My wife just turned on the 11pm TV news and says there's a mushroom cloud in North Korea. I don't see anything on AOL or other news sources yet.

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040912_72.html

Another news report indicates the explosion may be non-nuclear and connected to N. Korea's ballistic missile site. Maybe their missile factory blew up? It doesn't pay to use cheap duct tape ...

:>) - Red Green would be proud!!! Bob WC#253.

If the radiance of a thousand suns
Were to burst at once into the sky,
That would be like the splendor of the Mighty One...
I am become Death,
The shatterer of Worlds.

I hear it was a Korean BBQ grill. Should have used a Weber.

Dodge,I believe those words were spoken/reiterated by Oppenheimer who claimed "Vishnu", a Hindu "goddess" as his inspiration, (ya, right).

Not an ordinary explosion, and a mushroom cloud 2.5 miles wide? No good.

It seems some are just itchin' to go to war with N. Korea. Off course the million or so S. Koreans who would die in the first hour from the norths 10,000 big guns targeted at Seoul does'nt seem to bother them. I suspect they rather like the idea. These are usually the same libbies complaining about Iraqi civilian casualties. Seems to be a pattern here. I've noticed a very definite contempt for the Asians simply because they are Asian, whether they be communist or not. It would appear that some feel threatned even by the none communist Asians.

Following the Trinity test Oppenheimer was reported to have recited that passage, which is taken directly from the Bhagavad-Gita. It’s also believed that he provided the code name Trinity, for the first full fledged nuclear test and that was supposedly based on the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. All of the above is somewhat uncertain but it is known that he had an ardent interest in Sanskrit literature, which he taught himself to read.

Regardless of the source, I’ve always thought the quote was appropriate.

I am afraid this Korean issue will be like a hot foot for our future leaders, be they Rep. or Dem. Main thing to remember in regards to North Korea is that their leader isn't wound too tight. The guy is a loose cannon and might well do anything crazy without thinking it through. I don't know how the best of intentions by anyone in this country can stop the proliferation of nuclear capability in the world. Today, with Musharraf in control of Pakistan, they are our friends but what would happen if some Muslim crazy man takes power there? Think about all the hate for the west being drummed into the minds of young boys in the Madrassas. As the capability for setting off a nuke bomb spreads, it becomes a vain hope that sanity will prevail among all the folks in charge of them. Back to the North Koreans...anyone seriously think that even if there were negotiations done to eliminate their nuke abilities that these people could be trusted. This thing ain't goin' away.

Last update: September 13, 2004 at 11:02 AM
Korea blames mushroom cloud on demolition of mountain
Associated Press
September 13, 2004 KOREA0914




SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Monday that a huge cloud caused by an explosion several days ago was the planned demolition of a mountain for a hydroelectric project, and the reclusive government invited a British diplomat to visit the site to confirm the story, British media reported.

North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun said the blast was intentional, responding to a request for information from British Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell, who is visiting the North, the British Broadcasting Corp. quoted Rammell as saying.

North Korea told Britain's ambassador in Pyongyang, David Slinn, that he can visit the blast site as soon as Tuesday to verify its claims that the explosion was part of a construction project, the Press Association of Britain reported. Rammell had asked that ambassadors be allowed to visit the site.

A mammoth explosion Thursday in the isolated, communist North reportedly produced a mushroom cloud more than two miles across near the country's border with China.

South Korean and U.S. officials had said Sunday they were trying to ascertain the cause of the huge cloud. The size of the reported explosion on the 56th anniversary of the foundation of North Korea had raised speculation that it might be a nuclear test. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said there was no indication it was.

In an interview with the BBC, Rammell said Paek told him ``that it wasn't an accident, that it wasn't a nuclear explosion, that it was a deliberate detonation of a mountain as part of a hydroelectric project.''

Rammell urged the North to allow diplomats to the site.

``If this is genuinely a deliberate detonation as part of a legitimate construction project then the North Koreans have nothing to fear and nothing to hide and should welcome the international community actually verifying the situation for themselves,'' Rammell said.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted an unidentified North Korean official also as saying the blast was part of a power plant project.

