Archive for December, 2004
Posted by Joshua Stanton on December 30, 2004 at 6:54 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
. . . but I’d bet someone a cup of coffee that before the end of January, we’ll hear that the real cause of the tsunami was secret U.S. nuclear testing, or some other equally goofy blood-in-the-matzo conspiracy theory. Takers?
Americans–The New Jews!
UPDATE: Umm, I think I’ll call this guy crazy instead. Another Korea blogger no less–the seeing eye blog–is angling to win me my year’s supply of macchiato. I’d never actually read his blog, but what a hoot, right out of the far-, far-, far-left fever swamps. First, he links the parody Nomad mentions in his comment below, and manages to make himself the real parody by saying, in apparent seriousness–
One enlightened and hard-working website, run by a guy named Larry, has the facts, and painstakingly traces the tsunami back to a chain of events begun in 2001, just after Bush’s inauguration. This is what Michael Moore means when he tells reporters to “Do your jobs!!” and tell the public about the eggs and the limo.
He obviously didn’t notice the link to Scandalous Hegemony by Noam Chomsky. A riot! Be sure to read “Larry’s” bio, too. Yep, if we’d only listen to Michael Moore, all our journalism would be this good.
The seeing eye has plenty of other gems, such as this digital pogrom against Michael Horowitz (who, to my knowledge, has absolutely nothing to do with Israel’s alleged “multitudinous [sic] atrocities,” by hey, he’s got a Jewish name right? Somewhere, Julius Streicher must be smiling). He also has some tender words of consolation for the mother of abduction victim Megumi Yokota:
Now imagine where she’d be if the North Korean agents would have left her in capitalist Japan. Actually, you don’t have to: She’d be suffering the “worst inhumanity,” working as a prostitute in Okinawa. Or she’d have been a cheap nude model, and she’d be on posters in car mechanic shops throughout Japan. Or she’d be married to some hapless unemployed guy and living in an Osaka slum and reduced to rummaging through noodle-shop trash bins for enough food to survive another day. And she’d still have that hideous Japanese name, instead of a nice new Korean one. North Korea did her a favor.
Can you imagine what a tortured childhood that must have been? And I’m not even talking about Megumi! He also offers this consolation to the unfortunate worker who recently died in the industrial accident at Kaesong:
A sad reminder that reunification over 20-30 years will not come without martyrs. The man’s praises deserve to be sung in the nation’s classrooms. And there should be a verse or two reminding schoolchildren of the silver lining to this cloud: That the medical treatment was free.
Three (posthumous) cheers for state-managed health care!
I found myself repeatedly wondering if this guy could actually be serious and concluded, to my horror and great amusement, that he actually is. Now, I realize that I’ve probably breached some unwritten blog law of protocol. Maybe he’ll console himself with the fact that at least he got linked.
The Almighty reclaims all our cells and souls eventually. In this guy’s case, I suspect it will be with a sense of embarrassment for arranging them so carelessly in the womb in the first place. Anyway, if nothing else, the seeing eye blog is damned good entertainment, and all the proof you need that drugs are bad, kids.
UPDATE: Commenter Angus claims to know Seeing Eye and informs me isn’t serious. Well, I guess he fooled me, and if so, I owe him a beer at the very least, plus he gets a well-earned belly laugh at my expense. I have to say I scoured the site for something to firmly persuade me one way or the other, and concluded the tone was indistinguishable from some of the other lefty stuff I see on the net. That’s a sad statement. There’s just one way to resolve this: Seeing Eye, are you for real or are you putting us all on? Minds are inquiring.
Must go to wash egg off face now.
UPDATE: I never considered myself too dull-witted to distingish satire, but I confess–I can scarcely tell the difference from the real thing. Someone tell me this one’s for real. Maybe my problem is that the stuff that’s trying to be serious is so funny, it’s getting hard to tell the difference.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on December 30, 2004 at 6:10 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The Nomad has two must-reads today. First, he informs us about China’s plans to build up its fleet, presumably to prepare for its solemn responsibilities as head of the Peoples’ Co-Prosperity Sphere. Shades of 1913?
He also links to this piece by David Schofield in the Asia Times, making his oft-repeated point that pouring more money into the coffers of the North Korean government will only buy us more of the same behavior it bought us before.
