Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Chile Today
Lewis and Clark Law School professor Robert J. Miller, Lisa M. Lesage, and Sebastian Lopez Escarcena examine how the Doctrine of Discovery has been incorporated into the ethnocentric policies of the Chilean state toward the indigenous peoples of Chile today.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Bluto Just Met Popeye
Trying to get us some peace after moving a second time in five months, I decided to take time to do laundry and other domestic chores. Wednesday, walking out back to the coin-operated laundry that serves the four-plex we moved into a week ago, I noticed a lot of dripping from the roof plants the tenant above us located on top of the laundry room. Only problem is the dripping is also happening inside over the washing machine. Imagining the roof caving in this winter and forcing us to haul our dirty clothes down to a laundromat, I phoned the landlady to tell her she might be needing a new roof.
Next day, the delinquent tenant, after loudly complaining about me to other tenants, confronts me for snitching about the damage he is doing to the property. To which I replied that he was out of line, in the wrong, and messing with the wrong guy.
Minutes after I put him in his place, the next door neighbor came over to thank me for standing up to the neighborhood bully, who according to her, had been harassing young women and seniors and had everyone intimidated until I showed up. Later on Friday, the landlady phoned to say she had inspected the damage in both the laundry room and the blowhard’s apartment, and had ordered him to get rid of his mess. Saturday, Bluto was whining to other tenants that I had got him kicked out, and that he had nowhere to go.
Sunday, the plumber for the building said big mouth was a convicted felon, and that I should watch out.
All I can say to that is that Bluto just met Popeye.
Next day, the delinquent tenant, after loudly complaining about me to other tenants, confronts me for snitching about the damage he is doing to the property. To which I replied that he was out of line, in the wrong, and messing with the wrong guy.
Minutes after I put him in his place, the next door neighbor came over to thank me for standing up to the neighborhood bully, who according to her, had been harassing young women and seniors and had everyone intimidated until I showed up. Later on Friday, the landlady phoned to say she had inspected the damage in both the laundry room and the blowhard’s apartment, and had ordered him to get rid of his mess. Saturday, Bluto was whining to other tenants that I had got him kicked out, and that he had nowhere to go.
Sunday, the plumber for the building said big mouth was a convicted felon, and that I should watch out.
All I can say to that is that Bluto just met Popeye.
Microsoft and Hooters Merge
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Mama Obama
Marisacat links to the Obama reader for infantilized voters and other children.
Designed to Deceive
Cyrano's looks at the role of television news in perpetuating fantasies about the occupation of Iraq by US troops, in particular the propaganda surrounding the shuffle of troops and mercenaries designed to deceive gullible Americans into believing there is actually a military withdrawal.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Fugitives
Last we heard from the bank that foreclosed on the 59 Eldridge Avenue house in Mill Valley where we rented a mother-in-law apartment for nine years, they were in the final stages of evicting our former landlady, Ursula McComas, and wanted to know if we knew the legal name of the Jamaican thug she hired to harass us prior to our relocating. This week, our former neighbor phoned to report that when performing roof repairs on his home recently, he noticed the entire back yard of our former landlady had been converted to a cannabis farm. Shortly after, he says a nighttime pot plant harvest by the renegades was followed by a day time visit from a police patrol car and a large black SUV.
Apparently, McComas – former mortgage broker and perpetrator of felony fraud – along with soon-to-be-deported Keshorn Herbert, is on the run. Her furniture and possessions have yet to be removed, but the locks have been changed, and we expect the sheriff will soon clear her out.
McComas and Herbert might be holing up with her boyfriend Brian Klevickis down in Palo Alto, or with her daughter Tracy Barker in Oakland, but it looks like it's just a matter of time before the law catches up with these fugitives. As our former neighbor says, “to be continued.”
Addendum:
On May 12, 2010, U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton dismissed McComas' complaint versus One West Bank as frivolous and incomprehensible.
In this June 24, 2010 article in the Point Reyes Light, McComas complains about Legal Aid not being able to help her fight the bank. Of course, McComas neglects to mention that she once openly bragged about defrauding the bank in order to get the loan in the first place.
