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posted by janrinok on Wednesday June 27 2018, @06:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the actions-not-words dept.

North Korea has continued to upgrade its only known nuclear reactor used to fuel its weapons program, satellite imagery has shown, despite ongoing negotiations with the US and a pledge to denuclearise.

Infrastructure improvements at the Yongbyon nuclear plant are "continuing at a rapid pace", according to an analysis by monitoring group 38 North of commercial satellite images taken on 21 June.

The cooling system for the plutonium production reactor has been modified and at least two new non-industrial buildings have been built on the site, possibly for use by visiting officials. A new engineering office building has been completed and construction has continued on support facilities throughout the complex, according to a blog post written by Frank V Pabian, Joseph S Bermudez Jr and Jack Liu.

"Infrastructure improvements continue at Yongbyon," Jenny Town, managing editor of 38 North, wrote on Twitter. "Underscores reason why an actual deal is necessary, not just a statement of lofty goals."

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/27/north-korea-nuclear-reactor-upgrades-summit-pledges


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  • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:12PM (47 children)

    by Sulla (5173) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:12PM (#699430) Journal

    Congrats. Your consolidation prize is 20+ million dead. You sure showed me.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:14PM (45 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:14PM (#699434) Journal

    NK realizing Trump is a dumbass and they can do whatever they want is on Trump, not me.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Sulla on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:18PM (37 children)

      by Sulla (5173) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:18PM (#699439) Journal

      If it fails it does in fact mean Trump is just as bad as Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush the Elder, Reagan, etc...

      Celebrating the breakdown of peace talks, if thats what has happened, just to feel like you won, actually does make you evil.

      I really feel bad for you that you think this way

      --
      Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
      • (Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:23PM (27 children)

        by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:23PM (#699441) Journal

        I don't see a celebratory mood. Maybe gallows humor.

        The point is that many of us warned that North Korea had tried to deceive on this very issue before, and that it was important not to get your hopes up about peace talks. But some commentils saw any criticism of this as hoping for the worst, yearning for Clinton to be Prez, etc. etc.

        --
        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
        • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Sulla on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:30PM (21 children)

          by Sulla (5173) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:30PM (#699446) Journal

          Specifically posts you made that were critical of the meeting and lack of anything of great substance coming from it were valid and necessary. My complaints are specifically about posters like Deathmonkey who do act like they are happy these things are failing.

          Did I think it would work out? Not really. Did I hope above all hope? Yeah. Would it have been great if the 'deal' had included promises of allowing in US agents to verify that the shutdown/destruction of assets were taking place? Absolutely. The meeting was exactly like the one with Albright back in the 90s, it was a preliminary step. The president oversold on the backside of it because thats what he does.

          You can do the itoldyousos and the criticism but why rush to celebrate the possible breakdown of peace like some are doing.

          --
          Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
          • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:37PM (3 children)

            by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:37PM (#699448) Journal

            My worst fears/predictions are coming true. That's kind of the opposite of happy.

            • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:31PM (2 children)

              by frojack (1554) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:31PM (#699534) Journal

              Pretty speculative piece to post and then state your fears are coming true, don't you think?

              Were you actually afraid there would be speculative posts by amateurs using high-school photo analysis to say that nothing much is happening in N.Korea? Seems like a strange thing to be in fear of.

              --
              No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
              • (Score: 1) by Aegis on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:53PM

                by Aegis (6714) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:53PM (#699541)

                Were you actually afraid there would be speculative posts by amateurs using high-school photo analysis to say that nothing much is happening in N.Korea?

                Well I was worried we'd fuck up so badly N. Korea would stop giving a crap if we noticed or not...

              • (Score: 3, Touché) by captain normal on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:58PM

                by captain normal (2205) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:58PM (#699542)

                You just can't handle the truth.

                --
                When life isn't going right, go left.
          • (Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:41PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:41PM (#699453)

            I see, we need to be really really reeeaaallllyyyyy careful around your feelings. Got it.

            Or maybe don't follow the Trump's example of being a big baby?

            • (Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:23PM

              by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:23PM (#699466) Journal

              Aww...were we not civil enough?

              How dare we use unkind words when referring to a self-proclaimed-pussy-grabber!

          • (Score: 5, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:43PM (9 children)

            by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:43PM (#699475) Homepage Journal

            Things went pretty much as I expected. In fact, I'm not sure why *anyone* expected anything different.

            And I'm not a scholar of international relations, nor do I work within that field.

            If the outcome was obvious to me, why wasn't it obvious to those who are paid by my tax dollars to be experts?

