Lurker > WastelandCowboy

Well, considering that tougher sanctions and sanction enforcement has also factored into it, solely crediting Twitter might not be fair. But part of the decision may have actually involved Trump managing to out-crazy Kim with Twitter being a part of that... although keep in mind that NK has come close to the bargaining table a few times now.

And as for discussions, Obama snubbed a proposed discussion with NK that would have mediated by China.

helIy posted...

that's the bet though

he can take it or leave it

You're afraid to do a real bet, so you're proposing an irrational one so you can effectively turn the tables on him and make him look like the one too afraid to take the bet.

WastelandCowboy posted...

I'll be honest. As optimistic as I am that this is happening, it just seems like it's happening wayy too damn fast.

And to think all it took was Trump making a few tweets.

The dismantling ceremony is planned for just under three weeks before June 12, the date Trump is scheduled to meet with Kim Jong Un in Singapore. The meeting will be the first time a sitting U.S. president meets with the leader of North Korea.

Richard Fontaine, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Republican Senator John McCain, told NPR's David Greene the announcement of talks between Kim and Trump is a "game changer," but the escalation of talks to two heads of state opens up a certain degree of diplomatic uncertainty:

"It's a game changer in terms of the diplomacy, certainly. I mean, often these kinds of processes lead up to a presidential-level meeting if they are successful. So you would have lower-level officials work a disarmament process, or something, and then have the heads of state come in and close it if it sort of materialized into something.

"This is completely flipping the script on that, and so it will start at the highest possible levels. The upside is that maybe this makes a deal more possible. The downside is if it fails then we've hit the diplomatic cliff and could fall off the other side."

If the dismantling occurs at the end of the month, it will not be the first time North Korea has publicly destroyed a nuclear facility. In 2008, international journalists looked on as a water cooling tower at a facility called Yongbyon was destroyed. According to CNN, officials said it was a location where plutonium was extracted.

In her reporting at the time, CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour said, "They fired a warning flare and then in three minutes the whole thing came tumbling down in a massive cloud of smoke."

"There was a moment of stunned silence as the magnitude of what had happened sunk in," she added.

Updated at 5:20 p.m.

North Korea has announced that it will dismantle its nuclear test site. According to the Associated Press, North Korea's Foreign Ministry delivered a statement delivered through state media Saturday announcing the dismantling will occur between May 23 and 25.

Reuters reports that Punggye-ri nuclear test site has been the location of all of North Korea's six known nuclear tests. At the site, there's a system of tunnels under the mountain Mount Mantap. Journalists from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Britain will be invited to watch a special ceremony in which all of the tunnels at the testing ground will be destroyed and observation and research facilities and guard units will be taken down.

The North Korean government will provide journalists with a charter flight from Beijing to Wonsan, North Korea. From there, a train will take them to the test site in the northeast part of the country.

The Associated Press reports that plans to dismantle the site are not new: During his summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April, Kim announced that he would shut it down by the end of May.

In their joint statement released after the summit, Moon and Kim declared that there would be "no more war" on the Korean Peninsula and committed to a goal of "complete denuclearization."

After the summit, Park Hyeong Jung, a senior research fellow at the government-funded Korea Institute of National Unification, told NPR's Anthony Kuhn he was not sure Kim would completely abandon nuclear weapons:

"Park believes Kim will keep his nukes simply to demonstrate to his own people that he is the ruler of a nuclear state and therefore commands the respect of Washington and Seoul. In other words, nuclear weapons have become an indispensable ingredient in the cult of personality surrounding the Kim dynasty."

The AP also reports that at a ruling party meeting last month, North Korea announced the plan to close the nuclear testing ground, along with a commitment to suspend all tests of nuclear devices and ICBMs. At that same meeting, however, North Korea said it has been performing a kind of nuclear test classified as "subcritical." The "subcritical" experiments give scientists an opportunity to test weapons without causing an actual nuclear chain reaction and explosion.

