It's a lot of 'dancing' and harsh words, but it does look everything will remain 'parade' ... ..i.e. 'no-worries-for-larger-conflict' for now.

USA and Vlad are in cross-hairs, 'cause Vlad exposed 'neo-s-cons' in Syria and in ME overall (Vlad is getting Naval base in Jordan ... )

Was reading one comment where poster asks: 'When did Pot Belly Jr. threatened anybody comparable to West (USA&EU, i.e. West) with constant interventions around the globe?'

I have two links I was reading last night:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/from-syria-to-korea-the-rush-to-crush-multi...

From Syria to Korea: The Rush to Crush Multipolarism

RT with 2nd link on 'Axis of Evil - Syria to N. Korea' .... waiting for the website to load ....

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/386318-north-korea-us-chemical-weapons/

New spin of North Korea-Syria ‘axis of evil’ points to US war

by Finian Cunningham

Looks like John McCain spilled the beans, he had lunch with Trump, he said he doesn't think there will be a war, so there will be no military action. Just more 4th of July TV shows, maybe with a big show at the end, than nothing else. 

So if John says there's going to be no military action, than there will be no military action.  Case closed, Soooo enjoy Kim Kardashian or Kim Jong-Un, it doesn't matter, they are both the same and do the same things, reality TV shows.

This Is The Worst Year For North Korean Missile Test Success In 33 Years

Is American concern at developments in North Korea justified?

I mentioned (new) disagreement between US and China and MSM's blasting China on other thread and here we go:

China Demands "Immediate Halt" Of US Missile Shield Deployment In South Korea

"We oppose the deployment of the US missile system to South Korea and call on all parties to immediately stop this process. We are ready to take necessary measures to protect our interests," China foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a briefing, adding that “China’s position on the THAAD issue has not changed.”

•  
• MAY 2, 2017 11:24 AM
• 190

North Korea Arrests Another US Citizen, Threatens To Nuke White House And Destroy "Murderous American Ogres"

Exactly two weeks after North Korea arrested Tony Kim, a Korean-American professor in his 50s at Pyongyang International Airport as he was leaving North Korea, Kim Jong-Un has again provoked the US and overnight North Korea detained another U.S. citizen tied to the Christian-backed university in Pyongyang. 

Fine piece by my fav economical guru Nouriel Roubini:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-are-markets-ignoring-geopolitical-r...

This article has been published ("entirely at e-Tities ") with the permission of Project Syndicate — Whistling Past the Geopolitical Graveyard.

Nouriel Roubini wonders if investors are whistling past the geopolitical graveyard

Getty Images/Korean Central News AgencyThe North Korean People’s Army army displays its firepower on the 85th anniversary of its founding in April 2017 in this official propaganda photo.

NEW YORK (Project Syndicate)– With Emmanuel Macron’s defeat of the right-wing populist Marine Le Pen in the French presidential election, the European Union and the euro EURUSD, -0.1831%   have dodged a bullet. But geopolitical risks are continuing to proliferate.

The populist backlash against globalization in the West will not be stilled by Macron’s victory, and could still lead to protectionism, trade wars, and sharp restrictions to migration. If the forces of disintegration take hold, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU could eventually lead to a breakup of the EU — Macron or no Macron.

At the same time, Russia has maintained its aggressive behavior in the Baltics, the Balkans, Ukraine, and Syria. The Middle East still contains multiple near-failed states, such as Iraq, Yemen, Libya, and Lebanon. And the Sunni-Shia proxy wars between Saudi Arabia and Iran show no sign of ending.

In Asia, U.S. or North Korean brinkmanship could precipitate a military conflict on the Korean Peninsula. And China is continuing to engage in — and in some cases escalating — its territorial disputes with regional neighbors.

Despite these geopolitical risks, global financial markets GDOW, -0.02%  have reached new heights . So it is worth asking if investors are underestimating the potential for one or more of these conflicts to trigger a more serious crisis, and what it would take to shock them out of their complacency if they are.

There are many explanations for why markets may be ignoring geopolitical risks.

For starters, even with much of the Middle East burning, there have been no oil-supply shocks or embargoes, and the shale-gas revolution in the United States has increased the supply of low-cost energy. During previous Middle East conflicts — such as the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, and Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 — oil-supply shocks caused global stagflation and sharp stock-market corrections.

A second explanation is that investors are extrapolating from previous shocks, such as the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when policy makers saved the day by backstopping the economy and financial markets with strong monetary and fiscal policy easing. These policies turned post-shock market corrections into buying opportunities, because the fall in asset prices was reversed in a matter of days or weeks.

Third, the countries that actually have experienced localized asset-market shocks — such as Russia and Ukraine after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and incursion into Eastern Ukraine in 2014 — are not large enough economically to affect U.S. or global financial markets.

Similarly, even as the U.K. pursues a “hard Brexit,” it still only accounts for around 2% of global GDP.

A fourth explanation is that the world has so far been spared from the tail risks associated with today’s geopolitical conflagrations. There has not yet been a direct military conflict between any major powers, nor have the EU or eurozone collapsed. President Donald Trump’s more radical, populist policies have been partly contained. And China’s economy has not yet suffered from a hard landing, which would create sociopolitical instability.

Moreover, markets have trouble pricing such black-swan events: “unknown unknowns” that are unlikely, but extremely costly. For example, the market couldn’t have predicted 9/11. And even if investors think that another major terrorist attack will come, they cannot know when.

