What Does China Want With North Korea?

Chinese leaders undoubtedly have a strategy with respect to North Korea and the West, although it is also likely they have hard-liners and moderates creating dynamic tension.

This piece describes the North Korean strategy, with the familiar point that the North Koreans have an ongoing crisis of legitimacy and believe they need their nukes to stave off a US overthrow (Libya and Qadaffi are mentioned here, although She Who Must Not Be Named is omitted as the architect of that venture.)

But a key point is made in the discussion of what it might take to soothe the fears of the North Korean rulers:

The High Costs of a Deal

Any agreement that North Korea would be likely to consider minimally acceptable would come at huge cost to the United States and its allies. North Korea would be likely to require:

■ A tacit acknowledgment of the country’s right to retain its existing programs.
■ A declaration that the United States considered the North Korean government legitimate and would not seek to topple it.
■ The lifting of sanctions.
■ The withdrawal or reduction of the American military commitment to South Korea.

“They want to see the end of that alliance,” said Joshua H. Pollack, the editor of the Nonproliferation Review, suggesting that North Korea has drawn inspiration from the way that the United States broke with Taiwan in order to normalize relations with China in the 1970s.

Mr. Pollack emphasized that North Korea probably saw this as a long-term goal to be accomplished over many years, rather than something to demand up front and all at once.

Still, he said, North Korea may see this as the only way to reduce the existential threat that its weapons program is meant to curb.

Any partial or full American withdrawal would risk sending the American relationship with South Korea and Japan into crisis, empowering North Korea and weakening American influence in Asia.

Hmm, breaking the South Korea/Japan/USA alliance and booting the US out of that part of the world... who else might benefit from that? China, maybe a bit?

Which suggests that as much as we exhort China to bring Kim Jong Un to heel, there are surely Chinese hard-liners arguing that in the longer run, North Korean and China have a broad overlap of interests. Troubling!

But then again, in what is presumably a signal to those North Koreans, the Chinese leadership has allowed some moderate dissent:

Criticism of Beijing’s North Korea Policy Comes From Unlikely Place: China

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING — When China’s best-known historian of the Korean War, Shen Zhihua, recently laid out his views on North Korea, astonishment rippled through the audience. China, he said with a bluntness that is rare here, had fundamentally botched its policy on the divided Korean Peninsula.

China’s bond with North Korea’s Communist leaders formed even before Mao Zedong’s decision in 1950 to send People’s Liberation Army soldiers to fight alongside them in the Korean War. Mao famously said the two sides were “as close as lips and teeth.”

But China should abandon the stale myths of fraternity that have propped up its support for North Korea and turn to South Korea, Mr. Shen said at a university lecture last month in Dalian, a northeastern Chinese port city.

“Judging by the current situation, North Korea is China’s latent enemy and South Korea could be China’s friend,” Mr. Shen said, according to a transcript he published online. “We must see clearly that China and North Korea are no longer brothers in arms, and in the short term there’s no possibility of an improvement in Chinese-North Korean relations.”

Whoa! It's hard to imagine that China would be willing to accept a re-unified Korea under South Korean leadership as part of a Western alliance. On the other hand...

China’s “traditionalist view that views the U.S. as a much greater threat than North Korea is deeply entrenched,” Bonnie S. Glaser, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said in an email. “But the proponents of change are vocal, too. They argue that North Korea is a growing liability.”

What China really wants is stability and calm:

Mr. Shen has gone much further than other scholars in calling for a reset.

“The fundamental interests of China and North Korea are at odds,” he said in his lecture. “China’s fundamental interest lies in achieving a stability on its borders and developing outward. But since North Korea acquired nuclear weapons, that periphery has never been stable, so inevitably Chinese and North Korean interests are at odds.”

With Obama in office the Chinese were never really worried that the US would do something daft, so placating North Korea and annoying the US was the lower-risk path. George Bush, of course, was mired in Afghanistan and Iraq. Bill Clinton had his own distractions, some in Iraq and some closer to the Oval Office.

But Trump? There is a guy who can play the 'crazy' card with as much gusto as Kim Jong Un (I always thought that was a modest talking point in favor of the McCain Presidency, for what that was worth).

If - yuge IF - forced to acknowledge that their current path leads to a potentially disastrous confrontation China might yet try to walk a different road. My ongoing hope is that they try to preserve North Korea as an independent buffer on their border under sane new puppet leadership provided by the son of the recently-poisoned legitimate heir. Such a great deal can be worked out!

