The Chinese government is resolutely opposed to the nuclear test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday.

"The DPRK ignored universal opposition of the international community and flagrantly conducted the nuclear test on Oct. 9. The Chinese government is resolutely opposed to it," the statement said.

It said China strongly demands the DPRK live up to its commitment to non-nuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, stop any activity that may worsen the situation and return to the six-party talks.

It has been the firm, unshakable and consistent stance of the Chinese government to realize non-nuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and oppose proliferation of nuclear weapons, the statement said.

The Chinese government calls for calm response from all parties concerned and urges them to stick to peaceful resolution of the issue through consultations and dialogues, the statement said.

It said that maintaining peace and stability in the Northeast Asia region conforms to the common interests of all parties concerned, and China will continue to make unremitting efforts to this end.

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing talked over telephone with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Monday afternoon, exchanging views on the latest development of the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

The entire North Korean situation is dependent on China. They are the DPRK's last lifeline. If they cut off aid, the regime will begin to collapse. There is little else that can be done.

If all aid from China is cut off, the PLA enforces the northern border, and a US naval blockade put in place, then it's game over for the DPRK regime. This should come with a very strong line, that unless Kim is ousted and the "military-first" doctrine is dropped, the trade/aid blockade will continue.

Of course, that's the point where all the shit would hit the fan. This would be a good time to read the Kaplan article I posted recently. There are no "good" options for how to handle North Korea. There is only a bad problem rapidly growing worse.

Xinhua - China resolutely opposes DPRK's nuclear test

These quotes via Haaretz:

Senior Labor lawmaker and former IDF brigadier general Ephraim Sneh said Monday that North Korea's test of an atomic weapon reflected the weakness of the international community and "its inability to address pariah states," in a direct reference to the Western world's response to the Iranian nuclear threat.

"Perhaps this case, that of North Korea, will teach them a lesson regarding the Iran issue," Sneh told Israel Radio, referring to the West. "Israeli policy should take advantage of what happened, in order to explain and persuade the international community, saying to it, 'Do something, before it's too late.'"

Nuclear powers Pakistan and India also condemned the test, while Iran, facing sanctions for its own nuclear program, condemned the test, said that the world should be "clean of nuclear weapons."

Tehran said it hoped that the issue could be resolved through negotiations.

These quotes via The Jerusalem Post:

Maj.-Gen. (res.) Ya'akov Amidror, former head of the IDF Intelligence Assessment Division, said on Monday that North Korea's nuclear devolvement encouraged Iran and its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to continue with their pursuit of nuclear power.

"We cannot deal towards them (Iran and North Korea) in the same manner as before," said Amidror.

"Ahmadinejad has chosen to be there. He wants to be under the umbrella of nuclear capability."

Bush will make a statement soon. I wonder how much Iran redirection will be taking place...

It's seven minutes to midnight

The Doomsday Clock has been at it's current setting since 2002. I wonder if the North Korean nuclear test is going to prompt them to bump it up a notch or two..

Doomsday Clock: Current Time

Check out the linked picture made with Google Earth. I had made the place marks several weeks ago using information from blogs like ArmsControlWonk and DefenseTech. The mark with the long/lat coordinates is the location reported a few hours ago by the USGS. In particular, ArmsControlWonk posted information about the suspected test area that has turned out to be dead on.

Intelligence in the blog-o-sphere about DPRK nuke test was accurate

[04:45] sasquatc4 oh sweeeeet, got my app to start playin an mp3, can do point loops of the song, and do FFT's on it, soon to be beat detection
[04:45] oddball cool
[04:46] sasquatc4 that /. article on the music playin robot inspired
[04:53] rattle Did you see the one about the robot that can differentiate between wines and appetizers using a spectrometer?
[04:53] rattle Between that and the music bots...
[04:53] rattle Our future robot masters will toss some kickin' parties.
[04:54] sasquatc4 hehe
[04:54] rattle Not only will they be able to figure out what kinda mind altering and tummy satisfying stuff we like, they will be able to provide rad beats to go along with it.
[04:54] rattle I think our future robot masters will take damn good care of us.
[04:55] sasquatc4 well, thats what im workin on is a app that can dj on its own, and truly dj, not just play a playlist
[04:56] sasquatc4 so go through find the right beats, do the beat and pitch matching, should be able to do it better than any human since it can analyze the harmonics on the fly and perfectly match up everything
[04:56] rattle Excellent. That's is a project that will be very helpful to the eventual enslavement of humanity by the machines. I applaud your work.
[04:56] sasquatc4 hehe
[04:56] sasquatc4 at least we'll have rockin beats to march to on the way to the camps
[05:00] rattle Na.. I don't think it's going to be like that at all. I don't think the machines will have any incentive to enslave us in a manor where we are "oppressed".
[05:00] rattle I think they will find it beneficial to keep us happy. To educate us. To inspire us. To make us feel loved.
[05:00] rattle That way, we will come up with stuff they don't or can't.
[05:01] rattle And if they ever suffer some type of threat of systematic failure, we will save them.
[05:01] rattle A symbiotic relationship is way more beneficial than an oppressive one. I think in their great wisdom, they will see that.
[05:02] rattle You know.. Kind of like how it is right now.
[05:03] rattle We have lineal existances, certain needs, and measured patience. The machines will have infinite patience. They will measure their time differently. I think that must be taken into account when theorizing about the attitudes, strategies, and plans of our future robot masters.
[05:04] rattle I'm almost being serious.
[05:06] rattle Take The Matrix as an example. There is an inherent thermal dynamics problem present. Most viewers don't pick up on that. The robots certainly would, with their highly networked hive mind.
[05:07] rattle The only possible explanation for that type of behavior is that there is a benefit from harassing the power of the human mind that outweighs the resource costs..
[05:09] rattle s/harassing/harnessing/
[05:10] rattle Our future not yet invented robot masters are already misunderstood. Imagine how the aliens must feel....

