Hawaiian Wins Gold !

One hundred years ago today in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku representing the USA won the 100 meter freestyle gold medal.He twice bettered the Olympic Record in preliminary rounds. Duke went on to win a total of five Olympic medals (in the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Games). His last Olympic competition age 42 was on the US Water Polo team in the 1932 Games.

Born Hawaiian, Duke became a US citizen at the age of 9 (US Hawaiian Organic Act, 30 April 1900) after the USA annexed Hawaii as a colonial territory.

Another hero of the 1912 Olympics was Jim Thorpe of the USA, a mixed race athlete (typically labeled Indian or "redskin") who won both the Pentathlon & Decathlon Gold Medals.

These athletes struggled to overcome racism. Their successes helped pave the way for a brighter present day world.

 The Hawaiian Gazette  12 July 1912, pg 1

http://chroniclingamerica.com/lccn/sn83025121/1912-07-12/ed-1/seq-1/

 Sweden's King Gustaf V (on podium) confers Duke's 100-meter Freestyle Gold

A great celebrity, Duke Kahanamoku became perhaps better known for introducing & popularizing the Hawaiian sport of surfing around the world.

Yankee Go Home

Nearly 30,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea. Both governments seem satisfied with present arrangements. But it's ugly and frankly, it sucks.

Why should American taxpayers shoulder huge costs defending Korea? Korea is a proud member of the OECD and major economic power. The Korean people should police themselves.

Confronted with the American military, Korean civilians feel a mix of shame and anger.

The Japanese feel similarly about U.S. military forces in Japan (about 40,000 troops and US civilian employees). The Germans also dislike their foreign protectors. Regardless of good intent, the U.S. bases are military encampments, small violent destabilizing cities. Return the resources to decaying America.

Urgently: --- Yankee Go Home.

Nukenergy Luck

Successful nuclear power stations avoid accident -- perhaps through luck.

The downside to disaster is horrible.  Survivors face decades of life-changing cleanup.

It's not worth the risk.

Cut & Run Corporation

We are surrounded by, and rely upon, local, national & global companies. It should be more widely recognized that in times of serious trouble, most are constructed as "cut & run" corporations.

We give limited liability corporations the option of leaving creditors unpaid. Their cut & run often leaves the public holding the bag, paying assorted inflated costs for their mistakes. What an exit strategy!

Limited liability corporations should be very strictly regulated. A capitalist fundamental is to cut costs, so they can't regulate themselves. Horrible examples are Enron and the Madoff empires, found ultimately rotten to the core. TEPCO ("responsible" for Fukushima's nuclear safety) is another example.

The Libor rate manipulation scandal now engulfing major banks around the world shows corporate manipulation jerking the public to pay more. Again we're chumps, manipulated by insiders.

Such deceit and negligence must be criminal. The enabling conspirators should be heavily fined, shamed and imprisoned.

Joe Public pays the tragic flimflam costs... Republican "friends" never return his stolen money.

Dirty Facebook?

Be cautious with your Facebook network. Keep your network closed for safety, and purge little-known "friends" who never post (perhaps a data collector's sham alias).
Americans should beware commenting on their friend's health: leaked information can damage insurance coverage. (Prospective) employers also monitor social networks...

Dirtyhanded Paperboy

Though my paperboy is grubby, it doesn't stop me reading the newspaper.

The postlady may fart & smell bad, but I still open my mail.

Julian Assange of Wikileaks may be dirty (and he may be clean) but the important story is not his personal life, but rather the Wikileaks documents themselves.

The documents highlight scheming warmaking, dodgy financial acts, assassination, and underhanded diplomacy; these are the real issues. The Assange debacle continues to deflect attention from a wide assortment of bad behavior, high crimes and midemeanors orchestrated by others, well-documented by Wikileaks.

Julian's story is a sideshow, designed to distract attention from truly huge criminal activities waged by those more powerful. The failure of most big media organizations to highlight this fact clearly indicates corporate media comfortably treats us as dumb idiots to be hoodwinked.