Comments

[narciso]

Lol, Dave. Where do you come up with this stuff?

[joan]

From your article, narciso: "US presidents typically avoid weighing in on specific candidates running in overseas election. But Mr Trump suggested his opinion was no different from an average observer, saying: "Everybody is making predictions on who is going to win. I'm no different than you.""

The media hates him because he's not afraid of them. It's shouted from the rooftops and every tv station and every bit of news media countless times a day -- they want to crush Trump, they are blind and hate filled and filled with venom because they can't shut him up.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Time for a little Friday night cheesecake?

[Clarice Feldman]

Nytol

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Oops, sorry about that 12:11. Here is what I meant;

[GUS]

Joan, I had that very conversation tonight with Mrs Gus.

The mf'er shouted ALLAHU AKBAR.......BECAUSE he's MUSLIM.

He didn't shout God is Great. He said ALLAHU AKBAR. The very reason he was a violent terrorist, is because HE FEELS AND thinks that he is serving HIS MUSLIM GOD.

When I say FUCK YOU EFFING CHUCK TODD, I am not saying, Hey Effing Chuck Todd, let's make love.

The MEDIA is DISHONEST because of their LIBERAL IDEOLOGY and ILLOGIC.

[joan]

Ignatz: :)

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Rats, this is what I really meant;

[narciso]

So we're taking ourselves hostage:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-budget-idUSKBN17N1LK

[daddy on IPhone7]

Listening to NY Post Reporter Michael Godwin on a talk show and he just mentioned that France has been in an official state of emergency since the Bataclan Terror Attack in late 2015.

I did not know that. It certainly looks like they are in a very heightened state of Security whenever I'm over there lately, but his point was that being in such an Emergency State for so long, and with no apparent progress, he thinks the average French voter is ready to pull the lever for Le Pen way much more than the Media prognosticators are expecting. We shall see.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

This time fer sure;

[joan]

Gus, 12:14 - :)

[joan]

I wouldn't be surprised if the government does shut down.

Trite but true: Instead of a government (interested in the American people) We've got a Washington DC train wreck.

[GUS]

The Government has NEVER shut down. Non-essential portions of the government have shut down for short periods of time, and the MASSIVE BUREAUCRACY has always been paid.
This time. NO WORK, NO PAY.
Trump is NOT in the GOPe.

[narciso]

The thing is the state of emergency has done little in the eyes of most Frenchman, they've had so many incidents since then. With 100,000 troops on the street, which was approximately the ratio of population to us troops in iraq?

[joan]

I'll bet GUS never shuts down. :)

[GUS]

The State of Emergency doesn't STOP TERROR, it makes terrorists be more careful, and then the Emergency services react AFTER a Terror event.
Only ERADICATING the HUN and Eliminating the FUKWADDISH MIND SET, that welcomes a VIOLENT COUNTER CULTURE to live in your childrens midst SOLVES this. Europe will never learn.
For 100 years, they have allowed themselves to be over run and emasculated. France has been the worst. I've seen MORONS make the case that FRANCE deserves RESPECT because of how many lives they've lost in WAR. THE OBJECT is for the OTHER GUY to DIE.

[GUS]

Joan, you are kind!!!

[joan]

I keep thinking and wondering, what is in French politician's minds that they would do this?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1706913/thousands-of-migrants-to-move-into-two-new-refugee-camps-near-gare-du-nord-station-in-paris-prompting-fears-of-mass-exodus-to-britain/

Years ago, the gypsies and riffraff and beggars caused nightmares on the Champs Elysee. How can Paris, London, etc., keep absorbing these people. I sometimes wonder if those great cities will soon look like the streets in Blade Runner.

[joan]

I told my sister 'sometimes I feel guilty because of how strong my feelings are against the migrants because we're supposed to help people and so many of them are caught up in events they can't control' and she said 'We can help them in their countries', and I was so glad she reminded me of such a universal truth.

[narciso]

Yes we had a little event called mariel, that involved about 120,000 of my paidans many were honorable people but Fidel dealt from the bottom of the deck putting murderers and other mere do we'll,

[JimNorCal]

Thanks for the links on SF power.
Happened to be in the City today. Dang! About a third traffic lights working, about a third flashing red and a third just ... out. Annoyingly, cable cars had power but were not running because cars (many rentals driven by tourists) can't be trusted to stop. And the cable cars were just randomly abandoned in the middle of streets.
Glad to be home.

