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Afternoon Links

Daniel Kalder: “Rider Publishing, an imprint of Ebury at Random House, acquired rights to Crossing the Border, a memoir by Jang Jin-sung – former ‘court poet’ to Kim Jong-il, and will publish next spring…Jang was so trusted that he met Kim Jong-il twice. The first time, Jang explained in an interview with the BBC last January, ‘I was overwhelmed and full of emotion. But at the same time I thought the image I had received of him – through brainwashing – was very different to how he appeared in person.’ Kim gave the poet an gold Rolex worth $11,000 (£7,000) and granted him the ‘sacred immunity’ that only the microscopic minority who spent 20 minutes in the presence of the god-dictator received. Now Jang could not be prosecuted without special permission from on high. At the second meeting, ‘We sat at a performance together, and he kept on crying while he watched it. I felt his tears represented his yearning to become a human being, to become an ordinary person.'”

UrbDezine San Diego: “Purge the term NIMBY from your language and your thinking. It stultifies any further understanding of community concerns, or how to reach a compromise. Every criticism or opposition to a high density project is now labeled as NIMBYism, with little further discussion of community concerns. Community stakeholders typically have great knowledge of their neighborhoods though they may not use formal planning terms.”

Yahoo Sports: “If [Tim Tebow] wants to make it in the NFL, he needs to change. He needs to learn the game. He needs to become a backup at some team that has an established quarterback, like New Orleans or New England. He also needs to stop being a media presence. Tebow is a wonderful human being: polite, gentle, compassionate and giving. But he also never met a camera he didn’t like. He wants to be a public figure so that he can spread the gospel he believes in. That’s fine and it’s even OK that he has used football to do it. However, he is now at a point where being in the public eye detracts from his ability to make it as a football player. Teams don’t like the sideshow Tebow brings. The Jets tried to trade him this offseason and found no takers.”