On August 6, 2010, an arrest for trespass was made at the McComas address by Mill Valley Police. This may be the same incident as reported by another neighbor who witnessed Herbert fleeing down the street as the police pulled up. It may also have been McComas who was arrested for defying a court order to vacate the premises, having already been warned by police after breaking into the sealed unit we once occupied.
Update:
On August 30 or 31, someone tore off one of the garage door panels at 59 Eldridge Avenue. Neighbors suspect McComas was the culprit, as she was subsequently seen loading a moving van from the locked and sealed property. If she did break and enter the building, it would be the second time this summer.
Apparently, McComas – former mortgage broker and perpetrator of felony fraud – along with soon-to-be-deported Keshorn Herbert, is on the run. Her furniture and possessions have yet to be removed, but the locks have been changed, and we expect the sheriff will soon clear her out.
McComas and Herbert might be holing up with her boyfriend Brian Klevickis down in Palo Alto, or with her daughter Tracy Barker in Oakland, but it looks like it's just a matter of time before the law catches up with these fugitives. As our former neighbor says, “to be continued.”
Addendum:
On May 12, 2010, U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton dismissed McComas' complaint versus One West Bank as frivolous and incomprehensible.
In this June 24, 2010 article in the Point Reyes Light, McComas complains about Legal Aid not being able to help her fight the bank. Of course, McComas neglects to mention that she once openly bragged about defrauding the bank in order to get the loan in the first place.
On August 6, 2010, an arrest for trespass was made at the McComas address by Mill Valley Police. This may be the same incident as reported by another neighbor who witnessed Herbert fleeing down the street as the police pulled up. It may also have been McComas who was arrested for defying a court order to vacate the premises, having already been warned by police after breaking into the sealed unit we once occupied.
Update:
On August 30 or 31, someone tore off one of the garage door panels at 59 Eldridge Avenue. Neighbors suspect McComas was the culprit, as she was subsequently seen loading a moving van from the locked and sealed property. If she did break and enter the building, it would be the second time this summer.
Discrimination Down Under
UN rebukes Australian government for entrenched discrimination against Aborigines, including official suspension of the racial discrimination act in order to intervene in Northern Territory indigenous communities.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thick Long Wide Deep
The Christian Science Monitor reports that the BP oil plume in the Gulf is 700 feet thick, 22 miles long, a mile wide, and 3,000 feet deep. So much for the disappearing oil PR out of the White House.
Friday, August 20, 2010
High Crime
Cyrano's looks at Rubin, Clinton, Obama and other derivatives derelicts who've made a career out of high crime.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Good Time God
Eddie Stack writes from West Clare about Lughnasa, the Irish harvest festival honoring Lugh, the ancient god of arts and crafts. Unlike the Catholic adaptation, says Eddie, "Lugh was a good time god."
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Seed Money
One of the things Phil Williams discovered in his research on transnational criminal networks is that human trafficking for prostitution is an important component of organized crime portfolios, in some instances providing the seed money for other ventures in smuggling guns and drugs. With the foundation laid by proceeds from prostitution, their ability to corrupt public institutions, banks, and society at large is given an enormous boost.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Theory Versus Reality
With the Craigslist sex trafficking PR offensive in high gear, we thought it might be helpful to offer a sober analysis of the most common misunderstandings on the topic.
Apologist Payroll
When I was a volunteer environmental activist fighting corporate criminals, the toughest part of my work was fending off attacks by professional environmental activists on the payroll of foundations set up by these destructive corporations. Watching liberal apologists for sex trafficking by another corporate criminal, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, I thought of that experience long ago. When it comes to selling out for a few fast bucks, the grant–seeking industry has no peer.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Newmark Nervous
After being humiliated on CNN a couple weeks ago, Craig Newmark, owner of Craigslist, has rolled out yet another liberal apologist for his sex trafficking enterprise. Last week, Craigslist apologist Scott James, a reporter at the Bay Citizen news, wrote a dismal example of unethical journalism to promote a personal agenda on the topic. Today, the liberal flagship Mother Jones magazine continues in the same vein.