[GUS]

Joan, the French people have been saved by Britain and the United States twice in the last 100 years. They are almost like naive children who get sassy with Mommy, knowing Mommy will still feed and protect them.
It's VIRTUE SIGNALLING gone WILD. Why would you INVITE YOUR CULTURE and COUNTRY to be attacked and changed by ungrateful immigrants? Never mind that the vast majority of these immigrants HATE France and certainly do not share the traditional values and culture of FRANCE. WHAT is so so so so WRONG with the HOMELAND that these...."migrants" and "refugees" are leaving??
I've asked the question without a honest nor rational response, vis a vis, our TROUBLING ILLEGAL INFESTATION here.

What is WRONG with Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador etc etc etc, that THEIR CITIZENS are abandoning their own homelands and their own cultures to come here???
And does the influx of ILLEGALS benefit US/U.S.? Libs make up shit about how WONDERFUL this 13-20 million ILLEGAL Immigration situation is. NONSENSE.
Lastly, LIBS hate AMERICA and constantly say how RACIST, ETC ETC ETC, we as a nation are. Ok. Why would illegals come to such a RACIST HATEFUL place??

[GUS]

Narciso, we won't learn, because LIBTARDS see an advantage in illegal immigration.
They SLANDER and SLIME anyone who points out the obvious, SECURITY, FINANCIAL MORAL and CULTURAL problems/disagreements. They PANDER to any and all "brown people", telling them CONSERVATIVES hate them because Conservatives are RACAMATISTS!!
The LEFT lies every time they speak.

[GUS]

JimNorCal. This kind of power outage ought to get the attention of City, County and State govt officials. Unfortunately in the case of CALI, and S.F. in specific, the Government is cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Like our LEFT LIBS/gone the FULL COMMIE.....there is no fear of the consequences of malfeasance.
SOMEONE, will BAIL THEM OUT.
This does NOT bode well for our countries future. But once again, goofy empowered LIBTARDS have no FEAR of the CONSEQUENCES of their ACTIONS or IN-ACTION.
A day of reckoning is coming in places like Illinois and Cali. Promises made that CANNOT be KEPT are imminent. Yet ONWARD go the LIBS.

[daddy]

ON Economics:

First thing I listened to this morning was Newt and Cavuto's conversation on Tax Reform. Neil asked if Newt would be OK with only Corporate Tax Reform if that's all they can do this year, and worry about individual Tax Reform next year?

Newt: I think that would be irrational because the average American looks up and says "lemme' get this straight? You're going to take care of all these big names that are up there on your board, and not me?" And in the end Politics in a sense is about "Me." Am I better off, is my HealthCare better off, is my child's Education better off? And the Party that's the majority is the Party that figures out how to answer "Me."
------------------
Well that made sense to me, but then on the Dog Walk I heard Michael Godwin of the NYPost say they should instead do these Bills in smaller bits so that they aren't some huge convoluted Bills totaling thousands of pages that nobody understands. He also said that big Bills are hard to pass so concentrate on things like Corporate Tax Reform separately and at first, since more folks can agree on that than on the individual Tax cuts.
-----------------
Well that made sense, but I still like Newt's equation better.

Then last on the Radio was a guy saying that the Repub's are putting undue pressure on themselves to push Bills thru by arbitrary deadlines, like "Trump's First 100 Days," so instead of taking the time to do the Legislation right they're pressuring themselves into half-assing Bills, just so they can point to having passed something.

Well that critique made sense to me as well, so I guess that's either 3 blind men describing the Tax Reform Elephant, or standard sausage making in DC. UGHH. I still favor Newt's philosophy, so I'm in the category of wishing they could walk and chew gum at the same time, but who knows if thats possible.

[GUS]

Daddy, what stops the MAJORITY PARTY, the PARTY that controls the WHITE HOUSE, the SENATE and the HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES, from presenting to US. You and me. And Capn Hate, and Clarice, and Beasts, and JimmyK and Gentlejim, and MaryRose, and Miss Marple and Joan, and Eric and EVERYBODY ELSE, from giving us THE TRUTH. Cutting taxes, cutting MASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIVE SPENDING and FIXING what is BROKEN. Why can't RYAN and McCakeHole from TELLING US THE TRUTH and making the tax code 10 pages??????
WHY?? What is so FUCKING HARD about GIVING US THE TRUTH???????????????