            I suspect that this was pretty much what everyone expected, including the Trump administration.

            The question then becomes, "Why do this when we knew it wouldn't work and would likely embolden other bad actors to obtain nuclear weapons, since engagement directly with the U.S. president raises Kim Jong-Un's credibility?"

            Does that make me an enemy of peace? Does questioning flawed strategies and pointing out that they failed "just like pretty much everyone knew they would," make me a celebrant of such failure?

            One of the good things about freedom of expression is that we can express our thoughts and ideas, especially those about the tactics and strategies of our elected officials, without fear of retribution.

            Do *you* think the meeting between Trump and Kim was a good idea? Did you really think that Kim would dismantle the nuclear program that (whether through miscalculation, ignorance, showboating or other idiocy) has raised his profile and made him more of a player on the world stage?

            If you do feel that way, why? If not, why not?

            Attempting to beat up on DeathMonkey for expressing his opinion (not for the ideas expressed in the opinion either, but for the tone you sensed from it) doesn't add to the discussion, nor does it advance any ideas or opinions you might have. Perhaps you might share some.

            Or not. That's up to you.

            --
            No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
            • (Score: 4, Insightful) by digitalaudiorock on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:42PM (4 children)

              by digitalaudiorock (688) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:42PM (#699515) Journal

              If the outcome was obvious to me, why wasn't it obvious to those who are paid by my tax dollars to be experts?

              By that you're referring to the state department, and the fact is, it probably was obvious to them. Remember however that Trump has always viewed that department as a bunch of know-nothing "career bureaucrats" and has all but totally decimated it. But you know...he knows everything right?

              The other theory, which all of his actions these days supports, is that he really doesn't care about anyone/anything outside of his hardcore base...the ones that saw nothing but the photo-op and still thinks he deserves a Nobel piece prize. All of his actions scream that one...like the way he clearly doesn't really want the house to do anything on immigration, because he loves having his hot button issue.

              Someone explain to me exactly how this guy has a 90% approval rating among Republicans...enviable by just about every former president. Seriously...he's a fucking train wreck even if you somehow agree with his ideologies.

              • (Score: 2) by digitalaudiorock on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:44PM

                by digitalaudiorock (688) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:44PM (#699517) Journal

                (missed a closing italics tag there...only intended that for "if").

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @01:28AM (1 child)

                by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @01:28AM (#699593)

                all but totally decimated

                And, again, we have an example of someone using a word, and wondering if they even understand the word. Totally decimated? Is that supposed to infer something like total destruction? Apparently, totally decimated is something worse than decimation, but what is it exactly? HINT: A loss of 10% can't be seen as a total loss. Not in Roman times, and not in modern times.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:02AM

                  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:02AM (#699629)

                  And, again, we have an example of a moron that lacks the mental capacity to make an argument against someone's points but still wants to feel like they are "winning" the argument. Why don't you be a good little jackass and go play with all your participation awards. The adults are trying to have a political flame-war here.

              • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday June 28 2018, @04:14AM

                by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Thursday June 28 2018, @04:14AM (#699655) Homepage Journal

                Believe me, I'm going to end the Korean War. We'll have a tremendous deal on Korea. I'm going to get that Nobel Peace Prize.

                Another for peace in Israel -- I'm making big progress there, I moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Our embassy is in Jerusalem, which everybody knows is the capital (everybody but the ostriches & babies). But we still have a branch office in Tel Aviv. Same building, it's not the embassy anymore, it's the branch office.

                And the Middle East, ISIS (Crooked Hillary & Obama creation) is on the run. They're losing very badly. Syria, they have a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it. I moved very strongly against him. Another Nobel Peace Prize, I'm going to have three. One for each of my White Houses -- Washington, Bedminster and Mar-A-Lago!!!

            • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:55PM (1 child)

              by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:55PM (#699522)

              Why do this when we knew it wouldn't work and would likely embolden other bad actors to obtain nuclear weapons

              On that point, I'll just say nothing encouraged other countries to get nukes half as much as the US invasion of Iraq. The message that sent was extremely clear: "Have weapons of mass destruction that can seriously harm important allies? We'll leave you alone. Don't have any functional weapons of mass destruction? The US will say you do as an excuse to attack you whenever it's convenient, and if you're the leader of that nation you'll be killed." This message was confirmed during the NATO attack on Libya.

              Kim Jong Un trying everything he can to get nukes that can hit the US mainland and possibly Europe is both a rational and smart decision. And he will never ever give them up, for the same reason.

