AnimeSuki Forums

SpaceDrake · 2006-10-05, 20:11

So, like most posters here, I live in the U.S. Currently, our news is dominated by reports of a Congressman sexually harassing his underage assistants, and of a brutal school shooting in Pennsylvania (an admittedly horrific act commited on one of America's largest pacifist groups.)

Meanwhile, all this is going on.

North Korea is waving a nuclear weapon in the world's face. Iran isn't even doing that. And the United States news media and leadership seems to be saying nothing about it.

CNN, FOXNews, MSNBC, CBS... silence, on their websites. I didn't get a chance to catch the evening news tonight but I suspect it's all quiet on the Eastern front there too.

This is a massive problem and it deserves attention. America needs to get ready for the very real possibility that we may need to assist South Korea and Japan against one of the last truly hostile nations on Earth.

I just wanted the folks from Japan and Korea who DO read these forums that while most of America doesn't seem to be paying attention... a few of us are. And we know what kind of a threat North Korea poses.

And fellow Americans? Write to your Congressmen, write to your freaking local NEWS stations, tell them to bring this into national focus. In 2001 President Bush lumped North Korea in with Iraq and Iran as an "axis of evil" that stood in the way of a peaceful future. Now that North Korea is trying to EARN that title, are we just going to ignore it?

Maceart · 2006-10-05, 20:19

I think, it's because a majority of Americans are politically apathetic. Over 50% of Americans didn't even vote for the presidential election, so I don't know what can be done.

Kiva128 · 2006-10-05, 21:39

So why is United States, Russia, India, Pakistan, France, etc. allowed to have nukes but not North Korea? Because they're evil? Communist? I mean yes, more nukes is never good but why should only some counties be allowed to have it? And don't say self defense since who the hell would fire a nuke to attack a country (then obviously the country would fire theirs and bam, nuclear winter). You wouldn't even be able to send soldiers in after due to radiation nor grow anything for years...but that's getting off topic.

Jinx626 · 2006-10-05, 22:24

If one studies the politics of North korea one can see that North Korea has claimed something or did something to incite the world's attention on itself in the past to gain concessions in the world community and this is nothing new. Although this time around it is a bit more serious as there is intelligence (correct intelligence this time around???)....

Personally i think the U.N. (even though they are pretty useless) should handle this with the U.S. supporting spearheading efforts for a resolution by another nation such as Japan instead of the U.S. being the "world" police and having more tax dollars spent on wars and messes we shouldn't be getting into.

Jinto · 2006-10-05, 22:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiva128

So why is United States, Russia, India, Pakistan, France, etc. allowed to have nukes but not North Korea? Because they're evil? Communist? I mean yes, more nukes is never good but why should only some counties be allowed to have it? And don't say self defense since who the hell would fire a nuke to attack a country (then obviously the country would fire theirs and bam, nuclear winter). You wouldn't even be able to send soldiers in after due to radiation nor grow anything for years...but that's getting off topic.

Now that is exactly the point why they don't want to have the Mullahs have the nuclear bomb, but are rather silent in the case of north korea.
So far north korea uses the weapon as some sort of political instrument. However, it is unlikely that the corrupted/dictatorial but sane leadership of north korea will ever use the weapon. You never know in the case of some people that might be thinking in the same way suicide bombers do (insane/unpredictable) or become easily accessible for such type of people.
The nuclear test is basically the direct answer to the election results of the new head of the UN (south korean). Since north korea can't voice themselves in the UN, they do it this way.

Potatochobit · 2006-10-05, 22:37

You are silly, North Korea is not that big a deal, the japanese are mostly overreating since they know most of Asia would line up against them if a war ever broke out.
you dont see south korea panicking do you? and they have been neighbors and had to deal with this all their lives.

