I don't know about you, but I'm finding the Leb-Israeli situation profoundly depressing.

And I'm not even bloody reading any news.

If only I could abstract away from it. However, even at lunch, business lunches....

This is fucking spinning out of control and making me life more dangerous.

I have an overdose of it. If you folks can think of bringing something else here, you'd make yours truly a happy creature.

I think you're wrong here: the North Koreans, certainly their leaders, know that their story is strictly propaganda totally divorced from reality. US leaders, on the other hand, make it often difficult to tell whether they really do reside in a fantasyland....

You misread me. I meant by that US North Korea policy not North Korea.

You misread me. I meant by that US North Korea policy not North Korea.

Now, now, let's not be completely unfair. It is not possible to have a decent policy with respect to North Korea. While there may be a certain element of magical thinking and irrationality in current U.S. policy, magical thinking and irrationality may be entirely appropriate when attempting to reason with a schizophrenic.

Dealing with North Korea is like having a floridly psychotic guest at a dinner party. There'd no way to "fix" the situation. You just do your best to keep him away from the cutlery and try to get through it with as little embarrassment as possible.

The Arabs and Israelis are more like guests with severe bipolar disorder. Some of the time, they're more or less OK and you can even have interesting conversations with them. But when they're in their depressive phase, all you can really do is leave them alone until they come out of it.

As you can see, I have an interesting social life.