https://www.forbes.com/si .. visit-in-2019/

WASHINGTON — With a second U.S.-North Korea nuclear summit looming in February, researchers have discovered a secret ballistic missile base in North Korea — one of as many as 20 undisclosed missile sites in the country, according to the researchers’ new report.

The Kim regime has never disclosed the existence of the Sino-ri Missile Operating Base to the outside world. Ballistic missiles are the primary delivery mechanism for*North Korean nuclear warheads.

The report from Beyond Parallel, a project sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a defense think tank, was released Monday and comes after an announcement Friday that President donald trump "looks forward" to meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un next month "at a place to be announced at a later date."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The North Koreans are not going to negotiate over things they donÂ’t disclose," said Victor Cha, one of the authors of the report. "It looks like theyÂ’re playing a game. TheyÂ’re still going to have all this operational capability," even if they destroy their disclosed*nuclear facilities.

Cha says the base is "clearly a mainstay of their strategic missile force," but there are no indications it is part of any discussions on*denuclearization.

Situated about 130 miles north of the DMZ, Sino-ri Missile Operating Base houses the headquarters for the Korean PeopleÂ’s Army Strategic Rocket Forces missile brigade, a unit responsible for ballistic missiles. The base has been central to developing ballistic missiles that are capable of reaching South Korea, Japan, and even Guam, according to the report.

Click here to read the report
 https://beyondparallel.cs .. rce-facilities

Beyond Parallel researchers estimate North Korea has 20 undisclosed sites where it continues to develop its ballistic missile program. Sino-ri is one of the oldest of those sites but is still operational today. Satellite photos dated Dec. 27, 2018, show an entrance to an underground bunker, hardened shelters, and a headquarters area, according to Beyond Parallel. The underground bunkers have rock and dirt berms in front that appear to protect them from artillery fire and airstrikes. The base is just under 7 square miles in size.

Sino-ri is supported by two nearby facilities, the Sobaek-su Academy and Myodu-san training area.

The Sobaek-su Academy was established in the late 1950s or 1960s as an artillery officerÂ’s school and expanded in the following decades, becoming a ballistic missile school early this century, according to the report.

The school not only educates Strategic Rocket Forces officers, but it may also conduct research on "ballistic missile design and operation," the report says. Satellite photos show buildings suspected to hold barracks and classrooms, vehicle storage facilities, and an entrance to an underground facility.

The Myodu-san training area sits less than a mile from the academy and may serve as the training facility for the both the Sino-ri missile base and the academy.



Cha, a former National Security Council official focused on Asian affairs, agreed that the trip to Beijing was a sign Kim is readying for the next meeting.

"This happened last time, too. Kim Jong Un has more leverage in the meeting if heÂ’s just met with Chinese," Cha said, adding, "The Chinese want to make sure that they see Kim before he has another meeting with the U.S. too."

The Trump administration tapped Cha as ambassador to South Korea, but his nomination was withdrawn in early 2018 because of policy disagreements.

On Sunday, Trump tweeted about a possible second summit, saying he is "looking forward to meeting with Chairman Kim at the end of February!" Trump also wrote, "The Media is not giving us credit for the tremendous progress we have made with North Korea."


But a former senior U.S. official briefed on the current negotiations says administration officials and America's allies in the region are nervous that Trump will give up a lot without getting much, if anything, during the upcoming summit with Kim. Those concerns have escalated since Trump's Syria announcement on troop withdrawal after speaking with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Japanese officials in particular are "extremely nervous."

"TheyÂ’re incredibly uncomfortable," the former official said.

They anticipate Trump could agree to international sanctions relief, a liaison office in Pyongyang and an end-of-war declaration, the official said, adding that North Korean officials have told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo they want sanctions relief but the end-of-war declaration is not as much of a priority.


Some Trump administration officials and U.S. allies are nervous because there is still so little known about what Kim and Trump talked about when they met in Singapore last year. Only the interpreter knows, the official said.

"I donÂ’t think the president is telling anyone what he told him," the former official said, so the North Koreans can use that to tell American negotiators whatever they want about what Trump said.

Trump said in July via Twitter that the recent lack of North Korean missile launches is a sign that his approach is working.

