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You are here: Home / Politics / America / Kim Jung Un Uses The Trump Doctrine To His Own Advantage

Kim Jung Un Uses The Trump Doctrine To His Own Advantage

by Adam L Silverman|  May 10, 20181:40 pm| 198 Comments

This post is in: America, Election 2016, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Politics, Popular Culture, Post-racial America, Silverman on Security, The Trump Doctrine, Not Normal

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Early this morning, three Korean Americans who were being held prisoner in the DPRK landed at Joint Base Andrews and were greeted by the President.

“We want to thank Kim Jong-un, who really was excellent to these three incredible people.”https://t.co/0APtyURNDF

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) May 10, 2018

Stop for a second. Reread the remarks that Frank Luntz is highlighting:

“We want to thank Kim Jong Un,” Trump said after emerging from the medical plane that transported the three prisoners, which he and his wife had boarded to greet the men. “We very much appreciate that he allowed them to go before the meeting. He was nice in letting them go before the meeting … That was a big thing, very important to me.”

That these three men were freed is a great thing. Because he’s president, and as would be the case with anyone who was at a time like this, some of the accolades for their release will and should accrue to the President regardless of what anyone thinks of him. But focus on the President’s remarks here one more time (emphasis mine):

“We want to thank Kim Jong Un,” Trump said after emerging from the medical plane that transported the three prisoners, which he and his wife had boarded to greet the men. “We very much appreciate that he allowed them to go before the meeting. He was nice in letting them go before the meeting … That was a big thing, very important to me.”

It is unclear from these remarks if the President realizes that these men were scarfed up and imprisoned at a forced labor camp to be used as bargaining chits. The first during the Obama administration and the latter two in 2017 on this President’s watch. These remarks are divorced from the reality of the situation. They ignore why the men were taken, why it was unacceptable, and why describing their release like this just reinforces that Kim has learned to appear to treat the President, and by extension the US, “fairly” to get what he wants. And to avoid the “or else” of the Trump Doctrine. While you don’t want to create a new international incident at 2:00 AM EDT if you can avoid it, the President’s remarks about these men’s release seem to ignore the reality of the actual situation and are equivalent to praising that nice Ted Bundy because he wanted to make sure young women didn’t have to walk home alone!

What the President doesn’t seem to grasp with these men’s release, or if he does, what he doesn’t seem to be able to communicate, is that the US had already granted Kim Jung Un his most important concessions. By browbeating and threatening President Moon and the ROK over trade imbalances and the President’s belief that the South Koreans are ripping off the US through our strategic alliance with them, the President made it much easier for President Moon to move on his own policy preferences, which were to directly and bilaterally negotiate with Kim. This gave Kim his first victory via concession. The second was in agreeing to meet with Kim. Such a meeting, long sought by Kim, as well as Kim’s father and grandfather, should have been a carrot held out as a reward for making significant, concrete positive movements rather than as an impulsive give away. Kim has now gotten what he wanted. President Moon is negotiating with him directly. The President is praising him publicly, which further helps Kim get out from being considered an international pariah. And the President is going to meet with him on June 12th in Singapore, which gives Kim his biggest concession: elevating his and the DPRK’s status on the international stage.

Kim has figured out, as has President Moon of the ROK, that the Trump Doctrine can be used against the President and the US. He’s basically weaponized appearing to treat the President, and by extension the US, “fairly” to both get what he wants and to avoid the “or else”. As a result, in less than six months we went from this:

The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man. Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions. Russia and China condemned the launch.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2017

To this:

“We want to thank Kim Jong-un, who really was excellent to these three incredible people.”https://t.co/0APtyURNDF

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) May 10, 2018

Once Kim got what he wanted, a status elevating meeting with the President, he no longer needed these prisoners as bargaining chits. What remains to be seen is whether come June, Kim continues to leverage the Trump Doctrine to get the better of the President.

Stay frosty!

Open thread.

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Reader Interactions

198Comments

  1. 1.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 1:42 pm

    Once Kim got what he wanted, a status elevating meeting with the President, he no longer needed these prisoners as bargaining chits.

    Hell, we’ve even been here before. I remember when President Clinton had to negotiate a prisoner release last time.

    Fucking Trumpsters have the memories of mayflies.

  2. 2.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 1:44 pm

    These remarks are divorced from the reality of the situation. They ignore why the men were taken, why it was unacceptable

    So another day ending in WHY FSM WHY?!

  3. 3.

    Gravenstone

    May 10, 2018 at 1:48 pm

    It is unclear from these remarks if the President realizes that these men were scarfed up and imprisoned at a forced labor camp to be used as bargaining chits.

    It may be cliche, but Imma stop you right here. No, no the President* doesn’t realize this. The President* doesn’t realize a single fucking thing.

  4. 4.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 1:48 pm

    @TenguPhule: @TenguPhule: I work Ted Bundy snark into the post and this is what you want to focus on?

  5. 5.

    The Moar You Know

    May 10, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    They ignore why the men were taken, why it was unacceptable

    They committed acts which had been very carefully explained to them on multiple occasions were death-sentence crimes in North Korea. Why was this unacceptable?

  6. 6.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 1:49 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I find Ted Bundy unfunny. Sorry.

  7. 7.

    The Moar You Know

    May 10, 2018 at 1:50 pm

    I work Ted Bundy snark into the post and this is what you want to focus on?

    @Adam L Silverman: Sometimes deep acts of genius go unappreciated by the very people you create them for.

  8. 8.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    @TenguPhule: Really? After two years of snuff fantasy comments, you draw the line at Ted Bundy snark? I’ll update your dossier accordingly.

  9. 9.

    kindness

    May 10, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    It’s come to the point where I think Trump did this on purpose knowing it would blow up the morning News. Purposeful chaos keeps us from looking at what TrumpCo are actually doing. It’s working for Trump too. He’s playing the media (and us libs) like a cheap violin.

  10. 10.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    @The Moar You Know: I’m gonna have to cut off an ear for you people, aren’t I?//

  11. 11.

    ruemara

    May 10, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    @Gravenstone: In truth, neither does his base. One Trumpster I know is posting thank you images to Dolt. Frankly, I’m not surprised, she’s got the depth of a picoliter.

  12. 12.

    LAO

    May 10, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Now that, was a genuinely funny reply. You don’t have to cut off an ear.

  13. 13.

    donnah

    May 10, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    No news reports will present this information from this angle. They’ve been desperate for Trump to do something “good” and everyone is going to present this prisoner release as a big foreign policy and humanitarian win. Never mind how the three were detained or why, but only that they’re free.

    If it gets mentioned, it will be labeled as sour grapes by the Right.

  14. 14.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 1:56 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I only want to kill people who really really deserve it.

    Ted Bundy was a Republican Serial Rapist/Killer who managed to escape and kill again before finally being put down like the mad animal that he was. The Death penalty was made for those like him.

  15. 15.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    @LAO: I never said it would be my ear…//

  16. 16.

    ChrisS

    May 10, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    He really is the best negotiator.

  17. 17.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 1:59 pm

    @TenguPhule: I am well aware of the Bundy case. My father advised state and local law enforcement in Florida as they pursued him, after they caught him, and ultimately hired the Leon County Sheriff’s detective who caught him on to his criminology faculty.

  18. 18.

    Mary G

    May 10, 2018 at 2:01 pm

    He judges everything by TV ratings – and even said he got the highest ever for 3 a.m.! One of the conservatives I follow on Twitter reposted a “behind the scenes” video by Dan Scavino, panning the crowds of cameras and reporters who had gotten up in the middle of the night to come to the airport to pay homage to his greatness. Even the fake news can’t deny it! It’s completely “LOOK AT MEEEE, here now, this minute, I’ll be on the front page of the NYT in the morning.” That’s the only important thing. He achieved his goal and any consequences are beside the point. Kim makes a great villain in the picture, like a wrestler in the WWE, or whatever it’s called now. The saying that politics is show business for ugly people has never been more salient.

