Tag: North Korea

On a Perfect Person

“Nobody’s perfect” isn’t simply a saying; it’s a fact. If you are a human, you have flaws. Try telling a believer in Jesus, for example, that the savior had bodily functions and got tired and hungry and frustrated and sneezed on people and got in trouble with his parents. Then stand back and watch them argue that he was “perfect.” Remind them that to deny the humanity of Jesus flies in the fact of what the Bible says about him, and that’s the point. Perfect people don’t exist.

Except in one case, apparently. The person I’m referring to apparently isn’t quite human, apparently. For example, it is said that he has never had a poo or wee in his life. He is said to be “too perfect” for such mundane things as passing food and liquid waste through his body. Or take the story about him climbing a high, treacherous, snowy mountain in a business suit and dress shoes with no effort and with no blemish to either suit or shoes.

He is said to have automatically driven a car at the ripe old age of three years. With zero lessons in his life, he is also recognized as the greatest artist his nation has ever produced. At the age of 9, he challenged a professional yachtsman to a race and handily beat him–all without ever stepping foot on a boat before then. And, did I mention that his musical compositions top the pop charts in his country even if he never received any musical instructions, either? To top it off, this man has been voted the most desirable man on earth for multiple years running.

To be fair, this prodigy seems to have gotten his perfection from his dad. The dad, after all, wrote 40 books a week during his time as a student, bowled perfect/300 games every time he took to the lanes, and shot several holes in one the first time he played golf. Not bad, not bad. So, at least he got his perfection honestly, right?

And it helps that his home country has been labeled the Happiest Country in the World several years running. It helps that the people there have the best government ever created on the planet. It helps that the nation enjoys 100% unanimity in support of that government.

And this perfect person? Why, it’s the exalted leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, of course.

On a Grand Larceny

The film franchise Fast and Furious has nothing on perhaps the greatest automobile theft in history.

Seems that over 1,000 Volvo 144s and other odd construction vehicles and trucks were stolen in the 1970s, and no one talks about it much today. In fact, it’s a theft that I’m sure the Volvo Corporation would rather forget. It began with a customer who put in this large order for delivery of some of Volvo’s products. The buyer asked for a discount since the order was so large, and Volvo had no trouble agreeing to a less-than-off-the-rack price. The negotiations between the two sides were amicable. Volvo had dealt with the buyer before with no issues. Perhaps that was part of the long con that the buyer pulled. Perhaps.

At any rate, Volvo was eager to make delivery on such a large purchase. If they could sell $70,000,000 of their cars and other vehicles at one fell swoop, well… And, again perhaps, Volvo’s eyes at that potential payday might have clouded their judgement. Swedish firms are notoriously (they might say suspiciously or realistically) cautious when it came to making big business decisions. On the other hand, did I mention the incredibly large sale?

So, the deal was struck. The buyer would pay upon delivery of the vehicles. The paperwork was done in Stockholm, the containers were loaded on the ship, and the cars made their way to the buyer. Easy-peasy, right?

Not so fast.

Upon receipt, the buyer simply…didn’t pay for the cars or other vehicles. Any of them. And still hasn’t all these years later. Volvo pitched a rather subdued fit and insisted that payment be made Nope. Not one cent was forthcoming. The company, wishing to avoid the public embarrassment of having been bilked, quietly appealed to the Swedish government to intervene since this particular buyer was overseas. I’m not going to say that the Swedish government laughed in the company’s face, but…oh, wait. Yes. Yes, that’s what I’m going to tell you. The Swedish government basically told Volvo that they could do nothing and, what’s more, didn’t want to do anything about the company losing that much money to what amount to a really grand larceny on the part of the buyer.

And, so, Volvo goes down in history as the victim of the largest car theft ever.

That’ll teach them to do business with the government of North Korea.