China’s Shift on N.Korea Brings Big Risks and Opportunities. If true this is a serious change.

Could North Korea Annihilate Seoul with Its Artillery?. This article is all very true from a factual perspective. But from a modern day political perspective, 20 dead civilians and 100 million dollars of property damage is enough to topple a government. And I don’t think even the optimistic people think the damage/deaths will be that low.

Did Trump-Xi call reveal subtle shift in China’s stance on North Korean nuclear crisis? More reading of the Chinese tea leaves.

Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un Risk Nuclear War. This article has a lot of bogus statements. For example, the claim that Kim is predictable and Trump is not could only be made by people who don’t remember Kim killing the uncle that everyone thought was his biggest supporter with an anti-aircraft cannon. But buried in the article is the reason even China is getting concerned. If the powers that be really think that North Korea will soon have hundreds of working nukes, they have to be thinking that North Korea will sell them to every one who has money.

The EMP Threat From North Korea Is Real, and Terrifying. A little harder to pull off then the article makes it seem like, but it would not be fun.

Writing love letters, bidding $100,000 extra: Buying a Southern California home is ‘insane’. Link added just for irony.

You won’t believe how much money colleges make on rejected applications

Flights From Syrian Base Fell Sharply After U.S. Strike. I don’t know what I am more tired of, the pro-war crowd acting like this was some great thing or the anti-war crowd buying every thing the Russians say. Most of you probably don’t read much of the anti-war crowd so you most likely don’t know what I am talking about. If I can ever find a somewhat verifiable account of the Russia side of the story I will link to it. But mostly the Russians seem stuck on saying things that are provably not true and thus give the pro-war crowd a chance to write articles like the above.

The Dark Secret at the Heart of AI. All I could think when reading this story that is doing its best to scare you is when is the technology going to come to computer games?

I don’t think most of the stuff I read today has much general interest. But for what it is worth, here are the highlights of what I read today….

No doctors, no electricity: Beyond the sheen of tourism, much of Elephanta Island lives in darkness

How the ctrl-Left drove me away from American liberalism

How Erdogan’s Referendum Gamble Might Backfire. I think it was Stalin who said something to the effect that it is the person who counts the votes that matters.