``We will closely look into whether that area is an area for constructing a hydroelectric power plant,'' South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said at the National Assembly in Seoul, according to the news agency Yonhap.

Chung said the large cloud near the North Korean-Chinese border was confirmed by satellite pictures, but that overcast skies made it difficult to tell what caused it.

China's government, which has the closest relations with North Korea, had no immediate comment about the reported explosion.

Yonhap said the blast was stronger than an April explosion that killed 160 people and injured an estimated 1,300 at a North Korean railway station when a train carrying oil and chemicals apparently hit power lines. North Korea invited international aid workers to visit the site, an unusual move for the reclusive regime.

On ``Fox News Sunday,'' Powell expressed skepticism North Korea would stage a nuclear test explosion. But another senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States has received indications North Korea might be trying to test an atomic weapon.

China on Monday made what appeared to be its strongest recent attempt to persuade North Korea to return to the negotiating table on its nuclear program.

Beijin hopes to convene a new round of six-nation talks - including the North and the United States - by the end of September, but dates have yet to be set, Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang said Monday.

President Hu Jintao sent the North a message urging their countries to ``strengthen coordination and cooperation.'' The message was delivered through a delegation of top government and Communist Party leaders that was visiting North Korea, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

The talks involve the United States, Russia, Japan, China and the two Koreas. The United States has pushed for North Korea to fully disclose all of its nuclear activities and allow outside monitoring before it receives any assistance. North Korea wants energy aid, lifting of economic sanctions and to be removed from Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism.

On Saturday, North Korea said recent revelations that South Korea conducted secret nuclear experiments involving uranium and plutonium made the communist state more determined to pursue its own nuclear programs.

South Korea said the experiments, conducted in 1982 and 2000, did not reflect an interest in developing weapons.

Naturally we have surveillance satellites, deployed for the specific purpose of detecting nuclear detonatons, which are capable of discerning conventional detonations from nuclear via a variety of means, (infra red/thermal imaging that measures temps etc.). So there was never any question as to the type of explosion yet the media at first reported this ambiguously with the not so veiled implications that the explosion may have been nuclear. I don't believe these earlier reports were an accident.
And Dodge you are right, the quote is appropriate.
I saw an interesting film clip of Oppenheimer. His facial expression was very distorted as if under some tremendous oppression. He spoke in a very ghoulish tone as he told of the influence and actual words he claimed to have heard from Vishnu. He made a feeble attempt to express some sort of regret/remorse yet it was a prideful, crocodile tears display as he referred to himself as the "Mighty One..the Destroyer... Shatterer of worlds". The dude was definitely out there.

Sounds fishy to me. Who ever heard of blowing up a mountain all at once? Grand Coulee Dam was built a few sticks of dynamite at a time. Aren't dams usually built in valleys, not on mountaintops? How much conventional explosive does it take to make a mushroom cloud 2 miles in diameter? Why do you need an explosion that big to build a dam? Screwy engineering, at the very least.

I agree. Even a lithium-starved jerk like me can figure out it was a sales demonstration to abama sin.

So...what if this was the real thing? What will the community of nations do about it, other than a lot of wringing of the hands? Too late is too late and if we didn't get a workable negotiation earlier, allowing full inspection of any and all nuclear facilities, shame on us and our leaders, both Dem. and Rep. We all know that the United States will be number one on the list as a target for a nuclear terrorist. Let's just hope Kim Jong Il doesn't get the bright idea of nuclear blackmail. The only thing regarding the North Koreans is that it takes a lot of money to pay for food to feed a million man army. N. Korea is an extremely poor nation. Kim Jong doesn't worry about the common citizen as long as his army is getting fed. This issue is very worrisome and the handwringing is a waste of effort and time.

Engaging in speculation as to what could be is not necessarily hand ringing. And having knowledge is better than being ignorant.

It may be a good time to consider some mormon philosophies.:-)


buygoldinsteadofwastingmoneyonaboat

I think your on to somethin' there Seven. Scatter a few extra wives about so one bomb don't get 'em all. :)

More than one woman asking me how long I will be out doing 'that fishing thing'?
No thanks....