English is used by the KCNA is a sight to behold. 

Here is an extract from a report entitled Dissemination of Juche Idea to Be Intensified in Various Countries

Pyongyang, May 25 (KCNA) -- The Bangladesh Institute of the Juche Idea made public a statement on May 18 in support of the decision of the 13th enlarged meeting of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the International Institute of the Juche Idea and the appeal to the Juche idea followers of the world adopted at the Latin American regional seminar on the Juche idea.

The statement noted that President Kim Il Sung founded the Juche idea to clearly indicate the way for the accomplishment of the human cause of independence and ushered in the rise of the Songun revolution under the banner of the Juche idea, thus making immortal contributions to global independence.

Under the Songun leadership of Kim Jong Il perfectly carrying forward the idea and cause of the President the Korean people are setting a shining example in defending the sovereignty of the country and the socialist gains and building a great prosperous and powerful country of Juche, it added.


But I digress. A couple of days ago this headline had me scratching my won head in puzzlement: 1,551 Macrobians in Cuba

"What on earth is a macrobian?", I asked myself. The text was of little help:

There are 1,551 Macrobians above 100 years old in Cuba at present. This is an increase of 10 over that last year, Cuban newspaper Granma said.

A Google search of the word pointed me to Wikipedia/ It seems that Macrobians were an ancient people who lived on the Somali peninsula during the 1st millennium BC. They were mentioned by Herodotus as being a nation of people that had mastered longevity with the average Macrobian living till the age of 120. They were said to be the "Tallest and Handsomest of all men"

So Cuba is home to over 1,500 elderly Somalis? Perhaps they moved there to take advantage of Cuba's high standard of healthcare.

Wiktionary defines macrobian as "having an exceptionally long lifespan"

So there you have it. a macrobian is basically someone who is very old. I live and learn. Had it not been for an occasional dip into the surreal world of North Korean propaganda I may never have encountered this word.

Make of this what you will...

16 comments:

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Looks like they've used the awful internet translator things to me. No one should ever use them.

jams o donnell said...

I wouldn't be surprised. What it odd is that N Korean apologists the world over seem to revel in writing in the same turgid way

Francis Hunt said...

It is not for the capitalistic running-dogs of mockery to be downsizing with the glorious achieving accomplishments of the Dear Leader ...

jams o donnell said...

Fear not Comrade Francis for I am a tireless soldier of juche, striving to implement the celestial ideals of the Dear Leader and am relentless in my desire to see a worker-peasant paradise rise triumphantly in the ashes of of this feudal land notwithstanding the vile attacks of the the fascist lackeys queen who desire naught but the trample the hopes, dream and aspirations of the workers of this land into the dust and grind their bones to ashes for the delight and enrichment of their brutal capitalist masters.

It's a lot harder to write this drivel than I thought!

Claude said...

Are you sure it wasn't Microbian? "Anyway..."

Liz Hinds said...

I'm sure they're some propaganda to be had out of these macrobians.

jams o donnell said...

It sounds right Claude!

No doubt about that Liz!

Francis Hunt said...

The hegemony of the enlightened intelligentia, acting as the cutting edge of the proletariat, expresses itself in the will of the Party leadership, which, as a result of its study of dialectic materialism and, acting always in the interests of the proletariat and as such always taking the correct position according to the inevitable dictates of dialectical materialism, may, during the phase of the dictatorship of the proletariat, which must be understood as a transitional phase on the way to the realisation of the end of alienation and the withering away of the state, as defining the attainment of true communism, demand the installation of dictatorial structures to protect the revolution against the forces of reactionary bourgeois capitalism, both internal and from abroad. Seen from this aspect, the ascendancy of the Kim dynasty in the Peoples Republic of North Korea, is a necessary and inevitable stage in the progression of the liberation of the masses worldwide, flowing from the glorious example of North Korea; for the Kims embody the intellectual enlightenment and true understanding of the mechanics of dialectic materialism and, as such, guarantee the security and purity of the emancipation of workers and peasants, defined in the teaching of Marx, Lenin and Mao, as the class to which the future belongs …

No problem, jams, I can write this kind of bullshit for hours. :-) Now, if only I could find someone who’d pay me for it …

Claude said...

We'll pay you to stop, Francis....:)

jams o donnell said...

Now that is an excellent idea Claude.. and Francis gets paid too!

Claude said...

I'll find the sponsors!

I'll call the Organisation:"The Benefactors for The Sound of Silence."

jams o donnell said...

Now this is a fine idea Claude. I will be happy to contribute generously!

Claude said...

We'll pay for minutes of silence. We might succeed in stopping the propagandist bullshit of any religion, political party, philosophy...No more speeches, debates, sermons, indoctrination. No more advertisers babbling their products away.

We'll just send one card to the culprits: SHUT UP! WE'LL PAY!

I just gave myself 5 bucks to stop this comment. Cheers!

jams o donnell said...

Wow Claude now that is a superb scheme. You will be rich, RICH!

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Ach, dear old KCNA. I try not to check with them more than once a week, cause its' addictive.

jams o donnell said...

It certainly is addictive mon ami!