Having never been to Japan I have to wonder if they ever turn any of their lights off at night? Seems to be the brightest spot on the planet!

No, but it does show the unintended consequences of politics and government.

If Nixon had taken a hardline stance towards China, would the world be better off?

The US embargo of oil to Japan is cited as one of the provocations for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Of course, the Iraq oil for food program shows that corruption is one of the results of attempts at humanitarian relief.

All I can say is that I don't have any good answers. But all of this shows that diplomacy is a minefield mixing human emotions with the possibility of devastating outcomes affecting millions of lives. A 'beat on it with a stick' approach is generally not good. Whether the results are tens of thousands starving to death, or some 19-year-old kid from Ohio dying on a street during a military operation, there are consequences for almost every action.

One thing never changes in politics, the people making the decisions are very rarely the ones who bear the brunt of the suffering from their failures.

Personally, I am not a big fan of the 'starve them to make them free' approach.

That doesn't seem to prevent you from posting guesses.

All we are in the end are talking heads and Monday morning quarterbacks.

I suspect if North Korea is that short of electricity they probably aren't wasting much. Little outdoor lighting, small bulbs in the center of the room away from windows, rooms not in use unlit and a host of other conservation measures that would explain why not much can be seen from space.
Hell, they may even have blackout blankets on the windows. :cool: