HeyYou

NK had China backing them for the last 70 years..... SK had the US backing them. Please note which area is in better condition....... NK could be in pretty much the same state as SK, if China had had the will to make it so. Instead, NK is the neglected step-child, that is used to concentrate the ire of the neighbors away from the true source.

This ain't the country I grew up in. It's barely even recognizable. Unfortunately, I don't see the path changing, short of some MAJOR disaster/war.

I stopped eating at KFC years ago, simply because their food pretty much guaranteed that I would be sick for a couple days afterwards..... I love my mashed potatoes though. :) We put garlic, and onion in ours as well.

Yeah, I really don't expect to see anything change here from within. It hasn't happened in almost 70 years, (and three generations of kims....) no reason to expect that to change. China HAS been more cooperative when it comes to NK of late. It's possible that they are finally figuring out that their 'buffer dictator' is just as dangerous to them, as he is to everyone else. Whether they will actually DO something about it though.... well, that's another question entirely. They could solve the problem in a week, if they had the correct motivation. Wonder what they would do if we flat out TOLD them "Solve this problem yourselves, or WE WILL." and give them a deadline...... Think they would actually make an attempt? I respectfully disagree. That would bring them into a better position on the Korean peninsula against S. Korea and the US- I'd rather not see the shark's teeth up close and personal! No, we need to keep China out of this as much as possible. It would be much better for the US to go it alone and be able to negotiate with China from an much stronger strategic position in the future. The threat of nukes is one thing, but the threat of both nukes and divisions pouring across your borders is something more to think about. How better to deter tactical nukes if your already on their land? A unified, democratic Korea is exactly the buffer we need to ensure China plays honest Joe in the world. And because of Korea's proximity to China, we cannot simply leave and let them settle it themselves. Korea is prime strategic real estate as well as worthy allies in need of the US to play big brother to them- for the time being. The most effective deterrent to war is making the other guy doubt they can beat you. Lil' Kim is just crazy! But I still think we should wait for N. Korea to fire the first shot- as you have said. Should PRC choose to invade, we can always point to it as war without sufficient provocation on their part and denounce it to the world as "naked aggression" or "totalitarian expansionism". :dry: Trouble is, China has no real desire to see a unified Korea..... especially as a US protectorate. Having US soldiers on their new border, would most certainly make them nervous..... Even though it wouldn't benefit either party for China and the US to go to war..... (US more so than China.... we are only about 20% of China's foreign trade.... unfortunately, a fairly significant percentage of our manufacturing comes from China.....) I suspect, that in order to 'protect' their buffer from the US, China would instantly come into the war on the side of NK, should the US stage a pre-emptive attack, with the appearance of an invasion to follow. Quite frankly, I have absolutely zero desire to see the US make yet another attempt at "nation building"..... as we apparently flat out SUCK at it.

Yeah, I really don't expect to see anything change here from within. It hasn't happened in almost 70 years, (and three generations of kims....) no reason to expect that to change. China HAS been more cooperative when it comes to NK of late. It's possible that they are finally figuring out that their 'buffer dictator' is just as dangerous to them, as he is to everyone else. Whether they will actually DO something about it though.... well, that's another question entirely. They could solve the problem in a week, if they had the correct motivation. Wonder what they would do if we flat out TOLD them "Solve this problem yourselves, or WE WILL." and give them a deadline...... Think they would actually make an attempt?

You may be seeing the total value there, which would include the bonus from the assassins amulet.

If their response is a declaration of war, I would much prefer to avoid that. Seeing millions dead isn't something I would consider a 'successful' campaign. That, and even if it did end up that way, I seriously doubt it would change much in our 'global economy'. Too many people in power make too much money in the current circumstances, they are not going to willingly change that.

The only problem is, of late, if someone has a different opinion, that makes them evil, the devil, morons, and a whole host of other less-than-complimentary terms...... It seems that in the current climate, you either agree, or you are 'the enemy'.... and your opinion is obviously wrong, therefore, worthless.

China recently stated that if WE fire the first shot, they would support NK, but, if NK fires the first shot, they will not intervene. (and this was after the purge......) I would just as soon not gamble WWIII on China sitting it out if we strike first.

But if we rush into it, we initiate WWIII....... Either China needs to deal with him, (or Russia for that matter I suppose) or lil Kim needs to make the first move. If we attack 'preemptively', China and Russia will join NK..... and the situation escalates FAR to quickly.