[joan]

Just got up -- can't sleep. Enjoyed JimNorCal, narciso, GUS, and daddy's posts. Chuckled at daddy's three blind men and agreed with him that all three points made sense -- if only we had sensible people (especially in the media, as well as in politics) so that our 'ship of state' could sail through these rough waters.

[rich]

hey joan. glad to see you on the night shift but hope you can get some sleep too.

Posted by: daddy | April 22, 2017 at 01:57 AM-

I suppose one would have to believe that tax reform as is actual GOP goal. When Reagan won his 80 landslide, the chastened Dem house passed House bill 1 and let the Senate and the Reagan Administration write up the tax cut bill. It isn't difficult to do, but gosh darn it, how can it be complicated in a Better Way, with cool powerpoint animations and 57 point plans and revenue neutral CBO scoring.

Cut the corporate tax to 15%, cap gains to 20%, and bring marginal rates down to the heyday of the late 90's. If the Congress were serious it would have been done Jan 3rd and retroactive for '17.

[rich]

super nice Ferrari Iggy, What would that go for ... about 25 million?

[rich]

yikes ... as is ... is an

[rich]

and almost assured I am talking to myself at this moment.

got beer though. and listening to some music.

should make an on topic comment. recall that glasater had made a comment regarding NK that I wanted to respond to but can't find the comment ...

[rich]

so on topic for once ...

China likes having a bulldog that they can play stupid about, but I think given recent circumstances, they are thinking the cost is more than the reward. The mobilization of both Russian and Chinese forces on their respective North Korean border would be more indicative that NK crossed a joint Russia-China redline, and/or, they both have independent information the regime is coming unglued.

The mobilization looks to me like a plan of action being put into place to contain a collapse of the North and refugee flow stemming from it. The most likely redline is North Korea has made entrée into a Sunni Islamic terrorist group and passed, or attempted to pass, chemical weapons. It wouldn't be difficult given that they have contacts with Iran (yes they are Shia) and Pakistan. The VX attack in Malaysia could have served as a demonstration for a weapons platform they were selling (with the added benefit of eliminating a rival to the throne). Lethal enough to kill its intended target, but safe enough someone kinda stupid won't get killed by it. The regime coming unglued could be a function of the rampant meth addiction creeping into the NK elite (encouraged by the state) and the vagaries of having the psychotic grandson of the regime's founder on the throne.

As far as reunification, it is probably one of the better studied political science questions in South Korea-thousands of papers on it are available on google scholar. As far as dollars goes, most estimates put it at about 1 trillion dollars (not going to think of that in won trading at about 1135 to the dollar yikes). The human costs are obviously, incalculable. There is also the not insignificant military-civil relations problem that any sort of reconstruction plan would confront.

here is a blast from the past ... a 1993 estimate from SK

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/31/world/seoul-estimating-unification-s-cost.html

JM Hanes might have some good film recommendations because reunification is an undercurrent in some popular Korean films.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Morning, all.

I will post some stuff but may go back to bed.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://counterjihadreport.com/2017/04/21/trump-has-a-foreign-policy-strategy/

[rich]

morning miss marple.

[daddy]

For you guy's going to "The March For Science" or whatever it's called, its worth remembering this famous passage from CP Snow's classic 1959 essay The Two Cultures, on the scientific illiteracy among the Literary Intelligentsia of the day:

A good many times I have been present at gatherings of people who, by the standards of the traditional culture, are thought highly educated and who have with considerable gusto been expressing their incredulity at the illiteracy of scientists. Once or twice I have been provoked and have asked the company how many of them could describe the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The response was cold: it was also negative. Yet I was asking something which is the scientific equivalent of: Have you read a work of Shakespeare’s?

I now believe that if I had asked an even simpler question — such as, What do you mean by mass, or acceleration, which is the scientific equivalent of saying, Can you read? — not more than one in ten of the highly educated would have felt that I was speaking the same language. So the great edifice of modern physics goes up, and the majority of the cleverest people in the western world have about as much insight into it as their neolithic ancestors would have had.

I think that gulf still exists as wide as ever---that they still don't know squat about Science any more than they did before, but that what the Literary types now are doing is that instead of pooh-poohing Science as they did in CP Snow's day, they have hijacked the formerly respectable veneer of "Science" as something they now own and are aligned with, and they use that veneer of Science as a verbal PC cudgel with which they can pound their political opponents into shamed silence. So they still don't understand Science, but they have learned how to use the word and the words of "Science" as a very effective political weapon of the Left.