              --
              The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
            • (Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday June 28 2018, @02:40AM (1 child)

              by driverless (4770) on Thursday June 28 2018, @02:40AM (#699625)

              My feelings exactly, the headline should have read "Surprising Exactly No-one, [North Korea Making 'Rapid' Upgrades to Nuclear...]".

              OK, "Surprising Exactly No-one but the World's Greatest Deal Maker...".

              • (Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:55AM

                by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:55AM (#699644) Journal

                The title is exactly what the editor should be producing, IMHO.

                We are not here to pass an opinion during the editing process - that is the reason for the subsequent discussion. The job is to report the story using the source material in an unbiased and accurate way. The source might be biased, as much reporting is nowadays, but it isn't the editor's job to take sides. And that should be just as true for the editor of the original source as it is for the SN editor,

          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:25PM (4 children)

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:25PM (#699500)

            The president oversold on the backside of it because thats what he does.

            I know I'm going off on a tangential rant here, and the statement is not even wrong because that is what Trump does. But the "meh, that's just what he does" thing really bugs me.

            "He grabbed someone by the pussy, meh, that's just what he does",

            "He wants to have an affair with his own daughter, meh, that's just he does",

            "He got rid of a nuclear reduction treaty because Obama did it, meh, that's just what he does",

            "He lies more than he tells the truth, meh, that's just what he does",

            "He separates families for misdemeanor, jails the often very, very young children for an indefinite amounts of time with no plans to connect them their parents ever again, meh, that's just what he does",

            "He says he could shoot a man in the street and his base would support him, meh, that's just what he does",

            "He bans people from entering the country based on the their religion, meh, that's just what he does",

            "His election staff had meetings with Russians in order to get dirt on his opponent in the Presidential election, commits fucking treason with one of the two most powerful competing nation states, meh, that's just what he does",

            "The Republican party has moved from irresponsible, to treasonous, to outright evil, meh, that's just what they do."

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:17PM (3 children)

              by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:17PM (#699530)

              Outright treason has never been proven. There's corrupt and collusion, but not outright treason that we know of.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @11:00PM (2 children)

                by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @11:00PM (#699543)

                From Trump Jr's own released emails he purposely had a meeting with a Russian Government attorney along with Trump's campaign chairman Paul Manafort to discuss dirt on Hillary Clinton. You can call it whatever you want. A U.S. Presidential Candidate's son and his campaign chairman who think they are having a meeting with a Russian Government attorney in order to get dirt on his opponent in a U.S. Presidential election?, I'm just going to go ahead and call that treason.*

                *And, yeah, I know that any punishment, or the more likely lack thereof, won't be up to me. Go Team Republican!, because we certainly don't have any loyalty to country anymore.

                • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @06:59AM (1 child)

                  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @06:59AM (#699699)

                  So, if getting information *FROM* Russia is treason towards the USA, would giving information TO Russia then be treason against Russia?

                  (ignoring for a moment that treason requires some form of being owned by the country in question).

                  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @04:21PM

                    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @04:21PM (#699873)

                    If you were a Russian running a Russian Presidential Campaign and you were meeting with a U.S. Government attorney to get dirt on your opponent?, yep, I'd call that committing treason towards your country.

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:59PM (4 children)

          by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:59PM (#699463) Journal

          The point is that many of us warned that North Korea had tried to deceive on this very issue before, and that it was important not to get your hopes up about peace talks. But some commentils saw any criticism of this as hoping for the worst, yearning for Clinton to be Prez, etc. etc.

          And this was all after watching him destroy the Iran deal which had actually been working!

          • (Score: 4, Flamebait) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:49PM

            by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:49PM (#699481) Journal

            This place is infested with RWNJ lunatics. I notice they're oddly silent aside from Sulla, who strikes me as not *quite* as completely frothing-at-the-mouth insane as the likes of J-Mo or Entropy.

            --
            I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
          • (Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:34PM (2 children)

            by frojack (1554) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @10:34PM (#699536) Journal

            But it wasn't working. That's just the point. Iran was blocking inspections while taking the money.

            --
            No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
            • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @06:59AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @06:59AM (#699700)

              it wasn't working. That's just the point. Iran was blocking inspections while taking the money.

              It's nice how you make shit up and then get modded insightful. That's called fake news.

              https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-usa-idUSKCN1B918E [reuters.com]

              Can you actually read that?

