Funeral of ex-President

South Korea's Roh Moo-hyun that is. He committed suicide last week, and I got the news during my sightseeing in Toronto. Right now, the funeral live stream is being piped into my room, straight from the familiar grounds of Seoul's Gyeongbok Palace. (After all the months spent in Seoul and my frustration with the uneducated theocrats of Los Angeles, I now list Seoul as my hometown on Facebook, and sincerely do feel that way.) The funeral is being held as a "national funeral" appropriate for a former President, with invocations from all major South Korean religious traditions. (Roh was agnostic - something the Korean-Americans found unacceptable.)

During Roh's political career, there were too many scandals and verbal gaffes floating around - and Roh was an extremely unpopular figure. He wasn't too competent a leader either; his education never went beyond high school, and his bar license was obtained through self-study in the 1970s. The right hated him for his unchecked unconditional aids to North Korea, and the left hated him for backstabbing them through sending South Korean troops to Iraq and negotiating a free trade agreement with the US (the free trade agreement that's never mentioned in the US). Roh's unpopularity was a key contributing factor to the current presidency of far-right Lee Myung-bak (2MB). (I certainly do NOT like seeing him - especially as he entered the funeral grounds in his BMW.)

But now that Roh is gone, a more complex portrait of the man is emerging. During the 1987 democratic revolution that brought real democracy to South Korea, Roh was a key member of the pro-democracy movement in Busan. In 1988 he entered politics as a National Assemblyman, and took key part in prosecuting ex-Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo (unrelated) for their 1979 military coup and 1980 civilian massacre. And when his ambitions turned presidential in 2002, he promised to take South Korean democracy into a new era and mentality. Of course, walking across the DMZ, then doing the most historic road trip ever in Korean history - a drive to Pyongyang - was noted by the entire world.

The legacy is complex. Roh was proof that power tends to corrupt even well-meaning individuals of modest backgrounds. (If power didn't corrupt, maybe those communist revolutions of the 20th Century may actually have succeeded, and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela wouldn't be such an a-hole either.) I am still well convinced that he did not offer much substance to the people he ruled. However, he did leave a legacy, and the South Korean democratic struggle cannot be discussed without Roh. In his death, that may be what Roh may leave the people of South Korea with - a continued call for democracy that keeps the power grab of the current government in check, and also ensures that 2MB will serve his subjects rather than US-based far-right special interests.

And bringing the focus back to the US, the fact that President Obama is not fulfilling his campaign promises - something angrily noted by many liberals including many of my friends - needs to be put into perspective. Obama must serve many different interests, including conservative nonwhite theocrats of California, the large defense contractors, and more. All those special interest demands will eventually corrupt even the best of his intentions, and unfortunately that is to be expected. I also don't want Obama to have sweeping powers to change things overnight either; a too-powerful President, even a "good" one, is always dangerous, as well demonstrated by W. I no longer consider myself an enthusiastic Obama supporter, and while he listens a bit more than W, I'll just put it at that, and keep pressuring for not only change from Obama himself, but from the American society at large. (Honestly, I find the ethnic theocracy of California to be hopeless... I need to leave. Next post will talk about that.)

I am more than happy to share my observations of South Korean society and politics with Americans and other good people of the world (I'm especially having great exchanges with other Americans with significant South Korean time under their belt - and we all agree that 2MB has been going too far), in hopes that all the nations involved will have better governments and societies in the long run.

Back in Korea...

Here's a BBC report.

BBC

Smooth inter-Korean relations and peace requires two requirements: willing governments on both sides of the border. On the southern side, the requirement was met for the past ten years. But on the northern side, the requirement was never met, as the Kim Jong-il regime was more interested in protecting his pride and cult leader status than in revitalizing the economy and making the people prosper (or at least keeping them fed). But the southern side had enough will that a few token projects did proceed between the two sides.

But that's all history. The south now has 2MB, who, just like his northern counterpart, would rather crush his subjects than serve them; moreover, he would rather serve the interests of a failed ideology (not too different from the north, really) as well a discredited US political faction (an extremely treasonous idea and unique to the south).

Longtime North Korean propaganda has always stated that South Korea is a mere puppet regime of the United States of America. Of course, North Korea believes W-style cowboy diplomacy indeed represents the US. But in reality, the US is a great, diverse nation, and has many different ideologies and factions, of which W and the neocons are only one. Sure, South Korea is a puppet and a colony alright, but North Korea gets it wrong, as South Korea is beholden to just this one faction, rather than the entire United States.

The supporters of the southern colonial government, including the Korean-Americans, will now call me every name in the books then some more, including the classic smear of a "Red" or a "Communist." But I don't care anymore. The colonials' supporters will never get it. They don't care that I oppose the northern regime for the same reasons that I oppose the colonials.

