Public Art 2020 - Keep Away !

Unwelcome Art of 2020 : Creative Masks 

COVID-19     Coronavirus

Keep Away !

Trump's Wartime Failures

Upset by COVID-19, on 18 March Commander Trump claimed he sees his efforts with the virus "as a Wartime President."

If this is WAR, we follow pompous, dangerous fools

WAR leader failures cause BIG suffering:
• Costly flip-flop from "ALL OK!" to 50,000+ dead
• Can't provide PPE helmets to front-line troops
• His imaginary weapons can't fight the enemy
• Poor coordination; Actively alienates allies
• GI Bill, R&R for Med staff = Zero budgeted
• Spending focus: Bailout Crony industries
• Strategic focus: Simple Duck-and-Cover

Trump Flunkies - Shut Him Up

Yesterday Trump was "brainstorming" in front of an anxious world. Can we inject disinfectant and get clean of COVID-19?

These half-baked ideas are dangerous.

Sunshine Helps - can we drag the sun closer to the USA?

Scientists of the world are ... disgusted

DO NOT INJECT wash liquid to get clean.
Do not experiment on yourself or on others!

Looting Starts in USA

God Bless America!

 

Covid Karma?

कर्म

Covid morbid thoughts:
 
As infectious diseases destroyed Native American 
& Pacific islander communities, lands & resources 
were forcibly stolen. The marauders deliberately tried to erase native history.

Now everyone's told by Those Who've Profited:
Don't Take Advantage.

Mitch is Someone's Bitch

Treachery & deceit motivate robber baron funding of America's politicians.

Recognize ruthlessness. 

Don't claim surprise.

America's History of Looting

Native people of the Americas & Pacific islands were mown down by introduced illnesses.

More intruders followed, with genocidal privilege and abusive White Man laws.

Native lands & resources, burial spots, sacred places, became "owned" by ruthless non-resident outsiders.

Yankee jackals now fret "their" property may be lost as resurgents fight to survive. Before the Horror.

License to Loot, USA

At this time of trouble, American elected officials eagerly LOOT the US Treasury for private corporate interests. -- 23 March 2020

A Growing Terror

25 years ago I lived in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, doing fieldwork for my Oxford doctorate. Early on 20 March 1995 I'd scheduled a research interview, so left home on the crammed rush-hour subway via Kasuga Station & returned via Korakuen.

I blindly traversed disaster among the multitude. As we traveled, tightly packed, deluded terrorists silently released sarin nerve agent (a deadly poisonous chemical weapon) in five Tokyo subway trains, then disembarked.

A toxic Marunouchi-line train continued on its route for one hour & forty minutes, back & forth & back again, calling three times at many stations while splattering poison & fumes. That train passed through my neighborhood twice (and a prior time w/ culprits pre-release)...

地下鉄サリン事件 = Creepy!

Was I injured? Who knows? Japan's system does not care.

Look into Minamata Disease, long-term mercury pollution in Kumamoto Pref. by Japan's Chisso Corp. At least 10,000+ people were harmed (and probably many multiples more).

Though trouble was identified in the mid 1950s, law in Japan is still dealing with it - and very poorly. Just last week a court refused compensation to a number of claimants. More-recent TEPCO Fukushima nuclear liability is similar. People exposed to fallout because of bad design and unsafe corporate decisions, and not allowed to return home, struggle as evacuees. The Abe government clearly hopes to turn the page and ignore the human cost & injustice.

Most are led to believe struggle is futile. 
In Japan, long before achieving proper compensation, you'll die.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/03/13/national/crime-legal/minamata-disease-claims-rejected-fukuoka-high-court/

BEWARE. Japanese officials & other corporatist governments corruptly interpret JUSTICE. Non-binding apologies, thoughts and prayers ain't worth shit.

mRNA Hopes: Coronavirus Vaccine

With the rise of Covid-19 novel coronavirus, there's a sudden & substantive push to develop vaccine countermeasures.

One of the most hopeful areas is using mRNA, messenger RNA, to induce immunity. Properly designed, the goal is to stimulate immune response by mimicking the antigen production of viral pathogens.

Promising research includes self-amplifying RNA vaccines or replicons. A continuing challenge for replicon utilization is finding effective routes for vaccine administration (delivery barriers).
 
New businesses are quickly being founded / funded. Look for:

mRNA Research
Replicon Research

mRNAtech.com
Repliconics.com

etc...

God Bless Us, Every One!

A Glass of Water

Swedish humor can be dry.

(SJ is Swedish Rail, Statens Järnvägar); No 'glass' evident

Day of Reckoning

Growing Pain, USA? ... Day of Reckoning.

American Kool Aid

I've been studying about social stratification as seen from South & North Korea 사회 계층.

Americans don't talk about this topic sufficiently. We're taught about meritocracy, and the problems of prejudice, but do not really analyze caste & class in the USA.

