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bestdamascusknife-blog · 6 years ago

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Top 10 Best Hunting Knife Reviews | Camping Knife Reviews 2018/2020

Here we at BestDamascusKnife.com will provide you 11 of a most bought & top-rated best Hunting Knife on the store today. All has its individual unique style though they each have in general to be manufactured from the excellent material available offering them both long-lasting and strong. If you are looking for Best Hunting Knife, you are at right place. No look more, in this review based article we have added the Best Hunting Knife Reviews & complete buying guide. The Best Hunting Knife is tough to find, as an enthusiastic hunter acknowledges. However, once you get the one you desire, it will be with you for many years. Plus if you’re blessed to fall in love with a Buck, it will be with you always with their best lifetime guarantee. Although there is not a Perfect Camping Knife to be had, there are many that do that job excellently. All knives size does not fit all, and many choose to take multiple kinds with them. There is still a big divide between clients about the real type, which will be explained later. The common features in the Best Hunting Knifes are all helpful, and a much less gimmicky than other hunting parts. There is normally no lost craftsmanship, & everything has a common function. As per usual while choosing the desirable, the user & their purposes are the real deciders.

Introduction to Best Hunting Knife

Introduction to Best Hunting Knife Having the Best Hunting Knife on a market would be the smart move for all recreational or serious hunter. If you were always in a situation that needed you to have the Best knife in your hand, would you have become prepared? What if that critical situation had something to do with cutting any rope, cleaning the fish, or dressing the deer? Would you proceed to have a knife in your hand? Hunting or Camping is a highly popular game or sport that attracts several each year, from whole over a world. It’s further important to hunt for endurance, otherwise, we would only face hunger (unless you are vegetarian). This suggests it’s extremely necessary to not just have a great but the good you can see. If you’re finding the best one to use hunting & don’t know wherever to look, review our Best Hunting Knife Reviews! You Might Also Like ⇒ Best Damascus Chef Knife Best Folding Hunting Knife Reviews Best Pocket Knife for Self-Defense Best All Around Hunting Knife

Top 11 Best Hunting Knife Reviews

The Best Hunting Knife will serve for many years. Hunting knives or Camping Knife are used for camp work, dressing game, utility work, & about everything more that is required when in a forest. For this purpose, a top-quality Hunting Knife Set is required. (You don’t need to feel the suffering of having the bad hunting knife, it really sucks). In this Article, we will review of the Best Hunting Knife, the 11 Best-selling Camping Knife, Bowie Knife and Hunting Knives, pick which one is best for you! Editor's Note: We will update this list as more Hunting Knives hit the market.

No. 1 9" TAC FORCE Spring Assisted Open SAWBACK BOWIE Tactical Rescue Pocket Knife EDC

9 inch TAC FORCE Spring Assisted Open SAWBACK BOWIE Tactical Rescue Pocket Knife EDC

PROS In part Serrated Sharp edge, Glass Breaker Stub Safety belt Shaper Safety belt Shaper Material: 440 Stainless Steel Sharp edge General Length 9", Edge Length 3.5" Liner Locking Framework CONS

No. 2 MTech USA Ballistic MT-A705 Series Spring Assist Folding Knife, 4.5-Inch Closed

MTech USA Ballistic MT-A705 Series Spring Assist Folding Knife, 4.5-Inch Closed

PROS Comes finish with a pocket cut for simple and safe convey; incorporates a container opener and glass breaker Spring help collapsing knife offers quick one-gave organization, bolts safely into the right spot with a liner bolt 5-inch shut length; 3.75-Inch knife length with three mm thickness CONS

No. 3 Spyderco ParaMilitary 2 G-10 Plain Edge Knife

Spyderco ParaMilitary 2 G-10 Plain Edge Knife

PROS Flat ground from the spine to the bleeding edge, the cutting edge slices neatly and liberated through all material Screw-together development with a settled Pressure Bolt The G-10 handle is smaller at the hold position and more extensive at the knob for exhaustion free, slip-safe dealing with Joins Spyderco's new Turn Bushing Framework that influences opening/shutting the cutting edge to feel smooth while fixing producing resistances to a larger amount, General Length:8.281 ", Shut Length:4.812” Two-position pocket cut for tip-up or tip-down convey and channeled cord gap as an extra convey choice CONS

No. 4 Spyderco Tenacious G-10 Combination edge black blade

Spyderco Tenacious G-10 Combination edge black blade

PROS Made utilizing the most elevated quality materials The most trusted name in your cutlery needs Tried for quality and toughness CONS

No. 5 Spyderco Delica Plain Edge Knife

Spyderco Delica Plain Edge Knife

PROS General Length: 7.12", Cutting edge Length: 2.87", Shut Length: 4.25", Weight: 2.5oz Manual opening with the ability to use both hands thumb gap Materials: Cutting edge - VG-10, Handle: FRN (Fiberglass Strengthened Nylon) Made in Seki City, Japan Edge Pound: Flat, Cutting edge Shape: Slanted edge Best Utilize: Each Day Convey CONS

No. 6 Tri-Angle Sharpmaker

Tri-Angle Sharpmaker

PROS The most trusted name in your cutlery needs Tried for quality and toughness For keeping sharp cutting edges, apparatuses, and toys in ideal working condition, Spyderco sharpener set is first class Just keep the plane of your knife's cutting-edge vertical and draw the edge along each stone to hone. It's that basic. Made utilizing the most elevated quality materials All parts snap into the independent ABS plastic base and cover and are prepared to movement Incorporates 2 sets of high alumina earthenware stones; hones plain and flat edges, bits, darts, fishhooks, and punches CONS

No. 7 Buck Knives 110 Famous Folding Hunter Knife with Genuine Leather Sheath - TOP SELLER

Buck Knives 110 Famous Folding Hunter Knife with Genuine Leather Sheath - TOP SELLER

PROS AN AMERICAN Symbol - Great Walnut Handle and Metal Support give an ideal mix of magnificence and adjust. The 110 Collapsing Seeker, following 50 years is as yet one of America's smash hit knives and one that is passed on from age to age Well, sharpened SHARP Clasp POINT Cutting edge 3-3/4" 420HC Stainless Steel Clasp Edge has incredible quality, edge maintenance and is erosion safe. The Clasp cutting edge has a sharp controllable point, and is useful for detail work, puncturing and cutting Advantageous Convey Incorporates a Veritable Top notch Defensive Calfskin Sheath with Snap Latch. The incorporated waistband considers protected and secure carry on your belt for simple access. The 110 is flawless as a hunting partner or for general outside utilize Quality AND Security - Simple to open with a nail score on the sharp edge. The bolt back instrument bolts the sharp edge open for solid quality and security while you work. Shut Length 4-7/8" Weight 7.2 oz. MADE IN THE USA - Everlastingly Guarantee - Since 1902 Buck Knives has offered a lifetime guarantee on our knives since we trust in the respectability of our items. This knife is gladly made in the USA CONS

No. 8 Spring Assisted Knife - Pocket Folding Knife - Military Style - Boy Scouts Knife - Tactical Knife - Good for Camping, Indoor and Outdoor Activities (Medium, Black)

Spring Assisted Knife - Pocket Folding Knife - Military Style - Boy Scouts Knife - Tactical Knife

PROS Perfect Vital KNIFE FOR EVERYTHING - Outside, Climbing, Backpack, Bushcrafting, Chasing and Calculating, Military and Equipped power needs, Outdoors and DIY Activities, Survival, Self-Insurance, Emergencies. KNIFE WITH Crumbling SPRING Helped OPENING Edge AND POCKET Catch has a clear and trustworthy liner-jolt that is impenetrable to soil and neutralizes startling conclusion. Outfitted with the thumb studs for right and left-hand use. ERGONOMIC HANDLE - made of metal with finger depressions and indents for pleasing and firm handle. It is a fantastic utility contraption made of high gauge and study materials for master and tourism sweethearts alike. Dull Secured 440C STAINLESS STEEL - astounding leveling of hardness and buyer insurance ensures real assignment without sharpening. 100% genuine guarantee - Take it easy in light of the fact that your new knife is guaranteed by Astounding Way 10-year ensure. Can transform into a perfect present for the man or woman in your life. CONS

No. 9 SOG Folding Saw Gear F10N Wood Saw Blade Only, Nylon Sheath, High Carbon Steel 8.25" Removable Blade

SOG Folding Saw Gear F10N Wood Saw Blade Only, Nylon Sheath, High Carbon Steel 8.25 inch Removable Blade

PROS Respectfully tempered steel teeth chip away at hardwood and green wood 25-inch high carbon steel sharp edge with a dark powder coat wrap up Minimal collapsing saw for camping, hiking, and climbing Accompanies a restricted lifetime guarantee The dark sheath is incorporated into a snap conclusion and waistband connection CONS

No. 10 Morakniv Companion Fixed Blade Outdoor Knife with Sandvik Stainless Steel Blade, 4.1-Inch

Morakniv Companion Fixed Blade Outdoor Knife with Sandvik Stainless Steel Blade, 4.1-Inch

PROS Planned, the high-rubbing handle makes the knife pleasing to hold and easy to deal with Adaptable settled edge outside knife of cemented Sandvik 12C27 stainless steel Shading planning plastic sheath with belt cut Confined lifetime maker's certification. CONS Best Hunting Knife: How to Choose? If you found your way to here, possibilities are you're finding the Best Hunting Knife ever produced. But we are going to straighten with you. No one hunting knife fits them all. The truth is a few more difficult. There are infinite fantastic hunting knives on today's market with best features that many people love & others hate. This review will teach you about these features of the Best Hunting Knife & give you sufficient knowledge to take the Hunting Knife Set for your requirements.

Disclaimer

"All brand names and images are Registered Trademarks of their respective companies. All manufacturers names, numbers, symbols and descriptions are used for reference purposes only, and it is not implied that any part listed is the product of these manufacturers or approved by any of these manufacturers." Read the full article

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crazy4tank · 4 years ago

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This Is What Makes Ducati Panigale V4 The Worst Daily Driver Motorcycle

New Post has been published on https://coolcarsnews.com/2021/01/06/this-is-what-makes-ducati-panigale-v4-the-worst-daily-driver-motorcycle/

This Is What Makes Ducati Panigale V4 The Worst Daily Driver Motorcycle

Ducati easily passes away from as one of the most recognizable motorcycle manufacturers in existence. Ducati’s portfolio continues to be increasing with special editions plus insanely fast machines along with a few affordable ones. Whilst daily driveability is not something a person associate with a Ducati , there are a few that suit you perfectly.

