you may open your test booklets

Well, it seems as though this past weekend was a bad one to take a break from news and a mostly-hiatus from weblogging.
On Monday, North Korea nuked itself in their first successful nuclear warhead test ever, and the first nuclear warhead test on our globe since Pakistan’s successful experiment in 1998. North Korea attempted a previous attempt in October of 2006, however, that particuilar device fizzled and reportedly barely achieved a nuclear detonation. After that failed experiment, North Korea was banned, by the United Nations, from any activities related to its ballistic missile program – fat lot of good that did. The warhead detonated on Monday was at an underground test facility, and is estimated to be somewhere in the 10-20 kiloton range – approximately equivalent to the bomb dropped on Hiroshima (one kiloton is equal to the force of 1000 tons of TNT exploding).
President Barack Hussein Obama’s reaction to this potentially-disastrous event?

“North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community,” he said in a statement. “North Korea’s behaviour increases tensions and undermines stability in north-east Asia.”

Oh noes.
Hours later on Monday, North Korea lobbed up three short-range missiles, again in defiance of resolutions from the United Nations.
Our glorious President’s reaction?

As for the missile firings, they “pose a grave threat to the peace and security of the world and I strongly condemn their reckless action,” said Mr. Obama in an appearance on the White House steps.

Oh noes.
Today, North Korea put two more missiles in the air, and accused America of plotting to overthrow their government.
Our reaction?
Well, we will have to get back to you on that.
Also on Monday, and a little further west, Iran made the unprecedented move of positioning warships in the Gulf of Aden – a body of water on which they have no shoreline or territorial claim. This repositioning is far outside the Iranian Navy’s normal operating ranges of the Persian Gulf, Straits of Hormuz, and Sea of Oman, and comes less than a week after Iran performed missiles tests of their own.
What does our glorious President have to say about this?
Well, he is still hoping to open diplomatic talks with Iran…
To put things in perspective, Iran’s newest missiles put an impressively large section of the globe within range, and North Korea is more than capable of putting a nuclear warhead on South Korea, Japan, and possibly even Alaska (though that particular delivery vehicle still has not had a successful test).
Oh, and as something random and closer to home, you may not have heard about this particular event given very limited media attention, but a Starbucks in downtown NYC was bombed by a IED over the weekend, though thankfully no one was injured. Let me say that again – an Improvised Explosive Device was detonated in New York City this weekend.
Vice President Joe Biden, the king of all things gaffe, might have been right – our glorious President is being tested, and it is looking like the safety and security of the free world is hanging in the balance.
God help us all.