Iran having nuclear weapons is a much greater problem than north korea who has had them for a long time. you have to understand that North korea cannot use those weapons without having to break ties with russia and china and that would devastate their economy.
Iran most likely would never use them either, if they make them; but still, if some crazy man was in power and Iran was having a revolution or a war where his sovereignty would be taken away from him, he might just go ahead and really use it.
Iran is far far more financially stable than North korea. its true sanctions and a blockade would really hurt Iran, but no where near as bad as North korea where most of the people already live in poverty. why do you think north korea is so obsessed with showing force? they know their country is crumbling and is having severe problems. the nuke threats are just a way to keep some leverage in eastern asia.

i find the bigger upsetting issue is Japan thinking about having an army outside of just national defense. I'm not sure how much history of World War II you know about, but one of the biggest mistakes of the modern age was to let russia claim berlin after the fall of the nazi regime in world war II. that is what started the iron curtain and eventually the cold war. i love japan and the people, however, i am strongly against them having a need to bear arms in foreign countries. their history and culture is very closed and narrow minded. that usually leads to bad things when a bad person is in charge.

now on the more pressing issue, the most important thing the UN needs to take care of besides afghanistan is the condition in darfur. people are literrally starving or being killed and raped daily by the goverment army. this army also claims to have ties to terrorist groups and other die hard muslim militias.

if you read the news the leader is against UN invovlvement. do you know why that is? because he is getting the money from their oil fields. he knows that once the UN steps in his goverment might also crumble since they wont tolerate all the atrocities he is committing while hiding it under various military group names.

now dont get darfur, Sudan confused with the problem in Somalia. yes there are lots of african nations and they all melt together in your mind, but we dont want to start stereotyping. in this region hard line muslims are also taking over. however, the difference is that the goverment was already pretty bad. from what the news reports order is being restored. i would have to say that is better than what was before. alot of people are concerned that they dont want to create a new afghanistan. but if these people are bringing justice to the natives and feeding the children i say it is far better than the people who do nothing yet complain about it because of their religion. the only reason i can think of the UN supporting the current goverment is because they want to avoid the financial responsibilty of funding a war if they got involved. right now there is just too much going on elsewhere and africa is just going to have to be placed on hold. realistically, this is nothing new. Africa has always been a poor country and has almost always been at war with each other. this is a sad truth despite how rich the land is. there are tons of gold, silver, diamond, and oil mines all over. its those few people taking all the profits and the uneducated masses that prevent the country from moving forward by constantly destroying things that they dont know are actually preventing them from advancing.

ImClueless · 2006-10-05, 22:56

No worries about North Korea. Chances are that nuke will fail just like their missile and they will make themselves look foolish again. The only reason they are doing this is to make up for the failed long range missile embarrassment. North Korea is poor as hell and has a crappy education system. Not the most nurturing of environments for technological excellence. If you go look at one of those nightscape satellite images of the earth you will notice that North Korea is noticably lacking in lights. (joke)However, on the off chance that they nuke Tokyo what will happen to the anime production! oh noes(/joke).

I agree Iran is much scarier considering its location, economic influence, and the fact that it is ideologically/religiously driven rather than simply being controlled by a crazed militant movie fan with wild hair. Oh yeah he also has small man syndrome and needs a better dresser.

Sazelyt · 2006-10-05, 23:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpaceDrake

North Korea is waving a nuclear weapon in the world's face. Iran isn't even doing that. And the United States news media and leadership seems to be saying nothing about it.

First welcome to the club, being angry at your country shows how much you care for it (- but as a note, good way or bad way, depends on the person).

Second, US media generally tells you what the citizens want to hear (or what the Government want the citizen to hear - but right now, fortunately, they cannot do anything). This is nothing new. For instance, I really don't think a typical American citizen would give a single care about North Korea or Iran, unless they have been told that they are the evil axis. And, currently there is every kind of problem happening in Africa (for instance, Sudan), how many people is aware of that? Or do you observe anything happening? I don't see much.

And, believe me, North Korea is not a big threat to the world peace. It is pretty obvious they are using this to get more money or gain more advantage - in the current world conditions, I think intelligent is the right choice of word to use to represent what they are doing. Didn't Russia do a similar thing to improve its economy?

karasuma · 2006-10-06, 00:37

Hrm.... here is what's going on....