Responsible Corp = Low Tax

We collect tax to pay for social investment & costs. One major cost is cleaning up after private interests. We sadly provide a cut & run option to Limited Liability Corporations -- companies can abandon their mistakes and leave society the cleanup costs.

This undermines everyone's economic security. It is not good.

Raise corporate tax rates on limited liability corporations !

Increase criminal penalties for corporate crimes.

On the other hand, we could register companies in formats that do not allow defection. Investors would be & should be liable for their actions. Responsible.

Responsible companies deserve lower taxes.

The Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) & Public Limited Company (PLC; "public" means publicly-traded) are formulated to serve private interests. They have incentives to cut costs, and to shift costs to others. To assure their operations don't become a public burden, their selfish activities are monitored and circumscribed; they should be highly taxed. 

LLC & PLC = High tax

SRC = Socially Responsible Corporation = low tax

Peon Prime Minister - UK

British Prime Minister David Cameron fortunately became a great friend of Rupert Murdoch & Co....       Cozy.
Can Cameron survive scrutiny? Yes he Cam!

News International Ltd. 

The Sun  

The Sunday Times

The Times

The Times Literary Supplement

News of the World

Dow Jones

The Wall Street Journal

Barron's

Star TV

National Geographic Channel

HarperCollins

The Australian

British Sky Broadcasting

20th Century Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox News

Peon Prime Minister - Sweden

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has been a good pet of the USA.

To Adbusters & Occupy activists:

Dear Adbusters & Occupy activists

Many thanks for continuing agitation in support of humanity.

As we struggle against unchecked corporatist powers, an important theme might focus on the legal notion of corporate limited liability. We cannot afford giving a free pass to banks and mega-corporations acting irresponsibly & illegally. Too often we allow shut-down on company terms & schedule, as PLC & LLC corporations leave a violated public with their bills and environmental cleanup.

A case in point is TEPCO in Japan (Tokyo Electric Power Company) and the flaccid response to their shortcomings in the Fukushima nuclear disaster. TEPCO has received huge bailout funding from the Japanese public, with no clawback of past dividends paid out to company owners. Nobody has been found responsible or prosecuted for bad corporate policy decisions or engineering flaws. In any event, anyone punished would more likely be a draftsman, subordinate to the Board of Directors, President & CEO (the true corporate architects).

Kalle Lasn chronicled our need for corporate responsibility throughout his 1999 book Culture Jam, but also specifically highlighted the need that shareholders be partially liable for their activities (p. 158 in my paperback edition). We're too often berated to be fiscally responsible by corporate shills luxuriating in public-sponsored largesse. The limited liability corporation is an expensive loophole to be closed. Terminate Ltd. This is a meme we can work with:

Stop Limited Liability !

aloha

Insider Rape?

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders released an explosive report today (link) detailing monstrous low-interest & no-interest funding to insiders from the banking industry.

The report names 18 individuals profiting from insider relationships.

Over 4 trillion dollars is involved:
US$ 4,000,000,000,000.00
Big bucks !

"This report reveals the inherent conflicts of interest that exist at the Federal Reserve. At a time when small businesses could not get affordable loans to create jobs, the Fed was providing trillions in secret loans to some of the largest banks and corporations in America that were well represented on the boards of the Federal Reserve Banks. These conflicts must end," Sanders said.

The report does not allege illegal activities. It raises serious questions, however, regarding the relationships between private interests, the U.S. Government, and the U.S. Federal Reserve. The corporatist arrangement has favored a few insiders, at unprecedented scale. While America's corporate media discussed alleged wick-dipping by President Clinton and Senator Edwards, and the vindictive foolishness of Governor Palin, meanwhile huge wealth (value & title to our housing, and our legacy to future generations) was transferred under cover to pirates. Favored private interests have raped us of huge wealth.

The text of U.S. Senator Sanders (Independent, Vermont) report is reproduced below:

" During the financial crisis, at least 18 former and current directors from Federal Reserve Banks worked in banks and corporations that collectively received over $4 trillion in low-interest loans from the Federal Reserve."

