Kid steals sign in North Korea, comes home in a coma

[tigerpiper]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/15/politi...rea/index.html

Kid at University of Virginia takes rougue tourist trip to North Korean. Goes onto employee level of tourist foreigner hotel and steals propaganda poster. Sentenced to fifteen years hard labor.

Flash forward to yesterday and he's on his way home but he's in a coma, first the family had heard since sentencing a year ago.


"...The Warmbier family doesn't believe North Korea's explanation that the 22-year-old fell into a coma after contracting botulism and taking a sleeping pill shortly after he was sentenced in March 2016, Warmbier's father told reporters Thursday.
"Even if you believe their explanation of botulism and a sleeping pill causing a coma -- and we don't -- there is no excuse for any civilized nation to have kept his condition a secret and denied him top-notch medical care for so long," Fred Warmbier said during a news conference at southern Ohio's Wyoming High School, where Otto had graduated."

ABC timeline

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/timel...ry?id=48015088

Young Pioneer Tours

http://www.youngpioneertours.com/

"Welcome to Young Pioneer Tours, the first company to offer budget tours to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Young Pioneer Tours is an adventure travel company formed in 2008 and based in mainland China. Specialising in North Korea tours, we provide “budget travel to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from”.


So this raises some questions- how stupid was this kid? He goes to North Korea, despite well known travel ban, dictatorship, cold war status, while there does something stupid and now maybe pays with his life. Does he deserve it? Is it some kind of Darwin award, i.e. if he'd been prevented from going to North Korea would he have fucked up his life in another way?

There is no US diplomatic presence there, so the Swedes do what they can for our citizens, I assume lost passports or whatnot that would be handled in other countries by the US Consulate. How much should the US have done for one stupid kid who acted despite clear obvious warnings?

Finally, what do you think really happened to him? I think they probably beat him up in custody and mistakenly went too far, hence the coma.

[tigerpiper]

He also blamed the theft on a prop-bet(?) from a secret society at the college- kind of like a members only secret handshake fraternity.


"Warmbier, of Wyoming, Ohio, reportedly said in a tearful statement ahead of the trial in Pyongyang that he tried to steal the poster in exchange for a $10,000 used car.
"I have made the worst mistake of my life," the student said in a March 16 court hearing.

He also said that the Z Society, a secret club at the University of Virginia, promised him membership if he was successful at stealing the poster, according to The New York Times, citing North Korean state media. A member at the Z society at UVA that the organization had never been in contact with Warmbier."

[shortbuspoker]

that is what you get for doing something beyond fucking stupid

[simpdog]

[simpdog]

Also a nice Thanks Obama for not negotiating the release earlier.

[cmoney]

How was it is illegal to go to Cuba yet legal to travel to North Korea?

[tigerpiper]

I have a new theory about the coma. The North Koreans gave him some brain-dead making drug a year ago. Wait a year for it to leave his system.

They can now be done with him, not have to pay (lol) to have him locked up for the next 15 years, OR more importantly have to put up with his pestering parents, AND he never talks.

Even just fentanyl could do it.

[NaturalBornHustler]

They basically beat him into a coma, and now are dumping the body off to the US before he dies.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/15/politi...rea/index.html

Wipe these motherfuckers off the face of the earth.

[Charham]

Poor kid with no common sense. A coma? But he seems to be standing and walking. Can you still be in a coma?

[DonaldTrumpsHairPiece]

Odd situation but considering how down right evil North Korea is (look at his own bro's death), I wouldn't doubt they messed him up and dumped him on purpose.

Why would anyone even go there.

[Ken Hordell]

I saw the press conference with the Dad today. It was actually pretty heartbreaking. But, his Dad knew he was going to North Korea and did not try to stop it. Kind of like that soldier who left camp and joined the Taliban and got the support of his Dad. Then he got the shit kicked out of him for 5 years.

I am going out on a limb, but nobody from America needs to be going anywhere in North Korea, most of Africa and Syria and Iran. Call it instinct. Fuck, what the fuck is the matter with people.

Hey, lets go to the Sudan. WTF.

[Lord of the Fraud]

I saw the press conference with the Dad today. It was actually pretty heartbreaking. But, his Dad knew he was going to North Korea and did not try to stop it. Kind of like that soldier who left camp and joined the Taliban and got the support of his Dad. Then he got the shit kicked out of him for 5 years.

I am going out on a limb, but nobody from America needs to be going anywhere in North Korea, most of Africa and Syria and Iran. Call it instinct. Fuck, what the fuck is the matter with people.

Hey, lets go to the Sudan. WTF.

Those NK trips are run by specialist travel companies. There's actually little risk in visiting Pyongyang if you just stick to the script.

The guy was super pathetic during his kangaroo trial. Maybe his legal advisor told him to cry like a little girl?. Either way I felt really sorry for him. As he didn't deserve that shit.

[Ken Hordell]

I saw the press conference with the Dad today. It was actually pretty heartbreaking. But, his Dad knew he was going to North Korea and did not try to stop it. Kind of like that soldier who left camp and joined the Taliban and got the support of his Dad. Then he got the shit kicked out of him for 5 years.

I am going out on a limb, but nobody from America needs to be going anywhere in North Korea, most of Africa and Syria and Iran. Call it instinct. Fuck, what the fuck is the matter with people.

Hey, lets go to the Sudan. WTF.

Those NK trips are run by specialist travel companies. There's actually little risk in visiting Pyongyang if you just stick to the script.

