Not many people know how to wage nuclear war. I’m one of them. As a young U.S. Air Force fighter pilot in the late 1970s, I was trained to carry out nuclear strikes in a rigorous process designed to ensure that no contingencies — mechanical or ethical — deter your mission. Certain things remain burned into my memory: maps and photos of my target and the realization of the Armageddon I would leave in my wake. Training culminated with a sworn pledge to vaporize that target without hesitation. Much of my 33-year career was spent as a nuclear warrior — I later oversaw the U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile fleet and served as deputy commander of American military forces in the Pacific — experience that informs my deep alarm over the growing risk of nuclear conflict with North Korea. The United States has tried for decades to prevent the country from becoming a nuclear threat, veering from diplomacy to pressure to patience. None of these approaches have worked. Here’s something … [Read more...] about I Know How Nuclear War Is Waged, So I’m Calling for Peace With North Korea
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North Korea says U.S. ruining mood of detente ahead of Trump-Kim summit
With just weeks to go before President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are expected to hold their first-ever summit , Pyongyang on Sunday criticized what it called “misleading” claims that Trump’s policy of maximum political pressure and sanctions are what drove the North to the negotiating table. The North’s official news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman warning the claims are a “dangerous attempt” to ruin a budding detente on the Korean Peninsula after Kim’s summit late last month with South Korean President Moon Jae-in . At the summit, Kim agreed to a number of measures aimed at improving North-South ties and indicated he is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the peninsula, though exactly what that would entail and what conditions the North might require have not yet been explained. Trump and senior U.S. officials have suggested repeatedly that Washington’s tough policy toward North Korea, along with pressure on its main trading … [Read more...] about North Korea says U.S. ruining mood of detente ahead of Trump-Kim summit
North Korea destroys nuke test site in front of journalists
PUNGGYE-RI, North Korea — North Korea carried out what it said was the demolition of its nuclear test site Thursday, setting off a series of explosions over several hours in the presence of foreign journalists. The blasts at the test site in the sparsely populated northeast were supposed to build confidence ahead of a planned summit next month between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump. But Trump canceled the meeting on Thursday , citing the "tremendous anger and open hostility" in a North Korean statement released earlier in the day. The explosions were centered on three tunnels into the underground site and a number of observation towers in the surrounding area. North Korea held a closing ceremony afterward with officials from its nuclear arms program in attendance. The group of journalists that witnessed the demolition, which touched off landslides near the tunnel entrances and sent up clouds of smoke and dust, included an Associated Press … [Read more...] about North Korea destroys nuke test site in front of journalists
South Korea works to prevent war between U.S., North Korea
BEIJING — South Korea is desperately trying to manage the diplomatic crisis between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in order to avert threatened American military action against North Korea. Trump's announcement Thursday that he was calling off the Singapore summit was followed by a flurry of reversed decisions and policy re-statements, rhetorical declarations both hostile and conciliatory, shuttle diplomacy by minor officials around the globe, high-profile meetings and low-key discussions. We have put a great team together for our talks with North Korea. Meetings are currently taking place concerning Summit, and more. Kim Young Chol, the Vice Chairman of North Korea, heading now to New York. Solid response to my letter, thank you! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2018 The leadership in Seoul has been working around-the-clock to keep peace talks on track. On Saturday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un held a “surprise summit” … [Read more...] about South Korea works to prevent war between U.S., North Korea
North Carolina board removes 2 election officials who refused to certify their county’s election results
close Video Fox News Flash top headlines for March 29 Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. North Carolina’s state elections board on Tuesday removed two local election officials who had refused to certify their county's 2022 results after officials determined they violated state law. The state board voted unanimously to dismiss Surry County elections secretary Jerry Forestieri and board member Timothy DeHaan in one of the strongest disciplinary actions taken against local officials across the U.S. who have delayed or refused to certify election results. Controversies over election certification have roiled mostly rural counties across the country as conspiracy theories about voting machines have spread widely among conservatives. Forestieri and DeHaan had questioned the legitimacy of state election law and court decisions disallowing photo ID checks and voter residency challenges. They falsely … [Read more...] about North Carolina board removes 2 election officials who refused to certify their county’s election results