What prompted this comment was yet another of those questions that appear in our local papers all the time, this one today aimed at my Congressman:

Roger Kaye: Do you really believe that 97 percent of atmospheric scientists are wrong about climate change? "If they are right, if you are wrong, how do you think history is going to judge you and this state?"

etc.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Hi, rich!

Glad to keep you company.

Alas, no beer here.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

daddy,

That is 100% accurate.

My dem sister (who is STILL upset about the election and fearful of Trump) has believed all of this climate garbage for years.

She works in retail and never went to college. I have a degree in geology with actual course work in (ta-da) climatology.

She absolutely will not listen to explanations on the subject, because according to her I am not a scientist.

Maybe I should put on a lab coat or something. It's just maddening.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Israel-cautiously-optimistic-as-Abbas-inches-toward-summit-488539?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4433634/ISIS-terrorist-caught-knives-Scream-masks.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/04/21/berkeley-mayor-is-member-of-antifa-facebook-group-that-organized-riots/

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/21/congress-gears-up-for-big-week-in-health-care-following-easter-recess/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

[Texas Liberty Gal]

Joan - I can't sleep either. The older I get the worse I sleep.

IG - love your pics! I'm going to post them on my Instagram!

Hope I can get back to sleep. Busy morning ahead. Pancake breakfast at the local firehouse with the grandkids

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://dailycaller.com/2017/04/21/the-debit-card-fight-is-about-more-than-just-debit-cards/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

[rich]

my stock is dwindling rapidly.

daddy-

didn't Hayek write the book on that?

caught a clip at the horde of an old Carlin bit on earth day ... "the planet has been here for 4.5 billion years ... "

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/21/obama-university-of-chicago-237453

A workshop on community organizing. Ugh.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

http://www.syracuse.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/04/donald_trump_talks_with_rep_claudia_tenneys_son_on_eve_of_iraq_deployment.html

She was atthe EO signing at Treasury yesterday and someone told the President that her son was deploying to Iraq on Saturday. So he called him!

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

I think I am going to try to go back to bed. Those articles should keep the early risers busy for a while.

[Jack is Back! (Overlooking the East River and Roosevelt Island)]

Up for meds.

daddy,

Having now participated in a number of school science fairs as both parent and/or judge, I can state that some kids (probably the ones who's parents do most of the work:) are the engineering method instead of the scientific method in developing their projects.

Also, where is it written that you have to prove your hypotheneuse? In Frederick's latest his illustrated notes showed how he had to keep adjusting the process to get one positive result. A big problem in science education is not teaching how to learn from failure and adapt.

[Jack is Back! (Overlooking the East River and Roosevelt Island)]

MM,

Tenney is sbw's rep.

[anonamom]

JiB, you need to modify your handle now that you are back home and no longer overlooking the East River.
People will worry you bounced back.

What are you taking for pain relief?
Do they have you ice after walking?
Elevate?

[JimNorCal]

An impassioned rant about the French situation and election, posted in the comments section of a blog.
https://mishtalk.com/2017/04/20/paris-policeman-killed-isis-claims-responsibility-fillon-calls-for-election-suspension-election-impact/#comment-115089
He says that tens of thousands of Marine La Pen supporters were thrown off Facebook as an attempt to combat "fake news". Additionally notes the dual ballots given to Frenchmen living outside France, and that the ballot issue will be looked into AFTER the election.

I think this a direct link, it is labeled Stefan Molyneux who (whom?) I hadn't heard of. It's long, 20 min, but two minutes will tell you if it speaks to you or not.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GGawHrbGjOw

[JimNorCal]

A later commenter makes this observation:
"The British don’t have to be able to outrun the angry bear (of terrorism), they just have to outrun the continent under the EU’s mismanagement."

[Jack is Back! (Overlooking a Yard of Crocii and Forsythia:)]

Test

[Jack is Back! (Overlooking a Yard of Crocii and Forsythia:)]

Lost my response to anonamom.

[JimNorCal]

A PowerLine blog entry notes how the mighty Euro socialists have falle,

" ... the British Labour Party ... has fallen so low that it’s reduced to advertising on Twitter for candidates. In France, the Socialist Party is the analog of the British Labour Party. It has fallen even lower. In the presidential election be held this weekend, the Socialist candidate, Benoit Hamon, is expected to finish fifth."

