Military Playgrounds

Do you try to ignore unpleasant places? Afghanistan has been an imperial boneyard for millennia. Korea is well into its second century of being occupied, abused, divided, and further despoiled. Common folk in too many other places suffer terribly, controlled by militarism.

The population of the USA is partly at fault. Our costly adventurism overseas crippled what might have been. We now choose to watch dancing cute cats on the internet, believing a warm & cozy feeling proves we're kind & good, regardless of the bullets and hellfire we rain on innocent people, and the deadly corruption and tortures we fund round the world.

Keep American forces home.

Militarism is only one of many possible economic engines. Militarism is painful and dirty; with a corrupt entrenched system. We could be investing in creating a better living environment, or in housing, or in better health for all. But American citizens are suckered persuaded to invest endlessly in a huge & wasteful military.

This week we're told taking away DACA from 800,000 undocumented or illegal migrants (link) is "absolutely counter to what we stand for as a nation." But rhetoric is cheap as we continue to dodge fundamental injustices. Can you handle the truth?

What does the US Government stand for as a nation?
-- USA stole lands from native people, without compensation
-- Military bases (incl. golf courses) occupy ancestral lands
-- Extraction industries now rape our homelands
-- Yankee "owners" of our resources fund agents to subdue us

Protecting the Robber-Barons

The US military is posted around the world to further expand American influence, and to protect extractive industries.

We the People don't directly profit from empire. We should not foolishly pay the high costs of overseas "defense" ... Let the richies pay themselves.

We should not pay for fancy alarms on their many homes and yachts. They should pay more in taxes.

Our American armed forces should be based at home, on continental USA.

Basic Lessons for the TMT

TMT: Just Say No?

Lessons from the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope
Major construction for Hawai'i's great mauna?

-- Tactics 101: Don't give-up the high ground!

-- Astronomy 101: We know Edward Snowden was working in Hawai'i, so how many installations now monitor us earthlings under cover of science?

-- History 101: On O'ahu, concession of a coaling station at Pu'uloa quickly morphed into the sprawling Pearl Harbor US military complex. Public access strictly controlled.

-- Economics 101: Technological spillover effects are promised, yet still now thousands in nearby Puna have almost no public infrastructural services: no public running water, poor internet, some without mains electricity, no public roads to their home. This is 21st century Hawaii - the astronomical colony at the top of Mauna Kea (and of course the US military installations on the island) have modern infrastructure, as common people root in the mud with guard dogs, roosters, little fire ants & rat lungworm disease.

-- Religion 101: When Yankee claims unique insight, it's bullshit.

Apex Predator ?

Capitalism sales pitch claims "Nothing's better"...
But violence & deception are basic to capitalism.
Let's invest in a more peaceful, sustainable system.
Oversight has a cost, but surrendering law is more costly...

Are you The Apex Predator ?
Otherwise you're part of the food chain ... 

Rotten in Seoul

Samsung's Lee Jae-yong (이재용 often "Jay Y. Lee") will undergo a sentencing hearing later today in Seoul for assorted counts of corruption. It's being widely argued his conviction could be costly for both the company & for Korea.

Surely corruption has been part of the system under the previous regime of former President Park Geun-hye. And it's highly probable systemic corruption was rife in Korean political economy from long before that as well. Samsung's Lee Jae-yong is somewhat unfortunate to have been nabbed at a time of transition.

But this case is nasty because of both criminal detail and lack of remorse. Among other transgressions, Samsung secured an expensive show horse in Europe for Korean President Park's buddy's daughter (정유라), and then attempted to hide details when the purchase was linked to administrative oversight of Samsung's corporate amalgamation favoring Mr. Lee.

Claiming aides and associates were wholly responsible for any transgressions, Lee has thus far evaded all responsibility in these affairs.

President Park was vindictive and anti-democratic. She interfered in the livelihood of thousands of artists and entertainers by reportedly placing them on a blacklisted enemies list (link). Her right-wing government declared the 60,000-member Korean Teachers’ & Education Workers’ Union (KTU) illegal (link), and systematically sought to destroy it.

Who were the strategists forcing Park's dark right-wing regressive agenda?

Park was partly propped-up by her crony Choi Soon-sil (최순실). But corporations such as Samsung also supported the regime, and perhaps steered it. Others may be at least partly responsible... What did Yankee know and when did they know it? America's key position in Korea requires knowledge of all such dirt.

