THECOCONUTWHISPERER. General News from a Pro-Israel and Conservative viewpoint
Sunday, 8 December 2019
North Korea's U.N. envoy says denuclearization off negotiating table with United States
WORLD NEWS, DECEMBER 7, 2019, by Reuters Michelle Nichols, David Brunnstrom
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa/north-koreas-un-envoy-says-denuclearization-off-negotiating-table-with-united-states-idUSKBN1YB0FG
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Saturday that denuclearization is off the negotiating table with the United States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed, the starkest statement yet emphasizing the gulf between the two sides ahead of a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang.
U.S. President Donald Trump sought to play down a recent surge in tensions with North Korea, stressing what he said was his good relationship with its leader Kim Jong Un and saying he thought Kim wanted a deal, not to interfere in next year’s U.S. presidential election.
“We’ll see about North Korea. I’d be surprised if North Korea acted hostilely,” Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for Florida.
“He knows I have an election coming up. I don’t think he wants to interfere with that, but we’ll have to see ... I think he’d like to see something happen. The relationship is very good, but you know, there is certain hostility, there’s no question about it.”
Trump has invested considerable time trying to persuade North Korea to give up a nuclear weapons program that has grown to threaten the United States, but progress has been scant in spite of his three meetings with Kim Jong Un.
Tensions have risen ahead of a year-end deadline set by North Korea, which has called on the United States to change its policy of insisting on Pyongyang’s unilateral denuclearization and demanded relief from punishing sanctions.
Kim Jong Un has warned of an unspecified “new path” next year, raising fears this could mean an end to a suspension in nuclear bomb and long-range missile testing in place since 2017 that Trump has held up as a key win from his engagement efforts.
U.N. Ambassador Kim Song said in a statement the “sustained and substantial dialogue” sought by the United States was a “time-saving trick” to suit its domestic political agenda, a reference to Trump’s 2020 reelection bid.
“We do not need to have lengthy talks with the U.S. now and denuclearization is already gone out of the negotiating table,” he said.
Kim Song’s comments appeared to go further than North Korea’s earlier warning that discussions related to its nuclear weapons program might have to be taken off the table given Washington’s refusal to offer concessions.
On Tuesday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry repeated a call for Washington to change its “hostile policies” and said it was up to Washington to decide what “Christmas gift” came at the end of the year.
Kim Song also hit out at a statement this week from EU members of the U.N. Security Council criticizing recent short range launches by North Korea, calling it a “serious provocation” and saying they were playing the role of “pet dog” of the United States.
SUMMITS, BUT LITTLE PROGRESS
Recent days have seen a return to the highly charged rhetoric that raised fears of war two years ago.
In 2017, Trump and Kim Jung Un famously engaged in a war of words, with Trump calling Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man” and North Korea calling Trump, now 73, a “dotard.”
On Tuesday, Trump once again called Kim “Rocket Man” and said the United States reserved the right to use military force against North Korea. Pyongyang said any repeat of such language would represent “the relapse of the dotage of a dotard.”
In spite of Trump’s reprise of the Rocket Man meme, he has still expressed hope that Kim Jong Un would denuclearize. On Friday the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said the United States had not yet decided whether to have a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss North Korean human rights abuses that has angered Pyongyang.
On Friday, South Korea said Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a half-hour phone discussion on ways to maintain diplomacy with North Korea.
It said the two leaders agreed the situation has become “severe” and “dialogue momentum should be maintained to achieve prompt results from denuclearization negotiations.”
Many diplomats, analysts and U.S. officials have long doubted North Korea’s willingness to negotiate away a nuclear program it has invested decades and a large proportion of limited national resources in creating.
Even so, Jenny Town of 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea project, said it was unclear how literally Kim Song’s words should be taken.
“It’s an interesting choice of spokesperson. Kim Song is not directly involved in the negotiation process,” she said.
“These kinds of hardline messages are increasing in frequency as the deadline approaches, perhaps to try to compel a last-minute offer. Although the more they push like this, the less likely they are to get what they want.”
Town said North Korea has previously indicated a willingness to give up parts of its nuclear program as a first-phase deal, but not to discuss complete denuclearization up front.
“The North Koreans have always preferred a step by step approach rather than negotiating everything all at once,” Town said. “It is possible this is what Kim Song means, since we haven’t heard anything quite so stark from those involved in the negotiations.”
