And, speaking of repression, if you haven't heard about this:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/11/asia/korea.php?page=2
then it is worth a read. If the article is gone due to time elapsed, search for "South Korea, Minerva, economic blogger forecast". You should come up with something.
The reason this struck me was that this is a major world democracy, acting pretty autocratically. After writing what I have about Russia becoming more autocratic, this pops up in the news.
And, on the other hand, if you read the article referred above, you will note that S Korea also has previously arrested people spreading some rather malicious rumors on the internet. I've certainly seen instances, and ugly ones, of mob-baiting, and I find it reprehensible. Shucks, we've had severe examples (and refined) of mob-baiting in the American presidential campaigns! But when it takes on tones of violence, it crosses a line.
Somehow, tho, I don't think a forecast of economic hardship has tones of violence.
