Crap, the Czar has a lot of email to respond to. He got some really good ones over the last two days, and he promises he will answer.

But what about this North Korean thing? To catch you up, because God knows DWTS is all the television news people want to talk about, North Korea fired artillery rounds into Yŏnbyŏng-myŏn, an island located right at the border of the two countries. This would be like Canada hitting San Juan Island, Washington..except, of course, Canada wouldn’t do that. The point is that this island is right on the border, and close enough to major cities to have folks concerned.

And it ought to: two South Korean soldiers were killed, and another dozen or more were wounded. South Koreans returned fire, but there is only hazy information as to whether they did anything. Your Czar’s okhrana says they did, but the North is denying it.

So what should we do? North Korea has fired rockets into residential areas legally occupied by South Koreans. Well, if Lebanon is the answer, we do nothing. In fact, the South Koreans responded correctly.

If we do anything, we have simply written up a script for North Korea to follow anytime it wants attention. In March, you recall, the North Koreans sank a South Korean warship and killed 46 sailors. That failed to get the desired effect. And so will this.

China of course wants nothing to do with North Korea, as you know. China do little more than express concern, if you define it as embarrassment. However, China is thoroughly curious to what the Obama administration’s response will be.

Which will be, and by rights ought to be, nothing except diplomatic condemnation. The event is an attempt to trigger a response from the United States. Screw them. They aren’t going to get one. Yet.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.