Newmark must be very nervous.
Newmark must be very nervous.
Indigenous Perspective
Native American scholars gather to discuss publishing an American History textbook written by Indians.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
What Goes Around
Four years ago, when the liberal left was still making its bones red-baiting anti-war activists, their rising star in the DNC was exposed by Harper's magazine for having sold his soul to Wall Street two years previous. Two years ago, when this Black Messiah became their candidate for the Oval Office, they went into high gear as professional progressives, providing cover for his commitment to warmongering.
What I remember in particular during this period was blogging liberals expressing admiration for warmongering racists like Richard Nixon, Billy Graham, and Teddy Roosevelt, in order to prove how tough liberals are. Then when President Obama started going after unions and public benefits in order to finance globalized warfare, some of these self-identified progressives established themselves as the loyal opposition; still Democrats, still imperial, but angry about being cut out of the militarized gravy train.
Now that it has dawned on them that Goldman Sachs' golden boy has betrayed them, they get in a fit over such things as being marginalized by the White House press secretary. Maybe someday they'll discover that what goes around comes around.
What I remember in particular during this period was blogging liberals expressing admiration for warmongering racists like Richard Nixon, Billy Graham, and Teddy Roosevelt, in order to prove how tough liberals are. Then when President Obama started going after unions and public benefits in order to finance globalized warfare, some of these self-identified progressives established themselves as the loyal opposition; still Democrats, still imperial, but angry about being cut out of the militarized gravy train.
Now that it has dawned on them that Goldman Sachs' golden boy has betrayed them, they get in a fit over such things as being marginalized by the White House press secretary. Maybe someday they'll discover that what goes around comes around.
Unconscionable
U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals rules that a quarter million acres stolen from the Oneida Nation and sold by the State of New York is a done deal, and that the Oneida are not entitled to any compensation.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Let the Sunshine
Peace and Freedom Party plans a protest tomorrow at the Auberge du Soleil, US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's Napa County hotel. Labor organizers note that the hotel, restaurant chain, and winery owned by Pelosi is 100% non-union, and benefits from corrupt deals the lawmaker made through her role in Congress.
A New Day
Getting Organized
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Honorable Experience
Three years ago this week, I began as a correspondent to Fourth World Eye, a blog of the Center for World Indigenous Studies. This was a natural outcome of my archival work for Public Good Project and my posting on its blog Continuity that I'd started working on a year earlier.
I first met Joe DelaCruz and Rudolph Ryser in 1996 at a conference the Center for World Indigenous Studies hosted for research activists fighting Wise Use. In December 2005, CWIS invited me to join as an associate scholar, and in February 2006 my essay The Power of Moral Sanction was featured in their Forum for Global Exchange. In September 2006 my paper Institutional Memory as Community Safeguard was published in their peer-reviewed Fourth World Journal. In January 2007 they asked me to serve as moderator for their private online forum.
Since 2007, I've found our paths cross regularly in furthering democracy, human rights, and the world indigenous peoples movement. Looking forward to extending our informal joint efforts in research and education, through venues like online distance learning, I can say that the choice to actively pursue mutual endeavors has been a rewarding and honorable experience--one I hope we continue long into the future.
I first met Joe DelaCruz and Rudolph Ryser in 1996 at a conference the Center for World Indigenous Studies hosted for research activists fighting Wise Use. In December 2005, CWIS invited me to join as an associate scholar, and in February 2006 my essay The Power of Moral Sanction was featured in their Forum for Global Exchange. In September 2006 my paper Institutional Memory as Community Safeguard was published in their peer-reviewed Fourth World Journal. In January 2007 they asked me to serve as moderator for their private online forum.
Since 2007, I've found our paths cross regularly in furthering democracy, human rights, and the world indigenous peoples movement. Looking forward to extending our informal joint efforts in research and education, through venues like online distance learning, I can say that the choice to actively pursue mutual endeavors has been a rewarding and honorable experience--one I hope we continue long into the future.
