North Korea, Sanctions, and Kim Jong-un

[Dotini]

The increasingly trollish tone of your posts (in my opinion at least) is becoming a little tiresome. We know that the infrastructure of several large companies and government organisations were affected, all of whom presumably have Enterprise licences.

This was hardly the localised attack on one man's shed computer that you seem to be implying.

I'm sorry you were offended. My jocular tone was in response to the post in which the BBC reported only a tiny $60k in ransoms, less than the price of a Benz or Lexus. If that's all the hacked files were worth, it seems these large companies and government organizations with Enterprise licenses didn't value the data very highly.

Apparently the attacks have raised only $60k so far. That's not going to get you much missile. A decent fireworks display, but very little ICBM.

 

[TenEightyOne]

IMy jocular tone was in response to the post in which the BBC reported only a tiny $60k in ransoms, less than the price of a Benz or Lexus.

That's ransoms-paid, I presume, not ransoms-demanded or time lost.

One of the protections inherent in a large Enterprise infrastructure is that attacking a "node" doesn't necessarily destroy the backups or the core data system. One of the areas where the NHS has done well in recent years (there really are some ) is in centralising data processing. There would be no need to pay ransoms (and indeed surgeries were strictly instructed to refuse to do so) if the data isn't at risk. However, costs far beyond the ransoms-paid are incurred in cleaning, rebooting, resecuring and restoring systems in damaged "nodes".

 

[ryzno]

All of this still begs the question that I raised in my last post: what if any of the other countries who think that Trump is dangerous would similarly like to take care of some "preventative maintenance?"

You good with that?

If not, maybe take a moment and apply your reasoning back onto your own questions.

I can name a few countries that wouldn't mind killing him and all of us. They all need to be delt with. And they all have something in common, their people live in hell like conditions.
I didn't answer you for a reason.
I'm not going to play your games, while you try to defend/justify a psycho dictator.

 

[huskeR32]

I can name a few countries that wouldn't mind killing him and all of us.

And do you think they'd be justified in doing so? It's really not that hard of a question to answer.

They all need to be delt with.

And maybe they all think we need to be dealt with. What makes us right and them wrong?

And they all have something in common, their people live in hell like conditions.

I'm sure there are lots of folks around the world who think we have our own set of terrible conditions - not having universal health care, for instance, is something a lot of non-Americans are simply astounded at.

I didn't answer you for a reason.

Because you don't have a good one?

I'm not going to play your games, while you try to defend/justify a psycho dictator.

What have a defended or justified on Kim's behalf?

The only thing I'm trying to do is to get you to think about your unquestioning "America is better than everybody else" viewpoint.

 

[Johnnypenso]

And do you think they'd be justified in doing so? It's really not that hard of a question to answer.



And maybe they all think we need to be dealt with. What makes us right and them wrong?



I'm sure there are lots of folks around the world who think we have our own set of terrible conditions - not having universal health care, for instance, is something a lot of non-Americans are simply astounded at.



Because you don't have a good one?



What have a defended or justified on Kim's behalf?

The only thing I'm trying to do is to get you to think about your unquestioning "America is better than everybody else" viewpoint.

Not having universal health care is comparable to living conditions in North Korea

 

[huskeR32]

Not having universal health care is comparable to living conditions in North Korea

Is that what I said?

 

[BobK]

Is that what I said?

Pretty much, yes:

they all have something in common, their people live in hell like conditions.

I'm sure there are lots of folks around the world who think we have our own set of terrible conditions - not having universal health care, for instance, is something a lot of non-Americans are simply astounded at.

 

[huskeR32]

Pretty much, yes:

Nope. Nowhere did I say that our living conditions are comparable to anybody else's, least of all North Korea's.

The point is that, like a lot of his arguments, he's standing on something that's too subjective, too vague, to serve as a deciding factor for major foreign policy actions like the "preventative maintenance" he's advocating.

 

[mustafur]

Nope. Nowhere did I say that our living conditions are comparable to anybody else's, least of all North Korea's.

The point is that, like a lot of his arguments, he's standing on something that's too subjective, too vague, to serve as a deciding factor for major foreign policy actions like the "preventative maintenance" he's advocating.

To be fair you didn't say you where comparing, you just compared.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

What kind of damage could the North do without nuclear weapons?

 

[TenEightyOne]

What kind of damage could the North do without nuclear weapons?

It's a sobering read. Artillery doesn't even need to be that advanced, the process of firing a shell has changed little in over a hundred years.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

It's a sobering read. Artillery doesn't even need to be that advanced, the process of firing a shell has changed little in over a hundred years.

What I find most sobering is the idea that Kim is acting rationally. Sure, there's aggressive rhetoric being kicked around, and maybe the stakes are higher this time around, but as the article points out, his behaviour falls into a pattern - that everything he does is to try and deter the rest of the world from intervening in some way.

Compare that to Donald Trump. He's got a reputation for doing what he wants, when he wants, and will subvert entire governmental institutions for the sake of having the final say. Look at his behaviour with Alicia Machado - he was Tweeting about her at three in the morning a week after she endorsed Clinton and a week after everyone else had moved on. But he was still trying to have the final say, still trying to land body blows because she washed out of a beauty pageant he was hosting over a decadd ago. It was a battle to the death over the lowest stakes imaginable.

