Curtain GradientTabletTablet THE SCROLL ‘Business Insider’ Columnist Resigns After Publication Pulls Her Piece for Being ‘Culturally Insensitive’

tablet

On Friday, Daniella Greenbaum, a columnist for Business Insider, wrote a column about the recent controversy surrounding the actress Scarlett Johansson’s upcoming role as a transgender man. Some of Twitter’s loudest social justice warriors yelped that a nontransgender actor wasn’t allowed, according to the dogma of the high church of political correctness, to portray a transgender character, and Greenbaum wanted to present the far more reasonable view that an actor’s job is, well, just to act. Pretending to be someone else is literally the job description. It was about as anodyne an argument one could make; a few hours and a few hundred angry tweets later, however, the publication pulled it from print.

The reason, according to a note affixed to the no-longer-available column (you can read it here, courtesy of a different publication), is that the piece did not meet Business Insider‘s editorial standards. Just what those standards may be was confusing to some readers of BI, not an outfit routinely accused of journalistic excellence; to clarify things, the publication’s editor in chief, Nicholas Carlson, issued new guidelines earlier this week, saying that pieces pertaining to “culturally sensitive topics, such as marginalized communities, race, or LGBTQ+ issues,” will be handled with special care by several editors at the publication prior to being approved. “We should be as careful about culturally sensitive pieces as we are legally sensitive pieces,” Carlson wrote, “and this policy reflects that.”

dont learn from an unfit gadol

רמב"ם יד החזקה (כתב יד תימני) - הלכות תלמוד תורה פרק ד

(א) אין מלמדין תורה, אלא לתלמיד הגון, נאה במעשיו, או לתם. אבל אם היה הולך בדרך לא טובה, מחזירין אותו למוטב, ומנהיגין אותו בדרך ישרה, ובודקין אותו; ואחר כך מכניסין אותו לבית המדרש, ומלמדין אותו. אמרו חכמים, כל השונה לתלמיד שאינו הגון, כאילו זרק אבן למרקוליס, שנאמר "כצרור אבן, במרגמה; כן נותן לכסיל, כבוד" (משלי כו, ח), אין כבוד אלא תורה, שנאמר "כבוד, חכמים ינחלו" (משלי ג, לה):

(ב) וכן הרב שאינו הולך בדרך טובה, אף על פי שחכם גדול הוא וכל העם צריכין לו - אין מתלמדין ממנו, עד שיחזור למוטב, שנאמר "כי שפתי כוהן ישמרו דעת, ותורה יבקשו מפיהו - כי מלאך ה' צבאות, הוא" (מלאכי ב, ז), אמרו חכמים, אם הרב דומה למלאך ה' צבאות, תורה יבקשו מפיהו; אם לאו, אל יבקשו תורה מפיהו:

The ‘King’ of Shambhala Buddhism Is Undone by Abuse Report

ny times

In a shrine on the sixth floor of a Manhattan office building, a photo of a man in golden robes hangs above an altar. Another photo of him sits upon a throne.

He is the head of one of the largest Buddhist organizations in the West, Shambhala International, a network of more than 200 outposts in over 30 countries where thousands come for training in meditation and mindfulness and some delve into deeper mysteries.

The man is Mipham Rinpoche. He is known as the Sakyong, a Tibetan word that translates roughly as king, and his students take vows to follow him that are binding across lifetimes. These days, they are feeling sad, confused, angry and betrayed.

Late last month, a former Shambhala teacher released a report alleging that the Sakyong had sexually abused and exploited some of his most devoted female followers for years. Women quoted in the report wrote of drunken groping and forcefully extracted sexual favors. The report said that senior leaders at Shambhala — an organization whose motto is “Making Enlightened Society Possible” — knew of the Sakyong’s misconduct and covered it up.

The Sakyong apologized a few days before the report was formally released, admitting to “relationships” with women in the community, some of whom “shared experiences of feeling harmed as a result.” Followers and Shambhala groups around the world demanded more action.

On Friday, it came: The governing council of Shambhala International, which is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, resigned en masse, “in the interest of beginning a healing

WATCH Trump at NATO 'Like Watching Psychiatrists With a Disturbed Child,' Says Ralph Peters

haaretz
WATCH 

Trump at NATO 'Like Watching Psychiatrists With a Disturbed Child,' Says Ralph Peters

U.S. President Donald Trump has caused much controversy following his meeting with his allies at the NATO summit in Brussels, discussing the future of NATO and the defense spending of the member states.