Gallows and Guillotine
Taxing the wealthy is a good solution to public shortfalls brought on by systematic fraud in government and business, but as a deterrent to sociopathic, criminal behavior on the part of the privileged, it falls far short. When we view greed and the obscenity of vast wealth as a crime against humanity, the cure requires something much stronger than token taxation and phony philanthropy.
The gallows and the guillotine come to mind.
The gallows and the guillotine come to mind.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Carpathian Conundrum
NATO-supported Israeli troops train in the Carpathians in preparation for an invasion of Iran.
A Calculated Lie
Much like when the EPA falsely told New Yorkers there was no health hazard in the aftermath of 9/11, assurances by NOAA that the Gulf cleanup was a success turn out to be a calculated lie. Continuing the cover-up begun by the White House on day one of the BP spill, NOAA is asking us to believe millions of barrels of oil and millions of gallons of toxic dispersant magically disappeared.
Earlier in the official cover-up, NOAA attacked independent scientists for exposing the massive subsurface oil plumes that now, thanks to the application of toxic dispersants, have settled on the sea floor. Out of sight, out of mind might be the White House game plan for dealing with this public relations nightmare, but dispersant comparable to agent orange in its toxicity, combined with a sea floor coated in oil up to two feet thick, is not conducive to ecological recovery any time soon.
In fact, based on the experience of oil spills elsewhere, the marine life of the Gulf is likely to take decades to begin to recover. In the meantime, everything is poisoned.
Earlier in the official cover-up, NOAA attacked independent scientists for exposing the massive subsurface oil plumes that now, thanks to the application of toxic dispersants, have settled on the sea floor. Out of sight, out of mind might be the White House game plan for dealing with this public relations nightmare, but dispersant comparable to agent orange in its toxicity, combined with a sea floor coated in oil up to two feet thick, is not conducive to ecological recovery any time soon.
In fact, based on the experience of oil spills elsewhere, the marine life of the Gulf is likely to take decades to begin to recover. In the meantime, everything is poisoned.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Assets of Humanity
Socially responsible investment companies urge US government to adopt and implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Citing the relationship between sustainable economic development and human rights for indigenous peoples, the financial asset management firms noted that corporations doing business in tribal territories will follow the government’s lead.
Being Human
We have a totally different understanding of life and being human and how we act to one another. How people speak. How they treat each other. How they move. How they treat the Earth.
Look at what being American is doing to its own people. There’s no kind of humanity or togetherness or connectiveness.
--Audrey Shenandoah, Onondaga clan mother
Monday, August 09, 2010
Prisoners of Conscience
As the New York Times begins its character assassination of Pfc. Bradley Manning, it's hard to remember a time when the Times treated prisoners of conscience differently. I just watched the DVD of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, coming to PBS October 5. As the Obama Administration goes after Julian Assange and WikiLeaks and Manning for revealing official lies about the war in Afghanistan, it’s time for Americans to remember what happens when our trust is misplaced.
Bombing Obama
Comparisons between politicians are always imperfect, but since Kissinger and Obama were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, it seems fair to raise the likeness. Granted, Kissinger was awarded the prize after conducting the most intense bombing campaign in history, and Obama still has a ways to go to match his record of war crimes, but in terms of his attitude toward unwarranted aggression, they seem to be on the same page. As Obama escalates American belligerence in Central Asia, East Africa, and South America, Presidents Johnson or Nixon may seem more apropos comparisons, but then, they weren’t awarded peace prizes for committing crimes against humanity.
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Newmark's Nemesis
Fighting For Our Lives
Oil companies line up against California’s greenhouse gas law. California legislators call for federal investigation into money-laundering to defeat the country’s first climate change legislation.
The Carnage Coast
Marisacat notes the carnage of birds, turtles, dolphins and whales observed by pilots flying over beaches and tide rips in the Gulf of Mexico. Now we know why BP security guards and police kept photojournalists away from the coast; windrows of carcasses are difficult for public relations officers to spin.
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Whose Government
This week in Bonn, indigenous representatives discussed problems with REDD, the UN program to address climate change. As the indigenous delegates made clear, the main problem remains governance, more specifically, whose government — modern states or First Nations — will decide how to treat resources on indigenous lands.
