T-Rex on North Korea: “The policy of strategic patience has ended"

Yikes. Not exactly "I believe it is peace for our time".

The NY Times coverage includes this crystallization of the conventional wisdom regarding the motivation of the reigning NoKo thugs:

But classified assessments of the North that the Obama administration left for its successors included a grim assessment by the intelligence community: that North Korea’s leader, Mr. Kim, believes his nuclear weapons program is the only way to guarantee the survival of his regime and will never trade it away for economic or other benefits.

The assessment said that the example of what happened to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, the longtime leader of Libya, had played a critical role in North Korean thinking. Colonel Qaddafi gave up the components of Libya’s nuclear program in late 2003 — most of them were still in crates from Pakistan — in hopes of economic integration with the West. Eight years later, when the Arab Spring broke out, the United States and its European allies joined forces to depose Colonel Qaddafi, who was eventually found hiding in a ditch and executed by Libyan rebels.

#ShePersisted!

Lest you marvel at the capability of the NSA, one clue as to the NoKo thinking came from their own media. Here is the BBC from last September:

Might Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi explain Kim Jong-un's determination to get his own nuclear arsenal?

The lynching of the Libyan leader after he had renounced nuclear weapons and the hanging of the Iraqi president have been cited by the North Korean media as the rationale for their own country's determination not to be put off by sanctions despite the poverty there.

As it is sometimes put: Gaddafi gave up the bomb and lost his head. Saddam was toppled because he did not have it.

After Pyongyang's last nuclear test in January, a commentary in North Korea's media said: "History proves that powerful nuclear deterrence serves as the strongest treasured sword for frustrating outsiders' aggression."

It continued: "The Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq and the Gaddafi regime in Libya could not escape the fate of destruction after being deprived of their foundations for nuclear development and giving up nuclear programmes of their own accord."

Pretty subtle, but we managed to crack the code. Of course, inscrutable hints were dropped even back in 2011:

SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean statement that Libya’s dismantling of its nuclear weapons program had made it vulnerable to military intervention by the West is being seen by analysts as an ominous reinforcement of the North’s refusal to end its own nuclear program.

North Korea’s official news agency carried comments this week from a Foreign Ministry official criticizing the air assault on Libyan government forces and suggesting that Libya had been duped in 2003 when it abandoned its nuclear program in exchange for promises of aid and improved relations with the West.

Calling the West’s bargain with Libya “an invasion tactic to disarm the country,” the official said it amounted to a bait and switch approach. “The Libyan crisis is teaching the international community a grave lesson,” the official was quoted as saying Tuesday, proclaiming that North Korea’s “songun” ideology of a powerful military was “proper in a thousand ways” and the only guarantor of peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Odd that the failing NY Times forgot to blame Bush when they forgot to mention Hillary's Libya debacle.

Comments

[Momto2]

This old story has resurfaced and gone viral.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2031210-donald-trump-apparently-stopped-a-mugging-in-1991-resurfaced-report-says/

I see it as almost a foreshadowing - he saw American being attacked, pulled over his comfortable life (stretch limo), and got out to help!

MAGA

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

My favorite. Sorry for the size. Right click:

[Momto2]

Thanks for posting The Week In Pictures link, Iggy! It's hard to pick a favorite.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/chelsea-clinton-joins-expedias-board-of-directors/article/2617751

[lyle]

Sigh. Again, I wish I actually used Expedia so I now boycott it.

[Jim Eagle]

Expedia is a rip-off.

Too many stories about how if you make a reservation through them and then decide to cancel you don't get your money back. Happened to us once and it was our last doing biz with them.

Always book your own hotel with the hotel. Always book your flights direct with the airline. Always book your cruises or resort stays directly with the ship line and resort.

Will save you money and aggravation. Never again. It took us a dozen phone calls to the hotel Expedia booked for us to get our money back.

[Jim Eagle]

Meant to add that Chelsea is a perfect fit for that company.

[Threadkiller]

"OBAMA MET WITH JUDGE AT RESTAURANT, THEN JUDGE BLOCKED TRUMP'S EXECUTIVE ORDER ON IMMIGRATION - PHOTO FEATURED ON FACEBOOK PAGE OF THE RESTAURANT"

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3535889/posts#comment

[RattlerGator]

The response doesn't make sense in my book:6

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6329595&postID=2875786031201416019&bpl

Posted by: narciso | March 17, 2017 at 09:42 PM

I have no idea what Althouse comment you're referencing, narciso, but I thought this Drago contribution (with my slight modifications for pace and emphasis) was pretty sweet (especially if you can remember the flow of the original rap):

Yo, V.I.P., let's kick it!
. . . Spice Spice Baby,
. . . Spice Spice Baby
All right stop,
>>>>>Collaborate and listen
Spice is back
>>>>>with my brand new explanations
Something grabs
>>>>>a hold of me tightly
Flow like a harpoon
>>>>>daily and nightly

Will it ever stop?
Yo, I don't know

Turn off the lights
>>>>>and I'll glow
To the extreme
>>>>>I rock a mic like a vandal
Light up a stage
>>>>>and wax a chump like a candle.

