Havel and Kim Jong Il

It's easy to say that all Nations get political leaders they deserve. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Maybe a people that has no desire to better its lot would get what the history lobs at it. It is difficult to say why the Czechs and Slovaks deserved an imperfect humanist like Vaclav Havel and the Koreans a perfect tyrant like Kim Jong Il as their leaders. The answer may lurk in history and time, and Nation's soul, or somewhere.

Well, hopefully they'll not issue a...a...Hey, what's fatwa in Korean? While you think that you may want to read the article Kim Jong Il Might Be Gone, But the Satire Will Live Forever in The Atlantic.

The Turkish version of the nations' destinies goes like this: 'It is not only the fault of the axe but the tree as well'. Somehow 'Cometh the hour, cometh the man' sounds more optimistic and kindly. Perhaps both influenced by their environments?

Freewheelin' Europe

When the bottom is reached, it will hurt. If there is a bottom in this European bog.

Looks like Bob Dylan was forecasting the European Union's dim economic future with his album 'Freewheelin' (1963) with such tracks as "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "Boots of Spanish Leather".