North Korea’s Hidden Missile Bases | Can We Stop Plastic? | 260M For Reproductive Health

“Reading is important – read between the lines. Don’t swallow everything.”

“One reason that cats are happier than people is that they have no newspapers.”

– Gwendolyn Brooks

Kim Has Become A Full Blown Hidden Lair Bond Villain: New satellite images show North Korea’s ballistic missile program is alive and well despite President Trump’s claims to the contrary. The commercial satellite images revealed 16 hidden bases; it’s a network American intelligence agencies have long known about. Yet while the president continues to say he has neutralized Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un’s nuclear threat, the existence of the North’s bases, and Kim’s clear deception, has remained undiscussed. The secret ballistic missile bases were identified in a detailed study published Monday by the Beyond Parallel program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a major think tank in Washington. The program is run by a prominent North Korea expert, Victor Cha. Last year the Trump administration considered appointing Cha ambassador to South Korea, but his name was scrapped when he objected to the White House strategy for dealing with Kim.

Trump was asked at a news conference after the midterms about talks with North Korea. The president said: “We are in no rush. The sanctions are on. The missiles have stopped. The rockets have stopped. The hostages are home.” It is true the North hasn’t conducted missile flight tests in almost a year. However US intelligence officials say the country has continued to produce new nuclear weapons and missiles that can be placed on mobile launchers and hidden in mountains at the secret bases. Kim has said he’s committed to eventual denuclearization, which has allowed him to resume trade with Russia and China, rendering the sanctions impotent. The Obama administration had begun an early warning system to track the North’s mobile missiles with a new generation of small inexpensive satellites that would give an alert were mobile missiles rolled out of mountain tunnels and prepared for launch. It was handed off to the Trump administration, which as yet hasn’t put it into operation.

A WISH Come True: The UK government is making a “landmark” investment in the reproductive health of women and girls in 27 countries across Africa and Asia. It is investing 200 million pounds sterling, or 260 plus million dollars, to launch the Women’s Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) program in an effort to expand services to young and poorer women. The program will be implemented by the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and Marie Stopes International, with a goal to provide support for six million couples annually. (Guardian)

C’est La Vie, Trump. C’est La Vie: After an awkward visit to Paris last weekend for Armistice Day, President Trump went on Twitter to mock his host, President Emmanuel Macron. Trump attacked the French leader for his comments about nationalism, his plans for a European army, French tariffs on US wine imports, and Macron’s popularity rating. While in Paris Trump had declined a scheduled visit to an American cemetery to honor WWI soldiers because it was raining. (BBC)

Made By China: Over the past two decades China has done a lot of building in the developing world. It has financed and built bridges, hospitals, roads, railways, airports and seaports — many billions of dollars’ worth and counting, leading some development experts and Western politicians to ask: What is China’s goal in building all this? Are they actually beneficial? New research suggests there is a strong correlation between Chinese projects and economic growth in the countries where they’re built. China focuses on “connective infrastructure”–projects that connect people and businesses from rural, remote interior areas to bigger coastal cities, where there are more economic opportunities. (NPR)

– “‘Appalling’ Khashoggi audio shocked Saudi intelligence – Erdoğan:Turkish president keeps up pressure on Saudi crown prince, as pro-government paper publishes x-rays of hit team’s luggage” However, the “U.S. says audio recording of Khashoggi killing does not implicate Saudi crown prince” (Guardian & WaPo)

– “Italian journalists protest against governing party insults” (WaPo)

– “Mexico Gave the Migrant Caravan a Warm Welcome. It Wasn’t Always This Way.” (NYT)

– “Former Belgian king ordered to take DNA test to disprove love child claims: Albert II told to provide sample or risk being presumed father of 50-year-old artist” (Guardian)

That’s The Last Plastic Straw On Plastic: Stan Lee created countless characters and superheroes in his long life. But it was Jack Cole who imagined a Plastic Man. The character first appeared in Police Comics #1, in August 1941. His rubbery attribute was caused by a dousing from an “unidentified chemical liquid.” Four months after Plastic Man’s first appearance America was drawn into WWII, and that’s when the “plastic” the chemical liquid produces really took off. The war made plastic truly indispensable. Natural materials were in short supply; demands of the war effort were enormous and production more than tripled. After the war, chemical and petroleum giants consolidated the market between them. DuPont, Monsanto, Mobil and Exxon bought or developed plastic production facilities. Plastic’s unique properties made it lighter and cheaper than the natural products it replaced, and the convenience couldn’t be beat. Plastic meant profit. But it also meant rubbish. From the beginning the industry fought hard against any proposed legislation to regulate it. It took another generation for the general public to understand the scale of the problem, that plastic doesn’t break down, but breaks off, polluting the oceans and killing the marine animals and mammals that ingest the pieces. What used to be seen as litter–a nuisance but not a menace–has undergone a sea change. There is recent widespread acknowledgment that plastic is far more pervasive and sinister than most people had ever imagined.

