Some Memes You May Enjoy

Many a truth is said in jest.

- Medieval wrestling.

- Might be true.

- It's come to this.

- Heh Heh

Scary

Have to wonder what the total amount of crypto out there is if North Korea stole $22 million last year. Would also be curious what percentage of $100 bills are counterfiet worldwide. (Via)

Single Hacker Takes Down N Korea's Internet

Interesting story of a hacker who was targeted by North Korean hackers so he took down the entire country's Internet in response. You know now other "white hat" hackers are going to try to see if they can do the same thing. 

My hacking fantasy would be for someone to hack the payroll system for either China's or Russia's military and divert the funds supposed to pay the soldiers into an account easily tracible to Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin. That would cause a very interesting situation. 

More Flotsam and Jetsam

More miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Many forget, or never knew, that perhaps the main reason for North Korea developing nuclear capabilities was not to threaten South Korea and the West but as an insurance policy against aggression from China and as a way to make sure they remained an independent nation - not another Tibet. The North Koreans knew early, "Don't trust China. China is asshole!"... One of the best features of Twitter is the "mute button." I use it - a lot. But funny that the only thing I cannot seem to mute are those damn Twitter Survey tweets that seem to pop up in my timeline every damn day... In some hotels you now have to request maid service if you want your room "made up." Yet these hotel rooms still have Do Not Disturb hangers to put outside your room. "Why the need for the two orders Colonel?"... How far off are we from the saying, "Don't trust Fauci. Fauci is asshole!" becomes a thing? It's overdue in my opinion...   

Strange Bedfellows

In a strange way Kim Jong Un owes his position as Supreme Leader of North Korea to the Presbyterian Church.

Kim Jong Un's great-grandmother was Kim Song Ju who was active in the Presbyterian Church. His great-grandfather was Kim Hyong Jik who was educated in schools founded by American missionaries. Kim Jong Un's great-grandparents were introduced to each other by Nelson Bell, who is probably best known as the father-in-law of the famous evangelist Billy Graham. 

Billy Graham twice visited North Korea and met with then leader Kim Il Song (Kim Jong Un's father) in 1992 and 1994.

I'm fascinated by these little wrinkles in history. (Info via The Hermit King: The Dangerous Game of Kim Jong Un)

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Just a reminder - Joe Biden is an anagram for "I need job"...  The descent into our world of "fake news" really accelerated when The Daily Show with Jon Stewart became the defacto source of news for many young people. Snark became a replacement for facts... Who knew? In the early 1970's North Korea actually had a higher GDP than South Korea. Tell me again how socialism/communism is better than capitalism?...  Quote for the day: George Bernard Shaw when asked to name a deceased man he missed the most said, "The man I miss most is the man I could have been"... Just saying but if Trump wins re-election the folks who make Trumpy Bear are going to have a huge Christmas season... "If I had a nickel for every woman who finds me unattractive, they would eventually find me attractive." The author of that quote is unknown but I really want to attribute it to Hunter Biden... 

Linky Links

 Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Good analysis of Trump's Foreign Policy regarding the Middle East and China. I would add that it is his Trade Deals with various friendly nations (Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, etc.) that is a bedrock in supporting those other moves.

- Very Cool

- Interesting story of a South Korean actress and film director kidnapped by North Korea in an attempt to kickstart North Korea's movie industry

- This article is written to make the two Molotov cocktail throwing lawyers the victims. Ridiculous! They're lawyers - they knew the consequences of their actions. As Beretta said, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time."

- All passengers on Epstein's "Lolita Express" to be named "sparking panic among rich pals."

- * Does not apply to Canada (which actually proves the point)

Kim Jong Un's Health Status?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If South Korea has reported a large jump in coronavirus cases can you imagine the number of people who have died of the disease in North Korea without any being reported? Remember that China is North Korea's largest (by far) trade partner and the two countries share a border... "There is nothing more horrifying than stupidity in action." - Adlai Stevenson... I laughed too hard at this... To make things easier I propose that any hit song from the 70's that vaguely sounds like a white guy is singing and where you can't 100% identify who the artist is to be automatically credited to Dan Fogelberg. Same rule applies to female singers but with those songs being credited to Crystal Gayle... If you factor in holidays and weekends then President Obama basically averaged one Presidential pardon/ commutation for every day he was in the Oval Office. Meanwhile President Trump has had just 26 such pardons / commutations... I was going to do a post on The Seven Deadly Sins of Iron Man but decided against it. Mainly because of the the ending to Avengers Endgame...

Strange Bedfellows

In a strange way Kim Jong Un owes his position as Supreme Leader of North Korea to the Presbyterian Church.

Kim Jong Un's great-grandmother was Kim Song Ju who was active in the Presbyterian Church. His great-grandfather was Kim Hyong Jik who was educated in schools founded by American missionaries. Kim Jong Un's great-grandparents were introduced to each other by Nelson Bell, who is probably best known as the father-in-law of the famous evangelist Billy Graham. 

Billy Graham twice visited North Korea and met with then leader Kim Il Song (Kim Jong Un's father) in 1992 and 1994.