Maybe I should care for my own safety, however, as I should find myself back in South Korea and under the jurisdiction of the colonial government soon. The government now has the power to put me in jail, torture me, and even murder me - and get away with it. But once I survive my short stint, and make my way back to the US, it'll prove extremely stressful to continue dealing with the Korean-Americans, but at least I'll be safe. I do look forward to returning to South Korea when democracy, sovereignty, and justice are restored, and by then, I also hope that Kim Jong-il is dead and a new, more sensible regime is in power up north too.

On an unrelated note, it's the 2nd of December. It marks the ninth anniversary of the start of my trip to Amsterdam. I'm glad to be marking it in a vastly superior place, Hong Kong, doing my final round of sightseeing. Although Amsterdam really let me down and offended me with its inability to contain ethnic hatred, I am not slowing my travels down, as I am demonstrating right now by being in Hong Kong. I'll continue traveling to any place that welcomes me. Hong Kong certainly is one, the mainland China will be another (I loved Beijing, and would love to see the ruins of Xi'an), and while not for now, but in time, both Koreas will count themselves in that list too; the people already do, and it's the damn governments that are so hostile. I also need to get back to Europe and also expand my horizons toward Australia and even Latin America while at it; the Amsterdam trip, which also included Cologne, was the last time I actually covered any new ground in Europe.

Before I leave for Hong Kong

In less than six hours, I'll be gone from this cut-rate Republican colony. I never thought I'd feel more free in Chinese territory than in Korea, but tonight, I probably will. The next several days in Hong Kong will be absolutely great, I am sure.

Here are two photos that pertain to my last few posts, taken from a Korail subway train.

For some reason, this older poster survived the changeover to the new ones. This is from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), formerly the Korean Central Intellgence Agency (KCIA), which is South Korea's state thought police. Up until a few weeks ago, this was what I could expect to find in every subway car, from three (SMRT) to six (Seoul Metro) in each car.

Its message says "National security is national competitiveness." The lower left lists the hotlines: 111 for NIS, 113 for local police, and 1337 for the military. The lower right lists the rewards: 150 million won for spy ships, and 100 million for spies. "Spies" include those from North Korea, as well as industrial espionage from the likes of China.

In a highly publicized case, Chery Motors of China sent industrial spies to GM Daewoo, stole the engineering specs for the Matiz microcar, and ended up manufacturing an unauthorized clone named QQ. The QQ is a death trap in crashes, but is much cheaper than the real Matiz, and as a result, GM Daewoo can't sell the Matiz in China, and is at a competitive disadvantage in other Third World markets where both the Matiz and the QQ are available.

Here is the current poster, which started popping up overnight, and replaced the design above just about everywhere.

Its message says: "Please stay straight - national security awareness in the Republic of Korea." The hotlines and the rewards stay the same; however, there is an additional reward of 30 million won for reporting domestic left-wing activists.

South Korea, using its confrontation with North Korea as an excuse (a valid excuse, technically, as the war never ended with a peace treaty), maintains the National Security Law, which allows severe punishments for any and all seditious activities, including and up to death. The list of seditious activities has varied over the years, depending on the ideology of the government. In recent years, merely being left-of-center was protected under the constitutional guarantee of freedom of conscience, and in any case, nobody in South Korea has been executed since 1997. However, 2MB has vowed to put an end to all of this, use the death penalty extensively for seditious activities, and include leftist political leanings as part of that.

This is exactly the same police state that the US neocons, the colonial masters of 2MB, have always dreamed of, and almost made reality in the US.

I was very tempted to cross out the "Republic of Korea" portion and scribble "Third-rate colony of the discredited US Republican neocons" in instead. And while SMRT trains have lower ceilings, and therefore fewer places to post these thought police posters, the higher-ceiling Korail trains feature a few more of them, though neither match Seoul Metro's enthusiasm.

Travel around Seoul today: I traveled to downtown for meditation. I made sure to stay away from Seoul Metro at all costs; my routing involved Line 8 to Line 5 into downtown. After meditation, I took a bus, then Line 1, to Yongsan for a cheap Thai lunch, before taking the Korail Jungang Line to pick up Line 5 again and retrace my route back to Seongnam. Given that my farecard is scanned only at the origin and destination stations, my fare is always calculated based on the most efficient route possible between them, regardless of my actual route taken; if the "best" routing includes Seoul Metro lines, Seoul Metro will get a cut of my fare. It stinks, as many downtown routings make most sense using Seoul Metro. But I am still avoiding Seoul Metro if only to feel a bit more empowered. For the Line 1 section into Yongsan, the most logical routing would've involved getting off the bus at Seoul Station, whose subway station is Seoul Metro; I refused, and traveled another stop to Namyeong, the first Korail station south of downtown, and entered it using Korail turnstiles. A train pulled in, but it was a Seoul Metro train - actually, the very rare one made up of old extra insert cars; I refused to board it, and waited for the next Korail train, even though I only needed to go one stop, wholly on Korail tracks, and Korail would've gotten all my money anyway.

