Post: #851

(04-18-2018 01:29 PM)Zelcorpion Wrote:  

(04-18-2018 07:18 AM)TravelerKai Wrote:  

(04-17-2018 05:09 PM)Enigma Wrote:  I've seen a lot of chatter claiming that when the tunnel collapsed in NK in late 2017, killing 200 workers, it was actually the US remotely detonating one of NK's nuke projects.

I haven't seen any definitive evidence, but that does make sense given the quick 180 from Kim.

If that is true, that is raw as fuck.

Would not surprise me. The North Koreans won't admit it, because that would make them lose face. Besides - it's not as if it's so incredibly difficult to subvert people in North Korea. There are likely countless agents milling around North Korea financed by the South, the US and by China. When you have people as poor as that, then it's comically easy. Also - there are plenty of routes to smuggle people off the country.

I doubt that North Korea is much of a threat to anyone. China is utterly unconcerned about them and that means that they know more about the state of their program than Kim Jong funny-hair. Any announcement of theirs and the other side is the usual neocon rattling to get an increase in military funding.

It was rumored they tested out the Thor Weapon on the nuke site, aka Rods From God. They drop Tungsten Rods on a target from space, and they hit with the devastation of a meteor strike, without the radiation from a nuclear bomb.

The North Koreans were ready to shelve their nuclear program the next day....

https://taskandpurpose.com/kinetic-bomba...-weaponry/

In the 1950s, Jerry Pournelle imagined the military equivalent of the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Toiling away as a Boeing operations researcher in the afterglow of the Manhattan Project and the Soviet Union’s First Lightning nuclear test in 1949, the U.S. Army veteran envisioned a weapons system armed not with munitions and other chemical explosives, but massive rods forged from heavy metals dropped from sub-orbital heights. Those “tungsten thunderbolts,” as the New York Times called them, would impact enemy strongholds below with the devastating velocity of a dino-exterminating impact, obliterating highly fortified targets — like, say, Iranian centrifuges or North Korean bunkers — without the mess of nuclear fallout.

Pournelle, whose years of experience in aerospace would fuel a career as a journalist and military science fiction writer, named his superweapon “Project Thor.” Others just called it “Rods From God.” In reality, weapons researchers refer to it as a “kinetic energy projectile”: a super-dense, super-fast projectile that, operating free of complex systems and volatile chemicals, destroys everything in its path.

And gravity hasn’t always been necessary. For decades, militaries have used ultra-dense “kinetic energy penetrators,” also known as KEPs, specially designed shells often wrapped in an outer shell (a “sabot”) and fired at high velocity rather than dropped from the sky, to defeat defense armor. That’s the fundamental logic underpinning the U.S. Navy’s highly touted electromagnetic railgun, which can blast a 25-pound “hypervelocity projectile” with 32-megajoule muzzle energy through seven steel plates and obliterate whatever that armor is supposed to protect.

Whether dropped from the sky or fired from a cannon, the principle behind these weapons is the same: hitting the enemy with something very hard and very dense, moving very fast. And the kinetic energy projectile may become a staple of modern warfare sooner than you might think.

“The classic way of delivering hurt against a target has been to pack a lot of chemical explosive into a container of some kind, a barrel or a cannonball or steel bomb,” Weingart told Task & Purpose in a phone interview. “The violence comes from the chemical explosive inside that bomb sending off a blast wave, followed by the fragments of the bomb case. But the difference with kinetic energy projectiles is that the warhead arrives at the target moving very, very fast — the energy is there to propel those fragments without the use of a chemical explosive to accelerate them. The more mass, the more violence.”

The concept of the hypersonic impact that defined Project Thor and its devastating potential hasn’t been lost on defense officials. Military researchers are continuing to explore battlefield applications that “take advantage of high terminal speeds to deliver much more energy onto a target than the chemical explosives they carry would deliver alone,” as Army Maj. Gen. William Hix put it at the Booz Allen Hamilton Direct Energy Summit in March.

“Think of it as a big shotgun shell,” Hix told the assembled crowd. “Not much can survive it. If you’re in a main battle tank, if you’re a crew member, you might survive but the vehicle will be non-mission capable, and everything below that level of protection will be dead. That’s what I am talking about.”

Post: #852

So that is why Russia was threatening to stop tungsten shipments to America? Or was that titanium? I do not recall where I saw that either...