              Under the deal, the IAEA can request access to Iranian sites including military ones if it has concerns about activities there that violate the agreement, but it must show Iran the basis for those concerns.

              That means new and credible information pointing to such a violation is required first, officials from the agency and major powers say. There is no indication that Washington has presented such information to back up its call for inspections of Iranian military sites.

              It also means Trump can't just waltz around and point "I wanna see what's there!"

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @07:19PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @07:19PM (#699942)

              How many times do you have to be proven wrong to stop posting fake facts?

              Again, I really wish these RWNJs were foreign troll accounts because it is depressing getting constant reminders of how stupid and hate filled some of my fellow USAians actually are.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:42PM (4 children)

        by DeathMonkey (1380) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:42PM (#699455) Journal

        If it fails it does in fact mean Trump is just as bad as Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush the Elder, Reagan, etc...

        Those guys all got NK to give up something in return for any concessions. Trump gave up valuable leverage in return for NK accelerating their program.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:39PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:39PM (#699473)

          It's called the art of the deal!

        • (Score: 4, Insightful) by digitalaudiorock on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:49PM (2 children)

          by digitalaudiorock (688) on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:49PM (#699519) Journal

          Trump gave up valuable leverage in return for NK accelerating their program.

          Yes...plus he gave Kim credibility by meeting with him in front of the entire world...something that previous presidents knew would gain nothing.

          • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday June 27 2018, @11:16PM

            by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Wednesday June 27 2018, @11:16PM (#699551) Journal

            Trump provided us with valuable Trump-Kim memes for our meme economy.

            Their value will rise (temporarily) in the event of a nuclear conflict.

            --
            [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
          • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:59AM

            by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:59AM (#699645) Homepage Journal

            You show something to a baby, you hide the thing. And the baby forgets about that thing. Right away it forgets. Are we babies? We're not babies. Maybe some of us are babies. Or ostriches. You know what the ostrich does in the sand, right? Putting their heads in the sand when they don't want to see, have you heard that one?

            Kim Jong Un is the Supreme Leader of his Country. As everybody knows. My predecessors didn't meet with him, didn't meet with his father, didn't meet with his grandfather. They were Supreme Leaders anyway -- except to the ostriches & babies. And the baby ostriches, obviously. We didn't make great deals. And we've had 68 years of war. I want to make a great deal. It's what I do. And the way I do it is, I meet the guy. Do the handshake. Talk. Have a delicious meal -- in Singapore we ate so much, we had chocolate tartlet and vanilla Haagen-Dazs for dessert. And I know we don't have a great deal yet. But we're making tremendous progress. Possibly we'll meet again. We can have cake for dessert, like I had with President Xi. Or pie. Maybe pie with ice cream on top, they call it a la mode. That one's always a winner. I always have two helpings of dessert. But pie a la mode, so many times I have three of that one. So many times.

            And maybe you have a VERY SPECIAL way to make deals. Where you don't meet the guy. Where you pretend he doesn't exist. And maybe that works for you, frankly it sounds very dumb. It doesn't matter. Because I'm the President and you're not!!!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:52PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:52PM (#699460)

        Oh don't worry, that ship sailed a LONG time ago. Around June 14, 1946 if I'm not mistaken.

        Trump is so much worse than all of those. With any luck he won't preside of WW3. Supporting Trump in general makes YOU evil by the way. Support specific policies and I won't give you shit, but if you can't figure out how bad Trump is you're either stupid or evil.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:41PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @08:41PM (#699474)

          Hmmmm [wikipedia.org]. Looks like an important date for time travelers.

          - Bernard Baruch presents the Baruch Plan [wikipedia.org] at the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission to implement a world-wide ban on the development of nuclear weapons.
          - Donald Trump is born.
          - John Logie Baird [wikipedia.org], who demonstrated the first working television system on January 26th, 1926 in a laboratory in London, dies.
          - Jorge Ubico [wikipedia.org], former dictator of Guatemala and "Central America's Napoleon," dies.

          • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:27PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @09:27PM (#699502)

            I think John lost out to Jorge in the reincarnation queue. Another great scientist woulda been so much nicer.

      • (Score: 2) by tfried on Thursday June 28 2018, @07:14AM

        by tfried (5534) on Thursday June 28 2018, @07:14AM (#699706)

        The irony is that the recent summit is really a huge step forward from bragging about the size of his nuclear button, but at the same time it seems questionable that the situation now is any better than the status before that.