[JimNorCal]

Instapundit links to a story about CBS being in the tank for Dems. A number of their employees are mentioned, here's one

"Gayle King’s serious CBS colleagues had a lot to say about her recent yacht jaunt with former first couple Barack and Michelle Obama in Tahiti, and it wasn’t positive.

“The ‘Capital J’ journalists are pissed and raving mad that she was on a yacht with the Obamas over the weekend. The old-school people were talking about it. She shouldn’t be doing that. She’s an anchor of a news program that covers the White House. You’re held to a different standard. It’s one thing to be friendly. It’s another thing to go vacationing on a yacht,” a source told us of the backlash at CBS."
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/263095/

[Captain Hate]

US presidents typically avoid weighing in on specific candidates running in overseas election.

That's a hot steaming pile because we know that Slick and Zippy blatantly shilled for specific candidates in Israeli elections. So that's one MFM lie to start the day.

[Captain Hate]

Roger Kaye: Do you really believe that 97 percent of atmospheric scientists are wrong about climate change?

Here's how science works, Junior: either the 97% are right or they're not. You are talking about a bunch of well educated numbnuts who have been unable to arrive at an accurate hypothesis in terms of predicting anything accurately while adhering to the scientific method. So to rephrase your question: why aren't you more skeptical of such highly paid monkeys?

[Jack is Back! (Overlooking a Yard of Crocii and Forsythia:)]

Back.

Who says that 97% of the ICCC are atmospheric scientists. Facts not in evidence.

Also, when did computer modeling become so empirical and infalliable? Journalists are so easily duped.

[Jack is Back! (Overlooking a Yard of Crocii and Forsythia:)]

Anonamom,

Trying it again.

2 tabs Percocet 5-325 4 times daily or as needed. Plus one coated 325 aspirin and Locace (of course). Elevatefoot on rolled towel for 10 mins. Lots of ice and thos standard bed exercises.

[A bubble of madness.]

Yeah, the models run hot by design. Catastrophe ain't comin'. Anthropogenic warming is a net plus, and anthropogenic greening is miraculous.

March for science, bah. This is a march for politicized science, which is hoaxing us.

Read Watts Up of a couple of days ago for the history of the politicization of this mess, an extraordinary popular delusion.

[Captain Hate]

Exactly, Kim; Janet would be the world's greatest reporter by asking her key questions: What is the right temperature for the earth and how do we get there?

I should probably bookmark Watts Up.

[Buckeye]

That's a hot steaming pile because we know that Slick and Zippy blatantly shilled for specific candidates in Israeli elections. So that's one MFM lie to start the day.

But, but we would never meddle in someone else's elections, would we?

Why that would makes us just as bad the Russians.

/sarc

[anonamom]

Was it 97% of the membership, or 97% of the six or ten or thirty respondents?
HUGE difference.
The first has some meaning; the second--not one bit.

And did they say human behavior (?carbon emissions) are responsible, of contributory?

I can't remember and am too lazy to look--

(Thanks JiB. Heal on!)

[Captain Hate]

That Watts Up article is pretty funny, especially pointing out that CNN is skeptical about the march; when you can't even convince Vanderbilt Poofter and Jeopardy All Star Wolf...

Not to mention that the march organizing mensas get hinky on Bill Nye because he's white...

[Free James D!]

Why would you INVITE YOUR CULTURE and COUNTRY to be attacked and changed by ungrateful immigrants?

You would do it because you hate your culture and hold most of the population of your country in total contempt. Which most European leaders do, and far too many American politicians do as well.

[Marlene]

Good Morning! F&F showed another incident on an airplane that is going viral. This time the airline is American. A flight attendant or gate agent confronts a passenger and in the process,hits a young mother with a baby with the baby's stroller,almost hitting the baby.The mother is sobbing. Another passenger stands up and starts yelling at the airline employee. It looks like this happened during the boarding process,what a nightmare.

[Jack is Back! (Overlooking a Yard of Crocii and Forsythia:)]

I call it The March of the Watermelons. All it needs is some of that old May Day soviet marching music when the high steppers come parading in.

[Free James D!]

What is a mole?

[Buckeye]

You would do it because you hate your culture and hold most of the population of your country in total contempt. Which most European leaders do, and far too many American politicians do as well.

Exactly JamesD, we are just a bunch of dumb [redacted] rubes that deserve to be exploited.