One bike that is not particularly good at daily traveling is the Ducati Panigale V4. It isn’t really to say the Ducati Panigale V4 is appalling, it’s just that it isn’t really made for the purpose of being a daily. Must be bike has a couple of shortcomings does not mean it’s not good. To be flawlessly real, anyone can be comfortable with something they genuinely like.

There are many out there who daily hard disks a Ducati Panigale and you wouldn’t find them complaining. However , on a common note, the Ducati Panigale V4 has many attributes that make it less than perfect when it comes to daily driving.

Here’s us going over the particular specifics of what makes Ducati Panigale V4 the worst daily drivers motorcycle.

The particular Ducati Panigale V4 is the brand’s first large-production street bike having a V4 engine. If you know your Ducati’s then you may remember them having V-twins. The development of the Panigale V4 began with the 2015 MotoGP racing motor. The challenge was to create a well-balanced, enjoyable, and exciting superbike with a long lasting engine. Ducati managed to overcome the down sides of employing a racing engine plus introduced the bike in 2018. There are two versions for the Ducati Panigale; V4 and V4S. Each of them sport the same ergonomics plus tractability but the V4S gets much more tech. Also available is a race-ready Panigale V4R and a limited-run Panigale V4 Superleggera: the fastest Ducati you can buy .

In writing, the Panigale V4 gets the 1, 103cc Desmosedici V-4 motor. Ducati claims 214-horsepower and 91 lb-ft of torque. Paired to a 6-speed wet-clutch gearbox, this translates to the blistering sprint to 60 mph within 3 seconds. A host of electronic functions like six-axis IMU, cornering ABDOMINAL MUSCLES, and Ducati Traction Control (DTC) comes as standard. Other rider helps include Ducati Slide Control (DSC), Ducati Wheelie Control (DWC), Ducati Quick Shift up/down (DQS), plus last but not least Engine Brake Control (EBC) along with Ducati Power Launch (DPL). With the V4S you get Ducati Digital Suspension, Ohlins NIX-30 forks plus TTX 36 shock absorber with Intelligent EC 2 . 0 control program along with Öhlins steering damper, plus lightweight forged aluminum Marchesini tires.

ASSOCIATED: 2021 Ducati XDiavel Black Superstar Headed To North America As Limited Launch

The particular Panigale V4 is nothing in short supply of impressive. For starters, the Desomsideci is really a rev-friendly motor. Ducati has created a highly oversquare piston setup resulting in the revs climbing like a stabbed rat. The motorcycle is extremely stable around corners. There are winglets along the sides that channel atmosphere and help generate 66 lbs of downforce at 168 your. The Panigale V4 is a ballistic missile when it comes to acceleration, next-gen digital and driver-aids helps deliver an exciting experience. The Panigale V4 is definitely an impressive track machine, capable of environment lap-times even with stock rubber. You truly wouldn't complain if you ever get an opportunity to drive one, however , ownership is really a different story.

RELATED: 2021 Ducati Panigale V4 SP: Costs, Facts Plus Figures

The Panigale V4 being the very first attempt from Ducati, came with plenty of issues . The Panigale V4 has a notable clutch fade issue. This results in a choppy trip and jolts every time you perform gear shift. Also, as the clutch system fades, gear change becomes even more difficult robbing the overall driving encounter. Another issue was with a defective fuel system. The V4’s gas tank had a defective ventilation program that caused fuel to aerosol out from the tank posing a fire plus injury threat.

An additional major issue was with its timing string which led to a massive recall associated with around 1, 500 models among 2018 and 2019. Common in order to Ducatis are engine overheating as well as the Panigale is no exception. A lot of owners have complained about motor heating and other issues ranging from choppy throttle response to defective electronics.

For a day-to-day driver, reliability and ease of use are usually attributes that cannot be overlooked. However the Panigale V4 is a fabulous bit of kit, its unreliable nature combined with an expensive maintenance schedule is just not something you’d want on a bicycle that you intend to daily. There’s simply no holding back the fact that the Panigale V4 offers exceptional thrills whenever driven with intent. However , its not all day will you be exploiting the full possible of the V4. Moreover, city traveling can be a pain with its heating problems and aggressive riding position. Set that with expensive fuel expenses and the V4 has everything heading against it in terms of daily driveability.

The silver liner is if you can overlook all these elements which only a handful of people would certainly; make no mistake the Panigale V4 won’t disappoint. But , for most of people who managed to spend about $25, 000 on a premium motorbike, it’s hard to not criticize the shortcomings.

Sources: Cycleworld, MCN, YouTube, Wikipedia

NEXT: Lightweight, Rider-Friendly 2021 Ducati Monster 937 Revealed

#motorcycles

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omgstupendousbouquetbasement · 4 years ago

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US Vows to Restore International Sanctions on Iran

The United States vowed to assert a “snapback” of all prior international sanctions on Iran, effective 8 p.m. Eastern Time on September 19, with more announcements to be made this weekend and next week as to exactly how Washington is planning to enforce the “returned U.N. sanctions.”

“We will return to the United Nations to reimpose sanctions so that the arms embargo will become permanent next week,” said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday during a joint press conference with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

“I think we absolutely agree that Iran must never be — never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon,” said Raab. “We also, I think, share the view that the diplomatic door is open to Iran to negotiate a peaceful way forward. That decision, that choice is there for the leadership in Tehran to take.” He stopped short of saying whether or not and how Britain will implement the snapback sanctions.

Britain, France and Germany, the so-called E3, said in August that they cannot support the U.S. move to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran, saying the action is incompatible with efforts to support the Iran nuclear deal.

U.S. special envoy for Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Aug. 4, 2020.

“Whether those countries will in fact ignore the U.N. sanctions [under U.N. Security Council resolution 2231] remains to be seen,” U.S. special envoy for Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams told reporters in a Wednesday phone briefing. He added the E3 and other European countries had told Washington that they don't want the Iran arms embargo to end, but they were unable to take any action that kept the UN arms embargo in place.

Abrams said the returned sanctions include “a ban on Iran engaging in enrichment and reprocessing-related activities, the prohibition on ballistic missile testing and development, and sanctions on the transfer of nuclear and missile-related technologies to Iran.”

U.S. officials warn that an Iran free from restrictions would lead to further regional destabilization, intensified conflicts and a regional arms race.

Iranian armed forces members march in a military parade in Tehran, Sept. 22, 2018.

The U.S. tried but failed on August 14 to extend an expiring arms embargo against Iran through a resolution at the United Nations Security Council.

The embargo against the sale or transfer to or from Iran of conventional weapons is set to expire on October 18, under the 2015 nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

With the extension blocked, Washington saw triggering a snapback of U.N. sanctions under Security Council Resolution 2231, which implemented the Iran nuclear agreement, as the only path for restoring the arms embargo.

As the U.S. prepares to snap back sanctions against Iran this weekend, E3 nations are largely seen as likely to ignore them. Some experts said there would be a limited impact on European economies, unless the U.S. punishes those nations with secondary sanctions.

“The immediate U.S. goal in trying to re-impose sanctions is to prevent the end of the U.N. arms embargo in mid-October. But even if the Europeans recognize the U.N. embargo ends next month, British and EU companies are not going to start selling tanks to Tehran. The U.S. expects Chinese and firms to look for arms deals, and they will probably sanction those companies bilaterally. But that doesn't bother the Europeans very much,” said Richard Gowan, U.N. director of International Crisis Group (ICG).

“Overall, the U.S. has realized that this is not a useful fight to pursue,” Gowan told VOA on Wednesday. “Equally, E3 diplomats say that they would prefer to avoid a big public row over snapback too, to limit the harm to relations with Washington.”

Under the JCPOA concluded on July 14, 2015, the five permanent U.N. Security Council members, plus Germany, agreed with Iran to gradually lift international sanctions in return for limits on Tehran's nuclear activities, to prevent it from making a nuclear bomb. It also opened Iran's markets back up to many foreign investors.

The United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018, re-imposing unilateral sanctions on Iran. In response, Tehran resumed some of its nuclear activities, and in July 2019, it breached the deal by exceeding limits on both uranium enrichment and stockpile levels. Iran denies that its nuclear activities are for military purposes.

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kerahlekung · 4 years ago

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Tak perlu ada PH++, PH dah cukup kuat...

Tak perlu ada PH++, PH dah cukup kuat....

Kronologi Mesyuarat Pakatan Harapan Plus...

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Mengapa PH Perlu Tunduk Kepada Tun?

Sudah tiba masanya Mahathir yang harus berkorban...Tun elok bersara terus dan berehat. 1. Jika PH hanya mahu merampas kuasa untuk jangka masa pendek (supaya bekas Menteri2 PH yang gila kuasa dapat kembali berkuasa), mereka akan sokong Mahathir sebagai PM9 tetapi bukan demi negara ataupun PH. Namun, tiada jaminan bahawa PH akan diberi peluang untuk memerintah lagi, kerana Agong boleh membubarkan Dewan Rakyat dengan serta merta.

2. Apakah 'agenda' Mahathir yang beliau boleh buat dalam 6 bulan, tetapi gagal disempurnakan selama 22 bulan sebelum ini? (Pastikan Najib masuk penjara?) Jika ada, biar lah PM PH yang baru ambil alih, supaya 'agenda' tersebut akan dapat dikekalkan untuk jangka masa panjang, bukan untuk 6 bulan saja 3. Kalau PRU15 diadakan sebelum 2023, siapa lah yang akan menjadi calon PM untuk PH? Mahathir lagi, yang sudah berusia 95+ (dan sebab utama negara mengalami kemelut politik)?? PH pasti akan kalah kalau Mahathir yang jadi calon PM lagi, ia hanya membuktikan bahawa, langsung tiada pemimpin lain dalam PH yang layak menjadi PM. PH patut gulung tikar dengan serta merta.