If you don’t read his blog regularly, you’re missing a lot of good information.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on December 30, 2004 at 4:56 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Andrew Petty has a superb piece out today on Tim Peters, probably the most effective and least-known conductor on the underground railroad. Don’t miss it, and if you’re in a giving mood (and haven’t already maxed out your charity here), consider a gift to his organization, Helping Hands Korea.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on December 30, 2004 at 3:26 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The Yomiuri has an interview with Jack Pritchard, who seems to be running for the job of shadow ambassador-at-large to North Korea. Or maybe I should say, for North Korea. A regular reader informs me that in person, Mr. Pritchard is a fine human being, but as a diplomat, he may have just crossed over from “inept” to “dangerous” by publicly advising the North Koreans exactly how to hold on to a ten-bomb nuclear arsenal:
Pritchard: The problem that we have is that if the peaceful manner in which to resolve the six-party talks fails, and the United States does not have a consensus with South Korea, first, China second, Japan third, and finally Russia, fourth, on how to, in a more confrontational method, force North Korea to give up, through United Nations sanctions and a more constricting economic isolation of North Korea. North Korea, if they are smart, and they do not react negatively, if they simply tell China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia, “We have no desire to export nuclear material. We only have a limited–a deterrent against the United States–and we are shutting down future production of nuclear weapons, and we’re going to contain only what we have here,” then it becomes very difficult for the United States, because other nations won’t like it, but very well could accept a limited nuclear North Korea, because there’s no other alternative.
Maybe none of this is news to the North Koreans, although I don’t necessarily give them much credit for suave diplomacy or skill at reading the intentions of other nations. I also realize that Jack Pritchard is a private citizen who has First Amendment rights just like I do.
There’s still a big difference. I’m a nobody. I don’t know state secrets. I’ve never represented my government in international negotiations. Few newspapers would give the time of day to what I say, and fewer would impute any special significance to what I say. I’m certainly not violating any confidentiality agreements or engaging in unauthorized diplomacy in my blog or over drinks–and hey, maybe Jack Pritchard isn’t either. But it seems to me that when you have the imprimatur of “former senior diplomat,” you’re presumed–rightly or wrongly–to know all the key state secrets and many of the key players in government. He might even be presumed to be speaking on behalf of your government through a back channel set up to protect the administration from domestic criticism. The latter theory is plausible enough for me to wonder if it’s true, and the State Department certainly owes us all a clarification.
Naturally, a sensible negotiator might want to maximize the deterrent power of a “red line” by not telling North Korea where that “red line” is. Forget that now. Now, everyone with a modem can see where the line is: “if North Korea exports certain materials to rogue states or into the hands of terrorists, that would be a real red line.” North Korea, with its history of brinksmanship, could well presume that it’s safe to export non-nuclear WMD, missiles, and perhaps even advice on how to make your own dirty bomb. To the extent that the line is even where Pritchard claims it is, North Korea may already have already crossed it anyway, by reportedly exporting uranium hexafluoride to Pakistan.
Under those circumstances, telling a rogue state that it’s really OK for them to hang on to a ten-bomb arsensal–and furthermore, telling them just how they can get away with doing that–creates a real risk of a dangerous misunderstanding, particularly given that it’s contrary to oft-stated U.S. policy, which calls for (say it with me) complete . . . verifiable . . . irreversible . . . dismantlement.
Why does this matter so much? Because unless we find some way to search every ship, boat, train, plane, and bus leaving North Korea, we have no way of knowing when those ten bombs will become nine.
Posted by joshua on December 30, 2004 at 1:54 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
. . . but I’d bet someone a cup of coffee that before the end of January, we’ll hear that the real cause of the tsunami was secret U.S. nuclear testing, or some other equally goofy blood-in-the-matzo conspiracy theory. Takers?
Americans–The New Jews!
UPDATE: Umm, I think I’ll call this guy crazy instead. Another Korea blogger no less–the seeing eye blog–is angling to win me my year’s supply of macchiato. I’d never actually read his blog, but what a hoot, right out of the far-, far-, far-left fever swamps. First, he links the parody Nomad mentions in his comment below, and manages to make himself the real parody by saying, in apparent seriousness–
One enlightened and hard-working website, run by a guy named Larry, has the facts, and painstakingly traces the tsunami back to a chain of events begun in 2001, just after Bush’s inauguration. This is what Michael Moore means when he tells reporters to “Do your jobs!!” and tell the public about the eggs and the limo.
He obviously didn’t notice the link to Scandalous Hegemony by Noam Chomsky. A riot! Be sure to read “Larry’s” bio, too. Yep, if we’d only listen to Michael Moore, all our journalism would be this good.