[Free James D!]

By the way, being in the costume is not an enviable job. Nor is being in the changing/break room for the mole. The odor is beyond toxic.

[Marlene]

I'd like to ask for prayers for a dear friend of my son-in-law. They've been friends since freshman year in college and almost more like brothers. His friend has stage 4 colon cancer.
The daughter called last night to tell us that he has contracted a rotavirus. anonamom will know what that means medically for him. He is a 45 year old man,recently married with an eight year old stepdaughter. He's been given months to live. Heartbreaking.

[Captain Hate]

Ouch, Marlene, very sorry to read that.

[Captain Hate]

I remember when the light went on in chemistry class about moles, a very elementary concept in at least two senses of the word. I wonder how many of the sciencey marchers understand it or if it's too patriarchal for their weirdly rewired skull filling mush.

[narciso]

Prayers for him, marlene,

[lurkersusie]

Oldie but goodie

Gov. Reagan vs. Berkeley Hippies - YouTube

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=41XLXlCqFH8&feature=youtu.be

[Jane]

So sorry Marlene.

[Buckeye]

Iggy's Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder porn from last night reminded me...

My BIL who is a serious car collector thinks the equity market is about to go poof, and collector car market with it. His NSX is for sale.

No doubt in my mind this is the nicest Gen1 NSX in the existence.

If you have $110K burning a hole in your pocket and a long time horizon.

http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/198657-2005-NSX-T-Silver-Black-6-Speed-17-5xx-JH4NA21635S000103

[JimNorCal]

re 97%, PL covered that a number of times. Here's one.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/05/breaking-the-97-percent-climate-consensus-canard.php

Snips:
"We find that 66.4% of abstracts expressed no position on AGW [Anthropogenic Global Warming], 32.6% endorsed AGW, 0.7% rejected AGW and 0.3% were uncertain about the cause of global warming. Among abstracts expressing a position on AGW, 97.1% endorsed the consensus position that humans are causing global warming."

"Let’s translate: Among the one-third of papers that “endorse” the “consensus,” there is near unanimity. In other words, among people who agree with the consensus, nearly all of them agree with the consensus."

"The plot thickens. Prof. Cook refused to share his data with anyone."

[narciso]

Molyneux is a Canadian alt rightist. Not everyone's cup of tea, but occasionally things need to be stated clearly.

This was the problem with Scott Johnson's daughters piece in politico, it was similar establishment complaints about the new right in the late 70s and even early 80s

[narciso]

Kevin Phillips, 'post conservative America' was typical of the genre,

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10262/france-a-guide-to-the-presidential-elections

[Jim Eagle]

2500HP doing a wheelie can have consequences?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/LabX19ocJZA

Buddy sent to me. Watch to the very end.

[JimNorCal]

Thanks narciso. Whether or not Molyneux is 100% trustable, I did find value in watching that YouTube.
He is quite an able speaker for one thing, and technique can be educational.
Mostly, I feel he nails some key points, chief among them the debt we owe to our forebears.
His assertion (he specifically posited it, and made no argument to justify it) that we are reaching the end of the time period where simply voting will be enough to fix things, seems to me to be worth reflecting on.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/04/21/realestate/first-time-home-buyers-who-did-it-on-their-own.html

Fascinating article for someone like me. Getting approved for a $900,000 mortgage to buy an APARTMENT is outside my experience.

The same amount of money in this area would get you a huge home with granite counters and probably a pool.

In fact, I was exactly right. Here is a house in my old area for sale for 639,900.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Greenwood-IN-46142/85441390_zpid/77985_rid/500000-_price/1850-_mp/globalrelevanceex_sort/39.71775,-86.06226,39.502186,-86.29366_rect/11_zm/

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of muscle cars, the lesbian dog owners were telling me about a friend in Hudson who owns one of those Dodge Hellcats, among some other gems of automobile art like a 56 'vette, which he can hardly find a stretch of road worthy of driving it on.

[narciso]

How about two factor security:

https://audioboom.com/posts/5844580-trump-russia-surveillance-and-adam-schiff-s-circumstantial-idiot-carter-page-thadmccotter

[narciso]

Cut back on the splayed butter:

https://mobile.twitter.com/alimhaider/status/855772581584130048/photo/1

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

Buckeye,

Your friend is probably right about the collector car market disappearing.

