[IPAndrews]

Add your own caption:

[Kazan]

potential seismic signature - period last 24 hours -

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/130_40.php
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/ustqab.php

[Turambar]

Add your own caption:


whoo boy, i knew i ate too much of that chili

[Colonol Dekker]

Add your own caption:

Dum dee dum.,................Mmmmmmmmmm.................................AHA !


GENERAL, GET ME A CHEESEBURGER !

[aldo_14]

Well, I'm not opening it until you confirm they've not developed a Pretzel tipped warhead!

[Mongoose]

...And could someone explain to me what the **** that has to do with a psycho firing off a nuke?  Come on, guys.  Could we manage to quit the bickering and inanity for ten seconds, maybe?  This ain't exactly politics as usual. 

At any rate, I'm just hoping that the UN actually manages to put some teeth behind whatever they decide, instead of the usual half-hearted "sanctions" attempts.  As an international organization, it'd be nice to see them stand up and deal with a threat to international safety in a powerful manner.  If they can't manage to pull this one off, then I'll lose whatever respect I did have for them in the first place.  Guess there's nothing to do but wait and see.

[Colonol Dekker]

Why cant we all just,.Get along...........

[WeatherOp]

...And could someone explain to me what the **** that has to do with a psycho firing off a nuke?  Come on, guys.  Could we manage to quit the bickering and inanity for ten second.

No, then they would explode....but on the second thought lets do it, it will be funny.

[Rictor]

...And could someone explain to me what the **** that has to do with a psycho firing off a nuke?  Come on, guys.  Could we manage to quit the bickering and inanity for ten seconds, maybe?  This ain't exactly politics as usual. 

At any rate, I'm just hoping that the UN actually manages to put some teeth behind whatever they decide, instead of the usual half-hearted "sanctions" attempts.  As an international organization, it'd be nice to see them stand up and deal with a threat to international safety in a powerful manner.  If they can't manage to pull this one off, then I'll lose whatever respect I did have for them in the first place.  Guess there's nothing to do but wait and see.

Just to play devil's advocate for a second, why shouldn't North Korea be allowed to have nuclear weapons? If we take the methapor of selling someone a gun, if one citizen is allowed to posses it than all are. You can't not sell a gun to soemone simply because they look shifty to you. Unless there is concrete proof, prior cevents that confirm that he would use it in an irresponsible manner, one law must apply equally to everyone, no?

[Kazan]

Add your own caption:

"Wish I picked some better toilet paper.. that 'Constitution' stuff is pretty coarse"

[WeatherOp]

Just to play devil's advocate for a second, why shouldn't North Korea be allowed to have nuclear weapons? If we take the methapor of selling someone a gun, if one citizen is allowed to posses it than all are. You can't not sell a gun to soemone simply because they look shifty to you. Unless there is concrete proof, prior cevents that confirm that he would use it in an irresponsible manner, one law must apply equally to everyone, no?

That is about how I feel, let them have their nuke, if it is their Viagra, good for them. But, we just need to make it clear if they ever decide to use one, they will not be around to watch the destruction they have caused.

[Shade]

Ok, time for a serious response. I get being freaked out by them having nuclear weapons. I don't, however, get being freaked out by them blowing one up 5 miles under ground.

Fact is, everyone has known for some time that they were developing them, and recently everyone has strongly suspected that they'd succeeded. So for all intents and purposes, they were already nuclear. What has changed from before the test to now? One thing: They now have one less nuke to throw around, and that's actually a good thing. So I say let them keep testing all they want, and just make damn sure they know that if one of them ever goes off outside their own borders, Asia is not going to be lacking for parking lots for the next few decades.

[Cyker]

On a slight tangent, where did the detonate this thing?

Underground, yeah, but where underground?

Is there presumably a huge scherical 'space' under the ground of North Korea somewhere now that could suddenly collapse at some point in the future?

The french did a similar thing several years ago, but they did it under the ground under the sea...

[NGTM-1R]

All the intel agencies are saying it was a nuclear test. Russia is saying it was between 5 and 15 kilotons.

South Korea and the US have both cited .5kt, Japan hasn't made up its mind whether it's real but seems to be leaning towards the smaller figure, and China hasn't commented on the yield yet.

The size of the weapon worries me. I'd feel safer if it were 15kt. There's less probablity they'd be able to deliever it successfully that way. .5kt is small enough to put on an unguided artillery rocket...unless the bomb fizzled. As long as no actual high-order detonation actually occurs there's still a chance that when Mr. Il inveitably has a temper tantrum and chucks a nuke at the ROK that it won't provoke a nuclear reaction from the US or anyone else.

