What BooMan said

It is legendary in my family and friends on how crazed I was about M*A*S*H and the furor that surrounded the last episode in my house, and I'm only 3 years older than her.

Isn't Sarah Palin the right age to have seen a lot of M*A*S*H? The final episode of M*A*S*H is still the highest rated primetime telecast of all time. Maybe she didn't watch the show while it was on, but I know I learned everything I needed to know about why there are two Koreas from watching that show. And I was a little kid. You know, the Communist North invaded the South, and we intervened to roll the North back. The Chinese intervened on the other side leading to a stalemate, an armistice, and a demilitarized zone along the 38th parallel.

I'm guessing she was watching "The Sandy Duncan Show".

Breaking: N. Korea wants to end hostile relations with U.S.

By GottaLaff

Via a Yahoo e-mail alert:

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea calls for an end of hostile relations with the U.S. in New Year's message.\

I hope 2010 is better than 2009 in many ways. In some ways, it was wonderful, but this news is more than welcome.

Video- Protest balloons float into N.Korea

Video- Complete Face The Nation, 08.09.09

Hey, I always miss it so I thought maybe others did also and such.

National Security Advisor Jim Jones on relations between the U.S and North Korea and. increasing U.S. forces in Afghanistan; Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) discuss reports that U.S. commanders want more troops in Afghanistan; Plus, Bob Schieffer gives 'the plane truth.'

Video- UN Ambassador Rice says John Bolton's criticisms are "ridiculous."

Video- Hillary Clinton erupts in laughter at the mention of 'John Bolton'

Double damn skippy.

Video- The Daily Show: William Jefferson Airplane

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
William Jefferson Airplane
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

Videos- Journalist Praise President Clinton, President Obama Speaks on Freed Journalists

I'm not feeling too great, so these will have to keep you busy til Gotta comes on.

Video- Dick Morris: Freed hostages "maybe" should have stayed in N. Korea and "live[d] with the consequences"

Why Morris and Ollie North still get to use up television pixels is beyond me.

Video- Journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling arrive home with President Bill Clinton

Sniff. Screw the husband, she just wants her daughter.

VIDEO--Even After North Korea Frees Americans, Bolton Says Clinton Trip Was Mistake

By GottaLaff



Black is white, up is down, smart is stupid, Rushpublics are sane:

On CNN this afternoon, nonproliferation expert and Ploughshares Fund president Joe Cirincione explained why Clinton’s trip is not rewarding bad behavior:

CIRINCIONE: The Obama administration seems to have played North Korea just about right — largely ignoring them for the first eight months, not rewarding their bad behavior, not reacting to their provocative statements or actions and now after about two months of relatively quiet, moderate North Korean behavior and the involvement of China…you now send in a real power player to hopefully negotiate the release of the journalists…and help reset U.S.-North Korean relations, refreezing that nuclear program and if things work out we could see the beginning again of the dismantlement of that nuclear program.

VIDEO ADDED-- BREAKING: U.S. Journalists held in N. Korea pardoned

By GottaLaff

Please note: Blog title changed to reflect video added (apologies for MoJo exposure):

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

CNN is reporting that the two journalists have been given a special pardon from L'il Kim himself. I'll find the link.

Seems L'il Kim wanted to save face, and by pardoning them, he wasn't admitting much, meaning, wouldn't say they were innocent of charges. Former Clinton likely worked a deal in advance of the trip, CNN is saying, because this couldn't have happened so quickly otherwise.

We don't know when they will be released, what their condition is, or where they've been.

UPDATE: Here's the link.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korean media say leader Kim Jong Il has pardoned two American journalists and ordered their release during the visit of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Poll: Americans See North Korea as Bigger Threat Than Iraq or Afghanistan

Sounds about right to me.

A recent poll asks Americans to name the biggest threat to U.S. security. The top 5 answers:

1. North Korea, said 51 percent of Americans
2. Iran, said 46 percent of Americans
3. Iraq, said 35 percent of Americans
4. Afghanistan, said 35 percent of Americans
5. Pakistan, said 27 percent of Americans

Read more Five Things.