Post: #853

What comes down must first go up. Not that I doubt the US has the resources to put heavy stuff in space, but it makes me wonder where and how they're sending these rods up, and for that matter how long and heavy each rod is.

I recall hearing some time ago that slugs fired from battleships are typically solid. No explosives or anything like that. Apparently there's nothing they can put in them short of a nuke that would yield more force than the pure metal when those kinds of kinetic deliveries are concerned. Obviously that limits you to ground strikes but if it's true it's still amazing. The main gun on a battleship can apparently level a city block in one hit although I don't have a source on that.

Still, guided long range missiles are not going away any time soon. Meanwhile battleships have arguably become obsolete. Those main guns are impressive but in modern terms their range is severely limited and you need to maintain a bloody big ship to cart them around. Even aircraft carriers are a tool of empire maintenance and will likely end up at the bottom of the ocean fifteen minutes into a serious war.

Bond-style superweapons like this rod-delivering satellite will also end up being junk a few minutes into a real war. They are a nice arrow to have in the quiver during times like these for precisely the kind of application suggested above, but they're an easy target for an adversary with a modern military.

Post: #854

Your daily reminder that Trump's presence on the world stage will definitely cause WW3.

Post: #855

I dont get these North Koreans, wouldnt they want to be like South Korea, making Samsung, Kia, Hyundai?

Post: #856

(04-21-2018 02:25 AM)Pride male Wrote:  I dont get these North Koreans, wouldnt they want to be like South Korea, making Samsung, Kia, Hyundai?

Nah, those puny companies haven't made single nuke yet.

Post: #857

https://www.wsj.com/articles/north-south...1524749462





Korean leaders Kim Jong Un, Moon Jae-in meet for historic summit

Kim's looking healthy

Post: #858

The opportunity for slaying NK flags may soon be upon us.

Post: #859

Hear me out on this. What if, just if, is Kim Jong Un draining his swamp? Think about it, he cultivates the image of dear leader but that may be a tradition he is obliged to do. He knows that NK people could totally lose their minds if they are suddenly presented with alternative system, so he slowly transitions from dictatorship to something more benevolent ("democracy").
During that time, he is also dealing with and/or executing people that are actually driving NK in the same direction in last 60 years or so. Those generals around him, that uncle he executed are IMO military industrial complex of his nation and true rulers and "swamp".

At the same time we may be having same thing with Crown Prince in Saudia Arabia. There are uncanny resemblances.

Post: #860

So far this is all for show and window dressing and NK seems unlikely to give up their nuclear arsenal as that is their o e bargaining chip. Their testing facility is on a mountain that collapsed and it is likely no longer usable so they are offering to give up testing there. We will see if anything comes from this but unless they actually give up their nukes it is all a meaningless show.

Post: #861

(04-27-2018 01:09 AM)sterling_archer Wrote:  He knows that NK people could totally lose their minds if they are suddenly presented with alternative system, so he slowly transitions from dictatorship to something more benevolent ("democracy").

I don't think he particularly cares about the mental health of the NK people, kind of reminds me of how some people here say "the normies aren't ready to be woken, go slow", looking at them like they're cattle and dullards who never had a moment in their lives where the boats were rocked for them (often their whole lives have been nothing but suffering). Many NK know what the outside world is like anyway.

He's not transitioning out of the good of his heart, only doing so he doesn't get his head strung up, rather than dropping the curtain. "Why did you have us in concentration camps and force us to fuck each other?" Kim Jung: "Because I could"

Post: #862

I can just imagine the no. of soycialist activists out there, that are more dismayed at Trump's relative success at foreign policy, as opposed to any beneficial outcomes.

Whether it be trade, no new Middle East wars or the calm over Korea.

Post: #863

Remember when leftists were saying it’s a terrible idea for the President to reach out unilaterally. It’s a bad idea because his cabinent hasn’t been fixed and on and on

And now we have the beginings of peace there.

Post: #864

It's so funny to see Kim near another world leader, he looks so clumsy.

I wonder if this get's translated in North Korea too and what the North Korean's will think when they see that the other leader is less fat, carries himself with more dignity, is better dressed and that everything is more awesome in South.

Or is their starved perception so twisted that in their view every fat person = deity and dream of otherworldly bliss.