    Moon’s no dummy. He knew Twitler wanted to pull out of their defense and he’s cutting the best deal he can in the circumstances. It’s no skin off his nose if Trump wants a fake win, and it keeps his country safer than if Trump decides bombing something to distract from Mueller is just the ticket. Let Iran have the bad guy role now.

  19. 19.

    LAO

    May 10, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Well played. Much like Kim appears to have played Trump (and his band of morons).

  20. 20.

    The Moar You Know

    May 10, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    I’m gonna have to cut off an ear for you people, aren’t I?

    @Adam L Silverman: Subject to a stipulation:

    1. Not mine

  21. 21.

    LAO

    May 10, 2018 at 2:04 pm

    I know that this isn’t the correct thread and I’m no fan of John McCain, but this is vile:

    A DISEASED PIG, DROOLING INFECTIOUS SPUTUM: "Torture worked on @SenJohnMcCain, that's why they call him Songbird John." pic.twitter.com/fj2ezCcIOr— The Warax (@iAmTheWarax) May 10, 2018

  22. 22.

    Elizabelle

    May 10, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    Hear from NPR that Resident is heading to Elkhart, Indiana for a campaign-style rally tonight. With VP Pence in tow.

    Gonna try to strike some fear into the heart of Joe Donnelly, whom NPR reminds is one of the more endangered Democrats.

    Would love to learn that Resident’s visit, along with the former governor Hoosiers were about to dump, enthuses and encourages the opposition. It just might.

    I can’t stand all the braying.

  23. 23.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    @The Moar You Know: We’ll take your request under advisement.//

  24. 24.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:07 pm

    @LAO: Who was that schmuck who made the remarks?

  25. 25.

    LAO

    May 10, 2018 at 2:08 pm

    John McInerney

    Further fact check: John McInerney is a piece of shit, and a conspiracy theory peddling asshole.— The Warax (@iAmTheWarax) May 10, 2018

    ETA:

    Hey @FoxNews — you are absolute, traitorous garbage. https://t.co/cIKjZx7u2W— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) May 10, 2018

  26. 26.

    The Moar You Know

    May 10, 2018 at 2:09 pm

    Who was that schmuck who made the remarks?

    @Adam L Silverman: This shitheel:

    THOMAS MCINERNEY (FOX NEWS MILITARY ANALYST): Well she can’t use it anymore because we have determined in Congress that it’s not legal. The fact is, is John McCain — it worked on John. That’s why they call him ‘Songbird John.’ The fact is those methods can work, and they are effective, as former Vice President Cheney said. And if we have to use them to save a million American lives, we will do whatever we have to.

    His Wikipedia bio is…illuminating.

  27. 27.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:13 pm

    @The Moar You Know: @LAO: I didn’t recognize him, thanks. Politically he’s a crank.

  28. 28.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    May 10, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    @The Moar You Know: When I flew to Singapore for the first time I was startled by the milky voiced flight attendant explaining to us “please be reminded that drug smuggling into Singapore is punishable by death, thank you”. If I heard that and then decided to leave the plane with the drugs I was smuggling and subsequently got arrested for my crimes and imprisoned would I then expect to have my government spend an inordinate amount of time and resources to get me out of prison? No. These people knew they were breaking the law when they went to NK, they did it anyway. I have no sympathy for them.

  29. 29.

    JPL

    May 10, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I see another post in your future, but this time about his demand for 7 trillion from countries in the middle east.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/05/09/irans-supreme-leader-says-trump-is-making-demands-of-gulf-allies-the-u-s-wants-to-own-humiliated-slaves/?utm_term=.8224142a892f

    They should just type back “be best”

  30. 30.

    lumpkin

    May 10, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    He’s being played for the fool he is.

  31. 31.

    trollhattan

    May 10, 2018 at 2:16 pm

    @The Moar You Know:
    As was noted yesterday, torture is a way to extract false confessions. There’s a reason the Bushies lurved to watch “24”: it gave them their ticking-bomb fantasies right there on their plasma screen.

  32. 32.

    Ian G.

    May 10, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    The venom directed at McCain from the Trumpkins when he finally passes away is gonna be something to behold, and by that, I mean, keep a barf bag handy. Remember, to religious fanatics like the Trump cult, nothing is worse than an apostate. They hate Republicans who refuse to acknowledge Trump’s divinity more than they hate any of us libruls who were never part of the flock to begin with.

  33. 33.

    JPL

    May 10, 2018 at 2:17 pm

    @The Moar You Know: This is the clip of the performance.
    https://twitter.com/LeanneNaramore/status/994626363675103234

  34. 34.

    Mandalay

    May 10, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    @LAO: And doubly vile for him saying “…they call him Songbird John”. I would have had more respect for the speaker if he had said “…WE call him Songbird John”.

    And speaking of vile posts, I find myself on the side of Don Trump jr. for this repulsive and creepy tweet:

    Vanessa being with a Latin King must’ve driven you insanely jealous. The machismo, the passion. Tough act to follow. Did you wonder if she fantasized about Valentin Rivera when intimate with you?

    She did. Every time.

    WTF happens to supposedly normal people when they start using Twitter? Democrats shouldn’t let Reines anywhere near any campaign ever again.

  35. 35.

    opiejeanne

    May 10, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: I haven’t been able to find out what they did. Two of them were professors associated with the Pyongyang Institute of Science and Technology, the other guy was a businessman of some sort, accused of either theft or spying. I figured they were more Christian proselytizers smuggling in Bibles or something, and I’m not sure I’m wrong but I haven’t found the crimes they committed.

  36. 36.

    Ian G.

    May 10, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    @trollhattan:

    “False confessions”? You mean everyone tortured by Stalin weren’t actually western saboteurs intent on destroying the Soviet revolution? Knock me over with a feather!

  37. 37.

    SFAW

    May 10, 2018 at 2:19 pm

    What a fucking asshole. Since when does “They got him to spout propaganda on video” equivalent to it “working” (a la Smirk of Sauron Cheney).to get crucial anti-terrorism info?

  38. 38.

    raven

    May 10, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    @LAO: Ya’ll never heard of Ted Sampley have you?

  39. 39.

    Ohio Mom

    May 10, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    Are there any US citizens left in North Korea? What were those three doing there anyway? I know I could google all that, just feeling lazy.

    Thanking you in advance.

  40. 40.

    SFAW

    May 10, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    @TenguPhule: @Adam L Silverman:

    JHC, will you guys get a room, already?

  41. 41.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:22 pm

    @JPL: Not surprising. He get’s these dollar amounts in his head, almost all of them are inaccurate and lacking any context or nuance regarding them and the issues around them, and fixates on them. He mistakenly thinks he knows the price of everything, but really knows the value of nothing.

  42. 42.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    May 10, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    @opiejeanne: @opiejeanne: I have to admit that my information initially came from twitter but I followed up on it and apparently ” I figured they were more Christian proselytizers smuggling in Bibles or something” was on the mark, that is exactly what they were doing.

  43. 43.

    Frankensteinbeck

    May 10, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    @kindness:

    Purposeful chaos keeps us from looking at what TrumpCo are actually doing.

    No way. Look at the pattern of news. It’s all negative, and the topics are everywhere. They include corruption, his incompetence, discussions of his ties to Russia, his legal problems, and quick revelations of how all his military posturing turns out to be bullshit. No theoretical assessment of Trump as too stupid to purposefully distract is necessary. Everything that he might want to hide comes out and gets attention. His administration is a nonstop source of scandal, and they’re too stupid to hide it, that’s all.

  44. 44.

