North Korea declares war (again) on South KoreaFollow

People keep telling me there's nothing to worry from N Korea, but I keep getting nervous about them being a catalyst for something. China is on the verge of a debt laden economic meltdown, with entire cities of empty buildings waiting to be sold. I don't think that's going to be pretty. If N Korea tosses a missile and actually hits something near it, it might set off dominos nobody else wants to fall.

If China goes under, who will buy our commodities!? And we're twice doomed because our currency is staying at a record high because it's still a safe haven after the GFC.

Especially since the Chinese people are finally rebelling, pushed over by the air-pollution crisis.

Indians.

China is on the verge of a debt laden economic meltdown

Almost certainly not the case. I say almost because the Chinese economy is fairly opaque to outsiders, but all independent measurements seem to indicate they're doing just fine. It's unlikely there will be any significant action taken against North Korea unless they do something ******* insane, which they show no real signs of doing. For all of the west's amusement at the internal realities, as a power structure the current regime is extremely stable. Also they have nukes, and in geopolitics that means never having to say you're sorry. They could probably actually attack a few S Korean outposts and face at worst a few cruise missile strikes for their trouble. They're the sideshow.

What *Russia* does with respect to China is the really interesting thing over the next decade or so. Russia has resources, china has labor and technology. If they show any real signs of moving closer together they become an attractive alternative for marginalized players (Cyprus, perhaps Iceland, Iran, etc. Not entirely impossible India sees a better deal there) and then there exists the potential for a real competitor to the US or the EU. Which could be a real problem and unbalance things significantly. That's the nightmare if you're US trade or defense analyst at the moment. N Korea's a stable handled detente for the most part. There are contingency plans, they're known, they know exactly where the line is, they won't cross it.

Dot, or Feather?

Thank you! Come again!

This is pretty much what is going on.

Whatever it is, I don't think it's any older than 13.

So all those girls are legal? Sweet!

One billion Chinese can't be wrong?