4. Pengalihan kuasa daripada Mahathir kepada penggantinya (Anwar kah, orang lain kah) akan mencetuskan ketidakstabilan negara sekali lagi(kerana PM baru tidak semestinya mendapat sokongan penuh, seperti Mahathir). Oleh itu, mana2 kerajaan baru PH patut dipimpin oleh PM yang akan kekal sebagai PM sehingga tamat penggal. Ini juga dapat memberi masa yang mencukupi kepada PM baru untuk membuktikan bahawa beliau ada kemampuan untuk mentadbir negara, supaya PH boleh menghadapi PRU15 dipimpin oleh PM yang sudah terbukti. 5. Sepanjang Mahathir menjadi PM, PH semakin lemah. Mahathir tidak berniat untuk memperkuatkan kedudukan PH sebagai sebuah gabungan politik. Oleh sebab itu, PH tidak akan mampu bersaing dengan UMNO PAS selepas Mahathir meninggalkan PH (selepas memenuhi agenda peribadinya).

5 sekawan...

6. Jika Mahathir ikhlas ingin memastikan bahawa 'reformasi' kerajaan (kononnya...) dapat disempurnakan dan diperkasakan untuk jangka masa panjang, beliau sendirilah yang harus berkorban dan menyokong PM PH yang baru. Bersatu dah buang Tun dan 5 sekawan. Takkan PH masih nak berPMkan Tun lagi kot. Atas merit apa? Parti dia pun dah tak nak dia? 7. Last, but not least, janji2 Mahathir TIDAK boleh dipercayai lagi. Mahathirlah letak jawatan TANPA berunding dengan rakan2 terlebih dahulu, dan cuba membentuk 'kerajaan perpaduan' dengan yang bukan PH tanpa minta persetujuan rakan2 PH. Mahathirlah yang menyebabkan kerajaan PH tumbang, tetapi sehingga hari ini, beliau masih TIDAK pernah mohon maaf.

Kalau Mahathir mahu PH percaya pada beliau lagi, kenapa pula bukan beliau sendiri yang percaya pada PM PH yang baru (bahawa PM baru akan teruskan apa2 'agenda' yang Mahathir ingin melaksanakan sebagai PM9)? Kenapa kepercayaan ini hanya 'One Way street' saja? Maka sudah jelas bahawa Mahathir hanya mahu kembali sebagai PM untuk agenda PERIBADI dan balas dendam (terhadap UMNO khususnya?) beliau, BUKAN demi kebaikan negara ataupun PH. Jika Mahathir betul2 berwawasan, pandang jauh dan sanggup berkorban demi kebaikan negara, beliau harus undur diri dan sokong PM PH yang baru, bukan lagi minta orang lain 'berkorban' untuk dirinya lagi - Adiismail Adiismail

Jika hangpa bijak membaca statement di atas saja kita dah tau bahawa Atok ni bukan nak sangat jadi PM semula. Dia cuma nak kekalkan PN sahaja dengan cara mencalonkan diri sendiri menjadi PM PH supaya PH berpecah. Kalu Tun dan Shapie taknak sokong Anwar jadi PM, marilah kita sama2 jadi pembangkang saja...- f/bk

Persoalannya... 1. Apa keperluan PM interim ke-2? 2. Apa jadi pada PH plus selepas Tun turun dan bagi laluan pada Anwar? 3. Adakah orang2 Tun akan terus menyokong Anwar selepas Tun bersara? 4. Sia2 saja jika bentuk gomen yang sama rapuh seperti PN. 5. Halatuju gomen baru lebih penting dari menjatuhkan PN. 6. Hangpa nak maki aku, makilah tapi aku manyak happy... pikiaq2 mai - TS

Tolak Tun M dan kekal bersama PH.

Jatuh bagun kita bersama...

Wow!!! 115 out of 21,587 Phd holders in Malaysia

Hebat betoi Din...

Regardless Of Anwar Ibrahim’s Decision, PKR, DAP and Amanah Must Stay United In Pakatan Harapan...

We had written the risk of allowing Mahathir Mohamad to again become a prime minister. In a nutshell, he cannot be trusted. Anwar Ibrahim should be made the new Prime Minister, not Mahathir. Exactly why must Anwar be unfairly mistreated after all his sacrifices while the evil Mahathir, who did not even spend a single day in prison, is given the job again for the third time? Yes, the ideal choice to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition is for Anwar to be crowned as the 9th Prime Minister. Screw Mahathir! Long live Anwar! But that was “before” Sabah-based Warisan leader, Shafee Apdal, announced that his choice must be the 94-year-old Mahathir. So in reality, even with the entire PH’s 91 votes behind him, Anwar cannot become the next premier. The best scenario is for Anwar to become the PM and Mahathir’s son, Mukhriz, as deputy PM with the bonus of Mahathir as Mentor Minister thrown in. But such proposal failed to take off. Therefore, the next option is to work with the devil himself – Mahathir – in order to snatch back the government from backdoor Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is doing all the UMNO dirty works. The Mahathir-Anwar combo is not the ideal solution, but unfortunately, it is the only realistic workaround on the table simply because Anwar could not convince either Sabah-based Warisan (9 MPs) or Sarawak-based GPS (18 MPs) to support him – pure and simple! Which part of this that Mahathir-haters or Anwar-supporters don’t understand? A perfect and ideal solution is unavailable. However, when DAP’s organising secretary, Anthony Loke Siew Fook, revealed that both DAP and Amanah are waiting for PKR president Anwar Ibrahim to decide on the tag-team combo, all hell breaks loose. Anwar’s aide, Perak PKR Chief Mohd Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, has condemned DAP – “Is this how you repay Anwar for a friendship built over 20 years?” Seriously? Does the Anwar’s aide really want to go there? When Mahathir unleashed Zakir Naik to bark and insult the non-Malays, telling the Chinese to go back to China and the Hindus to go back to India, where was Anwar Ibrahim? Anwar obediently agreed with Mahathir not to extradite the hate preacher. Is that how Anwar repay non-Malays for a friendship built over 20 years?

Selangor PKR Youth secretary Ahmad Syukri Abd Razab has even suggested that Anwar quit the Pakatan Harapan coalition to teach DAP and Amanah a lesson. Why must PKR go ballistic when DAP was merely asking Anwar not to drag his feet and decide about the Mahathir-Anwar combo? If Anwar and his party do not agree, just say so. There’s no need to threaten. It’s the childish behaviour of PKR leaders like Mohd Farhash and Ahmad Syukri, as well as Anwar’s indecisiveness that had allowed Azmin Ali to easily manipulate and betray the party in the first place. Only now PKR leaders whined, moaned and bitched about how Mahathir ignored PKR’s recommendation for ministerships, and appointed Azmin as the Economic Affairs Minister. Had the PKR leaders courageously threatened to quit the coalition (the same way they are threatening DAP and Amanah now) when Mahathir defiantly appointed Azmin with the evil intention of splitting PKR back in 2018, the coup might not have happened. Anwar’s boys knew it 2 years ago, but talked as if Mahathir’s plan of using Azmin as a mole in the party just happened yesterday. Fine, Mahathir had caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government. Can DAP and Amanah also naughtily suspect that there’s more to Anwar’s private meeting in April with Muhyiddin than meets the eye? How could Anwar meet so soon the same traitor who had conspired with Azmin and robbed his chance of becoming the 8th Prime Minister? After uproars over Anthony Loke’s so-called “pressure” on Anwar to speed up his response, PH secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Anwar had travelled to Sarawak, presumably to win over the hearts of Sarawak party leaders. Another source claimed Anwar is even seeking an audience with some Malay Rulers in order to legitimise himself as the PM candidate. Has Anwar gotten any favourable replies from Sabah and Sarawak, let alone approvals to meet the monarchs? If not, that suggests a huge problem, is it not? Forget Sarawak, which is a harder nut to crack. Let’s talk about Sabah. Did Anwar at least manage to convince Chief Minister Shafee Apdal to support him as the 10th Prime Minister after Mahathir’s exit in 6 months?

Like it or not, the fact remains that Anwar Ibrahim, and Pakatan Harapan (formerly Pakatan Rakyat) for that matter, had tried for 20 years to unseat the mighty Barisan Nasional regime without any success – until the alliance with Mahathir. And now the same old man wanted to get rid of Perikatan Nasional regime, a common enemy, but PKR is getting very emotional instead of objective. Even if Mahathir has no intention of stepping down after 6 months as promised, one thing is pretty sure – he desperately wants to send UMNO crooks like Najib Razak, Zahid Hamidi, Tengku Adnan, Bung Moktar and Azeez Abdul Rahim to prison. If PKR thinks it’s not worthwhile to even see these spectacular fireworks, then reject Mahathir’s proposal. Just be decisive! But besides waiting for the next 15th General Election, which may not happen after all until 2023 because the backdoor government of Muhyiddin is no longer under threat thanks to the failure of Mahathir-Anwar combo, what else can PKR and PH do? Has anyone noticed the return of the old UMNO regime with government critics increasingly being charged with sedition? We’ve also published previously that there’s no right or wrong answer as to whether PH should work again with Mahathir. It depends on how desperate PH wants to take back its legitimate power – immediately or wait until the next general election, which is about 3 years away. At the end of the day, if Pakatan Harapan value principles more than politics, then continues as the Opposition. The most important part is for all the component parties – PKR, DAP and Amanah – to stay united. If PKR decides to let Muhyiddin rules and plunders until 2023, then DAP and Amanah should abandon the plan to work with Mahathir again and close ranks to prevent Pakatan Harapan from a total collapse. But get ready to accept that what is happening to Hannah Yeoh will continue for the next 3 years. - FT

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sweatygardencollectorblr · 5 years ago