If North Korea goes nuclear, guess what Japan will do?

If Japan goes nuclear, guess who wouldn't like to see that? China

Who has the most leverage on North Korea? China

Who actually want Japan to boost up their military? U.S.A.

Some Japanese actually think it is kinda pointless to go nuclear since their country is relatively small. Only 4 or 5 direct hits will finish them. So, at best, they can change the balance of a larger conflict.

There you go. I think China has the most leverage and motivation to solve this problem.

This is not true for Iran which U.S. is the main pusher.

On the other hand, U.S. is all upset when India & Pakistan wanted to go nuclear. After they get there, the message immediately become "welcome to the club". So, there you go.

ImClueless · 2006-10-06, 01:20

The difference with Pakistan and India is that they want to nuke eachother and not the US or US allies unlike North Korea or Iran. Also Pakistan doesn't have a long range delivery system and India is the world's largest democracy so the US feels safer about them. Not to mention, who will answer all of the customer support calls for IT companies if US and Indian relations sour!?!?!

Quarkboy · 2006-10-06, 02:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by ImClueless

Not to mention, who will answer all of the customer support calls for IT companies if US and Indian relations sour!?!?!

So then, are you saying that if South Korea outsourced all of its IT support to cheaper North Korean call centers, then it would jump start the reconciliation process? I think that's a brilliant idea. Example:

Caller: I'm having trouble with installing the drivers for this video card I bought.
North Korean IT Guy: Can you give me the model number?
Caller: Is that you.... DAD?!
...

Potatochobit · 2006-10-06, 02:42

If North Korea goes nuclear, guess what Japan will do?

what do you mean if? north korea has had nuclear plants and probably war heads for a long time.

the problem is they dont have the financing to keep them maintained. alot of intelligence says most of north koreas nuclear facilities are not active. i would guess alot of the uranium was sold off after the collapse of the USSR.

Loniat · 2006-10-06, 05:00

You started well, it is really important to be concerned over the political-economical-social situation of your country.
Now, don't get me wrong, but the US has no right or moral obligation whatsoever to interfere in every conflict or spat in the globe. Indeed, this always leads to an increase in hate levels against US. Besides, from the latests "helping hand" actions from US, the medicine is bitter than the disease.

Spectacular_Insanity · 2006-10-06, 09:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpaceDrake

So, like most posters here, I live in the U.S. Currently, our news is dominated by reports of a Congressman sexually harassing his underage assistants, and of a brutal school shooting in Pennsylvania (an admittedly horrific act commited on one of America's largest pacifist groups.)

I might also add that it was mere miles away from the Columbine High School Shooting. That area just can't get a break, eh?

If you really want to be irritated with the US on say, a NATIONAL SCALE, here's this little numbah i pick up off the web:
Well Shit, Man
^^ He's looking quite smug. Bush eats babies.

Furudanuki · 2006-10-06, 09:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

I might also add that it was mere miles away from the Columbine High School Shooting. That area just can't get a break, eh?

LOL! You must have a very different definition of "mere miles" than I do.

Columbine High School is located just outside of Denver, Colorado. That is about 1700 miles from where the Pennsylvania shootings took place.

hooliganj · 2006-10-06, 09:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

I might also add that it was mere miles away from the Columbine High School Shooting. That area just can't get a break, eh?

"Mere miles" between Pennsylvania and Colorado, eh? Once again, an American student fails at geography.

Before venting your outrage on the media outlets, it's only fair to ask the question in the opposite way - in the face of a nuclear threat from North Korea, is it OK for Foley to molest teenage boys and get away with it? Honestly, the biggest reason that it's the story of the moment is because an election is coming up very soon, and this scandal could make or break a lot of candidates.

Also - if the US was the only government saying the North Korea isn't ready for nukes, then I could see where it could be called unfair, but there isn't a single country in the world, including their closest allies, that thinks that Kim Jong Il can be trusted with that kind of destructive power.

