Most horrific dictators of all times
Here is a comprehensive, up-to-date list of current world dictators and authoritarian regimes.
Top 10 Most Evil Women in History
Here we have not just evil serial killers, but other utterly despicable women who have caused tragedy in many people’s lives. So, without further ado, here are the top 10 most evil women in history.
Top 10 Most Hated Celebrities of 2010
Bumpshack’s annual ‘10 Most Hated Celebrities’ post started back in 2006 when the site was still in it’s infancy. The post garnered tons of attention, hits, and led to me being interviewed, in studio, on MSNBC Live.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tyrants of the History: Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, also named Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the 5th and last Emperor of the Julio Claudian dynasty. He was the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina Juventa, sister of emperor Caligula. (The sickness was in the blood) Nero was adopted by his uncle to become heir to the throne. As Nero Claudius Caesar Germanicus, he made it to the throne on October 54, after Claudius’s death.
Nero reigned from 54 to 68, focusing much of his efforts on diplomacy, commerce, and improving the cultural capital of the Roman world. He instructed the building of theaters and promoted sport games. His reign included a succesful war and negotiated peace with the Parths, the suppression of the British uprising and increasing relations with Greece. The First War against Israel started during his rule. One year later a military coup drove Emperor Nero away from his throne. Facing execution, he cut his throat on 9 June 68.
Nero’s reign is associated with extreme tyranny and unimaginable extravagance. He is well known for ordering a great number of executions, including those of his mother and foster brother, as the Emperor who “fiddled while Rome burned”, and as an fierce persecutor of the first Christians. This image of him is based upon the main surviving sources for Nero’s reign - Dio Cassius, Tacitus and Suetonius. Very few sources paint Nero in a favorable light.
Most Hated Video: Justin Bieber Breaks the Record With One Million Dislikes
With more than 1,150,340 dislikes, and still counting, as well as a full 5 videos on the top ten most hated video list, the poor baby Justin of formerly mop topped fame has more YouTube thumbs down on his 'Baby' video than any other unfortunate competitor. Over four million comments discuss the merits-or lack thereof-of the clip.
Take heart, though: "Baby" also became the first video ever to reach 500 million views today.
Watch the most hated video ever below:
Massive changes in the Force are reported and Rebecca Black's Friday has soared past all other challengers and will likely top Bieber as the most hated video on Internet. Keep you posted.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Breaking News: FBI Urge Public to Help Solve Zodiac Serial Killer Case
In what looks like a throwback to the still unsolved Zodiac serial killings that terrified the San Francisco Bay Area in the 70s, the Federal Bureau of Investigations has released a public appeal for amateur detectives to help solve a key cryptographic clue in a 1999 murder case.
On June 30th, 1999, police officers in St. Louis, Missouri found the body of 41-year-old Ricky McCormick, who had been killed and dumped in a ditch on a field. The only hints detectives recovered from the scene were two encrypted notes stuffed into the victim's pockets.
"Despite extensive work by our Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU), as well as help from the American Cryptogram Association, the meanings of those two coded notes remain a mystery to this day, and Ricky McCormick's murderer has yet to face justice," the FBI said in a press release today. CRRU chief Dan Olson stated, "We are really good at what we do, but we could use some help with this one ... Maybe someone with a fresh set of eyes might come up with a brilliant new idea."
The Federal Bureau has reached out to the public with code breaking brain teasers in the past - but they were games, not real cases. This is an unique chance for want-to-be FBI sleuths to break their minds on code that is part of a current important investigation. The notes are after the jump.