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SEOUL—Whatever the condition of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the moment—and supposedly informed speculation ranges from dead, to comatose, to just chilling at his personal resort in Wonsan—his absence from public view for more than two weeks now is a reminder that his demise could plunge his country and the region, maybe even the world, into a huge new geopolitical crisis. For now his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, looks like the understudy waiting in the wings to take the lead if her brother cannot function. He’s positioned her for that role, and groomed her for it. But if Kim Jong Un dies, it’s fair to say all hell could break loose.Many analysts believe China would move swiftly to consolidate control over North Korea if Kim Jong Un is no longer able to govern effectively. Chinese concerns, like those of the U.S. and just about every other country with a stake in the region, focus not only on who’s in charge of North Korea but more specifically on what happens to North Korea’s nukes. If there is a chaotic battle for succession, who will secure them?A Chinese medical team known to be in the North right now presumably is looking after Kim, and looking out for Beijing’s interests. If Kim is indeed in grave condition, Chinese Leader Xi Jinping will be the first to know.And then what? “I’m very sure the Chinese will send their army into North Korea,” says defector Ken Eom, who served 10 years in Pyongyang's military and is now a prominent analyst in the South. “They have already planned what they will do.”Chinese concern about Korea goes deep into history, and was never more evident than in the Korean War, when half a million Chinese died driving U.S. and South Korean troops out of North Korea after they reached the Yalu River border between Korea and China in the early months of the war in 1950.It’s not as though North Korea would threaten China, the source of all its oil and half its food, but the Chinese want to be sure the Americans don’t get there first in the confusion of a power vacuum if Kim is no longer around, factions compete to succeed him, and the fate of his nuclear missile arsenal hangs in the balance.The results could be very bloody.Choi Jin-wook, former director of the Korea Institute of National Unification, believes it’s “very unlikely” that North Korean authorities would invite the Chinese into their country as in the Korean War. “That is very dangerous,” he says. “They will face a tough response from the North Korean side, probably an exchange of fire,” he predicts, but if U.S. or South Korean troops enter North Korea, “that is a different story.”It’s been more than eight years since Kim Jong Un inherited the family dynasty, and North Korea’s relations with China may never have been better since Kim first journeyed to Beijing—his first trip outside the country as North Korea’s leader—in March of 2018. With sister Yo Jong always hovering nearby, he spent three days seeing President Xi Jinping and other top officials on a mission that set the course for future close ties.The encounter had much to do with Kim agreeing to see President Donald Trump for the first U.S.-North Korean summit in Singapore in June 2018. Xi hosted Kim again in May, a month before the summit, in the industrial port city of Dalian, agreeing to send him and his entourage to Singapore on a Chinese plane. And one week after the summit, as if reporting back to his patron, Kim again called on Xi in Beijing.The presence of Kim Yo Jong, present for many of these encounters, would seem to guarantee continuity. She could pick up where her brother left off, but it’s likely that long-suppressed rivalries will explode if Kim Jong Un is not, in fact, on one of his yachts lying low during the COVID-19 pandemic, and really is at death’s door, or through it.“If factions face off, a vicious internal conflict is certain, and a civil war not unthinkable,” writes Michael Auslin at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution in the journal Foreign Policy. “With North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile sites potentially falling into the hands of whoever acts most quickly, Asia could face an unprecedented nuclear crisis.”Kim Yo Jong now owes her role as number two to him and to the authority that she’s believed to exert over the North’s Organization and Guidance Department, the entity with life-or-death power over all aspects of North Korean society. She’s the de facto leader of the OGD as well as Bureau 39, the office that controls the North’s money, including counterfeit U.S. currency printed on a press imported from Switzerland.“She’s in charge,” says Ken Eom, but “that doesn’t mean she’ll be in charge when her brother is no longer around.”Assuming Kim Yo Jong will face trouble from powerful men who just can’t accept the notion of a woman dominating them, at least two other figures are to be reckoned with.One is Kim Pyong Il, the much younger half brother of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. That makes him not only Yo Jong and Jong Un’s uncle but also the son of Kim Il Sung, who founded the North Korean state after the Japanese surrender in 1945. At 65, he’s still theoretically capable of carrying on the dynasty’s bloodline.Kim Pyong Il faces, however, what may be insurmountable problems. He spent nearly 40 years in a kind of exile as ambassador to eastern European countries before he was summoned back to Pyongyang last November.“Nobody knows him,” says Shim Jae-hoon, who writes about Korea for Yale Global. “He’s been away too long.” But he still could serve as figurehead leader over restive, quarreling subordinates. “It’s almost possible,” says Ken Eom, “but he might not last long.”And then there’s the top non-family contender, Choe Ryong Hae, whose title as President of the Presidium of the Supreme People’s Assembly makes him North Korea’s titular head of state. Choe, who also is first vice chairman of the state affairs commission, through which Kim as chairman wields his power, has his own bloodline—his father fought with Kim Il Sung against Japanese rule as a guerilla in Manchuria.Choe, however, has had an up-and-down career, once having been forced out of the hierarchy for “reeducation” as a laborer for involvement in a scheme to sell scrap metal—a crime that sometimes merits execution. In his case, his father’s old-time bond with Kim Il Sung saved him.On the plus side, Choe’s son is rumored to have been married to Kim Yo Jong.“Choe is next at the moment,” says Choi Jin-wook, “but he is not a Kim, though from a guerrilla family.” But would that lineage do the trick?“I cannot find any alternative to this Stalinist dynasty,” says Choi. “This will lead to the end of the Kim dynasty. Enough is enough.There is no legitimate person, and it is going to be anybody’s game. Maybe big chaos.”Xi Jinping would like to stand above the fray, pressuring competing factions to get along.In that spirit Xi received Kim for the fourth time in extraordinary pomp and circumstance in Beijing in January last year, six weeks before Trump’s second summit with Kim in Hanoi. Then, last June, after the failure of the Trump-Kim summit in February, Kim received Xi in Pyongyang—the first visit by a Chinese leader to the North Korean capital in 14 years.All those displays of mutual good-will, however, may have been for naught if Kim Jong Un is no longer around. “I do not think Kim is yet dead,” says Ken Eom, but, “I think he’s got a serious problem.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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bountyofbeads · 5 years ago

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In New Talks, U.S. May Settle for Nuclear Freeze by North Korea https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/30/world/asia/trump-kim-north-korea-negotiations.html

Bolton pushes back on North Korea negotiations report: "A reprehensible attempt by someone to box in the president" https://t.co/yO1T4VDHtW

You couldn’t make it up. John Bolton was sent to Mongolia while Tucker Carlson was one of those accompanying Trump to the DMZ.

Remember that Bolton, who said last month that recent North Korean weapons tests violated UN Security Council resolutions, was not at the DMZ for Trump’s sit down with Kim. He was on his way to Mongolia.

In New Talks, U.S. May Settle for a Nuclear Freeze by North Korea

By Michael Crowley and David E. Sanger | Published June 30, 2019 | New York Times | Posted July 1, 2019 |

SEOUL, South Korea — From a seemingly fanciful tweet to a historic step into North Korean territory, President Trump’s largely improvised third meeting on Sunday with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, was a masterpiece of drama, the kind of made-for-TV spectacle that Mr. Trump treasures.

But for weeks before the meeting, which started as a Twitter offer by the president for Mr. Kim to drop by at the Demilitarized Zone and “say hello,” a real idea has been taking shape inside the Trump administration that officials hope might create a foundation for a new round of negotiations.

The concept would amount to a nuclear freeze, one that essentially enshrines the status quo, and tacitly accepts the North as a nuclear power, something administration officials have often said they would never stand for.

It falls far short of Mr. Trump’s initial vow 30 months ago to solve the North Korea nuclear problem, but it might provide him with a retort to campaign-season critics who say the North Korean dictator has been playing the American president brilliantly by giving him the visuals he craves while holding back on real concessions.

While the approach could stop that arsenal from growing, it would not, at least in the near future, dismantle any existing weapons, variously estimated at 20 to 60. Nor would it limit the North’s missile capability.

The administration still insists in public and in private that its goals remain full denuclearization. But recognizing that its maximalist demand for the near-term surrender of Mr. Kim’s cherished nuclear program is going nowhere, it is weighing a new approach that would begin with a significant — but limited — first step.

American negotiators would seek to expand on Mr. Kim’s offer in Hanoi in February to give up the country’s main nuclear-fuel production site, at Yongbyon, in return for the most onerous sanctions against the country being lifted. Mr. Trump, under pressure from his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and his national security adviser, John R. Bolton, rejected that proposal, because so much of the North’s capability now lies outside the vast Yongbyon complex.

The idea now is to get Mr. Kim’s new negotiating team to agree to expand the definition of the Yongbyon site well beyond its physical boundaries. If successful — and there are many obstacles, including the North accepting intrusive, perhaps invasive inspections — it would effectively amount to a nuclear freeze that keeps North Korea from making new nuclear material.

But a senior United States official involved in North Korean policy said there was no way to know if North Korea would agree to this. In the past, he said, its negotiators have insisted that only Mr. Kim himself could define what dismantling Yongbyon meant.

To make any deal work, the North would have to agree to include many facilities around the country, among them a covert site called Kangson, which is outside Yongbyon and is where American and South Korean intelligence agencies believe the country is still producing uranium fuel.

A president embarking on a re-election campaign — and who complained repeatedly on Sunday that he receives no credit from the media for de-escalating tensions with North Korea and for the freeze on underground nuclear tests and test-launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles — would most likely cast this as a victory, as another restraint on Mr. Kim. It would help Mr. Trump argue that he is making progress, albeit slowly, on one of the world’s most intractable crises.

And it would be progress after three face-to-face meetings — first in Singapore a little more than a year ago, then in Hanoi, then in an hourlong discussion at the DMZ on Sunday — that have produced warm exchanges but no shared definitions of what it meant to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. A year after that first meeting, the North has yet to turn over an inventory of what it possesses, claiming that would give the United States a map of military targets.

On Sunday evening, the State Department’s envoy to North Korea, Stephen E. Biegun, said that this account of the ideas being generated in the administration was “pure speculation” and that his team was “not preparing any new proposal currently.”

“What is accurate is not new, and what is new is not accurate,” he said.

Presumably, Mr. Trump’s freeze would have to be a permanent one, or he will have gotten less from Mr. Kim than President Barack Obama got from Iran in a deal Mr. Trump dismissed as “disastrous.” And even a successful freeze would constitute a major retreat from the goal of the “rapid denuclearization of North Korea, to be completed by January 2021,” as Mr. Pompeo put it last fall.

But it does have the benefit of being vastly more achievable.

More than two years ago, on his first trip to Seoul, Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson rejected a similar idea. He said it would “leave North Korea with significant capabilities that would represent a true threat, not just to the region, but to American forces, as well.”

But Mr. Trump, who prizes his personal relationship with Mr. Kim, would most likely argue that a freeze was groundbreaking. (He has also described Mr. Tillerson, who he dismissed early in 2018, as “dumb as a rock” so he would most likely not be limited by his past declarations.)

In fact, this approach has been attempted before: It bears strong similarities to the nuclear freeze President Bill Clinton negotiated with Mr. Kim’s father in 1994. But that was a dozen years before the North’s first nuclear test, and before it possessed either nuclear weapons or the capability to deliver them.

