North Korea fires artillery barrage on South Korea

What's up with Lee Majors?

I know what Lavar would say about north korea, get'em get'em

What's up with Lee Majors?

Umm Oprah! Like duh
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad93/CapsXXVI/Lee.jpg

Also a quick update Jesus Statue has replaced North Korea at the 10 spot while somehow Kourtney Kardashian has leaped all the way up to #4. I'm not a political type whatsoever but even I know that this is a pretty big deal.

Interesting article on the Chinese military: China’s potential for military aggression - upiasia.com (http://www.upiasia.com/Security/2008/10/31/chinas_potential_for_military_aggression/3967/)

It's two years old but probably still has some relevance.

The idea that Chinese don't want a war seems to be a common assumption. I would suggest that the Chinese don't want a war that they might lose. It seems to me, that the Chinese have never had a problem rattling their sabre a little - mostly over US involvement with Taiwan. Yes, their focus is on their economy right now. But let's not confuse them with a great beneficial "how do we build a better world" country. China's historic view of itself is very self-centered (as much or more so than the US - I would suggest both countries view themselves as countries of "destiny").

I suspect that this is simply NK & SK spitting at each other. So long as none of the regional powers over react, I suspect this will settle down into the minor border dispute it is. IMHO, it is something serious but not imminently dangerous at this time. Kind of like a boiling pot that just needs to be watched.

Here's a question for you: If NK launches an attack (full frontal invasion) of SK - Currently, the US has ~ 28,500 personnel in SK - what should our response be? Do we fight? Evacuate US personnel to Japan? What if China supports the invasion? Either with personnel or material.

Yes, I think it is completely hypothetical, but I am just curious what everyone's reaction would be. I am torn - I wouldn't want my son dying for SK, but we have basically told them "We got your back". Japan/Taiwan get invaded and that's a different story but hard for me to get worked up about Korea.

If this is the case, I wonder if China will try to squash this. I think you're right here, CHina doesn't want a war in its doorstep, and hopefully they'll strong-arm North Korea to stop.

North Korea ain't ish without China. They're responsible for a big chunk of NK's economy, not too mention they supply about half of NK's food. If China wants NK to stop, they'll stop.

More on Chinese military: Chinese Ground Forces - SinoDefence.com (http://www.sinodefence.com/army/default.asp)

North Korea ain't ish without China. They're responsible for a big chunk of NK's economy, not too mention they supply about half of NK's food. If China wants NK to stop, they'll stop.

Yup. Pretty much.

From a Reuters article:
China expressed worry after North Korea shelled a South Korean island on Tuesday in the latest escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula that neighbours the world's second-biggest economy.
FACTBOX - Ties binding China and North Korea - Yahoo! India News (http://in.news.yahoo.com/137/20101123/760/twl-factbox-ties-binding-china-and-north.html)

I am betting China does it's usual and tells NK "stop" in no uncertain terms. At the same time, NK ain't exactly run by the most rational people in the world. To me, that's the scary part.

I have no idea who Lee Majors is. Is he worth knowing?

Hey, what do Lee Majors, Rachael Ray, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Scarlett Johanson, Hedge funds, Kim Zolciak, Aubrey Huff, Smartphone apps, and the Stock market have in common? Well according to the Yahoo Trending now list they're all more important then the North Korea Attack.
http://i925.photobucket.com/albums/ad93/CapsXXVI/Trendingnow.jpg

All I have to say about this is....

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/2993244653_82aceb0b9e.jpg

China is developing a aircraft carrier "buster". A missile designed purposely to take out a carrier in the middle of its carrier group. This is actually a major advance purposely designed against the US fleet. To think that they are content as number 2 is not realistic. That said, as long as north korea can act as a buffer state they aren't going to do much more than lip service to stop the north koreans.

To answer JoeRedskin. If your scenario presented itself we would have to engage, we are too deeply entreched to up and pull out. Would I want to go to war over them, no, would the us have too? Yes