Post: #865

(04-27-2018 03:50 AM)eradicator Wrote:  So far this is all for show and window dressing and NK seems unlikely to give up their nuclear arsenal as that is their o e bargaining chip. Their testing facility is on a mountain that collapsed and it is likely no longer usable so they are offering to give up testing there. We will see if anything comes from this but unless they actually give up their nukes it is all a meaningless show.

[attachment=38931]

Post: #866

The thought of reunification of the Korean peninsula almost brings tears to my eyes. They are ONE PEOPLE who have been divided for years by disingenuous world powers who DGAF about the Korean people. Elderly Koreans being reunited after 70 years apart will be some of the arresting visuals you could possibly imagine.

Also, its completely over for other countries when it comes to Starcraft.

Post: #867

I want to believe this is real, but part of me feels like this is a bait 'n' switch on the part of Kim. Maybe he's doing this to get more aid only to reel back into his isolation. I mean, it's quite a show, either way.

Post: #868

(04-27-2018 10:58 AM)Enoch Wrote:  The thought of reunification of the Korean peninsula almost brings tears to my eyes. They are ONE PEOPLE who have been divided for years by disingenuous world powers who DGAF about the Korean people. Elderly Koreans being reunited after 70 years apart will be some of the arresting visuals you could possibly imagine.

Also, its completely over for other countries when it comes to Starcraft.

Excellent news indeed and we all are right to rejoice. This is a momentus occasion with the prospect of the Korean War finally coming to an official end after 65 years. We got here because of the following:

a) North Korea achieving a credible strategic deterrent is what precipitated these talks.
b) The new South Korean ruler, Moon Jae-in issuing a blunt warning to Trump against any unilateral strike on the DPRK.
c) Kim Jong-un's decision to halt testing as a sign of goodwill.
d) Chinese and Russian diplomacy between the two Koreas

However I am skeptical that something really concrete will come from this. We have been here before - back in 2000 with Albright's visit to NK.

There are two potential spoilers:

1) Japan - PM Abe who is quite hawkish, will dislike any agreement made between the two Koreas. The Koreans hate the Japanese with a passion due to it being a colony of Japan (1910-45) and Tokyo would view a unified Korea as a potential political and economic rival.

2) Military Industrial Complex in the US - any peaceful outcome would be bad for business for obvious reasons. The MIC would want to keep its troops stationed in Korea and the lucrative position of hostility going with China. Throw in the neo-cons and John Bolton and you get the picture.

3) How flexible will Pyongyang be? Is it a ruse by Kim Jong-un? Who knows.

If peace does break out and DPRK society opens up, we could be seeing a poosy paradise not seen since the early-mid 1990s which saw armies of slutty Slavic women unleashed in the wake of the breakup of the USSR. Except this time it will be hordes of Korean hotties. That would be the Mother of all Datasheets and it demands Suits to lead the charge.

Post: #869

(04-27-2018 01:09 AM)sterling_archer Wrote:  Hear me out on this. What if, just if, is Kim Jong Un draining his swamp? Think about it, he cultivates the image of dear leader but that may be a tradition he is obliged to do. He knows that NK people could totally lose their minds if they are suddenly presented with alternative system, so he slowly transitions from dictatorship to something more benevolent ("democracy").
During that time, he is also dealing with and/or executing people that are actually driving NK in the same direction in last 60 years or so. Those generals around him, that uncle he executed are IMO military industrial complex of his nation and true rulers and "swamp".

At the same time we may be having same thing with Crown Prince in Saudia Arabia. There are uncanny resemblances.

Or maybe people should see Kim as a sheep being told by the Chinese to shut his mouth because the USA is causing major problems for them?

I'm too cynical to see this as some sort of NK opening to the world ceremony. Trump applied pressure to the Chinese and they didn't want things going bad in the seas over there.

Post: #870

I am obviously glad about the turn of events for North Korea and it would be great if that country would become free and open to the world or even unite with South Korea.

