The Washington Post has an excellent look at Kim Jong Un (also known as Pak Un), a thoroughly Westernized sort who attended school in Switzerland and who everyone assumes will step into Kim Jong Il's jumpsuit when the old man finally goes to his reward. Jong Un, it seems, is quite a hoophead — of a type last spotted in the mid-1990s near Schaumburg:

A video of a school music class he attended shows a lithe, intense-looking Asian boy wearing black sweat pants, Nike Air Jordan shoes and a long-sleeved black sports shirt. He sways uncomfortably while classmates pound African drums and beat tambourines. Though generally quiet in class and sometimes awkward, particularly around girls, Pak Un showed a different personality on the basketball court, former friends recalled. He fell in with a group of mostly immigrant kids who shared his love of the National Basketball Association. Kovacevic, who shot hoops with the North Korean most days, said Pak Un was a fiercely competitive player.

"He was very explosive. He could make things happen. He was the playmaker," said Kovacevic, who now works as a tech specialist in the Swiss army. "If I wasn't sure I could make a shot, I always knew he could."

Marco Imhof, another Swiss basketball buddy, said the Korean was tough and fast, good at both shooting and dribbling. "He hated to lose. Winning was very important," recalled Imhof.

[...]

During his time in Liebefeld, friends remembered, Pak Un showed scant interest in politics and never vented publicly against Americans. Instead, he worshiped American basketball stars. He spent hours doing meticulous pencil drawings of Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan.

At his spacious apartment on Kirchstrasse, said one friend who visited, Pak Un had a room filled with American basketball paraphernalia. He proudly showed off photographs of himself standing with Toni Kukoc of the Chicago Bulls and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. It is unclear where the pictures were taken. On at least one occasion, a car from the North Korean Embassy drove Pak Un to Paris to watch an NBA exhibition game.

The best part of this is that Jong Un's rise came at the expense of the middle brother, Jong Choi, who the Associated Press reportedly recently was considered "too effeminate for the job" (this according to Kim Jong Il's sushi chef). Right. Because nothing is more manly than a guy who does meticulous pencil drawings of Michael Jordan. Still, it'll be nice having another basketball fan on the world stage. One day, let us dream, all our geopolitical disputes will be settled by a furious game of knockout.

Who Will Succeed Kim Jong Il? [Washington Post]

This is what Crystal Meth will do to you. So be careful, kids.

Although of Jewish heritage himself, he became a rather notable detractor of Israel in later life, and was criticized for anti-Jewish remarks he had made on U.S. radio call-in shows in the 1990s and 2000s.

I say death to President Bush, I say death to the United States. Fuck the United States, fuck the Jews, the Jews are a criminal people, they mutilate their children, they are murderous, criminal, thieving, lying, bastards. They made up the Holocaust, there's not a word of truth to it. They are the worst liars and bastards. And now, what goes around, comes around, they're getting it back, finally. Praise God... Hallelujah, this is a wonderful day. Fuck the United States. Cry, you crybabies! Whine, you bastards! Now your time is coming! The US is getting what is coming to it. This is just the beginning.

Yep, that's the crazy fucker I was familiar with. If you get a chance to see Fischer's infamous confrontation with Jeremy Schaap back in 2005 I'd recommend it (and if you have a link to the video please pass it along).

Michael Ligue has been arrested for orchestrating a drive-by shooting.

Ligue, now 19, his 18-year-old girlfriend and three other friends are charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, a Class 1 felony that carries up to 15 years in prison. The five are accused of pulling up to a Chicago Ridge apartment building in his girlfriend's parents' car Sunday night, and another girl opened fire, using a gun she stole from her father's bedroom.

They were avenging the beating of 17-year-old co-defendant Jacob Johnson's girlfriend, who was attacked by the intended victim's sister.

By the way, William Ligue Jr. is still in jail, for violating probation. Those Ligues, they're like the Kennedys, we tell you.

Ligue's Son Charged In Drive-By Shooting [Daily Southtown]