BellaD · 2006-10-06, 09:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loniat

Now, don't get me wrong, but the US has no right or moral obligation whatsoever to interfere in every conflict or spat in the globe.

That is so true, and what I hate most is when the people in America one moment are all supporting the president and saying that taking action against some sort of a tyrant is the right thing but after 2 months when a conflict/war begins they all get pissed that he actually started something.

raikage · 2006-10-06, 10:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Furudanuki

LOL! You must have a very different definition of "mere miles" than I do.

Columbine High School is located just outside of Denver, Colorado. That is about 1700 miles from where the Pennsylvania shootings took place.

There was indeed a shooting at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, but there was also a shooting at a Colorado high school last week.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/us/29hostage.html

Jinto · 2006-10-06, 13:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellaD

That is so true, and what I hate most is when the people in America one moment are all supporting the president and saying that taking action against some sort of a tyrant is the right thing but after 2 months when a conflict/war begins they all get pissed that he actually started something.

Maybe because media is just too powerfull. There are some who are consistent in their oppinion. But there are so much more TV generation/powered people, its frightening. (but not much different in europe I'ld say, just differently biased)

Kyuusai · 2006-10-06, 14:06

Unfortunately, the media, in any country, is about pushing an agenda.

In state-controlled media, it pushes the agenda of the state.
In other media, it pushes the agenda of making the media companies money and pushing the ideals and views of whoever runs them.

The US doesn't have a monopoly on media corruption, apathy, or idiocy.
As some one else said: It's good that it angers you, because it shows you care. Wise words. The only question is how you handle it.

Take this motivation and use it to drive you to find a lot of historical perspective and seek your news out elsewhere.

(Attention all history buffs and asian politics majors: I know that the following is very simplified.)

To be honest, I'm not too worried about North Korea. The NK president has a long, long history of waving his fists in the air and making idle threats in order to receive monetary appeasement. We're just seeing another round of it.

The REAL story on North Korea that the media should be reporting on and isn't is that North Korea and China relations are different, as are the Japanese views on use of military.

Historically, the US hasn't been quick to deal with North Korea's threats because
a) They weren't truly that dangerous, just loud
and
b) China's a bigger mess than the US wants to handle.

China doesn't want the US to deal with North Korea. "Communist" (actually socialist) nations tend to stick together, for one, and China REALLY does not want a US military presence on their border as there would surely be if the US "dealt with" North Korea.

What's changed is that North Korea has become a bigger problem for China lately. Like a boil on China's foot, North Korea is a constant pain. Will China be more willing to co-operate against North Korea non-militarily? Will China suddenly decide to do something more extreme? Time will tell.

A short distance away, though, Japan is getting antsy. Japan is the beloved target of North Korean aggression. This is because it's popular to hate the Japanese because of the former habit of occupying nations and oppressing/slaughtering the native peoples. Well, that and the fact that Japan has become very prosperous. Hating prosperity is a good motivator. Even better, Japan won't fight back! Japan is like that rich, smart kid on the playground that a bunch of other kids gather around and take turns kicking.

The other thing that's changed is that Japan is sick and tired of that crap, and has had enough. The likelyhood of Japan invading North Korea is nearly nill for the same reasons the US won't do it on Japan's behalf. But Japan is taking it more seriously, and there's been talk of re-writing laws to allow military action. Whatever the case, Japan won't be sitting still if North Korea pushes much farther.

North Korea doesn't really have the ability to harm the US. It's long-range weapon capacity isn't quite there, and a genuine strike against the US would leave the US very justified in taking serious military action that China would (probably) not do much about, unless they decided to do it first to keep the US from occupying that strategically-placed nation. Furthermore, North Korea is so cut-off from the rest of the world that terrorist plots are a lot harder to pull off in the short-term.

The more likely progression of events is that North Korea and Japan eventually get into escalating skirmishes that will, at some point, draw in South Korea, and eventually force the US to make an appearance as both Korea and Japan's protector if they continue escalating (Imagine Korea and Japan as heroes on a sentai show, with Japan being the cool, independant character with the most powerful giant robot to call when the going gets rough). China will be acting very antsy the whole way through.