Hours after North Korea announced plans for the dismantling ceremony, President Trump tweeted: "North Korea has announced that they will dismantle Nuclear Test Site this month, ahead of the big Summit Meeting on June 12th. Thank you, a very smart and gracious gesture!"

Updated at 8:31 p.m. ET

In what is being investigated as a terrorism incident, a man wielding a knife attacked five people, killing at least one and injuring four others, two seriously.

NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports that the assailant was shot dead by police. The attack occurred in central Paris, near the Opera Garnier.

The Paris prosecutor says that the attacker yelled "Allahu akbar," the Arabic phrase for "God is great."

1) I came out of a comedy show near Opera in central Paris and was immediately told to go back in because there was a madman with a knife. Once back inside we heard sirens and 2 gun shots. I then spoke to eyewitnesses who told me a man stabbed multilple people at random. pic.twitter.com/xvTmAv0ckb

Charles Pellegrin (@ChPilgrim) May 12, 2018
France has been on high alert over the last three years because of a string of terrorist attacks that have been commissioned or inspired by the Islamic State.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb praised the work of police and is urging people to be careful about spreading fake news, tweeting: "Please do not share misinformation. Please only share information coming from a trusted source."

In response to the stabbings, President Emmanuel Macron says France will not cede to "enemies of freedom," reports The Associated Press.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, the AP adds:

The Islamic State group's Aamaq news agency said in a statement early Sunday that the assailant carried out the attack in response to the group's calls for supporters to target members of the U.S.-led military coalition squeezing the extremists out of Iraq and Syria.

The Aamaq statement did not provide evidence for its claim or details on the assailant's identity.

Why does @Muffinz0rz feel the need to stroke @edededdy ego? The guy is already completely delusional. I really hope the real person behind the account gets into therapy soon.

The campaign to save Brooklyn Nine-Nine has suffered a major setback. TVLine has learned that Hulu has decided not to rescue the Andy Samberg comedy, which on Thursday was cancelled by Fox after five seasons. The streamer was floated as one possible savior for the beloved sitcom. Netflix and TBS were also said to be in the mix, but a source tells TVLine that those options also appear unlikely.

Nine-Nines axing drew widespread derision on social media. Co-creator/EP Dan Goor posted a heartfelt message on Twitter thanking fans for their incredible outpouring of support. Co-star Stephanie Beatriz also acknowledged the shows passionate viewers Squad, we love you Your sadness is noted, she wrote while her castmate Melissa Fumero admitted she was still processing the news.

Dont have all the words, Fumero shared. These last 5 years have been incredible. Thank you for all your love and support. We have the best fans. Its been a huge honor to play Amy and be a part of this tremendous ensemble.

Lauren Cohan to EXIT The Walking Dead after her ABC Show was picked

36 y/o Lauren Cohan's pilot tv show Whiskey Cavalier was picked up by ABC which leads her future on the Walking Dead in doubt

Lauren did say she was returning to Season 9 of Walking Dead but it was already determined she was going to have a reduced role

It's unclear what will happen to Maggie

Kyuubi4269 posted...

Considering the number of kitchens in the US, it must be a shock to you so many people don't/can't cook. The ubiquitous nature of something doesn't force people to interact with it, much less criminally so.

There aren't guns installed in every fucking place you can live. What a poor comparison.

Cars are not something you have stationary in your home. You buy them, be and they require a license to operate. Cars can bought at dealers or privately. In both instances they need to be registered and insured to be legal. Why can't this be done for guns?

Kyuubi4269 posted...

People often act illegally when legal channels aren't accessible or viable. In this case children get shat on in X Y Z way but can't get counciling and/or schools don't handle situations that deteriorate the mental health of their students.

Mental health is not an issue exclusive to the United States. Readily available firearms are. You can't have a shooting without a gun. You can have a shooting without mental illness. Straw men all around

lmao bulbinking trying to call other people crazy. It's like Zeus part 2 in here

WastelandCowboy posted...

bulbinking posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

bulbinking posted...

