Oh; It's On! Or Not, Not Really, Or Maybe It Is?

US Aircraft Carrier Heads for Korean Waters

A U.S. aircraft carrier headed toward the Korean peninsula on Wednesday, a day after North Korea launched dozens of artillery shells on a South Korean island.

The nuclear-powered USS George Washington, which carries 75 warplanes and has a crew of over 6,000, left a naval base south of Tokyo on Wednesday morning and would join exercises with South Korea from Sunday to the following Wednesday, U.S. officials in Seoul said.

"This exercise is defensive in nature," U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement. "While planned well before yesterday's unprovoked artillery attack, it demonstrates the strength of the ROK (South Korea)-U.S. alliance and our commitment to regional stability through deterrence."

China came under heavy pressure to rein in North Korea after its reclusive ally fired dozens of artillery shells at the South Korean island, killing two South Korean soldiers and setting houses ablaze in the heaviest attack on its neighbor since the Korean War ended in 1953.
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"We're in a semi state of war," South Korean coastguard Kim Dong-jin told Reuters in the port city of Incheon where many residents of Yeonpyeong island fled in panic as the bombardment triggered a fire storm.
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South Korea, its armed forces technically superior though about half the size of the North's one-million-plus army, warned of "massive retaliation" if its neighbor attacked again.

Sounds like South Korea has had enough.  Two things set this apart from normal North/South squabbling:  The heaviest attack since 1953 and on a completely domestic target (they'll count as one), and the particular timing of this event.  Any escalation on the Korean peninsula will impact an already fragile, swaying world market.  Will China via North Korea pull out one more global Jenga piece?  Once events are set in motion, Inertia becomes impossible to stop.  We are descending every day into bigger and more Novel situations in all facets of our lives.  Maybe that was what The Tipping Point was about.