The Syria announcement has solidified for world leaders, including those in Japan and South Korea, that the only thing that matters in terms of achieving the U.S. position they want is getting a one-on-one with Trump. "They all know that youÂ’ve got to get to the president and that the president, because he doesnÂ’t study that much, is probably an easy mark," the former official said. "This is a leader game. TheyÂ’re all trying to get to him. ThatÂ’s why thereÂ’s so much anxiety."

There is also concern that Trump will fall back on his threats to withdraw troops from the Korean Peninsula. The recent failure to complete the Special Measures Agreement, a regularly renewed five-year defense pact between the U.S. and South Korea, increases the chances of a fight in the alliance, and that precipitates withdrawal, the former official said.

"I canÂ’t find anybody in the U.S. who thinks the North Koreans are denuclearizing," the former official said. "There was a reluctant conclusion that they had to roll the dice on another summit" to get negotiations moving again.

Jung Pak, a former U.S. intelligence officer who has long tracked North Korea and is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said experts both inside and outside the government donÂ’t believe Kim is ready to give up his nuclear arsenal.

"Credible Korea experts and watchers assess that Kim is highly unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons," Pak told NBC News.

The U.S. government assesses that North Korean ballistic missile development and activity has continued throughout 2018 and into 2019, but North KoreaÂ’s actions have not been as aggressive as in 2017 when it launched about two-dozen missiles during 16 tests. North KoreaÂ’s missile program made dramatic strides in 2017 with numerous ICBM launches and while the launches ceased in 2018, the development did not.

Despite the U.S. desire for the North Koreans to provide a full accounting of their ballistic missile sites and nuclear weapons program, North Korea has not yet done so.

The Trump administration says the discussions with the North have already produced progress by lowering tensions, and that the regime has not conducted new missile or nuclear tests since the diplomacy began.

But former officials and lawmakers say North Korea remains an unpredictable danger to the U.S. and its allies, with an increasingly capable nuclear and missile arsenal.

"Tensions have been reduced. But the North Korean threat has not been reduced," Pak said. "Those are two different things."

U.S. officials also acknowledge that North Korea continues to produce fissile material for weapons.

 https://www.nbcnews.com/n .. -there-n958801

That second tweet though. Does trump not know the Korean War never ended. We are literally still at war with North Korea.

On the eve of a holiday commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Vice President Pence seemed to liken President Trump’s push for a border wall to the civil rights leader’s legacy.

Speaking Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” the vice president quoted from King’s “I Have a Dream” speech as he defended Trump’s latest pitch to secure funding for a barrier along the United States’ southern border. The budget impasse over the wall has resulted in the longest government shutdown in history, one that has left thousands of federal workers without pay.

“One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was, ‘Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy,’ ” Pence said. “You think of how he changed America. He inspired us to change through the legislative process, to become a more perfect union.

“That’s exactly what President Trump is calling on Congress to do,” Pence continued. “Come to the table in the spirit of good faith. We’ll secure our border. We’ll reopen the government and we’ll move our nation forward as the president said yesterday to even a broader discussion about immigration reform in the months ahead.”

Pence was referring to the president’s latest proposal to end the partial government shutdown. On Saturday, Trump offered Democrats three years of deportation protections for some immigrants, including many who were brought to the country illegally as children, in exchange for $5.7 billion in wall funding.

Democrats, who have long sought protections for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, who are known as “dreamers,” immediately rejected the proposal, arguing that the president should reopen the government before any talks on border security begin. Conservatives saw the president’s proposal as amnesty.

On Sunday, Pence appeared on multiple shows and defended Trump’s proposal, which he said “provides a framework” for ending the shutdown.

“What the president presented yesterday really is an effort to bring together ideas from both political parties,” Pence said on CBS. “I think it is an act of statesmanship on the president’s part to say, ‘Here is what I’m for. It includes my priorities, it includes priorities that Democrats have advanced for some period of time.’”

Pence’s comments about King drew immediate pushback from Democrats, including Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who said Trump “is no MLK.”

 https://www.washingtonpos .. =.f80c4fa05eb4

60-year-old manÂ’s application paperwork lands him in trouble.