Mr. Clinton’s deal held for five or six years, until it became obvious the North was cheating by seeking a new approach to the bomb — uranium enrichment. The North broke out of it in 2003. George W. Bush negotiated a partial freeze at Yongbyon in 2007; it too fell apart.

The approach raises the larger question of whether Mr. Trump really cares about striking a tough denuclearization deal, or whether, as many critics charge, he is mainly interested in the illusion of progress to present himself to voters as a peacemaker.

“The president constantly takes credit for the fact that the prospect of war has receded,” said Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who was involved in the Bush administration’s confrontations with the North. “But it went up not because North Korea was doing anything differently, but because the administration was threatening war. And it went down not because the threat had lessened, but because the administration seemed content with the chimera of denuclearization.”

Mr. Trump’s more limited expectations may, however, mesh perfectly with Mr. Kim’s plans. While Mr. Kim is eager to shed all the economic sanctions on his country, some North Korea analysts believe he would happily accept only partial sanctions relief along with lowered expectations that he might actually surrender his arsenal.

“I do think Kim could offer just enough on the negotiating table, such as the Yongbyon nuclear facility plus yet another suspected nuclear facility, in order to secure an interim deal with Trump and at least some sanctions relief,” said Sue Mi Terry, who served at the C.I.A. and the National Security Council under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Mr. Kim “may calculate that this is still not a bad deal because it would allow the North to keep its nuclear and missile arsenal — and it would give Trump an opportunity to claim he had achieved something none of his predecessors had,” Ms. Terry said.

At the core of Mr. Trump’s argument is that his friendship with Mr. Kim alone constitutes diplomatic success; on Sunday, the president asserted that the “tremendous danger” from North Korea he inherited when he took office has passed. “We’re a lot safer today,” Mr. Trump said before a meeting with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in.

Adam Mount, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said, “Several times he spoke as if friendship with Kim Jong-un is an end in itself.”

Mr. Trump may once have warned of “fire and fury” if Mr. Kim failed to surrender his weapons, but he “now embraces that these meetings aren’t about getting to denuclearization but instead having a good one-to-one relationship with Kim Jong-un,” said Van Jackson, a former senior country director for Korea at the Department of Defense during the Obama administration

“That’s legitimation of a nuclear state,” Mr. Jackson said.

If so, the outline of the next year or so of negotiations may be taking shape: A series of on-and-off negotiations that creep forward, punctuated by feel-good presidential meetings like Sunday’s, while the world grows use to an arsenal of North Korean weapons the way it grew accustomed to Pakistan’s, or India’s or Israel’s.

“Despite all the reality show-like optics of the Singapore and Hanoi summits and this meeting today, what substantive progress have we made in denuclearization?” asked Yun Duk-min, a former chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy who now teaches at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. “Not a single nuclear warhead or missile in North Korea has been eliminated. The North’s nuclear facilities are still in operation.”

On Sunday, Mr. Trump was ushered into the Demilitarized Zone by President Moon of South Korea — who then sat outside while Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim met. It was a stunning bit of symbolism for those who argue the South has been sidelined in these talks.

Despite the imagery, Mr. Moon’s government sounded optimistic, at least officially.

“Through their meeting today, the South and North Korean leaders and the American leader made history,” Yoon Do-han, Mr. Moon’s chief presidential press secretary, said in a statement following the border meeting.

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forensicfield · 3 years ago

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FACT Plus - Forensic Ballistics QnA (2018)

FACT Plus – Forensic Ballistics QnA (2018)

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whittlebaggett8 · 6 years ago

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Misplaced Confidence? The US Private Space Sector vs. China

When China landed on the considerably facet of the lunar floor early this calendar year, Us residents tended to dismiss the accomplishment. Possibly they said some model of “been there, carried out that, 50 decades ago,” or commented that it was practically nothing to be concerned about. China would have to contend with not the U.S. authorities sector in space led by NASA, but the vivid and productive U.S. personal room sector led by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Surely, the U.S. non-public room sector now has a major benefit. But China is warm on their heels — encouraging their possess billionaires and personal space organizations (Onespace, Landspace, iSpace, Linkspace) to enter the sector. To enable this, President Xi Jinping and the Chinese point out have made a supportive environment. While the U.S. non-public place method has a 19 calendar year head-start out with the founding of Blue Origin in 2000, the Chinese private room sector that took off all around 2015 drew an financial commitment of $2 billion in 2018 by itself [China’s state funded space program takes about $6 billion annually] and is expanding fast.

In 2018, iSpace and Onespace began sub-orbital testing with aid from the Chinese state. Though Onespace’s attempt to start its OS-M1 4-stage rocket, the Chongqing Liangjiang Star, to location a satellite in orbit failed on March 27, these failures are neither astonishing nor new in the personal space launch business. In 2006, Elon Musk’s SpaceX unsuccessful in its initially launch of the Falcon 1. It failed all over again to attain orbit in its second and third makes an attempt. Zach Dunn, Senior Vice President of SpaceX creation and launch recalled that period of time: “[W]e all realized that the stakes have been amazingly high…it was tense. There was a lot of pressure.” SpaceX last but not least succeeded in its fourth attempt and the rest is, of study course, background.

Having fun with this short article? Click on right here to subscribe for entire access. Just $5 a thirty day period.

The essential level of notice with regard to the Chinese private space sector is how rapidly it is acquiring. The exact Onespace, whilst failing in its initially try to put a satellite into orbit, succeeded in its future two sub-orbital launches with its OS-X rockets in 2018. CEO, Shu Chang, a graduate of Beihang College [the same university that conducted the 365 days simulation of living in a Moon lab], indicated that his organization will carry out numerous launches of the OS-M launch car this year to find out and increase technological successes. Shu indicated that:

What we’re focusing on now is the OS-M start auto, which is around 20 tons. Its 3rd and fourth phase motor were correctly tested in late October [2018]. Upcoming, we will carry out several checks for OS-M, these as the framework static take a look at, a detailed electrical program check, an angle command test, and a propulsion program vibration examination, etc.

In excess of the previous a few yrs, practically 60 personal space startups have entered the personal launch market, supported by the Chinese state. Spokesperson of the China National House Administration (CNSA), Li Guoping, specified:

The output benefit of the satellite software sector helps make up above 80 per cent of the full satellite sector chain. So we stimulate personal corporations and social cash to spend in the software of satellite communication, distant sensing and navigation…When we make a top rated-amount system for China’s aerospace development, we will take into consideration the advancement of professional area action. The authorities will open up house programs that can be carried out in a industrial way, and invest in solutions from professional businesses…

Due to the fact 2014, Xi has urged China’s non-public place sector to arise as the leader in the “implementation of civil-armed forces integration method.” Xi’s plan advice has been followed up by the PLA, which opened its Jiuquan Satellite Launch Heart (China’s key start facility) in the northwestern Gobi Desert for private rocket launches. This civil-military integration has been determined as a priority by Xi for China’s over-all national system with regard to outer room. The setting up chief of the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Heart, Jia Lide, mentioned that “favorable guidelines and focused actions have been created for the gain of personal house enterprises.”

The latter point is specifically significant. The U.S. personal sector does quite effectively with robust government guidance, by systems like Business Orbital Transportation Program (COTS), Industrial Crew Program, and now the Commercial Lunar Payload Company (CLPS). Most U.S. room industries nevertheless count to a significant diploma on the authorities industry both to get began or to remain solvent.

It is also expense-productive for the U.S. taxpayer to spend in non-public room providers. NASA’s interior estimates are that if it had attempted to create SpaceX Falcon 9 employing the exact Price-Plus contract it is applying on its Room Launch Method (SLS), it would have value the taxpayer substantially much more. Similar variances have been approximated for industrial propellant depots, Moon Bases, and use of Asteroid means.

But the U.S. commercial sector is motivated by a little variety of billionaires with an ideological drive for space. Any or all of them could confront unique professional, money or private troubles. There are stories that Elon Musk’s stability clearance, which enables him to deal with the U.S. federal government, is less than review, soon after an incident in which he smoked marijiana although recording the podcast and YouTube exhibit “Joe Rogan Experience” in September 2018. He is also dealing with lawful complications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over Tesla tweets. Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin, is experiencing personal difficulties of his have, to involve his allegations of blackmail by the Nationwide Enquirer, and the alleged involvement of Saudi Arabia in hacking his non-public mobile phone.

Amid this drama, Chinese Leading Li Keqiang presented Musk a “green card” if he decides to come do the job in China, throughout his assembly with Musk in Beijing in January 2019. History will remind us that Qian Xuesen, the gentleman exclusively accountable for the founding of China’s house and rocket plan, ironically played an instrumental purpose in the founding of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA in the 1930s and 1940s. Qian still left China in 1935 on a Boxer Riot Indemnity Scholarship, finished his schooling in MIT and CALTECH. For the duration of Earth War II, Xuesen served in the United States Government’s Science Advisory Board, had the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Military Airforce, and was despatched to Germany wherever he debriefed German researchers, such as Werner von Braun. Von Braum subsequently developed the Saturn V for the United Point out, the rocket that took humanity to the Moon in 1969. Xuesen’s mentor, Theodore Von Kármán wrote of him, “At the age of 36, he was an undisputed genius whose work was offering an great impetus to innovations in substantial-velocity aerodynamics and jet propulsion.” In a twist of fate, Xuesen’s application for U.S. citizenship was denied in the 1950s, and he was accused of remaining a communist. None of those allegations had been at any time proved. In 1955, he was deported to China. Qian went on to observed China’s ballistic missile system.

Though drama swirled close to Musk and Bezos in the United States, China funded and established the world‘s to start with place dependent solar electric power plant experiment in Chongqing this calendar year and has introduced many upcoming robotic probes to the Moon, to consist of both of those poles and to build a lunar foundation by 2036. Deputy Head of the Chongqing Collaborative Innovation Investigation Institute for Civil-Army Integration, Xe Gengxi, indicated about this experiment:

We strategy to start four to 6 tethered balloons from the screening foundation and connect them with every single other to established up a community at an altitude of around 1,000 meters. These balloons will accumulate daylight and change photo voltaic strength to microwave before beaming it again to Earth. Receiving stations on the floor will change such microwaves to electricity and distribute it to a grid.

