It’s been a bipolar kind of week for North Korea, feuling speculation that its leader is crzy and its population is too scared, or controlled, to say so. In other news, the shy is still up, water is still wet and sarcasm is doing just fine, thanks for asking!

Earlier this week, North Korea threatened military action if the joint US/South Korea went ahead as planned. Then it said it wouldn’t over-react. And now, we’re back to threats again, with North Korea vowing to conduct a “scared war o’ justice” should South Korea try anything funny. Considering that Kim Jong Il has no sense of humor (I mean, he thinks the way he dresses is a fashion win) and that his 19th anniversary of becoming the leader of North Korean military is this Friday, so of course, North Korea wants to throw down some powerful rhetoric as background music.

Leaders in Seoul showed they knew how to volley back… threats that is. And so both Koreas have been engaged in an “Oh yeah?” vs. “That’s right!” exchange of words. It’s gotten so even China has asked the two of them to keep it down, people in that region of the world are trying to concentrate on other things.

The only problem is that, often after these verbal exchanges, North Korea has done something crazy like fire a missile into the Sea of Japan, lobbing artillery shells into disputed territory, taken shots at soldiers along the DMZ, or even conducted a nuclear test. In short (and by short, I mean Kim Jong Il) removing any doubt that when it comes to crazy and rash, North Korea has got game, still.

So, while the rest of the world tries to enjoy a holiday season, North Korea feels the need to remind everybody that, in the view of its leader, instability is considered a virtue. So, Merry Christmas, North Korea, try not to shoot Santa down, Ok?

Providing President Obama with a much needed additional victory, the Senate passed the new START (STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty), the first significant arms-reduction treaty between the United States and Russia in almost twenty years. Along with the passage of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and the passage of a 9/11 First Responders Health Care bill, these last few days of government work have provided the beleaguered President Obama with some much needed good news and PR wins.

Plus, this also annoys Senator John McCain, so that’s a special kind of frosting on the cake.

The treaty passed by a more than two-thirds majority, and now all that remains is for it to be ratified by the Russian Parliament. It means that, with the US and Russia not only limiting their own arsenals to just over 1500 missiles and 700+ launchers, they are also more closely working together to both account for nuclear materials, as well as keeping them out of the hands of rogue nations and terrorists organizations.

And again, while it seemed that Democrats and Republicans came together in true bipartisan effort on this vote, there were still the hold-outs, not least of which was Senator John “If You Keep Making That Face It Will Get Stuck That Way” McCain. First he insisted that an amendment be added that keeps separate US missile defense plans, then he voted against the bill anyway. But then again, that seems to be Classic McCain: not happy unless others are unhappy or else John isn’t happy.

It should be noted that the bill passed by a 71-26 vote. Polls have indicated that support for the bill amongst Americans showed 73% in favor and 24% against it, almost perfectly echoing the Senate vote.

Well, it doesn’t make this a perfect, safe world, but it’s a START.