The seeing eye has plenty of other gems, such as this digital pogrom against Michael Horowitz (who, to my knowledge, has absolutely nothing to do with Israel’s alleged “multitudinous [sic] atrocities,” by hey, he’s got a Jewish name right? Somewhere, Julius Streicher must be smiling). He also has some tender words of consolation for the mother of abduction victim Megumi Yokota:
Now imagine where she’d be if the North Korean agents would have left her in capitalist Japan. Actually, you don’t have to: She’d be suffering the “worst inhumanity,” working as a prostitute in Okinawa. Or she’d have been a cheap nude model, and she’d be on posters in car mechanic shops throughout Japan. Or she’d be married to some hapless unemployed guy and living in an Osaka slum and reduced to rummaging through noodle-shop trash bins for enough food to survive another day. And she’d still have that hideous Japanese name, instead of a nice new Korean one. North Korea did her a favor.
Can you imagine what a tortured childhood that must have been? And I’m not even talking about Megumi! He also offers this consolation to the unfortunate worker who recently died in the industrial accident at Kaesong:
A sad reminder that reunification over 20-30 years will not come without martyrs. The man’s praises deserve to be sung in the nation’s classrooms. And there should be a verse or two reminding schoolchildren of the silver lining to this cloud: That the medical treatment was free.
Three (posthumous) cheers for state-managed health care!
I found myself repeatedly wondering if this guy could actually be serious and concluded, to my horror and great amusement, that he actually is. Now, I realize that I’ve probably breached some unwritten blog law of protocol. Maybe he’ll console himself with the fact that at least he got linked.
The Almighty reclaims all our cells and souls eventually. In this guy’s case, I suspect it will be with a sense of embarrassment for arranging them so carelessly in the womb in the first place. Anyway, if nothing else, the seeing eye blog is damned good entertainment, and all the proof you need that drugs are bad, kids.
UPDATE: Commenter Angus claims to know Seeing Eye and informs me isn’t serious. Well, I guess he fooled me, and if so, I owe him a beer at the very least, plus he gets a well-earned belly laugh at my expense. I have to say I scoured the site for something to firmly persuade me one way or the other, and concluded the tone was indistinguishable from some of the other lefty stuff I see on the net. That’s a sad statement. There’s just one way to resolve this: Seeing Eye, are you for real or are you putting us all on? Minds are inquiring.
Must go to wash egg off face now.
UPDATE: I never considered myself too dull-witted to distingish satire, but I confess–I can scarcely tell the difference from the real thing. Someone tell me this one’s for real. Maybe my problem is that the stuff that’s trying to be serious is so funny, it’s getting hard to tell the difference.
Posted by joshua on December 30, 2004 at 1:10 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The Nomad has two must-reads today. First, he informs us about China’s plans to build up its fleet, presumably to prepare for its solemn responsibilities as head of the Peoples’ Co-Prosperity Sphere. Shades of 1913?
He also links to this piece by David Schofield in the Asia Times, making his oft-repeated point that pouring more money into the coffers of the North Korean government will only buy us more of the same behavior it bought us before.
If you don’t read his blog regularly, you’re missing a lot of good information.
Posted by joshua on December 30, 2004 at 11:56 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Andrew Petty has a superb piece out today on Tim Peters, probably the most effective and least-known conductor on the underground railroad. Don’t miss it, and if you’re in a giving mood (and haven’t already maxed out your charity here), consider a gift to his organization, Helping Hands Korea.
Posted by joshua on December 30, 2004 at 10:26 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The Yomiuri has an interview with Jack Pritchard, who seems to be running for the job of shadow ambassador-at-large to North Korea. Or maybe I should say, for North Korea. A regular reader informs me that in person, Mr. Pritchard is a fine human being, but as a diplomat, he may have just crossed over from “inept” to “dangerous” by publicly advising the North Koreans exactly how to hold on to a ten-bomb nuclear arsenal:
Pritchard: The problem that we have is that if the peaceful manner in which to resolve the six-party talks fails, and the United States does not have a consensus with South Korea, first, China second, Japan third, and finally Russia, fourth, on how to, in a more confrontational method, force North Korea to give up, through United Nations sanctions and a more constricting economic isolation of North Korea. North Korea, if they are smart, and they do not react negatively, if they simply tell China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia, “We have no desire to export nuclear material. We only have a limited–a deterrent against the United States–and we are shutting down future production of nuclear weapons, and we’re going to contain only what we have here,” then it becomes very difficult for the United States, because other nations won’t like it, but very well could accept a limited nuclear North Korea, because there’s no other alternative.
Maybe none of this is news to the North Koreans, although I don’t necessarily give them much credit for suave diplomacy or skill at reading the intentions of other nations. I also realize that Jack Pritchard is a private citizen who has First Amendment rights just like I do.