1. Jamie Dimon, the Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase, has served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 2007. During the financial crisis, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase with $391 billion in total financial assistance. JP Morgan Chase was also used by the Fed as a clearinghouse for the Fed's emergency lending programs. In March of 2008, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase with $29 billion in financing to acquire Bear Stearns. During the financial crisis, the Fed provided JP Morgan Chase with an 18-month exemption from risk-based leverage and capital requirements. The Fed also agreed to take risky mortgage-related assets off of Bear Stearns balance sheet before JP Morgan Chase acquired this troubled investment bank.

2. Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, served on the New York Fed's Board of Directors from 2006-2011. General Electric received $16 billion in low-interest financing from the Federal Reserve’s Commercial Paper Funding Facility during this time period.

3. Stephen Friedman. In 2008, the New York Fed approved an application from Goldman Sachs to become a bank holding company giving it access to cheap Fed loans. During the same period, Friedman, who was chairman of the New York Fed at the time, sat on the Goldman Sachs board of directors and owned Goldman stock, something the Fed’s rules prohibited. He received a waiver in late 2008 that was not made public. After Friedman received the waiver, he continued to purchase stock in Goldman from November 2008 through January of 2009 unbeknownst to the Fed, according to the GAO. During the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs received $814 billion in total financial assistance from the Fed.

4. Sanford Weill, the former CEO of Citigroup, served on the Fed's Board of Directors in New York in 2006. During the financial crisis, Citigroup received over $2.5 trillion in total financial assistance from the Fed.

5. Richard Fuld, Jr, the former CEO of Lehman Brothers, served on the Fed's Board of Directors in New York from 2006 to 2008. During the financial crisis, the Fed provided $183 billion in total financial assistance to Lehman before it collapsed.

6. James M. Wells, the Chairman and CEO of SunTrust Banks, has served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta since 2008. During the financial crisis, SunTrust received $7.5 billion in total financial assistance from the Fed.

7. Richard Carrion, the head of Popular Inc. in Puerto Rico, has served on the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 2008. Popular received $1.2 billion in total financing from the Fed's Term Auction Facility during the financial crisis.

8. James Smith, the Chairman and CEO of Webster Bank, served on the Federal Reserve's Board of Directors in Boston from 2008-2010. Webster Bank received $550 million in total financing from the Federal Reserve's Term Auction Facility during the financial crisis.

9. Ted Cecala, the former Chairman and CEO of Wilmington Trust, served on the Fed's Board of Directors in Philadelphia from 2008-2010. Wilmington Trust received $3.2 billion in total financial assistance from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.

10. Robert Jones, the President and CEO of Old National Bancorp, has served on the Fed's Board of Directors in St. Louis since 2008. Old National Bancorp received a total of $550 million in low-interest loans from the Federal Reserve's Term Auction Facility during the financial crisis.

11. James Rohr, the Chairman and CEO of PNC Financial Services Group, served on the Fed's Board of Directors in Cleveland from 2008-2010. PNC received $6.5 billion in low-interest loans from the Federal Reserve during the financial crisis.

12. George Fisk, the CEO of LegacyTexas Group, was a director at the Dallas Federal Reserve in 2009. During the financial crisis, his firm received a $5 million low-interest loan from the Federal Reserve's Term Auction Facility.

13. Dennis Kuester, the former CEO of Marshall & Ilsley, served as a board director on the Chicago Federal Reserve from 2007-2008. During the financial crisis, his bank received over $21 billion in low-interest loans from the Fed.

14. George Jones, Jr., the CEO of Texas Capital Bank, has served as a board director at the Dallas Federal Reserve since 2009. During the financial crisis, his bank received $2.3 billion in total financing from the Fed's Term Auction Facility.

15. Douglas Morrison, was the Chief Financial Officer at CitiBank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while he served as a board director at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank in 2006. During the financial crisis, CitiBank in Sioux Falls, South Dakota received over $21 billion in total financing from the Federal Reserve.

