Fascinating article about how to bring down Kim Jong Un without firing a shot.

I literally can’t pick one single pullquote.  Just read it.

Whenever you think the bureaucracy in the city of Minneapolis, or Minnesota state government in general,  is addled and hidebound, just take a look at India, and see what the future holds.

It’s bad enough when it comes to importing things or retaining Indian labor.

When it comes to “Justice”, forget about it.

Six British ex-military men employed by an American company on anti-piracy duties were arrested by the Indian Coast Guard 3½ years ago – and charged with weapons possession (for the firearms they used to, y’know, guard ships from pirates).  They’ve been rotting in an Indian prison ever since.

An international move is going on to try to get some justice for these guys.

Joe Doakes from Como Pak emails:

“They couldn’t even manage a park….”

Love that

Joe Doakes

Heh.

Last year, we were assured, BREXIT would spell doom for Britain, and the conservatives who led it.

It just had to happen; BREXIT was an epic rejection of the political technocrat elite by the rabble and peasants – and the technocrats (and those who suck up to them) warned us that that could lead to nothing but calamity.

It haan’t – and the opinion polls on the upcoming parliamentary votes seem to be bearing this out:

For the first time in this election, YouGov reveals the voting intention picture in each British government office region. The fieldwork, conducted from April 24 to May 5, shows:

• The Conservative vote share is up, sometimes dramatically so, since the last general election in every region of the UK.
• Labour are down on their 2015 vote haul in every region of the UK except the South West and South East where they were already performing poorly.
• The Liberal Democrat vote share is up in most regions, but only by small margins.
• UKIP’s vote share is down seven to ten points in all regions except Scotland and London, where they were already performing poorly.

The Tories have co-opted a lot of UKIP’s messaging.  And Labour seems to be eading toward its worst showing since the end of WWI.

Under Obama and Secretary of State Clinton, the US participated in the overthrow of Muammar Gadhaffi.

The result has been less than stellar (emphasis added):

If a Republican President had invaded Libya and overthrown its government, then left bloody chaos, terrorism and rampant arms smuggling behind, our courageous press corps would be all over the story like a chicken on a June bug.

But fortunately all this happened under President Obama, so we don’t hear all that much about it. And when we do, nobody tries to assign blame to the arrogant ignoramuses who “organized” this disaster.

But the latest news, that slave markets are now operating in Libya, where desperate black Africans are being bought and sold as slaves, ought to trigger some kind of response. . . .Again, if Republicans were responsible for this it would be the Biggest. Disaster. Ever.

Since the left can’t (plausibly, even by their standards) blame it on Bush anymore, expect them to deflect to Russia.

Or Kansas.

Remember when excessive concern about the Russians was a sign you were  a simple-minded Cold Warrior?

The good news:  There is so far zero evidence of direct Russian “hacking” of the election.  Influence, sure – but then, Obama was nobody to gripe about people influencing foreign elections.

The bad news?  They were certainly trying to sow chaos and misinformation.

The worse news?  Americans are ripe for political manipulation, and American politics is a fertile field for a seasoned chaos-monger, and our media is the problem, not the defense.

EU top bureaucrat vows ¹ to “Break up the US” in revenge for Trump backing the Brexit.

EUROPEAN Union boss Jean-Claude Juncker this afternoon issued a jaw-dropping threat to the United States, saying he could campaign to break up the country in revenge for Donald Trump’s supportive comments about Brexit.

In an extraordinary speech the EU Commission president said he would push for Ohio and Texas to split from the rest of America if the Republican president does not change his tune and become more supportive of the EU.

Please, Herr Juncker.  Take California, New York, and DC.

[1] possibly jokingly…

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson says no, there was no Russian interference with the mechanics of our past election:

Washington Post columnist David Ignatius asked Johnson if he could assure the country that Russian hacking did not affect the outcome of the presidential election.

“We see no evidence that hacking by any actor altered the ballot count or any cyber actions that deprived people of voting. Whether the disclosures that we made that we pointed out in our Oct. 7th statement altered public opinion, that’s beyond my level of expertise,” he replied.

My prediction – last week’s teapot-tempest about Trump talking with the Taiwanese president will redound to everyone’s benefit.

So far, so good:

But rumors of apocalypse were overstated. Beijing’s response, besides requesting that the U.S. not let [Taiwan’s presidentTsai Ing-wen pass through the U.S. in January on her way to Guatemala, has been muted. That is to be expected. China has more to lose than to gain from an overreaction. For Donald Trump’s domestic critics, though, the opposite tends to be true. It is a telling comment on America’s political Left that they have reacted more strongly to Donald Trump’s potentially “undiplomatic” phone call to the head of a vibrant democracy than to the regime in Beijing trying to crush that democracy. Visitors to Taiwan will find a fairly elected president, a vigorous legislature, an open press, religious freedom, the fifth-largest economy in Asia, and a unique culture that straddles East and West. A little over 100 miles to the west, visitors will find a one-party dictatorship, directly descended from the terrors of Chairman Mao, that “disappears” political dissidents and harvests the organs of Falun Gong adherents.

Selling out democracies because of a precedent set by one of our least capable presidents is incredibly stupid policy.

Our chattering classes had a projectile aneurysm over the weekend, when President-elect Trump spoke with Taiwan’s president:

Mr Trump’s decision to turn his back on four decades of US protocol on Taiwan and speak directly to a president of Taiwan will stun policymakers in Beijing.

Since his election last month, they have struggled to understand who is advising Donald Trump on Asia and what his China policy will look like.

This move will turn concern into alarm and anger.

Beijing sees Taiwan as a province. Denying it any of the trappings of an independent state is one of the key priorities of Chinese foreign policy.

It was about thirty years ago when Ronald Reagan sent the “elites” into a similar state of incontinence by walking out of the Rejkjavik talks with Mikhail Gorbachev.

The “elites” said it was a prelude to a nuclear war – pure madness.

The opposite was, of course, the case.  It was a called bluff that started a chain of events that led, five tears later, to the downfall of communism.

Of course, Donald Trump is no Ronald Reagan – but then, either are the current administration’s foreign policy hamsters.

Our alllies on the Pacific Rim – Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia – have been wondering where DC’s priorities are, and whether the US can be counted on re the Chinese for the past eight years.   Obama’s Chamberlain-like policy made the region less, not more, stable.

Will Trump’s “gaffe” make things better or worse?  I don’t know – and it’s for damn sure the authors of this past eight years worth of foreign policy don’t, either.  But if they say the sky is blue, I’m inclined to believe it’s red.