If the New York Times is any indicator of what is mainstream news in America, which I sure as hell hope so, then you are well aware that North Korea tested a nuclear bomb. There is still debate about this I understand, and determining the type of test takes percise seismic evaluation and time, I suppose. But the facts I see are this:

1)No person/country in their right mind would fake a nuclear test with 6 tons of chemical explosives when the obvious result would be hard-lined response from 5 countries.

2)North Korea (NPRK) has been working on a nuclear program for over 30 years, and it's about time they produce something (I mean, what else do they do there? They sure as hell aren't occupied with keeping their Per Capita Income competitive in the world).

3)When you're a country like NPRK and you test a nuclear bomb, you're pretty much asking for a fight. It's like the delinquent runt of an outcast from elementary school who decides one day to whip a kickball near the heads of the bullies at recess. You know he's just trying to show that he's tough. Yet despite however many bruises he leaves with the first throws, he knows he'll be beaten like a rug by 3:20pm.

Well, as I write this, North Korea has said that "if the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases the pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war and will take a series of physical corresponding measures."

So, now my mood has changed from curious to worried. I'm headed to Busan this weekend for the annual Busan International Film Festival. I hope that the long ass ferry ride and four film agenda on Saturday can rest my mind. Until the seemingly inevitible demise of this world, I have picnics and films and classes to teach. I was reading the final chapter in Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and Klosterberg referenced a book called The Bible Code, which describes how the Torah can be analyzed like "a three dimensional crossword puzzle"(?) and that among many things, computer specialists have predicted with that the coming nuclear war will occur in 2006. I checked this morning... it's 2006. Not that I believe a guy who read a book whose author claims the Torah can be analyzed by computer specialists in 3D models to predict the future, but that's one fucking frightening coincidence for someone currently residing in Korea.