As expected, the kangaroo trial of American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee has ended with their conviction on charges of entering North Korea illegally (question: who in their right mind or not would want to enter North Korea?). The reporters, who were arrested in March near the China/North Korea border, work for Current TV, an Al Gore media venture. Ling and Lee were sentenced to 12 years hard labor, although it's widely thought that their release will be negotiated for "humanitarian" reasons, part of the seemingly endless diplomatic game of back-and-forth between North Korea and the United States. In the meantime, the poor women and their families suffer.