Reporting by Michelle Nichols, Jan Pytalski, David Brunnstrom and Tim Ahmann; editing by Chris Reese and Grant McCool
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa/north-koreas-un-envoy-says-denuclearization-off-negotiating-table-with-united-states-idUSKBN1YB0FG
.
added by CiC
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Saturday that denuclearization is off the negotiating table with the United States and lengthy talks with Washington are not needed, the starkest statement yet emphasizing the gulf between the two sides ahead of a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang.
U.S. President Donald Trump sought to play down a recent surge in tensions with North Korea, stressing what he said was his good relationship with its leader Kim Jong Un and saying he thought Kim wanted a deal, not to interfere in next year’s U.S. presidential election.
“We’ll see about North Korea. I’d be surprised if North Korea acted hostilely,” Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for Florida.
“He knows I have an election coming up. I don’t think he wants to interfere with that, but we’ll have to see ... I think he’d like to see something happen. The relationship is very good, but you know, there is certain hostility, there’s no question about it.”
Trump has invested considerable time trying to persuade North Korea to give up a nuclear weapons program that has grown to threaten the United States, but progress has been scant in spite of his three meetings with Kim Jong Un.
Tensions have risen ahead of a year-end deadline set by North Korea, which has called on the United States to change its policy of insisting on Pyongyang’s unilateral denuclearization and demanded relief from punishing sanctions.
Kim Jong Un has warned of an unspecified “new path” next year, raising fears this could mean an end to a suspension in nuclear bomb and long-range missile testing in place since 2017 that Trump has held up as a key win from his engagement efforts.
U.N. Ambassador Kim Song said in a statement the “sustained and substantial dialogue” sought by the United States was a “time-saving trick” to suit its domestic political agenda, a reference to Trump’s 2020 reelection bid.
“We do not need to have lengthy talks with the U.S. now and denuclearization is already gone out of the negotiating table,” he said.
Kim Song’s comments appeared to go further than North Korea’s earlier warning that discussions related to its nuclear weapons program might have to be taken off the table given Washington’s refusal to offer concessions.
On Tuesday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry repeated a call for Washington to change its “hostile policies” and said it was up to Washington to decide what “Christmas gift” came at the end of the year.
Kim Song also hit out at a statement this week from EU members of the U.N. Security Council criticizing recent short range launches by North Korea, calling it a “serious provocation” and saying they were playing the role of “pet dog” of the United States.
SUMMITS, BUT LITTLE PROGRESS
Recent days have seen a return to the highly charged rhetoric that raised fears of war two years ago.
In 2017, Trump and Kim Jung Un famously engaged in a war of words, with Trump calling Kim Jong Un “Rocket Man” and North Korea calling Trump, now 73, a “dotard.”
On Tuesday, Trump once again called Kim “Rocket Man” and said the United States reserved the right to use military force against North Korea. Pyongyang said any repeat of such language would represent “the relapse of the dotage of a dotard.”
In spite of Trump’s reprise of the Rocket Man meme, he has still expressed hope that Kim Jong Un would denuclearize. On Friday the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said the United States had not yet decided whether to have a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss North Korean human rights abuses that has angered Pyongyang.
On Friday, South Korea said Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in held a half-hour phone discussion on ways to maintain diplomacy with North Korea.
It said the two leaders agreed the situation has become “severe” and “dialogue momentum should be maintained to achieve prompt results from denuclearization negotiations.”
Many diplomats, analysts and U.S. officials have long doubted North Korea’s willingness to negotiate away a nuclear program it has invested decades and a large proportion of limited national resources in creating.
Even so, Jenny Town of 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea project, said it was unclear how literally Kim Song’s words should be taken.
“It’s an interesting choice of spokesperson. Kim Song is not directly involved in the negotiation process,” she said.
“These kinds of hardline messages are increasing in frequency as the deadline approaches, perhaps to try to compel a last-minute offer. Although the more they push like this, the less likely they are to get what they want.”
Town said North Korea has previously indicated a willingness to give up parts of its nuclear program as a first-phase deal, but not to discuss complete denuclearization up front.
“The North Koreans have always preferred a step by step approach rather than negotiating everything all at once,” Town said. “It is possible this is what Kim Song means, since we haven’t heard anything quite so stark from those involved in the negotiations.”
Reporting by Michelle Nichols, Jan Pytalski, David Brunnstrom and Tim Ahmann; editing by Chris Reese and Grant McCool
Recommend this post and follow TCW
Ontario elementary teachers escalate job action, phase 2 of work-to-rule campaign starts Tuesday
BY TRAVIS DHANRAJ GLOBAL NEWS, Posted December 7, 2019
Starting Tuesday Dec. 10, elementary teachers in Ontario will be escalating job action, starting phase two of their work-to-rule campaign.