I felt much better as I returned to Seongnam, but I still don't feel line taking another lengthy ride to the airport, using the subway and staring at the thought police posters. I'll shell out a small fortune and take a deluxe bus instead; thanks to the colonial currency depreciating like there's no tomorrow, I can afford the bus ride anyway.

Other items:

• There is a bill under consideration (probably from the Republicans) which would allow taxicabs to drive on bus-only lanes. Cabbies welcome it, as they consider themselves to be part of Seoul's mass transit network. Bus operators and drivers oppose it, as Seoul has way too many cabs - even more than places like New York or London - and the cabs will jam up the bus lanes. Every Seoul bus now carries a banner expressing strong opposition to this bill.
• Throughout downtown Seoul, there are many television displays, sort of like the ones from Times Square. Most are owned and operated by Chosun Ilbo - which I now consider to be as much of a propaganda organ as North Korea's Rodong Shinmun. The City of Seoul likes to use them as well to spread city news and propaganda. They make me sick to the stomach.
• Seoul certainly saw some poorly-executed but nevertheless beneficial traffic and other improvements. I'll give 2MB, the former mayor, credit. However, he was trying to do this not to serve the citizens of Seoul, but to (1) buy crucial support for the presidential run, (2) build up his resume while at it, and (3) ensure that his hand-picked successor, current mayor Oh Se-hun, would succeed him. Oh is pretty much wrecking the entire city as I speak.
• A decal on a Bundang Line train showed strong opposition to widespread standardized testing in public schools, part of 2MB's plans which echo his master W's "No Child Left Behind"program. No Child Left Behind was a program with a great premise, as it vowed to improve schools and keep them accountable to students and parents, but instead, it ended up creating an examination hell just like the ones here in South Korea. Students are no longer learning; they are just preparing for meaningless tests. South Korea currently devotes its entire public education curriculum to such meaningless test preparations, and 2MB's plans will only worsen it.
• Another aspect of 2MB's education agenda is school choice. Standardized testing will allow parents to pick the most desirable school for their children. Sounds good, but as school choice is really a means for America's Christian extremists to send their children to propaganda schools at public taxpayer expense, it's also a means for South Koreans to kill off the public schools they don't like. In conjunction with this, the numbers and lists of all unionized teachers at each school will be made public. The connotation: schools with lots of unionized teachers will feed your children leftist propaganda - so stay away, and force them to close, and force other schools to fire their unionized teachers.
• Speaking of fears of leftist propaganda, the textbook publishers have agreed to roll over dead and cave in to the demands made by the colonials, for a more right-wing history textbook. News reports I am hearing clearly identify the Republican colonial government and the various New Right organizations as the main driving forces, though the "Ministry of National Defense" (which is more like a subdivision of the US neocon command, as it will defer to the US in wartime, and even though the US would like to relinquish command, it doesn't want it) is also strongly behind this. It looks like "New Right" doesn't just refer to the New Right Foundation, but rather the entire South Korean-style neocon movement, where it's patriotic to sell out to Japan and the US Republicans, and treasonous to be an independence fighter or a nationalist.
• Speaking of the military, South Korea's Marines, whose first major accomplishment is "quelling the Communist uprising of Jeju Island in 1948" (which wasn't all that Communist at all, in real life), is truly a subdivision of the United States Marine Corps. The slogans are merely Korean translations of the USMC ones, including "Once a Marine, always a Marine." The colors and the decals are identical as well. I know the USMC - it is certainly the most reactionary of the military branches - and the "ROK" MC can only be worse.
• The international crises - a terrorist bombing in Mumbai, and a pro-democracy uprising in Bangkok - do make major headlines. This is NOT a time for 2MB to terrorize his subjects, but rather, to respond appropriately and ensure stability and democracy to prevent future events like this. Sure, Thailand has a long tradition of modern democracy, and a streak of sovereignty that remained unbroken through the colonial era (only China and Japan can claim that elsewhere in Asia), but the military and corrupt politicians have been too vocal. Over here in South Korea, the military had two major coups in recent memory, and even though democracy has been safe for the past two decades, it's now destroyed thanks to 2MB, and the reactionary military commanders may get emboldened to again start killing the very people they are sworn to protect.
• Last, but not the least, Seoul's extensive subway system can be too much for some. I had to give directions to some fellow passengers - and Seoul isn't even my primary home anymore. (And I don't want it to ever be one again - and it looks like my next return to Seoul can wait a few months.) But it felt good to interact with the good everyday South Koreans again. I was also reminded of other overwhelmingly complex subway systems around the world - namely the New York Subway and the London Tube, both of which I know well. The major difference is that both New York and London are run by one agency (though New York used to be three separate systems), while Seoul uses two city companies to run the system, thanks to the utter ineptitude of Seoul Metro. If Seoul Metro were actually any good, it would've gone on to oversee Lines 5-8 as opposed to having to create SMRT just for those newer four lines.
  