Trump Can Destroy N. Korea’s Nukes Without a Land War
World Donald Trump North Korea Kim Jong Un Nuclear In the long view of history, North Korea getting a nuclear-tipped intercontinental missile in 2017 is the rough equivalent of an army showing up for World War II riding horses and shooting muskets. Nukes are so last century. War is changing, driven by cyberweapons, artificial intelligence (AI) and robots. Weapons of mass destruction are dumb, soon to be whipped by smart weapons of pinpoint disruption—which nations can use without risking annihilation of the human race. If the U.S. is innovative and forward-thinking, it can develop technology that ensures no ill-behaving government could ever get a nuke off the ground. Then we might be able to relax and return to laughing at Kim Jong Un for looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man topped by a small furry mammal. This is the argument in a new book , Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules of War , by international law … [Read more...] about Trump Can Destroy N. Korea’s Nukes Without a Land War
Promiscuous Bacteria Gone Wild: Why Sushi Gives More Energy to the Japanese
Any Westerners who have thought to themselves, gee, Japanese people sure seem to get a lot more out of sushi than I do, are more right than they probably guessed. A new study finds that bacteria living in the intestines of Japanese but not North American people harbor genes for digesting red algae (a.k.a. seaweed, or nori ) of the kind typically wrapped around sushi. The genes digest carbohydrates (or to be perfectly precise, polysaccharides) in the seaweed. As a result, Japanese people can extract energy out of the seaweed, but Americans derive no nutritional benefit. The human gut is teeming with trillions of bacteria collectively called the microbiota, as NEWSWEEK reported in a 2007 story . These microbes synthesize vitamins for us and secrete enzymes that break down starch molecules found in, especially, fruits and vegetables, including seaweed. As the NEWSWEEK story said, "The stomach and intestines secrete 99 different enzymes for breaking these down into usable 6-carbon … [Read more...] about Promiscuous Bacteria Gone Wild: Why Sushi Gives More Energy to the Japanese
Meghan and Harry Financial Independence—Who Pays For House and Travel?
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's surprise announcement on Wednesday that they will step down as "senior" members of the British family and "work to become financially independent" of the monarchy raised many questions about their income. Now, we have some answers. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex launched a brand new website on Wednesday— SussexRoyal.com —after the bombshell news they will distance themselves from royal duties. The website expands on where their money currently comes from, who pays for their royal residence, Frogmore Cottage in Windsor, and travel, as well as how they will become financially independent. Meghan, 38, and Harry, 37 , said they will continue to support Queen Elizabeth II and honor their royal patronages—through which they are ambassadors for various charities—but have decided to split their time between the U.K. and North America going forward to "enable us to raise our son with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, … [Read more...] about Meghan and Harry Financial Independence—Who Pays For House and Travel?
U.S. shoots down unidentified object in Canadian airspace
A U.S. fighter jet shot down an unidentified object in the skies over Canada on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s orders Saturday, Canadian and U.S. officials confirmed. After U.S. and Canadian military aircraft were sent aloft, a U.S. F-22 shot down the object over the Yukon, Trudeau tweeted Saturday afternoon . The operation was coordinated by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the combined U.S.-Canada air defense organization. Trudeau said Sunday that investigators are hunting for wreckage. “Recovery teams are on the ground, looking to find and analyze the object,” Trudeau told reporters before he departed for a scheduled fund-raising event in Yukon. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y., told ABC News that U.S. officials believe the object and another flying object shot down Friday near Deadhorse, Alaska, were balloons. How does U.S. military assess unidentified flying objects as threats? Feb. 12, … [Read more...] about U.S. shoots down unidentified object in Canadian airspace
Obamacare Keeps Winning
The government benefits began their existence as objects of partisan rancor and harsh criticism. Eventually, though, they became so popular that politicians of both parties promised to protect them. It was true of Social Security and Medicare. And now the pattern seems to be repeating itself with Obamacare. Consider what has happened recently in North Carolina: Only a decade after the state’s Republican politicians described the law as dangerous and refused to sign up for its expansion of Medicaid, Republicans and Democrats came together to pass such an expansion . The Republican-controlled House in North Carolina passed the bill 87 to 24, while the Republican-controlled Senate passed it 44 to 2. “Wow, have things changed,” Jonathan Cohn wrote in a HuffPost piece explaining how the turnabout happened . Obamacare — the country’s largest expansion of health insurance since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 — is still not as widely accepted as those programs. North Carolina … [Read more...] about Obamacare Keeps Winning