   The N. Korea Tantrum
  The world is going to end one day. Not from nuclear war or natural disaster but from collapsing in on itself from stupidity. North Korea said it will open up it's disabled nuclear reactor and begin producing weapon-grade nuclear fuel if the UN does not...mmpphhphh....apologize....I don't know about you, but North Korea seems like a 4-year-old child that is making a scene at the grocery store by rolling around on the floor throwing a temper tantrum. "Waaah, you call my satellite test a rocket test. How dare you insult me like that." If they want to keep testing rockets, they should just attach a chain and launch themselves into space.Quote:North Korea dramatically raised the stakes today as it threatened to carry out nuclear and long-range missile tests unless the UN security council apologises for tightening sanctions after its rocket launch this month.Pyongyang's foreign ministry said the country "will be compelled to take additional measures for self-defence, including nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests" unless it received an immediate apology. It demanded the council withdraw all previous resolutions against such tests by North Korea.
  Yes, because investing in nuclear weapons is much more important than feeding your starving country...</sarcasm>I'm surprised the North Korean people haven't launched a coup or uprising or something, but I guess it's a bit hard to do so when you are worried about where your next meal is coming from.   ;  The propaganda machine is quite effective. Lots of refugees, when interviewed, actually believed that they were better off than South Korea, China, etc. It's only when they get out of the country for some reason that they suddenly go "hey, wait a second...".   ;Quote:Original post by MoeYes, because investing in nuclear weapons is much more important than feeding your starving country...</sarcasm>I'm surprised the North Korean people haven't launched a coup or uprising or something, but I guess it's a bit hard to do so when you are worried about where your next meal is coming from.Personally I blame our sanctions against them. Korea gets to blame all its problems on "those evil americans" (and whoever else is sanctioning them, it's not just us I know), so the people are tricked into directing their rage externally and not towards their real problems.Thus no revolution. Same thing in Cuba, really.As for the world ending, I don't think Korea is actually stupid enough to use nukes. They have it too good, the second they actually follow through on their threat, they're dead.I'm far more worried about Pakistan, and how the Taliban controls a district 60 miles away from Islamabad. WTF.   ;Quote:Original post by MithrandirI'm far more worried about Pakistan, and how the Taliban controls a district 60 miles away from Islamabad. WTF.True that!  That, and I had no idea that the US government was pouring money into Pakistan, to the amount of a billion dollars a year.  I don't have the link handy, but that's what I got from a few news articles I read recently.   ;  North Korea wants to be a big player on the global scene, but doesn't have the weight to throw around. It tries to compensate by talking big, and make ridiculous threats, and by keeping itself in the news. It's like one of those annoyingly idiotic small dogs that bark all the time. It's almost a national napoleon complex.I don't worry about North Korea ever actually launching nukes, but I think it's likely that they'd sell them to other countries, if they can ever get them developed.   ;  Next time North Korea suffers a famine, we can send them a load of swine... But that would be a crime against the people who live there and not against the idiots who rule that country. According to this commentary Chinese patience is wearing thin, or ought to: China tires of Pyongyang's antics. ;Quote:Original post by MoeQuote:Original post by MithrandirI'm far more worried about Pakistan, and how the Taliban controls a district 60 miles away from Islamabad. WTF.True that!  That, and I had no idea that the US government was pouring money into Pakistan, to the amount of a billion dollars a year.  I don't have the link handy, but that's what I got from a few news articles I read recently.The Pakistanis have likely squandered a great deal of that money on their penis size competition with India. The thought of Islamic extremists taking control of a nuclear-armed country is truly terrifying. The US will have no option but to either occupy the country or destroy its nuclear capability.;Perro que ladra, no muerde;  The fact is, left unchecked, they will use a nuke against someone.  The question is S.Korea, Japan or China?   Either way, after it happens, N.Korea will be wiped off the map, and then the world will remember once again the horrors of using nukes.  Either that, or it will spur everyone to arm themselves again.   