Shit is Happening

*** Be advised that the word "shit" will be used a LOT in this post interchangeably with corruption, defamation, slander, politics, and so on and so forth. I just don't always have the finger energy to type the larger words. And "shit" sometimes just sounds better. So if you are afraid of a little foul language, stop reading now, there's a shitstorm in the forecast. And my sincere apologies for the three shit's you had to weather reading this. My even sincerer apologies for that fourth one. Get out NOW! There's shit flying everywhere! (Insincere apology for that one.)***

*** I further apologize for the "shit" in the title and the one I just used there. Let's get on with this ____ shall we?

I don't often post about the same topic twice in a row, but this is a case where I am attacking the same topic from two different angles. I was supporting Greta Thunberg in my last post, but this post I'd like to draw some attention to all the inexplicable rage against her. She is proving to be quite a polarizing force on the internet even though I can't quite understand where all the rage is coming from.

Some of the "rage" is just people being loyal to their tribes. They don't believe the shit they're shoveling (I hope), they're only doing it to preserve jobs, reputations and positions in their clubs. For example, a loyal fossil fuel lobbyist will accuse Greta of being alarmist and stirring up disaster anxiety without yet having sufficient evidence to support it. Then asked what will happen if Greta gets what she wants, they will launch into well rehearsed, alarmist diatribes about the economic Armageddon that will be the result of the switch from fossil fuel to alternate sources of power, without having sufficient evidence to support it... and then put a cherry on top of that sophist ice cream cone by calling people who disagree with them hypocrites.

That I understand. It's self-preservation. It's happening a lot with conservative/republican/right wing political leaders who are bought and paid for by big business, particularly in Canada these days, because it's election time and they're all singing for their suppers. Well, maybe not so much singing as shit slinging.

And I understand the parroting of this nonsense by voters and lowly members of the political parties and right wing support groups (a lot more of whom believe the shit they're shoveling through loyalty rather than research). They'll tell you Greta is a highly paid pawn of the evil, multi-trillion dollar alternate energy barons who plan to take over the world. They'll also tell you voting makes a difference because, again, politicians are singing for their supper. They're all telling people that if you don't vote, you have no voice. The majority of people didn't vote last election, they could have changed the result (i.e. Trump or Trudeau). Right around now they're falling just a bit short (or not) of blaming non-voters for the problems of the country. What they may or may not realize is this election, like all the others since I've been alive, is so fixed it's like a heavyweight fight. The two combatants are genuinely fighting so they'll get more fights in the future. Don King owns both fighters, so no matter who wins, he'll do the same thing with them. Don King is owned by the Las Vegas Gaming Commission and he does what they tell him to do. Usually... I wonder if even Don King might have been different if he were ever able to stand up to his bosses. Hmmm...

The reason all of the choices in the Canadian election are shit is the same reason I hate the mudslinging and shit shoveling that is the modern election campaigning: the majority of the bad shit you hear about these candidates is true. The reason they always deteriorate into finding dirt on the enemy, (if they don't just START there), is because there is so much more dirt and so little good to talk about. Well without flat out lying that is.

That is not to say they're all bad now. I believe Trudeau has to fight a few more bouts to have the good uppercutted, jabbed and body-blown completely out of him. Jagmeet Singh is probably so new to the game that he doesn't think he'll be taking any dives yet. Scheer is young too but he knows the game and he's on board with crooked prize fighting. For the right purse I bet he'd take a dive in a pre-election debate for crying out loud. But in the end all good fighters who throw their hats into the (boxing) ring either quit boxing to retain their integrity, honesty, principles and semi-clear consciences, or they do the easy thing: surrender to the dirty and dark side of it and play along with the fight fixing.

Similes... what are they like?!?! Okay in case it hasn't hit you like a George Foreman telephone pole jab, the boxers are the candidates, Don King is the government and the Las Vegas Gaming Commission is made of up the banks and big businesses who sponsor the fights. There is just too much money in politics! And money destroys everything. You can't get into it without coming out with some money muck stuck to you no matter how clean you are.

The recent example of Cho Guk in Korea is a perfect illustration. He has now resigned. He was as squeaky clean as they come here in Korea! That was his brand. And even HE had so many dirty secrets that he had to give up his lifetime of working toward the reform of the legal system here in Korea. The legal system that includes the passing of laws to allow for easier governmental and financial corruption. And now that he's been publicly humiliated and forced to step down as Justice Minister, who will take up the cause? Nobody. For one reason, there IS nobody in politics who is less dirty than Cho Guk, and for reason number two, this is why Cho Guk's dirt was exposed: so he'd step down and the cause of ridding the government and business in Korea of corruption would have no champion. And the whole thing would be quietly forgotten about while corruption rattles on. I wouldn't even be surprised to find out all the charges against him were fabricated by douchebag government and business officials and leaders who wanted to protect their corrupt ways of life. But I wouldn't be surprised to find out they were all true either. Probably less surprised with the latter.