• As I progressed back toward Seongnam, another leggings salesperson came on board - but this was a man in a business suit, with a trousers leg rolled up to reveal that he is wearing what he's selling. Same 4,000 won price. As the quality appears very good, and as it's getting bitterly cold in Seoul, I may have to grab a pair at the next opportunity.

Hong Kong, here I come.

The Moonie smear machine at work

Two developments:

• In California, corporations that have made contributions to oppose next month's gay marriage ban (Proposition 8), such as PG&E and Apple Computers, have gotten a threatening letter from the official Yes on 8 campaign. The letter states that the corporations must donate at least the same amounts to the Yes campaign, or their names will be publicly exposed, so that a Christian boycott will begin. The letter was signed by four individuals, including the Yes on 8 coordinator and attorney as well as Catholic and Mormon PAC representatives.
• Throughout the US, the McCain-Palin smears continue. Both McCain and Palin are vowing to campaign with the "pro-American" parts of America and the "real" parts of certain states, as well as rooting out "anti-Americans" in Congress. Senator John Kerry, whose own patriotism was questioned by the Republican smear machine during his 2004 presidential campaign, just sent me a mass email of outrage, and asked me to stand up against the smears.

I am even more outraged - I need to start working on my novel/writing and meditating, or I won't be able to return to Seoul (and that'll make things only worse).

The smear tactics of both Yes on 8 and the McCain-Palin campaign have all the hallmarks of the Unification Church being involved. The exact same smear tactics have been used by the Moonies to raise doubts about Al Gore's mental health, to shut down national healthcare as "socialism," and to vilify the very concept of liberalism itself. The Moonies have also been using the exact same tactics at home in South Korea, both under the past military dictatorships and under the current Lee Myung-bak government; Lee and his party also strongly question the patriotism of left-leaning independence fighters and modern-day prominent opposition politicians.

Lee's political party, Hannara (한나라, officially translated as Grand National Party, though it can also be translated as One National Party), has a very nationalistic name. But its policies and tactics tell otherwise. Recently, the Grand Nationals mulled a possible change in the name of the party, and many suggestions - both positive and negative - were submitted. The most popular was Tannara (딴나라, Other National Party), as the party is seen to put the interests of rightist foreign powers above those of the South Koreans. But all were off the mark. The rightful name for the Grand Nationals ought to be the Republican Party of the State of South Korea (사우스코리아주 공화당), as it acts more like a US state-level Republican organization than the ruling party of a sovereign republic.

I am finding myself very fortunate that I can work against these trends in person, both in the US and in South Korea. However, I need to ensure that I won't burn myself out over these struggles. I will find vindication when proper democracy and respect are restored to both nations, and the two can together set examples for the rest of the world to follow.

It's been 7 years

Seven years ago today, hate-filled crazed lunatics flew some airplanes into buildings, and killed thousands, in the name of a primitive death cult and its patriarchal, judgmental God.

Although I have no personal connection to the victims, I had previously flown on one of the aircraft involved, and that connection alone is more than enough to keep disturbing me whenever I think of the events of that day.

Unfortunately, America seems to have learned very little, thanks to the overbearing influence and the brainwashing by its own death cult. The following New York Times op-ed summarizes it so well.

New York Times

Actually, I'll copy-paste the text below as well:

In the Seventh Year
By Roger Cohen

And in the seventh year after the fall, the dust and debris of the towers cleared. And it became plain at last what had been wrought.

For the wreckage begat greed; and it came to pass that while America’s young men and women fought, other Americans enriched themselves. Beguiling the innocent, they did backdate options, and they did package toxic mortgage securities and they did reprice risk on the basis that it no more existed than famine in a fertile land.

Thereby did the masters of the universe prosper, with gold, with silver shekels, with land rich in cattle and fowl, with illegal manservants and maids, with jewels and silk, and with Gulfstream V business jets; yet the whole land did not prosper with them. And it came to pass, when the housing bubble burst, that Main Street had to pay for the Wall Street party.

For Bush ruled over the whole nation and so sure was he of his righteousness that he did neglect husbandry.

And he took his nation into desert wars and mountain wars, but, lo, he thought not to impose taxation, not one heifer nor sheep nor ox did Bush demand of the rich. And it came to pass that the nation fell into debt as boundless as the wickedness of Sodom. For everyone, Lehman not least, was maxed out.