There’s still a big difference. I’m a nobody. I don’t know state secrets. I’ve never represented my government in international negotiations. Few newspapers would give the time of day to what I say, and fewer would impute any special significance to what I say. I’m certainly not violating any confidentiality agreements or engaging in unauthorized diplomacy in my blog or over drinks–and hey, maybe Jack Pritchard isn’t either. But it seems to me that when you have the imprimatur of “former senior diplomat,” you’re presumed–rightly or wrongly–to know all the key state secrets and many of the key players in government. He might even be presumed to be speaking on behalf of your government through a back channel set up to protect the administration from domestic criticism. The latter theory is plausible enough for me to wonder if it’s true, and the State Department certainly owes us all a clarification.
Naturally, a sensible negotiator might want to maximize the deterrent power of a “red line” by not telling North Korea where that “red line” is. Forget that now. Now, everyone with a modem can see where the line is: “if North Korea exports certain materials to rogue states or into the hands of terrorists, that would be a real red line.” North Korea, with its history of brinksmanship, could well presume that it’s safe to export non-nuclear WMD, missiles, and perhaps even advice on how to make your own dirty bomb. To the extent that the line is even where Pritchard claims it is, North Korea may already have already crossed it anyway, by reportedly exporting uranium hexafluoride to Pakistan.
Under those circumstances, telling a rogue state that it’s really OK for them to hang on to a ten-bomb arsensal–and furthermore, telling them just how they can get away with doing that–creates a real risk of a dangerous misunderstanding, particularly given that it’s contrary to oft-stated U.S. policy, which calls for (say it with me) complete . . . verifiable . . . irreversible . . . dismantlement.
Why does this matter so much? Because unless we find some way to search every ship, boat, train, plane, and bus leaving North Korea, we have no way of knowing when those ten bombs will become nine.
Posted by joshua on December 30, 2004 at 10:26 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The Yomiuri has an interview with Jack Pritchard, who seems to be running for the job of shadow ambassador-at-large to North Korea. Or maybe I should say, for North Korea. A regular reader informs me that in person, Mr. Pritchard is a fine human being, but as a diplomat, he may have just crossed over from “inept” to “dangerous” by publicly advising the North Koreans exactly how to hold on to a ten-bomb nuclear arsenal:
Pritchard: The problem that we have is that if the peaceful manner in which to resolve the six-party talks fails, and the United States does not have a consensus with South Korea, first, China second, Japan third, and finally Russia, fourth, on how to, in a more confrontational method, force North Korea to give up, through United Nations sanctions and a more constricting economic isolation of North Korea. North Korea, if they are smart, and they do not react negatively, if they simply tell China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia, “We have no desire to export nuclear material. We only have a limited–a deterrent against the United States–and we are shutting down future production of nuclear weapons, and we’re going to contain only what we have here,” then it becomes very difficult for the United States, because other nations won’t like it, but very well could accept a limited nuclear North Korea, because there’s no other alternative.
Maybe none of this is news to the North Koreans, although I don’t necessarily give them much credit for suave diplomacy or skill at reading the intentions of other nations. I also realize that Jack Pritchard is a private citizen who has First Amendment rights just like I do.
There’s still a big difference. I’m a nobody. I don’t know state secrets. I’ve never represented my government in international negotiations. Few newspapers would give the time of day to what I say, and fewer would impute any special significance to what I say. I’m certainly not violating any confidentiality agreements or engaging in unauthorized diplomacy in my blog or over drinks–and hey, maybe Jack Pritchard isn’t either. But it seems to me that when you have the imprimatur of “former senior diplomat,” you’re presumed–rightly or wrongly–to know all the key state secrets and many of the key players in government. He might even be presumed to be speaking on behalf of your government through a back channel set up to protect the administration from domestic criticism. The latter theory is plausible enough for me to wonder if it’s true, and the State Department certainly owes us all a clarification.
Naturally, a sensible negotiator might want to maximize the deterrent power of a “red line” by not telling North Korea where that “red line” is. Forget that now. Now, everyone with a modem can see where the line is: “if North Korea exports certain materials to rogue states or into the hands of terrorists, that would be a real red line.” North Korea, with its history of brinksmanship, could well presume that it’s safe to export non-nuclear WMD, missiles, and perhaps even advice on how to make your own dirty bomb. To the extent that the line is even where Pritchard claims it is, North Korea may already have already crossed it anyway, by reportedly exporting uranium hexafluoride to Pakistan.