Which brings us to Canada on the eve of election. Don't kid yourselves Canada, all the candidates are dirty. They're shit. Good people don't enter politics or they don't last long before they quit or turn bad. They certainly don't make it to the leadership positions in their parties. I am going to let these guys off the hook a tiny bit and say that the whole social construct of our country has been arranged to perpetuate this. I haven't seen a good candidate in any election in Canada since before I was able to vote and I don't think there's been one. I mean one who would, (and COULD), stand up to the people who really run the country. Incorruptible, unable to be bought, if you can name even one I'll buy you a bucket of poutine. And not the fake kind, I mean the kind with real, dry curd cottage cheese.

And this brings us back to our hero. Greta Thunberg is not just trying to get the corrupt governments of all these corrupt countries like the U.S. and Canada to change, she's also trying to get some young folks interested in changing their entire corruption fostering system while they're kids are, ideally, not yet corrupted.

The above phrase is genius. It can be used for many causes. The governments in countries like Canada, the U.K. and most particularly the U.S. are the best use I can see for it. We are so sold on our shitty systems, which include the quadrennial circuses called elections, that we don't see how silly we look. Obvious mind control going unnoticed. We all complain about our workweeks for example. They're long. We could all use a day off. What about a vacation. Or even a long lunch? Yeah! Shit yeah! We're overworked and underpaid. This is an injustice! I'm outraged!

What about those Europeans trying to get a 4-day workweek? Those ^^^ same people above will say, "Lazy arseholes!"

This is our system. It's cleverly implanted in our upbringing. It is also what insinuates strong concepts of ownership, reproduction, tax paying and consumerism in our brains. But these Big Brother brain washings can be countered if we start early. That's what the Greta Thunberg movement is aiming for long term. And I think THAT is what is scaring the shit (all this shit I've been referring to) out of people. So reaction to fear is very often anger.

I'm not going to just post supporting arguments. Here's someone who disagrees. Just read the first part where you will find this: "But the Greta phenomenon has also involved green lobbyists, PR hustlers, eco-academics, and a think-tank founded by a wealthy ex-minister in Sweden’s Social Democratic government with links to the country’s energy companies. These companies are preparing for the biggest bonanza of government contracts in history: the greening of the Western economies. Greta, whether she and her parents know it or not, is the face of their political strategy."

Then there's this gem about Canadian John McCall MacBain founder of the European Climate Foundation donating almost a million bucks to Trudeau's election campaign. It's supposed to be the "biggest bribery scandal in Canadian history" but not many heard about it until now at election time or shit slinging time.

These things may be true. Maybe there are evil businessmen and women jumping on the soon-to-be profitable greening of the planet. It's inevitable really. This past weekend I was at the veritable MANSION of my family of best friends in Pyeongtaek. It was Heather, Mike and the kids' official housewarming party! It was a fun time and the food was just as good as Thanksgiving, which I missed the Monday before. There was no turkey but check out this chicken!

Now being American, they won't be celebrating Thanksgiving till late November, which seems extremely late, but, I'll help them with their celebrating anyway. I will be dropping in and I will likely eat TWO Thanksgivings worth of their turkey when I do. They're so good to me! Honestly, I don't just like them for the food though. The beer too. lol No, come on! I love those guys. Although, just looking at that chicken... man it was good!

SO anyway...

It was a gorgeous day, unseasonably warm and sunny so I'd say maybe 20 or 30 folks of all ages met to fellowship with the Peet/Spiwaks. This was where I spent most of the party. Even after the sun went down and the temperature dropped to more Canadian levels. The benches and the table were cleverly crafted by Mike and the materials he used were from the construction and installation of the solar panels on the roof on his roof. You can just see the wall on the right side of the pic. That's the top story where the solar panels are.

So I was chatting with one of the guests, I forget his name now, (I just met him that night) and he says he's lived for a few years in a similar unit with similar solar panels and the largest energy bill he's had to pay, in a summer month with air conditioners cooling the entire house, was, are you ready for this?.....……… less than 20 bucks. Alternative sources of energy are becoming cheaper and cheaper too. Sorry, people of Alberta, but this is happening no matter how hard fossil fuel companies try to delay it.