That will see 78,000 teachers, occasional teachers and education professionals with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario withdraw a number of services, including not planning any new field trips for students.
The escalation comes amid tense negotiations between the province and teachers unions, including ETFO.
On Friday ETFO president Sam Hammond told thousands of teachers attending federation day: “We can’t change this until this minister of education stops lying to parents and students in the public… stop lying minister.”
Also on Friday the province’s high school teachers escalated their job action, announcing a second one-day strike of some high school teachers this coming Wednesday if a deal is not reached. No talks have been planned.
Negotiations between the province and elementary teachers are set to take place Monday, however both sides seem far apart.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce told the media Friday: “student success should never be the causality of union escalation.” The minister has repeatedly said the main sticking point with unions is compensation, something union leadership denies.
Lecce also said Friday: “We’ve made moves, we have stayed at the table. Leadership of teachers unions have dug in their heels because they exist to advance the interest of their members, my job is to fight for your children.”
screen shot
In addition to services withdrawn as part of phase one of ETFO’s work to rule campaign, an email sent to members indicates they should withdraw the following additional services as of Tuesday:
NOT participate in any performance appraisal or evaluation process, unless the member has received a previous unsatisfactory report or is ‘under review’
NOT post success criteria (e.g., anchor charts, learning goals, etc.) in the classroom if directed to do so by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT prepare a bulletin board or school display if requested to do so by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT plan any new field trips scheduled to occur before June 30, 2020;
NOT register for any future Additional Qualification course(s) offered by a school board;
NOT serve as ‘Teacher in Charge;’
NOT perform any duties that are normally performed by a school administrator or direct supervisor;
NOT complete system-level board reports requested by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT complete board finance-related documentation (including grant applications) requested by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT undertake the role of divisional chair/team lead;
NOT attend meetings unless they are scheduled during the instructional day, and release time is provided by an occasional teacher, occasional DECE or an occasional education worker;
NOT collect monies or participate in the electronic collection of monies for school-based activities except those for charitable causes;
NOT purchase supplies on a member’s own time if requested to do so by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT distribute any memos/letters from a school and/or school board;
NOT distribute any material related to the legal strike action of another bargaining unit;
Unifor National President Jerry Dias will be joined by Harvey Bischof, President OSSTF, Sam Hammond, President ETFO, Liz Stuart, President OECTA and Smokey Thomas, President OPSEU.
All are expected to speak out against Premier Doug Ford’s governments policies and what they believe are deep cuts to programs and services in the province.
© 2019 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Sam Hammond, President of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, speaks to the media in the union's Toronto offices on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019.
Starting Tuesday Dec. 10, elementary teachers in Ontario will be escalating job action, starting phase two of their work-to-rule campaign.
That will see 78,000 teachers, occasional teachers and education professionals with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario withdraw a number of services, including not planning any new field trips for students.
The escalation comes amid tense negotiations between the province and teachers unions, including ETFO.
On Friday ETFO president Sam Hammond told thousands of teachers attending federation day: “We can’t change this until this minister of education stops lying to parents and students in the public… stop lying minister.”
Also on Friday the province’s high school teachers escalated their job action, announcing a second one-day strike of some high school teachers this coming Wednesday if a deal is not reached. No talks have been planned.
Negotiations between the province and elementary teachers are set to take place Monday, however both sides seem far apart.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce told the media Friday: “student success should never be the causality of union escalation.” The minister has repeatedly said the main sticking point with unions is compensation, something union leadership denies.
Lecce also said Friday: “We’ve made moves, we have stayed at the table. Leadership of teachers unions have dug in their heels because they exist to advance the interest of their members, my job is to fight for your children.”
screen shotNOT participate in any performance appraisal or evaluation process, unless the member has received a previous unsatisfactory report or is ‘under review’
NOT post success criteria (e.g., anchor charts, learning goals, etc.) in the classroom if directed to do so by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT prepare a bulletin board or school display if requested to do so by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT plan any new field trips scheduled to occur before June 30, 2020;
NOT register for any future Additional Qualification course(s) offered by a school board;
NOT serve as ‘Teacher in Charge;’
NOT perform any duties that are normally performed by a school administrator or direct supervisor;
NOT complete system-level board reports requested by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT complete board finance-related documentation (including grant applications) requested by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT undertake the role of divisional chair/team lead;
NOT attend meetings unless they are scheduled during the instructional day, and release time is provided by an occasional teacher, occasional DECE or an occasional education worker;
NOT collect monies or participate in the electronic collection of monies for school-based activities except those for charitable causes;
NOT purchase supplies on a member’s own time if requested to do so by an administrator or supervisor;
NOT distribute any memos/letters from a school and/or school board;
NOT distribute any material related to the legal strike action of another bargaining unit;
and
NOT participate in any new employee attendance or absence reporting processes, including the submission of medical certificates initiated because of full-withdrawal strike action by another union/bargaining unit.