Channel your favorite CSI character, guys. Here are the notes:
(click on images to magnify)
(click on images to magnify)
FBI is not promising any reward for assistance in solving the case at this time, but the bureau is asking people who think they may have some insight into the notes write to the address below:
FBI Laboratory
Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit
2501 Investigation Parkway
Quantico, VA 22135
Attn: Ricky McCormick Case
Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit
2501 Investigation Parkway
Quantico, VA 22135
Attn: Ricky McCormick Case
The Zodiac Killer is one of the greatest unsolved serial killer mysteries of all time, taking just second place to Jack the Ripper. In one of his last teasing letters to the news media, Zodiac claimed he had 37 people to show for his five years of terrorizing the San Francisco Bay Area. However, he was only linked conclusively to seven victims.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Mao Zedong: Reddest Sun of the World
Mao Zedong went from Chinese Marxist guerrilla to leader of the world's most populous country in 1949, and adopted a series of so called reforms to get China in line with his communist ideals. Unfortunately, they only caused mass starvation, a culture of fear, and extremely harsh political repression in which it was a common procedure to drive those who oppose to suicide. In all, it is believed Mao Zedong was the only responsible for tens of millions of deaths.
The genocide that took place during his reign in China is by far one of the worst genocides in history; worst being in terms of death toll. It is estimated that Mao
Zedong more than quadrupled the number of lives lost of that during Hitler's rule in Germany. From 1958_1961, which was known as the Great Leap Forward, the most lives were lost. Most of the people were tortured, and many others went missing.
Mao's background
For years, he formed a group of anarchist, known as the "Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants" in a bookstore located in Chang-sha. Then, after the Chinese Communist Party was formed, Mao Zedong began fighting for power as the Chairman. In 1945, he achieved his goal and began using it to further his pursuits. As Chairman he led a Chinese Civil War and with the help of the rest of the communists, forged the People's Republic of China. For more than ten years (between 1949-1960) he was the leader of this new "popular government" (and the genocide), and in the year of 1979, he was confirmed to be dead due to heart failure.
The size of the genocide
The entire time period of this genocide was from 1958 to 1969. There were different segments during this time in which greater losses occurred. The worst being the three years of the Great Leap Forward, in which anywhere from 16 to 40 million lives were lost. The total amount - making this one of the worst genocides - is at minimum 45 million. This amount varies up to 72 million since new death records reveal more details. With the evidence being carefully hidden, it's been difficult for researchers to search China's documents.
Mao's Motivations
One motivation behind this mass murder, is that Mao Zedong dreamed China to catch up economically with the western world; setting a goal of little over a decade to equal production output of competitors such as United States. Land was confiscated from peasants due to the growth of communism, and steel grew as the main import; over 50 percents. With steel being purchased, there was no resources left for food production. This naturally led to starvation. Population opposed this unfair change, but that only led to more deaths and persecutions. Only during the first year, over half a milion had been sentenced to death.
Monday, March 28, 2011
The 15 Worst Companies For The Health of Our Planet
The worst companies for the planet, as determined by Newsweek, are mostly utilities. It's difficult to live without electricity. One of the few exceptions is ConAgra, the giant packaged food company. If you go to your kitchen right now odds are you'll find a ton of ConAgra stuff.
And it's not just our food and our energy that come from these environmentally unfriendly companies. Our pension funds and mutual funds are invested in them.
GreenBiz: An analysis of the publicly available data shows that the 50 largest investors in the companies receiving the lowest scores — those ranked 490 through 500 on Newsweek's list — include three leading public employee pension funds as well as major mutual funds that hold millions of Americans' retirement accounts, including (in alphabetical order) American Century, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, TIAA-CREF, and Vanguard Group. All told, the 50 largest investors have sunk more than $55 billion into those worst-rated firms.
As Joel Makower at GreenBiz reports, all the money tied up in these companies is with institutional investors. If people are really worried about the environment, then they have to pressure these groups, even more than the companies themselves to get something done.
Until then, enjoy destroying the world!
#15 Archer Daniels Midland
The agricultural giant isn't terribly green.
While it's working on many biofuels, it has faced hundreds of millions of dollars worth of lawsuits for various types of pollution. According to Newsweek, it has big environmental impact, and a below average reputation.
