As one giant Battlestar Galactica geek, this is probably the hottest thing LiNK has ever done (Via. LiNKorea)

[ from mondonation.com: “Grace Park believes in loving and saving the people in North Korea and wants to bring attention to the injustice of the government’s treatment of the Korean people in her sister-homeland.” ]

LiNK and mondonation
www.mondonation.com

LiNK and mondonation have partnered using mondonation’s innovative model. Starting now, visitors can go to mondonation.com and purchase a t-shirt or pillow with their personal belief printed on. Then, on top of mondonation’s donation, visitors can choose to donate anywhere from $1 to $20 to their charity of choice. Of course, LiNK is now officially one of mondonation’s special charities!

For more information on mondonation, click here:
[ about mondonation ]

Did it just get really hot in here? Yes it did. Anyway, buy a shirt now!

Update: (Via. BigHominid) Well, this allegory to Cylons is genius. In three seasons I’ve never thought of it that way.

(Update: It was 92 refugees arrested, not 86 as originally posted) Thankfully, not to North Korea

Thailand says it will deport 92 North Koreans who were detained in a Bangkok suburb last week for entering the country illegally. But the foreign ministry says they will probably not be repatriated to North Korea.

The 76 adults in the North Korean group were convicted by a Thai court for illegal entry into the kingdom and sentenced to prison. But their sentences were immediately suspended, and they were put on probation while awaiting deportation.

Thai foreign ministry spokesman Kitti Wasinondh told VOA it is unlikely the adults and 16 children will be heading back to the home they fled. He said that in the case of illegal North Korean refugees, his country takes humanitarian considerations into account.

“I don’t think they will be deported to North Korea,” he said. “Our law specifies that they have to be deported, so it’s up to a third country to offer [asylum].”

So from what I see, Thailand is going to do everything they can to prevent refugees from entering the country, but once they are caught inside the country, they will deport them to a third country. It’s not exactly a good deal for refugees, but it’s much better than any other options.

(Via. The Marmot) I guess it’s one thing to be silent about human rights, but another to allow drug running between the Koreas to go unabated

Five years ago, a Chinese ship called the Chuxing visiting the port of Pusan was found to be carrying 91 kilograms of methamphetamine. Customs officials and prosecutors let it go.

Two years later, officials nabbed 45 kgs of the same drugs from the same vessel. Again, they let it go.

In fact, according to customs and prosecution data, the plucky Chuxing has been caught smuggling drugs and counterfeit cigarettes no less than 12 times. And I think we may safely assume that on many occasions its cargo has made it unobserved into the Korean market.

The normal explanation for such a limp-wristed approach to law enforcement would be corruption: the gangsters must have got to the customs people. Or maybe they had a man on the inside. But in this case, it’s something else. The Chuxing is distinct because it plies an unusual route. For many years, it has been making a weekly run between Pusan and the North Korean port of Rajin.

Yes, it’s those North Koreans again. This time, they’re running drugs and counterfeits into South Korea. But the authorities here have been turning a blind eye in the greater interests of the sunshine engagement policy with North Korea.