October 1, 2017

Time for Jimmy Carter to Go Back to North Korea

The United States should remember how it solved the last major North Korea crisis: with face-to-face diplomacy.

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Former President Jimmy Carter, an experienced negotiator and mediator, having successfully crafted the Camp David Accords 15 years earlier, offered his services to the Clinton administration. Although Clinton was uncomfortable with Carter’s mission to Pyongyang, he approved it. Carter’s interlocutor was the father of the DPRK, Kim Il-sung. Marion Creekmore, Jr., who accompanied Carter on his mission, wrote in his 2006 book, A Moment of Crisis, that Kim told Carter, “The central problem is that we lack trust, and creating trust is our most important task. The distrust comes from the lack of contacts between us.”

Carter was able, through two face-to-face meetings, to both understand Kim’s intentions and develop interpersonal trust with a leader who was ideologically the antithesis of everything Carter stood for. As a result, Carter secured Kim’s agreement that there would be no reprocessing of plutonium at the Yongbyon facility and a freeze on the major elements of the nuclear program whilst a new round of talks proceeded. The North Koreans also agreed that the IAEA inspections could continue. In return, Carter secured Clinton’s agreement to Kim’s request that the United States support the sale of two light water proliferation-resistant reactors. Kim had told Carter, according to Creekmore’s account, that “if a commitment is made to furnish us a light water reactor, then we will immediately freeze all our nuclear activities.”

The Carter mission to Pyongyang was successful because he and Kim were able to better understand one another by sitting down face-to-face. They developed, during these personal meetings, a bond of trust that helped to bridge the distrust between their two nations. As we argue in our new books, this is not a one-off example. Face-to-face diplomacy has long allowed leaders and policymakers to both better understand each other’s intentions and develop trust in one another that they will live up to commitments. Crucially, by meeting for face-to-face negotiations, leaders, or their representatives in the case of Carter, can often find ways to meet the interests of both sides without resorting to military action.

In short, it may be time to send Carter, or a similar surrogate more amenable to the president, back to Pyongyang. A crisis that threatened to engulf the region over two decades ago was defused by face-to-face diplomacy and it is time to explore whether the current crisis can similarly be de-escalated.

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http://thediplomat.com/2017/05/time-for-jimmy-carter-to-go-back-to-north-korea/

October 1, 2017

Sharpton on Trump Ingrates Comment: Can You Imagine Him Saying That to Whites in Florida?

On MSNBC this morning, Rev Al Sharpton slammed President Trump over his choice of words in slamming the people criticizing the administration’s Puerto Rico response.

October 1, 2017

Ted Lieu demands feds revoke Jared Kushner security clearance Being stupid is a danger to America

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/ted-lieu-demands-feds-revoke-jared-kushners-security-clearance-being-stupid-is-a-danger-to-america/

Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) on Sunday once again took up the fight to have White House adviser Jared Kushner’s national security clearance pulled, saying Trump’s son-in-law is too “stupid” to be trusted with the nation’s secrets.

Speaking with MSNBC host Alex Witt, Lieu took Kushner to task for using his personal email account while serving in the White House, saying, “Look, I’m not going to be chanting ‘lock him up,’ but I am going to request, again, that Jared Kushner’s security clearance be suspended.”

“I wrote a letter to the White House asking for the suspension of his security clearance because he lied twice on his first two security clearance forms by failing to disclose his Russian contacts,” Lieu explained. “Now, we know that he failed to disclose his personal email account to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee even though they asked about the information and, furthermore, he ignored the NSA’s warnings.”

“He should be suspended because he was misleading people, but he was just being stupid to be doing these actions,” he explained. “He’s a huge risk and they [security officials] believe his personal email and cell phone have likely been compromised, and once a foreign power knows about your e-mails, they can track and learn additional information based on all the e-mails you sent.”

September 30, 2017

Stephen Colbert: Guest Jerry Seinfeld

Jerry Seinfeld Talks Bill Cosby, Whether He Can Separate The Man From The Body Of Art



Netflix's 'Jerry Before Seinfeld' creator Jerry Seinfeld and Stephen consider whether they can still enjoy the legendary comic's body of art after his numerous rape allegations.



Jerry Seinfeld Is Becoming 'Modern' Seinfeld



Curious what subjects 'Seinfeld' might have tackled had the show been set in 2017? 'Jerry Before Seinfeld' star Jerry Seinfeld goes full Festivas on modern-day technology.