Dance!,
>>>>>go rush the speaker that booms
I'm killing your brain
>>>>>like a poisonous mushroom

Deadly!,
>>>>>when I play a Fake News melody
Anything less
>>>>>than the best is a felony
Love it or leave it,
>>>>>you better gain way
You better hit bull's eye,
>>>>>the kid don't play

If there was a problem,
>>>>>yo, I'll dissolve it
Check out the hook
>>>>>while KellyAnne revolves it

Spice Spice baby,
. . . Vanilla!
Spice Spice baby,
. . . Vanilla!
Spice Spice baby,
. . . Vanilla!

* * *

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Pretty damn good from my vantage point. Of course, I've always loved that rap. In the black community there was big controversy when it came out because Vanilla Ice "stole" the hook from my fraternity (Alpha Phi Alpha).

The lyric arises from one of our slogans (The Ice Cold Brothers of A-Phi-A) and is heavily used in many step routines:

Ice, Ice baby
>>>>>Too cold, too cold!
Ice, Ice baby
>>>>>The Black and Gold!

You can imagine the cultural appropriation abuse Vanilla Ice received before that truly coalesced into a "thing," right? I mean, here he was dabbling in a Black genre and stealing the phrasing of a black frat! Who the hell this white boy think he is?

In a sane world, of course, that is the highest form of performance flattery. I think the appropriate answer then and now to the question of who the hell did he think he was is this: American.

The real crime committed by Vanilla Ice? Well, from the vantage point of those who like rap, anyway -- some of you will no doubt have others. He pulled off the production and performance of the song. The beat works to this very day and the lines, as Drago proves above, lend themselves to very easy modification and updating.

[Clarice Feldman]

TK, I read that article--but I didn't see proof he'd met with the judge--only that he's had a private party in that restaurant--that is not a picture of the judge to my knowledge.

[Old Lurker]

Man, that picture TK posted of Obama and the judge just blows me away.

Between Obama, Soros and McCain, I cannot decide if my favorite fictional character is Michael Corleone (Baptism Scene), or Mitch Rapp (in every book).

But this crap has got to stop...

[Old Lurker]

I'm sorry, but when I see these words "Chelsea is a perfect fit " I cannot escape the image of her in those leather pants...

[Old Lurker]

Even if Clarice is right in her 11:34, I stand by my preferred fictional fixers...

:-)

[lyle]

The Howdy Doodie Dominatrix?

[James D.]

I cannot escape the image of her in those leather pants...

I know. It's such an horrific image. Short of full-on lobotomy, or blinding ourselves like Oedipus, I can't figure out how to banish it.

[Buckeye]

Yes, the Hawaii judge needs the 300 yard treatment, and yes, Mitch Rapp is the man for the job.

Are my commas Oxford compliant? :)

[Momto2]

The photo is not the judge, it appears to be the owner of the restaurant. It just says Obama dined in a private room with his guests.

BUT:
The restaurant is 5 miles from the judge's home.
They are known to be friends/classmates.
The judge had a 43 page decision written within 2 hours of hearing arguments.
This quacks like a duck in my opinion.

[Momto2]

Yikes - comma splice!

[Captain Hate]

Nothing says finding the lowest price like adding the entitled Omen to your board.

[Threadkiller]

Trivago dodged adding her legs to Torso-man's commercials.

[Threadkiller]

I posted the picture to represent a composite of what a Hawaiian judge may look like next to FakePOTUS.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2017/02/a-renewed-republican-party/

I just finished reading this and will probably read it again. This is a new journal and this is their first article.

It's a very scholarly discussion of the new GOP and why it is changing and how it should move forward.

Very interesting and a lot of references to Burke, Hayek, Toqueville and others.

[Jim Eagle]

I agree with Clairce. That is not the judge. The Judge has a distinct native Hawai'ian skin tone and facial features since he is 50% native.

I'll find a photo and post. You all can decide.

[Threadkiller]

I can't figure out how to banish it

You can thank me later.

