Bill Richardson and Eric Schmidt Go to North Korea

Former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson is going on a humanitarian trip to North Korea with his best bud, Google executive Eric Schmidt, even though the State Department doesn't want them to go. Stop harshing our mellow, State Department! What excellent adventures will these radical dudes have over there?

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Our Endorsements: Baby Congress Argues the Fiscal Cliff

* Da fwiscaw cwiff is soooooooo cute.

* North Korea gets the news wrong again.

* While The Onion, as usual, gets it right again.

* For those of you who don't have snow or any music ability.

* And so this is no longer Christmas, and what have we done?

* Makes you want to invite drunk Boris Yeltsin over for holiday dinner.

* Did you know Christopher Nolan is directing Obama's presidency too?

* The most fascinating discoveries of evolution this year. No, really. We've evolved.

* Finally, a gift for the person who has everything (I'm assuming you hate them, too).

Tags: Daily Links, Fiscal Cliff, House of Representatives, Kim Jong-un, North Korea, The Onion, Time Magazine, War on Christmas

Tweet Untweet: To the Moon, Jong-un!

Hopefully it's Kim Jong-un. RT @ap: BREAKING: NORAD says North Korean missile appears to have launched 'an object' into orbit.

— Eugene Mirman (@EugeneMirman) December 12, 2012

6 Reasons to Doubt North Korea's Satellite Story

According to NORAD, which inexplicably ignored its prime function of tracking Santa Claus in favor of monitoring missile launches, North Korea successfully orbited a satellite last night. Just eight months ago, a humiliatingly unsuccessful missile test left the 20-something North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claiming that this was the first time his rocket has failed to launch. Sure, buddy, happens to everyone.

But despite claims of success from North Korea and partial confirmation from NORAD, there are good reasons to be skeptical of just how successful last night's ballistic test was.

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The Best of North Korean News

Earlier in Juche 101 (that's 2012, for those not used to calendars that start with the birth of Eternal President of the Republic Kim Il-sung) the official newspaper of the Korean Workers Party inaugurated its English-language service. While we've been lost in the minutiae of U.S. politics, Rodong Sinmun — Korean for "Fair and Balanced," I think — has been indispensable for its coverage of politics, culture and the economy.

Still, some journalistic essentials like "facts" and "reality" are lost in the English pronouncements of Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central News Agency, so additional translations have been provided.

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