Are you a stand up comic??? Stick to the script? Guy is 21 years old in a hotel room, getting hammered and sees a sign of fat boy dictator? Stick to the script? He stuck to the script as a 21 year old and began peeling it off the wall. He never should have been anywhere near there, no 21 year old should have been in NK that was my point. Little risk being in Pyongyang(?), how about you go there with this site bookmarked on your phone and see where that gets you?

[Crowe Diddly]

How was it is illegal to go to Cuba yet legal to travel to North Korea?

Neither one is illegal. The 2nd one, however, the State Dept STRONGLY recommends US citizens stay away from.

[Lord of the Fraud]

Those NK trips are run by specialist travel companies. There's actually little risk in visiting Pyongyang if you just stick to the script.

Are you a stand up comic??? Stick to the script? Guy is 21 years old in a hotel room, getting hammered and sees a sign of fat boy dictator? Stick to the script? He stuck to the script as a 21 year old and began peeling it off the wall. He never should have been anywhere near there, no 21 year old should have been in NK that was my point. Little risk being in Pyongyang(?), how about you go there with this site bookmarked on your phone and see where that gets you?

Wouldn't visit a country where i'm kept on a leash myself.

But thousands of Western tourists visit North Korea every year. Including Americans. It's highly strict and you are told in no uncertain terms to not fuck up and do everything your guide asks. But he fucked up.

What he did wouldn't even get you kicked out of the hotel in the West. But he would've known at the time he was taking a huge risk (tho not 15 years hard labour risk)

I mean if he wasn't American, then he probably just gets arrested then deported. Again he would of been advised of the greater risk if he broke their backwards laws.

Bottom line is. If you don't fuck up. You don't have a problem.... But ye, he shouldn't of even gone in the first place. especially as a 21yo carefree yanktard.

[shortbuspoker]

How was it is illegal to go to Cuba yet legal to travel to North Korea?

Neither one is illegal. The 2nd one, however, the State Dept STRONGLY recommends US citizens stay away from.

[tigerpiper]

I saw the press conference with the Dad today. It was actually pretty heartbreaking. But, his Dad knew he was going to North Korea and did not try to stop it. Kind of like that soldier who left camp and joined the Taliban and got the support of his Dad. Then he got the shit kicked out of him for 5 years.

I am going out on a limb, but nobody from America needs to be going anywhere in North Korea, most of Africa and Syria and Iran. Call it instinct. Fuck, what the fuck is the matter with people.

Hey, lets go to the Sudan. WTF.

Bowe Bergdahl

Serial Season 2 podcast was all about that.


https://serialpodcast.org/season-two

I think your analogy is a good one, however, Bergdahl was a trained soldier doing something knowingly foolish for a goal (he said he wanted to bring attention to failures in his unit's leadership- not everyone believed him, but that's what he said).

Warmbier is just an unthinking man child. I think Warmbier is stupider, for reasons including that he has no value to his captors while Bergdahl was extremely valuable alive, worthless dead, but they're both pretty far out there on the stupid continuum.

[Charham]

Are you a stand up comic??? Stick to the script? Guy is 21 years old in a hotel room, getting hammered and sees a sign of fat boy dictator? Stick to the script? He stuck to the script as a 21 year old and began peeling it off the wall. He never should have been anywhere near there, no 21 year old should have been in NK that was my point. Little risk being in Pyongyang(?), how about you go there with this site bookmarked on your phone and see where that gets you?

Wouldn't visit a country where i'm kept on a leash myself.

But thousands of Western tourists visit North Korea every year. Including Americans. It's highly strict and you are told in no uncertain terms to not fuck up and do everything your guide asks. But he fucked up.

What he did wouldn't even get you kicked out of the hotel in the West. But he would've known at the time he was taking a huge risk (tho not 15 years hard labour risk)

I mean if he wasn't American, then he probably just gets arrested then deported. Again he would of been advised of the greater risk if he broke their backwards laws.

Bottom line is. If you don't fuck up. You don't have a problem.... But ye, he shouldn't of even gone in the first place. especially as a 21yo carefree yanktard.

"Bottom line is. If you don't fuck up. You don't have a problem." Until they want to make a point. This is a country who kidnaps Japanese people in their own country, assassinates people abroad, etc. Even if you follow their rules you are at substantial risk they change the rules or they will make something up if suddenly having an American prisoner makes sense.

[BCR]

A senior citizen woman clocked me with a golf club in her hand in the cheek/eye area yesterday morning when when I just happened to be walking behind her towards clubhouse restaurant while she was having an animated conversation with some other old hens and she gesticulated backwards with her arm at exactly the wrong moment, striking yours truly.

I've had a headache since and just had what felt like a long dream that I was starting a heavy metal label called Gristerella Records and was signing bands. I kept saying, "Gristerella, like Cinderella man," and they'd reply "that's a killer name dude"

It's quite possible I have brain damage and this may be my last post. This felt the appropriate thread. If we had a US Open thread, that would have been the appropriate thread, but this will have to do.

[DonaldTrumpsHairPiece]

A senior citizen woman clocked me with a golf club in her hand in the cheek/eye area yesterday morning when when I just happened to be walking behind her towards clubhouse restaraunt while she was having an animated conversation with some other old hens and she gesticulated backwards with her arm at exactly the wrong moment, striking yours truly.

I've had a headache since and just had what felt like a long dream that I was starting a heavy metal label called Gristerella Records and was signing bands. I kept saying, "Gristerella, like Cinderella man," and they'd reply "that's a killer name dude"

It's quite possible I have brain damage and this may be my last post. This felt the appropriate thread. If we had a US Open thread, that would have been the appropriate thread, but this will have to do.

Are you a caddy?