Some squeamishness stems from American racial prejudices. I'll not write about common conceptions, but some citizens have difficulty shedding linkages to such words as hordes or savages or slaves.

We should recognize Native Americans as victims of deliberate GENOCIDE.  ... as Landowners deprived of their inheritance by voracious intruders led by a handful of resource-extracting capitalists. This is not "maybe" - it is fact.

Americans prefer make-believe: pretending there's a bedrock justice in the land of the free & the brave, while in fact the foundation is theft & bullshit. Do you yourself dare to confront Truth? If so you'll find Truly Criminal Hype.

Anyhow, South Koreans passionately discuss social caste and class rigidities in many books and on TV. The film "Parasite" is a further example.

The typical American could learn valuable lessons from South Korean analyses of social stratification. While my Korean abilities are poor, I'm smart enough to recognize bits of their wisdom.

「대통령을 꿈꾸는 아이들은 어디로 갔을까」의 저자 오찬호는 대다수의 젊은이들이 ‘9급 공무원’을 희망하는 열풍을 들여다보며 미래가 없는 우리 사회의 어두운 면을 지적하고 있다.

https://brunch.co.kr/@onlys/15

"Difference in wealth under the capitalist system is inevitable. The problem is the wealth gap. Instead of leaving the economy to market alone, the government should actively intervene in fair distribution and make efforts to bridge the wealth gap. A good society should be equipped with a social safety net that does not give up what is human, meaning you'll not be poor in any job. Minimum salary guaranteed, and not undermining dignity. So valuable jobs exist but poor jobs do not exist. Young people can then challenge a variety of jobs that aren't ninth-class civil servants. Through this, our communities will cultivate many more types of lives. If diversity is guaranteed, opinions will inevitably increase and our tolerance index will naturally rise. If the tolerance index rises, our society will be able to move away from "focus on self" and be happy with solidarity and cooperation."
-- Hye-kyung Shin   신혜경  [excerpt]


(I saved as HTML and ran the page through Google translate)

Republican Bloomberg is an Asshole

Occupy Wall Street began in New York City's Zuccotti Park on 17 Sept 2011. Occupy drew attention to oligarchy injustices and how corporations reach deep into our lives.

Occupy protests soon flared-up around the globe, educating & debating about political corruption, corporate environmental destruction and wealth inequality. Each gathering, each encampment, became a place for education. Financial district parks, typically dark & empty at night, grew lively. Support and donations quickly flowed from surrounding communities. Growing political awareness worried the oligarchs.

After 60 days, Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg used paramilitary riot police to forcibly uproot the Wall Street encampment - and tried to block the press from covering the eviction. 😠 Nine years later (9 years gone), suppressed anger & community pain undoubtedly are...
Worse!

Wake Up World. Democracy is shit-on by big shots.
Democracy can allow us some true Public Spaces. 

Zuccotti Park was never so important as in those 60 days.

Occupy Stockholm lasted at Brunkebergstorg in front of Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden's National Bank, the world's oldest central bank) from 15 October 2011 to 29 February 2012 (138 days) before being similarly attacked & crushed by riot police. The site's now a stark corporate-controlled concrete plaza, as some years later developers ripped-up all the earth & landscaping, and cut-down every tree. Very GRIM.


Victims of Violence:
          return tamely for more beatings...

Build PRIDE. The intruder is the parasite.

Disgrace. John Bull imperialists claim "discovery" justifies theft & murder, keeping stolen wealth & criminal proceeds.

Their permanent universe revolves around English-speakers & Yankees, where non-whites are foreigners, savage, and ethnic.

To aggressively topple governments & destroy communities by large-scale military land appropriation is CRIMINAL.

Colonized peoples are stripped of inheritance, property & PRIDE.

Recognize abuse. Fight for inheritance, fight for culture, against occupier manipulation.
Build Local Pride.

Some inherit, others do not

Aggressive intruders stole lands & murdered peaceful locals, and now label indigenous efforts to reclaim inheritance as favoritism or anti-white racism. Struggles continue against theft & genuine racism. 

If you think indigenous people should "Get Over It" you are part of the problem. 

Intruder aggressions are becoming more extreme in Hawai'i. Local resistance is increasing. Many Hawaiians refuse to submissively allow heavily militarized, American-occupied Hawai'i as proper or legal. Acts of War on Hawaiians begun with Capt. James Cook are continuing since 1778. Yankee Must Stop Trespassing  ❤️  Aloha 'Āina

Marketing the EU

Let's Celebrate Europe! Add three annual EU-holidays to learn about our European neighbors. More EuroFun promotes peace & boosts the economy !  😊  

BREXIT was bad for all of Europe.

Expand European Holidays! The European Union must better market its strengths. Each year throughout Europe let's celebrate three of the 27 national days as holidays: a rolling experience of culture, teachable moments. European foods, and leisure.  Envied riches!  

