News items up with which I can barely keep.

The looniest member yet of the North Korean Kim dynasty is working hard to outdo his ancestors in terms of sheer savage depravity:

What’s a fitting way to execute a man labeled “worse than a dog“?

If an unconfirmed newspaper report is to be believed, by stripping him naked, throwing him in a cage, and feeding him alive to 120 hungry hounds. NBC News picks up Hong Kong-based paper Wen Wei Po’s account of how Kim Jong Un did away with his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, last month.

Its report claims Jang and his five closest aides were set upon by a pack of hunting dogs that hadn’t eaten in days as Kim and his brother, flanked by 300 officials, watched; the report hasn’t been verified.

Wen Wei Po, which has close ties to China’s Communist Party, added Jang and his allies were “completely eaten up” in the “quan jue,” or execution by dogs — a break from the usual execution by firing squad — over the course of an hour, the Straits Times notes.

Though Kim has championed the execution, there’s been no official word from Pyongyang on how it was carried out. The Times sees the publication of the account as an indication that Beijing is none too pleased with North Korea…

While there’s no way to know, that might be a hint that the story might be true.

What I would like to know is where is PETA? Aren’t they concerned about the starvation of dogs in order to exploit them in this modern version of the Roman arena? And if this really did happen, and if the guy is that loony, why not sell tickets to the spectacle to the highest bidder? From what I’ve read, the country is pressed for cash. Sickos from around the world would pay large sums to watch — even if it were only available for online streaming.

Next up is an item about leftie gun nuts:

Marlene Hoeber is feisty, tattooed, transgender, a self-described feminist, a queer activist – and a crack shot with her favorite “toys,” guns of just about every kind.

One thing she’s not – and proud of it – is a member of the National Rifle Association.

“We make ourselves a special place where we don’t have to hear about the ‘Kenyan Muslim socialist’ in the White House,” said Hoeber, a biotech equipment mechanic who says she’s politically “somewhere around Emma Goldman,” the turn-of-the-20th century anarchist.

Instead, Hoeber – whose array of firearms includes an M1 carbine rifle from World War II and a custom-made .44-caliber pistol – and other left-leaning gun lovers have their own organization: the Liberal Gun Club.

A good thing, says Hoeber, since she would never consider joining any club that has “Grover Norquist on the board,” as the NRA does.

It’s unlikely that Norquist, the conservative organizer, would find much to like about the liberal group that boasts more than 1,000 members nationally, including a recently formed Northern California chapter with about a dozen members.

The Liberal Gun Club backs a wide-open interpretation of the Second Amendment that lets law-abiding citizens possess just about any type of gun. But that’s where its similarity to the NRA ends.

“If I walk into a gun store with an Obama T-shirt – which I wouldn’t wear, because he’s too conservative – I don’t fit,” joked Eric Wooten, a longtime California Democratic Party activist and member of the Liberal Gun Club.

Wooten and Hoeber have banded together not only to reinforce their love of a sport and a hobby, but to flex political clout from the left side of the spectrum.

They sound nutty, but since when has the Second Amendment been limited in its scope to people on the right? It might be worth remembering that Ronald Reagan supported a gun control measure specifically intended to prevent black radical groups from carrying guns, but then depending on your POV it might not.

Whatever.

In other unwanted news, a science teacher dropped 37 lbs eating at McDonalds, and a vegan hippie type writing in the New York Times was scolded by her dentist, who said her healthy diet was ruining her teeth:

…I went to the dentist, who said I had five cavities and asked if I snacked on candy and sodas all day long. I was insulted. Indignant. What did he take me for? No, I answered. I don’t eat sugar and drink only fresh vegetable juices — no longer kale, of course, but carrot and celery, which I’m still allowed. And filtered water with lemon.

“You’d be better off with chocolate and cola,” he said. Apparently the natural sugars in fruit and vegetable juices can cause decay, and lemon, though high in vitamin C and bioflavonoids which may prevent cancer, had eroded the enamel that protected my teeth.

I argued that I always brushed afterward. “Worst thing you can do,” he said. “That’s when the teeth are most vulnerable. Always wait half an hour after eating or drinking anything before brushing your teeth. And don’t brush more than twice daily. You’re destroying what little enamel you have left.”

I thought he might collapse when he asked what toothpaste I used and I said non-fluoride brands from the health food store. He steadied himself on the arm of the dental chair and let out a long sigh before sending me home with a prescription for an extra-strength fluoride toothpaste, which I had no intention of filling because I was worried that fluoride, even in the smaller concentrations permitted in over-the-counter brands, might be harmful.

Naturally!

I also shun candy, and my dentist told me my recent cavities were most likely caused by nuts. Whatever.

Newz is driving me nutz.