Are there any lessons here that might be relevant to the corrupt overlap of business & politics now developing around Donald J. Trump and his family? As Korea moves forward toward more transparency, America becomes more opaque -- allowing collusive relationships to take root.

It may be Lee & Samsung had little choice but to payoff President Park and her cronies. Lee's defense, that he's a poor little rich boy who knew nothing, is incredible. In Korea, gestation adds a year to one's age - he's 50 years old. He studied at Seoul National University (backdoor admission?), Japan's Keio University for a Master's degree, and Harvard Business School. Few Korean people will believe he's absolutely uninvolved & innocent. Let's hope the search for justice finds proper answers, but long-suffering Koreans know: the innocent often suffer most.

We hijack inheritance NOW

Colonizers stupefy with New World imagery
("New" world?) to overlook genocide of natives and violent theft of local homelands!

The continent was not NEW, nor was it empty. Colonists killed the native peoples. Many decades later, those profiting try whitewashing history. It's unacceptable.

Please disallow inheritance hijacking & condemn those denigrating "redskins" / native peoples!

Hundreds of Tribal Nations are native to North America
- see map by Aaron Carapella (.pdf link)

Let My People Go

America's people are corrupted & beggared by the global munitions industry and militarism. It's past time America's soldiers are returned home where they belong.

American politicians & generals hold the world hostage at too high a price. Many decades of overseas adventurism cost trillions of dollars while America's communities starve for funding.

Each wounded warrior is part of an injured family. Every combat fatality, at home & abroad, does violence to harmony. Peace!

Trump Hates Us

Trump promised VIOLENCE

"In the Good Old Days they used to treat them Very, Very Rough!"

"Knock the Crap out of Them ... I Promise You, I will pay the legal fees."

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Has Donald Trump has been racist all his life?

One disturbing article lists at least two dozen well-known cases (link) where Trump mocked or belittled minorities prior to being elected US President in 2016, thus asserting Trump supporters decided "racism isn't a deal-breaker"...

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Now ultra-right TRUMP® people threaten lives & property. Minorities are unsafe. Tourists are targeted for harassment by both government & racist American terrorists. America disintegrates under the BLOOD & SOIL solution of Republican Donald J. Trump, King of neo-Nazi resurgence and Made in America hate crime.

Liberation

Very Best wishes & ALOHA this week to the many celebrating National Liberation Day in Korea, and the 70th anniversary of Independence Day for Pakistan and India.

Please consider peoples still peacefully working for decolonization.

Japanese Fungus !

A tenacious fungal infection made headlines in a nasty way.

Candida auris has "developed some resistance to the drug doctors normally use against it" according to the BBC (link)

Reportedly nobody in the UK has died from this infection.

But it's causing huge trouble: because the BBC labeled it a:
Japanese fungus

Why's this fungus labeled Japanese?
Is it reasonable to scare the world about Japan?
Can a potentially deadly fungus hinder the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?
Negative publicity harms efforts marketing Japan.

Japanese medical practitioners in 2009 first described the fungus:
Satoh, K., et al., Candida auris sp. nov., a novel ascomycetous yeast isolated from the external ear canal of an inpatient in a Japanese hospital. Microbiol Immunol, 2009. 53(1): p. 41-4.

But the earliest known strain of Candida auris dates to 1996 in South Korea (the 1996 patient recovered while two later Korean cases described in the same study died):
Lee, W.G., et al., First three reported cases of nosocomial fungemia caused by Candida auris. J Clin Microbiol, 2011. 49(9): p. 3139-42.

Perhaps it's a
Korean fungus ?

Infections have been reported in the United States (predominantly in New York state), Canada, India, Pakistan, Japan, South Korea, Venezuela, Columbia, Israel, Oman, Kuwait, Kenya, South Africa, Norway, Germany, and Spain, as well as the UK. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states "Because identification of C. auris requires specialized laboratory methods, infections likely have occurred in other countries but have not been identified or reported."
https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/candidiasis/candida-auris-alert.html

The CDC (link) notes that "C. auris has emerged independently in multiple regions at roughly the same time."

Exceptional hospital hygiene is very important. How much should we worry? Should we stay away from the above nations, or especially avoid Japan?
No - anyhow don't change your travel plans due to this fungus.
There are many worse dangers, e.g. from ticks or mosquito bites.