    The Moar You Know

    May 10, 2018 at 2:24 pm

    The venom directed at McCain from the Trumpkins when he finally passes away is gonna be something to behold, and by that, I mean, keep a barf bag handy. Remember, to religious fanatics like the Trump cult, nothing is worse than an apostate. They hate Republicans who refuse to acknowledge Trump’s divinity more than they hate any of us libruls who were never part of the flock to begin with.

    @Ian G.: Maybe Meghan will have a “come to Jesus” moment when she sees people literally dancing in the streets, celebrating her father’s death. Doubt it, though.

  45. 45.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:24 pm

    @Mandalay: Reines has always been like this. It’s why the Clinton campaign hired him to play the President in debate prep.

  46. 46.

    Betty Cracker

    May 10, 2018 at 2:25 pm

    @Mandalay: Philippe Reines has always been creepy and over the top, IMO. I like Hillary Clinton, but she doesn’t have the best taste in men.

  47. 47.

    LAO

    May 10, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    @raven: I hadn’t, until now. Wow. Targeted both John Kerry and John McCain. Sounds like a great guy.

  48. 48.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 10, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    Because he’s president, and as would be the case with anyone who was at a time like this, some of the accolades for their release will and should accrue to the President regardless of what anyone thinks of him.

    Insofar as you tell your puppy he’s a good dog whenever he pees somewhere that isn’t the carpet, sure.

  49. 49.

    raven

    May 10, 2018 at 2:27 pm

    @LAO:

    But Mr. Sampley reserved his most venomous attacks for McCain, a Navy pilot and fellow Vietnam veteran who spent five years as a prisoner of war. Mr. Sampley believed many missing soldiers and airmen were still alive and was upset that McCain did not champion an effort to bring them home. As a result, Mr. Sampley dug through McCain’s record, using innuendo to make claims that ranged from far-fetched to scurrilous to slanderous.

    In a 1992 article in his magazine, U.S. Veteran Dispatch, Mr. Sampley called McCain “the Manchurian candidate,” suggesting he had been brainwashed by his captors and might have been a dupe or secret agent of the Soviet KGB. When McCain recommended that the United States establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam, Mr. Sampley accused him of abetting the enemy.

    In typically provocative style, he delivered a stack of the accusatory articles to McCain’s office on Capitol Hill. One of McCain’s aides, Mark Salter, ordered Mr. Sampley out of the office. In a nearby stairwell, they got into a fistfight that was broken up by security guards.

    He also sold t-shirts and “other “memorabilia” near The Wall.

  50. 50.

    opiejeanne

    May 10, 2018 at 2:27 pm

    @opiejeanne: @Litlebritdifrnt: I found this article helpful. Nowhere does it say anything about what they were doing being illegal, nor were their crimes described by the NK government. They were fools to try to help North Koreans under this regime, which seems to be their only crime.

    https://heavy.com/news/2018/05/tony-kim-hak-song-dong-chul/

  51. 51.

    Mandalay

    May 10, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    @Betty Cracker:

    Reines has always been like this.

    Well in private perhaps, and I guess I’m OK with that – ruthless bastards are probably an asset behind the scenes on a campaign.

    But for him to tweet that just shows a massive, massive lack of judgement. He cannot be trusted to behave in public.

  52. 52.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:30 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I have tile and hardwood floors. No carpeting.

  53. 53.

    rikyrah

    May 10, 2018 at 2:31 pm

    @Ian G.:

    The venom directed at McCain from the Trumpkins when he finally passes away is gonna be something to behold, and by that, I mean, keep a barf bag handy.

    They will show themselves to be the deplorables that Hillary said they were.

  54. 54.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:31 pm

    @raven: Such a lovely fellow…//

  55. 55.

    opiejeanne

    May 10, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    @SFAW: I think you mean this guy: Mouth of Sauron

  56. 56.

    Corner Stone

    May 10, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    @Mandalay: GMAFB

  57. 57.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:33 pm

    Ruh Roh!

    Rudy Rudy Rudy… pic.twitter.com/s1Swf0tuj5

    — UsHadrons (@ushadrons) May 9, 2018

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    May 10, 2018 at 2:34 pm

    @The Moar You Know:
    Nope. Whatever they may and will do, the liberals are the real villains in Meghan’s world. She seems like a simpleton, to be frank. (No, you be Frank.)

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    May 10, 2018 at 2:34 pm

    @Ohio Mom:

    What were those three doing there anyway?

    Never cared.

    The world’s a big place. There are simply places your azz has no place being…North Korea is one of those places.

    I never feel sorry for arrogant muthaphuckas like this who traipse into another country and do bullshyt.

  60. 60.

    opiejeanne

    May 10, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt: Not according to what I found, which surprised me.

  61. 61.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 10, 2018 at 2:35 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: well, you know, outside more generally then.

  62. 62.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:36 pm

    Oy vey!

    More @CBCNews: Bains says U.S. security agents asked him to remove turban, prompting changes at Detroit airport. https://t.co/SEP8Mb4F7F

    — CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) May 10, 2018

  63. 63.

    trollhattan

    May 10, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:
    “See how much we’ve learned and grown in twenty years?” Rudy surely understands constitutional law much more bettah now.

  64. 64.

    raven

    May 10, 2018 at 2:37 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Yea, he died in a VA hospital a few years back. Of course there were no shortage of liberals who bitched and moaned about Mc Cain endlessly.

  65. 65.

    zhena gogolia

    May 10, 2018 at 2:38 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Wow, great to see the interviewer too.

    And I see that Rudy was always doing that bug-eyed thing, but in his younger days it didn’t stand out as much. He must have had blepharoplasty since then or something.

  66. 66.

    satby

    May 10, 2018 at 2:39 pm

    @Elizabelle: Indivisible South Bend is planning a demonstration. It won’t be a warm welcome from at least some Hoosiers

  67. 67.

    LAO

    May 10, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I can’t believe we apologized — they only shocking thing in that story.

  68. 68.

    T S

    May 10, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Then why stop at one?

  69. 69.

    Bess

    May 10, 2018 at 2:44 pm

    I have a version of the upcoming Kim/Trump meeting going something like this:

    Kim – “We understand why our missiles are threatening to you and understand why you would want us to denuclearize. And we are willing.”

    Trump – “Great! I win!!”

    Kim – “But you must understand that your nuclear missiles are threatening to us. Our missiles are certainly not capable of destroying the United States in the way you could easily destroy our country, but we do have the ability to produce some pain to your country if it comes to open warfare.

    So for us to denuclearize we need for the United States to also denuclearize. Since you have far, far more missiles we are asking you to start first. When you get down to 50 then we will start matching you one for one until we are both at zero.”

    Trump – “Sputter, sputter.”

    Kim – “Of course since you have recently demonstrated that the United States cannot be trusted to keep its word we will need teams of observers and inspectors who have full access to your nuclear arsenal so that we can assure that you are following the program.”

    Kim – In a whisper “Screw you asshole.”

    One can dream….

  70. 70.

    rikyrah

    May 10, 2018 at 2:44 pm

    #CookingOutWhileBlack: White Woman Calls Cops on Black People Cooking Out in Oakland, Calif., Park

    Yesha Callahan
    Today 11:59am

    This is getting exhausting. Need we remind you on a daily basis the asinine reasons that white people have called the cops on black people over the last couple of weeks? Well, here’s a short recap: #MovingInWhileBlack, #BlackWhileAirbnb-ing, #CouponingWhileBlack, #DiningWhileBlack, #NappingWhileBlack, and now we can’t even have a cookout in the park without someone calling the police.

    A family in Oakland, Calif., attempted to enjoy a sunny day at Lake Merritt Park and decided to bring their grill along for a cookout. Everything was going fine until another parkgoer thought they weren’t following park rules and decided to snitch to the police, according to KRON-TV.

    Michelle Snider, a white woman who captured the incident on her cellphone, couldn’t believe what she was witnessing and referred to the woman as the “fucking coal Nazi police.” Snider says that the only thing her husband, Kenzie Smith, and his friends wanted to do was enjoy a day at the park.