September 30, 2017

Stephen Colbert - Monologue and Opening - 9/29/17

The President Isn't 'Liking' 'Anti-Trump' Facebook



The President used a tweet to bash Facebook when he should really be thanking the Russians that utilized both social media platforms to boost him and attack Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign.



Tom Price: From Private Jets To Private Citizen



Trump's HHS Secretary Tom Price resigned after he and other members of the Cabinet were exposed for lavish spending on American taxpayers' dime.



Stephen's #PuberMe Campaign Is All Grown Up



Stephen shares highlights from the #PuberMe campaign, in which celebrities are sharing photos from their pubescent years to raise money for Puerto Rico relief.



Stephen Colbert's Midnight Confessions, Vol. XXXIII



I actually enjoy nightmares of being naked in the middle of a high school test because back then I was in a lot better shape.



A Vietnam Documentary About Trump's Service



We've seen plenty of Vietnam War documentaries that highlight the actions of brave Americans. This one focuses on a not-brave one.



One Week Older, Are You Ready For Some Racial Tension?

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Stephen tackles Trump's NFL comments, diagnoses another failed GOP health care bill, and gets a visit from Chance the Rapper.

September 30, 2017

The future of wind turbines could be bladeless

With their considerable height and large blades turning almost hypnotically, wind turbines have become an iconic symbol of the planet's shift to renewable sources of energy.

In Spain, however, one business is looking to design wind generators that produce renewable energy without blades.

"Our goal is to develop a new wind generator that minimize(s) the amount of mechanical elements to reduce the maintenance costs and… environmental impact," David Yanez, co-founder of Spanish business Vortex Bladeless, told CNBC's Sustainable Energy.

The design of Vortex's generators offers a potentially revolutionary shift from today's traditional designs, blades and all. One key facet of the Vortex design is that it uses less material than conventional turbines, meaning less maintenance as well as less noise.

More: (includes video) https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/29/the-future-of-wind-turbines-could-be-bladeless.html

September 30, 2017

U.S. energy head seeks help for coal, nuclear power plants

(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has asked federal regulators to attempt to keep the nation’s struggling coal and nuclear power plants open by rewarding them for contributing to the resilience of the electric grid, the Department of Energy said on Friday.

The move drew praise from the coal and nuclear power industries. But it raised alarm bells among renewable energy groups and environmentalists concerned that such incentives were unfair and could lead to an increase in emissions from coal plants linked to global warming and more toxic waste from nuclear plants before a permanent repository is built for the country.

“The continued closure of traditional baseload power plants calls for a comprehensive strategy for long-term reliability and resilience,” Perry said in a Sept. 28 letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

“States and regions are accepting increased risks that could affect the future reliability and resilience of electricity delivery,” he wrote.

Perry asked FERC to issue a rule within 60 days to allow certain baseload plants that maintain at least 90 days of fuel supply on site to recover their full costs through regulated pricing.


More: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-powergrid-perry/u-s-energy-head-seeks-help-for-coal-nuclear-power-plants-idUSKCN1C42G0?il=0

September 30, 2017

Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) - 9/29/17

Monologue: Take a Knee



Bill looks back at another week of Trump tweets, boasts, and departures from reality.



Paul Hawken: Project Drawdown



Environmentalist Paul Hawken joins Bill to discuss "Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reduce Global Warming."



Punching Nazis



Bill and his panelists – Tom Morello, April Ryan, and John Heilemann – discuss whether punching neo-Nazis is a legitimate form of resistance.



New Rule: The Kremlin Konnection



Bill Maher investigates the suspicious connections between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.



Overtime - Puerto Rico, Police Militarization, Hugh Hefner



Bill and his guests – Paul Hawken, Tom Morello, April Ryan, John Heilemann, and Kurt Andersen – answer viewer questions after the show.

September 30, 2017

Seth Meyers: Arby's Limited-Edition Milkshake, Woman Marries Herself - Monologue 9/28/17

Seth's Favorite Jokes of the Week: Melania Makes a Run for It, Trump's NFL Tirades

September 29, 2017

Jimmy Fallon: Rachel Maddow on Trump's Divisive NFL Tweets and Puerto Rico Neglect

Rachel Maddow speculates on why Trump's seemingly random NFL tweets were likely a planned fundraising effort and why his disaster relief response in Puerto Rico might become a stain on his legacy.