Dang, What's Happening In Pyongyang?

I made reference in my earlier post, "It's My Party And I'll (Lie) If I Want To," to the pomposity of Kofi Annan's title of "His Excellency." I've also mentioned the arrogance of members of foreign leaders cabinets being called "Secretary General" and "generally" using the word "General" in their title. "General" this and "general" that...give me a break, please.

Then there are dictators like Saddam, Kadaffi, and Idi; and numerous other egomaniacs, present and past, that have and had their picture or statue or other likeness plastered all over every public square and on every square inch of their own abodes. A few women I've known that were obsessed with pasting "Glamour Shots" of themselves all over their homes had nothing on these yokels.

And then there is this item today.

The BBC is reporting that the pictures plastered everywhere of the little troll leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-il, are being taken down:

"An unnamed diplomat told the Russian news agency Itar-Tass that at receptions hosted by the North Korean foreign ministry, guests had recently only seen pictures of Kim Jong-il's father, Kim Il-sung, and a mark on the wall where a portrait of the North Korean leader used to hang."

We all know that most communist countries are extremely secretive when it comes to the internal workings of their gun wielding governments, particularly on issues relating to the health of their leaders. So what in the heck is going on in North Korea--maybe they're just updating the pictures to show the results of Mr. Jong-il's new membership in the Hair Club for Men.

Then again, it would be impossibly convenient for the world to lose the threat of Yasser Arafat AND Kim-Jong il in the same month.

Yet, we can always have hope...