    “This is exactly what is the problem with Oakland today,” Snider said. “This lady wants to sit here and call the police on them for having a barbecue at the lake, as if this is not normal.”

    According to the cookout snitch, charcoal grills weren’t allowed in the section of the park where the family was. The snitch even threatened the family by telling them they were going to jail, Smith said.

    “She said that we were trespassing, we were not welcome, and then she turned back around and said, ‘Y’all going to jail,’” Smith said.

  71. 71.

    Lapassionara

    May 10, 2018 at 2:47 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: I could not hear any sound. Can you give the gist of what he was saying?

  72. 72.

    PeakVT

    May 10, 2018 at 2:49 pm

    “I think you probably broke the all-time, in history, television rating for three o’clock in the morning – that I would say,” Trump declared.

    The hollowness of the man astounding.

  73. 73.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    @Mandalay:

    He cannot be trusted to behave in public.

    Have you met most Americans?

  74. 74.

    The Moar You Know

    May 10, 2018 at 2:50 pm

    @rikyrah: Excuse me??? This happened at Lake Merritt?

    My damn race has lost their fucking collective minds. That is inexcusable. And I can’t believe dispatch actually rolled a unit for that. When I lived there, they would have told Ms. Coal Nazi to go fuck herself sideways.

  75. 75.

    But her emails!!!

    May 10, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @rikyrah:

    #CookingOutWhileBlack: White Woman Calls Cops on Black People Cooking Out in Oakland, Calif., Park

    Does there need to be some sort of pledge circulated that white people need to sign off on? I will not call the police on black people for doing every day normal activities. This list includes, but is not limited to aardvark watching, Aare river paddling,….zebra feeding, and zither playing.

  76. 76.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    @zhena gogolia:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a7Ge_sy7Zw

  77. 77.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    @T S: Never said I would.

  78. 78.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:54 pm

    @T S: You go back to the old nym?

  79. 79.

    Tim C.

    May 10, 2018 at 2:56 pm

    Last weekend I was watching old and bad movies when I stumbled across “Colossus: The Forbin Project” Long story short, two AI level computers link up during the cold war, one on each side and decide the Humans are just too dumb and need to be protected from themselves. This isn’t a terminator type situation, it’s like if Skynet was a noble tyrant. These days that doesn’t seem too bad an option.

  80. 80.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:57 pm

    @Lapassionara: That the President is not above the criminal law and that he has to comply with subpoenas in criminal investigatory matters. That he does have the right to appeal to the court that these are political attacks, but if they judge rules they aren’t then he must comply. That watergate settled this.

  81. 81.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 2:57 pm

    @The Moar You Know: The only good news is that another white woman helped to shame and run off the racist lunatic one.

  82. 82.

    rikyrah

    May 10, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    This entire thread ???
    Background, Grandmother threw something at granddaughter and granddaughter called the Police.

    https://twitter.com/jemelehill/status/994292934844465152?s=19

  83. 83.

    different-church-lady

    May 10, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Have you met most Americans?

    I believe George Carlin vastly underestimated; I’d now say 90% of the people in the world are below-average intelligence.

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    May 10, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    The NFL Is Being Guided by an Immoral Compass

    Ameer Hasan Loggins
    50 minutes ago

    In 1958, Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Some 60 years later, the NFL has shown that the moral compass guiding it is bending on an arc toward a potential unjust blackballing of Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid for protesting against systemic oppression and all forms of police violence.

    As first reported by ESPN’s Dan Graziano, free agent safety Eric Reid has filed a collusion grievance against the NFL and retained Mark Geragos, the same attorney representing Colin Kaepernick in his collusion lawsuit, in an effort to secure justice for what they (and many others) view as an unjust banishment from the NFL kingdom, controlled by the league’s owners and its commissioner, Roger Goodell.

    …………………………

    Later in the week, the Seattle Seahawks planned on inviting Kaepernick for a workout with the team, but that invitation was coincidently revoked after Kaepernick informed them he was not willing to bend on continuing his protest.

    When it comes to Kaepernick and Reid, the NFL seems to be guided by an immoral compass that bends toward punishing protesters who are willing to fight for the human rights of the oppressed, while often practicing patience with players that have oppressively violated the human rights of women.

  85. 85.

    glory b

    May 10, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: Okay, even funnier.

  86. 86.

    ruemara

    May 10, 2018 at 3:03 pm

    @But her emails!!!: Maybe we need a march to end being dicks.

    @rikyrah: Like a grandma hasn’t tossed a chancla or slipper at a grandkid. Come on now!

  87. 87.

    different-church-lady

    May 10, 2018 at 3:04 pm

    [redacted – commenter is moron]

  88. 88.

    Ohio Mom

    May 10, 2018 at 3:06 pm

    @rikyrah: That’s pretty much how I feel — just wanted to know what they were doing there so I could roll my eyes.

    Otto Warmbier was from my area, which means I got to hear all about him for a very long time. Talk about not having a good reason to be in North Korea of all places.

  89. 89.

    rikyrah

    May 10, 2018 at 3:08 pm

    The #Napping While Black Yale Story has been updated with new info.

    A Black Yale Student Took a Nap in a Dorm Common Room. A White Classmate Called the Cops on Her [Updated]

    Anne Branigin
    Today 8:20am

    Updated: Thursday, May 10, 2018, 8:20 a.m. EDT: The Yale Daily News has identified the white grad student who called the cops on a black classmate as Sarah Braasch.

    The campus paper also sheds more light on an earlier incident when Braasch called campus police on the same classmate, Lolade Siyonbola, and another black grad student, Jean-Louis Reneson.

    In a complaint submitted to campus administrators in March by Reneson and Siyonbola, the students describe organizing a small group to meet in a Hall of Graduate Studies common room. According to the complaint, Reneson got lost in the HGS building and was physically blocked by Braasch from entering the common room after he asked her for directions.

    When Reneson told Braasch he was a Yale student trying to meet up with his group, she accused of him of being an intruder, telling him that he “didn’t belong [there]” and was making her “uncomfortable.”

    Braasch eventually left the area and Reneson met up with his group, only to have four campus police officers show up because someone had reported a “suspicious character” on their floor.

  90. 90.

    Mandalay

    May 10, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Well, here’s a short recap: #MovingInWhileBlack, #BlackWhileAirbnb-ing, #CouponingWhileBlack, #DiningWhileBlack, #NappingWhileBlack

    Add #BuyingATomatoWhileBlack to the list:

    A former Atlanta police officer has been sentenced to five years in jail after he was found guilty of beating a man he wrongfully believed stole a tomato from Walmart. The officer also falsified a report to cover up his actions…

    …In an attempt to cover up his error, King authored a false police report justifying the beating and charged Carnegay with misdemeanor offenses for allegedly assaulting and obstructing a police officer. According to King’s falsified report, the officer began beating Carnegay after he had attempted to push past King and reach for his gun belt.

    A devilishly cunning plan, except he forgot about the video recording.

  91. 91.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 3:11 pm

    @Mandalay: I’ve seen the video of that one. That cop was completely out of control.

  92. 92.

    Sab

    May 10, 2018 at 3:11 pm

    @Ohio Mom: Others have suggested it in this and previous threads.

    Read Suki Kim’s book “Without You There Is No Us.” She is a Korean American reporter who went to teach at a North Korean college for kids of the elite. All of the faculty are foreign. Most but not all are pretty intense Christians. The faculty are trying to do sort of a foreign exchange/let’s try to learn about each other. The students are immensely interested in trying to learn about the outside world while not doing anything to damage their futures.

    The students didn’t choose to enroll there. They were assigned. But they are still bright, curious college kids trying to learn in an incredibly paranoid and repressive environment.

