South Korea

Mark Levin Covers The Hysteria Over the Kung-Flu (UPDATED)

Published by Papa Giorgio

This is the general public (and many on FACEBOOK) believing these headline makers lock-stock-and-barrel (ROLL CAMERA PLEASE):

REMEMBER THIS?

(If this does not play, WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE)

OR THESE?

Mark Levin asks just how much our economy can take… why aren’t we attacking this thing like South Korea did? Tactfully.

Mark Levin reads from or touches on at least four articles linked below:

  • Horowitz: The Key Bad Assumption in The Bipartisan Panic Pander Bill (CONSERVATIVE REVIEW)
  • Prevention Expert: Data Shows Our Fight Against Coronavirus May Be Worse Than The Disease (DAILY WIRE)
  • A Fiasco in The Making? As the Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Hold, We Are Making Decisions Without Reliable Data (STAT NEWS)
  • Truckers Appeal To US To Keep Rest Stops, Gas Stations Open (MERCURY NEWS)

America should have followed the South Korea model, per, SCIENCE MAGAZINE:

…Amid these dire trends, South Korea has emerged as a sign of hope and a model to emulate. The country of 50 million appears to have greatly slowed its epidemic; it reported only 74 new cases today, down from 909 at its peak on 29 February. And it has done so without locking down entire cities or taking some of the other authoritarian measures that helped China bring its epidemic under control. “South Korea is a democratic republic, we feel a lockdown is not a reasonable choice,” says Kim Woo-Joo, an infectious disease specialist at Korea University. South Korea’s success may hold lessons for other countries—and also a warning: Even after driving case numbers down, the country is braced for a resurgence….

EXTRA CREDIT

ARTICLES

  • NEW: Coronavirus Cases Have Dropped Sharply In South Korea. What’S The Secret To Its Success? (SCIENCE MAGAZINE)
  • Horowitz: The Key Bad Assumption in The Bipartisan Panic Pander Bill (CONSERVATIVE REVIEW)
  • Prevention Expert: Data Shows Our Fight Against Coronavirus May Be Worse Than The Disease (DAILY WIRE)
  • A Fiasco in The Making? As the Coronavirus Pandemic Takes Hold, We Are Making Decisions Without Reliable Data (STAT NEWS)
  • Truckers Appeal To US To Keep Rest Stops, Gas Stations Open (MERCURY NEWS)
  • Taiwan Says It Warned WHO About Coronavirus In December, But Its Warnings Were Ignored (DAILY CALLER)
  • Why the Remedy May Be Worse Than the Disease (DENNIS PRAGER)
  • Some Coronavirus Humility (VICTOR DAVIS HANSON)
  • The Great Coronavirus War Is Upon Us (VICTOR DAVIS HANSON)
  • Compared to What? (HEATHER MAC)
  • We Go From Hysteria to Hysteria (DENNIS PRAGER)
  • What We Don’t Know About the Coronavirus Is What Scares Us (VICTOR DAVIS HANSON)
  • Coronavirus Comes for Europe (GATESTONE)
  • China’s Real Disease: Not Coronavirus (GATESTONE)
  • Israeli Virologist Urges World Leaders To Calm Public, Slams ‘Unnecessary Panic’ (ISRAEL TIMES)
  • 99% of Those Who Died From Virus Had Other Illness, Italy Says (BLOOMBERG)
  • NEW: Obama’s Bad Stimulus Example (WALL STREET JOURNAL via RPT)

MEDIA

  • MIRACLE DRUG? Dr William Grace Says Chloroquine Is Already Being Used In US, Explains CDC Coronavirus Test Delay (YOUTUBE)

MY YOUTBE

North Korean Soldier Defects

Published by Papa Giorgio

HOT AIR HAT-TIP

Short Version:

…The release of the footage came amid news that the unnamed soldier, who was shot at least five times during his escape, was showing signs of recovery.

A government official said that the soldier had regained consciousness and had asked to watch television. He was being shown South Korean films for his “psychological comfort”, the official said.

(THE GUARDIAN)

Long Version:

Victor Davis Hanson on “The Forgotten War” (Prager U)

Published by Papa Giorgio

What was the Korean War? And why was America involved in such a faraway conflict? Was the United States’ sacrifice–35,000 killed, over 100,000 wounded–worth it? Historian Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, shares the fascinating story of a transformative war that many have forgotten.