But it IS a good thing. It is NOT something to be scared of. Don't believe the alarmists who will say that Greta is alarmist. Don't believe the corrupt people who will say she's corrupt. Don't believe the greedy who will call her greedy. It's just the bosses of the world transitioning. You know they don't want to leave their cushy, long-term love affair with fossil fuels so they'll try anything to dissuade us from abandoning them for cleaner and greener (not to mention cheaper) sources of energy. But eventually they'll transfer their money into it when they see it is the smarter and fiscally superior thing to do. And when that finally happens, you can bet they'll accept the accolades for helping the environment even though they don't give a shit. Geez I went too long without typing that word.

So the first example is Swedish people investing in green energy. Sure some of them are bad people. In this messed up world, we can't do anything good unless the bad people invest in it. Going back to the Korean example of Cho Guk, Korea's legal system probably would have benefitted from having him as their minister of justice. There's no way to know but I bet he would have made it more transparent and he would have been hated by the rich and crooked of Korea. But he's bad. Koreans didn't want him in that position. And they were right in a way. It should be a good, honest person in that position, but the world is far from perfect. That bad guy might have been their best hope to do some good.

What I'm saying is maybe there are some dirty people associated with the saving of our planet. And when it becomes more profitable there may even be more. Maybe (well definitely) Trudeau is not the best or most honest person for the position of PM in Canada. But he might be the only person able to get a few good things done at this time. Until the revolution comes, we'll just have to depend on the dirty old rulers of the world not to completely turn it into shit.

It's fitting that Greta is Swedish because in Scandinavia they are far ahead of us in this necessary transition. One of the big things, and probably the very first step, is already happening. They have outlawed private schools so as to de-segregate the rich and poor children. This way they will know each other and the ones who become members of government and captains of industry won't feel so disconnected from the poor that they don't mind screwing them so much. The poor will include people they grew up with. In Canada and the U.S. we're going the opposite way. Private schools are on the rise. To say nothing of private prisons. There have been many advancements in Scandinavia that make everybody's lives there better. Their education systems are centuries ahead; they have more equitable legal systems; they have taxation that WORKS; they have government that is not as corrupt and they are very interested in greening our planet. With any luck, Greta's revolution won't just kick our oily, gassy asses into gear with the transition to cleaner energy we could and probably SHOULD be leading the world in, but maybe some of these other things will rub off onto us. We sure could use it! Especially the politics and education!

Just imagine if we had, instead of shit, 4 or 5 candidates to vote for tomorrow that had grown up and been educated in the same schools as us. Imagine maybe even KNOWING one of them personally! Imagine being sure that they cared about us, not just money. Imagine believing what they promise. Imagine them being able to DO what they promise. This can't happen without MASSIVE change in our country and it'll have to begin with the kids.

I hope when I'm dead and gone that Canadians will be able to look back at this time as the start of a cultural revolution by the majority against the greed and injustice of the ruling class. I hope that we will have fair laws and business practices. I hope we will have proper education and at least one or two GOOD politicians every election to vote for. And thanks to people like Greta and events like the worldwide transition to alternative energy, Knock Down the House (and hopefully the impeachment of Trump) I have a little hope. Like Red in Shawshank, I hope. Just a little but I hope.

The Many Faces of Greta

Here's a question: If you press this button, there's a 99% chance nothing will happen and a 1% chance the world will be completely destroyed. You can press it only one time. How much money would you accept to press it?

Here's another question: One person truthfully answers the above question with, "I would never press that button." Another answers truthfully with, "All the money in the world." Who is the more successful person?

There are correct answers for both questions. The correct answer for the first question is the first answer for the second question. "I would never press that button." Ironically, in today's world, the answer to the second question is the person who answered the first question incorrectly.

The person who would risk the entire world to satisfy his/her greed is the person who climbs the corporate ladder, who becomes a captain of industry, who rises to a position of power, and who is elected to a position of leadership. There have been a few notable exceptions, but in general this is the truth about our world.

You may think I'm wrong. You may think that only a person without much love or empathy or social conscience would EVER press that button. You've just described a lot of people who are incredibly successful. So successful that their lack of love, empathy and social conscience is considered their greatest "virtue." And if I gave you a list of those people, you might say, "He has empathy," or "He is married and has kids so he has love." But love, empathy and social conscience are easily enough faked, and in each example you used to object to my proposal, one might list that as their SECOND greatest "virtue." Show me a "successful" man who's only been married once and in all likelihood it'll be one of my few notable exceptions. Or he looks at the portrait of Ben Franklin on the 100 dollar bill, (insert different portrait/currency) with an emotion that, if not for its pure evil, may approximate love, and it's at a strength not shared with any human connections.