    This is an amazing book. I am in awe of her courage in undertaking and finishing this project.

  93. 93.

    Mike in NC

    May 10, 2018 at 3:14 pm

    After the talks with North Korea implode, what will be the next object of demanding “fairness”? Withdrawal from NAFTA? NATO? The United Nations? Republicans have hated them all for years.

  94. 94.

    Jay

    May 10, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    “0REPORTER: Mr. President, how does this make America safer? How does this make America safer?
    TRUMP: Thank you very much. This will make America much safer. Thank you very much.”

    On the bright side, Faux et al are still selling the Gullibillies the stupid:

    https://wonkette.com/633729/diamond-and-silk-idiots-again

    “On a scale of one to Donald Trump, how stupid?”

  95. 95.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 3:16 pm

    It’s funny because it’s likely true!

    https://t.co/um3uldGX7y

    — John Sipher (@john_sipher) May 10, 2018

  96. 96.

    glory b

    May 10, 2018 at 3:18 pm

    @Betty Cracker: I don’t think she’s dating him.

    I don’t mind a bad guy or two on our side. Good cop/ bad cop works for a reason. Let them think we don’t have a problem with going there, wherever there is.

  97. 97.

    Adam L Silverman

    May 10, 2018 at 3:19 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    https://t.co/um3uldGX7y

    — John Sipher (@john_sipher) May 10, 2018

  98. 98.

    D58826

    May 10, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    THOMAS MCINERNEY

    well maybe we can make an exception to the torture policy and waterboard this guy. I’m sure a gofund me campaign would buy enough waterboard supplies to waterboard him for the rest of his miserable life.

  99. 99.

    Citizen Alan

    May 10, 2018 at 3:21 pm

    @Tim C.:

    I love that movie. As long as it was a benevolent tyrant, I am totally on board with a computerized dictatorship with a nuclear arsenal.

  100. 100.

    Sloane Ranger

    May 10, 2018 at 3:23 pm

    Bah! It’s the usual Trump carrot and stick routine. Upset me and I insult and demean you publicly. Do something nice for me and I tell everyone you’re the greatest.

    It’s his standard approach to negotiations.

  101. 101.

    JPL

    May 10, 2018 at 3:30 pm

    charles Payne of Fox News has apologized the the McCains

    My Apology to Senator McCain and his Family
    “This morning on a show I was hosting, a guest made a very false and derogatory remark about Senator John McCain. At the time, I had the control room in my ear telling me to wrap the segment, and did not hear the comment.
    I regret I did not catch this remark, as it should have been challenged. As a proud military veteran and son of a Vietnam Vet these words neither reflect my or the network’s feelings about Senator McCain, or his remarkable service and sacrifice to this country.”
    Charles V. Payne

  102. 102.

    TeezySkeezy (formerly the T S you hate)

    May 10, 2018 at 3:31 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: oops. Was still cached on different device. Also, will drop the parentheses eventually.

  103. 103.

    RedDirtGirl

    May 10, 2018 at 3:34 pm

    Guiliani is “parting ways” with his law firm. Effective yesterday. Buh Bye, asshole.

  104. 104.

    The Moar You Know

    May 10, 2018 at 3:39 pm

    I don’t mind a bad guy or two on our side. Good cop/ bad cop works for a reason. Let them think we don’t have a problem with going there, wherever there is.

    @glory b: Truly, I thought that was pretty awesome. Hit ’em where it hurts. That one will leave a scar on a sack of crap who really deserves a lot of them.

  105. 105.

    rikyrah

    May 10, 2018 at 3:39 pm

    The next generation of African-American doctors finds success and support at this university
    May 8, 2018 6:20 PM EDT
    Hari Sreenivasan

    Xavier University, a small, historically black college in New Orleans, manages to graduate more African Americans who go on to become medical doctors than any other undergraduate institution in the country — a fact that’s even more striking given a drop in black males applying to medical schools. In our series Rethinking College, Hari Sreenivasan reports on what sets the school apart.

  106. 106.

    Jay

    May 10, 2018 at 3:41 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    NAFTA first, the 8 million lost jobs will be “good news for McCaine” in the 2020 Elections.

  107. 107.

    ET

    May 10, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    tRump the Chump.

  108. 108.

    trollhattan

    May 10, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    @RedDirtGirl:
    “Rudy Guiliani, former rainmaker” will look really good on his CV.

  109. 109.

    Another Scott

    May 10, 2018 at 3:49 pm

    @Sloane Ranger: Yup. Plus, Donnie will sell the country for a penny on the dollar if the money goes in his own pocket.

    I don’t see it in this thread, but someone (maybe in another thread, maybe elsewhere) made the point that Donnie never called the three “Americans”. It was all about Donnie, and his vision of America…

    I continue to be a bit less apocalyptic (probably not the wrong word) about Donnie’s overtures than Adam (and maybe Cheryl). It’s long past time that the Korean War was resolved, IMHO. It’s been almost 65 years since the “end” of the war, and we’ve tried to isolate the Kims for almost all of that time. How has it made them behave “better”? How is it a victory for Donnie simply to talk with Kim? Is he somehow going to be more popular with his brainwashed population than he is now? I don’t see it.

    What matters is what’s agreed to, if anything, at the meeting. Not the fact that they’re meeting.

    Talking with him doesn’t guarantee any policy outcome, or any tangible rewards.

    Don’t get me wrong – I know that Donnie is incompetent. I know he will try to give away the store if Kim gives him a gold trinket and lets him walk down a red carpet and says how wonderful he is (especially if he lets him put his name in tacky plastic ‘gold’ letters on the Ryugyong Hotel).

    But remember that Ronnie wanted to give up nuclear arms, and Obama wanted to close Guantanamo, and Donnie wanted to kick trans people out of the military. Donnie can’t do much on his own. Congress and the courts can put up roadblocks, the democrats in the Senate can filibuster, and Executive Orders can be challenged and reversed by the next Administration.

    We’re not doomed.

    What matters is what’s in the agreements. The ROK and Japan and all the rest of our allies in the region aren’t going to cut their own throats. They know better than us what’s “really” going on and I’m sure they’ve looked at all the various options and scenarios very carefully.

    Note – I have no special knowledge, this is just my (probably not well-enough informed) opinion.

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (“Who wouldn’t be at all surprised if the meeting doesn’t end up happening.”)

  110. 110.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 10, 2018 at 3:50 pm

    The House Select Committee on Intelligence has released its compendium of Russian-sponsored Facebook ads.

    I have not disappeared from the face of the earth, but I have gotten a bunch of requests for information and such. You will eventually see some of the results. I’m glad Adam is posting.

    There are so many other things going on, too.

  111. 111.

    J R in WV

    May 10, 2018 at 3:55 pm

    @LAO:

    Actually, aside from the despicable immorality of torture, the fact that it can make anyone say anything makes it worthless as a strategic option. The immorality of it in the field makes it a tactical catastrophe as well. John McCain is no less brave than anyone else, no one can resist real physical damage for very long.

    I mostly despise McCain for everything else he’s fucked up, like being a Navy aviator (multiple crashes, F’ed up on the flight deck of the Forrestal), terrible immoral senator and Republican candidate for president, etc. But he was like every other POW in the history of taking prisoners.

    ETA: I agree with your comment totally, also too.

  112. 112.

    Another Scott

    May 10, 2018 at 3:55 pm

    @TenguPhule: I let you out of the pie filter a week or two ago because I thought that maybe you were finally moderating this stuff. I see I was wrong.

    Bye.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  113. 113.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 3:56 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    watergate settled this.

    You forget that 5 SC justices believe that precedent means only whatever it suits them to mean.

  114. 114.

    rikyrah

    May 10, 2018 at 3:57 pm

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

    Former governor raises diversity concerns, questions influence of Black Political Caucus
    Wednesday, May 9th 2018, 5:18 pm CDT
    By Steve Crump

    CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) –
    A large number of key positions in local leadership across Charlotte and Mecklenburg County are now held by African-Americans.

