What's in the News

That story is definitely more than a little worrying.

war is probably more desirable to north korea than peace the amount of problems they have now

kim jong il is seriously ill, his son has no experience, the generals are battling each other for power, china can't be bothered with them

they probably don't have the capability to build this bomb everyone is scared about

maybe they think that if they can provoke the US and ROK into attacking them that China will come to their aid?

that's certainly how it seems to me.

My reaction too, JWin. Uh-oh.
Kit, I'd like to think that saner heads will prevail this time. Really, though, does anyone outside of the DPRK understand what is going on there? And yes, the thought that those clowns don't know what they're doing, they actually believe their own twisted rhetoric, has occurred. Uh-oh indeed.
Will China get involved? As long as the Americans show some restraint, I seriously doubt it. Too much to lose, too little to gain for both of them. Things have changed for the big guys in the past 60 years.
OTOH, Kimster did ride his Hogwarts Express to BJ not long ago, so maybe something is up. I'm thinking about that article in the Economist that CP linked to just a week ago, and the recent spate of arrests of anyone-who-so-much-as-makes-unwanted-bird-noises. There may be more to the current domestic political harmony than we know. Americans aren't the only ones who like a little war to keep the plebians in line.

there isn't really anything in it for america or ROK to send in the army that i can see.

i am a little worried about what are china's aims in all this, i wouldn't be surprised if they were calling the shots to a certain extent, they are the only ones who really have the power to order north korea to stop and they refuse to.

maybe north korea is sending a message to china. the leaders know that they can't really hurt america enough to influence them or even open a proper dialogue with america and stay in power. north korea can still have a bad effect on china by starting a war, even if/when they lose the big losers would be korea and china since they would have a big war next door which would involve them and america. that really is the last thing china wants. i think china is terrified of a war with america, the status quo is great for china, i really don't think they are quite ready to face anything serious just yet

And then there's the 13 year old boy from Mississippi who protested at Tiananmen Square   a couple of days ago in support of turning the ROK/DPRK DMZ into an International Peace Park.

Did I hear you say WTF?

I think that's what the Chinese minders at the Square were thinking, too, as they rather politely stopped him and sent him on his way.

Here's the story (VPN needed to view the video portion):
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20101122/NEWS02/101122023/1263/

South Korea says the shelling began after North Korea sent several messages protesting against military exercises being staged near the island, which lies 3km (two miles) from the disputed maritime border.

South Korea began an annual military exercise in the area on Monday.

Maybe, just maybe.

NK has a long history of making these kinds of provocative moves and then going to the bargaining table and procuring money, concessions etc.  Between that successful strategy and the need to show the backbone of the new dictator, (mini, mini-me?), it is probably a good tactical move by NK.

L'Originale: Veteran's Essay on Killing

Perspective: Killing 'Really Addictive:' Veteran's Essay Leads to Ban From Campus


Not an essay I would have wanted to grade.

   You have to give him an A for candor.

You're gonna LOVE this.  The Onion strikes again, and this time it's Fox News who plays the fool.

http://www.thewrap.com/television/article/fox-news-site-posts-satiricial-onion-obama-story-amid-real-news-22840

It's ok.  We're rocket scientists.

The computers on NASA's space shuttles are programmed so that at the end of the year, the systems need to be reset to reflect the date as Jan. 1, instead of Dec. 32, Beutel explained. In other words, at the end of the year, the shuttle computers have to be reconfigured to change from day 365 to day 1.

"In general, to shut down and reset the computers, they need to be safely on the ground, landed or docked to the station," Beutel said. "In theory, they could do it while they're in flight, but that's never been done before."

From http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/shuttle-discovery-launch-options-101130.html

New Zealand wins pavlova war

The war for the pavlova has been won.

A new listing in the Oxford English Dictionary says the meringue-based dessert was invented in New Zealand.

Australia has long tried to claim it created the Kiwi treat, named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who visited the Antipodes in the 1920s.

That claim has now been debunked after the Oxford yesterday relaunched its online edition, saying the first recorded pavlova recipe appeared in New Zealand in 1927.

The recipe was in a book called Davis Dainty Dishes, published by the Davis Gelatine company, and it was a multi-coloured jelly dish.

New Zealanders claim the meringue version also originated there, with recipes for it appearing in publications in 1928 and 1929.

The Australian claim centres on a recipe created by Bert Sachse, a chef at the Esplanade Hotel in the western city of Perth, as late as 1935.

Pavlova expert Dr Helen Leach of the University of Otago, who published a book called "The Pavlova Story", said though the pavlova was not what we know as a pavlova today the claim still stacked up.

"I can find at least 21 pavlova recipes in New Zealand cookbooks by 1940, which was the year the first Australian ones appeared." [/quote]
http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/4418676/New-Zealand-wins-pavlova-war

A victory indeed.  There's nothing more galling than another country, especially a bigger one, taking credit for your own's accomplishments.

This isn't really in the news "today," as it is 2 years old, but it is pretty sad just the same. I know you'd get similar results if you polled American or Chinese teens, so I'm not picking on the British, not this time anyhow.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1577511/Winston-Churchill-didnt-really-exist-say-teens.html