Seoul has a real chance of stopping a tactical ballistic inbound. They bought a lot of Patriot PAC-3s for just that purpose, and the missile was designed and has proved capable of doing it. An unguided FROG-7 or BM-series rocket on a low trajectory is another matter.

As to why North Korea shouldn't be in the nuclear club: well...they're loonies. It's unfortunate to have to use that wording, perhaps, but there's really no other way to describe them. North Korea has repeatedly proved to be the least tractable and most unstable country in the world. Mr. Il has repeatedly proved he doesn't give a **** about pissing off anyone in any fashion, and it's not clear he even understands the concept of consequences. He has repeatedly attempted to provoke his neighbors even when his neighbors are the only thing keeping his country fed. MAD always assumed the other guy was rational in some vague sense. Kim-Jong Il may not be.

And it's a hell of a thing to have to explain to the citizens of South Korean we let their country get nuked on the basis of fairness. The gun metaphor is nice, but it's also flawed: you can't afford to act on an innocent until proven guilty basis with something this dangerous.

[aldo_14]

...And could someone explain to me what the **** that has to do with a psycho firing off a nuke?  Come on, guys.  Could we manage to quit the bickering and inanity for ten seconds, maybe?  This ain't exactly politics as usual. 

At any rate, I'm just hoping that the UN actually manages to put some teeth behind whatever they decide, instead of the usual half-hearted "sanctions" attempts.  As an international organization, it'd be nice to see them stand up and deal with a threat to international safety in a powerful manner.  If they can't manage to pull this one off, then I'll lose whatever respect I did have for them in the first place.  Guess there's nothing to do but wait and see.

What do you want?  War?

[Kazan]

What do you want?  War?

is he a conservative?



hint: yes

[Nuclear1]

What do you want?  War?

is he a conservative?



hint: yes

Oh, look at the joke at the expense of the conservative! That's new, witty, and original!  With compliments of the "caption the picture of Bush!"  All we need is an excuse to throw in that "oppressed" piechart and we're all set!

What I believe Mongoose is saying is that the UN can't full rely on talks to get out of this one, and unless they do something serious, such as remove the man, the situation isn't going to get any better.

[Mongoose]

Oh, Kazan, Kazan, Kazan...don't you ever go changin', ya hear?

What do you want?  War?

No sane person wants war as a first choice, especially when dealing with someone as crazy and irrational as Kim-Jong.  But, if push comes to shove, if increased sanctions don't do anything, if he keeps pulling this same sort of crap and trying to provoke the hell out of the rest of the free world...then I say we should do what needs to be done, whatever that may be.

Edit: Along the lines of what nuclear said, what I meant was that I don't hold out too much hope for talk alone, or even sanctions, no matter how harsh, working in this situation.  Like someone said on the last page, I honestly don't think that Kim-Jong has any real clear concept of the consequences of his actions.  He's more like a petulant little child than anything else, and a petulant little child armed with nuclear warheads sitting right next to someone he hates is a very dangerous situation indeed.  I honestly think that the UN has a chance to shine here, depending on how things proceed; I only hope that they live up to that chance.

[IceFire]

Oh, Kazan, Kazan, Kazan...don't you ever go changin', ya hear?

What do you want?  War?

No sane person wants war as a first choice, especially when dealing with someone as crazy and irrational as Kim-Jong.  But, if push comes to shove, if increased sanctions don't do anything, if he keeps pulling this same sort of crap and trying to provoke the hell out of the rest of the free world...then I say we should do what needs to be done, whatever that may be.

Edit: Along the lines of what nuclear said, what I meant was that I don't hold out too much hope for talk alone, or even sanctions, no matter how harsh, working in this situation.  Like someone said on the last page, I honestly don't think that Kim-Jong has any real clear concept of the consequences of his actions.  He's more like a petulant little child than anything else, and a petulant little child armed with nuclear warheads sitting right next to someone he hates is a very dangerous situation indeed.  I honestly think that the UN has a chance to shine here, depending on how things proceed; I only hope that they live up to that chance.

If thats the case...convince China and South Korea to cut their food and energy supplies.  It won't take very long for the regime to fall under its own weight.

[Kazan]

Oh, look at the joke at the expense of the conservative!

it was too perfect of a setup to pass up