Lt. Colonel  Ralph Peters, former strategic and military analyst for Fox News, slammed Trump in an interview on the CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." He strongly criticized Trump's behavior saying that: "We're faced with the real, immediate and perhaps irreparable damage to this greatest of alliances, NATO." Peters continues, saying that "one thing that Trump is indisputably brilliant at is propaganda."

When talking about how the other NATO leaders dealt with Trump, he said, "It was like watching psychiatrists patiently deal with a disturbed child. Trump is not only shaming our nation, he is doing real damage to our security, to our interests and to our allies and Vladimir Putin could not be happier."Peters concluded with saying that Merkel is an "admirable leader, God knows I wish we had a leader like that ourselves, instead we have a fool for a president."

It’s Either A Fraud Or Black Magic – Either Way, It’s Assur By Dovid Tepper

Jewish press

Having followed the articles about energy healing over the last couple of weeks, I feel it is important to inform your readers of some facts that have not yet been discussed.

On Amazon.com, the description of Mr. Blum’s book, Ki Power: Healing Power at Your Fingertips, reads as follows:

“Imagine healing someone in minutes with the stroke of your hand or the touch of your toes. Imagine the warmth of your fingers eliminating bruises overnight. Imagine harnessing a power so great that it can be used to stop that pain and suffering of others. Now imagine that you could acquire such knowledge by training just a few minutes a day. Author Robert Blum, one of the world’s foremost experts on KI Power development, shows you how to cultivate internal power and then use it to instantly heal yourself and others.”

I don’t have to be a sceptic to realize that if I have to “imagine” something medical that my doctor has not heard of, and makes no sense scientifically, then it is probably imaginary. Blum tells us to “[i]magine harnessing a power so great…” What is this power? If it exists, surely it must have been discussed by scientists.

basis that Rav Greenblatt permits adultery by Joe Orlow

This is a follow up to my last email.

Yoni clarified why Rabbi Greenblatt cut off the conversation.

Apparently, Yoni had confronted Rabbi Greenblatt in person in the past. At that time, Yoni brought up that Rabbi Dovid Feinstein ruled against the remarriage. Apparently, Rabbi Greenblatt did not want to discuss the matter then.

Yoni brought up Rabbi Feinstein in this conversation in order to lead up to asking a question about the status of any children Tamar Epstein will have with Adam Fleischer before she receives a Get from Aharon Friedman. In particular, will the child be a Safek Mamzer.

What I think I sensed was the concern Rabbi Greenblatt has that Rabbi Dovid Feinstein ruled against the remarriage.

Rabbi Greeblatt writes in a letter published elsewhere on this blog a statement about mental health. He seems to assume that mental health professionals have an agreed upon list of mental illnesses. I assume he is referring to the contents of the DSM. He writes, if I understand him correctly, that the professionals have agreed upon which of these conditions are curable, and which are incurable.

I do not think that this is the case. I am not going to prove that here. I will say that the burden of proof is on Rabbi Greenblatt to demonstrate that his assertion is true. As far as I can tell, mental health professionals tend to talk in terms of treating mental illness, not curing it. Cf. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/braintalk/201408/cure-mental-illness%3famp

Rabbi Greenblatt basically told me the following. Say a doctor diagnoses a man with an incurable mental illness, determines the illness pre-existed the man's marriage, and is confident that the man's wife was unaware of the condition at the time of marriage. Those circumstances are the basis for a Heter to annul a marriage.

Taken to a logical extreme, they are also the basis to effectively uproot the laws of Gittin.

Any woman can go to a psychiatrist and manipulate the psychiatrist into diagnosing her with an incurable, pre-existing, mental illness. Then, the woman can go to Rabbi Greenblatt, and ask him to annul her marriage. He will determine that it is unlikely her husband would have wanted to marry her if he had known she had such a mental illness.