So heavy was the burden of war, and of bailing out Fannie and Freddie, and of financing debt with China, that not one silver shekel remained to build bridges, nor airports, nor high-speed trains, nor even to take care of wounded vets; and the warriors returning unto their homes from distant combat thought a blight had fallen on the land.

So it was in the seventh year after the fall of the towers. And still Bush did raise his hands to the Lord and proclaim: “I will be proved right in the end!”

And around the whole earth, which had stood with America, there arose a great trouble, for it seemed to peoples abroad that a great nation, rich in flocks and herds and land and water, had been cast among thorns and Philistines; its promise betrayed, its light dimmed, its armies stretched, its budget broken, its principles compromised, its dollar diminished.

And it came to pass that this profligate nation, drinking oil with insatiable thirst, could not cure itself of this addiction, and so its wealth was transferred to other nations that did not always wish it well.

Wherefore the balance of power in the world was altered in grievous ways, and new centers of authority arose, and they were no more persuaded by democracy than was the Pharaoh.
For Bush ruled over the whole nation, and so sure was he of his righteousness that he did neglect the costs of wanton consumption. And he believed that if the Lord created fossil fuel, fossil fuel must flow without end, as surely as the grape will yield wine.

Therefore, in the seventh year after the fall, with 1,126 of the slain still unidentified, their very beings rendered unto dust, their souls inhabiting the air of New York, it seemed that one nation had become two; and loss, far from unifying the people, had sundered the nation.

For the rich, granted tax breaks more generous than any blessing, grew richer, and incomes in the middle ceased to rise, and workers saw jobs leaving the land for that region called Asia. And some fought wars while others shopped; and some got foreclosed while others got clothes. And still Bush spake but few listened.

Behold, so it was in the seventh year, and it seemed that America was doubly smitten, from without and within.

And, lo, a strange thing did come to pass. For as surely as the seasons do alternate, so the ruler and party that have brought woe to a nation must give way to others who can lead their people to plenty. How can the weary, flogged ass bear honey and balm and almonds and myrrh?

Yet many Americans believed the exhausted beast could still provide bounty. They did hold that a people called the French was to blame. They did accuse a creation called the United Nations. They did curse the ungodly sophisticates of Gotham and Hollywood and sinful Chicago; and, lo, they proclaimed God was on their side, and carried a gun, and Darwin was bunk, and truth resided in Alaska.

For Bush ruled over the whole nation and so sure was he of his righteousness that he did foster division until it raged like a plague. Each tribe sent pestilence on the other.

And in the seventh year after the fall, the dust and debris of the towers cleared. And it became plain at last what had been wrought — but not how the damage would be undone.

A mention at BlogHer

Kim Pearson, writing for BlogHer, mentioned my May report on Col. Ann Wright in her article, "At Home and Abroad, American Democracy is at a Crossroads."

BlogHer is a great resource for women bloggers, and I am honored to have been mentioned there.

BlogHer

Business Terminated in Indy

I am in no mood to repeat myself, so I will just copy-paste what I had posted to Democracy Cell Project:

Update from Indianapolis...

My business trip here was to take an air conditioning controls class with Johnson Controls - the same company that probably made the seats in your car, among other things.

However, the class was an extremely biased environment, where California's environmentalism and gun control laws were dismissed as left wing lunatic ideas, among MANY other things.

When it came to the point this morning where families of victims commemorating the anniversaries of Virginia Tech massacre and other school shootings were dismissed as liberal pansies, and the Democrats were the source of ALL problems in this country, I decided that I had enough, and left.

The ringleader of this whole thing was the class instructor, visiting from Orange County, California.

There is another 1 1/2 days of business to do before I walk away with a certificate (what I came to Indy for), but I have no interest in a certificate from such a reactionary company. And I have no interest in working in such a reactionary field either.

It's very early morning back in California, but my family business has already been notified of my decision to discontinue the class, and is supportive of my decision. It's been left up to me as to whether I want to return home tomorrow, as scheduled, or today, as I feel like now. When I return home, we will brainstorm ways on how I will continue my education, but in any case, Johnson Controls will never be involved again.

And if you ever want me to install air conditioning controls for your building, rest assured that I will NEVER use or recommend Johnson Controls unless you specify it (as the military often does).

Ralph Nader

Recent polls say that Republican John McCain is leading the matchup against both Democratic candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and the lead is due to Ralph Nader siphoning about 6% of the votes away from the Democratic side.

Nader has a reputation as a consumer advocate, but his real background includes all the things he has campaigned against. He's busted unions, deceived people, and played the stock market for his selfish ends. And he still has yet to apologize for tipping the close 2000 presidential election to W in at least two states, including crucial Florida, therefore hurting the very progressive causes he claimed to stand for.

Nader needs to be flushed out of American politics, and sent to a welcoming Communist country where he belongs. Read more below.