[Jim Eagle]

Judge Derrick Kahala Watson

[Threadkiller]

Add a couple layers and that is him in the photo.

[A put-up job, yeah, but by whom?]

The judge's house is not five miles from the restaurant. The route Obama took from the golf course to the restaurant runs within five miles of the judge's house.

It's far-fetched to me. Better to key on the idiocy of the ruling and the rapidity of the opinion.

Fake Law!

[When does Hillary get indicted?]

I'm hoping for a warrant for Obama's arrest if he returns, and if he returns, no bail as a flight risk.

[Threadkiller]

Why is positing that it is a "put-up job," committed by persons unknown, any less far-fetched?

[Jim Eagle]

The guy at the Thai restaurant.

And who wears a 3 piece suit to a Thai Restaurant in Hawai'i outside of TC?

[Pagar, a bacon, ham, and pork chop supporter]

Second the comments @11.22 and 11:23 from JiB.

Wonder what the company thinks Chelsea Clinton brings to the board of that company?

[It stinks.]

Mebbe 'put-up' by the judge himself. He'd clearly made up his mind before the hearing.

[Threadkiller]

I will stick with the coincidental unannounced Obama visit to the Judge's stomping grounds shortly before the decision as more likely put-up worthy.

[Pagar, a bacon, ham, and pork chop supporter]

Another win.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-18/trump-wins-g-20-drops-anti-protectionist-free-trade-climate-change-funding-commitmen

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

I don't think Obama had to meet with the guy to get a favorable ruling. First of all, a call from a friend of Obama's would have been enough, plus most of those leftist judges want a chance to rule against anything Trump does (see Washington State).

What I DO think is that Obama is quite capable of arranging this dinner simply to bait people about the ruling and have the opportunity to mock his opponents, much like he did with the birth certificate. (Whether it was real or not, the thing was most of the press believed it was real, so people like Trump were mocked.)

[RICO the lot.]

He touched it alright, probably, but with a ten foot pole. Obama is a master of plausible deniability. No way would he meet that judge.

Who needs that when he has willing intermediaries?

[Old Lurker]

"What I DO think is that Obama is quite capable of arranging this dinner simply to bait people about the ruling and have the opportunity to mock his opponents, much like he did with the birth certificate."

No bait needed. That "link" is worth it to Obama just because his side will assume he has the touch and is willing to use it.

No downside for Obama in that.

[sbw]

New book title for Chelsea:

It takes a Potemkin Village.

[Way too obvious. Not Obama's style.]

Heh, MM's with me so just retire gracefully, TK.

[Threadkiller]

More pictures here:

http://honolulu.noithaicuisine.com/category/blog/

[Jim Eagle]

TK,

I have no doubt Obama made contact with Watson but the guy in the restaurant is not Watson unless he lost his native pigmentation and cropped back his hair and developed a more open smile.

On top of that I can't even determine if he is married.

Just noticed that not only is Watson a law school classmate of Obama but so was Gorsuch.

[Threadkiller]

Retired.

[Tahiti leaks, please.]

You're a good and graceful man, TK.

[Captain Hate]

For two teams that I instinctively dislike, this ND/WVU game is very enjoyable.

[Captain Hate]

The MFM is all over Zippy's pole smoking vacation, amirite?

[Jim Eagle]

LOL.

The guy in the 3 piece suit in the Thai restaurant turns out to be the owner and the lady next to Zippy is his wife.

[Extreme weather.]

Sharks, volcanoes, c'mon, where are you when we need you?

[sbw]

the lady next to Zippy is his wife

That’s not Zippy’s wife. Where is my Oxford comma? ;-)

[narciso]

So the crazy mensch woman who brought up the intercepts of communications by the Brits which Carlos slims was given a column to spout her other foolishness.

[Threadkiller]

JIB, see the 11:51 post.

[Smoke and fire.]

The Congressional committee is silent on the contents of the administration's delivery of info about Obama spying on Trump.

Trump was confident enough to refer to it again during the pressie with Merkel.

Hmmmm.

[sbw]

So Jim Boeheim thought Syracuse should go to the NCAA dance... but #1 seed ’Cuse just lost to #5 seed Ole Miss in the NIT.

Never bet for or against ’Cuse in any sport.

[narciso]

If you dial the neutralizer to eleventh you might erase then again part of motor function
Loss might result.

[Threadkiller]

narciso, who is fideloflakes and how did that name come to be?

