Why North Korea will endure despite U.N. sanctions

By Angelo Prieto

I remember watching TV late one night on October 8th; I always scan the news before I go to bed just to make sure I don’t miss anything. The “breaking news” caption on headline news got my blood up, I quickly scanned the screen for a hint of what was breaking, the only words I saw were: North Korea-Nuclear Test and Bush shits pants! This was to be a long night indeed.
Since these developments the world reaction has been one of fear, abhorrence and plain incompetence. There is really no need to recall the news we all know what happened, and what happened was nothing! The decrepit institution known as the U.N. or League of Nations (if your older than 80) tried to pass sanctions that would increase inspections of cargo passing between N. Korea and China; Seaborne cargo however would not be inspected. The Chinese who earlier tagged teamed with North Korea and nearly kicked our asses out off the Korean peninsula are now charged with leading the sortie to punish N.K. (North Korea) The question is: just how will this happen and will the sanctions yield results? The answer I believe will be no!
According to Time magazine over 90% of N. K.’s oil supply comes from China, as well as half of its food imports. The U.S. believes that this is the main nerve cluster that when pinched by China will make Kim Jong IL drop his nuclear ambitions. Normally this sounds like a good strategic maneuver, even if just in theory, however the Chinese more than anyone, are acutely aware of the economic collapse this would cause the North Korean economy. Let us not forget that there is an 880-mile border between N.K. and China. This might be Kim Jong IL’s ace in the hole, Kim knows that an economic collapse would invite massive civil unrest, not just on the Korean Peninsula but the view from abroad would not be too favorable. The Chinese do not want to take the brunt of such a calamity especially since Western powers did almost nothing to curb Kim’s nuclear appetite. Not to mention that such unrest would no doubt lure millions of North Korean refuges to the Chinese border wanting a spot of lunch at their favorite Chinese restaurants.
Thus far the four main banks of China have ceased handling business transactions with North Korea, the Chinese have also increased inspection of goods crossing from China to North Korea. Chinese newspapers also claimed that many of the border crossings between China and N.K. have been closed, with the exception of Dandong (in China) and Sinuiju (N.K.) this is by far the most heavily trafficked crossing. This hub accounts for the majority of all trade between China and N.K.


With Chinese exports to N.K. amounting to $300 million and $150 million in food alone; it is no wonder the U.N. is so dependant on the Chinese to put the squeeze on North Korea, however with that much at stake China might decide to hand the burden over to the U.S. and our allies and why not? Diplomacy is not one of the Bush Administration’s strongest attributes. These sanctions will just be business as usual until the North Koreans decide how to handle their fates; the ball is in their poorly lit court.

Bushism of the Day

By Jacob Weisberg
"You know, one of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror."—Interview with CBS News, Washington D.C., Sept. 6, 2006

Katrina 1 year later

By Angelo Prieto
Nearly a year has passed since the devastating Hurricane known as Katrina destroyed much of the gulf coast including Mississippi and New Orleans. When I first became aware of the hurricane I paid it as much attention as I had the last one. Besides this was late August the middle of hurricane season. We are the United States and we can handle anything right? We have the Coast Guard, FEMA and the Justice League!
As Americans we are used to Hurricane season and the fact that we cannot change the weather much less predict it, should not weight too heavy on the collective conscience, one hurricane is as good as the next.
If we were battered by terrorists four years earlier, the contention being that the attacks came without warning, then a mere category 4-5 hurricane with plenty of advanced warning should be no problem. The truly immoral and unjust tragedy of this whole situation was of course the impotence of the Bush Administration and glaringly racist attitudes that still affect this great Democracy of ours.
In recent days the one year later anniversary specials are popping up everywhere and they sound something like this: Many businesses are opening in New Orleans, the Gulf coast as a whole is slowly rebuilding, insurance fraud is rampant, people are still living in trailers, Michael “brownie” Brown is doing Playboy interviews, Ray Nagin is still Mayor, FEMA is still fucked, the Justice league is a comic book and the Bush Mob still has their heads up their asses! I’m saving many of you the time of watching FOX, CNN MSNBC etc.

The media are proud of their efforts during the Katrina crisis and they should be, many reported on the appalling conditions on the ground and in the Superdome! Not even the Bush Administration’s public relations super spin machine FOX news could save the day. The truth was evident in full color for all to see. However the quest for truth should not lie with CNN but with our own outrage at seeing fellow Americans dying not in the streets of Falluja or downtown Baghdad but in downtown New Orleans.
The question of blame can be sorted out between nature and man's incompetence; it is true that we are dealing with a natural disaster that cannot be prevented. What could have been prevented was the loss of life in the aftermath of Katrina. I’ve personally worked with FEMA on a natural disaster and I was impressed with their dedication and professionalism. I was surprised as anyone when criticism was targeted at FEMA. That changed when more info on the mishandling of emergency services was coming to light; in fact I look forward to Michael Brown’s book: “How to turn down jobs you’re clearly not qualified for” comes to bookstores.
CNN had a show on last night where they highlighted the heroes of Katrina; while I agree that the Coast Guard did a fine job trying to repair the levies and rescue people, the heroes in my opinion were the cops on the streets of New Orleans who did not abandon their posts despite horrific conditions. They maintained law and order while sleeping in patrol cars and at times resorting to scavenging for supplies to ensure their own survival.
We could go on placing the blame however the true blame should rest on our shoulders. Ultimately we place these people in power by voting for them or worse not voting at all. In a society as free as ours with the freedom of information accessible to all, there should be no reason to be lulled into a catatonic state of ignorance. We have the power to change this country into what our forefathers envisioned many years ago. Let’s all become better informed and take that first step of change in November.