Source: Gallup

Why is Obama Speaking Softly about Iranian Election? Ask North Korea

By GottaLaff

Your Daily Dose of BuzzFlash:

Why is Obama Speaking Softly about Iranian Election? Ask North Korea

I tried to post this yesterday, but Blogger was broken.

N. Korea Convicts 2 U.S. Journalists

I don't see how this ends well, since we should be cracking down on North Korea and I'm sure they will demand things we don't want to give in on for the women. Oh, and this shit doesn't help.

North Korea's top court convicted two American journalists and sentenced them to 12 years in a prison Monday, intensifying the reclusive nation's confrontation with the United States.

The sentencing came amid soaring tensions fueled by the North's latest nuclear and missile tests. Many believe Pyongyang is using the journalists as bargaining chips as the U.N. debates a new resolution to punish the unpredictable country for its latest military threats.

In a cryptic two-sentence report, the North's state news agency said Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36 were sentenced after the five-day trial ended Monday. They were guilty of a "grave crime" against the nation and of illegally crossing into North Korea, the Korean Central News Agency said.

The court "sentenced each of them to 12 years of reform through labor," said the report, without giving other details. The phrase refers to a prison term, according to Choi Eun-suk, a North Korean law expert at Seoul's University of North Korean Studies.

VIDEO-- Sarah Palin: Defense cuts are 'a sign of weakness'

By GottaLaff

Let's take just a moment of silence to honor Palin's signs of weakness.

...

... Thank you.

Wanna know what I consider a sign of weakness? Sarah Louise Palin... accusing the ObamAdministration of showing signs of weakness, also... too... moreover. Oh hell, maybe we should just BushCo (aka: nuke) North Korea to smithereens and let the repercussions fall(out) where they may:

In her strongest public remarks to date on the matter, Sarah Palin admonished the Obama adminstration on Saturday for proposing cuts to Alaska's missile defense network, a move she said would leave her state and the rest of the country vulnerable in the case of a future attack.

I understand one can see the missile defense system from Sarah Louise's house. How's that view from your own personal arsenal, Sarah?

"Reducing Alaska's defense readiness in these perilous times is a show of weakness, it is not a sign of strength," Palin said during a celebration in upstate New York honoring native son William Seward, who negotiated the purchase of Alaska in 1867 as Secretary of State. [...]

Palin said Alaska's missile defense system is now more vital than ever, particularly in the wake of North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests. She said a missile fired from North Korea could easily reach Alaska and other parts of the country.

"And yet, Washington thinks it's best now to actually cut defense spending in Alaska by hundreds of millions of dollars," she said. "Now that is an odd priority there."

Palin said she will "argue with every ounce of my being for Washington to pay attention."

You, you, you, it's all about you. Anything for attention. But come on, isn't demanding your own pricey missile system going a tad overboard? A new wardrobe would suffice. Really it would. But only if you pick up the tab.

"That is not always easy, but it is right," she said. "It is clear to many that some of our priorities as a nation are kind of reversed, and it is my imperative, and it should be all of our imperative, that we get our government priorities right, because if they are misdirected, obviously America is going turn into something that we don't recognize."

Sarah, dear... America became unrecognizable back in 2001 up through 2008. The ObamAdministration is simply trying to restore its old, beautiful, democratic luster. Remember that? Democracy?

At another moment during her speech, the former vice presidential candidate got a cheer from the crowd by repeating a line of attack that was frequently used against Obama during last year's presidential campaign.

Palin explained that Alaskans believe in "the roots of our country, so deep, so strong."

"They're what we need to cling to," she said. "Clinging to, you know, that includes our clinging to our second amendment rights, and our faith in God. Many of us do cling to that strong faith in God."

I cling to my belief that she will continue on this road to nowhere, and I pray that she will invite Michele Bachmann to be her running mate.

Hillary Clinton Says N. Korea May Go Back Onto Terrorist List

By GottaLaff

The Axis of Evil... again?

The United States is looking at restoring North Korea to the list of state sponsors of terrorism, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Sunday.

“We’re going to look at it,” Ms. Clinton said on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” “There’s a process for it. Obviously, we would want to see recent evidence of their support for international terrorism.”