I'm fascinated by these little wrinkles in history. (Info via The Hermit King: The Dangerous Game of Kim Jong Un)

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Really disappointed that the question "Can biological males get their periods?" wasn't asked at this week's Democratic candidate debate. There's no telling how that question would have been answered by the various candidates... Who knew? In the early 1970's North Korea actually had a higher GDP than South Korea. Tell me again how socialism/communism is better than capitalism... Good look at why the NBA TV ratings are down. I have to wonder if the words Hong Kong and China were deliberately omitted... Starchy Tubers would be a good name for a band - especially a brass band... Funny because its true!... Who knew? Bill Parcells was once the head coach at the Air Force Academy for one season. He had a 3-8 record... So Barack and Michele Obama were paid by Netflix lots of money a year and a half ago. If the Obama's never actually produce any content - would that payment be consider a bribe?...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Southern California and North Korea have roughly the same populations (about 24 million) and it could honestly be argued that Southern Cal actually is the bigger existential threat to America... What was the worse preseason bet - Mitch Trubiski as NFL MVP or Kyrie Irving as NBA MVP? (Note just asking I didn't make either of those dumb wagers)...  The 9 most badass Bible verses... It should be remembered that perhaps the main reason ESPN purged itself of any politics a while back was to protect the launch of their new streaming service Disney+ (they didn't want to give any excuse for half the country to not want to buy a Disney product). It's amusing that many who loudly decried the "muzzling" of people like Jemelle Hill at the time are the same people who remained oddly silent over Daryl Morey's right to free speech when it came to the NBA and China... When I find myself in times of trouble or doubt I ask "What would Tim Tebow do?" and the path is made clear... I don't own any sports jerseys (because I'm a friggin adult) but I might make an exception for a Number 6...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- 50 things no man over 40 should own. Good list but do have some minor disagreements like #8, #10 (my wardrobe is at the point where every day is casual Friday and I like it that way), #14 (I have a pair of leather LL Bean sandals that I wear constantly during the summer) and maybe #16 (thinking of getting an American flag one to wear at the beach to make others uncomfortable as a joke). Via Cultural Offering

- Of the 70,083 abortions in Florida in 2018 less than .05% were for incest, rape or the life of the mother being in danger.

- Amelia Earhart on motivation, education and human nature in letters to her mother.

- Heh Heh

- NASA's full Artemis plan revealed: 37 launches and a lunar outpost. The big question is going to be "How are we going to pay for this?" Legitimate question - keep in mind that the Democrats wanted to kill the space shuttle program in 1968 because of the costs. The election of Richard Nixon is what saved it.

- Heh Heh - these are pretty good.

Socialism

"The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." - Winston Churchill 1945.

I think nothing illustrates Churchill's quote better than the photo of the Korean peninsula taken from space. Very easy to see which nation is the capitalist one vs the one "enjoying" the fruits of socialism.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Where do we find such men!

- Interesting interview with Gad Saad - the Gadfather.

- The person behind Titania McGrath. I always think of her as "Tits" McGrath

- Rope lighters - wicked cool. (Hat tip Execupundit.)

- Interesting take on the situation with North Korea

- Long read on how business is the key to healthcare in the US. Employer spending on healthcare in the US is now roughly equivalent to the yearly costs to run the military.

- And just like that he goes from being Beto O'Rourke to "Jazz Hands" O'Rourke

Let's Talk Some Politics

"North Korea will freeze and dismantle its nuclear program." - Bill Clinton 1994

"I won't rule out direct talks with Kim Jung Un. I just won't. As far as the risk of dealing with a madman is concerned, that's his problem, not mine." - Donald Trump 2018

ABC News has a brief on the US-North Korean summit in Vietnam. Michael Cohen is mentioned five times in an article about potential historic denuclearization talks. But there was one word glaringly missing in the article - the word China.

The editors at National Review are glad President Trump walked away from what would have been yet another bad deal for the US. But again there was one word glaringly missing in their article - the word China.

To Trump the North Korean Agreement is just part of a larger trade Agreement with China. It is no coincidence that the summit in Vietnam came at the same time the US and China were holding trade negotiations.

I have to hand it to Niall Ferguson - he called it last March. He pointed out China tariffs are directly linked to the negotiations with North Korea. And why not? North Korea to the US is a problem. To China it's a market potentially as large as South Korea. President Trump is directly pressuring China to help "solve" the North Korean problem as part of the larger US-China trade deal. Smart.

Oh and speaking of trade - Boeing secured $15.7 billion in Vietnam orders during Trump's visit to Hanoi. Did you happen to catch mention of that in the MSM?

Let me finish with one last quote. A quote that you should remind yourself of when talking politics these days: "All empty souls tend toward extreme opinions." - William Butler Yeats

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Interesting story on how a group of Russian engineers have been scamming slot machines around the world

- Cool - MRI showing what happens inside our mouths when we speak

- US Surgeon General says it's high time to relax marijuana rules

- Am I an awful person for laughing at this?

- North and South Korea hold ceremony to start the linking of railroads between the two countries. The story of the progress being made here is vastly underplayed by the US media. I wonder why?

- Your periodic reminder of things you control

- Are we approaching the end for Rob Gronkowski? I agree with Tm E. Curran - I think this season will be Gronk's last as a football player.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The DMZ in Korea is being dismantled. If unification or something close comes to North and South Korea how does President Trump not get awarded a Nobel Prize?

- We've all had days like this

- Quitter!

- This is sad - the annual Rolling Thunder ride is coming to an end. 2019 will be the last ride.

- Very cool

- An update on Craig James (who I still think is a dick)

- World GDP by Country - it is fascinating to watch

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- I agree - Clay Matthews should be in the football Hall of Fame

- 5 elements of effective thinking

- It always bugged me that Greenland looked twice the size of Australia on those globes we had growing up

- Frank Sinatra Has a Cold - one of the great examples of magazine writing ever.

- The only thing that makes me skeptical about this is the fact there was a video camera ready to capture the moment

- ESPN lost 2 million subscribers in 2018

- In case anyone was wondering what I'd like for Christmas - one of these would do very nicely

Iran Sanctions

Looks like the Trump Administration will reinstate all sanctions against Iran - possibly as early as Monday.

And I say good! George W. Bush identified the Axis of Evil but only Trump seems to be doing something about both North Korea and Iran.