North Korea postponed U.S. talks because 'they weren't ready': Haley

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea postponed talks with the United States on Thursday “because they weren’t ready,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said as she urged Pyongyang to implement a June deal between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters before and after a closed-door U.N. Security Council meeting on North Korea sanctions, Haley said it is now North Korea’s turn to act. She also criticized Russia for trying to lift banking restrictions that are intended to curb the Asian nation’s nuclear program.

“There’s no time to stall or no time to delay or try and get past not going through with what was agreed in Singapore,” said Haley, who will step down at the end of the year.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to work toward denuclearization at their landmark June summit in Singapore. But the agreement was short on specifics and negotiations have made little headway.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been due to meet North Korean officials in New York on Thursday, but the State Department said on Wednesday it would be postponed to a later date. It gave no reason for the delay.

The North Korean mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-sanctions-un/north-korea-postponed-u-s-talks-because-they-werent-ready-haley-idUSKCN1ND2WE

soon we won't have to listen to Jimmy boys bullshit

Chinese state media debuts 'AI' news anchors

China's state-controlled news broadcasters have long been considered somewhat robotic in their daily recitation of pro-government propaganda and a pair of new presenters will do little to dispel that view.

Calling it a "world first", Xinhua news agency this week debuted a pair of virtual news anchors amid a state-directed embrace of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

Based on the appearances of two flesh-and-blood Chinese news presenters, the computerised avatars read out text that is fed into their system, their mouths moving in tandem with the reports.

Xinhua said the "AI Synthetic Anchors", one for Chinese and one for English news, were developed along with Sogou Inc, a Beijing-based creator of search engines and voice-recognition technology.

China last year unveiled plans to become a world leader in AI and other high-tech fields, though it has since toned down the rhetoric amid a trade war with the United States, which has included accusations by President Donald Trump that China steals US technologies.

https://techxplore.com/news/2018-11-chinese-state-media-debuts-ai.html

Austria accuses retired colonel of spying for Russia for decades

Austria has a launched a probe into an army colonel suspected of spying for Russia for several decades, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said Friday, the latest in a string of cases where Moscow has been accused of espionage in EU states.

Kurz told a press conference that the colonel, now retired, is suspected to have begun working with Russian intelligence in the 1990s and carried on until 2018.

Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has summoned the Russian charge d’affaires over the matter and cancelled an upcoming trip to Russia.

Russia’s foreign ministry meanwhile said it was calling in the Austrian ambassador to discuss the issue.

“Of course if such cases are confirmed, whether it be in the Netherlands or in Austria, it can’t improve the relationship between the EU and Russia,” Kurz told reporters in Vienna.

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2172529/austria-accuses-retired-colonel-spying-russia-decades

US court halts construction of US$8 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline

A federal judge on Thursday halted construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, arguing that President Donald Trump’s administration had failed to adequately explain why it had lifted a ban on the project.

The ruling by Judge Brian Morris of the US District Court for the District of Montana dealt a stinging setback to Trump and the oil industry and served up a big win for conservationists and indigenous groups.

Trump granted a permit for the US$8 billion conduit meant to stretch from Canada to Texas just days after taking office last year. He said it would create jobs and spur development of infrastructure.

In doing so the administration overturned a ruling by then president Barack Obama in 2015 that denied a permit for the pipeline, largely on environmental grounds, in particular the US contribution to climate change.

The analysis of a cross-border project like this is done by the State Department.

The same environmental analysis that the department carried out before denying the permit in 2015 was ignored when the department turned around last year and approved it, the judge argued.

“An agency cannot simply disregard contrary or inconvenient factual determinations that it made in the past, any more than it can ignore inconvenient facts when it writes on a blank slate,” Morris wrote.

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2172508/us-court-halts-construction-us8-billion-keystone-xl

Trump’s Asia strategy: send Vice-President Pence on whirlwind tour to try counter China’s dominance

The deputy leader of the US will attend Apec and Asean summits, as well as visit key allies Australia and Japan

US-China talks expected to restart on Friday in effort to cool tensions on trade and security

More than a dozen Pacific nations will convene in the capital of Papua New Guinea next week, where US Vice-President Mike Pence will lay out the next phase of the Trump administration’s ever evolving Asia strategy. His task is to convince the countries of Southeast Asia that the United States and its allies can offer them better options than capitulation to Chinese economic regional dominance.

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2172402/trumps-asia-strategy-send-vice-president-pence-whirlwind

Ukraine's depopulation crisis continues unabated - 2 million have migrated to Russia

As fascist far-right nationalist groups regularly parade through the country demanding "Ukraine for Ukrainians," Ukraine faces a massive depopulation crisis. Millions of people of all ethnicities are leaving the country, fleeing poverty and war.

