Ill Tidings

Spring has officially arrived though I can’t tell it looking out my window. It is currently seven degrees Farenheit with snow outside and frost on the inner windows of my room. It could be worse.

North Korea cyberattacked South Korea this morning our time and the afternoon their time. Bank and television computer networks were taken down for many hours and some still aren’t operational. What did this mean for the South Korean people? They had to deal with no debit or credit cards working and that includes ATMs. I suspect business to business transactions were also impossible.

Imagine if that happened in the United States.

Of more local concern and by local I mean household, the Subaru started having serious problems overheating Saturday night and Sunday. It is currently in the shop having its engine torn apart for head gasket replacement plus timing and other belts. So financial pain has arrived with spring.

I suppose Saturday was close enough to the Ides of March to qualify, come to think of it.

Regime Change Brings Nuclear Change to Korea?

Well, this is unexpected, but welcome news – IF North Korea holds up their end of the bargain. Color me skeptical, but this kind of announcement has happened time and time again, only for the dictatorship in Pyongyang to renege on their promises and through inspectors out.

At least we will find out if the new regime is any different than its predecessors.

Kim Jong Il Has Died

The oppressive dictator of North Korea has escaped mortal justice and now the jockeying for power in the communist country begins in earnest. It is not surprising to see the markets in Asia going down out of fears of instability. One can only pray this offers a flicker of hope for the North Korean people.

It is difficult not to contrast his “accomplishments” in contrast to those of another leader who just died, Vaclav Havel. One died while clinging to power by starving his own people and the other died after having helped usher his country into democracy. If only there could be a Velvet Revolution on the Korean Peninsula, but I am afraid that is highly unlikely.

Odds and Ends

The Large Hadron Collider finally did something noteworthy by colliding two protons together.  Shockingly, a black hole did not develop. I’m just glad to see the thing finally running!

Closer to home, there has been no snow in March for the first time on record.  While I’m enjoying the warmer than usual daytime temps, the lack of precipitation has me concerned.  We can only coast off the water from the snow melts for so long before it becomes an issue. 

Things are tenser than usual between North Korea and South Korea after the sinking of a Southern navy vessel.  With 46 crew unaccounted for, the emotions are running high. Probably a mine, but I doubt it was an old one.  More than likely the Norks are testing what they can get away with.  With a weak U.S. president, the little dictators are running wild.

On the home front, I’m needing to get more ammo for my Savage .17HM2 to zero it in.  We want to plant a garden and there are large amount of rabbits around here.  Never have dressed and cooked a critter before, so I plan to kill two lepus with one stone by protecting the garden. 

The .17HM2 is a necked down .22LR round with high velocity and frangibility.  Shooting flat to 100 yards it disintegrates when it hits something which makes it a safer round to use than the venerable .22LR.   It is a scope only kind of round and I need to get experience with scopes (being an iron sight kind of guy).

Is Iowa Trying to Take Over the World?

del.icio.us Tags: Iowahawk,Iowa,conspiracy,Korea

 

Iowa long has had a disproportionate influence on American politics from having early primaries to hosting a giant straw poll at Ames.  Being a Minnesotan, I’ve long held suspicions about the sinister nature of our neighbors to the south, compounded by my 1st and 2nd grade experiences when we briefly lived there.  It

simply isn’t right for school buses to move with synchronized precision right down to the second at the school I attended.  It was all vaguely Stepford Wives’ish.

So when Iowahawk started wondering what was going on with Korea and the University of Iowa football team it became pretty clear what is happening.  He’s possibly stumbled on to a vast conspiracy that has global ramifications.  There is too much going on to be just a coincidence and Iowa’s political ambitions of political dominance are on record.

It is obvious the shadowy powers running the state have taken the next step toward realizing a dream of global empire not seen since the British colonial era.  The use of a Korean all girl pop group is the most insidious of weapons that can be deployed and should be stopped by international treaties.  Korea is only the start and I wouldn’t be surprised it Iowa tries to undermine New Zealand next.

But I must issue a word of caution:  Iowahawk himself might be in on Iowa’s nefarious plans.  Look at his online alias containing the words ‘Iowa’ and ‘hawk’ together, implying that he is a fanatical patriot of the state.  This could be a disinformation ploy to hid Iowa’s true agenda…