An Explanation

So JD wrote to tell me about the nuke thing (see the post below this). I haven't really looked for much about it yet, and unfortunately, I get to see all sorts of analysis in my day job. Part of the reason that I don't post on quite a lot of things that go on in the world is because I may have a problem distinguishing "wild-ass conjecture" with "informed not-many-people-in-town-know-this" stuff. It is actually a fairly hard balancing act, so I don't go there very often. My initial reaction (again, without even going on the high-side at work) is that the explosion was small and that means a couple of things:

a) 5KT to 15KT explosion means that their technology sucks. If it had been over 100KT (like the French blew in the Atoll) then I would be packing up and moving in with JD and family (Hi, we're the Squirrels... have room for my nuts?)

b) North Korea is arguably the most isolated country in the world. If we can't stop them from getting nukes, there is zero chance that we will be able to stop Iran. Proliferation of these small(ish) weapons guarantees an offensive nuclear detonation in my lifetime.

c) The left doesn't get it. Who can we thank for ensuring proliferation? Ask the Clinton administration and deduce the opposite. Also, I think that it is important to remember that despots, dictators, and loons all do things for their own reasons that may not have anything to do with the U.S.A. Afterall, NK didn't want nukes to put additional pressure on the world, they wanted them because they didn't have them. Don't give these ridiculous third-world nutjobs too much credit. They simply want power (and the trappings thereof). There is only one way to deal with these types of folks... and it ain't diplomacy.

End of sermon... amen.