Kim Jong Un Claims To Have Cured AIDS, Ebola and Cancer

jones_supa writes: North Korea has created a wonder drug which not only cures AIDS, but also eradicates Ebola and cancer — at least, according to the latest proclamation from the country's news agency. Their announcement says the miracle cure consists of ginseng grown from fertilizer and rare earth elements. The drug's website cites a medical study in Africa where the product was tested on HIV-positive patients. It records that every single participant in the trial noted an improvement, with 56% being completely cured and 44% noting a considerable improvement in their condition. Among other benefits, the North Korean scientists also revealed that the drug is capable of curing a number of cancers, but did not provide details of the medical trials which support this claim. It's also good to remember that the state has previously claimed that Kim Jong Il invented the hamburger.

Comments

passive insubordination

[geoskd]

I wonder if his own propaganda department is trying to be insubordinate by making claims that are so fantastic and provably false. A claim like this is likely to be widely discredited within N. Korea, as everyone who dies of one of these diseases is proof against the claims. His PR people have to know that, so why make the claim in the first place? My suspicion is that they actually want The claims to be proven false, and for Kim Jong to be discredited. Active insubordination without having done anything they can, or will, be executed for.

Re:passive insubordination

[Martin Blank]

According to a few documentaries and some defectors, the degree of belief varies widely from outright contempt to complete subservience to all claims. However, determining where someone is on the scale can be extremely difficult because the habit of worshipping the Kim family (if only to not go to prison with three generations of your family) become so ingrained as to be reflexes, even if they are angry or laughing on the inside every time they bow and cry out how great the Dear Leader is.

Re:What's ACTUALLY in it:

[Dutch Gun]

While the claims about its effectiveness as a treatment for cancer are dubious, North Korea is not the pantomime many in the west seem to think it is. I'd also hasten to point out how many bullshit medical claims are made on a daily basis in the west, so this isn't even unique.

Let's keep the propaganda and borderline racism off Slashdot.

The claims are "dubious"? They're fucking laughable. North Korea is... pantomime? That wasn't the word I was thinking of. Brutal? Repressive? Backwards? Ridiculous? Yes to all of those, but only when talking about the leadership. Their people are starving, they can barely keep the lights on, yet they developed a nuke and launcher system.

As far as being racist... I have nothing but respect for Koreans, and in fact, used to work for a South Korean company. No one mocks North Korea (again, just the leadership) because they're Korean. We mock them because they're making a mockery of the lives and well-being their own citizens, and it's a fucking tragedy, really, because who knows how much more strong and vibrant Korea would be were they all free and prosperous like the South.

Re:And that is different than...

[Martin Blank]

There's little evidence of an active nuclear weapons program in Iran, though Iran did have a program at one point. Among the doomsayers, Netanyahu has been claiming Iran is a year away from nuclear weapons since at least 1993, and several former high-ranking Mossad personnel have publicly said that he doesn't know what he's talking about.

The claim isn't that medical spending is reduced, it's that the rate of increase of medical spending is slowing. It's probably going to remain well above inflation for the foreseeable future as the population ages.

The economy isn't fixed yet, and Obama hasn't claimed otherwise. But it's definitely improved. Stock market records, profit records, improving employment numbers... There's still a long way to go toward "fixed" but it's certainly a lot better than it was.