OhhhJa posted...

Yeah I wouldn't worry about anyone doxxing you based on just telling what state you live in. But some folks here are definitely weird enough to worry about if they did know personal info about you

I remeber some from this very website getting in trouble over it.

I never let my guard down when it comes to personal privacy.

Then maybe you shouldnt start shit by wishing death upon millions of Americans living in California, just because you dont agree with their politics.

Dont start nothin. Wont be nothin.

Hey guys this person thinks something mean lets do something illegal to ruin their lives!

Id expect nothing less from a bugmen.

I would feel very sorry for the few good ones who are stuck and cant move but want to.

I never said anything about anything illegal. You assumed I was. You jumped to conclusions.

Now, youre just being psychotic. Only a psycho would legitimately wish death and suffering upon people for having different political opinions.

The state is literally destroying the environment based around their policies then blaming everybody else.

Updated at 10:55 a.m. ET

Kremlin-linked Russian politician Alexander Torshin traveled frequently between Moscow and various destinations in the United States to build relationships with figures on the American right starting as early as 2009, beyond his previously known contacts with the National Rifle Association.

Documents newly obtained by NPR show how he traveled throughout the United States to cultivate ties in ways well beyond his formal role as a member of the Russian legislature and later as a top official at the Russian central bank. These are steps a former top CIA official believes Torshin took in order to advance Moscow's long-term objectives in the United States, in part by establishing common political interests with American conservatives.

"[Vladimir] Putin and probably the Russian intelligence services saw [Torshin's connections] as something that they could leverage in the United States," said Steve Hall, a retired CIA chief of Russian operations. "They reach out to a guy like Torshin and say, 'Hey, can you make contact with the NRA and some other conservatives ... so that we can have connectivity from Moscow into those conservative parts of American politics should we need them?' And that's basically just wiring the United States for sound, if you will, in preparation for whatever they might need down the road."

Torshin's trips took him to Alaska, where he requested a visit with former Gov. Sarah Palin; to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.; to Nashville, where he was an election observer for the 2012 presidential race; and to every NRA convention, in various American cities, between 2012 and 2016.

But the jig is up. Last month, Torshin was designated for sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department.

"We can conclude that the administration thought he was acting to advance Putin's malign agenda, but what precisely [he did] they did not make clear," said Daniel Fried, a former State Department coordinator for sanctions policy who helped craft the sanctions that ultimately were employed against Torshin.

WastelandCowboy posted...

bulbinking posted...

OhhhJa posted...

Yeah I wouldn't worry about anyone doxxing you based on just telling what state you live in. But some folks here are definitely weird enough to worry about if they did know personal info about you

I remeber some from this very website getting in trouble over it.

I never let my guard down when it comes to personal privacy.

Then maybe you shouldnt start shit by wishing death upon millions of Americans living in California, just because you dont agree with their politics.

Dont start nothin. Wont be nothin.

Hey guys this person thinks something mean lets do something illegal to ruin their lives!

Id expect nothing less from a bugmen.

I would feel very sorry for the few good ones who are stuck and cant move but want to.

OhhhJa posted...

Yeah I wouldn't worry about anyone doxxing you based on just telling what state you live in. But some folks here are definitely weird enough to worry about if they did know personal info about you

I remeber some from this very website getting in trouble over it.

I never let my guard down when it comes to personal privacy.

WastelandCowboy posted...

bulbinking posted...

Sarcasthma posted...

Little did you know I'm actually a trigulation master.

Good to know.

Ill direct the cops here if I start getting random late night pizza orders.

Youd be lucky ifs just pizza.

And with that you also go in my list of potential future suspects.

You dont joke around with doxing.

Sarcasthma posted...

Little did you know I'm actually a trigulation master.

Good to know.

Ill direct the cops here if I start getting random late night pizza orders.

Andromicus posted...

bulbinking posted...