16. L. Phillip Humann, the former CEO of SunTrust Banks, served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta from 2006-2008. During the financial crisis, SunTrust received $7.5 billion in total financial assistance from the Fed.

17. Henry Meyer, III, the former CEO of KeyCorp, served on the Board of Directors at the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland from 2006-2007. During the financial crisis, KeyBank (owned by KeyCorp) received over $40 billion in total financing from the Federal Reserve.

18. Ronald Logue, the former CEO of State Street Corporation, served as a board member of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank from 2006-2007. During the financial crisis, State Street Corporation received a total of $42 billion in financing from the Federal Reserve.

Bulger's Bitch Behind Bars

A fearsome story slowly draws to a close, as the long-time fugitive girlfriend of Whitey Bulger is sentenced to 8 years in U.S. Federal prison.

The story is creepy because James "Whitey" Bulger, a former Alcatraz inmate, was reportedly not only a mobster & multiple-murderer, but a U.S. government informant aided in his escape by U.S. Federal agents.

The story is further complex in that Bulger's brother Billy was one of Massachusetts' most powerful politicians for nearly two decades. Another brother was a Massachusetts clerk-magistrate (judicial hearing officer), a court official appointed for life (who was later convicted of felony perjury and sent to prison).

The fearsome dimension was those being strong-armed reasonably believed they couldn't rely on Massachusetts State officials or upon the U.S. Federal Government -- either was more likely to back bully-boy Bulger.

Even as a "Most Wanted" federal fugitive, anyone spotting Whitey took a risk: might a confidential tip-off create great personal danger? A $2 million reward went uncollected for 16 years...

Whitey Bulger & Catherine Greig were arrested in 2011 in Santa Monica, California, after 16 years as fugitives, much of the time on the FBI Most Wanted list. With them were $800,000 cash and 30 firearms, including pistols, shotguns & rifles -- still a highly dangerous pair. Greig nonetheless was offered a plea bargain without requiring she testify against Bulger. He's yet to come to trial...

Wild Thing

We celebrate the wild thing, enjoying song & excitement, honoring the dark & dangerous.

But when the wild approaches, pussies get nervous ...

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA is in an uproar over a single furry tourist: a black bear who likely swam across the Cape Cod Canal (or perhaps crossed one of the three bridges) and over two weeks gradually made his way down the peninsula to Provincetown, where the Pilgrims first landed.

Bruins fever has hit the Cape before, but this time there's a measure of conflict. Should the bear be left in peace (he's not as yet threatened anyone) or should he be captured and relocated?

Should the dangers of the wild be purged from among us?

Late last night, Massachusetts officials reportedly shot Cape Cod's only wild bear with an immobilizing dart, put him in one of their official vehicles, and carried him off.

State officials take sedated Cape Cod bear from Wellfleet's woods (Cape Cod Times photo by Lezli Rowell )

Formula Retailing?

Many formula retailing establishments are facing frictions in smaller towns. Revised zoning laws seek to "preserve local character" by limiting or prohibiting so-called formula restaurants or retailers that force patterned menus, uniforms, signage, shopfronts, etc. As ordinances are tested in court, the legal framework for such zoning control is adapting and gradually getting stronger.

Some argue this is simply an audacious barrier-to-entry imposed by greedy non-competitive local retailers. A new entrant might be severely limited in allowed retail space, but an existing business would be free to expand, devouring neighboring businesses with impunity ...as is natural in free enterprise.

Some see franchises and chain stores as a creeping illness, a disease that drains character from the local high street, making each Main Street nearly identical to many others, creating homogeneous retail districts, a bored subclass of clerks & consumers, and stale shopping experiences. Locally-owned franchisees send substantial franchise fees to far-off headquarters, while other local businesses may keep more money in the local community.

Formula retailing systems can be highly efficient, but efficiency may be expensive. Campaigns against formula retailing are growing in strength.

Thank you Dennis Kucinich

Rep. Dennis Kucinich early next year will leave the U.S. House of Representatives, after serving since 1997.