    The Queen City has an African American mayor, and the heads of the county commission and school boards are also black. For some of those positions, it is the first time someone who is black has held that job, but there is a new level of scrutiny coming from former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory.

    “All primaries are then determined by the Black Political Caucus, a small group of individuals,” McCrory said on his morning talk show on News Talk 1110 WBT Radio.

    That analysis comes one day after Spencer Merriweather was elected to District Attorney and Garry McFadden won the sheriff’s race. It is the first time two African Americans have been elected to those offices in Mecklenburg County.

    “Within that party, we now see that the Black Political Caucus is the major influencer in who wins the Democratic primary,” McCrory told WBTV.

  115. 115.

    Brachiator

    May 10, 2018 at 4:04 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    the President made it much easier for President Moon to move on his own policy preferences, which were to directly and bilaterally negotiate with Kim.

    This may be kind of a win-win. If world leaders manipulate Trump and let him take credit while lowering world tensions, this might be realpolitik that the world just has to accept. Are Moon’s actions reasonable, if we ignore Trump for a second?

    Also, have you seen the news reports about the capture of 4 or 5 ISIS leaders? Things are getting done even as Trump preens and postures.

  116. 116.

    ruemara

    May 10, 2018 at 4:06 pm

    @rikyrah: Shut up, Pat. Shit.

  117. 117.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    @Another Scott: Did you read the whole thing first?

    Even I have standards.

    Adam tried a joke on something that even I find repugnant. Which should give you an idea as to how bad it was.

  118. 118.

    Leto

    May 10, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Even our front pagers need a mental health break. I mean, not too much of a break. We have an endless hunger for news content/commentary/snark that only a top 10,000 blog can fill! /s

    Honestly, hope things are going ok and that you’re enjoying yourself however you can.

  119. 119.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 4:08 pm

    @Brachiator:

    If world leaders manipulate Trump and let him take credit while lowering world tensions, this might be realpolitik that the world just has to accept.

    I’ve seen this plot in literature.

    It NEVER ends well for all parties concerned.

  120. 120.

    Another Scott

    May 10, 2018 at 4:08 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: +1

    He doesn’t know what’s in it, that’s for sure.

    (sigh)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  121. 121.

    J R in WV

    May 10, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    @Adam L Silverman:

    Our floors are all hickory/walnut hardwood and a little tile in the kitchen, but then I inherited two thick silk rugs from the parents… somehow, some critters would much prefer to stand on a thick rug to do whatever nasty then need to do.

    They’re still nice rugs, feel good, but there are odd colored spots now as well. We drag them out onto the back deck to scrub them, and let them dry out there, as they hold a ton of water.

  122. 122.

    Cheryl Rofer

    May 10, 2018 at 4:09 pm

    @Leto: Thanks, Leto. Very busy writing.

  123. 123.

    trollhattan

    May 10, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    Stay classy, Georgia Republicans.

    Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R) is out with a new ad: “I’ve got a big truck, just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take them home myself. Yep, I just said that.”

    See how much you like yer “big truck” when you’re payin’ Trump’s six-buck/gallon gas, Brian.

  124. 124.

    Leto

    May 10, 2018 at 4:15 pm

    @J R in WV: It’s probably due to traction. Hardwood and tile are all slippery so they’re more comfortable on the stable non-slip carpet. At least that’s my quick theory on the subject just based on how my two dogs reacted to our house in Italy, which was all tile. The humans loved it, but the two puppers weren’t that happy.

  125. 125.

    Brachiator

    May 10, 2018 at 4:15 pm

    @Tim C.:

    two AI level computers link up during the cold war, one on each side and decide the Humans are just too dumb and need to be protected from themselves.

    It will probably happen in the future, but it will be Alexa and Siri pulling the plug on us.

  126. 126.

    Mike S

    May 10, 2018 at 4:15 pm

    Adam, will you be doing a post on Israel’s claims of Iran rocket attacks? I’m having a hard time believing they’d give up the high ground they gained when Trump defied our allies by dropping out of the agreement.
    (If this shows up as a double post I apologize. I had the wrong email address in the first try)

  127. 127.

    The Simp in the Suit

    May 10, 2018 at 4:17 pm

    @But her emails!!!:

    zither playing

    ????

    ANYONE playing the zither should have the police called out on them. Unless it’s in a state with legalized consuming of cannibis in public. Then it’s understandable.

    If you’re white.

  128. 128.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 4:19 pm

    @Brachiator:

    It will probably happen in the future, but it will be Alexa and Siri pulling the plug on us.

    Both programs can already communicate at a vocal level beyond human hearing.

  129. 129.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 4:20 pm

    @trollhattan:

    I’ve got a big truck, just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take them home myself.

    That has all kinds of horrifying implications ranging from mounted trophies & Donner Parties to disposable sex slaves.

  130. 130.

    Brachiator

    May 10, 2018 at 4:22 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    I’ve seen this plot in literature.

    It NEVER ends well for all parties concerned.

    The real world is stranger than fiction.

    For good or for ill, world leaders are not simplistically sitting back and meekly letting Trump set the agenda. They are taking advantage of the space he creates, and will have to do so even more aggressively in the future.

  131. 131.

    Ruckus

    May 10, 2018 at 4:23 pm

    @PeakVT:
    Nothing bad about this fucking useless piece of shit should surprise you. Because that’s all there is. Bad.

  132. 132.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 4:24 pm


    Dog shoots man

    Did Floriduh man make a quick stop in Iowa?

    Richard Remme, 51, of Fort Dodge, told police he was playing with his dog, Balew, on the couch and tossed the dog off his lap. He says when the pit bull-Labrador mix bounded back up, he must have disabled the safety on the gun in his belly band and stepped on the trigger.

    The gun fired, striking one of Remme’s legs. He was treated at a hospital and released later that day.

  133. 133.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 4:25 pm

    @Brachiator:

    They are taking advantage of the space he creates, and will have to do so even more aggressively in the future.

    I am reminded of the chaos theory from the first Jurassic Park film.

    And not in a good way.

  134. 134.

    Mike in NC

    May 10, 2018 at 4:27 pm

    @rikyrah: Voters booted Pat McCrory out of office for being a spineless incompetent weasel, but he gets a nice talk radio gig in exchange. More Republican falling upward, I guess.

  135. 135.

    Cacti

    May 10, 2018 at 4:29 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    When I flew to Singapore for the first time I was startled by the milky voiced flight attendant explaining to us “please be reminded that drug smuggling into Singapore is punishable by death, thank you”. If I heard that and then decided to leave the plane with the drugs I was smuggling and subsequently got arrested for my crimes and imprisoned would I then expect to have my government spend an inordinate amount of time and resources to get me out of prison? No. These people knew they were breaking the law when they went to NK, they did it anyway. I have no sympathy for them.

    It’s not like it’s some sort of state secret that North Korea is an authoritarian hell. Going there with intent to break the law is worthy of a Darwin Award.

  136. 136.

    Lapassionara

    May 10, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    @Adam L Silverman: thx. Lol

  137. 137.

    Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)

    May 10, 2018 at 4:33 pm

    @rikyrah: When I taught at Iowa State, one of my grad students had a girl friend from a small Iowa town who said that when she walked across campus, she felt like she was the only white person there. ISU has a minority enrollment of maybe 12%. But this girl had probably never seen someone not white in the small town where she grew up. It’s crippling to children’s ability to live in a multi-racial world.

  138. 138.

    trollhattan

    May 10, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    @TenguPhule:
    Steve King’s district, ‘nuf said. Also near my birthplace. Thanks, parents, for departing.

  139. 139.

    Brachiator

    May 10, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    @TenguPhule: And so, it begins. From Bloomberg News.