Under those circumstances, telling a rogue state that it’s really OK for them to hang on to a ten-bomb arsensal–and furthermore, telling them just how they can get away with doing that–creates a real risk of a dangerous misunderstanding, particularly given that it’s contrary to oft-stated U.S. policy, which calls for (say it with me) complete . . . verifiable . . . irreversible . . . dismantlement.
Why does this matter so much? Because unless we find some way to search every ship, boat, train, plane, and bus leaving North Korea, we have no way of knowing when those ten bombs will become nine.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on December 29, 2004 at 10:31 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I may be several months behind on this, but these before and after photographs have astonishing resolution. Scroll down to the bottom right-hand corners and click the “expand” icons. Is it me, or did the pictures we saw last spring have anything approaching this magnification? I’d also like to see a picture of what it looks like today.
This boneyard pic is pretty cool, too. Much, much more here.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on December 29, 2004 at 6:03 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The L.A. Times is giving reports of Kim Jong Il’s demise the Big Sneer:
But the speculation may have less to do with political forces inside North Korea than outside. In particular, President Bush’s reelection has emboldened critics of the North Korean regime in the United States and in Asia who want Kim ousted. The North Korean Human Rights Act, passed in October, allocates up to $24 million to promote better conditions for North Koreans, and has revitalized an activist movement made up largely of Christian missionaries.
I almost thought that the L.A. Times was getting its news from me (damn you, link me!) until I read about . . . Christian missionaries? Oy vey! What would my mother think? Or his? Or his? Well, maybe, if “largely” means “between one and twenty percent,” or if by “missionaries,” the writer means any Christian who attends a church at least one a month. Hey, they’re all missionaries in a way, aren’t they? Anyway, nice to know that the media blackout on the NKHRA can safely end, now that a decent interval has passed since John Kerry called for bilateral talks with the nice man who runs the gas chambers. The news blackout on said gas chambers continues, alas. Thus, unbiased reporting quashes the necon cabal’s rumor campaign to make North Korea safe for Baptist missionaries . . . right? Well, not quite right:
There are certainly signs that something is amiss in the secretive regime. Kim purged his powerful brother-in-law from the ruling Workers’ Party this year in what was believed to be a struggle over succession. And a decision in the summer to place new restrictions on foreign aid agencies and crack down on the use of cellphones also might indicate a feeling of insecurity on the part of the government.
All of which means the following: something may be happening, and then again, maybe nothing’s happening. It depends on who you quote. This reporter doesn’t know anything more about what’s happening in North Korea than the rest of us, but we certainly learned plenty about her opinions from reading that piece. At least we bloggers are willing to admit we’re speculating–and that we’re opinionated–instead of hiding behind quotations and doing it vicariously.
Posted by joshua on December 29, 2004 at 5:31 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I may be several months behind on this, but these before and after photographs have astonishing resolution. Scroll down to the bottom right-hand corners and click the “expand” icons. Is it me, or did the pictures we saw last spring have anything approaching this magnification? I’d also like to see a picture of what it looks like today.
This boneyard pic is pretty cool, too. Much, much more here.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on December 29, 2004 at 4:59 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Who are the real reformers in North Korea? Forget Kaesong. It might just be these people.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on December 29, 2004 at 4:46 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
From the Chosun:
North Korea is one of the world’s foremost providers of missile technology, but experts say there is still no evidence that Pyongyang has shared its suspected stocks of nuclear materials or chemical and biological weapons.
“You’d have to export a lot of these things to make a significant difference, that’s something that would be highly observable, and again, something that countries themselves might be able to accomplish without having to rely on North Korea,” [the expert] noted.
So relax. We have no absolute proof beyond a reasonable doubt that they’ve sold any plutonium to terrorists or their sponsors. Yet. Then, a few paragraphs later, we get this:
But some experts think the initiative has problems. They say the chief flaw is that it may not detect small weapons shipments, such as the eight kilograms of fissile material needed to make a crude nuclear weapon, or the workings of a missile guidance system.
That is why the current six-nation talks are seen as the best hope to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program and end any proliferation threat.
Emphasis all mine, and what a roller coaster that was! But it seems that whether North Korea “is seen” as a danger or not, more talks “are seen” as the best way to get North Korea’s hope-to-die promise not to sell slimy stuff to slimy people.
You know who your friends are by how comfortably they allocate risks to you.
Posted by Joshua Stanton on December 29, 2004 at 4:40 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
The Christian Science Monitor has a fairly detailed and balanced report on South Korea’s Fugitive Slave Act Anti-Human Smuggling Initiative.
South Korea, North Korea, and China–one big, happy co-prosperity sphere.
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