Ms. Clinton, speaking in a taped interview, was asked to respond to a letter from several senators asking the Obama administration to immediately return North Korea to the list after its recent weapons tests. The letter, which was signed by eight Republican senators and made public on Tuesday, insisted that North Korea “never ended the activities for which it was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism.” Restoring North Korea to the list would prevent access to loans and other financing that could be used to pursue “their destabilizing activities,” the letter said. [...]

Ms. Clinton said that the Obama administration was taking the senators’ letter seriously.

Li'l Kim is stirring up quite a ruckus.

When asked about what the consequences might be if North Korea were to attempt to ship nuclear weapons elsewhere, Ms. Clinton said the United States would try to prevent it and work to cut off the impoverished nation’s flow of money.

“If we do not take significant and effective action against the North Koreans now, we’ll spark an arms race in northeast Asia. I don’t think anybody wants to see that,” she said.

US Army at DEFCON 4, WATCHCON 2

By GottaLaff

UPDATE and CORRECTION (reflected in title):

South Korean and U.S. forces have been placed on a higher surveillance alert level, after North Korea threatened military action following its nuclear test earlier this week, the joint forces announced on Thursday.

The "Watchcon" alert was raised to its second-highest level on Thursday, a government spokeswoman told CNN.

The last time the joint forces raised the surveillance alert was after North Korea's last nuclear test in 2006, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

The separate five-stage combat alert level, known as "Defcon," has not changed and remains at stage 4, South Korean defense spokesman Won Tae-jae said at Thursday's briefing, according to Yonhap.

Original post:

Because we need more drama:

Sources close to MiNa claim the US Army has moved their alert level to Defcon 2. This was initiated by the alarming situation in North Korea. The US Army has over 35,000 troops stationed in South Korea, well within reach of North Korean convential weapons.

North Korea has the largest artillery force (can be equipped with nuclear warheads) in the world, which adds more to the already tense situation.

Earlier today, N. Korea's leader Kim Jong issued threaths to the South Korean and US Navy ships for coming too close to North Korea's territorial waters. The South Koreans and the Americans, may be positioning themselves for a preemptive strike. [...]

DEFCON 2
This refers to a further increase in force readiness just below maximum readiness. The most notable time it was declared was during the Cuban Missile Crisis, although the declaration was limited to Strategic Air Command. It is not certain how many times this level of readiness has been reached.

For information on DEFCON levels, follow the link.

Cartoon of the Day

Click to enlarge, via.

UN Security Council Nations Agree to Condemn N. Korea's Rocket Launch

By GottaLaff

A message to L'il Kim:

Key Security Council nations reached agreement Saturday on a statement that would condemn North Korea's rocket launch and toughen sanctions against the reclusive communist nation, council diplomats said.

The five permanent veto-wielding members -- the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France -- and Japan met after Tokyo backed down from a demand that the Security Council adopt a new resolution, the strongest response from the U.N.'s most powerful body.

A presidential statement is considered a weaker reaction by the council. The draft statement condemns North Korea's April 5 rocket launch and makes clear that it was a violation of a Security Council resolution adopted after the North conducted a nuclear test in 2006 which bans any missile tests by the country, the diplomats said.

The statement calls for freezing the assets of companies or organizations involved in transactions related to the import or export of missiles, nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, the diplomats said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations took place behind closed doors

China and Russia, the North Koreans' strongest allies, refused to go along with a new resolution, which the United States was also seeking. But while Japan kept insisting on a resolution, the U.S. indicated it would also accept a strong presidential statement from the council, the diplomats said. [...]

North Korea has warned that any move to censure it at the U.N. could prompt its withdrawal from the nuclear disarmament talks, which involve China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S.

A presidential statement must be approved by consensus, meaning that all 15 council members must approve it before it is read at a formal council meeting by its president. It becomes part of the council's official record, unlike a press statement. The U.S. and others argue that presidential statements, like resolutions, are legally binding. [...]

Under the draft, the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against North Korea would be given two weeks to agree on the companies, material and technologies to be banned, the diplomats said. If the committee failed to come up with a list, the Security Council itself would then come up with its own list, the diplomats said.