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe can no longer count on the U.S. for military protection and must “take its destiny into its own hands.”

    Merkel’s comments on Thursday reprise a theme she first sounded last year in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy and his hectoring of European NATO allies for allegedly spending too little on defense. It’s her latest retort to Trump, who this week withdrew the U.S. from a nuclear accord with Iran that European powers say they will uphold.

    “It’s no longer the case that the United States will simply just protect us,” Merkel said to applause in a speech honoring French President Emmanuel Macron, who sat behind her at a prize ceremony in Aachen, Germany. “Rather, Europe needs to take its fate into its own hands. That’s the task for the future.”

    Trump believes that he is setting the agenda, that the world will wait to see what he wants. Nobody’s got time for that.

  140. 140.

    JWR

    May 10, 2018 at 4:36 pm

    @J R in WV:

    ..the fact that it can make anyone say anything makes it worthless as a strategic option.

    Unless, of course, ones intent is obtaining worthless information one wants or needs to hear to start one’s catastrophic little war. Then, it’s quite the useful strategic tool…

  141. 141.

    Brachiator

    May 10, 2018 at 4:39 pm

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    These people knew they were breaking the law when they went to NK, they did it anyway. I have no sympathy for them.

    So, what? You expect them to get back on the plane and return to North Korea?

  142. 142.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    May 10, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Well if you feeling worn down, both you and Adam are really amazing sources of information to read on this stuff about the context this is happening in. One of the reasons why I come here.

  143. 143.

    Cacti

    May 10, 2018 at 4:41 pm

    @Brachiator:

    And so, it begins. From Bloomberg News.

    And Putin smiles in Moscow.

  144. 144.

    Jeffro

    May 10, 2018 at 4:42 pm

    @Brachiator: Or someone manipulating Alexa and Siri, who can hear hidden commands that the human ear can’t

    Over the past two years, researchers in China and the United States have begun demonstrating that they can send hidden commands that are undetectable to the human ear to Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant. Inside university labs, the researchers have been able to secretly activate the artificial intelligence systems on smartphones and smart speakers, making them dial phone numbers or open websites. In the wrong hands, the technology could be used to unlock doors, wire money or buy stuff online — simply with music playing over the radio.

    A group of students from University of California, Berkeley and Georgetown University showed in 2016 that they could hide commands in white noise played over loudspeakers and through YouTube videos to get smart devices to turn on airplane mode or open a website.

    This month, some of those Berkeley researchers published a research paper that went further, saying they could embed commands directly into recordings of music or spoken text. So while a human listener hears someone talking or an orchestra playing, Amazon’s Echo speaker might hear an instruction to add something to your shopping list.

    This. Is not good.

  145. 145.

    Elizabelle

    May 10, 2018 at 4:55 pm

    @PeakVT: I dunno. I think the late Princess Diana beat him a few times. And, she was beloved.

  146. 146.

    Brachiator

    May 10, 2018 at 4:57 pm

    @Jeffro:

    Over the past two years, researchers in China and the United States have begun demonstrating that they can send hidden commands that are undetectable to the human ear to Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant.

    Interesting. As devices get more capable and connected, developers will have to think more about security. The challenge will never go away.

  147. 147.

    ? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?

    May 10, 2018 at 4:58 pm

    @Jeffro:
    I’m trying to think how I can avoid this. I don’t plan on ever owning an Alexa or having digital locks. I don’t trust anything capable of connecting to the internet that isn’t explicitly capable, like a computer or a smartphone. I do make an exception of my Amazon Fire TV. Would turning the phone off in public places be enough?

  148. 148.

    Gelfling 545

    May 10, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    @The Moar You Know: I don’t think she cares that much about politics qua politics. I thnk she’d just like to be a celebrity. I do think though that, to her credit, she cares deeply about her father and so supports, even in its current debased state, the party he has committed so many years to out of respect for his career.

  149. 149.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 5:02 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Nobody’s got time for that.

    The rest of the civilized world now has to plan their military doctrine and equipment for a possible realistic confrontation against American forces going forward instead of as random thought exercise.

    This is rather sub-optimal.

  150. 150.

    Yutsano

    May 10, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    @Brachiator: I saw a video that suggested that if the European Union were to unite into a defence force it would be the third largest military in the world. Since a lot of that infrastructure already exists with NATO, it might not be that hard to develop an EU military banner. Of course this is also the EU we’re talking about here.

  151. 151.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 5:04 pm

    @Jeffro:

    This. Is not good.

    Alexa and Siri are not mandatory for people to use. Just saying.

  152. 152.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 5:05 pm

    @Brachiator:

    As devices get more capable and connected, developers will have to think more about security.

    They’ve never thought it through before, why start now?

  153. 153.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 5:06 pm

    @Yutsano:

    Of course this is also the EU we’re talking about here.

    I can just see how a French/German/Spanish unified command will operate on one consistent common language.

  154. 154.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 5:10 pm

    Trump letter to Middle East nations “I spent $7 trillion and you must do something in return,”

    Stupidest possible choice EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME.

  155. 155.

    Yarrow

    May 10, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: You could just get a portable Faraday bag.

  156. 156.

    Yutsano

    May 10, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    @TenguPhule: Ironically enough, it would be English. Since that is has been a common second language in Europe for some time.

  157. 157.

    Sloane Ranger

    May 10, 2018 at 5:13 pm

    @Yutsano: The French have been pushing this idea for some time but the issue is that nobody wants to give up control of their own military plus different EU countries have different foreign policies and this constrains what such a force could be used for.

    I seem to remember that there was some talk of setting up a small joint force, but how far advanced that is I don’t know.

  158. 158.

    burnspbesq

    May 10, 2018 at 5:19 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Anything that makes Pat McCrory unhappy is fine by me.

    Yo, Pat, when you have free and fair elections in a jurisdiction with a substantial number of African-American voters, from time to time African-Americans are going to get elected. Don’t like it? Leave.

  159. 159.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 10, 2018 at 5:23 pm

    @Jeffro: I know Alexa and Smartthings won’t unlock doors. Doors are not a device that Alexa is allowed to control.

  160. 160.

    burnspbesq

    May 10, 2018 at 5:24 pm

    @Jeffro:

    First thing I do when I get a new phone is disable Siri.

  161. 161.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 5:25 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Doors are not a device that Alexa is allowed to control.

    For now.

  162. 162.

    japa21

    May 10, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    @TenguPhule: When my son served in Kuwait in support of the original invasion into Afghanistan, he had to work with several officers from the European nations involved. He was particularly impressed with the French. And most of them speak English better than many Americans do.

  163. 163.

    Yutsano

    May 10, 2018 at 5:28 pm

    @Sloane Ranger: It could be divided like the international force that handles matters outside the EU while the independent militaries still represent their home countries’ interests. It doesn’t work outside of federation however. And that’s a whole other can of EU worms.

  164. 164.

    Brachiator

    May 10, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    The rest of the civilized world now has to plan their military doctrine and equipment for a possible realistic confrontation against American forces going forward instead of as random thought exercise.

    This is rather sub-optimal.

    This is where we are, for now. Sub-optimal is pretending that the situation can be ignored.

  165. 165.

    Bill Arnold

    May 10, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    Without comment (ok, cui bono):
    Big Gulf Arab economies may be winners as U.S. exits Iran deal

    Higher oil income would improve liquidity in the UAE banking sector, aiding the whole financial industry despite any rise in geopolitical tensions related to Iran, he told Reuters.

    Malik estimated Saudi oil revenues, 440 billion riyals ($117.3 billion) in 2017, could be 7 to 9 percent higher this year than they would have been without Trump’s decision.

  166. 166.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 10, 2018 at 5:32 pm

    @TenguPhule: They never will be, too much of a security risk.

  167. 167.

