Mark Steyn: North Korea Provokes With Impunity

Orange County Register ^ | May 29, 2009 | Mark Steyn

[calex59]

Nonsense. Isn't there ANY journalistic integrity left in this world anymore? The nuke N Korea exploded underground didn't even approach HALF the power as the primitive Nagasaki "fat boy" bomb. which was 10KT

Actually the original guess was at 20 Kt, which I believe is correct. That still doesn't put it more than the Nagasaki bomb but right at it's power. The lower numbers came out yesterday and I believe they are part of the, "Oh, there's nothing to worry about", BS that the Feds are putting out. Even so, let's say you are correct and the bomb was only 5 Kt, so what? That is more than enough to wipe out Seoul, at least the core of the city, or a Japanese city, pick one, and to cause many deaths due to loss of services.

I believe Mark was going on what he had been told when he wrote the article and wasn't being a liar about it.

If you want to question journalistic integrity I suggest you start with the NYT, Washington Post and others of their Ilk. Then you can start of the head liar for Bozo, Mr. Gibbs, who isn't a journalist but has no integrity what so ever.

[wildbill]

Well, we could always kill two birds with one stone by renouncing our debt to China if they don’t get their dog back on the porch. In fact, we should demand that they go further and put it down.

They own our country via purchase of long term debt instruments like treasury notes, so we’d be free and without those debts hanging over our head, then our current fiancial situation would be over.

Of course this would trigger WWIII, but what the hey, wars are good for the economy if you win.

[investigateworld]

"If you want to live in a closed border society then you want to live in Obama's vision of Soviet USA. "

Bit of a drama queen there aye?

So tell me why my state (Oregon) has 12% unemployment, neighboring California has what 10%?

All this so-called free trade is nothing more than a race to the bottom.

What the free trade crowd won't admit, 'cause it's too painful, is that there are winners and losers in that arena, just like there is in every part of life.

The losers are the high standard of living countries and the winners are the folks on the bottom who will see a slight up tick - the former winners (that be the USA -)which has now run out of money or credit.

Kindly notice that our .gov is borrowing 50% of what it is spending.

I'm prolly a tad older than you'all, I remember when the mantra was, "We have to ship American jobs to foreign countries so they won't go communist, yes it will hurt, but not as bad a nuclear war".

So what did we do? Shipped our jobs and industry to a Communist country.

And why am I not surprised?

Because for many years I worked white collar crime investigations. I know how stupid people can become when they think there is going to be a free lunch.

Case Closed.

[MaggieCarta]

But now the mentally unstable scion of an impoverished no-account backwater with a GDP lower than Zimbabwe has joined their ranks: Celebrate diversity!

I just love Steyn. Thanks for posting.

Steyn ping!

[Cicero]

As the comedian Andy Borowitz put it, "President Obama said that the United States was prepared to respond to the threat with 'the strongest possible adjectives.' Later in the day, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called the North Korean nuclear test 'supercilious and jejune.'"

Ouch. I'll bet Kim Jong-il is still stinging from THAT one!

[secret garden]

Bump for later read.

[kellynla]

“And in less than a month, when retail shelves are empty in the U.S., what happens?”

oh please!

just WHAT do we get from China that you couldn’t do without...

shezzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

I’ve got a farm behind my house if you get hungry! LOL

[kellynla]

“Not to mention that China is about the only country still buying our debt instruments.”

which is WHY we should ween ourselves OFF the Chicoms and start “paying our own way!”

[kellynla]

“depend on components made in China?”

HOG WASH!

There isn’t a damn thing coming out of China that we haven’t MADE IN THE USA or elsewhere.

[kellynla]

“We are a country whose ENTIRE existance is based on TRADE.”

more HOGWASH and it's "existence"...

only 16% of our imports come from China while China depends on America, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Germany for FIFTY PERCENT of their exports...try doing a little research before you post Bravo Sierra will ya..........

China need us a hellofalot more than we need them!

[Nuc1]

We are a country whose ENTIRE existance is based on TRADE looting its industrial base.

There fixed.

[Billthedrill]

We don't need to threaten a trade embargo with China to get them to clean up their mess. A back-channel notification that we won't protest Japan and Taiwan coming up with their own nuclear weapons programs - they're perfectly capable of it, far more so than the North Koreans - and we have what Kim is pushing and the Chinese aren't stopping, an arms race in Asia. If the arms race continues, it will do so to the disadvantage of the Chinese strategic effort, and not to its advantage as it has been for a decade now.

That's realpolitik. We can either play it or stand out of the way as the Japanese and the Taiwanese are forced to. Either way, nuclear non-proliferation is a dead issue.

[Rummyfan]

Pyongyang's actions were "a matter of …" Drumroll, please! "…grave concern," declared the president. Furthermore, if North Korea carries on like this, it will – wait for it – "not find international acceptance." As the comedian Andy Borowitz put it, "President Obama said that the United States was prepared to respond to the threat with 'the strongest possible adjectives.' Later in the day, Defense Secretary Robert Gates called the North Korean nuclear test 'supercilious and jejune.'"

That'll show them!