Who's in Charge?

UK Prime Minister Theresa May "accepted the resignation" of outspoken Tory MP Priti Patel as Secretary of State for International Development due to Patel's extensive unauthorized hobnobbing with the Israeli government.

Israel and the UK are allies - what's the problem?

One early BBC report (link) quoted Israel's Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid describing Patel glowingly as "A true friend of Israel." Surely that by itself is not the problem.

The citizenry is left to wonder -- perhaps much more happened -- replacing Patel is simply to end inquiries...

USA USA Wasting Money Everyday

Foolish Yankee spent $4.3 trillion on overseas adventurism since 2001.

Our militarism leaves us on the hook for a total $5.6 trillion in obligations by end of fiscal 2018.

The same corporations and landed elites that brought us Vietnam and other Southeast Asian wars of the 1960s and early 1970s have led us into this morass. It's a swamp -- our parents and grandparents failed to drain it, and we pass the conflicts and growing debts to our kids and grandchildren.

US Militarism is a massively frustrating waste of lives, money and human energy.

Investing in occupied territories around the world, does the typical American feel proud? Or do we feel cynically manipulated?

Our 1% Overclass laughs at commoners & continues to party hearty!

See:
Costs of War Report

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin & wifey

Why Goodbye

UK Friends:
Ye've been Cheated.

Obscene

Business shark & TV star, now US President Donald Trump is obscene.

His former opponent for president, Hilary Clinton is obscene.

Most wealthy weasels around them are similarly obscene. They lobby for militarism and for entrenched favored interests in banking & finance. Both Republican & Democrat, they inhabit a swamp which is being enriched by Trump, not drained as promised.

Clinton running-mate, corporatist Kane was obscene.

And former President Barack Obama. Yes, Obscene corporate puppets.

Our world has many problems. Billions of people live in poverty and distress. Our lives could be greatly improved with a proper social focus. But instead we focus on the process of getting additional wealth for the already obscenely wealthy. We fuel a military arms race that keeps us poor.

Bah!

Spanish Empire

Spanish imperialists in Madrid have dissolved the Catalan government, and sent huge numbers of police to the occupied territory.

Now the Spanish rulers aim for 'free & fair' elections on 21st December. But beginning immediately they'll imprison opposition leaders, possibly for 30+ years.

Here's Madrid's response to the independence referendum (link)


Tragic!

Visit Barcelona & Catalan?  Colony of Spain.

Distant Rule

We can better control arrogant bureaucrats living nearby. 
The worst henchmen are hired in from far away...

Gassing Democracy at UCal Davis, 2011

Robert Capa photo: Montblanch, near Barcelona, 1938

Obey

Future Catalan ?

Can Catalan achieve independence from Spain ?

Who should decide?

Does Halloween Disrespect Our Troops?

Scary?

During late October shopping, it's surely cruel to hear "Nice costume!" if a disabled or disfigured veteran. Many tens of thousands of American military returned home as casualties.

The ongoing US Global War on Terror keeps American soldiers posted in Syria, Niger, Afghanistan, Germany, Somalia, Japan, Israel, Korea, Estonia, Yemen, etc., etc... Candidate Trump promised Stateside redeployment of our troops. Until then, America should get serious -- Honor our walking wounded!

Dimwit Brexit

Dimwit Brexit    by Genki

Hail Britannia!
Imperial whore
"The bitch who will go it alone."
Enjoy strutting away
From the dull Eurozone
Gobbling bangers & chips with a scone.

Hail Britannia!
So cloudy & grey
Independently wealthy maybe?
But our leaders are dolts
Boris acts like a baby
Distinguished by rank snobbery.

Hail Britannia!
Diana has gone
The wisest still laugh at themselves.
Still the man in the street
Keeps his master's conceit
As our countryfolk boot out all elves.

Hail Britannia!
Many options erased.
Now we choose life in Grimsby or Leeds
For A Place in the Sun
Watch a telly re-run
Let us pray isolation succeeds!

Did Weinstein see The Trump Scripts?

The rumored "Trump Scripts" were perhaps seen by alleged casting-couch Lothario Harvey Weinstein, or even shopped-around as a possible film idea. A heap of justifiable trouble has now befallen the powerful film producer. (Even close friend Hillary Clinton is quoted as being "shocked and appalled" - link)... Wag that Dog!