#14 AES
Utilities are just gross.
While AES joined the US Climate Action Partnership, the industry group that supports cap and trade in July, it's a huge polluter.
#13 PPL
Allentown, PA-based electricity company PPL is hell on the world, but at least it's upfront about it.
On PPL's website is a good section on its carbon emissions. Alas, "PPL currently has no formal greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan in place." It blames the lack of coherent regulation.
#12 Progress Energy
Being ranked the 12th worst company in the world has to hurt Progress Energy a bit.
The company was named to Dow Jones sustainability Index for the fifth year in a row for being a leader at "managing economic, environmental and social issues." It even offers customers a chance to buy carbon offsets.
#11 Duke Energy
Jim Rogers is one of the most famous utility CEOs out there. He's been on 60 Minutes and The Colbert Report talking about clean energy. He's even said he doesn't see a future for coal in the US.
Despite all his clean energy talk, however, he's Mr. Carbon Emissions.
#10 FirstEnergy
You just can't generate electricity and not pollute.
As an aside, we saw that the CEO of FirstEnergy took a 25% pay cut as the recession took its toll on the utility. We don't know if this was up to him, but it seems like a decent thing to do.
#9 Southern
Undearneath that? Carbon capture, smart grid, corporate responsibility.
And below that? A link to the Mother Nature Network.
Nice try, Southern.
#8 Bunge
This agribuisiness doesn't have any sort of mention of the environment on its front page, so no wonder it has one of the lowest reputational ratings.
This company wrecks the planet, but at least it's not making bogus claims to the contrary.
#7 American Electric Power
The company is about to fire up the world's first carbon capture plant. Good thing.
Its coal plants are spewing lots and lots of carbon dioxide. If its clean coal plant works, maybe it will turn things around.
#6 Ameren
This utility serving Missouri and Illinois is better than many, since it uses natural gas and nuclear power.
But it's still really bad, says Newsweek..
#5 Consol Energy
As one of the country's biggest coal miners, Consol is one the worst environmental offenders.
Consol had the second most poltical donations in 2008 amongst miners. You can bet they'll be spending more to make sure cap and trade doesn't happen.
#4 ConAgra Foods
One of the biggest packaged food companies is also one of the worst for the earth.
In 2006, ConAgra was ripped by CERES for its lack of environmentally responsible behavior. It apparently didn't do much to fix that in the intervening years.
#3 Allegheny Energy
While it's obviously not doing well on this list, Allegheny appears to be taking some proactive steps, including spending $1.2 billion on clean air technology.
It's also measuring its carbon dioxide emissions, and looking at alternatives.
#2 NRG Energy
NRG Energy is another hulking utility that belches pollution. It's also tiptoeing its way into cleaner energy.
It's going to be testing clean coal, with the help of a big check from the DOE. It's also going to build solar and wind farms.
#1 Peabody Energy
Worst of the worst.
Peabody Energy (BTU) is a coal company, so this makes sense, but boy did they flame out on Newsweek's rankings. Peabody's environmental impact is huge, says Newsweek, and its environmental policies are minimal.
NOTE: British Petroleum the chronic polluter of 2011 deserves a special dedicated article. Coming soon.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
US likes Wars against Dictators as they're good for Everything
Since two long bloody wars weren’t really sufficient for USA, the almighty American politicians figured why the heck not launch a 3rd cool military [mis]adventure into dangerous foreign country to help save countless of
U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
What do you think, the land that produced Hollywood and Paris Hilton was just going to sit back eating popcorn and having nervous breakdowns live via Foxnews and CNN while the rest of the world obtained their cool war on? Well, we’re fighters, here remember?
A large alliance including the U.S., France, U.K., Canada, Norway and Italy has begun launching air strikes on Libya designed to disable air defenses, as the Western world tries to force Colonel Muammar Gaddafi from power.
