mdk

The Political Thread

I wasn't even aware about their testing facility being damaged. Then again I haven't follow the North Korea stuff that has been in the news recently very closely. That is probably the reason they're wanting talks.

@POOHEAD189

Probably not "THE" reason, but it would surprise me if it's not a factor. Plenty of other factors.... couple Aegis-equipped battle groups parked off the shore, ready to spank any warheads back down to the surface, can't be helping the outlook. And there are, I mean, no one wants to believe it but there are legitimate diplomatic milestones being achieved. China on board with sanctions was a big deal. I would say the progress here is a combination of famine-fatigue, yakkety-sax bungling of a shitty nuclear agency, losing the most one-sided dick-swinging contest in the history of dicks, and weirdly significant diplomatic pressures whose application flies in the face of decades of foreign policy from every side of every aisle in basically every developed country on earth.

The last bit is astonishing but I don't think we can discount it.

@mdk I'd be really really disappointed if that was their only facility because that's some Bond-tier fuckup. Any security expert knows you spread your facilities and critical assets to minimize risk of exactly these type of events.

That said I suppose it's possible.

@Odin

well they're not rich. And like.... I mean it's a punchline, but consider the possibility that the DPRK's space program maybe actually was built by the Kims. Is it really that far-fetched? And would it surprise anybody if it was bloated, short-sighted, and terrible? You know... like all the Kims?

<Snipped quote by mdk>

In part.. China nd others also suspect the mountian is already badly compromised. Land slips, trees dieing off and workers falling prey to unknown illness and weakness...

Should like anything familiar...

If they tested much firther they may make a full blown nuclear incident on China border and the radiation contained in the mountian be released. They already had increased seismic activity.

@PrinceAlexus

Well yeah but the premiere league and/or NFL increases seismic activity. But yes, this is a real thing we've observed and it's fairly serious. I don't have the articles on hand but they haven't done diddly since the mountain went super-sour, and although tons of pressure was already on the regime at that time, I don't think it's coincidence that they stopped all testing right then.

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Also, the things that are reportedly on the table for negotiations don't seem commensurate with this being just a response to program failure. So that would seem to imply again that some of the stuff we're doing is working. What stuff specifically, I dunno, but we've been doing a lot differently since Trump. If that's shocking, remember that Dennis Rodman is North Korea's favorite human being, and that apparently none of this has to make sense.

The Political Thread

<Snipped quote by Altered Tundra>

It'd be a misstep on their end because they need nuclear programs to sustain their power. Looking at the middle east, anyone that was even suspected of having a WMD let alone nuclear capability was met with a kick-in-the-door attitude from the USA and alliance members. Having a nuclear programme is a risk in that regard because it warrants a visit from uncle Sam, but the favorable geographical location for NK means that the USA can't really do anything, because we already know that NK can reach Japan and SK with nukes.

Now, 'suspending' the nuclear program I'm assuming doesn't mean proliferation meaning that they still have nuclear capability, which leads me to infer two things; a) they now have ICBM that can reach the USA entirely as opposed to just the westcoast or b) they are switching to a different doctrine.

I don't think this will 'ease tensions' as much as it'll put the tensions on the backburner for 5-10 years before it flares up again. NK is very much a spoilt child in the sense that it wants what it wants and it makes damn sure to let everyone know it or throw a tantrum otherwise. Positive relationships with SK are nice but they're known for cancelling those relationships the moment something goes wrong. They're bargaining chips.

I'm doubtful this will be 'the turnaround' towards a more stable NK, and I'm seeing this more as a sign that a different doctrine for exerting power has been crafted.

@Odin

alternative read: that detonation which destroyed their nuclear testing area and collapsed the mountain under which their entire nuclear program was based, wiped it out. They haven't tested a thing since then. It's possible they're coming to the table to talk about giving up something they've already lost, in exchange for something. Which could be fine. We'll have to wait and see.

The Book Club

• 1. What is the book you recommend to about everyone?
• 2. What are your top 5 favorite books you've read?
• 3. Top 5 authors?
• 4. Worst book you've ever read?
• 5. What book seemed really popular but you didn’t like?
• 6. What five books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?

@POOHEAD189

1. The Bible, Quran, etc. -- okay. OKAY! Gosh. But remember that serious literature (and bland every-day society) all over the world and from all time, basically, references what's in these books. So even if the religions aren't interesting (though I recommend at least SOME of the religion, personally), academically speaking everyone should read religious texts.

Let's rewind, that sucked.

1. Everybody should read War and Peace. It's stupidly long which makes it impressive (you can totally show off!); it's educational (how much do you know about the Napoleanic wars? NOT ENOUGH!), and to my shock and amazement the prose is friggin' great. Since it's translated from Russian, the translator matters -- I've tried a couple of different versions and the one I like best (by far) is This one. Paperback recommended because footnotes/endnotes are actually worth flipping to and keeping track of. I am dog-earing the hell out of my copy and loving it.

2. Cormac McCarthy is life-changing and I could fill all five slots, but let's not -- simplify his contribution down to one choice, which I guess would be Blood Meridian. Then in no particular order, the Nikki Heat series by Richard Castle (fluff police drama, fantastic books-on-tape for car rides); the Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut (he's sorta getting the McCarthy treatment here, I could fill the list again); The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky; and probably The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (but not necessarily any of the rest of the series, it kinda jumped several sharks).

