Under the Care of the Great Brilliant Commander

Propaganda can be unintentionally funny, says Geoff Davis, who has put together a database of news stories from North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Launched in May, Davis's database boasts of having nearly every KCNA article since December 1996 -- "over 50 megabytes of hard-core Stalinist propaganda ... each article written in the unique and indelible style of the KCNA." The articles are laced with rhetoric calling the regime's enemies "imperialist ogres," "class enemies," "human scum" and "political dwarves." On the lighter side, a recent KCNA report celebrated a film festival featuring documentaries with titles such as "The Leader Is the Great Father of Our People," and "The Great Leader Comrade Kim Jong Il Gives On-site Guidance to the Work of Different Fields."