The Trump Scripts, if they exist, are approximately 1500 soap-opera style vignettes now being released one-by-one on an nearly daily basis throughout the Trump presidency. (Monday's headline: "Ivana's First Lady claim slammed by Melania!"; Tuesday: "Trump challenges Rex Tillerson to IQ test"). The Trump Scripts are meant to provoke and entertain, while deflecting public attention from the dismemberment of government by the far-right Republican administration of US President Donald Trump.

Lovely.

FAQ 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.

Intruders curse our native cultures
Condoned indifference, unclean vultures

As parasites they multiply
Still occupy and terrify

Let's push Accountability
Break silence of conspiracy

Discover crimes Columbus triggered!
And where the Founding Fathers figured

Resolving violence from those vermin
Recalls a reconciliation sermon

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

We're taught perverted history
"The New World" -- prior, mystery.

Communities which now rebounded
Can't celebrate the mess he founded

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

Nobel for ICAN - Japan says "I Can't"

ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, has won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, after helping to usher in a new consensus, including the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons adopted last July (text here).

Unfortunately, Japan has not yet become party to the treaty. Well-prior to the question of signing on, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's government even boycotted deliberations (as did Brit PM Theresa May & toadying Australia). The people of Japan are strongly anti-nuclear, but they've become a neutered pet poodle alongside the heavily nuclear-armed USA.

Instead of using experience and wisdom, and developing the goodwill of global Japanese activists, Abe's party has officially shut-down discussion (link).

This Nobel Prize draws attention to the fact Abe's at war with his own people, telling thousands of Japanese atomic bomb victims (被爆者 "hibakusha") their suffering is unreasonable & selfish.

Until the people of Japan stand up against their right-wing masters, we must regrettably say they deserve our pity -- and our disgust.

PR Always

Pres. Trump dedicated today's lunch to the Puerto Rican people.
"Most Ricans are doing terrifically well. Great!"

Run Lee Run

Former President Lee Myung-bak 이명박 of South Korea may soon be running again.

Not running for political office... Running from Justice & the Law.

Lee has been linked to illegal activities by Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS, 국가정보원) throughout his administration. (Here's one recent link to further information)

Wealthy politicians often argue (link) the nation now needs unity in the face of foreign adversity. But accountability is essential to reconciliation; criminality without disgrace is dangerously malignant.

The best strategy before things become too heated is that President Lee accepts a foreign professor's post to keep him away from further trouble...

Lee w/ Won Sei-hoon (원세훈; when Won was Lee's NIS Director)

America Won

Last election, Trump won a public servant job.

He acts as if he'd won America. Trump acts as if every person, critter, and all the lands are now his, property of Trump, wholly open for exploitation by Trump and his creepy family.

Somebody must please tell this shithead, very clearly, he's not our owner, he is not our boss. Trump is our employee. ... and he ain't doing well.

Wicked BoJo Amiss

UK Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, a.k.a. 'BoJo the Toff'

• wealthy public servant and self-deprecating boob
• serving-up the British to corporate greed & Americanism
• could such a clownish send-up truly be dangerous?
• bad (horribly bumbling) with maths
• BoJo's savaging of Britain will last a century!

Korean Misgovernment

South Korea has a long history of Corruption, surging in the very recent past.

We now know more details of systematic illegal oppression of dissent by Pres. Lee Myung-bak and his successor, Pres. Park Geun-hye. Their governments secretly used Korea's National Intelligence Service (대한민국국가정보원, 국정원 or NIS) as a hammer against those who resisted their right-wing agenda. They expanded the anti-Communist efforts of decades past to include widespread abuse of people because of personal vendetta and party politics.

We now hear of an "enemies list" of about 10,000 artists and cultural people whose livelihoods were disrupted by systematic government suppression. (link), (link)

Actions to "counter and marginalize influential figures and groups in the fields of art and culture" included designating 82 higher-profile people as targets.

"The NIS not only arranged tax audits of the entertainment companies to which these celebrities belonged but also engineered the reassignment of broadcasting staff who produced programs that featured them, blocked them from becoming candidates for the chairs of international film festival committees and even meddled in the selection of the winners of the broadcasting awards by asking for these figures to be dropped from the competition" (Hankyoreh, 12 Sept 2017).

And meanwhile, the government was supporting cronies and rightist groups through hidden funding sources and cutouts such as the Federation of Korean Industries. Surely the public sector officials who implemented these secretly destructive policies should be pressed to explain their acts.

All illegal - Korea's crooked government deliberately sought to ruin people's lives, and succeeded doing so for many years. The USA monitors Korean domestic politics (and may in fact be more active). Certainly & sadly, Yankee did nothing public or positive to intervene.

Ethnic Cleansing Continues...