Take a video of both Mr. speed demon, and Mr. I don'tknowhatabrakepedalisfor.... being sure that their plate is clearly visible. Present THAT to the police, and see if they can't use that to at least write a ticket. If they STILL won't do anything, post it on youtube, and make a point of saying that the cops refuse to do anything. :D

Not always correct. If you live with cats they will sometimes take a fascination with a bog roll and unwind about 30 yards of it onto the floor. It's then that you must install it backwards to keep your precious paper intact. The Rabbit My cats would play with it regardless of orientation...... The roll being strategically placed right above the heat duct certainly did help matters..... :D

Oh, for my own sake, yeah, I would agree with you that the threats lil kim his continuously uttered would most certainly constitute an act of war, if said by any other countries leader........ But, because of the situation being what it is...... We also need China and Russia to agree with that assessment. (and I don't see that ever happening.) I also agree that we need to do something about him SOON. The longer we wait, the worse the consequences are going to be. At this point, unless lil kim takes a MAJOR step back on his position, there aren't going to be any negotiations.... Not that I have any illusions that negotiations would do anything other than give him more time to develop his weapons programs...... Which pretty much makes war inevitable. The question now becomes, do we want to fight him NOW, when his nuclear arsenal is quite limited, or, do we want to wait some more, and be pretty much assured of nuclear escalation?

Welcome to the age of nuclear blackmail, brought to you by the fine folks of North Korea. :) I don't know if Kim is crazy, stupid, or..... crafty. So far, he has made a lot of noise, and threats, but, hasn't done anything that could be directly considered an 'act of war'. (although, sinking a s. korea ship, and shelling a s. korean island SHOULD have been considered as such.) So long as all he does is holler and scream, we can't really touch him, without setting off a larger conflict. Unfortunately, I believe that we need to wait for him to make the first act of real aggression, in order to keep China, and Russia, from coming in on his side. And it HAS to be an overt act, that is clearly perpetrated by the N. Korean government.

Even at the time we were thinking about invading iraq, I was wondering why NK wasn't a higher priority. Saddam had flatly stated he didn't have a WMD program any more.... which turned out to be true. NK, on the other hand, we knew FOR A FACT that they were indeed developing them....... yet we invaded Iraq..... (which was already completely contained, and not even a threat.) Of course, here we are a decade and more later, Iraq is still in utter chaos, thanks to us... and NK now has the H-bomb..... The government finally admitted the truth though, not so very long ago.... Iraq wasn't about WMDs, or terrorism, it was about oil, and that was it. We knew it at the time, but, bush ignored anyone one that didn't toe the party line.... and got the war he wanted, and the money from all that oil......

And do you think any of that would change if lil kimmy dropped dead tomorrow? Or would someone else step right into his place, and re-tool the propaganda machine to his own purposes? See, I don't think JUST lil Kim is the issue.... It's the whole regime, and their mindset. Taking out lil Kim might set them back a bit, but, if you leave the rest in place, they will just come up with a new figurehead. As with other debates it's pointless to argue over the future. Time will tell what happens but imo you're wrong. Jong-un's singular justification for his office, regime and cult of personality is paternal/inherited: he is where he is because and only because of who his father was. Not that we haven't had our own recent experience with the same phenomenon. But unlike GWB no justification for the Jong-un regime exists beyond himself and his own family, and I'm sure both will be primary targets if or when he's deposed. Being the idiot he is, he did us a huge favor when he "purged" his own uncle and his entire family. From my reading the uncle was actually the most China-aligned faction within NK's regime. I suppose it depends on just HOW lil kimmy meets his end. If he simply dies quietly in his 'sleep' one night..... then I wouldn't expect much to change there.... However, if he is killed when a selection of cruise missiles hit various targets within the country....... and folks understand just who launched them, why they launched them, and if the need arises, will do it again.... that may provide the proper motivation for real change in NK.

And do you think any of that would change if lil kimmy dropped dead tomorrow? Or would someone else step right into his place, and re-tool the propaganda machine to his own purposes? See, I don't think JUST lil Kim is the issue.... It's the whole regime, and their mindset. Taking out lil Kim might set them back a bit, but, if you leave the rest in place, they will just come up with a new figurehead.

Verify there are actually windows 10 drivers for the various hardware you want to plug in to your machine. I agree on the fresh install, over the 'upgrade', the upgrade seldom goes as planned, and having the system revert back to the previous operating system, REALLY doesn't work as advertised, it pretty much breaks everything in task scheduler.

The propaganda machine in NK is HIGHLY effective. The see lil Kim as the reincarnation of the original kim.... A great military leader, that knows all, sees all, etc...... Everything wrong in NIK is blamed on the US, and it's allies. The people are told that the US is doing this to them purely out of malice, and if ever there was a war, all sorts of terrible things would happen to them at the hands of america, and her allies. Since 99% of N Koreans have absolutely no idea what is going on in the rest of the world, they don't get any other perspective... so, they buy into the crap. Don't hold your breath on a coup from within either. If that was going to happen, it would have already, likely back in the 90s, when famine was widespread in NK. If we decide to engage in a ground war in NK, pretty much EVERY citizen there will fight tooth and nail against us.

There weren't any terrorists in Iraq until AFTER we invaded. Saddam didn't want anything to do with them.