3. I'm just gonna put McCarthy and Vonnegut here, the only two authors who I've ever been like "Know what? I'm gonna go buy their entire library and read it all." Did not finish with Vonnegut, but he's great.... McCarthy though. Jebus. VERY challenging reading, like, have a dictionary standing by, he'll make you feel like you don't speak English and you don't know what humanity even is and you need some kind of existential hot chocolate and blanket. Christ he's good.

....let's get some more fun authors in here though. Lee Child writes a very enjoyable Thing; aforementioned fictional author Richard Castle writes a likewise enjoyable Thing; Michael Chrichton does a Good Thing in a very enjoyable way. Kurt Vonnegut probably belongs closer to this list, but he's got points to make too, so I'll leave him up top with Cormac.

4. Worst book, I mean, I got the cheat code because a friend picked up the second "Eragon" book on CD for a long drive once and we sat through all of it.

5. HATER OLYMPICS! I don't know what everyone likes about Ted Chiang. He starts with a premise and then doesn't go anywhere or say anything other than "Wasn't my premise clever though?"

6. Still working War and Peace. I "Got serious about it" like three years ago and I'm still pretending to be serious. More than halfway through though. Uh.... Tom Clancy's "Rainbow Six" is a weird one. Every time I start reading it, something terrible happens and I don't finish. Started with just losing it; then someone crashed my car and I got distracted; then my whole campsite got stolen, along with the book; then I lost a leg. I'm, uh.... I'm probably not gonna try to find out what the next escalation is, Rainbow Six might just stay on the shelf forever now.

Car Talk (Ricers GTFO)

my old one in the background and my new one in the foreground

Hooray for Challengers! I imagine you can guess what my dreamcar is based on my buying history.... but besides a demon, I'd love to drive like an AWD F-type or something like that, just to see what "handling" feels like.

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

<Snipped quote by Dynamo Frokane>

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@Ruby So when we getting this re-locked eh?

@SleepingSilence

Well....

Whack an Immigrant

@Penny

....soon, probably? WE HAVE LEARNED NOTHING. Warnings have no effect.

Game: Who can post a picture of a toad?

it's harmless for your brain

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

<Snipped quote by IceHeart>

This will doubtless have a chilling effect on the speech of those who teach pugs to perform nazi salutes on video.

@Penny

When your (literal, actual) freedom hinges on whether or not a judge finds you offensive, that oughta be chilling.

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

Some of these groups include: Nazis, White Nationalists, misgoinsits, anti-choice people, fundamentalist Christians, fundamentalist Muslims, people who are cruel to children and animals, homophobes, transphobes, bigots of various stripes, people that support deporting children, MS-13, people who proudly proclaim they have never seen star wars and so on.

@Penny

What an entirely reasonable list of examples. Just add people who talk about sitcoms and..... I dunno I guess take out the religion qualifiers, and I'm on board with all that.

edit: "anti-choice" might be a stretch, but the way you put it (as opposed to pro-life, so I'm taking it to mean a particularly aggressive and/or sweeping brand of anti-abortion) I can get.

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

Ok. Even if that is true which I dont think it is I don't need to engage in personal relationships with people whose political views are completely abhorrent to me. I am required to maintain professional ones of course.

@Penny

And participate in their weddings, as the case may be. Come to think of it I've never heard of an atheist bakery whining about business at a Christian wedding, so..... yeah that checks out.

I am using a literal nazi as a rhetorical device to demonstrate that there do exist people who are so despicable that I would not share a meal with them. You are correct in inferring that I would put people other than Nazis in this category as my previous posts confirm.

Real talk -- where do you draw that line? I imagine "grab 'em by the pussy" is probably a dealbreaker. What about (and I don't wanna be leading here, just spitballing) like a gun owner, or a sock-sandal person, or a male cat person -- if you're in charge of the arrangements and there are no laws/lawsuits to impact your decision, who gets sent to the Nazi table?

Frokane's Mildly Politcal Hangout Thread

All that aside how does it make it difficult for you to understand why I would rather not brunch with Nazis?

@Penny

Not OP but, my experiences elsewhere (and a little bit in here too if we're being honest) don't leave me with a lot of faith in the responsible use of labels like "Nazi." It's like.... shoot I used to know the word for this. There exists a term whose definition is "A concept used to prevent thinking." The Atlantic gave a pretty even-handed rundown, but they didn't remind me what the actual term is. Anyway. Years of this have made conservatives as wary of the "nazi" label as you probably are of words like "socialist" (when used as a negative anyway). So like, if we took the stereotypical screaming liberal and the stereotypical screaming conservative and filled the whole country with 'em in equal measures, and no one from either camp would so much as sit down with someone from the other, they'd all probably think themselves pretty virtuous (AT LEAST I AIN'T SITTIN WITH THE GODDAMN COMMIES) and also they'd eventually wipe each other out.

CaN't We AlL jUsT gEt AlOnG?? But seriously like.... at a certain point politics becomes dogma, and then you're really just marketing all the worst parts about religion. Something like "I wouldn't even EAT DINNER with them!" seems like a step in that direction, at a glance. Of course if it's a literal actual goddamn Nazi, who cares, just, ya know, stating the obvious I guess in hopes of a circlejerky thumbs-up vote.