That can't be good...

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101123/ind ... ndia530928
Two question, does this kind of stuff happen often?
And, who wants to pay for a room in my bunker?

In my mind I imagine North Korea as a small kid shooting spit wads. Until they whip out their gat (Nuke) and shoot the entire cafeteria.

[Razi]

Nope, that kind of stuff doesn't happen often.
Sometimes the North and South Korean soldiers even share a smoke, it's only when Kim Jong Il and his whacky ideas get involved, s*** like this happens.

[Encryptshun]

We demand you cancel your treaties with the vile South Koreans!

[Urabus GodofTraction]

Sometimes the North and South Korean soldiers even share a smoke

Shens. While South Koreas are (dangerously) warming up to their northern neighbors, North Korean receive some grade-A brainwashing. I wouldn't be surprised if they all believe that ROK cigs are poisoned.

Nicotine knows few bounds though, you could be right.

[zacmil]

We demand you cancel your treaties with the vile South Koreans!

[Razi]

[themadscientist]

Don't worry guys. If the North starts coming towards America, they have to get through me first and I don't think they have the minerals. Me an Neal got em covered.

[Solar_Runner]

Time for Team America!

F*** Yeah!

PS: When I got sent remote to Turkey, I was more than happy to go there, than to S Korea.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Don't worry guys. If the North starts coming towards America, they have to get through me first and I don't think they have the minerals. Me an Neal got em covered.

[sbird1]

The end is near...

[themadscientist]

Old crazy kim just rattling his saber in preparation for his kid to take over the crazy train.

[Xdisaster240sX]

I say...

[themadscientist]

Can't. North Korea is a proxy for China. Any move against NK will prompt open conflict with China. Honestly, I'm tired of the BS, let's do this while we still have some semblance of an advantage. America has no balls to call the ChiComs the two-faced scumbags they are, though, so this ultimate conflict will be initiated by the Chinese at a time of their choosing and we will lose.

[BusyBadger]

America has no balls to call the ChiComs the two-faced scumbags they are, though, so this ultimate conflict will be initiated by the Chinese at a time of their choosing and we will lose.

So, I'm not the only one that uses the term ChiCom. And the balls thing is spot on.

[themadscientist]

f*** China. I actually like North Korea better; they are good old fashioned crazy. I can work with crazy. China is an assassin with a knife hidden somewhere ready to slit your throat while you chat over tea like they are not that. Hell no. As time goes by I am becoming more and more outside the box in my thinking. I use to look for solutions within the common paradigms; I'm more "creative" now.

America is on the fast track to complete economic collapse within ten years, probably closer to one. This used to give me sleepless nights because I was trying to formulate a way to swim against the tide. Now, I has resigned myself to the fact that it's coming, there's nothing I can do, so why live my life like it's not? My credit card balances grow every day as I acquire stuff. I don't give two s***, because in a year or two, the dollar will be worthless, and thus my dollar denominated debt worthless. Before you cry how foolish I am, take a good look, you know what, take a five minute look at how the United States economy is artificially propped up. Now figure out a way out of that that doesn't involve the music stopping and the average American left without a chair. If you can, please share, I'll listen.

Now America's debt is really just a book entry. That matters, well it matters if America similarly restrains its thinking. Money is paper with numbers on it, it has no utility other than toilet paper or kindling in the absence of groupthink that it's exchangeable for tangible goods and services. What if tomorrow, America woke up and said, "we ain't paying you a goddamned thing China." I would like to request that we have Samuel L Jackson deliver this message. Nobody rants as compellingly as he and he can take out "China" and insert a trademark "f***!"

We cease doing business with China. All Chinese diplomats are expelled from the country. American business is allowed to begin an orderly retreat from China destroying data on the way and to encourage China to comply we extend the same to their entities here. Across the Pacific our forces are mobilized and put on high alert indefinitely. We basically refuse to pay China anything citing the decades of American jobs and intellectual property we allowed them to take as payment in full. If they don't like it they can whine to the UN, or the World Bank, but those f*** will be boxing up and vacating their cushy offices in America too.

I'm pretty sure Japan and Australia are tired of China's s*** too, and, probably much of ours as well, our bad.

[kornmanz]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/1 ... tml?hpt=T2

[orangeNblue]

I see China more like the friend who f***s your ex-girlfriend as soon as you break up. You think they're a friend but really they don't give a crap about you. They always just do what they want.

I think as time passes America is becoming weaker and weaker. The people in control of our "great" country now don't have the girth to defend our allies. We, sadly, would turn our backs on the countries who have been there to help us, in an attempt to create this stupid concept of world peace. Just look back at Obama's actions with Israel earlier this year.

It's a scary time we live in and I'm not sure what's going to happen. Just makes me glad that I already have my gun license. Good luck being able to get those in the near future.

