Way to Go

It has recently and reliably been reported that Jang Song Thaek, the uncle by marriage of Kim Jong Un, completely lost his mind in the period between his public arrest and his execution.

And well he might.   We do not know for certain the means of his execution, but in high-profile cases such as his, it is common for the condemned man to be tied to a stake at a military drill field, with hundreds of his peers and often his family members filling up the bleachers some hundred yards away.  When the order is given, anti-aircraft guns -- cannons designed to take down low-flying American fighter jets -- open fire on the man.  We know that the human body is about 60% water.  In seconds, the man is reduced to a puddle and fragmentary other remains.

But the remains cannot "remain."  They are an insult to the Dignity of the Dear Leader.  And so, before the crowd has left, two young enlisted men cross the parade ground with flame throwers and evaporate the blood, incinerate the rest so that it is unrecognizable as anything but ash.

Nowadays the witnesses wear masks as a precaution against COVID.  They are glad for the masks when the cooking smells make their way to the viewing stands.