The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Dan Potthast, "Where's Teddy?" from Eyeballs (T.L.A.M.)




Commentary: There he is. He'll get to meet his Uncle Mike on Saturday, if all goes to plan.

Believe
Victory in Game 5? Aye, laddies, aye. The Blackhawks will be desperate, like a cornered animal, but I believe their desperation will avail them little against the determination of the Red Wings. Nothing is decided yet, but the Detroit Red Wings against the Pittsburgh Penguins for Lord Stanley's Cup? It's déjà vu all over again.

Believe.

The 38th Parallel
And exactly what "tough measures" will the D.P.R.K. face for its recent atomic detonation and rocket launches? They will suffer the wrath of (dramatic pause) a mildly worded scolding! Eventually… someday… maybe… after "some time." U.N.link. The world's paper tiger response isn't President Obama's fault, though, events are following the post-Cold War pattern established under President Clinton and repeated under President Bush. Step one: the D.P.R.K. rattles its saber and throws a temper tantrum to garner the world's attention. Step two: we bribe them to come back to the negotiating table. Step three: they agree to (once again) suspend their nuclear program in exchange for massive additional bribes. Step four: the West grows suspicious because even though the bribes have been supplied, keeping the North Korean state afloat, there seems to be precious little action being taken to deliver on the North's promises. Step five: the North Koreans become incensed that the world dares to doubt their honorable intentions. Step six: Pyongyang breaks off negotiations. Rinse and repeat.

Change we can believe in? Sorry, Mr. President, it'll take more than your considerable charisma to change this sorry and all too predictable sequence of events, a vicious circle that leaves the people of the D.P.R.K. suffering under a dictatorship that would have to be dismissed as too absurd to exist were it not so horribly, horribly real. Geopolitics is fun!