However the suffering of NK people will not end that easily, most of those people are not adapted for living in a free world, they would not know how to survive in such a world. Many will want to resist and fight back. Many will commit suicides unable to tolerate the change. Many women will become prostitutes with no real skills to use in free market economy and unable to function without a master. Many men will still sell themselves to cheap labor and human slavery in China. A freshly liberated NK will attract human traffickers and sex tourists like honey flies. We will have a new porn Bollywood in NK. It's possible Thailand's tourism industry will suffer because all the hungry wolves will get attracted to skinny NK women who will sell themselves for a hamburger. Local men will completely be unable to compete with foreigners, which would cause both much resentment and likely a big gender dis-balance with women being literally purchased in streets by foreigners looking for wives or pimps looking for workers - that leaving many men alone leading to crime and violence. Crime will be rampart. The legal system will have to be constructed a new and different loopholes will be exploited by corrupt bureaucrats for a long time. It will much be similar to the crime ridden 90ties in Russia after Gorbatchev decided to leave office and let Soviet Union fall and become open to free market economy. Only for North Korea it will be worse, because the time period, they spent under communism was much greater. Those people will have to endure 10-30 years of chaos and being exploitable underdogs in free economy before their suffering will truly end.

That change must come slowly and be controllable or suffering will be infernal.

Strangely enough Kim can actually act as savior of his people if he decides to lead this conversion slowly and steadily. If he just decides to be NK version of Gorbachev and bail out for milliards of dollars from west and leaves to Seychelles or Panama with the remaining NK budget, leaving NK people without a leader and forced to build a democracy from zero up, it will be catastrophic. But if he leads that transition until people are ready to elect proper government and carry their own economic weight, then he may actually do something that would clean his soul and make him a true great leader.

Post: #871

Post: #872

(04-27-2018 12:35 PM)Mage Wrote:  I am obviously glad about the turn of events for North Korea and it would be great if that country would become free and open to the world or even unite with South Korea.

However the suffering of NK people will not end that easily, most of those people are not adapted for living in a free world, they would not know how to survive in such a world. Many will want to resist and fight back. Many will commit suicides unable to tolerate the change. Many women will become prostitutes with no real skills to use in free market economy and unable to function without a master. Many men will still sell themselves to cheap labor and human slavery in China. A freshly liberated NK will attract human traffickers and sex tourists like honey flies. We will have a new porn Bollywood in NK. It's possible Thailand's tourism industry will suffer because all the hungry wolves will get attracted to skinny NK women who will sell themselves for a hamburger. Local men will completely be unable to compete with foreigners, which would cause both much resentment and likely a big gender dis-balance with women being literally purchased in streets by foreigners looking for wives or pimps looking for workers - that leaving many men alone leading to crime and violence. Crime will be rampart. The legal system will have to be constructed a new and different loopholes will be exploited by corrupt bureaucrats for a long time. It will much be similar to the crime ridden 90ties in Russia after Gorbatchev decided to leave office and let Soviet Union fall and become open to free market economy. Only for North Korea it will be worse, because the time period, they spent under communism was much greater. Those people will have to endure 10-30 years of chaos and being exploitable underdogs in free economy before their suffering will truly end.

That change must come slowly and be controllable or suffering will be infernal.

Strangely enough Kim can actually act as savior of his people if he decides to lead this conversion slowly and steadily. If he just decides to be NK version of Gorbachev and bail out for milliards of dollars from west and leaves to Seychelles or Panama with the remaining NK budget, leaving NK people without a leader and forced to build a democracy from zero up, it will be catastrophic. But if he leads that transition until people are ready to elect proper government and carry their own economic weight, then he may actually do something that would clean his soul and make him a true great leader.

This is very true. NK was always going to open to the world someday, one way or the other. There is certainly a big risk of this going very badly for most of the population. There are definitely things that could be done to help make things turn out as well as possible for as many people as possible. At least some people will be on the losing end, but hopefully, the impact can be minimized somehow. Fortunely, SK will want to help provide assistance and support in this effort.

If Kim III manages to stay in power and achieve a relatively smooth and stable transition for the NK people, he could come out of this smelling like a rose.

Trump did the whole world a big favor with this. He pulled off this deal for the US the way he would have previously gone after building another Trump mega property in a key world class location.

Post: #873

Kim's bodyguards run alongside his limo during summit

Post: #874

Full video of summit from Russian channel RT without any commentary
1 hour and 12 minutes long

Kim appears @ minute 41:36

2 leaders meet @ min 42:30









Part 2, also without commentary
1 hour, and 53 minutes long

Kim's wife arrives @ minute 1:44:30 (wearing rose/pink dress)

Post: #875

As much as you guys think this is good news...I believe the end goal is for the Chinese to negotiate the US off of the Korean peninsula at any cost. I hope Trump understands this.