[Thomas Collins]

Three piecers will prevail, whether at L'espalier or Hawaiian takeout! :-)

[narciso]

Jeff flake he is not only anti Cuban embargo but funded in part by Phil peters, a minion of the Castro brothers.

[Does this bias make me look phat?]

I can hope he's dodging a Congressional subpoena.

[Captain Hate]

I've assumed that fideloflakes is Arizona's other RINO Senator.

Jim Boeheim is one of the most irritating whiny people in the world. That he has a hawt wife is a major misallocation of resources.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3092362/shocking-police-pictures-reveal-10000-weapon-arsenal-intended-for-the-hands-of-terrorists-including-howitzers-machine-guns-and-grenades/

Also, Twitter says big explosion in Brussels.

[narciso]

I couldn't make this up if I tried

https://mobile.twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/statusr/842963925851430912/photo/1

[daddy]

Good Morning!

I see from a TV ad during an NCAA commercial, that we are now raising a generation who will have no idea how to parallel park.

Cute girl in the ad, but not being able to parallel park I wonder if she will "be on the protected rolls" when Beldar's people come to rule the planet?

[Captain Hate]

Link doesn't work, narc, at least for me.

[Texas Liberty Gal]

"I couldn't make this up if I tried"

Evidently you did narcisco as this is what I got when I clicked on your link - "Sorry, that page doesn't exist!"

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Doesn't work for me, either.

[narciso]

Its the connect the dots of Louise 'seriously silly' mensch, off Adam Johnson's feed
https://www.rt.com/news/381252-brussels-explosion-gas-belgium/

[narciso]

Its like triplethink over there

https://mobile.twitter.com/adamjohnsonNYC/status/842963925851430912?p=v

[PD]

Reminds me of the old card game "Pig" or "Spoons,"...

One way to heighten the players' attention for Spoons is to use forks or knives instead.

[daddy]

How come they are having so many "Gas Explosions" over there if they're all living on renewable energy?

[narciso]

Its a curious thing that t detainee who snow into property in the UK, binyam Mohammed thanks to the aid of the British tax payer was paired up with Jose padilla, in an apparent plot to blow up apartment buildings

[lyle]

WSJ crossword time: 108 across - Andrew Sullivan, notably.

7 letters. Go! 😎

[Captain Hate]

Poofter

[lyle]

Good one, CH!

[narciso]

There's a very good interview of Thomas Powell by tunku varajadan in the journal.

[Captain Hate]

That Twitter feed has a couple good examples of brevity leading to not understanding.

[narciso]

Yep, now they say her claim re ghcq is false, but that's allegedly where she got the info from.

[The Gipper Lives]

This must be #FakeNews. Bill Clinton solved the North Korean problem years ago by giving them nukes and money. It worked so well, we did it again with Iran--even used the same negotiator!

Seriously, like John Kerry's PT boat home-movies, killing Khadaffi was supposed to be Hillary's first campaign commercial. Backfire much?

Both Bill's and Hill's vanity, treachery and incompetence are still horribly screwing up our nation's security.

And yet, they're amateurs compared to Comrade O.

[lyle]

I see Huggins hasn't calved yet. I'm getting worried. It's getting late...

[lyle]

Whatever gave you the idea that women of any generation could parallel park, daddy? Hell, most doods can't even pull it off.

[Janet]

chelsea-clinton-joins-expedias-board-of-directors/article

Perhaps she will specialize in escape plans for all the Democrat D.C. crooks?

[Captain Hate]

Huggy's team is playing with class. This is uncharted territory.

[Buckeye]

When I was in college, if you couldn't parallel park, you couldn't get a prime spot in front of the bar.

No lectures on drinkin' and drivin' please:)

[Threadkiller]

"You might also remember Glenn Beck, Dana Loesch and Senator Ted Cruz going to the Texas border during the summer of 2014 to bring teddy bears and soccer balls to the future rapists."

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2017/03/17/two-of-president-obamas-undocumented-alien-children-brutally-rape-14-year-old-maryland-student-during-school/

[anonamom]

The Lady Raiders of Flushing, Michigan just won their first Class A State championship for girls basketball!!

Held every team they played this season to under 40 points.
First arena sport state championship ever for the school system.
The seniors have played together since seventh grade---

Flushing is one of the many small towns surrounding Flint that functioned as bedroom communities when I was a kiddo. Flight out was already well underway by the mid '60s.

[Frau Edith Steingehirn]

It was the Dynamic Dunces Clinton and Carter who solved the Nork problem. Give credit, please!

[Eleanor Norton Holmes]

Do they sell those cars in DC?

[dublindave]

Sigh.