The move is the first direct U.S.A. involvement in the U.N. operation mobilizing to stop Libyan tyrant Muammar Gaddafi’s attacks on opposition sanctuaries and enforce a United Nations backed no fly zone.
Some twenty-five coalition ships, including three American submarines armed with Tomahawk missiles stationed in the Mediterranean will participate in the operation, called 'Odyssey-Dawn' that will mainly target air defenses around the Libyan cities of Tripoli and Misrata.
A challenging Gaddafi said Libia will fight back against undeserved “brute aggression,” likely with his preferred kind of “brute aggression,” in the form of highly trained half-naked virgin femme fatales sporting string bikinis and slinging light weapons.
“All you people of the Islamic nations and Africa, and Latin America and Asia, stand with the Libyan people in its fight against this aggression,” Gaddafi stated, apparently unaware that the roguishly handsome man he was addressing was really his own reflection in the mirror, not his fellow citizens showing their solidarity by dressing like their favoritest mentally ill madman in a crazy dress.
In a missive sent to president Barck Obama and read to reporters by a government spokesman in capital of Libya, Gaddafi said, “I have all the Libyan people on my side and I’m ready to die. And they are ready to die for me. Men, women and even children.”
Damn, he’d even tell you to go ask them yourself, but unfortunately their tongues have all been cut out. Oops, a real d oozy!
I assume you’ll just have to take his word for it.
“What we are doing is absolutely necessary, it is perfectly legal and it is correct,” U.K. Prime Minister Cameron said. “I believe we should not stand aside while this tyrant kills his own innocent citizens.”
Our oil stocks rely upon it, God damn it!
“The use of force is not our first choice,” President Obama also stated from Brazil's capital. “It is not a choice we make easily. But we cannot just stand inactive when a dictator warns his own people that there will be no mercy.”
Unless that dictator happens to be terrorizing some worthless, poor oil-less country in sub-Saharan Africa like Sudan or whatever. Then, by all means, we’ll gladly stand calm by watching American idol instead!
But in this particular case, Mr. President just couldn't resist jumping into armed conflict, and not just an ordinary conflict, but a cute sexy little half war that is fair, hot, cool, exciting, looks great in stars ‘n stripes, and unlike our last war, doesn’t involve any long term involvement or never-ending occupation, repeated attempts to stabilize a seriously damaged psyche, or even having to find a new collection of future dictators to prop up shower her with enough flowers and chocolates to keep her happy and satisfied (and out of our hair) for the next oh, couple of decades or so.
Forget wining and dining, we’re just talking, wham bam thank you ma’ am!
But lucky for us, Donald Trump overqualified for the delicate matters of love and war.
From Foxx and_Friends:
I believe I probably have more experience of anybody [in_the_GOP_field] - whether I sell them real estate for tremendous amounts of money. I mean, I’ve dealt with everybody. And by the way, I can tell you something else. I also dealt with Gaddafi. I rented him some land. He paid me more for one night than the land was worth for more than two years, and then I didn’t let him use the land. That’s what we should be doing. I don’t want to use the f... word, but I f... him.
That’s what we should be doing.See? If mister Donald Trump were our dear president, and we were his customers, he’d at least have the courtesy to pimp us like hookers before totally screwing us. The way a true President should act. Instead of spending all his talent screwing some dumb broad, Libby or Libia or whatever.
.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
The Bloodiest Tyrant of all Times: Adolf Hitler (1889–1945)
Adolf Hitler (Schicklgrueber) was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, the fourth of Alois and Klara Hitler's six children. Fascinated from an early age by war and militarism, Hitler led an unremarkable life -- indifferent student, mediocre painter, failed artist -- until World War I provided the 25-year-old with a career (soldier) and a cause (the glorification of Germany).
From 1905 on, Hitler lived a bohemian life in Vienna on an orphan's pension and support from his mother. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (1907–1908), citing "unfitness for painting", and was told his abilities lay instead in the field of architecture.