RealChange.org

Eliot Spitzer

The once-popular governor of New York State, Democrat Eliot Spitzer, has been implicated in a prostitution scandal, and has been forced to resign today.

Spitzer was known as Mr. Clean, due to his aggressive prosecution of corrupt politicians and businessmen during his tenure as the state Attorney General. He also was very tough on prostitution, so he got caught by his own laws and apparatus. People are giving him very little sympathy, as a result.

I see one thing though: the Republicans have been very upfront about threatening impeachment and going after the wrongdoings of Spitzer. They immediately pounced on this, and directed their media propaganda outlets to cover Spitzer heavily (not to mention covering the relief of Wall Street neoliberal fascists, who once were Spitzer's targets). Contrast this with the Democrats, who have known of W's perversion of the US Constitution, but have put the impeachment "off the table," and are helping pass his police state legislations.

This tells me the state of the nation, which boils down to only one political party mattering at all - the Republicans, the party that considers me worse than a terrorist. Between this, and the ever-uglier fight between Hillary and Obama, I am preparing to stay home this November, since McCain is rigged to win anyway.

BBC

This is criminal

A study says 935 false statements were made by the W regime to make the case for a war against Iraq. It's so blatant that even the corporate media (MSNBC) can't ignore it.

I sincerely hope that the Democrats pounce on this. If not, they are accomplices of the crime, and do not deserve to be elected.

MSNBC

A quick-and-dirty guide to fascist victory

As appeared in a TruthOut editorial by Rob Kall:

Italics are my emphasis. Brackets are my comments.

Tips to fascists, dictators, corporatists, militarists, imperialists, neocons, right-wingers, theocrats, theofascists and terrorists.

1. Kill the strongest opposition candidate and then pretend that elections should go on as normal, without allowing the opposition party to reorganize. Examples:
• Benazir Bhutto: strategy - hamstring security abilities to the extent that the candidate actually writes a letter accusing the government leadership of intentional sabotage of security.
• Paul Wellstone: rush through a replacement candidate and politicize the funeral. Get the mainstream media "partners" to portray the funeral as despicably political to eliminate sympathy for the new candidate. (Expect something like this with the candidate who replaces Bhutto.
2. Steal elections using e-voting with nonpublic software code, no paper ballot records, purges from lists of eligible voters, phone-bank jamming and fraudulent registration drives, where you throw away the registrations of opposition party registrants. Multiple examples in US - Florida and Ohio, particularly. Essential: this only works with weak, cowardly candidates who fail to aggressively work to prevent these actions and then fail to challenge questionable outcomes. This has been relatively easy, since even when candidates do get tough in response to rigged elections, there are plenty of weak, compromised legislators who will enable the election theft. Clint Curtis's campaign is a good example. The Dems in Congress allowed the theft.
3. Erode constitutional rights. Violate laws and treaties. Make excuses that there are imminent threats to national security, or that the treaties will hurt the nation's economy. Take the most horrific of these and get the media to boost hysteria and fear, then get the most fascist members of the legislature to push through laws retroactively making violations of the law legal. The majority of sold-out legislators will work with your lobbyists, avoid your media mockery and pass the legislation or approve appointees who allow or refuse to not condemn the assaults upon the Constitution and international law. Example - Mukasey approval, FISA approval, continuation of Iraq war (started on lies). [And make new laws and treaties, such as the new free trade agreements, without the knowledge and consent of American people. Thank you, Samsung.]
   
4. Gradually destroy the economy. Engage in "Shock Doctrine" disaster capitalism, so the nation's citizens are more worried about survival than maintaining democracy. Naomi Klein has documented how fascist neocon Milton Friedman economists have used this tried and true approach to destruction of democracy in dozen of nations - usually with the help of the USA's CIA. See Naomi Klein's book, "Shock Doctrine," for detailed examples. [This works so well.]
   
5. Corporatize the nation. Maximize laws that give corporations human rights as persons. Allow corporations to pollute the election process, so their money is the primary factor in deterring the ability of candidates to reach voters, as is the law and policy in the US. Have legislators you own create bogus, chimera laws that look like and call themselves election reform, that are really so full of loopholes that they actually improve the power of corporations while taking away the power of citizens. See US policy for excellent examples.
6. Deregulate the media so a handful of corporate owners control most of the message. Then filter the news so viewers/readers/listeners are turned off to paying attention. Do this by using the same footage over and over again, and numb the viewers' minds with focus on coverage of morally impaired and stupid celebrities, tabloid news such as weird surgeries, kidnappings, horrific mass murders, strange diseases, detachment of Siamese twins.... And when you do cover real news, mock the most serious defenders of democracy. Attempt to embarrass them, to get viewers and readers to think of them as fools and kooks. Especially, use this mockery approach to sabotage and attack any candidates not "with the program" who are surging in polls.
7. Infiltrate alternative media. Hijack comment threads with negative, cynical remarks, or distract commenters from staying on focus. Provoke incivility among regular readers of pro-democracy media.
8. Widen class differences. Keep as many people as possible hungry, without health care, worried about where they will get the money to pay for housing, clothing, education, food and medicine. [Sell the jobs to the lowest foreign bidder - it's great, because domestic labor unions have no counter.]
   