The world is far more connected than it was pre-WWI, or even pre-WWII. Basically, with the advent of the proliferation of air travel, the world shrank. Before that happened, a trip from one continent to another, would take weeks. Now, we do it in hours. We have world-wide instant communication as well. We also have military bases scattered throughout the world.... And then there is the 're-bordering' of the Ottoman empire after the world wars. The random drawing of borders done by folks that had no idea of what they were setting the world up for.... Yes, we are our own worst enemy, and our very actions perpetuate our problems, not reduce them. It's a self-perpetuating cycle. We stick our noses into places they don't belong, with no understanding of the people we are trying to 'help', which causes more grief, and requires even more military strength. That process has only accelerated since roughly 2003....... our government wanted 'a friendly, stable, middle east', so, they went about shuffling things in what the thought was what the people there wanted........ not realizing that the culture there is RADICALLY different from ours, and all of their guesses about 'what they wanted', were wrong. They just do not seem to be able to grasp that they have no clue what they are doing...... They assigned emotions/motivations to a people they have no understanding of, and so, everything they do just makes things worse. Having first a war-mongering president, followed by an inept one, sure didn't help us either. Unfortunately, the new guy, whilst stating he wanted to change all that, once elected, got talked right back into it, so, here we go for a few more years, continuing all the same mistakes. I blame the multinationals, and the military-industrial complex. The more conflict there is in the world the more money the latter makes. The more we interfere with other governments, the more places are opened up for the former to exploit. They try and tell us that a 'global economy' and 'free trade' are good for america...... and it is, for a tiny segment of the population. For the other 99% of us, it simply means a quickly declining standard of living. Trouble is, its that 1% that makes the rules, and defines policy, so, while they prosper, the rest of us suffer. It can't last that way though. We are rapidly approaching the tipping point, and all hell is going to break loose.

What is your PC hardware?

It was on the decline only from the massive bloating that occurred during WWII and subsequent buildups (Reagan, Bush etc). It's why government charts that show our country's annual military and defense spending typically go back only to 1960, or if you're lucky, 1940 or 1945. Our government doesn't want us to know or be reminded that our spending for these two items was drastically lower for the first 150+ years of our country's history (except for WWI). Here's an example of OMB gymnastics: https://www.metabunk.org/data/MetaMirrorCache/0aeecd4c4d7b803b0434464b0a149726.gif See the very left of the chart? Yeah, that. For our first century and a half. Not really surprising. But then, the world has changed SIGNIFICANTLY since pre-WWI days.That's the standard reaction and justification heard from many Americans, imo it's also close to pure hogwash. Human nature is and always has been to defend oneself against threats, and if you look at the CIA's chart for WMDs by country, the vast majority of the list is a direct result of and response to our own arsenals of these same weapons. We'll be straddled with this problem forever, as long as we insist it's possible to both produce/maintain the world's largest (by far) stockpiles of WMDs, and play global traffic cop for them. It's a definite lose situation long-term, because technology once learned or acquired is never unlearned and virtually never unacquired. Only one country in the world (South Africa) has ever given up their WMDs voluntarily, in over 70 years. Thus in absence of global bans eventually either all or something very close to all countries will have them. How is that hogwash? The world HAS changed. Various countries had ideologies that were directly opposed to ours. That still exists today. Some of it has morphed from political ideology differences, to more a struggle for control, still, essentially the same problem.

Now I understand your crusade to ban spoons! Would solve so many of the world's problems. Totally on the same page. You, sir, are a genius! :D I seem to have a fixation on spoons....... and I am not really that much overweight. :D

It was on the decline only from the massive bloating that occurred during WWII and subsequent buildups (Reagan, Bush etc). It's why government charts that show our country's annual military and defense spending typically go back only to 1960, or if you're lucky, 1940 or 1945. Our government doesn't want us to know or be reminded that our spending for these two items was drastically lower for the first 150+ years of our country's history (except for WWI). Here's an example of OMB gymnastics: https://www.metabunk.org/data/MetaMirrorCache/0aeecd4c4d7b803b0434464b0a149726.gif See the very left of the chart? Yeah, that. For our first century and a half. Not really surprising. But then, the world has changed SIGNIFICANTLY since pre-WWI days. Air travel be right up there on the list of major changes...... global communication also improved drastically post-WWI. Yeah, we spend a boatload of money on 'defense', personally, I think that is mis-labeled, and should be 'offense', considering the number of wars WE have started lately..... (or, at least, financed......) We stick our noses into places that we don't understand, stir it with a giant spoon, and then act surprised when it boils over....... we suck at nation building, and we apparently don't have a clue about political realities on the ground in the Middle East. We have the Schmidas Touch. (everything we touch turns to s**t.....) Trump should stick to his original platform, and get us OUT of all the political wars his predecessors got us into/perpetuated. Side with Russia, and re-stabilize Syria, and the rest will pretty much fall into place. STOP spending billions of dollars on wars that accomplish nothing, aside from the making a few CEO's in the M-I complex even richer. Stop exporting all of our manufacturing to foreign countries, which then use the proceeds to build up THEIR Military.... (china....) etc. It may sound 'protectionist', but, that's because it IS. I am more worried about our NATION improving, than some corporations bottom line.