In contrast, the United States has no national software to establish big room industrial architecture such as a Photo voltaic Energy Satellite, or lunar and asteroid mining. The outcome of this absence of support is crystal clear: Without the need of the U.S. federal government as an early current market, it has remaining its begin-ups to flounder, with two asteroid companies, Planetary Resources Incorporated (PRI) and Deep Place Industries (DSI) being purchased out because of an incapacity to secure funds, and other individuals, like MoonExpress, possessing to take funds from the PRC’s TENCENT holdings, famous for beginning China’s popular messaging application, WeChat. While there have been, over the previous ten years, a number of Room Photo voltaic Ability start out-ups (Solaren, SolarHigh, Area Island Group, Planetary Power, SpaceEnergy), without proactive federal government aid to support in the regulatory natural environment, supply incentives, tax credits, or decrease the sector risk, none have been able to have their tips ahead.

The complacent angle by the U.S. federal government place sector to China’s expenditure in outer place places the U.S. professional area sector in a weaker placement as study money essential for critical house initiatives are challenging to uncover. This deficiency of strategic standpoint and an incapability to consider seriously China’s mentioned ambitions of everlasting presence in outer room and to make the most of room-based sources have amounted to a lack of foresight and vision. Though U.S. room thinkers like Paul Spudis, Robert Zubrin, and other individuals have made available compelling ideas for lunar industrialization, this kind of strategic visions have but to appear on any NASA roadmap. When the U.S. Nationwide House Council’s March 26 assembly in Huntsville, AL advised the lunar plan target on science and resource utilization, lacking from the recommendations ended up distinct house industrial generation objectives that will travel the U.S. federal government house sector, offer incentives to non-public space startups, and make it complicated for NASA to underperform.

Chinese fascination on the Moon is very clear: The Moon presents major financial and logistical gains. Unquestionably, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s way to NASA to place humans again on the moon is a move in the right path. But a elementary concern remains: Why go to the Moon again without the need of a lengthy-term industrial coverage? Sending astronauts to the lunar surface is a single factor establishing a lunar facility to ignite new innovation and private business is pretty an additional.

A very similar complacent attitude in telecommunications has meant that now Huawei is the industry leader in 5G and is setting the benchmarks across Europe, Asia and Africa, opening the doorway to a international law enforcement state. Is that what we want for the remaining frontier?

Dr. Namrata Goswami is an unbiased senior analyst and creator. Her perform on “Outer Room and Excellent Powers” was supported by the MINERVA Initiative Grant for Social Science Study. Now, she is operating on a guide on “Great Powers and Useful resource Nationalism in Space” to be published by Lexington Push, an imprint of Rowman and Littlefield.

The post Misplaced Confidence? The US Private Space Sector vs. China appeared first on Defence Online.

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#China space program #Elon Musk #Flashpoints #Jeff Bezos #Space #Space Race #SpaceX #U.S.-China Compe

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goldeagleprice · 6 years ago

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Letters to the Editor (December 18, 2018)

Mint does not distribute coins to local banks

It never ceases to amaze me that even the most seasoned and esteemed numismatists do not understand how United States coinage goes from manufacturing to circulation.

In Harvey Stack’s Viewpoint column (Nov. 18, 2018), he blamed the U.S. Mint for problems with the distribution of the 50 State Quarters program. In his article, Stack wrote that “the distribution of the new designs did not get full nationwide distribution. The Mint sent to most banks nationwide whatever they had available, with some districts getting large quantities of the new issue and other districts getting relatively few, if any.”

The U.S. Mint does not distribute circulating coins to any United States bank except for the Federal Reserve. At the end of every production line is a two-ton bag made of ballistic materials that collect every coin produced on the line. When the bag is full, it is sealed and later transported to a processing center designated by the Federal Reserve.

The U.S. Mint is a manufacturer. When they complete making the product, it is packaged in bulk and the customer, the Federal Reserve, picks up the product. Once the product is delivered to the client, that product’s distribution is no longer in the U.S. Mint’s control.

During the time of the 50 States Quarters program, the U.S. Mint had an agreement with the Federal Reserve to distribute the new coins first in order to get them into circulation. When the new coins were transferred to the various Federal Reserve cash rooms in the 12 districts, the Federal Reserve did circulate the new coins first.

What gets left out of the discussion is the logistics of transferring the coins from the cash rooms to the banks. The Federal Reserve does not deliver. Like many government agencies, the Federal Reserve relies on contractors to carry out that job. The Federal Reserve “sells” the coins to the logistics companies that bag and roll the coins and eventually deliver the coins in armored vehicles to the banks.

In order to save money, these logistics companies keep their own supply of coins. This supply comes from the Federal Reserve cash room operations or excess they are given from the banks. Since the logistics companies were not part of the deal that the U.S. Mint made with the Federal Reserve, a bank that asked for a delivery of quarters may have received quarters from the logistics company’s stock rather than new issues from the Federal Reserve.

Logistics is the coordination of complex operations, and it is the job of these logistics companies to fulfill the inventory needs of the bank in the most efficient manner possible. It was more efficient to supply the banks in less densely populated areas with coins from current stock than transporting large amounts of coins from one of the Federal Reserve cash room operations that may be hundreds of miles away.

The U.S. Mint may do many things that collectors might take exception to, but the distribution of circulating coins is not their responsibility.

Scott Barman Rockville, Md.

Jump out of the stock market and into CC coins

Thought I would run this by you as I am a fan of all CC coins.

Are they generally a good investment as far as rarity goes in comparison to the other mints? I realize there are some dates that are really hard to find in high-end coins. I am sort of new to this and have liquidated all my IRA stock holdings to acquire silver and gold coins.

John Troike Address withheld

Editor’s note: Carson City Mint coins are popular among collectors because of the story of the mint itself. There are common issues and rare issues from this mint. Prices depend on quality and scarcity. Generally speaking, markets have been stable in the last couple of years. You have the time to study these issues and make the decisions to buy or not buy when you are ready.

If you are looking for quick in and out plays, these coins will not do well for you. If you are thinking of 10 or 15 years, then you have a chance to make a profit. The rules of diversification apply to coins as well as other asset classes. Putting all of your retirement money into one thing is not a good idea.

I hope you are approaching this with the idea of being a collector and having some fun with it. This approach usually yields the best results over time.

70-point grading not fully used; why adopt 100?

I have been observing the debate in Numismatic News about the pros and cons of a new 100-point coin grading system. At first I thought the 100-point system would be a good idea – sounded simpler, like the decimal system. But after reading George Kissinger’s letter to the editor in the Nov. 6th NN, I was inclined to agree with him – the coin collecting community does not even make full use of the current 70-point system. He’s right, in my experience.

At the numerous shows I’ve attended over the past 30 years, for raw coins in lower grades, one sees G4 and G6, VG8 or VG10, F12 or F15, and on up to AU50 – just a couple of grade breaks per category. So for the most part, the number grades in between are useless. Even when I tried putting together a Washington quarter set in BU, I mainly saw raw coins in cardboard flips above AU50 confined to AU55 and AU58. No AU51 or AU52, no AU56 or AU57. Even today, most Mint State grades go MS60. MS63, MS65. Above MS65, it’s anybody’s guess at the real quality.

Only in the grading of raw Morgan and Peace type silver dollars does it seem there’s much regular use of grades like MS61, MS62, and all the way to MS68 or perhaps MS70. The pressure for a 100-point system seems to be on the high-end Mint State third-party graded coins. On a 100-point system, they can have more grade breaks in MS, and the pricing can go up with every single point. So why not just let them have 40 grades between MS60 and MS100, and there’s your 100-point system?

David Smith Somerville, Tenn.

Prices of slabbed tokens make no sense

When McDonald’s had their 50th Anniversary Big Mac token release earlier this year, I drove around to five or six McD’s locations to get all five. So my cost is $25 plus gas. (I ate one Big Mac with each purchase!) People have until, I think it is, the end of the year to redeem the token for a free Big Mac. I’m thinking of keeping mine as a souvenir or a collectible.

I just looked on eBay, and my mind is boggled. Had I gotten the five still-in-the-cellophane tokens graded at what cost I don’t know, they are going for $75 and up. This is crazy. I just don’t understand why getting these tokens graded makes them worth so much more. As if people are going to counterfeit the tokens for a $5 Big Mac. I’d rather have them in the original packaging along with the tiny card inside. I’ve watched Antiques Roadshow enough to know packaging is almost everything, or really makes a significant difference in pricing.

This is just crazy. You have to get McDonald’s tokens graded, pay for that grading, for people to see value in them. Maybe there’s some truth in what other readers say in that today people buy the holder and not the coin.

OK, so other people don’t think the same way I do, but I really think this is crazy.

Please ask your readers for comments. Could be they’d rather collect real coins anyway and not commercial McDonald’s tokens.

Name withheld

Address letters to Editor, Numismatic News, 5225 Joerns Drive, Suite 2, Stevens Point, WI 54481. All letters must be signed and include a return address. Numismatic News reserves the right to edit all letters. E-mail should be sent to [email protected]. Include your city and state in your email.

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duaneodavila · 6 years ago

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The Marshall Project’s Seal of Junk Approval

Some might have been put off by the fact that this steaming pile of crap appeared in no less a newspaper that was supposed to keep a critical eye on the doings of junk forensic science than the New York Times. After all, had the failings not been made abundantly clear?

Once seen as crime scene detritus, bullets and ejected shell casings — which have unique sets of scratches, grooves and dents — are recognized these days as vital pieces of evidence. More officers are now taking the time to collect shell casings from petty crimes and nonviolent shootings, like when joy riders use stop signs for target practice, because they may eventually help solve more dangerous acts of violence.

As the feds dearly love to do, they gave their database and cool name, National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, and fed a story of their glory to a willing “journalist,” who duly reported it.

“This case would likely have gone unsolved” if not for the bullet match, said Jason Grenell, an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. He successfully prosecuted Mr. Ackridge last year for the 2015 robberies and shootings, which injured four people, including a man who tried to intervene and is now paralyzed from the waist down. Mr. Ackridge was sentenced to 178 years in prison.

Notably absent are the guys sentenced to 178 years in prison for bullets that matched, except they weren’t guilty and the match was forensic nonsense. Should one blame the investigative reporter, Ian Urbana, for ignorantly promoting junk science at the same time so many others have been trying to eliminate crap from the courtroom?