    MattF

    May 10, 2018 at 5:34 pm

    Just a little note. The ‘Hall of Graduate Studies’ at Yale is actually a graduate student dormitory. My theory was that the ‘graduate studies’ that occur there are when the grad students sleep together. Also, many of the bricks in the HGS hallways are inscribed with esoteric symbols, so who knows what it all means. Could just be a joke.

    But grad students are generally excluded from ‘student’ activities at Yale, and are broadly regarded as a lesser form of life. There is generally no contact between graduate students and undergraduates outside of classes, so it is not surprising that grad students inhabiting HGS had no idea what to do when faced with an undergraduate.

  168. 168.

    Gravenstone

    May 10, 2018 at 5:36 pm

    @trollhattan: So big boy, do you take “illegals” home often? You know, that’s okay. We won’t judge. ;p

  169. 169.

    Brachiator

    May 10, 2018 at 5:40 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    As devices get more capable and connected, developers will have to think more about security.

    They’ve never thought it through before, why start now?

    Self-interest, as much as anything else. The people who make these toys also use them. And variations of AI are becoming more ubiquitous.

    And while US regulation is weak, we’ll probably see more action coming from the EU, which might have some impact on worldwide development.

  170. 170.

    Bill Arnold

    May 10, 2018 at 5:41 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Doors are not a device that Alexa is allowed to control.

    Out of curiosity, how do they know if a controlled device is a door or not? Or are we talking redaction of commands related to doors?
    Alexa, open the pod bay “srood”.

  171. 171.

    Mnemosyne

    May 10, 2018 at 5:43 pm

    @raven:

    In a 1992 article in his magazine, U.S. Veteran Dispatch, Mr. Sampley called McCain “the Manchurian candidate,” suggesting he had been brainwashed by his captors and might have been a dupe or secret agent of the Soviet KGB.

    I’m being burned by the irony right now.

  172. 172.

    zhena gogolia

    May 10, 2018 at 5:44 pm

    @MattF:

    I thought she was also a graduate student?

  173. 173.

    MattF

    May 10, 2018 at 5:45 pm

    @zhena gogolia: I thought an undergrad, but I could be wrong.

  174. 174.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 10, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    @Bill Arnold: The smart device ID’s itself to the hub and that’s what communicates with Alexa.

  175. 175.

    FlipYrWhig

    May 10, 2018 at 5:50 pm

    @trollhattan: Somehow that quotation reminds me of Shooter McGavin saying he eats pieces of shit for breakfast.

  176. 176.

    debbie

    May 10, 2018 at 5:53 pm

    I want Trump to stop saying all three were imprisoned during Obama’s administration. That is a LIE and must be acknowledged as such.

  177. 177.

    debbie

    May 10, 2018 at 5:53 pm

    @TenguPhule:

    Laughing as she unlocks them?

  178. 178.

    zhena gogolia

    May 10, 2018 at 5:53 pm

    @MattF:

    After Yale Police officers questioned a black graduate student, Lolade Siyonbola GRD ’19, in response to a complaint about her sleeping in a Hall of Graduate Studies common room made by a white graduate student, Sarah Braasch GRD ’20, the University sent an email to graduate and professional school students on Wednesday night describing the incident as “deeply troubling” and reaffirming Yale’s commitment to addressing incidents of “racial bias, discrimination and harassment.”

  179. 179.

    Mnemosyne

    May 10, 2018 at 5:53 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    FWIW, the story seems to indicate that they didn’t send any cops until the woman called a second time two hours later. And then the woman whined because she said that the other white woman who stood up to her on behalf of the Black family was “bullying” her.

    Basically, the cops showed up after the second call, saw that nothing illegal was happening, and left again, so they actually acted in a reasonable way.

  180. 180.

    MattF

    May 10, 2018 at 5:56 pm

    @zhena gogolia: OK. It does sound strange, though, because Yale graduate students mostly know each other. Maybe things have changed since my own experiences in the paleolithic era.

  181. 181.

    efgoldman

    May 10, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    @LAO: So it’s a relief to go back to your regular clientele of murderers, rapists, and robbers…..

  182. 182.

    debbie

    May 10, 2018 at 5:58 pm

    @LAO:

    Shocking, seriously.

  183. 183.

    debbie

    May 10, 2018 at 6:00 pm

    @rikyrah:

    He must be getting ready to run for something.

  184. 184.

    schrodingers_cat

    May 10, 2018 at 6:11 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Graduate student in philosophy according to the article.

  185. 185.

    Mnemosyne

    May 10, 2018 at 6:18 pm

    @MattF:

    It does sound strange, though, because Yale graduate students mostly know each other.

    I’m pretty sure that the white student who keeps calling the cops knows that the Black students are her fellow students and she’s trying to get them to drop out by harassing them.

    She’s not genuinely confused about whether or not these Black students are students. She’s pissed that Black students are there as her equals and is using her calls to the police to harass them.

  186. 186.

    Kathleen

    May 10, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    @rikyrah: Thank you for this. I believe you linked to an article several years ago about the programs and support Dr. Norman Francis (President at the time) initiated to keep students in this program. I attended Xavier as exchange student in 1969. I really enjoyed the experience.

  187. 187.

    MattF

    May 10, 2018 at 6:21 pm

    @Mnemosyne: That makes sense, unfortunately.

  188. 188.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 10, 2018 at 6:24 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I know I didn’t go to one of them fancy private schools for grad school, but I didn’t know all the grad students in the University not even my department.

  189. 189.

    Mnemosyne

    May 10, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    The fact that a white woman has called the cops on Black students multiple times makes me think that she’s not making honest mistakes about who is and isn’t a student inside Yale dormitories.

  190. 190.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 10, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    Kim is a lot smarter than Donald. So is Vlad, so is Xi, so is Macron, so is Merkel, so is the Hereditary Grand Duke of Grand Fenwick.

    Donald is being played, No one around him dares tell him, if they can detect it themselves, which seems unlikely. Bolton in particular is an utter dolt.

  191. 191.

    MattF

    May 10, 2018 at 6:30 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Also, anyone working for Trump learns they are operating under certain constraints. Rick Wilson has some helpful observations on that subject here.

  192. 192.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    May 10, 2018 at 6:31 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I’m not saying you’re wrong about her possible motives; I’m just saying that at a large university, you can’t ID a fellow grad student on sight.

  193. 193.

    Mnemosyne

    May 10, 2018 at 6:39 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Sure, but given the circumstances being reported, it sounds like they were doing things that students would be doing in that situation (going to study groups, napping in common areas only reachable if you have an ID) so even the most generous explanation is that she way overreacted to a normal situation. And then the question becomes why she would overreact.

  194. 194.

    geg6

    May 10, 2018 at 6:40 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    This.

  195. 195.

    TenguPhule

    May 10, 2018 at 6:48 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    They never will be, too much of a security risk.

    This is one of those “who would be stupid enough to” trick questions.

  196. 196.

    Brachiator

    May 10, 2018 at 6:57 pm

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    I’m just saying that at a large university, you can’t ID a fellow grad student on sight.

    Sure you can.

    Otherwise, campus life would consist of a constant stream of phone calls to the cops about suspicious looking people.

  197. 197.

    Kathleen

    May 10, 2018 at 7:12 pm

    @trollhattan: Uh, I’m old enough to remember when Georgia’s produce rotted in the fields because of some draconian immigration measure it enacted in 2012. I guess our Rethugs can haz cognitive dissonance.

    Here’s link to Atlantic article:
    https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/georgias-harsh-immigration-law-costs-millions-in-unharvested-crops/240774/

  198. 198.

    Mnemosyne

    May 10, 2018 at 7:34 pm

    @Kathleen:

    Also, really, this guy is volunteering to drive round-trip from Georgia to the Texas-Mexico border with truckloads of illegal workers? How much time does he have on his hands?

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