Prodding The “Hornets’ Nest”
By Montag | Related entries in The World, WarEvery summer at some point I find a hornets’ nest under the eve on the porch, or under the lip of the deck or in the rafters of the shed.
Usually, the nest looks gray and decrepit and I don’t see any hornets buzzin’ around it. Is it an active nest? Will they strike? I don’t know.
I do know there’s a good possibility that there are a few in there. It is, after all, that time of year. And they have been making their presence known around the house and yard. I have already been on a few search and destroy missions into the kids rooms to take out rogue invaders.
What do I do? There is a procedure..
- Look at the nest for a long time, keeping a safe distance, to monitor activity. If there seems to be little or no activity, proceed to step (2), otherwise (3).
- Prod the nest with a broom or a rake handle. (This rarely leads to a full blown swarming onslaught, but occasionally leads to a small scale stinging attack.)
- Decide upon a course of action which can be one of three options:
a) Live with the threat ‘cold war’ style and hope peace prevails. This option usually goes by the wayside in my house once individual hornets make their way inside.
b) Knock it down with the rake handle and hand carry it to the garbage. This one’s risky in the event there are still a few stragglers still in the nest.
c) Full scale attack with a spray can of hornet killer. Necessary if the nest is active. Victory is assured. This method is fairly safe in terms of stinging; but releases noxious fumes into the local environment. Unpleasant for me, even worse for the hornets.
This method works on hornets, but it carries its risks. It would seem that if the same method were applied to say — dealing with the nuclear threat from North Korea — then we may be verging on phase 2.
I guess it depends on whether the following comments are calculated to send a message, or the unsanctioned boasts of an overzealous General:
“Whether North Korea has one or several nuclear weapons does not change the balance on the peninsula,” [commander of the U.S. forces in South Korea, General Leon] LaPorte told South Korea’s PBC radio in an interview taped on Tuesday, according to a transcript provided by the station.
“The U.S. and the Republic of Korea retain our ability to deter North Korean aggression and, if required, to decisively defeat the North Korean threat if they were to threaten South Korea,” he said.
Article: U.S. military says can defeat nuclear-armed N.Korea
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