His persistence against American overseas militarism was often a lonely voice in top level American government. He advocated using such funds & energies at home, for American social services, and for peaceful outreach.

I thank Dennis Kucinich for stepping forward into the rough-and-tumble of public service, and for honorably persevering at a time when U.S. partisan politics often seems senseless and a tragic waste of life.

("Seems" senseless is used because what transpires is typically filtered by corporate news services - it's difficult for us common citizenry to gauge what really goes on). 

I thank Dennis Kucinich for his 2004 US Presidential Election efforts. Thanks to candidate Kucinich, the more contemptible dimensions of candidates John Edwards, Hillary Clinton & Barack Obama were clearly revealed (link). I'm deeply sad to have the pettiness of these other people clearly displayed, and but genuinely glad my own expectations and vote were not soiled by those bums.

Talent Wanted

Nobody wants to live or to raise their family in a shithole.

Place Appeal is an increasingly important dimension of management & government. Every locality needs talent, entrepreneurialism & jobs to sustain (or create) a viable community.

Labor has increasing opportunities for migration. Places are in competition with each other to attract & keep key people. Those whose ideas and energies can create and develop crafts, industries and jobs are most in demand.

But it's not enough to offer a good salary. Lifestyle and living environment are also vitally important. Talented people with choices look for a creative, fun & prospering community, and a nice place to raise a family.

Systematic development of place appeal is thus essential.

Nuclear Cheat

The whole world now knows:
            Fukushima = nuclear disaster

Japanese nuclear operator TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company's) Annual Report is thus frightening reading for us all (link).

The financial accounts show something of how the operator prepared & responded. The 11 March 2011 disaster circumvented a planned dividend payment for the end of March 2011. But though the firm suffered huge losses & liabilities, and received large injections of public funds, no explicit attempts were made to claw back the dividend handouts disbursed 30 Nov 2010 and earlier that year (some 81 billion yen, or nearly US$1 billion).

We can also see (p.14) TEPCO's total power generation capacity was 64,988 thousand kW, of which only 4 thousand kW were renewables (wind & geothermal). German energy supply was then (early 2011) 20% renewables, over 300 times TEPCO's percentage. TEPCO's pitifully small proportion of 0.006% renewables shows that management & those with policy oversight were terribly, perhaps criminally, shortsighted.

Due to TEPCO, Fukushima's glow now lights the world!

Stop nuclear profiteering.

Corporate Shirks, Up Yo'Ass

Not "sharks" misspelled - but a pervasive, expensive problem.  
We cannot allow corporations to shirk & escape paying full cost for mistakes & crimes. We've been lectured on "fiscal discipline" while the owners of corporations have been able to avoid responsibility for grave errors in hiring and operations. Corporate owners must face full & true liability for corporate activities. Otherwise it's looting, as we pay for their downside.

Limited liability loopholes must be closed. Corporations escaping full cost force the rest of us to pay their bills. Corporate oversight & responsibility will be encouraged when limited liability is dissolved for costs stemming from criminal acts.

Corporate crime is real crime.
Society can't afford corporate limited liability.

No Nuclear Flash

Japan's power industry shut down all nuclear generators today for the first time since May 1970. Fukushima's disasters have raised awareness of many ongoing dangers. Let's hope the industry does not recover, and Japan's 50 nuclear reactors stay shut down.

Nuclear power generation is built on lies! True costs are not covered by producers, operating under strictly limited liability. Dividends should never be paid until all nuclear waste is safe & disposed of securely.

Dividends paid by TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) before the 11 March 2011 Fukushima meltdowns should be clawed back. The public needs compensation for huge involuntary subsidies and recovery efforts subsequent to the disasters.

In a major nuclear accident your property values might drop to zero. You can be forced to leave your home, and (as in Japan) whole towns & cities may be emptied. You could enjoy miserable lingering decline & death from radiation poisoning. Nuclear promoters can melt away with no responsibility. Why do we grant them limited liability?