Since the restoration of capitalism in 1991, the overall population of Ukraine has declined from just over 52 million to approximately 42 million today, a decrease of nearly 20 percent. If the separatist-controlled provinces of the Donbass region and Crimea are excluded, it is estimated that just 35 million people now live in the area controlled by the government of Petro Porosehnko.

Ukrainian governments, including the current one, have been loath to carry out an official census, as it is widely believed that the population estimates reported by the country's State Statistics Service (SSS) are inflated by including deceased individuals. One aim of this is to rig elections. An official country-wide census has not been held since 2001. In late 2015, the Poroshenko government postponed the 2016 census until 2020.

Despite the lack of reliable official numbers, all independent reports point to a sharp reduction in the population. According to Ukraine's Institute of Demography at the Academy of Sciences, by 2050 only 32 million people will live in the country. The World Health Organization has estimated that the population of the country will drop even further, to just 30 million people.

https://www.sott.net/article/400201-Ukraines-depopulation-crisis-continues-unabated-2-million-have-migrated-to-Russia

>>3816056

they know better then to believe the lies in the western press, shame Americans don't pay attention

CommScope To Acquire Arris For $7.4 Billion In Telecom Equipment Merger

CommScope Holding (COMM) has agreed to buy Arris International (ARRS) in a $7.4 billion merger that combines a wireless network gear maker with a cable equipment provider. CommScope stock plunged on the deal's announcement.

Telecom gear maker CommScope will pay $5.9 billion in cash and assume $1.5 billion in debt. CommScope agreed to pay $31.75 a share, a 14% premium of Arris's closing price on Wednesday. Arris stock had jumped 11.3% Wednesday on word of a deal. Arris stock surged another 10.4% on Thursday to close at 30.68.

Shares in CommScope tumbled 20% to 19.56 on the stock market today, continuing a sell-off that began when negotiations with Arris first surfaced.

( Remember who the Carlyle Group is )

The Carlyle Group will invest $1 billion in CommScope to provide financing for the deal, the telecom gear maker said.

https://www.investors.com/news/technology/commscope-stock-acquisition-arris/

One for the FEers. lighten up would ya

Flat earther thinks the Earth is actually shaped like a doughnut

© @u/osrsslay/Reddit

A Flat Earther (well, an ex-Flat Earther) now thinks the Earth is actually shaped like a doughnut.

Not comfortable with the idea of our home looking like a vinyl record, Flat Earth Society member Varuag, has posed the possibility of the planet actually being more of a Krispy Kreme.

'I was wondering how a theory like FE theory gets formed, and I came to the conclusion that someone must've thought of the original idea,' they wrote. 'And then it must've been followed by a long series of people pointing out flaws and then re-adjusting the theory (or thinking of new ideas) to iron out the flaws in the theory.'

The first question was how can we tell if the light is curved. Varaug said, as reported by Flat Earth Society:

Radio waves are reflected by the atmosphere (hence why we don't need to set up several towers to transmit radio waves across very long distances).

Light waves are also reflected in a similar way. When we look across, the light diminishes as it travels, and by the time it reaches the atmosphere, it is diminished enough to be reflected.

The light will then hit another corner of atmosphere and so on and so forth, curving every time. This gives the impression that the Earth is flat (or has a slight curvature).

So, if I stand on the surface in the middle of the TE and look up, why can't I see the opposite side of the torus, came the next inquiry.

Varuag answered:

When you stand in the middle of the TE and look up, the light passes through the first atmosphere it reaches.

However, by the time it reaches the second atmosphere (the one to re-enter the atmosphere of the TE) it has diminished enough to be reflected, and gets reflected into space, so you see space.

When asked how we have night and day, they said to lay a torch horizontal on a table and turn it on. Then to get a doughnut and place it on it's side, with the hole perpendicular to the torch; the side which is illuminated by the torch is in day.

'Over 24 hours, the doughnut performs one complete revolution,' they instructed. 'Spin it half way around, this signifies the passing of 12 hours.

Now, the side that WAS in day, is facing away from the torch and is in night. The side that WAS in night, is now facing the torch and is in day.'

Is this all one big joke? I have no idea.

https://www.sott.net/article/400046-Flat-earther-thinks-the-Earth-is-actually-shaped-like-a-doughnut

The Elite Struck Back—Trump Must Stand Strong

After two years of endless whinging from the Left, the 2018 midterms have come and gone. The results were mixed. If the Left wanted 2018 to be a referendum on Trump’s presidency, they failed. Yet one thing is certain: however slightly, the Democratic Party increased their standing in our political system.

Yes, it’s true that the Democrats won only a narrow margin in the House while the Republicans took an even larger majority in the Senate. Despite their delusions to the contrary, Donald J. Trump remains president of the United States.