Ten years ago today, 13 Sept 2007, the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Against 144 nations in favor, standing apart were Australia, Canada, New Zealand & the USA. Each now supports the non-binding Declaration, but hasn't ratified the stronger ILO Treaty 169, the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (nor have others such as Japan, Finland & Sweden).

Please recognize ethnic cleansing & genocide are aimed to suppress Native inheritance; Land ownership write-off & reset are unacceptable. Don't validate trespass & theft. Do not continue to reward ethnic cleansing. Let's truly seek peaceful reconciliation.

Thanks to States Ratifying ILO Treaty 169  (link)  Thank You!

Pop-Up Tornado !

The arrival of Hurricane Irma in the USA has been much anticipated. CNN staff seem on the verge of ecstasy when describing the potential horrors & dangers of the storm.

They've fixated on a few favorite phrases:

"Hide from Wind -- Run from Water!"  
Repeating & intoning this phrase for the past two days as if learned from Great-Grandpappy instead of first hearing it themselves a day ago. [Seems the phrase is known to Floridians...]

Danger of Popup Tornado !
Does the Trendy & hip "popup" tornado differ from any tornado?

Wag that Dog!

As the USA gets whacked, why do we have potential relief forces still stationed in Italy, Germany, Spain & Japan?
These organized resources could be directly helping our own people, who are now suffering distress & great danger.  Trump® promised to bring our military home.
 

Rank	Country / Territory	U.S. Troops
#1	Japan	39,345
#2	Germany	34,805
#3	South Korea	23,468
#4	Italy	12,102
#5	Afghanistan	9,294
#6	United Kingdom	8,479
#7	Kuwait	6,296
#8	Iraq	5,540
#9	Bahrain	5,504
#10	Guam	3,831
#11	Spain	3,256
#12	Qatar	2,976
#13	Turkey	2,234
#14	Djibouti	1,961
#15	Jordan	1,759
#16	United Arab Emirates	1,079
#17	Belgium	842
#18	Cuba	806
#19	Romania	667
#20	Greece	407
	Other / Unknown	34,834  ? ?
	Total	199,485

America Bare

Occupied Hawai'i is one of many places aggressive intruders have stolen the inheritance of native communities.

We Hawaiians remain peaceful as violence has been unleashed around us for many decades. We keep ALOHA alive around us.

But let's face truth: unconcerned tourists and uncontrolled waves of nonresident investors fail to notice our suffering. They overlook Hawaiian children becoming homeless street kids, as the lands many generations have farmed & protected are stolen. The USA ignores its treaties and international laws on indigenous people.

A continent of Native Americans are still besmirched & vilified as savages and "redskins" ... Outsiders occupy native lands, systematically humiliating American Indian, Aleut and Hawaiian communities. Pre-existing cultures are deliberately oppressed.

America Bare -- Ugly, violent, and they claim our inheritance.

RIP: Kriss Alexander Lambert

Kriss Alexander Lambert died unexpectedly at home in Puyallup, Washington this week. He was 57. 

Kriss was born on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and lived & worked in Lake Placid NY, Florida & the Carribean, Oklahoma, Japan, Maui, the Kona coast, the Pacific Northwest, etc. He was a serial entrepreneur with many licenses & professional qualifications. He worked many years as a ship's captain, and held a US Coast Guard 100 Ton Master license w/ 100 ton Sailing & Towing endorsements. Kriss was an accomplished musician, with many other hobbies & skills (such as woodworking), but is best remembered as outstandingly open-hearted. Friends recall "He gave good hugs!" 

Kriss worked for the International Olympic Committee as the Official Mascot of the 1980 Winter Olympics (XIII Olympic Winter Games) at Lake Placid, New York, USA. He did many months of prior promotional work at venues such as the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Orange Bowl, etc. in character as Roni Raccoon, and was rinkside for the historic "Miracle on Ice" hockey game when the USA team beat the USSR (actively directing assorted cheers while officially neutral). His photo and uniform hang in the Lake Placid Olympic Museum.
  
Kriss leaves behind his beloved & gracious wife Pam, many friends around the world, and close family in Puyallup & Washington state, in Hawai'i, on Cape Cod, in Sweden, and elsewhere. He was proud of family, and his comforting, lively home was always inviting. We each share shock & great sadness, but Kriss wanted us all to Celebrate Life. 

Friends of Kriss Lambert, thank you for your prayers. Please Share in coming weeks or years if you recall stories involving Kriss or Kriss-themed anecdotes: inspiring, funny, loving, goofy or otherwise. Welcome!

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)