                                  --  Lambert Proposal for EU Holidays 

Booo BREXIT

I'm very sad about Brexit.

I hope the British well.

I created a video goodbye. Have a Look: 

https://thoughtsmart.com/RuleBritannia!.mp4

I'm particularly concerned for Scotland.The EU flag will continue to fly outside the Scottish Parliament, and this week Scottish lawmakers voted 64-54 to hold a referendum "so the people of Scotland can decide whether they wish it to become an independent country." (But no binding referendum can be held without the government in London's approval).

ALOHA 

Thirty-Meter Telescope International Observatory LLC

TMT (Thirty-Meter Telescope International Observatory LLC) is a foreign entity demanding trespass on Hawaiian Maunakea. Partners include Government components from Japan, India, Canada, China; State of California & Caltech; while US Federal Government maintains continuous expropriating interest "in the event of military necessity."

Trespassers deliberately corrode indigenous communities. Cosmopolitan invaders disrespect & misframe native communities, aiming to disrupt inheritance and dismantle local sovereignty. 

BEWARE the suffix LLC - the invading consortium already contrived legal protections to abandon problems in case of trouble.

XX TMT LLC = X NO NO NO

Japanese Justice SHAME

A few months ago I posted about Japan's troubles with Carlos Ghosn, the former chairman of Nissan Motors (link: "Business Beware! Japan's Jellyfish Justice"). It's tricky to discuss this delicate topic. The Rule of Law in Japan seems brutal, arbitrary & unreliable, so it's generally better to shut up. "出る釘は打たれる"  - "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down."

Ghosn, under indictment in Japan for financial crimes and contrary to his bail conditions, recently was able to leave the country and to meet with his family.

Illegality is bad. I don't personally know Carlos Ghosn. I believe Prosecutor's unwise entanglement in Nissan Motors' corporate fight damages Japan.

The case highlights a very disturbing unjust "crime" in Japan - Ghosn was humiliated & imprisoned for many months in the infamous Tokyo Kōchisho detention centre (東京拘置所). Even when released on bail he was not allowed to use email or the internet, or to communicate with his wife & family. He was not accused of crimes of violence, nor were people damaged or injured from his supposed crimes. Ghosn became a high-profile Enemy of the State for the crime of being non-Japanese.

I'm reminded of the Stallone film I first saw 25 years ago in Japan - "First Blood" (in Japanese ランボー  "Rambo") where a small town harasses a highly-decorated US military veteran and Congressional Medal of Honor winner, mistreating him as a vagrant. Carlos Ghosn, a supremely successful global businessman, has been bullied by Japan on suspicion of minor bookkeeping lapses.

Japan's corporate corruption is legendary (click for links): Food fraud (such as at prestigious Hotel Okura), deliberately substandard manufacturing (Kobe Steel, Mitsubishi Materials, etc.), deadly pollution (Chisso poisoning of Minamata, etc.), circumvented building codes (hundreds of substandard buildings by Sumitomo Mitsui Construction, Kimura, etc.), cronyism & bribery (PM Abe's Moritomo Gakuen scandal), inattention to nuclear safety, karōshi (death from overwork, e.g. Dentsu), links to yakuza criminals,  etc., etc. Bureaucrats & politicians seldom publicly interfere.

(True, the huge $1.7 billion Olympus scandal generated some suspended prison sentences when great sums over many years couldn't be covered-up with apologies. It may even be Ghosn suffers as proxy for Olympus whistleblower Michael Woodford, another of the few foreign devils near the Japan Inc. power centre).

But Ghosn was taken-down, detained, and subsequently hobbled in unprecedented ways for suspected accounting irregularities. This attracts criticism for Japan's justice system when considering the many modern Japanese corporate actions which escape indictment - neglecting widespread public harm & deaths.

Japan's Nissan Scandal involves great international & financial intrigue, far beyond the personal circumstances of Carlos Ghosn. Businesspeople around the world are quietly alarmed. The Nissan case has been very badly mishandled -- and brings SHAME on Japan.

Magnesium Batteries

The potential for rechargeable magnesium batteries is hugely exciting, a truly disruptive technology. Properly constructed, Magnesium (Mg) batteries have a better energy density than lithium batteries, offering superior output at lower weight. Component cost and availability is also superior to rechargeable lithium battery components, e.g. cobalt, with positive implications for energy security.

Magnesium can be harvested from seawater if necessary.

MgBatteries.com aims to become a key platform for promoting these emerging energy technologies.

Advances in surface preparation of magnesium electrodes, and new developments with electrolytes and anodes, offer great opportunity. European research very much recognizes the potential, with the European Magnesium Interactive Battery Community (E-MAGIC) as a leading light (reported as predominantly guided by Spanish / Israeli partners). Tough competition is also already developing from other major players including the US Department of Energy, IBM, assorted transnational consortia (example link), and Asian producers now heavily invested in lithium battery technology.