After the first world war ended in 1918, Hitler dedicated himself to a new brand of politics and a political party defined by nationalism, anti-Semitism, and revenge. In 1933, ten years after his arrest and imprisonment for a failed Nazi coup attempt, he was elected (legally) to the German chancellorship; within less than a year, he assumed the title of Fuhrer and, as he had long promised, set about waging war on an unprecedented scale.
By the time of Hitler's own sordid death in a Berlin bunker in 1945, historians had spent years trying to cast light on the brutal rise and grisly fall of the "Thousand Year Reich." Decades later, their works have lost none of their power to shock, humble, and illuminate.
From 1905 on, Hitler lived a bohemian life in Vienna on an orphan's pension and support from his mother. He was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (1907–1908), citing "unfitness for painting", and was told his abilities lay instead in the field of architecture.
After the first world war ended in 1918, Hitler dedicated himself to a new brand of politics and a political party defined by nationalism, anti-Semitism, and revenge. In 1933, ten years after his arrest and imprisonment for a failed Nazi coup attempt, he was elected (legally) to the German chancellorship; within less than a year, he assumed the title of Fuhrer and, as he had long promised, set about waging war on an unprecedented scale.
By the time of Hitler's own sordid death in a Berlin bunker in 1945, historians had spent years trying to cast light on the brutal rise and grisly fall of the "Thousand Year Reich." Decades later, their works have lost none of their power to shock, humble, and illuminate.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Dictator's Gallery: Augusto Pinochet, The Wicked Wizard
More than 2500 people were "disappeared" during seventeen-year military regime of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, with more than 35,000 tortured to prevent, as he believed it, the country from sliding into communism. In the meantime, he was secretly funneling Chile's riches into the bank accounts of his family, his buddies, and himself.
Recognized as one of the most ruthless and violent dictators in the history of Latin America, General Augusto Pinochet's name became synonymous with human rights atrocities during the last quarter of the 20-th century. Of those, 1100 were "disappeared"—abused to death and buried in still-secret graves, or thrown from military helicopters into the Pacific Ocean. An estimated 35,000 Chileans survived imprisonment and severe torture by agents of Pinochet's political police - electric shocks, severe beatings, near-drowning, and rape in secret detention facilities. In the mid 1970s, the Pinochet reign also organized a network of secret police agencies (given the code name Operation Condor) that coordinated the repression of groups and individuals who had been identified as opponents of the military governments of the Southern Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay). Condor's methods included secret surveillance, kidnapping, interrogation, torture, and terrorist attacks. International efforts to hold General Pinochet legally accountable for human rights atrocities in Chile and acts of terrorism abroad led to his arrest for crimes against humanity in London in 1998.
Recognized as one of the most ruthless and violent dictators in the history of Latin America, General Augusto Pinochet's name became synonymous with human rights atrocities during the last quarter of the 20-th century. Of those, 1100 were "disappeared"—abused to death and buried in still-secret graves, or thrown from military helicopters into the Pacific Ocean. An estimated 35,000 Chileans survived imprisonment and severe torture by agents of Pinochet's political police - electric shocks, severe beatings, near-drowning, and rape in secret detention facilities. In the mid 1970s, the Pinochet reign also organized a network of secret police agencies (given the code name Operation Condor) that coordinated the repression of groups and individuals who had been identified as opponents of the military governments of the Southern Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay). Condor's methods included secret surveillance, kidnapping, interrogation, torture, and terrorist attacks. International efforts to hold General Pinochet legally accountable for human rights atrocities in Chile and acts of terrorism abroad led to his arrest for crimes against humanity in London in 1998.
