Don't call it a comeback: Lil' Kim is out and about

He's back! North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il has made five, count them, five, consecutive public appearances for the first time since he reportedly underwent emergency heart bypass surgery in June.

The post-operative, mangier looking Kim had made a select number of private appearances since the alleged operation, but none in public. Lil' Kim's most recent appearance was a machinery parts factory in North Korea, where he took time to praise the Marxist struggle of the factory's "heroic labor class" against ... well, that's where it gets tricky. The only class there is left to struggle against in North Korea is Kim Jong-Il's ruling Stalinist plutocrats, and God knows, he can't very well have that, now can he?

Political contradictions aside, global political analysts are scrambling to grasp what the "true meaning" of Kim's sudden outburst of public appearances may mean. Does this mean Kim is attempting to renegotiate with the west on his atomic weapons program? Is this the precursor to political liberalization? A round of purges? Or he is just on the prowl for some more hot young girls to kidnap as sex slaves?