Zikten posted...

http://abc7.com/authorities-respond-to-reports-of-possible-shooting-at-palmdales-highland-high-school/3459983/

details still scarce

California. One of the big 3 states that helps push all anti-2nd lobbying in the U.S.

And also the biggest state by population

Trump is about to cut that in half with new census rules.

Our crimerate will also decrease significantly and per capita if cali ever left the union.

Its a trash state being propped up by hollywood and silicon valley (both can be moved) exploiting the conservative farmers up north in the state while padding census numbers with illegal immigrants that they also exploit to get more fed money and voting power.

Cant wait for an EQ/tsunami to wash it off the map.

It will save our water table too that cali has been slowly draining to water their concrete desert cities faster than they can replenish.

California causes wildfires and drought.

If those were the rules, I'd probably stop posting. What's the point of a message board if you can't join in on the conversations?

Considering I don't even make one topic a month, no idea. However, if I did make a topic, I imagine it'd be to complain about losing all of my tabs in Firefox.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Additionally, what would you comment about if you could only make one post inside a topic a day?

Meaning one post per topic or one post in general? Because I wouldn't even bother if it was one in general, I'd just go find a place without a ridiculous prohibition.

One per topic I'd just reply at the end of the day and stick to quoting smaller snippets.

WastelandCowboy posted...

LinkPizza posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

LinkPizza posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

HeyImAlex posted...

Zelda, hands down.

But BioShock is also super amazing. As is Diablo.

Ganon attempts to take over Hyrule. Zelda seeks Link and Link saves the day. Rinse and repeat.

Not always...

Oh, right. Sometimes it's Agahnim, Veran, General Onox, Vaati, Bellum, Malladus, Demise, or some other variety of Ganon.

Yeah. So, other who are not exactly Ganon... You get it...

But it's usually just Ganon, or someone being possessed by Ganon, or a reincarnation of Ganon.

So? It doesn't make me like it any less... He's very dedicated...

WastelandCowboy posted...

LinkPizza posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

HeyImAlex posted...

Zelda, hands down.

But BioShock is also super amazing. As is Diablo.

Ganon attempts to take over Hyrule. Zelda seeks Link and Link saves the day. Rinse and repeat.

Not always...

Oh, right. Sometimes it's Agahnim, Veran, General Onox, Vaati, Bellum, Malladus, Demise, or some other variety of Ganon.

Yeah. So, other who are not exactly Ganon... You get it...

WastelandCowboy posted...

HeyImAlex posted...

Zelda, hands down.

But BioShock is also super amazing. As is Diablo.

Ganon attempts to take over Hyrule. Zelda seeks Link and Link saves the day. Rinse and repeat.

Not always... Besides, there's more if you look for it... and some mysteries, still... Even if they're not big ones...

WastelandCowboy posted...

Ganon attempts to take over Hyrule. Zelda seeks Link and Link saves the day. Rinse and repeat.

Well, that's usually the main story for each game but there's actual lore to the entire universe. Like world creation and Triforce creation and so on and so forth.

Zelda, hands down.

But BioShock is also super amazing. As is Diablo.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Paint Your Wagon.

Can quote from heart.

All I can think of is The Simpsons bit about it and the SiIvaGunner rips.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Renraku_San posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

No worries. When youre banned for continuing to do the same thing you were warned for, I wont be sad.

Shut up.

Nah.

Please.

WastelandCowboy posted...

No worries. When youre banned for continuing to do the same thing you were warned for, I wont be sad.

Shut up.

Huge clickbait? You mean, like this topic? ^_^

Some pundits on NPR yesterday were floating around the idea that Trump might deserve a Nobel Peace Prize for facilitating this (while other pundits tried to downplay Trump by suggesting that the award collectively go to everybody involved). If it goes through, it's still better than the one Obama got for making campaign promises and accepted on the day he committed that troop surge >_>

WastelandCowboy posted...

Habbo. Too many weirdos and attention seekers.