9. Take advantage of natural disasters to weaken democratic factors. Allow floods, hurricanes and fires to "cleanse" unwanted voters in selected regions. Replace them with high-end real estate and corporate assets. Use the disasters as opportunities to spend taxpayer money to reward political allies.
10. Pretend that everything you do is the patriotic support of Democracy, even if it is directly opposed to democracy. Attack the pro-democracy party and organizations as being communist, socialist, fringe, kook, even dangerous to democracy. Depend upon anti-democracy mainstream media allies to help pound this message so the fools produced by the dumbed-down, "most children left behind" educational system buy these messages. Use talk radio to nail this down. See US education laws and policies for examples. This is already working quite effectively in the US as low international scores indicate.
11. Allow candidates to run repeatedly, without term limits. Eventually, candidates who do not toe the anti-democracy line in all parties will burn out or run out of funding. That will leave, even in the supposed liberal parties, reliable legislators who will keep the anti-democracy program going. Eventually, they will get themselves into key leadership positions, either at the top of the party or just below the top. Consider Chuck Schumer, Stenny Hoyer and Rahm Emanuel as excellent examples. [Or until recently, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.]
    
12. Build fear into the culture. Say you are fighting terrorism, but engage in international policies that foment and encourage terrorism, helping terrorists to massively expand recruitment and even training of operatives. See Iraq for Islamic terrorists. See the US for anti-abortion Christian terrorists. [Think South Korea and Taiwan of the Cold War era as well.]

I would also love to add #13 in the form of "bring as many immigrants who support your anti-democratic agenda as you can, and keep out/deport as many immigrants who oppose it as possible." That will explain the special treatment doled out to the Cuban and Korean communities, and the human rights violations occurring against members of Mexican, Chinese, and most other communities.

Any questions?

TruthOut

Odds and ends

Two things caught my attention:

• Medea Benjamin and Colonel Ann Wright have officially been invited to speak at the Canadian Parliament, and are in contact with Canadian MPs. They are still not allowed to enter Canada yet, but I am hoping this will change soon.
• On another Canadian note, four college students from Ontario were stranded in Washington DC, when their car was towed by the DC Police as "crime evidence," with no explanation given, with all their documents in it as evidence, while they attended a peace mobilization training. Democracy Cell Project's Dick Bell and Karen Bradley came to the rescue, housing the stranded Canadians for a week until they were able to retrieve their documents and return home. The car is still stranded, however.

The second story made the news at the Toronto Star.

Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize

The news is hours old already, but it's said and done. Al Gore, the former vice president and the rightful winner of the 2000 presidential race, is now a Nobelaureate, sharing the honor with the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their work in alerting people to the climate change crisis, which may provoke many future wars, was instrumental; hopefully with some action, these alarms - and the resulting wars - will never have to happen.

Response from the US is pathetic at best, dominated by those who still think global warming is a liberal globalist myth. John McCain was especially virulent about his criticism of Gore as an "undeserving" recipient of the Nobel Prize.

It's not enough to come up with Al Gore, America. It's also crucial that the people of America know the facts, admit them, and do something about it, instead of burying their heads in the sand in denial, driving around in 4x4s with "OFF-ROADERS FOR BUSH" bumper stickers. (There are LOTS of them here in Reagan Country.) So even though Gore's win is a plus for the world and America, I am, more than ever, ashamed to be an American (and even more ashamed to be from Southern California), given the nation's poor treatment of its precious hero.

Aftenposten, Norway

Another Republican sodomite of note

Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, a high-profile "family values" Republican, admitted to having sex with men in restrooms at Washington DC's Union Station and Minneaepolis's airport. He was busted by an undercover cop.

Just how far will the hypocrisy go?

The likes of Craig, Jim Kolbe, Jeff Gannon, Mark Foley, Mann Coulter, and many more, must be given the Republican Party platform treatment on sodomites - namely, Biblical law, AKA death. This is probably the only case where I support capital punishment, given the harm done to many average LGBTs (and allies) by these sodomites.

MSNBC

Odds and Ends

Good news today - the torture czar, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, is gone. Even then, Gonzales is being spun as an immigrant success story, which disgusts me greatly.

On the subject of reactionary immigrant Republican whores, W recently compared the Iraq War to the Korean and Vietnam Wars, calling it a struggle for freedom of a nation. Empty rhetorics can only say so much - W has destroyed many cherished American freedoms, and it bears remembering that South Korea AND South Vietnam were dictatorships that happened to be fighting commies, not democracies in their own right. South Korea's democratization, in fact, happened despite American prop-up of its fascist dictators (and massive admittance of the fascist supporters into the US when the fascism finally crumbled).