For example, the woman could state to a psychiatrist that before she met her husband she was "hearing voices", feeling alternatively "depressed" for several weeks and "maniacal" for several weeks, and had an intense desire to kill herself. She can say she hid all this from her husband and/or all these conditions disappeared when she met her husband only to have them recur after the marriage; that is, she can say she is now back to hearing voices, the cycle of depression and mania, and having suicidal thought

was the el al delay story fake news?

times of israel

That ultra-Orthodox flight delay? It didn’t happen

True, the El Al flight took off 70 minutes late, but it wasn't for the reason everyone thinksiting the following question, I am filled with trepidation and frustration: Does every fact that is publicized need to be checked out personally?

For the past week, I have been unable to fathom how an ultra-Orthodox person dared delay an El Al flight for more than an hour. How did such a thing happen? Who dared to act with such audacity? Which cabin crew members allowed him to behave like that? Of course, I was certain that the facts were correct. After all, they were published everywhere, and people talked about the incident. So the facts simply had to be correct.

Well, no. I received the following email from Katriel Shem-Tov:

“Dear Sivan, I was on that flight from New York, the one that the media reported ‘took off an hour and a quarter late because of the Haredim.’ My wife and I celebrated our silver wedding anniversary and at 6 p.m., we were supposed to take off on our way home. However, before we even boarded, there was an announcement of a 45-minute delay and take-off would be at 6:45 p.m. The same information appeared on the screen in the departure lounge. Of course, the delay had nothing to do with any of the passengers.

“Boarding took a long time, ’till at least 7:10, I believe. My guess is that the whole business with the Haredim didn’t take more than five minutes. Of course, I am not justifying their behavior and one should not cause a delay of even one minute. I am Haredi myself, but I have never seen such behavior like theirs.

“Then I heard you in the media expressing your outrage and I heard many other people who were so angry about the entire incident. Since I was actually a passenger on the flight, I cannot understand how everyone got so caught up in the story. It all sounds so unbelievable, how come no one actually checked the facts? It causes harm to Israel’s good name in the international arena, so why are we all in such a tizzy? It took me a few days to decide whether to contact you, but I feel it is important that the truth come out. There are many other passengers who can corroborate the story, if necessary.”

I contacted El Al straight away, and they responded with the following, surprising, statement:

“The details that were reported about the incident were not accurate, to put it mildly. In actual fact, the delay was totally unconnected to the incident. The plane’s journey to the runway at the airport in New York took about one hour and had nothing to do with the incident. Taking care of the two passengers who refused to sit in their allocated places occurred after the plane had already left the gate and only took a few moments. We will continue to do our best to transport our customers safely, comfortably, and according to schedule.”

I certainly do not intend this post to defend those two passengers. I do want to ensure that it will defend 8 million people from a heated public debate which has no basis in fact.

Satmer Rebbe as troll

the ocr was not 100% accurate

השאלה הבסיסית שלי לאדמו"ר חיתה:
אבזרתי לו: "כי הלא אני מהונגריה, וגם באותן השנים )תרצ"ד( נוכחתי לראות את ר r תנגזותו הנחרצת של האדמו"ר ל'אגודת ישראל', אף על פי שנציגינו עדיין לא ישבר בממשלה, עדיין לא הלכו לבחירות לכנסת, כי לא היתה קיימת עדיין נזדיכת ישראל, לא היתה מגבית מאוחדת - ובכל זאת ההתנגדות של האדמו"ר לאו.ודת ישראל היתה בכל ההחלטיות והתקיפות".
ובנו צחק ואמר: "ברצוני לשאול אותן שוב. אם כן, מהי, לדעתך, הסיבה ,• n תנגדותי לאגודת ישראל?"
ח, v בתי: "אינני בטוח, אבל נדמה לי שהסיבה, או לפחות אחת הסיבות ;ז 1 ,יקויות - בנוסף לאותן ארבע סיבות שהזכיר הרבי - היא כי האדמו"ר אינו ן Jt \רו,יין שחסידיו יתערבו ויהיו מאורגנים ביחד עם חלקים אחרים ביהדות. אנוננו גם הם חרדים לכל דבר, אבל בכל אחד מחלקי היהדות ישנם, באופן נ\בוגי I דברים שונים, הן לחיוב והן לשלילה, כגון: אני יודע שהאד p ו"ר מחשיב I ~ת לימוד התורה של יהדות רוסיה-ליטא, וגם יודע על יראת השמ(כ:i הקיימת