Saturday, members of multiple unions are scheduled to rally together in downtown Toronto as part of Unifor’s Ontario Regional Council
NOT participate in any new employee attendance or absence reporting processes, including the submission of medical certificates initiated because of full-withdrawal strike action by another union/bargaining unit.
Saturday, members of multiple unions are scheduled to rally together in downtown Toronto as part of Unifor’s Ontario Regional Council
screen shot
All are expected to speak out against Premier Doug Ford’s governments policies and what they believe are deep cuts to programs and services in the province.
© 2019 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Recommend this post and follow TCW
paste into disqus window, and click follow
Pepe & Protest Pig Come to Life in Hong Kong :)
Pepe and protest pig: Internet memes come to life at Hong Kong rally
Hong Kong (AFP) – Among the sea of faces on Hong Kong’s streets on Sunday were more than one hundred people wearing quirky over-sized animal masks — a band of activists bringing popular protest internet memes to life.
Hong Kong’s democracy movement is largely leaderless and organised online.
LIHKG, a local Reddit-like web forum that serves as a virtual command centre for the movement, is filled with memes and a host of animal cartoon characters that have been embraced by activists.
The most popular are a cute pig and a shiba inu dog, who often appear dressed in the movement’s ubiquitous yellow tradesman helmets.
The other is Pepe the Frog, who carries none of the far-right baggage he does in the West, used by Hong Kong protesters as an irreverent symbol of their dissatisfaction with Beijing’s rule.
On Sunday a group of activists joined the crowds wearing colourful Pepe, pig and shiba masks made out of fibreglass, their wobbly heads in stark relief against a vast forest of umbrellas as the crowds marched.
The stunt was the brainchild of Simon Lau, a former government advisor who has since founded the pro-democracy online radio station Sing Jai.
“There is a story of Hong Kong people’s suffering behind every helmet,” Lau told AFP, adding 117 masks had been made in the last ten days.
“But in the face of police brutality and tyranny, we want Hong Kong people to carry on with humour, confidence and positive thinking,” he added.
– Pepe nurse –
Rony Wong, a surveyor in his thirties, was wearing a Pepe mask with a nurse’s hat on top and said he chose the design because he wanted to thank medical professionals who have been helping those wounded in the protests, often in underground clinics.
“I believe the medical sector is with the Hong Kong people,” he told AFP.
A furniture shop worker who only gave his surname, Mok, was wearing a black Pepe helmet with “1984” on one eye and the Chinese Communist Party symbol on the other.
“1984 was the year when the joint declaration was signed,” he said, referring to the treaty between Britain and China that paved the way for Hong Kong’s handover and guaranteed the city would maintain freedoms unseen on the mainland for at least fifty years.
Hong Kong’s protests are fuelled by years of growing fears that authoritarian China is stamping out those liberties.
Sirius Tam, a 21-year-old university student, was wearing a Pepe mask with a bag of “Life Bread” sticking out of the mouth.
The local bakery brand has also become a symbol for protesters after a police officer was filmed boasting that he and his colleagues could go and eat hotpot across the border in Shenzhen while protesters would have to make do with the simple bread.
“What has been stirred up in society the past few months won’t simply fade away if the government refuses to solve the problem of systematic injustice,” he told AFP.
He said protesters like him feared that if they stop hitting the streets, Beijing will only clamp down harder on the city’s remaining freedoms.
“Then what change will we have achieved?” he asked.
Escape from Egypt - Florida man charged for sexually assaulting stuffed Olaf from ‘Frozen’ toy
Florida man charged for sexually assaulting stuffed Olaf from ‘Frozen’ toy
By Rachel O'Brien and Paula Froelich, New York Post, December 7, 2019
Cody Christopher Meader, MEGA
A Florida man got hot and heavy with a “Frozen” toy, cops said.
Cody Christopher Meader allegedly had his way with the stuffed snowman Olaf, from the popular Disney flick, ejaculating on the doll and sticking it back on the shelf at a Target in St. Petersburg.
When he was done, Meader apparently moved on to a large stuffed unicorn and began dry humping it, police said, according to The Smoking Gun.
Meader, 20, of St. Petersburg, was charged Friday with criminal mischief in the Oct. 22 incident in the Target, according to a police report. He remains free on $150 bond.
