OT: U.S. Student face charges in North Korea for theft

Naah, he's a young man, Estafador, We all do foolish things, and this was worse than foolish. Especially in a hard line country like North Korea. Good luck, young man.

I'm a young man. I'm probably younger than this dude and I know N.K. is no vacation spot, I don't care if Dennis Rodman had a good time.

I'm in total agreement. Yeah, maybe I'm a cold-hearted unsympathetic prick, but if you wanna dance, you gotta pay.

I feel the same about this kid as I did about the "hikers" that were detained by Iran several years ago. I have little sympathy for left-winged activists who feel it's "cool and edgy" to vacation in countries like North Korea and Iran. There's a special aisle in the Piggly-Wiggly for these spoiled priveleged dumbasses.

How dumb can you be? Hopefully he will be released through negotiations.

I have a friend who went to North Korea on business. I told him I would not have gone because you don't know when their government might decide you're a CIA agent.

The kid is a dumbass. First for going there, and then thinking he was in a civilized nation.

He's a complete and utter idiot.

What he did was idiotic, but I fail to see how 15 years is an adequate consequence or how a person can justify such a 15 year sentence by saying he's an idiot.

His story about why he wanted the banner don't even sound legitimate.

The answer to this problem is very simple "Do Not Go Into Countries Run By Wackos" like North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Syria .......
There are many countries that will jail/kill you just fun the fun of it, their "reasons" do not make any sense to sane people. They kill for religious reasons, political, or just because they are insane.
Crazy people justify their actions by whatever means they have whether it is "the dog told me to do it" or some middle eastern religious tomb.
The real reason is they just like torture & kill and are looking for a justification.
To me Son of Sam was at least an honestly crazy! What excuse does ISIS have ?? They have invaded other countries and butchered some of the poorest families in those countries who have no political or economic standing in those countries.

"There's a special aisle in the Piggly-Wiggly for these spoiled privileged dumbasses."

Gotta remember that one.

@Shadowcat I hear piggly wiggly a few times but I never knew what it means. But it's still hilarious.3

@Tiredtraveller easy there buddy your toeing the line of hate mongerer there. I'm not remotely south asian, but there's nothing wrong Pakistan my friend. It's even apart of the UN, so not sure why you included that country in your particular rant.

I agree completely with Motorhead on this one. Except for the cold-hearted unsympathetic prick part. I think you are just cold-hearted and unsympathetic!

Yea, this kid is an early contender for the 2016 Darwin Award.

"when you know their leader is a communist, socialist... "

Ummmm Estafador.. I recall you saying something about supporting Bernie Sanders, a self avowed socialist. Granted he likely would never be as bad as Korea's Kim, but be careful what you wish for young man.

You can go to NK and be reasonably safe. You just need to follow what the tour guide tells you to do and do not even fucking think of deviating from the itinerary, or taking pics they don't want you to, or bad mouthing the country. Basically, sit back, shut up, and learn what it was like to live dirt poor in the 1950s.

The State owns pretty much everything, so no I don't feel bad for anyone stupid enough to try to steal a political banner from a country run by a dictator who executes people with mortars and anti-aircraft guns, entire generations are born and die in prison for things they had nothing to do with, or feeds his family to dogs (unconfirmed).

Isn't there a decent chance he did nothing wrong? I mean I can certainly see NK arresting him for no reason.

Though personally I feel this is the chance you take when you willingly visit a place like NK.

@motorhead, my feelings towards the kids in Iran are a little more sympathetic since there's a decent chance they actually weren't in Iran when they got grabbed, though it was still a stupid risk to take.

No, there isn't a decent chance he did nothing wrong.....
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-…

He straight up admitted he did it because his church leader wanted a "trophy"

According to Warmbier's statement on Monday, he wanted the banner with a political slogan on it as a trophy for the church member, who was the mother of a friend.

In his comments, Warmbier said he was offered a used car worth $10,000 by a member of the church.

He said the church member told him the slogan would be hung on its wall as a trophy. He also said he was told that if he was detained and didn't return, $200,000 would be paid to his mother in the form of a charitable donation.

Warmbier identified the church as the Friendship United Methodist Church, which is in his hometown, Wyoming, Ohio.

Meshach Kanyion, pastor of the church, would not confirm whether he knows Warmbier or if he is a church member.

lesson here is that if you go the a socialist workers’ paradise and steal shit from the socialist dear leader of said socialist paradise then you should be prepared to spend 15 years at hard labor in prison

Of all the places on the planet one could choose to visit, North Korea might be at the absolute bottom of my list. I just don't get it.

The leader of North Korea is a murderer and a brutal dictator. He can and has had people executed if he wants. The best comparison would likely be Hitler as far as regimes. Some young people seem to think the idea of socialism is some pie in the sky dream where you get everything for free and there are no serious consequences for living in a socialist state. Visiting Cuba and North Korea are examples of socialism run rampant. Bernie wants to copy their economic model.

I can only imagine what our govt is going to give in exchange for this guy..

@hiroaki he needs to stay away from that church if he returns within the year. That is the DUMBEST shit I have ever heard in my life. How you graduate with your undergrad and think you can get away with stealing from a dictatorship country. $10K isn't worth my freedoms as a white american.

@TheeOSU since when did Bernie claim himself as a socialist. No of his ideals for America seem to point towards that direction. And then there's Hilary, who constantly back peddles on everything she says. And then there's Trump who wants to run IMPOSSIBLE edicts through the government as if it'll work. Think what you want about Bernie, but he's also bad news, then he's the best of a bad situation. And how did you know I was gonna vote Bernie, because I'm a young buck?

Maybe this'll force American government to close off all tourist flights to NK lest they risk more idiots to fly over and cost them bailout money.

^^
Last thing first.. You commented awhile back that you were trying to get people to vote for Bernie. So what was that? Just bullshit?
Now the most important thing.. I'd suggest you get better informed before you consider supporting someone. Bernie is a self proclaimed socialist, period!
Look it up if you don't believe me.

And I agree that all mentioned candidates are bad news.

@TheeOSU I wasn't denying I was voting for bernie, I just forgot that I wrote that ^ _^

If their all bad news, then I believe Bernie is the best of a bad situation. At least for the next 4 years. I'm not upper middle class so I can't say Trump or Hillary would benefit me in any way.

"No, there isn't a decent chance he did nothing wrong....."

He also claimed the CIA pressured him to steal it... I mean he's clearly not saying all (or any) of these things under his own free will.

I'm not saying he's innocent, but I think it's plausible he didn't do anything.

@Estafador " I'm not upper middle class so I can't say Trump or Hillary would benefit me in any way."


you're one of them there leftists ain't you...

"And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country."