Harvard loves a thug

By Aussiegirl

How disgraceful for a formerly great university! How disgusting for the alumni to agree to such a horrible idea! Will there be an excursion to view the slave mines, to watch the natives toiling in the fields with a loudspeaker blaring forth the nonstop Communist propaganda? From the article: Not surprisingly, the Harvard alums are also instructed to carefully censor their reading matter because "certain types of literature may not be allowed into North Korea." I know of one book that these alumni won't be allowed to take into North Korea: Eyes of the Tailless Animals : Prison Memoirs of a North Korean Woman, by Soon Ok Lee. I read this terrible tale of man's inhumanity to man with tears in my eyes. I've never read of such a bestial reign of terror such as these people had to endure. For Harvard to send its alumni to such a hellhole, and thus to legitimize it, is surely worthy of Dante's lowest circle of hell.

HARVARD LOVES A THUG By DEBORAH ORIN - New York Post Online Edition: postopinion

May 1, 2006 -- HARVARD University has a bizarre idea of how to advance the education of its grads: Instruct them to bow down to North Korea's paranoid dictators and show proper "respect" for the Axis of Evil.
It's the ultimate in radical Stalinist chic - the Harvard Alumni Association's $636-a-night totalitarian luxury tour of a rogue nation where thousands are deliberately starved to death.

"Demonstrations of respect for the country's late leader, Kim Il Sung, and for the current leader, Kim Jong Il, are important," instructs the Harvard Alumni Association's tour memo.

"You will be expected to bow as a gesture of respect at the statue of Kim Il Sung and at his mausoleum."

Harvard even tries to pretend that bowing down to thugs is perfectly normal - explaining that it's because "North Korea, like every country, has its own unique protocols." [....]

Well, yes, that certainly is a charming use of euphemism to cover up an ugly and unique reality - since North KoreaNorth Korea's "protocols" feature massive human-rights abuses, deliberate famine, concentration camps, religious persecution, gas chambers, likely genocide and trafficking in women and children. [....]

Then there's the Stalinist personality cult - when the Harvard alums bow down, they'll be joining the national worship that requires every North Korean to wear a Kim Il Sung lapel pin or else.

Not surprisingly, the Harvard alums are also instructed to carefully censor their reading matter because "certain types of literature may not be allowed into North Korea." [....]

Asked if he's uncomfortable about totalitarian tourism, Springer says "it's a good question" but argues that outside visits could help open up North Korea. Maybe. But something is very wrong when Harvard - whose motto is "veritas," Latin for "truth" - feels comfortable instructing its alums to bow down to evil thugs.