Meader admitted to doing “stupid stuff” and that he had “nutted” on the Olaf stuffed animal, police said.
The toys were “removed from the store floor,” according to cops.
“The merchandise could not be re-sold and [was] destroyed due to circumstances.”
This has been an Escape from Egypt moment on the Coconut Whisperer
🐪🗻 Please recommend this page & be sure to follow the Coconut Whisperer which continues the traditions of the Escape from Egypt channel, the weirdest, wackyiest & strangest channel on Disqus 2018-2019🐪🗻
Arizona couple found dead buried in snow, likely from hypothermia: police
https://www.foxnews.com/us/arizona-couple-found-dead-snow-hypothermia
An elderly couple was found dead buried in the snow on Friday in Ash Fork, Arizona, by nearby homeowners, according to police.
Mike and Diane Haas spotted the bodies of Richard Alexander, 74, and Elizabeth Alexander, 79, along Old Route 66 outside Ash Fork, a rural community 47 miles west of Flagstaff.
The Alexanders’ car was found one mile away. They lived nearby but their car got stuck in the snow last week when Ash Fork received 10 inches of snowfall, according to detectives.
It’s suspected that the couple died of hypothermia while exposed to the extreme temperatures, authorities said Saturday.
“It is possible snow kept their bodies from view for a period of time," the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said, and that they “may have succumbed to weather-related conditions.”
The Haases were heading out of their home Friday when they noticed two figures in their yard. They approached to see what was going on.
“He [Mike] wondered if they were sleeping, so he got out and yelled at them and they didn’t respond,” Diane Haas told ABC 15 Arizona.
“I said 'Sir, sir!' And of course they didn’t respond. It came pretty obvious pretty quick, [from] their skin color and other details that they were deceased. So we immediately called 911 and made sure not to touch anything,” Mike Haas said.
After the Alexanders’ car became snuck in the snow, Mike Haas thought that the couple was making their way to his home.
“Eventually they decided to leave their vehicle,” he said, adding that his and his wife’s front porch light was the only one the desperate couple could see. “They were headed to our house we believe. But 100 yards short."
The couple said it was emotional to think the pair was suffering so close to them while they were celebrating Thanksgiving.
The Haases found Richard Alexander laying on top of his wife Elizabeth Alexander, possibly trying to keep her warm.
“It’s terrifying to think that she might’ve been alive under her husband,” Mike Haas said.
“It’s sadness,” he added. “You wish you could’ve helped. You could’ve saved a life, perhaps. Maybe two lives.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg temporarily blocks release of Trump's financial records
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-blocks-release-trump-financial-records
Ruth Bader Ginsburg came to the rescue of President Trump Friday and allowed his financial records to remain secret from House Democrats – for now.
The liberal Supreme Court Justice granted an emergency request from Trump’s lawyers to delay enforcement of subpoenas House Democrats issued to Deutsche Bank and Capital One for Trump’s bank records.
A lower court Tuesday ordered the banks to cooperate with Congress in handing over a treasure trove of Trump’s financial dealings in the midst of the House’s impeachment inquiry. But Ginsburg stayed the ruling until 5 pm on Dec. 13.
That’s when the Supreme Court is expected to vote on whether to take up at least one of the two pending cases involving Trump’s financial records.
The latest dispute is over three subpoenas issued by the Democratic-led House Intelligence Committee and House Financial Services Committee for bank records for Trump and three of his children, Don Jr, Ivanka and Eric Trump.
Trump’s lawyers argued the sweeping requests for records exceed the committee’s legal authority. But the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled Dec. 3 the committees had legitimate legislative purposes for issuing the subpoenas and ordered the banks to promptly begin transmitting the documents in daily batches starting next week.
Ginsburg signed the order because she’s in charge of deciding emergency appeals out of New York. Her decision in favor of Trump’s lawyers for a one-week delay isn’t considered an indication of how she’d rule on the merits of the broader records dispute between Trump and Congress.
Ginsburg – affectionately known as RBG – was nominated to the high court by President Bill Clinton in 1993. The 86-year-old has become an icon for the liberal left and for the Trump resistance.
Before he won the election, Ginsburg called Trump a “faker” in a July 2016 CNN interview and faulted him for failing to disclose his tax returns -- as is custom for presidential candidates.
"He has no consistency about him. He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego. ... How has he gotten away with not turning over his tax returns? The press seems to be very gentle with him on that,” Ginsburg said.
Trump punched back by tweeting Ginsburg’s “mind is shot” and urging her to resign.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)