(10-14-2026 06:47 AM)TripleA Wrote:  I'm still trying to figure out Todor's motivation as an American (I assume) for being pro-Russian and other issues that are generally anti-American.

If he loves Russia more than America, he should give up his citizenship here, and move there.

But he won't.

(10-14-2026 06:49 AM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  

(10-14-2026 06:47 AM)TripleA Wrote:  I'm still trying to figure out Todor's motivation as an American (I assume) for being pro-Russian and other issues that are generally anti-American.

If he loves Russia more than America, he should give up his citizenship here, and move there.

But he won't.

Yep, it's a lot easier to be a communist while living in a democracy than be democratic while living in a communist state.

(10-14-2026 07:26 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(10-14-2026 06:49 AM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  

(10-14-2026 06:47 AM)TripleA Wrote:  I'm still trying to figure out Todor's motivation as an American (I assume) for being pro-Russian and other issues that are generally anti-American.

If he loves Russia more than America, he should give up his citizenship here, and move there.

But he won't.

Yep, it's a lot easier to be a communist while living in a democracy than be democratic while living in a communist state.

But we're not a democracy.

We're a constitutional republic.

Democracy leads to communism.

(10-14-2026 07:27 AM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  

(10-14-2026 07:26 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(10-14-2026 06:49 AM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  

(10-14-2026 06:47 AM)TripleA Wrote:  I'm still trying to figure out Todor's motivation as an American (I assume) for being pro-Russian and other issues that are generally anti-American.

If he loves Russia more than America, he should give up his citizenship here, and move there.

But he won't.

Yep, it's a lot easier to be a communist while living in a democracy than be democratic while living in a communist state.

But we're not a democracy.

We're a constitutional republic.

Democracy leads to communism.

Point still stands.

(10-14-2026 06:49 AM)BirdHawkEagle Wrote:  

(10-14-2026 06:47 AM)TripleA Wrote:  I'm still trying to figure out Todor's motivation as an American (I assume) for being pro-Russian and other issues that are generally anti-American.

If he loves Russia more than America, he should give up his citizenship here, and move there.

But he won't.

"Porque le gusta la chi chi', because he likes to suck on the teat.

https://www.eurasiareview.com/27062026-n...hina-oped/

Nice op-ed piece about things the West is ignoring about North Korea.

The recent surge in economic growth development are generally attributed by Western analysts to be the result of increased trade with Russia and China only. And Russias delivery of huge amounts of food and fuel have certainly helped.

But what North Korea is doing with it is more telling. They could sit on it and hoard it for future needs instead of using it to help fuel an economic revival on a more widespread level. They don’t have to spread it around, build any new buildings, or try to work on their developing tech sector.

But they are. They are using the increases to try to do more and develop new industries, working for a more export based economy.

These are internal changes that we haven’t seen before during more Stalinist economic thinking. Since we are usually about 5-10 years behind in North Korean analysis, we are seeing the final results of changes that happened ages ago.

After all, much of the current building boom was started long before any money from the Russian SMO in Ukraine even began, so using Russian money as the primary explanation ignores changes that were already well underway.

To provide some context to the building in the center of the picture on the opinion piece.

• The Structure: The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang is a 330-meter-tall (1,080 ft), 105-story pyramid-shaped skyscraper.
• History & Stoppage: Construction began in 1987 as a Cold War prestige project intended to open ahead of the 1989 World Festival of Youth and Students. Work ground to a halt in 1992 following the collapse of the Soviet Union—North Korea's primary economic backer—leaving the concrete shell vacant for decades.
• Current Status: While exterior glass panels and LED lighting were added later (turning the facade into a massive light display for state animations), the interior remains a raw, uncompleted shell that has never hosted a single guest. Other residential and high-rise clusters around central Pyongyang have also faced prolonged construction stalls.

North Korea, China, the former Soviet Union have been doing this stuff forever.

(10-12-2026 04:19 PM)Mr_XcentricK Wrote:  Probably not AI because they know we can take satellite photos but North Korea and China have built empty skyscrapers before. Project building boom on the outside but unfinished and abandoned on the inside.

Funded by dead North Korean soldiers in Ukraine and ammunition shipped to Russia.

Previously stated in this very thread-

“Other than 1 hotel that was started when Kim Jong Un was 5 years old, what building projects in North Korea are abandoned?