Kim might be a tinpot dictator and the butt of many a joke, but despite all of his faults, Trump makes him look sensible.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

North Korea have fired another "unidentified projectile" according to the South:

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2017-...tified-projectile-south-military-says/8545408

 

[Grayfox]

Let them waste their missiles and rocket fuel.
Makes it harder for them to fire the real thing.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Let them waste their missiles and rocket fuel.
Makes it harder for them to fire the real thing.

Not at all. Every time they fire one, they get data that they can use to improve it for next time.

 

[Grayfox]

Not at all. Every time they fire one, they get data that they can use to improve it for next time.

How to not explode after 3 seconds, but explode after 4.

Hahaha.

 

[Imari]

How to not explode after 3 seconds, but explode after 4.

Hahaha.

You're one of those people that mocks four year olds for being crap at things, aren't you?

Learning to build a missile from scratch is hard. Really hard. But perseverance will get you there in the end. Well, maybe not you, but if North Korea works on it for long enough I have no doubt that they'll build a functional and reliable missile. It's hard, but it's not impossible.

How many missile tests do you think that it took the US or the UK to build a functional ICBM? How many of those tests were "failures"?

 

[Tornado]

We got that to look forward to then.

 

[Robin]

In the last hour NK fired some sort of drone/projectile across the border at the South.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-40012499

 

[mustafur]

Even their drones look out of date LOL:

 

[Robin]

Even their drones look out of date LOL: View attachment 648689

They look like hobby store model aeroplanes!

 

[Dotini]

A US attack on NK atomic facilities and long-range gun emplacements threatening Seoul is predicted.

https://geopoliticalfutures.com/north-korea-us-advertises-intentions-1/

By George Friedman

On March 8, we wrote an analysis that said North Korea appeared to be crossing a red line set forth by the United States. And now, there are signs that military action on the Korean Peninsula is increasingly likely.

It’s no secret that the USS Carl Vinson has been near the peninsula for a few weeks. But now the USS Ronald Reagan, which is based near-theater in Japan, has joined it. The USS Nimitz, which is based in Washington state, is back in port, having recently completed a training exercise, as is the USS Theodore Roosevelt, farther south in San Diego. The U.S. Navy has said that the Roosevelt would deploy again soon, though it neglected to mention a destination. Dispatching three carrier groups is sensible, if not necessary, for military action against North Korea, but it’s not actually clear what role the Navy would play in the mission.

But the mission itself is clear: If it were to attack North Korea, the United States would try to destroy its nuclear facilities and eliminate the southern artillery batteries aimed at Seoul. And it would do so primarily through the air.

In fact, the United States already has some 100 F-16 fighter aircraft in South Korea. They have been conducting exercises in South Korean airspace regularly for some time — notable insofar as these kinds of exercises often take place before an attack. Such was the case before Operation Desert Storm.


The Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis (C) and USS Ronald Reagan conduct dual aircraft carrier strike group operations in support of security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. Photo by Specialist 3rd Class Jake Greenberg/U.S. Navy via Getty Images

 

[Dotini]

Now a third US aircraft carrier is deployed to the scene. It is very rare that 3 carriers are deployed to the same place - unless they mean to use them in anger.

https://www.voanews.com/a/third-naval-strike-force-deployed-north-korea/3873637.html

 

[TenEightyOne]

NK have tested anti-ship cruise missiles off their coast. Fortunately there are probably no heavily-armed warships nearby whose commander in chief is itching for a successful war.

 

[Grayfox]

Even their drones look out of date LOL: View attachment 648689

That is not a drone, North Korea has trained rats to fly planes and drop containers of fleas that are carrying the Y Pestis virus.

 

[ryzno]

Dennis Rodman visits Kim Jong Un again.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dennis-rodman-heading-to-north-korea-again-prompting-controversy/
Interesting shirt, dare I say?
http://www.businessinsider.com/potcoin-is-sponsoring-dennis-rodmans-trip-to-north-korea-2017-6
Oh and an American hostage/prisoner has been released due to illness. Nice timing...
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-...-has-been-released-from-a-north-korean-prison

Call me crazy but these seem to be connected somehow.

 

[Blitz24]

The released American has some brain damage. Its clear that the gulag is no laughing matter.

 

[TenEightyOne]

The released American has some brain damage. Its clear that the gulag is no laughing matter.

Caused by botulism and a sleeping tablet the North Koreans say. Medical examinations in the US suggest that it's more likely caused by cardiopulmonary arrest.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Medical examinations in the US suggest that it's more likely caused by cardiopulmonary arrest.

Which could be caused by botulism poisoning or an accidental overdose on a sleeping tablet.

I'm not defending the North here - it's just worth mentioning that when they release foreign prisoners, those prisoners are usually in pretty good health. They'll brutalise their own people, but if they tortured a foreign citizen, it's going to end badly for them.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Which could be caused by botulism poisoning or an accidental overdose on a sleeping tablet.

Possibly, but botulism leaves signs of the nerve damage. Sleeping tablet... more likely.