National governments might pressure medical researchers to avoid publication if such findings become a national problem or an economic liability. Negative media can quickly become bad for us all when public health problems are misreported.

This BBC scare headline is bad journalism.

 http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40934190

Yankee Lies

The present antagonism with North Korea DPRK is largely generated by the USA, representing munitions & weapons industries.

For the past 60 years, the USA has interfered and invaded dozens of nations around the world. The North Koreans have stayed on their own peninsula.

Provocation is triggered by US-led military "exercises" along the Demilitarized Zone with North Korea. In recent months, American deployment of THAAD armaments in US-occupied South Korea has alarmed China (PRC) and Russia.

Japan also has much at stake if there is war from Korea. Japan is mortified by how they might cope with millions of warfare refugees. More worrying, a direct attack on long-term rival Japan might be somewhat celebrated by all Koreans -- especially if the wind's blowing east.

How are we to believe Guam is being targeted? Claiming "only" Guam's at risk is ridiculous... Have we suddenly gained perfect intelligence about North Korea's strategic plans? Or is this media barrage bullshit designed to confuse & scare our own people?

It's ludicrous to target far-away (3300km) Guam when sigint / military bases are much closer at Wakkanai & Kawakita (Hokkaido) or Yokosuka as well as throughout both Japan and South Korea. North Korea can cripple Seoul with a nuclear device fired directly over the horizon and timed to explode over the city. Low apogee = indefensible.

Remember the Iraqi nuclear tubes US Sec. of State Colin Powell vowed were a clear threat to American life? We've been down this path of lies before...

Imperialism is globally unpopular - but America persists. The USA suffered huge intervention costs following the French into Vietnam. After the Soviet Union's defeat in Afghanistan, we've wasted a fortune there and our continuing destruction helps the worst elements. America's blunders with war in Iraq cost huge numbers of lives and a trillion dollars. Washington DC politicos are directly responsible for violence, injury & impoverishment in uncountable towns & homes. This is not imaginary -- America's idiotic leaders have saddled our communities with debt, and our aggression's resented everywhere.

America's leaders propagate WAR

Poisoning Athletics, London 2017

The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) World Athletics Championships are now being held in London during August 2017. Fans of track & field throughout the world are excitedly watching.

But much of the competition is being corrupted by Lord Sebastian Coe's IAAF bureaucracy. Far too much intervention has no basis in measurable data, and instead amounts to politicized interference in the competition.

Most Russian Federation team members were not allowed to compete. Those banned did not test positive for doping. Rather, the Russian bureaucracy was ostracized for systematic problems with poor security and deliberate efforts to bypass anti-doping procedures. In our modern technical world, however, there are ample ways to avoid collective punishment -- the bureaucrats (and most Brits) seem satisfied to ban the innocent, though this belittles the competition & medals.

Let's not forget Sebastian Coe won his first two Olympic medals (including the 1500m Olympic Gold Medal) at the boycott-ridden 1980 Moscow Olympics. It's highly unlikely I myself might have challenged or beaten him, but there was no chance -- US President Carter forbid American athletes from competing in that Olympics.

This London 2017 fiasco is also marred by infectious disease. Isaac Makwala of Botswana was unreasonably "quarantined" from competition as potentially infected. He missed the chance to contest the Men's 400m Final, and only when his federation issued a strong appeal was he allowed to run his heat for the 200m alone, in cold & rain. Terrible!

Poor old Grandpa?

US-friendly predator?

Revived South Korea dictatorship 유신 (十月維新) rejected.

Kim Ki-choon 김기춘 has been dangerous for 50 years...
- Chief of Staff for President Park Geun-hye
- former Attorney General & Justice Minister
- former Prosecutor & KCIA officer
Always Beware -- DANGEROUS Snake

Crushing artists, suppressing teachers,
but 3 years quiet prison life ahead.

Speculative Dangers in Hawaii

Many island communities control non-resident land speculation, as do Australia, New Zealand, British Columbia & Singapore. But far-away Washington DC forbids such policy in Hawaii. Glen Kila & Chris Oliveira are two of my friends working to preserve the Hawaiian countryside.

Nice article here on saving Hawai'i:

http://tinyurl.com/y8m8czn4