[sbird1]

I disagree with your statements about the US economic decline, TMS. The entire world is in recession right now. There are many economies that are becoming broke and the state of California's financial woes are disturbing to think about its impact on the rest of the US. However, the US has too much higher education, infrastructure, and industry to be in any real danger of making the dollar worthless. Instead of putting yourself in debt, a much better use of your money would be to invest in the Chinese Yuan Renminbi as China stands to become THE dominant world power.

Ceasing to do business with China would be a terrible mistake. As an economist, you have to look at China as a market. A HUGE market that we can sell boatloads of stuff to. As the Chinese continue to develop and more Chinese buy cars, houses, etc. they will also have more money to buy more expensive, quality American goods.

Anyway, hope that makes sense. My .02.

[themadscientist]

And the entire world entered recession by....? investing in America's shifty economics. The world is hurting, but that doesn't mean America becomes solvent by relation.

Education? the United States ranks 33rd in the world.
http://www.geographic.org/country_ranks ... _oecd.html

Infrastructure? We have a power grid designed in the 50s and bridges falling into rivers from decades of disrepair.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20079534/ns/us_news-life
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/

America's Infrastructure GPA: D
Estimated 5 Year Investment Need: $2.2 Trillion

Industry? What industry? It's all been shipped overseas.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/09/manu ... -security/

China is a huge market, but one must accept predatory conditions that ultimately undermine America. No thank you. I am already moving into their money though. They are scum, but they know how to protect their economy and when they decouple from the dollar the chinese currency will be worth much more than I bought it for. My PMs already are.

[Razi]

North Korea and South Korea need to battle this out via StarCraft: Brood War.

[themadscientist]

The South Koreans would PWN them, they are dedicated.
http://internetcafenews.blogspot.com/20 ... -some.html

[Razi]

I would know! I'm Korean!
Some of the pros get up to 400-500 APM (Actions per minute).

[MellowZ32]

no wonder you never get laid!

and O thought you were Chinese.

[sbird1]

The thing that is going to save our infrastructure is privatization. The disrepair of our roads has been receiving a lot of attention in recent years and many states already have privatized roads that are relieving a lot of stresses about that.

Yes, the US ranks 33rd in education, but that's general education. Higher education is what I was referring to. While Israel gives out more college degrees per capita than anywhere else, the US has some of the world's best universities.
http://www.usnews.com/articles/educatio ... -400-.html

The US has a lot of things that make it unique. Education is a huge topic that we could talk about all day. The US has a very unique education system. It may need reform if it is determined to be an inferior system, and that is being worked on my economists, sociologists, and statisticians all the time.

What industry? Check this out:
http://rankingamerica.wordpress.com/tag/manufacturing/

This is fun. What else ya got, TMS?

[themadscientist]

Because America is embracing privatization of government institutions, wait, no they aren't! I agree with you that it would help, but I do not agree that that is what the future holds.

The U.S does have many of the best universities, no doubt about that, but who is going to them?
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/97-746.pdf

Enrollment of U.S. citizens in graduate science and engineering programs has not
kept pace with that of foreign students in those programs. In addition to the number of foreign
students in graduate science and engineering programs, a significant number of university faculty
in the scientific disciplines are foreign, and foreign doctorates are employed in large numbers by
industry.

What industry? Check this out:
http://rankingamerica.wordpress.com/tag/manufacturing/

This is fun. What else ya got, TMS?

Well, your own link for one.

the United States produced 36,100,000 tonnes of pig iron, or 3.6% of the world total. That was enough to make the United States rank fifth in that category. China ranks first, producing 469,449,300 tonnes, or 46.7% of the world total.

You didn't notice that your link supports my assertion, did you?

The tiny countries of South Korea and Japan beat the United States in automobile production. Germany also produces more and China crushes us.
http://www.oica.net/category/production-statistics/

Only when commercial vehicle production is figured in does the United States claw up a few notches, but they only barely edge past germany, and are still notably behind Japan and China is so far in the distance we can't see their tallights.

[Dattebayo]

Yeah, but the US doesn't turn around and use that pig iron directly into their tools and infrastructure. China's bridges and roads are going to be collapsing in a lot sooner then 60 years.

[themadscientist]

THAT is likely very true. They are not known for quality work.

[Dattebayo]

Which brings me to the next point... how can they be top in education when their engineers don't know that?

[themadscientist]

It's not that Chinese engineers don't know what they are doing, there is just no emphasis on quality. For all America's shortcomings, the few things we still make are still valued around the world. American workers are seen as lazy to much of the world, but their skills are still respected.

[Dattebayo]

Part of engineering is knowing your materials. This is taught at American schools!

And if they know what they are doing, how come they continually have material problems?