I don't expect it to come to that, though. China's getting to fed up with it, and will likely be willing to put a match to the tick on its behind that is North Korea before things get much worse.

2006-10-05, 20:11	Link #1
SpaceDrake This Is Part Of The Plan Join Date: Aug 2004	I am so angry at my country right now (re: North Korea, Nukes, Iraq, Trans Fats) So, like most posters here, I live in the U.S. Currently, our news is dominated by reports of a Congressman sexually harassing his underage assistants, and of a brutal school shooting in Pennsylvania (an admittedly horrific act commited on one of America's largest pacifist groups.) Meanwhile, all this is going on. North Korea is waving a nuclear weapon in the world's face. Iran isn't even doing that. And the United States news media and leadership seems to be saying *nothing* about it. CNN, FOXNews, MSNBC, CBS... silence, on their websites. I didn't get a chance to catch the evening news tonight but I suspect it's all quiet on the Eastern front there too. This is a massive problem and it deserves attention. America needs to get ready for the very real possibility that we may need to assist South Korea and Japan against one of the last truly hostile nations on Earth. I just wanted the folks from Japan and Korea who DO read these forums that while most of America doesn't seem to be paying attention... a few of us are. And we know what kind of a threat North Korea poses. And fellow Americans? Write to your Congressmen, write to your freaking local NEWS stations, tell them to bring this into national focus. In 2001 President Bush lumped North Korea in with Iraq and Iran as an "axis of evil" that stood in the way of a peaceful future. Now that North Korea is trying to EARN that title, are we just going to ignore it?

2006-10-05, 20:19	Link #2
Maceart Doremi-fansubs founder Fansubber Join Date: Mar 2004	I think, it's because a majority of Americans are politically apathetic. Over 50% of Americans didn't even vote for the presidential election, so I don't know what can be done. __________________ AIR 2005! Kanon 2006! CLANNAD 2007-2008! Planetarian OAV/Movie 2010?

2006-10-05, 21:39	Link #3
Kiva128 Kairin-chan's #1 Fan Artist Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Canada	So why is United States, Russia, India, Pakistan, France, etc. allowed to have nukes but not North Korea? Because they're evil? Communist? I mean yes, more nukes is never good but why should only some counties be allowed to have it? And don't say self defense since who the hell would fire a nuke to attack a country (then obviously the country would fire theirs and bam, nuclear winter). You wouldn't even be able to send soldiers in after due to radiation nor grow anything for years...but that's getting off topic. __________________ My New Site http://www.azuremidnight.com Summer Kairin Drawing! http://forums.animesuki.com/showthre...44#post3086844

2006-10-05, 22:24	Link #4
Jinx626 Yo!! Join Date: Nov 2003	If one studies the politics of North korea one can see that North Korea has claimed something or did something to incite the world's attention on itself in the past to gain concessions in the world community and this is nothing new. Although this time around it is a bit more serious as there is intelligence (correct intelligence this time around???).... Personally i think the U.N. (even though they are pretty useless) should handle this with the U.S. supporting spearheading efforts for a resolution by another nation such as Japan instead of the U.S. being the "world" police and having more tax dollars spent on wars and messes we shouldn't be getting into. __________________