We've entered the decade of Magnesium Batteries (Mg Batteries)

Inheriting Hawaiians

What do I want for New Year? I'm Hawaiian & 100 years after the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, I'd like that the Act's Hawaiian ancestry (50%) rights be recognized for those who died before application or processing, and the benefits fully inherited by their descendants. Hawaiians are still robbed of land by US colonial treachery - it's time for change.

If a Hawaiian qualified in the early 1920s under US federal HHCA, the Native Hawaiian benefits should be inherited by their progeny.

http://dhhl.hawaii.gov/hhc/laws-and-rules/

Trump CHUMP?

Have we reached a Tipping Point?

Charities rip-off... National rip-off.

Supporters regretfully accept he's a weasel & criminal. (Esquire quote): "As part of the settlement, the president paid eight charities a total of $2 million while admitting "he misused funds raised by the Donald J. Trump Foundation to promote his presidential bid and pay off business debts....""

Trump also employs a daughter & Giuliani's son on federal budget.

Sorry I refuse to be a TRUMP CHUMP
(Democratic Party corruption also unacceptable)

MISUSE of charity money?  or THEFT?

F U 2 Limey

Forget Spin & Bullshit.
Bottom-line: 
                "Brexit" is ANTI-EU. 

Of course neighbors feel England's negativity. To what backlash? 

Sad 
"Cheers!" & Bye-bye

Ugly America

Hawaiian people are naturally responsible for Hawaiian lands & sea. Never displaced by colonization! We've sacred obligation to protect iwi kūpuna -- burials & cultural places. 

Hope to develop Hawai'i's "empty spaces" ... ?

American intruder  --  Non-resident Asian speculator  --  Don't be that guy.

Hawaiians Need Science !

Hawaiians Need Science !

Science Can Help Control Hawai'i's Rat Lungworm Epidemic!

Science Can Help Control 'Ōhi'a Blight!

Science Can Help Control Pollution from Military-occupied Pohakuloa Training Area!

Science Can Help Control Invasive Critters! 🙂

Why Focus WORLDS AWAY w/ TMT when HOME is dangerously menaced?

❤️   Aloha 'Āina  ❤️

Business Beware! Japan's Jellyfish Justice

I've never met former Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn. Perhaps I'd not like him.

But looking at the Japanese "Justice" system, one might easily imagine Ghosn is exceptionally horrible and dangerous: No other corporate executives in Japan have been arrested and jailed in a similar manner. Ghosn's defense team claims the prosecution is Highly Prejudiced (link).

Other Japanese corporate officials have been found to cheat the tax man; they've lied and swindled and circumvented safety checks. Deliberate Mislabeling and shoddy workmanship has resulted in dozens, hundreds, thousands of cases of injury, serious disfigurement, and death. Those corporate executives have somehow escaped arrest and imprisonment.

They are Japanese.

Ghosn is a Foreign devil, with assumed foreign interests.

Looking at the case against Ghosn, and Ministry of Justice inaction against so many others responsible for MUCH more harm, the world can only conclude Japanese justice is CORRUPT, and severely prejudiced against foreigners.

There's only an internal logic.
No backbone.
Foreigners will be stung.

Japanese Jellyfish Justice.

Hunting Season

Disturbing thoughts? Everyone gets 'em. What sticks?

Recently I was greatly surprised to learn The Righteous Brothers ain't brothers ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" ... "Unchained Melody" / theme from Ghost). Perhaps I'd not really thought about it before.

That sadly ain't worst-case:
Trump reportedly solicited foreign help to crush US political opponents. Surely opportunists everywhere now grasp the corrosive suggestion = Cripple Trump Enemy & Gain Advantage. 

Trump will reward those who undermine his opposition.

Bums Who Worked for TRUMP

Disenchanted Trump Team appointee James Mattis now snipes at his former boss after two years as US Defense Secretary.

Today's embittered soundbites don't rehabilitate Mattis.

Dozens of Bums profited from Evil and now claim Regret.

Look beyond Trump family feuds & recognize Mattis as an enabler & scumbag opportunist.

Fuck Columbus

FAQ Columbus            by Genki

Columbus sailed the ocean blue
The trip brought pain & insult too.

They labeled each non-Christian "savage"
Deceit permitted, homes to ravage

Resources stolen, corruptly "borrowed"
Aggressive theft & murder followed

We're taught perverted history:
Before Your "New World" -- mystery...

First Nations raped, survival hellish
Yet mock the dispossessed with relish.

Resist extractive financiers!
Who'd sell our skins for souvenirs.

Communities not yet rebounded
Can't celebrate the mess he founded

We victims still seek crime review
Since fourteen hundred ninety-two.