Friday, August 06, 2010
World's Oldest Oppression
After a virtual Bay Area media blackout of the protest by 75 human rights organizations against Craigslist a month ago, the Bay Citizen has questionably covered the controversy surrounding online sex trafficking. Given that San Francisco-based Craigslist is a multi-billion dollar business, it is not surprising that corporate media is reluctant to cover a conflict that involves collusion between legitimate business and organized crime, but the fact that this industry is one of the most violent on the planet, those connections cannot long remain hidden.
The vast profits made through this virtual venue for what amounts to slave auctions may be new, but the horrors of the world's oldest oppression are not.
Update: By excluding information that doesn't fit with his personal bias, reporter Scott James persists in displaying his arrogance and ignorance.
The vast profits made through this virtual venue for what amounts to slave auctions may be new, but the horrors of the world's oldest oppression are not.
Update: By excluding information that doesn't fit with his personal bias, reporter Scott James persists in displaying his arrogance and ignorance.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
SWIFT Action
As explained at BDS, the time is right to initiate international sanctions against Israeli banks. SWIFT action worked against South African apartheid, and according to Terry Crawford-Brown, it can work against apartheid in Israel.
Cult of Obama
Glen Ford finds hope in an anti-war movement devoted to breaking the Cult of Obama.
Irrevocably Corroded
Electronic Intifada reports on ethnic cleansing in the Negev. As Israeli Defense Forces and police test new methods of breaking the will of Bedouin villagers -- whose land claims have been tied up in court for half a century -- Jewish settlers cheer on the destruction of Bedouin homes.
As Israeli citizens living outside the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank, the Bedouin are in some ways more vulnerable to malicious harassment. Just last week, Jewish college students at summer camp went on a day trip to vandalize Bedouin properties.
Given the recent development of atrocity tourism sponsored by the State of Israel, one has to ask if Israeli culture has become irrevocably corroded.
As Israeli citizens living outside the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank, the Bedouin are in some ways more vulnerable to malicious harassment. Just last week, Jewish college students at summer camp went on a day trip to vandalize Bedouin properties.
Given the recent development of atrocity tourism sponsored by the State of Israel, one has to ask if Israeli culture has become irrevocably corroded.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Tried and True
According to Wikipedia, psywar practiced by the Mongols under Genghis Khan and Tamerlane included catapulting severed heads of their enemies into enemy camps. Something to think about when devising ways of communicating our outrage to elected officials in Congress and the White House.
Top Three
After posting some of my short essays on Scribd over the past year, the top three read documents are:
Tribalism
Prepared to Lead
Walking Around Ideas
Tribalism
Prepared to Lead
Walking Around Ideas
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Moral Theater
It was bound to happen; now that the Irish and other activists made their point with freedom flotillas to Gaza, American moral actors want in on the theater. While this is a legitimate political engagement, you’d think they could come up with something more creative and effective than a copycat boat trip. I mean, if they want to stop the brutalization of Palestinians by the State of Israel, they should be storming the White House and halls of Congress, or attacking arms manufacturers.
The money they’d save not buying a boat could be donated to the Palestinian Red Crescent, or invested in a serious anti-war campaign.
The money they’d save not buying a boat could be donated to the Palestinian Red Crescent, or invested in a serious anti-war campaign.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Communications Breakdown
I was complaining yesterday about how much trouble it is for me to keep up with all the updates and other changes associated with operating my home computer. It seems like fixing one problem set off a cascade of others, some of which I couldn't even identify.
As I remarked, people who couldn't afford a computer used to go to libraries; then, people who had a computer but couldn't afford Internet access went to libraries; now, people who have computers and access go to libraries because they can't afford tech support.
This morning, my friend in Sausalito had to go to a library because someone stole all the communications cables from the basement of his office complex last night.
As I remarked, people who couldn't afford a computer used to go to libraries; then, people who had a computer but couldn't afford Internet access went to libraries; now, people who have computers and access go to libraries because they can't afford tech support.
This morning, my friend in Sausalito had to go to a library because someone stole all the communications cables from the basement of his office complex last night.