        So - in a way - Trump really did something right, for once, but yes, I am reluctant to cheer about that, and particularly so while talking to a crowd who seemed mostly ok with a preemptive strike just a few months ago.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by requerdanos on Wednesday June 27 2018, @11:21PM (6 children)

      by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 27 2018, @11:21PM (#699553) Journal

      NK realizing Trump is a dumbass and they can do whatever they want is on Trump

      You're right; that's kind of an open secret, actually.

      Infrastructure improvements at the Yongbyon nuclear plant are "continuing at a rapid pace", according to an analysis by monitoring group 38 North of commercial satellite images

      But let's step back a minute.

      "Satellite images" show that there is work at the plant, including new buildings guessed to be for engineering and/or officials, after a summit between national leaders who discussed work at the plant requiring engineering challenges and official oversight.

      Couldn't that just be a result of the inspired summit between two now-peaceful leaders (Trump and Kim) leading to some of the work they talked about doing?

      I am not saying that I believe that to be the case, but TFA has not given any reason to think it's not.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 28 2018, @01:39AM (4 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 28 2018, @01:39AM (#699601) Journal

        It's a shame I had to scroll down so far to find a rational question. Improvements to infrastructure. Improvements to the cooling system. Does that necessarily mean that there have been upgrades to the reactor? Does any of that increase the capacity of the reactor? Do those offices increase the weapons potency of the end product? Or, on the other hand, does it indicate that Kim might be building the facilities to accommodate inspectors, and increase the safety of the reactor?

        Upgraded cooling. Japan is asking, "Why didn't we think of that?"

        Sulla's post earlier, that he didn't truly expect a whole lot, but he was "hoping above hope" is on target. I've not (yet) seen anything to shut hope down.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:54AM (3 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:54AM (#699643)

          I just love the red blooded American suddenly bending over backwards to defend North Korea of all places, and all so this so-called American can bathe in libruhl tears and bow down to an orange racist.

          • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:08PM (2 children)

            by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 28 2018, @03:08PM (#699830) Journal

            Well, I do love me some libruhl tears. Please, come back and contribute something to the conversation, will ya?

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @04:10PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @04:10PM (#699866)

              I did, it was just a point you don't like. Conservative flip-flopping with denials it is happening are pretty important points for people to realize. "Bomb those evil commie Norkers!" 3 seconds later. "No, Kim is our friend who will disarm and play nice cause Trump is the BEST at making deals!"

              I know you say you don't like Trump, but then you bend over to defend him when there is evidence of improvements to the facilities AND a long history of NK (as you have pointed out so many times before) saying they'll comply and then doing whatever the fuck they want.

              It is a very good point, but one I think you're incapable of admitting is right.

              • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday June 28 2018, @05:25PM

                by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 28 2018, @05:25PM (#699910) Journal

                Nahhh, you're missing the point, so you're not making much of a point.

                The West has been stymied by North Korea for all of my lifetime. Not one single diplomat, or president, or congress, or prime minister, or parliament has made any headway at all with the Norks. It's been nothing but open belligerence, verbose hatred, and varying sorts of abuse thrown west-wards, and back east-wards. I have already echoed a previous poster's sentiments: I don't have any great expectations of this most recent overture towards peace - but I can hope.

                "evident of improvements to the facilities" you say. So, uhhhhhhhmmmmm - what do you require of the Norks? That they demolish their one, sole source of nuclear power? That plant is probably capable of producing more energy than all of the North's other electrical production. Why throw that away? Half of N.K. is already living on the edge of the stone age, the other half mostly in the bronze age, with some of the remainder in the iron age.

                IF Lil Kim is serious about moving his country out of the 100th century B.C. then he will need that electrical capacity. And, as others have pointed out, to switch over from wartime production to peacetime electrical production, the plant will need that added cooling capability.

                Maybe Kim is serious about peace, maybe he is not. I can't tell. But, the Orange Ape has him talking. How the hell else might we reach a peace agreement, if we aren't even talking?

                Bottom line, not talking for fifty years hasn't worked out very well. Let's talk for the next fifty years, and maybe that will work out better.

                You might revisit the quotes of Einstein. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.

                Let's NOT not talk and see how it works.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @07:08AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 28 2018, @07:08AM (#699703)

        Not just that, but it's a reactor, not a weapon production site. These kinds of reactors generally produce two things: Weapons grade materials and electricity.

        Who says the cooling is to ramp up the weapons grade materials and not the electricity? If they want to take part in the global economy, they are going to need a lot more energy.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 27 2018, @07:16PM (#699436)

    I'm looking forward to my South Korean refugee wife.