A lot of collecting areas are going to disappear over the coming years. I have already seen a collapse in vintage cut glass, dolls, "sold as collectibles in limited efitions" categories like Dept. 56 villages, Hummels, etc.

What's happening is all due to demographics.

1. Baby boomers are downsizing and getting rid of their stuff, which is flooding the market.
2. The generation behind them, Gen X, is much smaller.
3. Generation Z is not interested in collecting. They are right now on the minimalist bandwagon and put more of their small disposable incomes (after student loans) into things like electronics and travel.

My sister the teacher reasoned this out about 15 years ago, so sold many of her dolls and some collectible baskets at a premium price before the market collapsed.

The same thing is going to happen to housing prices for large homes around here. That house for sale in my area for 639,900 is going to be on the market for a while. At that price, people want to build themselves unless it is undervalued.

I think collector cars are in the same boat. The younger people don't have money for an expensive hobby, and most of them don't have room.

[Truthbetold5]

Confirmed: John Brennan Colluded With Foreign Spies to Defeat Trump

https://spectator.org/confirmed-john-brennan-colluded-with-foreign-spies-to-defeat-trump/

[Jim Eagle]

narc,

Isn't Canada missing their idiot?

MM,

RE pricing is truly amazing when you look at the various locations. That Greenwood house at that SF and amenities is in the $7 million range here in Southampton or even more depending on where it is located: Bay side v. Ocean side. In Florida, in a gated community, near the sea, it is in the $1.5 to $2.0 million range. In San Francisco? Forget about it. $15 milion minimum in the City proper. A brownstone or condo in NYC on either UWS or UES with that SF and # BR and Baths would be astronomical. Same in London or Paris.

But it would still be cheaper in Billings, Montana or Sioux City or Casper or Salina, Kansas.....

[narciso]

I didn't know about this:

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2017/04/when-dead-columnists-tell-state.html

Had Nixon and bureau been as truly ruthless, they would have found a way of dealing with the likes of her and bill ayers

[Hammurabi]

You're very glib about the psychoanalysis ignatz.

Whistling through the graveyard? It wouldn't be the first time.

[Hammurabi]

I'm still hearing activity behind Emolument clause and it ain't good.

[narciso]

Unfortunately he's in parliament or what do they call their white house?

[narciso]

This comes from one of lowry's top men hires

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/04/22/pat-buchanan-trump-president-history-profile-215042

[Hammurabi]

I'm excited because how it went last time.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/ryan-lizza/the-white-house-seems-excited-to-shut-down-the-government

[Jim Eagle]

See where DuDa was on "Do You Want to be a Millionaire"?

The Irish Millionaire

Dave, from Dublin, appeared on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' and towards the
end of the program had already won 500,000 euros.

"You've done very well so far," said Chris Tarrant, the show's presenter, "but
for a million euros you've only got one life-line left, phone a friend.
Everything is riding on this question. Will you go for it?"

"Sure," said Dave. "I'll have a go!"

"Which of the following birds does NOT build its own nest?

a) Sparrow

b) Thrush,

c) Magpie,

d) Cuckoo?"

"I haven't got a clue." said Dave,

''So I'll use my last lifeline and phone my friend Paddy back home in
Dublin..."

Dave called up his mate, and told him the circumstances and repeated the
question to him.

"Fookin hell, Dave!" cried Paddy. "Dat's simple it's a cuckoo."
"Are you sure?"

"I'm fookin sure."

Dave hung up the phone and told Chris, "I'll go with cuckoo as my answer."

"Is that your final answer?" asked Chris.

"Dat it is."

There was a long, long pause and then the presenter screamed, "Cuckoo is the
correct answer! Dave, you've won 1 million euros!"

The next night, Dave invited Paddy to their local pub to buy him a drink.

"Tell me, Paddy? How in Heaven's name did you know it was da Cuckoo that
doesn't build its own nest?"

"Because he lives in a Fookin clock!"

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--either the 97% are right or they're not. --

The most important question, as kim relentlessly points out, is not AGW, it's the C the left tries to put in front of it to grab political power and OPM.

It is irrelevant if 66% of papers describe some moderate benign warming.

It is the dishonest conflation of actual science with flim flam men like Manbearpig and dishonest creeps like Hansen, Oreskes and Mann that is infuriating and must be stamped out.
The left corrupts everything it touches in pursuit of its Holy Grail of creating their dystopic utopia on the backs of the rest of us.
Why do we tolerate these petty little Stalins amongst the decent people of the world.