2006-10-05, 22:37	Link #6
Potatochobit Certified Organic Join Date: Dec 2005	You are silly, North Korea is not that big a deal, the japanese are mostly overreating since they know most of Asia would line up against them if a war ever broke out. you dont see south korea panicking do you? and they have been neighbors and had to deal with this all their lives. Iran having nuclear weapons is a much greater problem than north korea who has had them for a long time. you have to understand that North korea cannot use those weapons without having to break ties with russia and china and that would devastate their economy. Iran most likely would never use them either, if they make them; but still, if some crazy man was in power and Iran was having a revolution or a war where his sovereignty would be taken away from him, he might just go ahead and really use it. Iran is far far more financially stable than North korea. its true sanctions and a blockade would really hurt Iran, but no where near as bad as North korea where most of the people already live in poverty. why do you think north korea is so obsessed with showing force? they know their country is crumbling and is having severe problems. the nuke threats are just a way to keep some leverage in eastern asia. i find the bigger upsetting issue is Japan thinking about having an army outside of just national defense. I'm not sure how much history of World War II you know about, but one of the biggest mistakes of the modern age was to let russia claim berlin after the fall of the nazi regime in world war II. that is what started the iron curtain and eventually the cold war. i love japan and the people, however, i am strongly against them having a need to bear arms in foreign countries. their history and culture is very closed and narrow minded. that usually leads to bad things when a bad person is in charge. now on the more pressing issue, the most important thing the UN needs to take care of besides afghanistan is the condition in darfur. people are literrally starving or being killed and raped daily by the goverment army. this army also claims to have ties to terrorist groups and other die hard muslim militias. if you read the news the leader is against UN invovlvement. do you know why that is? because he is getting the money from their oil fields. he knows that once the UN steps in his goverment might also crumble since they wont tolerate all the atrocities he is committing while hiding it under various military group names. now dont get darfur, Sudan confused with the problem in Somalia. yes there are lots of african nations and they all melt together in your mind, but we dont want to start stereotyping. in this region hard line muslims are also taking over. however, the difference is that the goverment was already pretty bad. from what the news reports order is being restored. i would have to say that is better than what was before. alot of people are concerned that they dont want to create a new afghanistan. but if these people are bringing justice to the natives and feeding the children i say it is far better than the people who do nothing yet complain about it because of their religion. the only reason i can think of the UN supporting the current goverment is because they want to avoid the financial responsibilty of funding a war if they got involved. right now there is just too much going on elsewhere and africa is just going to have to be placed on hold. realistically, this is nothing new. Africa has always been a poor country and has almost always been at war with each other. this is a sad truth despite how rich the land is. there are tons of gold, silver, diamond, and oil mines all over. its those few people taking all the profits and the uneducated masses that prevent the country from moving forward by constantly destroying things that they dont know are actually preventing them from advancing.

2006-10-05, 22:56	Link #7
ImClueless Rawr Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada	No worries about North Korea. Chances are that nuke will fail just like their missile and they will make themselves look foolish again. The only reason they are doing this is to make up for the failed long range missile embarrassment. North Korea is poor as hell and has a crappy education system. Not the most nurturing of environments for technological excellence. If you go look at one of those nightscape satellite images of the earth you will notice that North Korea is noticably lacking in lights. (joke)However, on the off chance that they nuke Tokyo what will happen to the anime production! oh noes(/joke). I agree Iran is much scarier considering its location, economic influence, and the fact that it is ideologically/religiously driven rather than simply being controlled by a crazed militant movie fan with wild hair. Oh yeah he also has small man syndrome and needs a better dresser.

2006-10-06, 00:37	Link #9
karasuma Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006	Hrm.... here is what's going on.... If North Korea goes nuclear, guess what Japan will do? If Japan goes nuclear, guess who wouldn't like to see that? China Who has the most leverage on North Korea? China Who actually want Japan to boost up their military? U.S.A. Some Japanese actually think it is kinda pointless to go nuclear since their country is relatively small. Only 4 or 5 direct hits will finish them. So, at best, they can change the balance of a larger conflict. There you go. I think China has the most leverage and motivation to solve this problem. This is not true for Iran which U.S. is the main pusher. On the other hand, U.S. is all upset when India & Pakistan wanted to go nuclear. After they get there, the message immediately become "welcome to the club". So, there you go.

2006-10-06, 01:20	Link #10
ImClueless Rawr Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Canada	The difference with Pakistan and India is that they want to nuke eachother and not the US or US allies unlike North Korea or Iran. Also Pakistan doesn't have a long range delivery system and India is the world's largest democracy so the US feels safer about them. Not to mention, who will answer all of the customer support calls for IT companies if US and Indian relations sour!?!?!