Maybe that would be unfair, as he was just doing his job, writing, and has no competency whatsoever in forensic science, or any science for that matter. Maybe Urbana got an assignment and completed it, even if what he wrote was little more than a law enforcement puff piece. After all, what can one reasonably expect from the New York Times?

But then came the validation.

“By connecting these dots, police aren’t just solving past shooting murders, they’re preventing the next ones from happening.”

More at @nytimes: https://t.co/vlrwobVSen

— The Marshall Project (@MarshallProj) November 23, 2018

The Marshall Project says it’s legit, and they are, so they say, our criminal law saviors. Unlike the New York Times, the Marshall Project is not merely dedicated to the cause of criminal law accuracy, but to fill the void in criminal law reporting. It’s not as if blogs by criminal defense lawyers didn’t exist, or that reporters like Radley Balko and Brad Heath hadn’t written anything before. But this was a dedicated project, the one that wouldn’t get it wrong. Of course, it got it wrong right out of the box.

It’s hard enough to try to fight junk forensic science, given the general scientific illiteracy of the bench and bar, not to mention the public. We love our black boxes, our experts, who fill the gap of desperately desiring not to convict the innocent by taking the burden of making mistakes off the shoulders of judges and juries and replacing them with “trust the black box,” “trust the expert,” “trust the algorithm.” It allows us to sleep easy at night, knowing that we are doing our best to replace the vicissitudes of human frailty with the certitude of science.

And this is how junk science becomes validated in the squishy minds of believers. People may not trust the FBI. They may not even trust the New York Times. But when the self-proclaimed Messiah of criminal law reporting adds its seal of approval, can its efficacy be doubted? That its wrong requires one to have some tiny bit of subject matter knowledge plus a lot of skepticism, and that’s too much to ask of people who mean well but rely on others to do their vetting for them.

The Marshall Project says that Urbana’s story about bullet marks is the real deal.

When a semiautomatic weapon is fired, a small hammer slams into a firing pin that strikes the back of the bullet cartridge, igniting gun powder that propels the bullet down the barrel. The recoil from the shot forces the casing to be ejected, and it is usually found on the ground nearby. Every gun leaves a unique etch on the casings it expels, marks that are like a firearm’s fingerprint.

As we’ve come to learn, many decades and wrongful convictions later, even fingerprints aren’t as good as fingerprints. Yet, the mark here is “unique” enough to put a guy in prison for 178 years. The New York Times says so. The Marshall Project approves. It can’t get any more clear than that.

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The Marshall Project’s Seal of Junk Approval republished via Simple Justice

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omgstupendousbouquetbasement · 4 years ago

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US Vows to Restore International Sanctions on Iran

U.S. special envoy for Iran and Venezuela Elliott Abrams speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Aug. 4, 2020.

U.S. officials warn that an Iran free from restrictions would lead to further regional destabilization, intensified conflicts and a regional arms race.

Iranian armed forces members march in a military parade in Tehran, Sept. 22, 2018.

The U.S. tried but failed on August 14 to extend an expiring arms embargo against Iran through a resolution at the United Nations Security Council.

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paintball-gun-review-blog · 6 years ago

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Dangers of whenever a player has been noticed, and he knows he's going down, within the last secs he's on the field he could possibly inform his teammates where the enemy is located.

Regardless of the type of paintball being played out, teamwork is necessary. Arena paintball is played on smaller fields surrounded by defensive netting to safeguard spectators from being hit by stray paintballs. It is performed in woods, in arenas, and on fields specifically designed for "rec paintball," which may be played in many different ways.

There are several various kinds of paintball games, many of which invite spectators. The life of a paintball marker will significantly depend on how well you take care of it, if you follow the suggestions in this post on how to keep up your paintball gun and read the manufacturer guidelines that come with your marker, this will ensure you will not be buying another paintball gun any moment in the future. 1) Make sure you squeegee your paintball gun fully after every game.

Head on to -paintball-guns-grenades-bazookas/ to claim a free of charge ebook that offers all the absolute best links to the most effective homemade paintball gear programs on the internet. http://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=Paintball If you are the tinkering type, then producing a paintball gun will help you pass the time, and let you release some creativity. Paintball Grenade Launcher - be it a launcher that shoots grenades or a slew of paintballs, a ballistic weapon is certainly handy and fun to shoot on the field.

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Paintball guns and paintballs are obviously the primary elements of the paintball equipment. Learn about different facets of playing paintball, from the gear required to the guidelines followed. Many sports teams use charity occasions, such as for example food drives or group fund-raising campaigns, to improve visibility in their communities.

The study also showed that activities could be timed to improve player inspiration, such as before and after main competitions when the team's degree of confidence may be shaken. To build a dynamic team that will reach peak performance in competition, develop a cohesive squad that plays with enthusiasm, confidence and shared goals both on and off the sporting field. Teaching youth players how to correctly block and tackle builds self-confidence on the football field.

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Actually, the youngest football players are required to wear a helmet and whole pads whenever playing tackle football. HPA is typically more reliable and will offer cleaner operation - just be certain your paintball gun can utilize it and check the output pressure required by your gun to make sure you get the proper tank. In most cases, HPA is a superb source of power for most paintball guns if it's available in your neighborhood.

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In general, there are three main power sources for paintball guns: Retrieved September 3, 2018, from? Paintballing-With-Airsoft&id=953089. With airsoft, you can load clips with the paintball rounds and deliver the same actions as a real-life crisis situation.

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Airsoft is certainly a lot more practical than paintball. Understanding the elements of your paintball gun will also help you possess a better idea of what you ought to be looking at when it's time to clean or update your marker. Retrieved October 8, 2018, from ?Paintball-Guns-and-Self-Defense&id=3164300.

Anderson, Stephanie A. "Paintball Guns and SELF-DEFENSE." Paintball Guns and SELF-DEFENSE. The discussions listed below are related to much less lethal uses of paintball guns and ammunition intended to intimidate and gradual an intruder during threats to personal protection, but there have been instances where fatalities have happened. We would like to remind everyone that the use of paintball guns by children is still dangerous.

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Ask any advanced or professional level paintball player - they'll tell you that it's certainly Will probably be worth it. In the event that you genuinely get excellent from playing paintball then you can certainly take part in competitions. People try to plays games foundation on true to life events and the countless wars that there have been over the last few decades are no exclusion.

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newssplashy · 6 years ago

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PYONGYANG, North Korea — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with a top North Korean official for several hours Friday in talks aimed at persuading the North to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The dire assessment from Pompeo comes despite the fact that he is one of the Trump administration’s most visible proponents of talks with North Korea.

Pompeo has repeatedly said he believes that the country’s young leader, Kim Jong Un, is serious about negotiations. Pompeo is making his third trip to Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, even as others — including his rivals in the administration — have been more skeptical of the diplomatic efforts.

And he has tried to plan for success. He is traveling with North Asia experts from the State Department, CIA and National Security Council, and is spending many hours in meetings that will continue Saturday.

Pompeo met for almost three hours Friday afternoon with Kim Yong Chol, a former intelligence chief and a leading negotiator in the nuclear talks, followed by a nearly two-hour dinner Friday night.

In remarks made before the meeting, Kim said, “The more we meet, the deeper our friendship will be, I hope.” Kim called it a “really meaningful meeting,” and Pompeo said he counted on it “being very productive.”

The two resumed their discussions Saturday.

Heather Nauert, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said Saturday that the two had agreed to create working groups to hash out details, and had discussed the return of remains of U.S. service members missing since the Korean War.

If the ultimate goal of North Korean denuclearization seems like a long shot, Pompeo’s proximate goal, according to one senior administration official, is at least to get North Korean officials to reveal their true intentions fairly quickly. Previous U.S. administrations spent years in detailed and ultimately fruitless negotiations, giving the North breathing space to develop its lethal arsenal further.

John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, does not believe that North Korea intends to surrender its nuclear or ballistic missile weapons programs, he has told others.

If failure is inevitable, Pompeo wants it to come more quickly this time, so the administration can return to its maximum pressure campaign of sanctions and diplomatic isolation of North Korea, he has told advisers.

If the administration decides to return to a campaign of maximum pressure, officials have privately acknowledged, the administration may not again be able to persuade the world that Kim is out of control and cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons.

That was last year’s tactic, when Trump branded Kim a “madman” and a murderer of his own people. Pompeo also then questioned whether Kim was rational and said, “I am hopeful we will find a way to separate that regime from” its nuclear arsenal.

In recent months, however, Trump has redeemed Kim, calling him “very honorable” and “nice” while insisting that the North is “no longer a nuclear threat.” And Pompeo has repeatedly said in recent months that Kim is rational.

“After this meeting, Pompeo will probably again say that Kim Jong Un is intelligent and trustworthy, which is truly unfortunate,” said Sung-Yoon Lee of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. “I think we’re headed in the direction of giving up and accepting North Korea as a de facto nuclear state.”

Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman, denied that Pompeo saw negotiations with the North as bound to fail.

“Will this be tough? Yes,” she said of the expected many rounds of talks. “Will negotiations involve a lot of hard work? Of course. But the secretary is committed to implementing the plan agreed to by both leaders in Singapore.”

Defenders of the Trump administration’s strategy note that at least the North has ended its provocative missile and nuclear tests.

But in the meantime, North Korea could continue perfecting its weapons systems. And countries that have perfected their weapons technology, as Kim has said the North has done, rarely need such tests.

Pakistan, for instance, has not carried out a nuclear weapons test for 20 years but is widely acknowledged to be a major nuclear power.

Michael Green, who negotiated with North Korea during the administration of President George W. Bush, agreed that the Trump administration would soon be forced to accept North Korea as a nuclear state.

“If the North Koreans don’t fire off missiles or nuclear weapons but instead just don’t comply with denuclearization, the administration is going to have a very hard time, having sold the Trump-Kim relationship the way they did, going back to China and the allies and saying in effect, ‘We were duped,'” Green said.

As they did the last time Pompeo came to Pyongyang, the North Koreans will most likely offer a parting gift. In May, they handed over three U.S. detainees whom Trump greeted in a triumphant ceremony at an air base outside Washington.

This time, the North is considered likely to approve the transfer of what officials here will attest are the remains of U.S. service members missing since the Korean War.

Whether any U.S. bones are actually in the boxes will be determined only by later scientific tests. The last time such transfers were made, some of the remains were found to have come from animals and the kind of random human bones easily gathered from the country’s many gulags — a main reason Bush ended the transfers.