He cleaned it up a little and made it less of an eyesore, but there’s no reason for him to waste money finishing something that serves no purpose. I’d be more concerned if he was spending large amounts of money on that hotel than on things North Korean people need, because there are plenty.

But honestly, no country I know of outranks the US in the size or scale of unfinished boondoggle projects.

Why are there 15 miles of tunnels built and billions spent on a supercollider project in Texas, but the worlds scientists go to Switzerland for their research?

Why, roughly 40 years later are authorities in Alabama still trying to figure out what to do with unfinished nuclear reactors that were nearly completed, never operated, and have sat abandoned for most of my life? What’s that $6 billion in today’s money btw?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellefonte_Nuclear_Plant

Why? Because not everything that gets started gets finished. Even if you have the money.

If North Korea has multiple ongoing new projects falling into this category, that would be an issue.

But as things stand, he’s got money, he’s rapidly building projects like housing that people need, and getting $hit done, despite the odds and lack of resources. And according to diplomats living there, it’s country wide, and not confined to just the capital at all.”

——-
If we did as much as Kim Jong Un does with so little, we wouldn’t be $40 trillion in debt and still unable to corral North Korea lol.

And if we focused on our own failures instead of other peoples, we might accomplish more.

But as long as we can get away with printing free money, we look like the economic smart guys.

But we won’t for long, because we can’t afford the ink for much longer.

Yeonmi Park
What I learned about freedom after escaping North Korea

https://www.ted.com/talks/yeonmi_park_wh...orth_korea

38North covering developments outside Pyongyang as well

https://www.38north.org/2026/08/beyond-p...rth-korea/

5 years ago at the Eighth Party Congress in January 2021, Kim called for more development of the rural economy.

Kim stated in his concluding speech that “the living standards of the people in the local cities and counties including the rural communities are very low and backward” and he promised to “pay attention from now on to developing the local economy and improving the local people’s standard of living.”

Not long after that, the 20X10 program began.

To contrast, many years ago his predecessors declared rural underdevelopment already solved when it clearly wasn’t.

Un is much, much more candid than anything NK has seen before.

Analysis shows by 2024 new housing projects had been completed in 190 towns and villages, and by 2026 projects were finished in all but 2 counties.

For a government trying to convince people that life is getting better, these new housing developments can serve as visual indicators of that narrative.

As these rural development programs are being carried out, the construction progress can be easily verified on commercial satellite imagery. In Songchon, for example, both the new hospital and factory complexes are easily visible and match the images broadcast on state television.

But that is the extent to which satellite imagery can be used to verify these projects. What cannot be seen, and what will determine the enduring legacy of the 20×10 initiative, is a question of resources: whether local communities can keep these factories and facilities running after the opening ceremonies.

As noted in the guidance, most of the responsibility for raw material supply and factory operation falls to local authorities. The emphasis on local production of raw material aligns with the state’s aim to raise the level of regional industry. Each factory is creating a local supply chain rather than relying on materials shipped from elsewhere.

Another important challenge is the supply of electricity needed to keep these new facilities running. North Korea is energy starved and households receive a fraction of their required electricity, especially in the rural regions. Factories are supposed to enjoy better supply, but at least one report says a regional industry factory is down to working only three hours a day due to lack of power.

Ultimately, for Kim Jong Un to really eliminate the “backwardness” of the rural areas as his grandfather long ago aspired to do, it will take more than new buildings and showy ceremonies. Factory and facility upkeep, power, supply chains, workforce training, and more will all need to be in place for any kind of meaningful and sustainable success.

I've never known a real communist sympathizer until now.

Ever wondered how a backward country like North Korea gained nuclear and missile technology? Yeah, of course we all know. And they would have handed it over to the world‘s biggest state terrorist, Iran if they could have. While Russia builds the Iranian nuclear machine.
Most all of the world’s troubles originate out of the Islamic religion, and the mafia state of Russia.

(11-02-2026 11:29 AM)Was SoMs Eagle Wrote:  Ever wondered how a backward country like North Korea gained nuclear and missile technology? Yeah, of course we all know. And they would have handed it over to the world‘s biggest state terrorist, Iran if they could have. While Russia builds the Iranian nuclear machine.
Most all of the world’s troubles originate out of the Islamic religion, and the mafia state of Russia.

Best check some facts before spouting off.

Iran got its nuclear start way back during the Eisenhower era during “Atoms for Peace.”

We built Irans first nuclear reactor for them in 1967.

None of that has a thing to do with North Korea.