Still, one can be assured that the Democrat-controlled House is going to swamp the Trump Administration with a flurry of baseless investigations aimed at handicapping the president and keeping him from following through on his transformative agenda.

In essence, if the 2016 presidential election was America’s “New Hope,” then 2018 was “The Davoise Strikes Back.” Going forward, Trump is likely to be inundated with calls from the reinvigorated #NeverTrump wing of the Republican Party (now headed by Utah’s Senator-elect Mitt Romney) to be more conciliatory toward the Democrats, unless the GOP wishes to lose even more ground in 2020.

Trump should not be swayed by these demands for conciliation. Instead, Trump should more forcefully advocate the issues that he initially campaigned on: immigration, smart protectionism, and infrastructure.

Only by standing firm against the increasing political pressure of the Left will Trump force the Democrats to choose between total gridlock (which may be their object, though if so they will pay for it in 2020) and getting key legislation passed for which they might be able to take some credit. Incidentally, at least two of the three main Trump agenda items listed above are policies that most Democrats, at least in theory, ought to support (of course, today, “Orange Man Bad!” is the Left’s unofficial motto).

https://www.amgreatness.com/2018/11/09/the-elite-struck-back-trump-must-stand-strong/

Democrats as the Party of Slave Power Tyranny

The Republican surrender of the House of Representatives to Democrats and the reestablishment of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) ought to remind us of the history of Democratic tyranny.

They are, after all, the party of slavery, the Klan, and segregation. This criticism is not just dated, but outrageously unfair you say? After all, aren’t the Democrats the party with overwhelming black support and two recent black presidents—Bill Clinton and then Barack Obama?

Let’s review the history.

Thinking about the question of tyranny—which is a better way to say injustice—in terms of race, as we now automatically seem to do, disguises the most fundamental problem: the lust for power that animates tyranny. Democrats not only have always despised restraints on their power, whether internal or constitutional—they have always been the slave power, by which I don’t only mean chattel slavery (though they certainly did their bit to support that).

Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican party (which is the antecedent but not exactly the same thing as today’s Democrats) defended the natural rights of the Declaration of Independence by putting up a fight against the power of the Adams-Hamilton wing of the then-dominant Federalist government, by working through the state governments.

But this changed in the early 19th century, as the meaning of the Declaration of Independence began to be forgotten and distorted. Shedding the view that the founders regarded the necessary evil of slavery as shameful, the nation beheld the enhanced economic advantages slavery brought to them and became increasingly convinced of the positive case for slavery.

Following the Civil War, the Democrats attempted to restore the tyranny of slavery through the tyranny of Jim Crow laws. Republican resistance to these forced Democrats to be more clever about their grabs at power. The Progressive Democrat Woodrow Wilson then tried to destroy our greatest defense against tyranny by denouncing the Declaration as irrelevant and outmoded. But Wilson was, like most tyrannical souls, arrogant, in presuming he could so readily, so fecklessly dispose of the central document protecting American freedom.

Franklin Roosevelt had a shrewder idea—he would reinterpret both the Declaration and the Constitution to favor unlimited government power. His First Inaugural said it all: the crisis of the Depression required all Americans to obey their anointed leader as soldiers do their commander! (Ronald Reagan called ordinary Americans heroes, who are their own commanders.) In his 1944 State of the Union Address, in the midst of World War II, FDR compared Republicans to fascists and declared that the war was wasted effort if that was what America would return to.

Not to be outdone, Roosevelt’s successor, Harry Truman, accused Republicans of shielding fascist, racist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic forces. Very little in Democratic campaign tactics has changed since those days. The only Republican who appears to have learned from Truman’s victorious strategy is Donald Trump. Democrats today, however, retain this preposterous comparison of Republicans with the worst enemies of America—for the purpose of justifying lawless tactics against those who love their country.

Lyndon Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama all did their part in constructing an administrative state, a bureaucracy headed by activist intellectuals that shuts down self-governing citizens with their edicts, hostility to religion, and political correctness. “You work, I eat” is a politically incorrect view of what the security state means for citizens. The tyranny of the administrative state can be soft—offering security in place of choice and freedom—though it can also be harsh, as the EPA’s lawless dictates reveal. But object to this unconstitutional arrangement, and you’ll be accused of being fascist, racist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic. It’s an old story, with the twist that now condemns those who are the real fighters for freedom.

https://www.amgreatness.com/2018/11/07/democrats-as-the-party-of-slave-power-tyranny/

‘I’m not that stupid’: Prince Charles says he won’t meddle in UK when he’s king

Britain’s Prince Charles said he will stop speaking out on issues he feels strongly about when he becomes king as he is “not that stupid”.

Speaking to the BBC ahead of his 70th birthday next week, the son of 92-year-old Queen Elizabeth said that the role of monarch was completely different to his current position as Prince of Wales.

