North Korea

  On 6/20/2017 at 1:08 AM, Squee said:

Otto Warmbier has died

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/19/politics/otto-warmbier-dies/index.html

That is heartbreaking. US doctors stated the likely cause of brain damage being oxygen deprivation, likely water torture which is meat-and-potatoes of prison treatment there. Edited June 20, 2017 by chim

This insane hawkish talk of launching a preemptive strike on N Korea is scaring the shit out of me. The United States government and military is the largest and most deadly terrorist group the world's ever seen.

Edited June 22, 2017 by clarktrent

  On 6/22/2017 at 6:09 AM, clarktrent said:

This insane hawkish talk of launching a preemptive strike on N Korea is scaring the shit out of me. The United States government and military is the largest and most deadly terrorist group the world's ever seen.

Very interesting video on the media's coverage of North Korea

Trump and Kim have decided to have a dance off to settle the whole Korean War thing:

Getting into very, very sketchy territory in my humble opinion...

 

Say your prayers

Edited September 3, 2017 by beerwolf

https://warontherocks.com/2017/09/welcome-to-the-h-bomb-club-north-korea/

 

interesting article

China won't let NK get out of control. Have it on pretty good authority that sanctions are actually being enforced at present.

  On 9/5/2017 at 12:10 AM, chenGOD said:

China won't let NK get out of control. Have it on pretty good authority that sanctions are actually being enforced at present.

That's what I've been telling my Japanese friends... China is much more interested in money than drama and want to keep that nonsense to a minimum.

I'd like to hope so, but conflict and drama often = money? 

  On 9/5/2017 at 3:37 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

I'd like to hope so, but conflict and drama often = money?

Only when your chief export is entertainment

War economy is a strong economy.

 

And if China wanted to keep NK in check wouldn't they have done so by now, as this has been escalating for decades? Doesn't seem like they have any legit interest in keeping things in line really.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Bulk VanderHooj

  On 9/5/2017 at 3:40 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

War economy is a strong economy.

 

And if China wanted to keep NK in check wouldn't they have done so by now, as this has been escalating for decades? Doesn't seem like they have any legit interest in keeping things in line really.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

I feel like China sees them as a rebellious teenager... they keep doing dumb shit for attention because they know daddy will bail them out, but they know where to draw the line well enough not to cross it by actually attacking another country.

I really hope that's the case, fingers crossed =(

  On 9/5/2017 at 3:37 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

I'd like to hope so, but conflict and drama often = money?

Conflict and drama do not equal more money than stability though.

  On 9/5/2017 at 3:40 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

War economy is a strong economy.

 

And if China wanted to keep NK in check wouldn't they have done so by now, as this has been escalating for decades? Doesn't seem like they have any legit interest in keeping things in line really.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

Well, the interests of a nation can change, as you know.

Let's just say I have it on authority I trust implicitly that the bank accounts of Chinese nationals who are doing business with NK are being frozen; additionally, North Koreans who bank with the Bank of China are also suddenly finding themselves with difficulty in accessing their funds.

Although rumours are that NK is moving ballistic missiles around at night trying to avoid detection, so maybe it is actually time to hold on to your respective genitals.

  On 9/5/2017 at 4:48 AM, chenGOD said:

 

  On 9/5/2017 at 3:37 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

I'd like to hope so, but conflict and drama often = money?

Conflict and drama do not equal more money than stability though.

 

 

Overall war is very expensive, I get that, but aren't there a fair amount of stakeholders in so called defense companies that would stand to gain millions through another conflict? I`m not articulating this very well. 

  On 9/5/2017 at 4:52 AM, chenGOD said:

 

  On 9/5/2017 at 3:40 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

War economy is a strong economy.

 

And if China wanted to keep NK in check wouldn't they have done so by now, as this has been escalating for decades? Doesn't seem like they have any legit interest in keeping things in line really.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

Well, the interests of a nation can change, as you know.

Let's just say I have it on authority I trust implicitly that the bank accounts of Chinese nationals who are doing business with NK are being frozen; additionally, North Koreans who bank with the Bank of China are also suddenly finding themselves with difficulty in accessing their funds.

Although rumours are that NK is moving ballistic missiles around at night trying to avoid detection, so maybe it is actually time to hold on to your respective genitals.

 

 

You`re right, yeah. I really hope so. I`m just being pessimistic as a way of prepping for the worst, I think.

Edited September 5, 2017 by Bulk VanderHooj

Having worked on a military base for over a decade, I've been keeping an eye on the FPCON level every time NK makes the headlines. It's been on Bravo since early 2015. But if it suddenly bumps up to Charlie or higher, we know shit's about to get real.

Kim Jong-Un and Trump are like two kids getting ready to brawl in the center of the school playground. But I'll be damned if the rest of us should get yanked into this spat.

  On 9/5/2017 at 5:03 AM, ambermonk said:

Kim Jong-Un and Trump are like two kids getting ready to brawl in the center of the school playground. But I'll be damned if the rest of us should get yanked into this spat.

Well, if either of them are stupid enough to really escalate things we won't have much choice. But it's unlikely, because...

 

lol, classic Trump vid

  On 9/5/2017 at 4:56 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

 

  On 9/5/2017 at 4:48 AM, chenGOD said:

 

  On 9/5/2017 at 3:37 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

I'd like to hope so, but conflict and drama often = money?

Conflict and drama do not equal more money than stability though.

Overall war is very expensive, I get that, but aren't there a fair amount of stakeholders in so called defense companies that would stand to gain millions through another conflict? I`m not articulating this very well.

No, I knew exactly what you meant, but war should not enrich the few to the detriment of the many. The military-industrial complex would do well, but the net loss to the GDP of the nations involved far outweighs those gains.

Everyone can relax, Dennis Rodman says he has it all under control.

Hahahaha

Rodman will make all his decisions at 4 or 5am before hitting the clubs. 

  On 9/5/2017 at 3:40 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

War economy is a strong economy.

 

And if China wanted to keep NK in check wouldn't they have done so by now, as this has been escalating for decades? Doesn't seem like they have any legit interest in keeping things in line really.

 

I hope I'm wrong.

I get the impression their hands are tied. They can't realistically do anything that would threaten the stability of the regime since this would lead to the biggest refugee crisis since, I dunno, ages ago, all within spitting distance of Communist Party HQ. So they can try to nudge NK with sanctions but can't do anything that would run the risk of bringing the regime down. So I doubt, for example, they would pull the plug on NK's oil supply

 

For the very same reason China has a huge amount to lose in the event of an actual war on the peninsula