Yeah I quit Habbo too once these nice gentlemen warned me that the pool had AIDS.

https://images.encyclopediadramatica.rs/thumb/5/57/SCREEN9.JPG/300px-SCREEN9.JPG

Gross...

On Wednesday morning, Trump said that "Pompeo and his 'guests' will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2:00 A.M. in the morning. I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!"

Of the three detainees, Kim Dong Chul had been held the longest. He was arrested in 2015, charged with espionage and sentenced in 2016 to 10 years' hard labor.

In an interview with CNN during his detention, Kim Dong Chul said he used to live in Fairfax, Va., and moved to China, near the border with North Korea, to work in international trade and in the hotel business. He said he worked as a spy for South Korean "conservative elements."

"Kim's claims were made in the presence of North Korean officials and CNN cannot determine whether they were made under duress," the broadcaster said.

A North Korean defector identified Kim Dong Chul as a missionary.

Tony Kim was detained in April 2017 as he attempted to leave North Korea. He was an adjunct professor at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, or PUST, where he taught accounting, NPR's Laurel Wamsley reported in 2017.

PUST is "the first and currently only privately-run university in the DPRK," the university says. The college was "founded in 2010 with donations from Christian groups," according to The Associated Press.

A chancellor at the university said Tony Kim had also worked with an orphanage.

He was accused of "hostile criminal acts."

Kim Hak-song was detained a few weeks after Tony Kim. He worked at PUST in agricultural development.

The three men were, as of Wednesday, the only Americans known to be detained in North Korea.

Former prisoner Otto Warmbier, an American college student who had been held in North Korea and sentenced to hard labor, was released in June 2017. But he was in a coma at the time he was returned to the U.S., and he died shortly afterward.

Warmbier's family has sued North Korea, alleging that their son was tortured and murdered by the regime.

Updated at 12:49 p.m. ET

North Korea has released three Americans it had been holding captive, in a deal that was announced as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ended his visit to the isolated country. They left the country with Pompeo and will arrive back in the U.S. early Thursday, with an expected arrival between 2 and 3 a.m. ET at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. President Trump says he will meet them when they land.

"President Trump appreciates leader Kim Jong Un's action to release these American citizens, and views this as a positive gesture of goodwill," the White House said in a statement. "The three Americans appear to be in good condition and were all able to walk on the plane without assistance."

One of the Americans is Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-duk, a teacher who was detained in April 2017. His family issued a statement Wednesday thanking everyone who contributed to his release.

"We ask that you continue to pray for the people of North Korea and for the release of all who are still being held," the Kim family said.

The other two Americans are believed to be Kim Dong Chul, who was arrested in 2015, and Kim Hak-song, also known as Jin Xue Song, whose detention was announced shortly after Tony Kim's.

The three Korean-Americans had been accused of espionage and hostile acts, NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

All three have some sort of religious affiliation, NPR's Anthony Kuhn notes.

"One is a pastor, one is a self-described missionary," he says. "Two of them taught at this school called the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, which was founded by evangelical Christians and teaches children of North Korean elites.

"Experts basically believe that these three were basically detained in order to serve as bargaining chips with the U.S. for North Korea, or even, in the event of a military conflict, human shields," Kuhn reports.

Talk of the captives' release had increased as the U.S. and North Korea's regime engaged in rare talks and worked to arrange a meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un. The president said Pompeo has worked out the place and time of the summit, in talks with North Korean officials, and that it would not take place in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.

Trump confirmed the Americans' release in a tweet on Wednesday morning, saying the group was airborne.

Donald Trump tweeted...

I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health. Also, good meeting with Kim Jong Un. Date & Place set.

"I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea," Trump wrote, "with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health."

Later, during a Cabinet meeting, Trump said the three Americans were "fine people" and seemed to be healthy, adding, "I appreciate Kim Jong Un doing this and allowing them to go."

For Pompeo, this was the second surprise trip to North Korea in recent weeks, having traveled there to visit the country's leader in early April while he was CIA director and before his confirmation as secretary of state.