Monday, March 21, 2011
King of Kings - Muammar al Gaddafi
Captain Muammar al Gaddafi overthrew Libya's traditional monarchy in a bloodless coup in 1969, and rapidly promoted himself to colonel, claiming that, as the leader of a people's revolution, he didn't need to be a general. Though he wields no formal title, and claims that Libya is run by its own people, no one doubts that he and his comrades holds absolute power - and use force to defend it. A true believer in one Arab state, and pan_African political union (he calls himself "king of kings of Africa" and "leader of the Arab leaders"), he has sponsored terrorist groups all around the world, including the killer brigades that carried out the massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics and the 1986 Berlin club bombing. In 2003, Libya finally accepted responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie Scotland twenty years earlier.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Natural Born Killers - What They Are
1.The majority of criminals in prison come from abusive homes, and are often called "birth criminals". They are damaged individuals who were criminals by the age of 10- most of the damage having been done by the age of
2. Most of these criminals have the same type of character flaws. The following is a list of a few of these flaws. No criminal will exhibit all of these flaws, but the majority of them will exhibit most of the flaws.
- They consciously chose to be criminals, they weren't forced into crime.
- They reflect the values of their parents and their environment.
- They can't read or write properly.
- They committed crimes as juveniles.
- They have someone in their family who has gone to prison..
- They didn't go to church or join scouts or play team sports.
- They were raised by a single parent.
- They don't like being exposed to good values; it makes them uncomfortable.
- They don't think they are doing wrong because think wrong ideas.
- They deny wrong doing even when shown the facts.
- They don't respect the criminal justice system.
- They never have experienced true happiness or peace of mind.
- They suffer from depression, anxiety and fear.
- They have addictive personalities.
- They have negative values, attitudes and behavior.
- They don't suffer guilt because their behavior is in line with their values.
- They are constantly afraid of being hurt by other criminals.
- They look and act differently because they are different.
- They neglect their bodies.
- They have problems obtaining and keeping a job.
- They have physically abused members of their family.
- They try to blame others for their actions.
- They will produce more criminals by raising abused children.
- They have inflated egos and act tough.
- They take other people's money by fraud or embezzlement and feel good about it.
- They seek their kind.
- They don't feel good in social situations.
- They don't have good people skills.
- They are not loving or kind.
- They are not law-abiding or willing to conform to rules.
- They will repeat after being released from jail or prison.
- They live under untruths; therefore, nothing works for them and their lives are a mess.
- They have sexually transmitted diseases.
- They talk big but never amount to much.
- They turn to religion while incarcerated but later reject it.
- They don't face daily tasks; they procrastinate.
- They give themselves away in group counseling without knowing it.
NOTE: Use of this article requires links to be intact.
Decades ago, Larry Lloyd founded the American Community Corrections Institute. ACCI sponsors a blog on the topic of criminal behavior and related issues.
2. Most of these criminals have the same type of character flaws. The following is a list of a few of these flaws. No criminal will exhibit all of these flaws, but the majority of them will exhibit most of the flaws.
- They consciously chose to be criminals, they weren't forced into crime.
- They reflect the values of their parents and their environment.
- They can't read or write properly.
- They committed crimes as juveniles.
- They have someone in their family who has gone to prison..
- They didn't go to church or join scouts or play team sports.
- They were raised by a single parent.
- They don't like being exposed to good values; it makes them uncomfortable.
- They don't think they are doing wrong because think wrong ideas.
- They deny wrong doing even when shown the facts.
- They don't respect the criminal justice system.
- They never have experienced true happiness or peace of mind.
- They suffer from depression, anxiety and fear.
- They have addictive personalities.
- They have negative values, attitudes and behavior.
- They don't suffer guilt because their behavior is in line with their values.
- They are constantly afraid of being hurt by other criminals.
- They look and act differently because they are different.
- They neglect their bodies.
- They have problems obtaining and keeping a job.
- They have physically abused members of their family.
- They try to blame others for their actions.
- They will produce more criminals by raising abused children.
- They have inflated egos and act tough.
- They take other people's money by fraud or embezzlement and feel good about it.
- They seek their kind.
- They don't feel good in social situations.
- They don't have good people skills.