) 0\1 1 אבל הם רחוקים לגמרי מדרך החסידות, ובדברים מסויימים דרכיהם אינן

J ~נ!י רוחו של האדמו"ר. כנ"ל גם בנוגע ליהדות גרמניה: בטוחני שהאדמו"ר יודע 1 \ן כנוח הם מקפידים על שמירת התורה והמצוות, אבל אני מבין שהאדמו"ר גותג,.ד לדון שלהם - הם מתירים השכלה, כגון לימוד באוניברסיטה ונו'. כך גנ r ביהדות של שאר ארצות אירופה ואמריקה, שנוסף על הצד החיובי שבהם, j:t יים אצ~ם גם חלק שלילי, ולפי הבנתי, האדמו"ר גורס שמוטב שכל שבט וחלק
ביהדות יpואר בפני עצמו, כדי שלא יתנסו ולא יסתכנו בכך שילמדו זה מזה דברים שליליים".
על השערתי זו לא קיבלתי תשובה מהאדמו"ר, אבל, לפי הבנתי, היה נדמה לי שהאדמו"ר קיבל את דברי.

ניסיתי שוב ושוב להעלות אפשרויות לשיתוף פעולה, אפילו חלקי, אבל מאמצי עלו בתוהו. האדמו"ר דחה כל אפשרות לשיתוף פעולה, אף על פי שצייד שהוא יודע שישנם באגודת ישראל גדולי תורה וצדיקים גדולים, ואף הזכיר בהערכה את הגאון ר' אהרן קוטלר ואת פועליו הרבים וגדולי תורה נוספים

שהעריך.
מדוע תום ובנו לחינון העצמאי?
כאשר ביקר רבנו בלונדון, כמדומני בשנת תשי"ח, פרסם מר הארי גודמן, יושב ראש הועד הפועל של אגודת ישראל באירופה, בעיתון של אגודת ישראל מאמר 'ברון הבא' לכבוד ביאתו של הרבי. בין השאר סיפר מר גודמן במאמר הנ"ל, שכאשר ביקר אצל האדמו"ר בניו יורק, נתן לו הרבי אלפיים וחמש מאות

דולר למען 'החינון העצמאי'.
כאשו קרא אחז מאנשי נטווי קותא הקיצוניים )י.ד.( את הידיעה בעיתון, מיהו אל האזמר"ו כזי לספו לו, שהעיתון של אגודת ישראל מוציא עליו לעז שכאילו הוא, חס ושלרם, תום כסף לחינון העצמאי.

השיב לו ובנר: "מה שכתוב זה נכןן. אכן תומתי, כפי שכתוב שם". על תמיהתו של י.ז. הוסיף: "כשמבקרים מפעל, צריכים לרעת גם לעזור, כרי שיהיה ברור שהביקורת היא ענינית. שנית", אמו הוני, "אמנם אני מתנגד לכך שילדים מבתים חרדיים ילמדו בבתי ספר של החינוך העצמאי' אבל אינני מתנגד לכך שילדים מכל אותם הבתים שאינם שולחים את ילדיהם לתשב"ר' כולל ילדים מבני ערות המזרח, ילמדו במוסרות של ה'חינוך העצמאי'". כאשו הדשה י.ז. לעצמו להתווכח עם הרבי, ביקש ממנו הוני לעזוב את הבית.
פעם אחת, כאשו היה האזמו"ו בירושלים, התקיימו שם בחידות לעידית.
''כאז לוקחים ממני כסף, ונותנים לי עצות ... "

יחסו של הוני להשתתפות בבחירות לעיריית ירושלים היה חיובי )בניגוד
פעם אחת, כאשו היה האזמו"ו בירושלים, התקיימו שם בחידות לעידית.

The End of Torah in America by Joe Orlow

It is evident from many places in the Chumash that the Torah is a package deal. The Torah may not be added to. The Torah may not be subtracted from.

What the exact parameters are of adding and subtracting is not the subject here. Suffice it to say that the threshold is reached when any Jew declares that a Mitzvah is no Mitzvah. Even if a Rabbi, or a group of Rabbis say a Mitzvah is no Mitzvah, the condition of subtracting has been reached.

We are at a point, after years of collective research, where we have in our hands most of the details of the mechanics of the Heter given to Tamar Epstein to remarry without a Get.

