Comment -- I was impressed by the very clear thinking in this piece. His assumptions may not be correct, but at least his conclusions flow logically out of those initial assumptions. He says China is the key to defusing the situation in North Korea. Here's what he says China will do:

"They'll talk to Kim and let him know that he has two choices.

(1) Kim lets the Chinese come in and take away his nukes and run his nuclear reactors and make sure he never gets nukes again. In exchange, the Chinese will make loud public guarantees that North Korea is now under their nuclear umbrella, so that there is no need for North Korea to have its own nuclear program.

(2) The Chinese cut him off from all economic and military aid from any source, and let it be known that they very much want a new, anti-nuke government in Pyongyang. Kim knows he wouldn't last a week before one of his enterprising generals - perhaps one of those already in the pay of Beijing - decided that a change of government was in order.

One way or another, North Korea would be de-nuked. And it would all be done through diplomacy.

The reason none of this could work with Iraq is that there is no power in the Middle East comparable to China's situation vis-à-vis North Korea. We are the only nation that can put a stop to Saddam's ambitions."

News -- At Akiyoshi's Illusion Pages there are "anomalous motion illusions" designed specifically for the Web: http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~akitaoka/index-e.html

Comment - Scroll down and see "Candies"...that's my favorite. Also at the bottom are links to other illusions Web sites.

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2:39:57 PM