The Japanese mafia, known as the Yakuza, have a pretty notorious reputation. Although they try to keep a positive image by handing out candy on Halloween, their association with prostitution, drugs, and gambling is their most pervasive impression.

Such as their reputation is, members of organized crime are rather frowned upon by Japanese society, which leads them to be unwelcome in many organizations and public spaces. One 60-year-old man in Kasugai City, Aichi Prefecture, west of Tokyo, found this out when he tried to work part-time at the Post Office, but instead ended up fired and arrested for being paid for his work.

Now you may ask, what’s so wrong with a man earning an honest wage at a part-time job? Well, it seems that in order to get a job at the Post Office, you have to sign a contract that says, “I am not a member of an organized crime group” which the man did when he took the position. Unfortunately, he was associated with the Yamaguchi Clan, the most powerful Yakuza clan in the country and one of the most powerful organized crime units in the world. Naturally this meant that the man violated his contract with the Post Office, and of course once his secret was out after just four days of working there, he was immediately fired.

But why was he arrested? The details are not exactly clear, but it seems that itÂ’s because he received pay under fraudulent conditions. The police were searching the Yamaguchi clan office, where they found records that heÂ’d received a direct deposit of pay from the Post Office to his bank account. Police then arrested the man, who admitted to his crime, and are now conducting an investigation into the manÂ’s motive for taking a job at the Post Office.

Japanese netizens’ responses were a mixed bag of sympathy and criticism, but most of the responses seemed concerned about the money, with many saying, “He worked, so he should get paid, shouldn’t he?”

“It’s just part-time wages, why not give it to him?”
“He didn’t scam anything lol”
“He was arrested for working earnestly lol”
“It’s fine if he actually worked, don’t you think?”
“It’s okay if they fired him once the secret was out, but aren’t they supposed to pay him for the time he worked? This is weird.”

While others were completely unsympathetic:

“That’s definitely scamming. Besides, he caused the Post Office to ruin their good image because they hired a Yakuza member.”
“That money would have been paid to the government in some other kind of crime, so we have to have harden our hearts and take care of the problem now.”
“I have no sympathy for this guy. It’s all his fault since all he had to do was just quit the mafia.”
“It’s because companies aren’t supposed to associate with organized crime.”

 https://soranews24.com/20 .. t-application/
 https://headlines.yahoo.c .. 80-tokaiv-soci

Missed out on all that extra protein.

 https://www.cnbc.com/2019 .. s-on-vudu.html





Here’s a plot twist — one company is deciding not to launch a new streaming video service.

At a time when NBC, Disney, AT&T, Viacom, Apple and others are considering subscription services for cord cutters, Walmart is abandoning its plans, according to people familiar with the matter. The giant discount retailer opted not to move forward with a new streaming product after talks with veteran media executive Mark Greenberg fell apart last year, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private.

Instead, Walmart will focus on bolstering Vudu, the video service it acquired in 2010. Vudu offers a variety of movies and shows for free with ads or for purchase that can be rented or owned. Vudu is No. 3 in pay-per-view digital video, trailing Apple and Amazon, Variety reported in October

Greenberg, who was previously CEO of premium movie service Epix, had spoken to Walmart about developing a service aimed at “Middle America,” the people said. The initial success of the “Roseanne” revival last year inspired other content creators to go after that type of audience.

But talks with Walmart broke down after Walmart couldnÂ’t get comfortable with making a large investment in content, a business where it has no real experience and where competitors such as Netflix can spend more than $10 billion a year on new TV shows and movies.

Vudu has taken a small step in the direction of original content, agreeing to retool the 1983 comedy “Mr. Mom” into a digital series. The service’s focus will continue to be on a broader library of movies and shows. The Vudu business is under Marc Lore, Walmart’s head of e-commerce.

“Vudu has developed a strong platform, and we aim to continue to bring our customers more content, on more devices, at the best possible price,” Tara Raddohl-House, a Walmart spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.

Greenberg, meanwhile, has held talks with several other retailers, including Costco, about building out a service geared toward average Americans, but no agreement has been reached, said a person familiar with the matter. Costco didnÂ’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The company is also reportedly exploring the launch of a streaming service for its top customers

President trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani on Sunday said it's "possible" that president spoke to his former attorney Michael Cohen ahead of his congressional testimony.