- They are not loving or kind.
- They are not law-abiding or willing to conform to rules.
- They will repeat after being released from jail or prison.
- They live under untruths; therefore, nothing works for them and their lives are a mess.
- They have sexually transmitted diseases.
- They talk big but never amount to much.
- They turn to religion while incarcerated but later reject it.
- They don't face daily tasks; they procrastinate.
- They give themselves away in group counseling without knowing it.
NOTE: Use of this article requires links to be intact.
Decades ago, Larry Lloyd founded the American Community Corrections Institute. ACCI sponsors a blog on the topic of criminal behavior and related issues.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Dictator's Gallery - Dear Leader. Kim Jong Il
The offspring of the 'Eternal President' of communist North Korea has been accused of almost everything from murdering his own brother as a child to kidnapping a South Korean movie director along with his wife in a psychopathic scheme to jumpstart the North Korean film industry. In the same way as his father, he became the center of a ludicrous personality cult in which he is worshipped nearly as a god on earth, with official accounts making grotesque claims about his extraordinary abilities -such as shooting four or five holes in one whenever he plays golf. He has reigned over some of the worst famines in recent history, relying on foreign support to feed his own starving people despite the fact that he pumps most of the country's resources into maintaining the world's fifth-largest army as a bulwark against some of the very nations that are helping keep his people alive. The dictator himself, of course, lives a lavish lifestyle, and supposedly spends his time between seventeen luxurious palaces.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Pol Pot (May 19, 1928 – April 15, 1998)
Pol Pot’s real name was Saloth Sar. The name Pol Pot comes from the term Politique potentielle, the French equivalent of a phrase supposedly coined for him by the Chinese communist leadership.He was the leader of the Cambodian communist movement known as the Red Khmer and was Prime Minister of Cambodia from1976–1979.
Pol Pot became the de facto leader of Cambodia in mid-1975. During his time in power, Pol Pot imposed a version of agrarian collectivization, forcing city dwellers to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labour projects, toward a goal of “restarting civilization” in “Year Zero”. The combined effects of slave labor, malnutrition, poor medical care, and executions resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1.7 to 2.5 million people, approximately 21% of the Cambodian population.
In 1979, after the invasion of Cambodia by neighbouring Vietnam in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War, Pol Pot fled into the jungles of southwest Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge government collapsed. From 1979 to 1997 he and a remnant of the old Khmer Rouge operated from the border region of Cambodia and Thailand, where they clung to power and United Nations recognition as the rightful government of Cambodia.
The Khmer Rouge tried to impose the concept of “Year Zero” and targeted Buddhist monks, Muslims, Western-educated intellectuals, educated people in general, people who had contact with Western countries or with Vietnam, disabled people, and the ethnic Chinese, Laotians and Vietnamese. Some were put in the S-21 camp for interrogation involving torture in cases where a confession was useful to the government. Many others were summarily executed. Confessions forced at S-21 were extracted from prisoners through such methods as waterboarding, removing toenails with pliers, suffocating a prisoner repeatedly, and skinning a person while alive.
Pol Pot adopted the Maoist idea that peasants were the true working class. In 1976, people were reclassified as full-rights (base) people, candidates and depositees — so called because they included most of the new people who had been deposited from the cities into the communes. Depositees were marked for destruction. Their rations were reduced to two bowls of rice soup, or “p’baw” per day. This led to widespread starvation. “New people” were allegedly given no place in the elections taking place on March 20, 1976, despite the fact the constitution was said to have established universal suffrage for all Cambodians over age 18.
Bones from Red Khmer victims |
Hundreds of thousands of the new people, and later the depositees, were taken out in shackles to dig their own mass graves. Then the Khmer Rouge soldiers beat them to death with iron bars and hoes or buried them alive. A Khmer Rouge extermination prison directive ordered, “Bullets are not to be wasted.” These mass graves are often referred to as The Killing Fields.
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