I apologize to those are not in the know that I cannot at this time reveal certain aspects of the Heter, such as those particulars surrounding the report on which the Heter hangs. One should not do to others what is distasteful to oneself. And it is distasteful to me when I am excluded from the inner cool club house. Yet, I cannot offer one and all membership now for valid reasons. I hope I have gained enough of your trust so that I can make the rest of the points below with some credibility.

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky is considered the greatest Gadol in America by many. Rabbi Kamenetsky told me I can rely on Rabbi Greenblatt. 

Rabbi Greenblatt has basically nullified the Torah through his nullifying Tamar's marriage to Aharon Friedman. I've written extensively about this elsewhere on this blog. And my contribution to proving this thesis is just a drop in the ocean of material on these webpages.

To summarize, virtually any woman can get her marriage nullified by Rabbi Greenblatt if she acts cleverly.

She has to be a follower of Rabbi Kamenetsky. She can then rely on Rabbi Greenblatt.

All that is required next is to have a mental health professional call Rabbi Greenblatt and testify that her husband had an incurable mental illness from before the marriage and that she was unaware of her husband's condition when she married him. She receives a Heter to remarry, and may do so without a Get.

That's it.

Rabbi Greenblatt holds that he does not need to interview the wife nor the husband before issuing the Heter.

And if Rabbi Greenblatt can give such Heters, then so too can others. Because Rabbi Kamenetsky has said you may rely on Rabbi Greenblatt.

Now some may point out that Rabbi Dovid Feinstein ruled for Rabbi Kametsky that Rabbi Greenblatt's Heter in this case is not valid. But it must be noted that Rabbi Feinstein did not order Tamar to separate from the man she is living with, Adam Fleischer, who is not her husband. And I tried to notify Rabbi Feinstein that Rabbi Kamenetsky did not order her to separate. Nor has Tamar on her own separated. Rabbi Feinstein's not telling her to separate makes him complicit in her continued cohabitation with a man not her husband.

Rabbi Kamenetsky and Rabbi Greenblatt have thus uprooted, or at least mangled, the Torah of Gittin, which is equivalent to destroying the entire Torah. Rabbi Feinstein has covered up the indiscretion.

A Mitzvah has died. The Torah in America is dead.

And the Torah in America lives on. It lives on in those who reject Rabbis Kamenestsky, Feinstein, and Greenblatt and who maintain their fidelity to the old fashioned Torah true teachings of men like Harav Dovid Eidensohn.

Alienation of Affection State Laws Rabbi KAMINETSKY Rabbi GREENBLATT HETER

https://www.verywellfamily.com/alienation-of-affection-state-laws-2303186

Alienation of affection lawsuits is when an outsider interferes with a marriage. Defendants in these suits are often an adulterous spouse's lover, but family members, counselors, therapists, and religious members who have encouraged a spouse to get a divorce have also been sued for these matters. 

A Predator Roamed Jewish Schools. Why Wasn’t He Stopped?ShareSearch

forward


In the winter of 1970-71, when Michael Rabin was 12 years old, Stanley Rosenfeld invited him home for a sleepover. Rosenfeld, in his late thirties, was the beloved assistant principal of Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, New York. He was known for having boys in the middle school over to spend the night; the invitation was considered an “honor,” Rabin said.

“Everyone thought of it as a treat, and no one was reluctant to go,” Rabin, now 60, recalls

Rosenfeld brought Rabin home after a school basketball game. It was shortly after Rabin says he had been in a skiing accident — he had a full leg cast. Rosenfeld set up a cot for Rabin in his bedroom, in the apartment he lived in alone across the street from Van Cortlandt Park, in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Rabin remembered that before they went to bed, Rosenfeld was lying on his bed with his penis hanging out of his pajamas. When Rabin used the bathroom, Rosenfeld tried to get inside.

The cast was uncomfortable, and kept Rabin from moving easily. He pretended to be asleep as Rosenfeld fondled his genitals throughout the night.

U.S. Opposition to Breast-Feeding Resolution Stuns World Health Officials

ny times

A resolution to encourage breast-feeding was expected to be approved quickly and easily by the hundreds of government delegates who gathered this spring in Geneva for the United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly.

Based on decades of research, the resolution says that mother’s milk is healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes.

Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations.

American officials sought to water down the resolution by removing language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support breast-feeding” and another passage that called on policymakers to restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have deleterious effects on young children.