Besides, W never believed in nation-building, accusing the Clinton administration of overextending American troops in Somalia and the Balkans; nation-building became his interest only after 9/11, a convenient excuse to be linked to his former buddy Saddam Hussein. Moreover, he turned from a small-government president to the leader of the largest expansion of US government in history.

Disgust is an understatement.

DCCC targets CA-42

My Congressional district, CA-42, is, on paper, a lot like many suburban districts nationwide - affluent and Republican.

There are more moderate districts, such as IL-10 (well covered by Ellen Beth Gill's blog, and also home to Marianne Wood), where Congressman Mark Kirk has to play himself as a moderate in order to keep the votes; CA-42 is not one of those, however. Congressman Gary Miller (not to be confused with pro-labor Democrat George Miller, from Northern California) is a crook who rewards his business partners first, the W regime second, and his constituents last. His enforcement-only immigration stance puts him at odds with the numerous Chinese, Korean, and Asian Indian nouveaux-riches who make up the bulk of his district, but nobody has capitalized on this conflict yet. Otherwise, this district is so conservative - very anti-choice, anti-gay, and pro-school prayer - that the Democrats did not bother to even field a candidate in 2006, one of only 12 such districts nationwide.

But now, I've just learned that DCCC is targeting this district, seeing some vulnerabilities in Miller's armor. They have recruited a strong candidate, Ron Shepston, who is a middle-class aerospace engineer and Vietnam veteran; on those fronts, he is a lot like the average Republican in the district. Nevertheless, his platform of accountability, support of science, and sound foreign and domestic policy clearly identify him as a modern-day Democrat who will also serve his constituents first.

Given the reactionary politics of my area, where I was the only one on my block to not have a Bush-Cheney '04 yard sign out, Shepston will face an uphill battle. But the involvement by DCCC will surely make things interesting - and the Republicans will have to counter by pumping money and resources in to defend Miller's "safe" seat. This will leave other Republican districts - such as, say, IL-10 - vulnerable.

Shepston's another edge is his online activism, having been a regular both at Daily Kos and at Facebook. This will enable him to amass support from both within and outside the district easily.

Shepston's campaign must particularly use immigration as a wedge issue to pry Miller's Asian supporters away; in this conservative district, it's the only wedge issue that matters. A good immigration platform, combining security with economics, will surely work wonders.

I intend to leave for another district well before the 2008 elections. However, I will be glad to support the Shepston campaign in any way I can.

Ron Shepston for Congress
Daily Kos discussion on Shepston

Boxer wants to impeach W and Cheney

After Downing Street reports.

Granted, much of her state disagrees (especially the south and the inland areas), but Boxer is a woman of courage and will speak for what's right for her state and the nation.

It's people like Boxer who make living in California bearable.

After Downing Street

Cindy Sheehan leaves the Democratic Party

After the Democrats passed the new Iraq War funding bill without deadlines, Cindy Sheehan felt so betrayed that she has chosen to leave the party, and resign from the Democrat-led peace activism.

Information Clearinghouse

When I was meeting with activist Marianne Wood in Chicago last weekend, we saw the Democrats' passage of the bill, which did require W to submit progress reports, as an incremental step toward something bigger and more substantial, later on. While I still feel that way, the truth does remain that some Democrats are beholden to the war machine, and are completely gutless.

I will keep watching. The media conglomerates must be overthrown, and the people need to reward good politicians and punish those who don't represent them, in order for American democracy to work again, regardless of political party affiliation.

Democrats chicken out again

The Democrats have decided, once again, to cave in to W's tactics, and withdraw any hint of a deadline on the Iraq bill.

This is despite strong support in favor of withdrawal deadlines from the people of the US and Iraq.

Maybe the Dems smell just as much money in this war as the Republicans. This is NOT what the people asked for, when they voted the Republicans out of Congress last November.

As this disgrace progresses, I will make sure my Democratic Senators will hear on this issue. My Republican Congressman, with no viable opposition, is a lost cause.

BBC

Jerry Falwell dead

He used slush funds from the Unification Church to turn Liberty University into a potent force for the evangelical Christians.

He blamed 9/11 on gays, feminists, abortionists, and non-Christians.

He even denounced the Teletubbies because Tinky Winky was "gay."

He's Jerry Falwell, who died today aged 73.

Although he's gone, his brand of hateful Christianity will endure. For example, his Moonie backers in my area are still blabbering his line about 9/11 being the result of the secularization of America. And that will be something I will never forgive.

Now, I need to hear about Sun Myung Moon's passing. He's well into his 80s.

BBC