"Which would be perfectly normal," Giuliani told CNN's "State of the Union." "So what?"

"As far as I know, President trump did not have discussions with him," he added. "Certainly no discussions with him in which he told him or counseled him to lie.

BuzzFeed reported last week that Trump directed Cohen to lie to Congress about a deal to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The report claimed that special counsel Robert Mueller's office had evidence to prove the claim, however the special counsel's office disputed the accuracy of the story, calling the "characterization ... not accurate." It is not clear which parts of the story Mueller's office disputed. BuzzFeed stands by its reporting.

Guiliani maintained that the Buzzfeed story was "phony" and "scandalous...fake news."

However, he said although he had no knowledge of such conversations, the president may have discussed Cohen's testimony with him without directing him to lie.


If he had any discussions with him, they'd be about the version of the events that Michael Cohen gave them which they all believe was true," Giuliani said.
iuliani said during a separate appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he is “100 percent certain” that Trump never once asked Cohen to do anything but tell the truth to Congress.

“I can tell you his counsel to Michael Cohen throughout that entire period was, ‘Tell the truth.’ We thought he was telling the truth. I still believe he may have been telling the truth when he testified before Congress,” he told host Chuck Todd.

Cohen pleaded guilty last November to lying to Congress about plans to build Trump Tower in Moscow, and signed a plea deal with Mueller's office. Cohen said he was lying when he told Congress in an August 2017 letter that "the Moscow Project ended in January 2016," before the Iowa caucuses. According to Cohen, discussions on the project were still happening in June 2016.*

Buzzfeed also reported that Trump was involved in ongoing negotiations over the Moscow project and supported a plan to visit Russia and meet with President Vladimir Putin during the 2016 campaign. According to BuzzFeed, citing two law enforcement sources, Trump had at least 10 face-to-face meetings with Cohen about the matter.

Trump "wasn't talking to Russia about anything" during the campaign, Giuliani told CNN. "It was an early stage proposal that never got beyond a nonbinding letter of intent run by Michael Cohen. It was his project and being done while Donald Trump was running for president of the United States and wasn't focused on that at all."

 https://thehill.com/homen .. s-testimony-so

Rudy moving the goalposts a little bit.

I'm on the fence with this one.

A. The vast majority of people on welfare work. Its a working poor issue... I know.




B. You have to have a job in order to receive welfare unless there's a qualifier as in the case of the elderly, disabled, etc. A lot of vets, vets with ptsd and kids will be eating from those boxes.


But maaaaannn



Fvck relying on the government. Families need to sit together and develop plans to acquire generational wealth. It might have to be a 10 year + plan....so be it. Nah everyone can't be rich. If we all could, no one would be 'rich'. Nevertheless, we should dedicate ample time to setting up multiple streams of incomes. What that bishop in the video said is true: Poverty is a trap. A family with bad financial knowledge passed down from generation to generation will be stuck in a rut. How much time does a family dedicate to entertainment vs. finance education?
Also, a bad start makes it difficult to recover. It's harder to gain wealth if you hit 25 with 4 kids and no degree... A good start is essential. Obviously, all youve got is yourself. There's no trusting uncle Sam.

Staff at Hatton Country World in Warwickshire couldn't understand why they suddenly had 100 pregnant guinea pigs on their hands - until they released one of the male rodents had managed to escape his enclosure and infiltrate the female-only enclosure.

They noticed that the exhausted father-to-be, now nicknamed Randy, had lost a little weight, but did not realise why until they discovered he was actually a male rodent being kept busy in the wrong pen.

The animal park, which already has 300 male and female guinea pigs, is now readying itself for a population boom in the next few weeks.

Manager Richard Craddock said: "One of our male guinea pigs managed to find his way into the female enclosure and had a very good time by the looks of it.

"We suspect a child may have placed him back in the wrong pen by accident after stroking him or Randy may have somehow broken out of his enclosure to get to the females. "

"We believe that the newly-named Randy could have impregnated up to 100 female guinea pigs, which have litters of about four, so if you do the maths we could be expecting quite a baby boom.

 https://news.umich.edu/ma .. ription-drugs/

 https://radiichina.com/dr .. e-now-a-thing/