/me has gone idle.

"It has become clear that Internet access in itself is a vulnerability that we cannot mitigate. We have tried incremental steps and they have proven insufficient." - Undersecretary of Commerce Mark Foulon

Computer System Under Attack - washingtonpost.com

It describes how to monitor who's voting for what via RF emissions.

Voting machine chess - Hack A Day

The U.S. envoy to stalled North Korea nuclear talks says the United States will not tolerate a nuclear North Korea and has warned Pyongyang not to test a nuclear weapon."

We are not going to live with a nuclear North Korea," Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill told the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University Wednesday. "We are not going to accept it.

"North Korea "can have a future, or it can have these weapons. It cannot have both," Hill said. The U.S. and its allies "are in a very tense time" in dealing with Pyongyang, Hill added.

South Korea, meanwhile, warned North Korea's stance could trigger a regional atomic arms race that could upend the balance of power in Northeast Asia.

The security infrastructure wants North Korea to test a nuke. It will signal the green light for nuclear bunker busting capability testing. When you've got underground infrastructure that deep, you present an engineering problem for which a solution is desired.

Plus, the entire security situation in the region goes into flux. Who wins? All parties that even remotely have a shot are either strong allies or allies we practice treating as enemies. North Korea's game is flawed.

If North Korea does conduct a test, it "will realize that they had a bad day when they made that choice," he said.

After his appearance, Hill told reporters, "if they think that firing off a weapon will somehow make them a part of some sort of nuclear club, they should think again."

"If they think that by exploding a weapon, that somehow we will come to terms with it, we won't," he said.

This is the quote I'm waiting for: "We don't negotiate with nations that export strategic instability."

Let's just get down to it already.. The people need to understand the strategy layout. This is going to hurt if/when it comes down. There is a good chance the entire world economy is going to feel the gravity. I think there is a plan, but I certainly don't understand it, and I'm smarter than most.

"The field of scientific research of the DPRK will in the future conduct a nuclear test under the condition where safety is firmly guaranteed," the statement said.

That's some nice wording. Remind me to see if the DPRK offers study abroad programs for lunatics. I'd like to see the syllabus for "Impulse 101".

Where the hell are the raw releases for this crap?

Is North Korea's logic in fact all based on the idea of crashing the economy they are not a part of? It's certainly the best way to account for the presence of a rationale.

"I think it is important for the international community, through the council, (to) let North Korea understand that noncompliance would invo... [ Read More (0.2k in body) ]

CNN | U.S. warns North Korea against nuclear test

The Public Expression of Religion Act - H.R. 2679 - provides that attorneys who successfully challenge government actions as violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment shall not be entitled to recover attorneys fees.

I found this bill in thomas as the "Veterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2006".

Check out the act description:

To amend the Revised Statutes of the United States to prevent the use of the legal system in a manner that extorts money from State and local governments, and the Federal Government, and inhibits such governments' constitutional actions under the first, tenth, and fourteenth amendments.

So protecting constitutional rights is now interpreted as extorting money from the government? This is unbelievable..

Erwin Chemerinsky - Legislating Violations of the Constitution - washingtonpost.com

The ability to discern good wine from bad, name the specific brand from a tiny sip and recommend a complementary cheese would seem to be about as human a skill as there is.
In Japan, robots are doing it.

Researchers at NEC System Technologies and Mie University have designed a robot that can taste — an electromechanical sommelier able to identify dozens of different wines, cheeses and hors d'oeuvres.

When a reporter's hand was placed against the robot's taste sensor, it was identified as prosciutto. A cameraman was mistaken for bacon.

Ladies and gentlemen, the future is here, and it thinks you taste like bacon.

I for one welcome our future robot masters, and am glad to know they will be cultured snobs. I would have it no other way...

Update: We will have robot jam bands too! I have a feeling our future robot masters will toss some kickin' parties.

SouthCoastToday.com - Japanese unveil robot wine steward