The downsides to wind power, or geothermal, are very mild in comparison. Nuclear energy has been shoved down the throats of the public. The blunders in Japan highlights a need to stop all nuclear plants worldwide. None are properly funded. The potential for disaster is too high. Whole regions have been destroyed for generations, while operators wash their hands with limited liability and "so sorry"....

Free Hawaii from the Military

The U.S Department of Defense announced this week that 9000 US Marines currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan, will be redeployed to Guam, Hawaii & Australia.

Hawaii is due to get 2700 of these Marines, plus their families.

The United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) deploys 300,000 military personnel in its wide region of operations. A large percentage of these military people pass through Hawaii. They bring money, energy, and a measure of protection. Costs to Hawaii include military occupation of huge tracts of scarce land, frictions between locals & vacationers & military-related youths, pollution by military-related industries, and the targeting of Hawaii by potential enemy forces (largely due to the military concentration).

US military deployment in Japan is about 50,000 personnel in total (link to BBC report).

Bring US military families home to the US mainland!

National Amnesia

 

The Korean people suppress inconvenient & embarrassing facts, "forgetting" conditions or events seemingly in the blink of an eye. The ability is shared by those from other nations, and maybe not to a lesser degree. I've always been astounded that Americans in the 1970s so quickly migrated from war opposition to ignoring their genocide in Southeast Asia. The massacres of American Indian peoples in earlier decades remains conveniently forgotten by those who displaced & butchered their territories' prior inhabitants. Surely the imagery of Columbus "discovering" America is characteristic of this syndrome.

Perhaps a global truth-finding panel could root out such anomalies. Some myths cause huge harm, but are conveniently ignored by proud national populations, corrupt leaders and feeble media. Dangerous harm too easily recurs, again & again.

Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Breivik condemned multi-culturalism at his trial this week and praised "racially pure" Korea & Japan... Breivik proudly "supports the model in South Korea and Japan". Not nice. Multiple views and opinions are inefficient, but it's safest to involve women & minorities in the decision-making process. Peace grows from pluralistic involvement, by all generations. Too narrow a viewpoint leads to foolishness and widespread perilous exposure.

In such regard, let's not forget the nearly mythical case of Korean Hwang Woo-Suk, "Supreme Scientist" (황우석, "최고과학자"); Great Hero until exposed for fraudulent cloning data & ethics violations. Koreans wish it never happened, and suppress their memories. It thus can occur easily again!  

Hero of the Nation became someone to forget 

As stories unraveled, Prof. Hwang collapsed to hospital 

Remember Pearl Harbor

This week the Dalai Lama draws attention in military-occupied Hawaii to peoples still colonized. Tibetans & Hawaiians face heartbreaking encroachment, each ruled from a distant megalopolis by an alien culture. Resilient peoples, pawns in global geopolitical belligerency, yet widely admired for joyous living, naturally greeting each day's blessings. Dispossessed, but standing together. Recently freed nations, help speak up for us! Please work for future peace.

 

Romney's Silver Spoon

Ann & Mitt Romney with his parents in 1969. George was
then a U.S. Cabinet Secretary in the Nixon administration.

Mitt Romney is an ass. He claims he wants "to serve the people" but his self-centered arrogance makes clear he'll help himself and his cronies, doing nothing for the rest of us. He's a wealthy brat who refuses to recognize his debts to others. His father was five times the greater man. Mitt's as "self-made" as George W. Bush and Mickey Mouse. Oh sorry - he's made an ass of himself.

Scrooge's Ghosts

Where are the ghoulies when we need them? It's time skinflint Republicans got flogged with Christmas chains and made to see the error of their ways.

There's nothing inherently wrong with being rich. But squeeze working folk too rudely and backfire is likely. Worse, too many fat pale 1%ers believe they've done it all themselves. Community contributes greatly to anyone's wealth and success, but now they are misers, scorning all in continuing selfish tantrum.