I'm o.k...I'm just a little confused, that's all.

I gave up being a Liberal because it disgusted me that our former President would spy on a Presidential candidate in an effort to thwart a Democratic election.

I disgusted me.

I fought with my friends, my family, my wife, my Daughter, Erin.......I fought with everyone.
I was sickened by what Barrack Obama had done. Fucking sickened.

Now.....everyone's saying that President Trump made.....that.....that he made the whole thing up. That can't be true. That can't be true. He didn't. He's the President, he wouldn't do something like that.

I need time with this. I'm giving up trolling for a few months until I can process this.

[daddy]

From TK's 11:13

Chelsea Clinton has joined Expedia's board of directors.

Clinton's compensation will be a "standard" $45,000 a year, plus stock grants valued at $250,000.

It's good Chelsea doesn't care about money.

“I was curious if I could care about (money) on some fundamental level, and I couldn’t," said Chelsea

The Clinton name likely opened doors for the political heiress, including an eye-popping $600,000 annual salary for an irregular stint as an NBC special correspondent, but Chelsea insists her work speaks for itself.

“I will just always work harder (than anybody else) and hopefully perform better,” said Clinton, who along with former banker husband Marc Mezvinsky, purchased a $10.5-million Gramercy Park apartment in 2013.

[Captain Hate]

Janet needs to make a hard copy of TK's 2:07 and staple it to the empty foreheads of Kaine and Beyer who want more Guatemalan and Salvadoran trash in the country.

[PD]

Apache Helicopter Guns Down Boat Full of Somali Refugees Fleeing Yemen

Apache helicopters don't kill people. People kill people.

[PD]

It's good Chelsea doesn't care about money.

It's easier not to care about money when you have plenty.

“I will just always work harder (than anybody else) and hopefully perform better,”

Sounds like someone who works a stripper pole.

[Comanche voter]

The movie The Bridges at Toko Ri has a line that has stuck in memory for a long time. Lt. Brubaker is getting ready to die in a ditch in Korea after his plane has been shot down--and he couldn't glide to the coast and the water for rescue. Brubaker, a Naval reservist, says, "I'm just a lawyer from Denver, what am I doing here?"

I'd like to see a remake of that scene, with the dying man's line--"I'm just a tin pot no count scum of a dictator from Pyongyang--what am I doing here?" The movie would be boffo in my hometown.

[Threadkiller]

Sounds like someone who works a stripper pole.

Hey James! Think about that image!

[maryrose]

PD
Thread winner!

[Clarice Feldman]

http://theamericanreport.org/2017/03/17/whistleblower-tapes-trump-wiretapped-zillion-times-hammer-brennans-clappers-secret-computer-system/
Taje Trump's wiretap claims seriously.

[daddy]

"I was curious if I could care about money but ...Oh, thanks U of M for that $65,000 for my 10 minute speech....

...As I was saying, ""I was curious if I could care about money and... Oh thanks NBC for that $600,000 Salary...

...but as I was saying "I was curious if I could care about money and ...Oh, Thanks Expedia for that $295,000 package...

...but as I keep trying to tell you folks, "I was curious if I could care about money but...Oh thanks Barry Diller and IAC Interactive for that $300,000 salary and annual retainer of $50,000 and a $250,000 grant of restricted stock...

...but as I was saying “I was curious if I could care about money and Oh thanks Clinton Foundation for for paying $3 Million for my wedding...

...but as I was saying “I was curious if I could care about (money) on some fundamental level, and I couldn’t," she persisted!

[Janet]

Janet needs to make a hard copy of TK's 2:07 and staple it to the empty foreheads of Kaine and Beyer who want more Guatemalan and Salvadoran trash in the country.

They both have representatives attending the jobs fair for refugee businesses today.

Taxpayers pay the salary of politicians that advocate for businesses that get taxpayer money to bring in citizens of other countries that will get taxpayer money to live.

[James D]

TK, what is your address?

I need to know where to send the therapy bills.

[Threadkiller]

From Clarice's link:

President Obama’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper and his Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director John Brennan oversaw a secret supercomputer system known as “THE HAMMER,” according to former NSA/CIA contractor-turned whistleblower Dennis Montgomery.

The same loon that the buffoon Arpaio connected with??

Untrustworthy...

[Threadkiller]

LOL, James!

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Clarice,

I pretty much took this seriously, as Trump has taken security seriously for years. I wonder if Admiral Rogers knew about this and that is why he went to Trump Towers, unbeknownst to Clapper or Obama, about 10 days after the election.

(