2006-10-06, 02:42	Link #12
Potatochobit Certified Organic Join Date: Dec 2005	If North Korea goes nuclear, guess what Japan will do? what do you mean if? north korea has had nuclear plants and probably war heads for a long time. the problem is they dont have the financing to keep them maintained. alot of intelligence says most of north koreas nuclear facilities are not active. i would guess alot of the uranium was sold off after the collapse of the USSR.

2006-10-06, 05:00	Link #13
Loniat Paranoid Android Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Wherever you go, there you are	You started well, it is really important to be concerned over the political-economical-social situation of your country. Now, don't get me wrong, but the US has no right or moral obligation whatsoever to interfere in every conflict or spat in the globe. Indeed, this always leads to an increase in hate levels against US. Besides, from the latests "helping hand" actions from US, the medicine is bitter than the disease.

2006-10-06, 14:06	Link #20
Kyuusai 9wiki Scanlator Join Date: May 2006 Location: State of Denial	Unfortunately, the media, in any country, is about pushing an agenda. In state-controlled media, it pushes the agenda of the state. In other media, it pushes the agenda of making the media companies money and pushing the ideals and views of whoever runs them. The US doesn't have a monopoly on media corruption, apathy, or idiocy. As some one else said: It's good that it angers you, because it shows you care. Wise words. The only question is how you handle it. Take this motivation and use it to drive you to find a lot of historical perspective and seek your news out elsewhere. (Attention all history buffs and asian politics majors: I know that the following is very simplified.) To be honest, I'm not too worried about North Korea. The NK president has a long, long history of waving his fists in the air and making idle threats in order to receive monetary appeasement. We're just seeing another round of it. The REAL story on North Korea that the media should be reporting on and isn't is that North Korea and China relations are different, as are the Japanese views on use of military. Historically, the US hasn't been quick to deal with North Korea's threats because a) They weren't truly that dangerous, just loud and b) China's a bigger mess than the US wants to handle. China doesn't want the US to deal with North Korea. "Communist" (actually socialist) nations tend to stick together, for one, and China REALLY does not want a US military presence on their border as there would surely be if the US "dealt with" North Korea. What's changed is that North Korea has become a bigger problem for China lately. Like a boil on China's foot, North Korea is a constant pain. Will China be more willing to co-operate against North Korea non-militarily? Will China suddenly decide to do something more extreme? Time will tell. A short distance away, though, Japan is getting antsy. Japan is the beloved target of North Korean aggression. This is because it's popular to hate the Japanese because of the former habit of occupying nations and oppressing/slaughtering the native peoples. Well, that and the fact that Japan has become very prosperous. Hating prosperity is a good motivator. Even better, Japan won't fight back! Japan is like that rich, smart kid on the playground that a bunch of other kids gather around and take turns kicking. The other thing that's changed is that Japan is sick and tired of that crap, and has had enough. The likelyhood of Japan invading North Korea is nearly nill for the same reasons the US won't do it on Japan's behalf. But Japan is taking it more seriously, and there's been talk of re-writing laws to allow military action. Whatever the case, Japan won't be sitting still if North Korea pushes much farther. North Korea doesn't really have the ability to harm the US. It's long-range weapon capacity isn't quite there, and a genuine strike against the US would leave the US very justified in taking serious military action that China would (probably) not do much about, unless they decided to do it first to keep the US from occupying that strategically-placed nation. Furthermore, North Korea is so cut-off from the rest of the world that terrorist plots are a lot harder to pull off in the short-term. The more likely progression of events is that North Korea and Japan eventually get into escalating skirmishes that will, at some point, draw in South Korea, and eventually force the US to make an appearance as both Korea and Japan's protector if they continue escalating (Imagine Korea and Japan as heroes on a sentai show, with Japan being the cool, independant character with the most powerful giant robot to call when the going gets rough). China will be acting very antsy the whole way through. I don't expect it to come to that, though. China's getting to fed up with it, and will likely be willing to put a match to the tick on its behind that is North Korea before things get much worse.