Britain currently has a constitutional monarchy, where the monarch has a formal role in the formation of governments but an obligation to remain neutral and no practical political power.

Charles has been outspoken on topics such as the environment and social issues. In September Charles said in an interview with GQ magazine that: “My problem is I find there are too many things that need doing or battling on behalf of.”

But he told the BBC that he would operate within “constitutional parameters” as king.

“I do realise that it is a separate exercise being sovereign. So of course I understand entirely how that should operate,” he said.

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2172290/im-not-stupid-prince-charles-says-he-wont-meddle-uk-when-hes-king

>>3816096

Any idea how many time our economy slowed and got sluggish because of the price of oil and gas and what that does for jobs creation

What did Q say about the fires in Calif or am I mistaken

Fire shuts down Highway 12, burns toward Suisun Marsh

SUISUN CITY — A wind-driven grass fire that burned an estimated 1,500 acres closed down Highway 12 between Walters Road and Highway 113 early Thursday afternoon.

Eastbound fire engines and rigs from several responding fire departments and fire districts had to weave around a solid wall of stopped traffic on Highway 12 that backed all the way up to McCoy Creek.

One firefighting helicopter and two aircraft responded to the scene to help a small army of firefighters on the ground.

The incident wasn’t an official California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection incident, but Cal Fire committed aircraft and dozers to help with the firefighting effort, Cal Fire reports.

California Highway Patrol officers initially shut down Highway 12 in both directions – eastbound at Walters Road and westbound at Highway 113. The westbound boundary was later moved west to Denverton Road. The CHP announced around 2:20 p.m. that the highway was open.

The four-alarm fire started just before noon, caused by a tractor-trailer that was hauling debris on Highway 12 near Nurse Slough Road, according to Don Ryan of the Solano County Office of Emergency Services.

https://www.dailyrepublic.com/all-dr-news/solano-news/fairfield/fire-shuts-down-highway-12-burns-toward-suisun-marsh/

Russian tycoon a formal suspect in Monaco corruption probe

Prosecutor has not been told by the judge what charges billionaire and AS Monaco owner Dmitry Rybolovlev would face if the case proceeded to trial

A judge in Monaco has declared Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev a formal suspect in a probe into corruption and influence-peddling, the principality’s chief prosecutor said on Wednesday, after police questioned him for 24 hours.

The judge has been investigating for more than a year whether the fertiliser tycoon, who owns soccer club AS Monaco, sought to influence Monaco’s law enforcement officials in a long-running dispute with Swiss art dealer Yves Bouvier.

The Russian alleges Bouvier conned him out of US$1 billion by inflating the price of 38 pieces of art he bought over a 10-year period. Rybolovlev is suing his former art adviser in Monaco, Singapore and Switzerland. Bouvier has denied wrongdoing.

“He has been released subject to controls,” prosecutor Sylvie Petit-Leclair said. Petit-Leclair said she had not yet been informed by the judge of what charges Rybolovlev would face if the case proceeded to trial.

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2172209/russian-tycoon-formal-suspect-monaco-corruption-probe

>>3816454

Maybe it was planned .how could they procreate if they didn't know they were naked

>>3816483

Sure it does

Genesis 9:7

“And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.”

Paving the way for the false prophet

Laws to ensure religious harmony have to be updated to counter new threats: PM Lee

SINGAPORE - Laws to safeguard religious harmony in Singapore must be updated in the face of new threats, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday (Nov 7).

He was speaking of the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, which allows the Government to act against those sowing discord among religious groups.

"Fortunately, the Government has never had to invoke the powers it has under the Act," Mr Lee said at the Future of Faith conference, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis). "Nevertheless, by its very existence, the Act has made an important contribution to our religious harmony."

He added: "We will have to keep the Act up to date, to deal with new threats to our religious harmony that may emerge."

Mr Lee did not elaborate on these threats, but Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli said these new threats have arisen as a result of external influences that try to reshape the way Singaporean Muslims live their lives.

Muis chief executive Abdul Razak Hassan Maricar said that the future of faith must be about a common aspiration to do greater good.

"In an increasingly plural world, religions can be a powerful unifying force that bring people together," he said.

In his speech, Mr Lee said that Singapore has established social norms of compromise and accommodation "through a long period of sustained effort and socialisation".

But maintaining religious harmony in Singapore requires "unremitting conscious effort and attention", he added.

It also requires religious leaders who understand the broader social context, support the Government's efforts to build common ground, and guide their followers on the right path.

"Fostering good interfaith relations is critical for multi-religious societies like Singapore," Mr Lee said.

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/laws-to-ensure-religious-harmony-have-to-be-updated-to-counter-new-threats-lee-hsien-loong

>>3816577

Looks like he needs a fix real bad in that pic