The Guardian’s Stephen Buranyi has written a super interesting account of plastic: its origins, how it replaced existing natural products, how it kick-started the global economy’s shift to disposal consumerism, its all-encompassing environmental pollution, and finally the world-wide public revolt against it. Buranyi writes: “Plastic is a catch-all term for the product made by turning a carbon-rich chemical mixture into a solid structure. [It] is a global industrial product, made far from the public eye. The raw materials come from fossil fuels, and many of the same vast companies that produce oil and gas also produce plastic, often in the same facilities. The story of plastic is the story of the fossil fuel industry – and the oil-fuelled boom in consumer culture that followed the second world war.” Buranyi hopes now that the scientific evidence of the environmental damage done by plastic has spurred people to organize, pressured governments to regulate, and even been noticed by fossil fuel corporations, it will energize the public to wage an even larger battle over climate change.

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Trump Goes Cabinet Shopping: There’s some major shuffling ahead for President Trump’s cabinet and West Wing staff. Almost certain to be fired is Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of homeland security who has long been a target of the president’s displeasure. Removing Nielsen would also be a way for Trump to push out White House chief of staff, John F. Kelly, without directly firing him. Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Nick Ayers is expected to replace Kelley if he leaves. Another administration official, Mira Ricardel, a foreign policy hard-liner serving as a deputy to national security adviser John R. Bolton, is also expected to be dismissed. First Lady Melania Trump complained about Ricardel to Kelly after Ricardel had allegedly disparaged two members of Mrs. Trump’s staff during the first lady’s trip to Africa last month. (NYT)

A Modern Tale Of Two Cities: Amazon has announced that instead of building a second massive headquarters in one location, it will build two offices. One will be in the Long Island City neighborhood in Queens, New York and the other in Arlington, Virginia near Washington DC. Amazon said it will invest a total of $5 billion and that each location would get more than 25,000 jobs, paying an average of more than $150,000. The company will also open an operations center in Nashville, with more than 5,000 new jobs. (NPR)

Additional Read: “How Big Is Amazon? Its Many Businesses In One Chart” (NPR)

– “FBI data shows sharp rise in US hate crimes: Report shows nearly 23% increase in religion-based hate crimes last year and 37% spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes” (Guardian)

– “CHART: Election Recounts Are Rare, Reversals Almost Unheard Of” (NPR)

– “Juul Will Suspend Selling Most E-Cigarette Flavors in Stores and Halt Social Media Promotions” (NYT)

– “Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?: Despite the easing of taboos and the rise of hookup apps, Americans are in the midst of a sex recession.” (Atlantic)

– “End intellectual property: Copyrights, patents and trademarks are all important, but the term ‘intellectual property’ is nonsensical and pernicious” (Aeon)

– “Do what you love and live longer, the Japanese ikigai philosophy says” (CNN)

– “Food taste ‘not protected by copyright’ rules EU court: The taste of a food cannot be protected by copyright, the EU’s highest legal authority has ruled in a case involving a Dutch cheese.” (BBC)

– “A ‘Time Capsule’ for Scientists, Courtesy of Peter the Great: A Russian zoological museum filled with centuries-old specimens finds renewed relevance in the age of genetics.” (NYT)

– “Carlsen and Caruana deadlocked in battle of Mozart and Killah Priest of chess” (Guardian)

– “Welcome To The Age Of The Hour-Long YouTube Video” (Wired)

– “You thought fake news was bad? Deep fakes are where truth goes to die: Technology can make it look as if anyone has said or done anything. Is it the next wave of (mis)information warfare?” (Guardian)

“Do not desire to fit in. Desire to oblige yourselves to lead.” – Gwendolyn Brooks

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