When that failed, they turned to threats, according to diplomats and government officials who took part in the discussions. Ecuador, which had planned to introduce the measure, was the first to find itself in the cross hairThe Americans were blunt: If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution, Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and Based on decades of research, the resolution says that mother’s milk is healthiest for children and countries should strive to limit the inaccurate or misleading marketing of breast milk substitutes.Then the United States delegation, embracing the interests of infant formula manufacturers, upended the deliberations.American officials sought to water down the resolution by removing language that called on governments to “protect, promote and support breast-feeding” and another passage that called on policymakers to restrict the promotion of food products that many experts say can have deleterious effects on young children.

When that failed, they turned to threats, according to diplomats and government officials who took part in the discussions. Ecuador, which had planned to introduce the measure, was the first to find itself in the cross hairs.

The Americans were blunt: If Ecuador refused to drop the resolution, Washington would unleash punishing trade measures and withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced.withdraw crucial military aid. The Ecuadorean government quickly acquiesced.

“What happened was tantamount to blackmail, with the U.S. holding the world hostage and trying to overturn nearly 40 years of consensus on best way to protect infant and young child health,” she said.

In the end, the Americans’ efforts were mostly unsuccessful. It was the Russians who ultimately stepped in to introduce the measure — and the Americans did not threaten them.

why is Rav Kaminetsky lying?

the fact is he is certain he is being honest

Lie | Define Lie at Dictionary.com

www.dictionary.com/browse/lie

a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood. something intended or serving to convey a false impression; imposture: His flashy car was a lie that deceived no one. ... the charge or accusation of telling a lie: He flung the lie back at ...

he has proclaimed repeatedly he did not give the heter which is true but he  the fact that he gave Rav Greenblatt an improper psychiatrist report and other "facts" and specically asked for an annulment is omitted from his statement
the annulment was given entirely because Rav Greenblatt felt he was required to accept the request of a gadol
https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2015/11/tamar-epsteins-heter-r-shlomo.html

the fact that the heter has been universally rejected changes nothing

perhaps the only thing that might is if the psychiatrist who wrote the totally unethical report publicly repudiates it - but then he would probably lose his license so that is not going to happen
http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2015/12/tamar-epsteins-heter-psychologist-dr.html

perhaps it is time to focus on the weakest link - i/e/ the psychiatrist and threaten him with a multi million  dollar legal case in which he will also lose his license

his name is known and many have seen his report

trump does it again What now? Pompeo exits North Korea empty-handed, leaving US with three options -- all of them bad

fox

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seemingly failed to gain a single concession from North Korea after meetings Friday and Saturday in the communist nation’s capital of Pyongyang to discuss America’s demand that the North get rid its nuclear weapons.

In fact, it seems both sides can’t even agree on what was discussed or how the talks went, with the North now even threatening to walk away from its vague pledge to denuclearize.

Following Pompeo’s talks with high-ranking North Korean government official Kim Yong Chol, North Korea accused the Trump administration of making a “unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization” that was “deeply regrettable.”

In marked contrast, Pompeo called the talks “productive” and said: “These are complicated issues, but we made progress on almost all of the central issues.” However, Pompeo did not specify what progress was made.

Tellingly, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un – who rules with an iron fist and is the only one with the power to approve substantive concessions to the U.S. – did not even meet with Pompeo Friday or Saturday, although he has met with Pompeo before. That alone is evidence that Pompeo walked away from the talks largely emptyhanded.

This disappointing trip by the secretary of state can only mean one thing: The Trump administration has reached the same point that every other U.S. administration – Democrat and Republican – has reached with North Korea. When negotiations get to the point where North Korea must make concessions on its nuclear program that are substantive, officials from the North cry foul – and walk away.

Kim Jong Un seems to be carrying on a tradition in international relations begun by his grandfather and father, who ruled North Korea before him: lie, lie and lie again – and drag out talks with adversaries as long as possible without making any real concessions.

Mike Pompeo is not naive. In fact, the New York Times reported Saturday: “Privately, Mr. Pompeo has said that he doubts Mr. Kim will ever give up his nuclear weapons. And those doubts have been reinforced in recent days by intelligence showing that North Korea, far from dismantling its weapons facilities, has been expanding them and taking steps to conceal the efforts from the United States.”