Sorry, but that picture cracks me up

I mean, no disrespect for the deceased intended and I know Kim Jong Il had that whole "cult of personality" going for him his entire reign but geez, come on. Get over it. He died. He was a monumental, murdering, selfish jerk, to boot. Let him die. Let him be gone. He's dead. Could you stop worshipping him now? Please? Are you not embarrassed? (Of course you're not). Don't you feel foolish? (Answer: no). Don't you even feel stupid? (Answer: Again, no, even though they should). Link: http://news.yahoo.com/funeral-north-korean-leader-amid-worry-future-000414786.html

The Kim Jong Il I'll always remember

From the creators of "South Park"--Matt Stone and Trey Parker, from their 2004 movie "Team America, World Police."

Ding, dong!! Kim Jong Il is dead!!!

I don't wish ill on anyone (unless they're patently, provably horribly) but, so you know, breaking news. Karma? At long last? "What goes around comes around"? "The good die young"? Whatever. May we now live in an even slightly more peaceful world, because of today's events. Link: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-il-69-died-030848603.html

Big "silver lining" to North Korea's attack

By now, you've heard or read or seen about North Korea having attacked a small island of South Korea yesterday.

And it's big news, for sure.

It's another one of those situations where you can't imagine what thought processes are going on over there in Kim Jong Il's North Korea.  There's just no telling.

Further, it seems as though it's just one bad situation, going worse now.  I see a quote out of South Korea where someone is quoted as saying they'll have to have a "massive retaliation".

Here's hoping someone can put a stop to that.  China, the US, Europe, Russia, somebody, anybody and everybody.

And here's where that "silver lining" comes in.

As crazy and unpredictable as North Korea, in general, is and Kim Jong Il, in specific, no country in the world really wants this conflict.  Sure, there are some arms manufacturers that might but they are in a tiny minority.

The first thing that happened when this by the North "bombarding the small island of Yeonpyeong, which houses South Korean military installations and a small civilian population."


Virtually as soon as this happened--the bombing--the financial markets 'round the world turned down.


What this translates to is that there will be tremendous pressure from the business and financial communities on their respective governments around the world, to stop this confrontation and any additional bombing.  


Sure, this won't necessarily guarantee that it will stop but it will certainly help.  


It's rare that all these nations all agree on something, all at the same time, with the same degree of urgency.  I think this is one of those cases.  Unless someone can show me differently, I think even China is against this blow-up because it's bad for business.  It's decidedly bad for business.


So for once the business community has it right and it should help all of us--the entire world--hopefully avoid a war, instead of calling for one.


Let's hope this is a foreshadowing of the future, where war is denied because it's "bad for business."

Link:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101123/ap_on_re_as/as_koreas_clash

You gotta' be kidding me

Well, the US is going forward with our plans to hold "war games" with South Korea off the Korean peninsula, even though North Korea has threatened to literally go nuclear if we do and now this: Ex-CIA chief: Strike on Iran seems more likely now Sun Jul 25, 12:31 pm ET WASHINGTON – A former CIA director says military action against Iran now seems more likely because no matter what the U.S. does diplomatically, Tehran keeps pushing ahead with its suspected nuclear program. Michael Hayden, a CIA chief under President George W. Bush, says that during his tenure a strike was "way down the list" of options. But he tells CNN's "State of the Union" that such action now "seems inexorable." He predicts Iran will build its program to the point where it's just below having an actual weapon. Hayden says that would be as destabilizing to the region as the real thing. U.S. officials have said military action remains an option if sanctions fail to deter Iran Here's hoping we can all just "climb down".

Watch out for Kim Jong Il

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced further sanctions against North Korea, to punish them "to halt North Korea’s proliferation of weapons of mass destruction along with other 'illicit activities that helped fund their weapons programs.'” This on top of the fact that, next week, "The United States and South Korea announced Tuesday that the first in a series of large-scale naval exercises off Japan and the Korean Peninsula would begin next week, despite objections from China." Watch for it: Kim Jong Il is going to "go off" and start saber-rattling, at minimum. Let's hope that's as bad as it's going to get. Links to associated posts: http://www.truth-out.org/clinton-announces-north-korea-sanctions-as-part-a-diplomatic-dance-south-korea61582 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/world/asia/21military.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print And now, today, an update: NKorea warns US exercises threaten region By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 22, 7:56 am ET HANOI, Vietnam – North Korea warned the United States and South Korea on Thursday to call off military exercises scheduled for this weekend and to back off any new sanctions against the communist country or risk placing the entire region in danger. Link here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_asean