A confrontation between the U.S. and North Korea could also turn into a black swan event, but this is a possibility that markets have happily ignored. One reason is that, notwithstanding Trump’s bluster, the U.S. has very few realistic military options: North Korea could use conventional weapons to wipe out Seoul and its surroundings, where almost half of South Korea’s population lives, were the U.S. to strike.

Investors may be assuming that even if a limited military exchange occurred, it would not escalate into a full-fledged war, and policy loosening could soften the blow on the economy and financial markets. In this scenario, as with 9/11, the initial market correction would end up being a buying opportunity.

But there are other possible scenarios, some of which could turn out to be black swans. Given the risks associated with direct military action, the U.S. is now alleged to be using cyber weapons to eliminate the North Korean nuclear threat against the U.S. mainland. This may explain why so many of North Korea’s missile tests have failed in recent months. But how will North Korea react to being militarily decapitated?

One answer is that it could launch a cyber attack of its own. North Korea’s cyber-warfare capabilities are considered to be just a notch below those of Russia and China, and the world got an early glimpse of them in 2014 when it hacked into Sony Pictures. A major North Korean cyber attack could disable or destroy parts of the U.S.’s critical infrastructure, and cause massive economic and financial damage.

That remains a risk even if the U.S. can sabotage North Korea’s entire industrial system and infrastructure.

Or, faced with disruption of its missile program and regime, North Korea could go low-tech, by sending a ship with a dirty bomb into the ports of Los Angeles or New York. An attack of this kind would most likely be very hard to monitor or stop.

So, while investors may be right to discount the risk of a conventional military conflict between the U.S. and North Korea, they also may be underestimating the threat of a true black-swan event, such as a disruptive cyberwar between the two countries or a dirty bomb attack against the U.S.

Would an escalation on the Korean Peninsula be an opportunity to “buy the dip,” or would it mark the beginning of a massive market meltdown? It is well known that markets can price the “risks” associated with a normal distribution of events that can be statistically estimated and measured.

But they have more trouble grappling with “Knightian uncertainty”: risk that cannot be calculated in probabilistic terms.

China Warns Washington Its Latest Missile Can Sink A US Aircraft Carrier

China's successful test of a new type of guided missile in the Bohai Sea killed two birds with one stone, experts told the Global Times, as the launch shows China can attack both aircraft carriers and the THAAD missile defense system deployed in South Korea. 

•  
• MAY 10, 2017 4:56 PM

Here we go again.
http://www.9news.com.au/world/2017/05/14/07/22/nkorea-fires-unidentified...

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2017/05/14/08/04/north-korea-fires-unident...
Looks like things might actually kick off this time.
Trump needs a smoke screen for the FBI and Russian stuff.
This will certainly take the attention away from it

Yup, Trump needs a smokescreen, and I'm sure Kim could always use one too, to keep the focus off all their internal problems.

So we have two irrational psychos with huge egos but who get mocked by the world, a need to show how 'strong and potent' they are, bad hairdos, growing internal problems and a burning need to find a way to take the attention off those problems. Oh, and they both have nukes.

What could go wrong?

Hopefully their more level headed handlers can keep them reined in though.

http://www.9news.com.au/world/2017/05/16/08/41/kim-jong-un-celebrates-as...

 'mericans, fuk-off .... from SCS:

WorldAFPChina urges S.Korea to 'remove obstacles' to good ties 

North Korea Launches Another Ballistic Missile

North Korea successfully launched a ballistic missile Sunday afternoon which flew more than 500 kilometers, only one week after it launched its previously ballistic missile last Sunday, South Korea's military announced. The missile was launched at 0759 GMT from a location near Pukchang, 60 km northeast of the capital Pyongyang.

•  
• MAY 21, 2017 8:03 AM

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-05-25/china-accuses-us-warship-trespa...

China Accuses US Warship Of "Trespassing" In Disputed Waters, Warns It To "Leave Immediately"

comment:

May 25, 2017 8:39 AM

"...as Trump is seeking Beijing's cooperation to rein in ally North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.''

Trump doesn't need to seek Beijing's cooperation. China will take care of it.

"...in a ruling last year against China by an international arbitration court in The Hague."

Since when do the Americans abide by the rulings in the Hague?

"We operate in accordance with international law,.."

...except in Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Libya, Central and South America, etc etc etc.

"...and warned it to "leave immediately""

So did they?

US Deploys Third Aircraft Carrier Toward North Korea

The United States is sending a third aircraft carrier strike force to the western Pacific region in an apparent warning to North Korea to deter its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. It is extremely rare for the U.S. military to deploy three aircraft carriers in close proximity to each other absent current or imminent military action.

•  
• MAY 27, 2017 10:10 PM
• 208

'Vlad is in HK on historical ....'

Repost from SCMP:

https://www.rt.com/news/391021-varyag-port-call-hong-kong/

Officers from the Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Hong Kong Garrison take photos on the deck of the Russian missile cruiser Varyag in Hong Kong on June 5, 2017. © Anthony Wallace / AFP

 Russia’s navy group has made a historic port call in Hong Kong, the first in decades. The Varyag guided missile cruiser was open for visitors for a day and attracted large crowds, including Chinese sailors and civilians.

The guided missile cruiser Varyag and the ocean tanker Pechenga, both based with the Russian Pacific Fleet in Vladivostok, made the unofficial port call at the Kai Tak cruise terminal on Monday.

It’s the very first visit of Russian military vessels in modern Hong Kong history, the South China Morning Post reports.

I love your news summaries.
In other news,