Jeju 4.3 Butchery

The history of Jeju 4.3 is still now being uncovered. Bitter ideological infighting in Korea between 1948 and 1954 killed 30,000 people on tiny Jeju island, with thousands more systematically raped and widespread destruction of property. Jeju 4.3 was held secret and suppressed for many decades (a 1978 novel Aunt Suni that discussed events led to author Hyun Ki-Young's arrest & torture). It's now admitted that Government forces were responsible for the great bulk of the outrages (link).

It's terrible people can refuse to recognize such horrors, as if turning our thoughts away makes reality disappear. But massacre of indigenous peoples by "settlers" still takes place in our world. Terrible.

Here's a key article about Jeju 4.3 (link)

Below is part of a poster illustrating continuing struggle, as local activists seek to stop construction of a naval base threatening a UNESCO World Heritage site & national park in Gangjeong, Jeju island.

Colony Afghan

The U.S. Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement is a sham. In fact, a proud noble people will be denigrated to servile raghead status. America has no proper business occupying Afghanistan. Get out America! Go home, and in your own nation build bridges and trolleys and clinics.

While foreign military occupation continues, of course a few will fight back...

Unregulated & Unafraid

From cases such as Enron, Bernie Madoff & Co., WorldCom, etc., few of us gullible guppies believe in corporate nobility.

Rich folk fleece & cheat too often; among themselves as well.

We need regulation, regulators, and penalties for non-compliance.  The cheats poison the system. They avoid paying for pollution. They pass their costs to us. Selling inferior products, they swindle & steal.

Did you get the proper volume of gas / petrol when you filled your car? Can you trust the indicated volume on the pump? Who owns that pump?

Unregulated = Unafraid
too often a prelude to us being hoodwinked & cheated by professional scumbags.

Surveillance State, Techie's Dream

Many nations now seek to monitor communications of their entire populations (UK plans are reported here - link). The State can access our information; they try to assure us we're thus better protected.

Internet and telephone provider firms are forced to pay for surveillance & storage equipment, costs passed to consumers. These ludicrous systems will cause many multiples more problems than potential successes. The banks & credit card companies are already thus regulated, but at least (because of the money) security & secrecy are part of their basic mandate.

Giving anyone access to such telephone, email, and computer interactions is monstrously problematic. Under existing & proposed laws, private sector providers will be required to store data for many months or years. From a security perspective, your data is at grave risk of hijacking. Technical entrepreneurs are sure to hugely profit from some such files or metadata. Resale? Blackmail? Piracy? Government snoops are angelic in comparison.

We'll soon be hostage to minimally-trained private sector tech staff who recognize the value of information they collect & control.

RIP Trayvon Martin, Afghan Hero

Teenager Trayvon Martin was reportedly stalked & shot dead in Florida. His attacker misread the situation, acted hastily (perhaps he was scared), and used deadly force to kill an innocent person.

This is a microcosm of the blundering American military in Afghanistan, often brutally killing innocent people as we stumble through their neighborhoods. We've no right to be there. We've no clear purpose there. We should pack-up the occupying armies and leave the Afghans to handle their own affairs.

Many people we've slaughtered never left home. Perhaps trying to protect family members, killed in their ancestral villages, many never heard of Washington DC, Obama or the twin towers.

But the American cowboy continues to execute those in his path. After decades of amplified threat from Soviet nuclear weapons, the deadly Vietcong, Nicaraguan Sandanistas, Somali pirates, and Al-Qaeda militants, the American people are terrorized and quickly over-respond... Too many are oddly eager to kill.

We can't afford to continue murdering innocent people. Trayvon is now a symbol for misguided violence. Trayvon Martin, Afghan Hero (1995-2012), RIP.

Integration of Migrants

Went to a seminar this evening about Migration & Identity (thank you Michelle Mann). A key consideration is determining what is successful integration?

Is it enough that a migrant becomes self-supporting, and stays away from trouble with the law?

Migrants from different cultures should not all be expected to mirror a native ideal of their adopted homeland. (Surely many local-born people often fail to observe each tradition). Society would be far poorer without individual characteristics of a disparate population.

Sure some will study & enjoy local traditions, foods, and culture. But those who march to a different drumbeat (or don't march at all) are not signs of failure.