Here is the interview of Victor Davis Hanson about the above contribution to Prager U:

Koreas Exchange Volley of Shells ~ N. Korea Desperate

Published by Papa Giorgio

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North and South Korea fired hundreds of artillery shells into each other’s waters Monday in a flare-up of animosity that forced residents of five front-line South Korean islands to evacuate to shelters for several hours, South Korean officials said.

The exchange of fire into the Yellow Sea followed Pyongyang’s sudden announcement that it would conduct live-fire drills in seven areas north of the Koreas’ disputed maritime boundary. North Korea routinely test-fires artillery and missiles into the ocean but rarely discloses those plans in advance. The announcement was seen as an expression of Pyongyang’s frustration at making little progress in its recent push to win outside aid.

North Korea fired 500 rounds of artillery shells over more than three hours, about 100 of which fell south of the sea boundary, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said. South Korea responded by firing 300 shells into North Korean waters, he said.

[….]

The poorly marked western sea boundary has been the scene of several bloody naval skirmishes between the Koreas in recent years. In March 2010, a South Korean warship sank in the area following a torpedo attack blamed on Pyongyang that left 46 sailors dead. North Korea denies responsibility for the sinking. In November 2010, a North Korean artillery bombardment killed four South Koreans on Yeonpyeong.

…read more…

North Korea-on the front burner

Published by Papa Giorgio

What was in the background of our foreign policy has now steamed to the forefront with the shelling of South Korea. The Wall Street Journal asks and answers if this incident was different than others in the past, in that while there have been military flare-ups between North and South, this is the first time a civilian area was hit. And it was almost fortuitous that I decided to post the night before this indecent a commentary by Chasrles Krauthammer that is worth re-posting here:

So how does all this change our foreign policy overnight in regard to this military cult? Jane’s posts a bit on one aspect that is now under scrutiny (non-subscriber section):

Scientist confirms activity at North Korean nuclear site

US nuclear scientist Dr Sig Hecker has confirmed Jane’s reports of activity at Yongbyon Nuclear Complex in North Korea and revealed that a state-of-the-art uranium enrichment plant is in operation at the site.

Hecker, who visited Yongbyon for the fourth time in mid-November, identified construction at the site as the foundation of a 100 MW thermal light-water reactor, a finding that has been confirmed by new satellite imagery.

A co-director of Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Hecker wrote in a CISAC report published on 20 November that he had also seen a “small industrial-scale uranium enrichment facility with 2,000 centrifuges that was recently completed and said to be producing low enriched uranium (LEU) destined for fuel for the new reactor”.

The existence of the new reactor site is confirmed by satellite images taken on 4 November 2010 by DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2. They show the newly paved concrete pad of the reactor core and the foundation of the reactor containment wall. The circular pad is about 22 metres in diameter and is situated within a 43 m 2 recently entrenched cut that will accommodate the reactor containment building.

Jane’s first reported renewed activity at this site after analysis of a 24 September 2010 GeoEye-1 satellite image showed four construction vehicles preparing the site. The concrete pad of the reactor has since been laid and two massive cranes – one tower crane with a 54 m horizontal jib and one mobile crane – have been deployed to the site.

The Telegraph also mentions this facility:

US says China must put pressure on North Korea

China must persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear plans, a senior United States official has said, after the rogue state’s latest atomic plant was revealed.

The revelation that North Korea is building a new light water nuclear plant at its Yongbyon site was proof that it remains a “dangerous country” intent on making nuclear weapons, said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We have to continue to bring pressure on [Kim Jong-il] specifically.

[….]

Siegfried Hecker, a nuclear scientist at Stanford University, revealed at the weekend that he had been taken to a plant at the Yongbyon nuclear complex this month where he saw hundreds of centrifuges that North Korea said were operational.

North Korea has said the new facility is for electricity generation, but the sophistication of the plant has surprised experts, and drawn a warning from Robert Gates, the US Defence secretary, that North Korea may use the plant for enriching uranium.

Pyongyang may have deliberately shown its hand in order to gain an advantage in any upcoming negotiations on aid for disarmament.

…(read more)…

So the question is this, and is really Charles suggestion, would it be wiser for us to ramp up Japan and South Korea (and Taiwan) to make the point hit home that China better do something with North Korea and stop playing games?