Bushism of the Day

By Jacob Weisberg

"You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone."—Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006

Memorial Day 2006

By A. Prieto
I was watching a slew of Memorial Day related films, TV. shows and news this week. All in preparation for the Memorial Day holiday this weekend, you know the one where people ranging in age from 18-50 get completely trashed and crash their boats unto unsuspecting jet skiers. I won’t be stupid to assume that no one knows what Memorial Day is all about, I’m sure most people do, and the Veterans know for sure.
America has tried to stand for liberty and justice for all, this is our motto our creed. Our Constitution guarantees this for all Americans even though the founding fathers were painfully aware of the hypocrisy of the document (when first ratified nearly 217 years ago) in relation to slavery. However they knew that compromises had to be made in order for this document to become law. John Adams himself felt that the battle for slavery would be fought not by his generation but by future generations. The point is that America has always been making mistakes both on the domestic and most importantly the foreign stage. We can trace our ill advised, ill executed military adventures from President Bush’s Iraq to Jefferson’s hunt for the Barbary Pirates. The ones who were sent to execute these missions were our men and women in uniform. These were the future generations that eventually fought the war of slavery under Lincoln.
The American soldier (men and women) have for 2 centuries fought to protect our freedoms. I know that in the last 40 years our freedoms haven’t been threatened as much as the military industrial complex bottom line. But with the exception of 9/11 and World War 2 our military has taken the brunt of our governments careless imperialist goals. The government runs hand in hand with corporate monsters like Dow Chemicals, Colt and recently big oil to unreasonably threaten and eventually invade countries with little or no proof. The banner that flies over these decimated countries is not the Stars and Stripes but McDonalds golden arches or Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Colonel Sanders. Who coincidently looks like a southern plantation owner circa 1852.We all know this we have the lessons of the Korean conflict, Vietnam and now Iraq.
We can protest these events and we have en force, however the lesson I believe is: don’t blame the soldier sent thousands of miles away to enact an often laughable foreign policy, but blame the law makers. These men and women in uniform suffer on the front lines usually without direct communication with family, friends and lovers. During the Vietnam conflict soldiers coming home were subjected to name calling, public humiliations and eventually forgotten by both the population and the U.S. government. Both entites wanted to forget the whole mess. This is one of many of the tragedies to come from Vietnam. A shameful disrespect that still haunts us today.
The point to all of this is this: We may not support our government’s lies and warmongering, but we must support our troops that are fighting a world away, under harsh conditions and limited understanding of the indigenous population. These men and women may or may not believe in the root cause of their deployment but they do believe in each other. They believe in the brotherhood of their experience together. Experiences that we can only read and wonder about. We can never truly comprehend the violence and loss these brave men and women face day to day, while we at home have our BBQ’s and get wasted on booze, drugs and broken dreams. Let’s take a moment and reflect on this. Then let us do everything we can to get our boys back home safely to their families. We must put the blame on the politicians and kick their asses out of Washington. We can never again waste our youth on senseless endeavors and oil slicked lies. So read up and learn everything you can….then get off your lazy asses and vote!

Happy Mother's day message

We here at Opinionsmatter want to remind everyone, with Mother’s Day upon us, to send your respective Moms a nice card or flowers! We also want to wish a sincere Happy Mother’s Day to all women who are currently suffering from Breast Cancer and/or some form of this dreaded disease. With Breast Cancer accounting for a 1 in 3 diagnosis in women and over 40,000 dying this year alone, it is imperative for all of us to stay informed and to help whenever we can, however we can. We all know someone who has been touched by this disease. My aunt currently suffers from cancer, and my good friend Lindsey Massey; her mother Laura is valiantly fighting this wretched disease. All our hopes and prayers are with you all.
Major League Baseball announced that this Sunday several players will be sporting pink bats! That’s right, pink bats ... to help with Breast Cancer awareness with proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer foundation. On that note, follow the link to www.komen.org for more information on how you can donate your time or funds.
This disease affects everyone, so log on and see what you can do to help.
Happy Mother’s day!

Invasion

According to Xenophobes this is the vangard of an imminent invasion
by a hostile foreign brown army!
pic by nydailynews reporter