During his visit, Pompeo will be pushing the North Koreans for “real action, real change” toward what he has said is Kim’s stated commitment for complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization.

So far, however, the only actions U.S. intelligence agencies have detected have been efforts to expand weapons facilities and conceal the number of weapons it has as well as the facilities used to make them, according to reports.

Still, Pompeo must keep trying to persuade Kim to reverse course for at least another few months, and probably until after November’s midterm elections, largely because Trump will not stand for an earlier declaration of failure, according to those who have spoken with him about North Korea. Trump replaced Rex Tillerson as secretary of state with Pompeo largely because of Pompeo’s contacts with North Korea as the director of the CIA.

“Many good conversations with North Korea — it is going well!” Trump tweeted this week after reports of North Korea’s continued weapons development surfaced, adding, “If not for me, we would now be at War with North Korea!”

Such declarations have made Pompeo’s task here harder, analysts say, because they have let the North Koreans know that Trump is so deeply invested in dialogue that he will not declare the endeavor a failure anytime soon.

But corralling the president’s rhetoric on North Korea is only a part of Pompeo’s challenge on this trip, which includes later stops in Tokyo, Hanoi, Abu Dhabi and Brussels.

The trip to Brussels for the annual NATO summit meeting could be particularly fraught, with Trump planning to meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia days later in Helsinki.

Trump recently sent sharply worded letters to at least four NATO allies, saying that the United States was losing patience with what he said was their failure to meet security obligations shared by the alliance. Trump has falsely claimed that countries such as Germany owe NATO money.

Last month, Trump attended a disastrous Group of 7 meeting in Quebec during which he reportedly told allies that “NATO is as bad as NAFTA.” Trump later insulted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada in a Twitter post as “very dishonest & weak.” European diplomats have said they are deeply anxious about the coming NATO summit meeting because of Trump’s unpredictability.

State Department officials have played down the possibility of a contentious meeting in Brussels, saying that White House economic officials mishandled the G-7 gathering, while they will be in charge of the NATO one.

But if Trump tells off NATO allies and soon after embraces Putin just as a trade war with Europe, Japan and Canada heats up, the foundations of the postwar order could shake.

In a recent interview, Pompeo tried to allay concern about the growing number of trade and strategic disputes with allies.

“The rift between the United States and Europe is much overstated,” he said, adding that “in the end the traditional values-driven alliance between Europe and the United States, that trans-Atlantic alliance, will remain strong as it has for coming on 70-plus years now.”

These next few days could prove whether he is right.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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party-hard-or-die · 6 years ago

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Trump in surprise summit move says he will halt Korea war games

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump made a stunning concession to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday about halting military exercises, pulling a surprise at a summit that baffled allies, military officials and lawmakers from his own Republican Party.

At a news conference after the historic meeting with Kim in Singapore, Trump announced he would halt what he called “very provocative” and expensive regular military exercises that the United States stages with South Korea.

That was sure to rattle close allies South Korea and Japan.

North Korea has long sought an end to the war games.

Trump and Kim promised in a joint statement to work toward the “denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, and the United States promised its Cold War foe security guarantees. But they offered few specifics.

The summit, the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, was in stark contrast to a flurry of North Korean nuclear and missile tests and angry exchanges of insults between Trump and Kim last year that fueled worries about war.

Highlighting the change in tone, North Korea’s state-run news agency reported early on Wednesday that Kim and Trump had accepted invitations to visit each other’s countries. No dates were disclosed.

Noting past North Korean promises to denuclearize, many analysts cast doubt on how effective Trump had been at obtaining Washington’s pre-summit goal of getting North Korea to undertake complete, verifiable and irreversible steps to scrap a nuclear arsenal that is advanced enough to threaten the United States.

Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Trump offered to lift economic sanctions on North Korea.

Trump “expressed his intention to halt the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, which the DPRK side regards as provocation, over a period of good-will dialogue between the DPRK and the U.S., offer security guarantees to the DPRK and lift sanctions against it along with advance in improving the mutual relationship through dialogue and negotiation,” it said.

North Korea’s formal name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

While suggesting Pyongyang would take mutual goodwill measures, KCNA made no mention of abandoning the country’s nuclear program.

Critics in the United States said Trump had given away too much at a meeting that provided international standing to Kim. The North Korean leader had been isolated, his country accused by rights groups of widespread human rights abuses and under U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

If implemented, the halting of the joint military exercises would be one of the most controversial moves to come from the summit. The drills help keep U.S. forces at a state of readiness in one of the world’s most tense flashpoints.

“We will be stopping the war games which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should. But we’ll be saving a tremendous amount of money, plus I think it’s very provocative,” Trump said.

His announcement was a surprise even to President Moon Jae-in’s government in Seoul, which worked in recent months to help bring about the Trump-Kim summit.

The presidential Blue House said it needed “to find out the precise meaning or intentions” of Trump’s statement, while adding it was willing to “explore various measures to help the talks move forward more smoothly.”

There was some confusion over precisely what military cooperation with South Korea that Trump had promised to halt.

U.S. Senator Cory Gardner told reporters that Vice President Mike Pence promised in a briefing for Republican senators that the Trump administration would “clarify what the president talked about” regarding joint military exercises.

“VP was very clear: regular readiness training and training exchanges will continue … war games will not,” Gardner later wrote on Twitter.

Pentagon officials were not immediately able to provide any details about Trump’s remarks about suspending drills, a step the U.S. military has long resisted.

One South Korean official said he initially thought Trump had misspoken.

“I was shocked when he called the exercises ‘provocative,’ a very unlikely word to be used by a U.S. president,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Current and former U.S. defense officials expressed concern at the possibility the United States would unilaterally halt military exercises without an explicit concession from North Korea that lowers the threat from Pyongyang.

The U.S.-South Korean exercise calendar hits a high point every year with the Foal Eagle and Max Thunder drills, which both wrapped up last month.

U.S. military drills have been dialed back previously to encourage Pyongyang to cooperate. U.S. President George H.W. Bush agreed to cancel the huge “Team Spirit” joint military drills in 1992 in hopes the North would implement inspections agreements. The drills were eventually phased out.

(Graphic on U.S.-North Korea relations: tmsnrt.rs/2l2UwW7)

‘DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE’

In a Twitter post as he returned from Singapore, Trump hailed his “truly amazing visit” and insisted that “Great progress was made on the denuclearization of North Korea.”

Later, he tweeted: “There is no limit to what NoKo can achieve when it gives up its nuclear weapons and embraces commerce & engagement w/ the world.”

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who said Trump called him from Air Force One, praised the president’s leadership at the summit.

“The President has given Kim Jong Un a way out that is good for him and the world. I hope Kim is smart enough to take it. Well done, Mr. President,” Graham said on Twitter.

REFILE – ADDING RESTRICTIONS U.S. President Donald Trump meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018. Kevin Lim/The Straits Times via REUTERS

But concerns persisted about the vague nature of the public agreements.

The Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker, said in a statement: “While I am glad the president and Kim Jong Un were able to meet, it is difficult to determine what of concrete nature has occurred.”

World stock markets were little changed on Tuesday, while the U.S. dollar rose slightly against an index of major currencies, as investors brushed aside the summit.

The two leaders smiled and shook hands at their meeting at the Capella hotel on Singapore’s resort island of Sentosa, and Trump spoke in warm terms of Kim at his news conference.

Just a few months ago, Kim was an international pariah accused of ordering the killing of his uncle, a half-brother and hundreds of officials suspected of disloyalty. Tens of thousands of North Koreans are imprisoned in labor camps.

The leaders’ joint statement did not refer to human rights. Trump said he had raised the issue with Kim, and he believed the North Korean leader wanted to “do the right thing.”

Trump said he expected the denuclearization process to start “very, very quickly” and it would be verified by “having a lot of people in North Korea.”.

He said Kim had announced that North Korea was destroying a major missile engine-testing site, but sanctions on North Korea would stay in place for now.

It was unclear if negotiations would lead to denuclearization, or end with broken promises, as happened in the past, said Anthony Ruggiero, senior fellow at Washington’s Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.

But Victor Cha, who handled North Korea policy under former President George W. Bush, praised Trump’s unorthodox diplomacy and willingness to engage Kim directly.

“Despite its many flaws, the Singapore summit represents the start of a diplomatic process that takes us away from the brink of war,” Cha wrote in the New York Times.

DENUCLEARIZATION

The leaders’ joint statement said Trump “committed to provide security guarantees” to North Korea and Kim “reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”.

North Korea has long rejected unilateral nuclear disarmament, instead referring to the denuclearization of the peninsula. That has always been interpreted as a call for the United States to remove its “nuclear umbrella” protecting South Korea and Japan.

The joint statement made no mention of the sanctions on North Korea and there was no reference to formally ending the 1950-53 Korean War, which killed millions of people and ended in a truce.

But it said the two sides had agreed to recover the remains of prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action, so they could be repatriated. The Pentagon said on Tuesday that nearly 7,700 U.S. military personnel are unaccounted for from the Korean War.

Trump said China, North Korea’s main ally, would welcome the progress he and Kim had made.

Slideshow (13 Images)

The Singapore summit did not get top billing in Chinese newspapers on Wednesday. The ruling Communist Party’s main newspaper, the People’s Daily, reported the news in a brief page 3 article about the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s reaction to the talks.

The English-language China Daily said in an editorial that while it remained to be seen if the talks would be a defining moment in history, the fact that the talks went smoothly was a “positive result”.

“While no one should expect the summit to have ironed out all the differences and erased the deep-seated mistrust between the two long-time foes, it has ignited hopes that they will be finally able to put an end to their hostility and that the long-standing peninsula issues can finally be resolved. These hopes should not be extinguished,” it said.

Reporting by Steve Holland, Soyoung Kim and Jack Kim; Additional reporting by Dewey Sim, Aradhana Aravindan, Himani Sarkar, Miral Fahmy, John Geddie, Joyce Lee, Grace Lee, Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom in Singapore, Christine Kim in Seoul, John Ruwitch in Beijing and Phil Stewart, Doina Chiacu, Patricia Zengerle, Richard Cowan and Idrees Ali in Washington; Writing by Alistair Bell and Warren Strobel; Editing by Frances Kerry, Peter Cooney, Grant McCool

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