These people are sick. They have the most dangerous undiagnosed disease known to man. You don't need to be a doctor to see it. The problem is, most doctors, and for that matter the majority of the medical industry, are in constant exposure to the virus and are therefore at higher risk of catching it than most. Call it "currencitosis," "lucritis," "moolahbola," or just call it the money disease, whatever it's called, it's very real and very dangerous. Look at Martin Shkreli or J. Michael Pearson. Are they healthy, reasonable, clear-minded individuals or are they plagued? For that matter, look at any billionaire. Now, some of them might tell you they don't NEED a billion, but try to take a buck from them in taxes and you'll see genuine attachment, unwillingness to part, you'll see NEED! And that's nothing compared to the whining and complaining you'd hear from right wing "don't tax the rich" political groups.

But seriously, nobody NEEDS a billion dollars because nobody could spend it (reasonably). Give this a read. Is that not an "unimaginable amount of money?"

Relax, this is not going to be another post about Trump although, to mix a metaphor (with a simile) the shoe fits like a glove. The shoe of the money plague, not the billionaire. I don't think he's ever made a billion though I DO believe he's lost that much. I am more concerned with the danger these highly functioning basket cases pose to our society, way of life and even our existence. If you're like me and you think Noam Chomsky might be about the smartest guy alive today, you know with the possible exception of an incurable, highly contagious and very deadly virus (like Moolahbola, which could be the cause of one of the following here), there are two things that are the biggest threats to our existence today: nuclear war and climate change. Nuclear war is not my topic but with the leaders of nuclear capable countries getting dumber and dumber I wouldn't be surprised to witness a nuke before I die. Like I mean just a fraction of a second before I die.

Here's another smart guy who concurs. Yuval Noah Harari said there were three main threats to human existence: nuclear war, climate change and technological disruption. I don't think the robots are going to kill us, but there's another noted intellectual who is worried about climate change. And (he just keeps coming up!) of course it's Trump as his foil. Another UN embarrassment too. Remember that when the world leaders all laughed at his made up list of his accomplishments? That was a good chuckle for me too.

There is an overwhelming consensus that the earth is warming and in the extreme likelihood that the causes are man made. Like a 97% consensus of publishing scientists according to this. But to be fair, there are some scientists who disagree. And here they are. It's not a very long list and it's not growing. The science is not 100%. That's the point here. But it seems to me, the more salient point is if all 97% are wrong and we go with them and cut back on pollution, the result is a cleaner planet and (boo hoo) some super rich fossil fuel companies losing some money. Whereas, if we go with the minority in the face of great odds against, and continue irresponsibly polluting our planet and burning fossil fuels so those companies can make more money to throw on their impossibly massive piles, the result could be the end of the world. It seems like the no-brainer here is to play it safe. In January last year the Doomsday Clock was changed to two minutes to midnight. Can we change our focus away from making money and concentrate on survival yet?

Well, not according to some, and I'll get to them later, but I think you might have guessed who the star of this post was going to be. I used a quote from a young girl named Greta Thunberg above, did you notice? It was the unimaginable amount of money comment. I find her story so delicious I am compelled to write about, not to say "sing it from the mountain tops!"

First of all she has Asperger's Syndrome and calls it her superpower. Some of the symptoms may be difficulty with social interaction, hypersensitivity to sensory assault like loud noises or crowds, trouble changing routine, repetitive behavior, challenges with empathy and extreme focus on specific topics of interest. Well I think she might have that last symptom. Her extreme focus on calling out global governments on their climate change apathy has lead to thousands, even MILLIONS of people protesting worldwide. Here's a pic from my country:

They estimate half a million marched in Montreal on Friday. That's the biggest strike in the history of that city. And guess who was there braving the loud noise and crowd:

She got the key to the city and I heard Schwarzenegger lent her his electric car to drive there. Prime Minister Trudeau met with her and promised a 3 billion dollar climate fund if re-elected. Liz May was there and Jagmeet Singh marched in Victoria. Scheer didn't march, rather he used the opportunity to call Trudeau a hypocrite saying he is also funding the Trans Mountain Pipeline. Well if you read my blog you'll know that Trudeau HAS to build that pipeline because of a deal Scheer's hero and Canada's worst PM ever Stephen Harper made. I'm sure he knows that but it's election time so tell some lies and sling some mud. Asshole comment of the day was won by Maxime Bernier who has always portrayed climate activism as "alarmist," when he described Thunberg as "clearly mentally unstable."

Not long before this, on Sept. 23, Greta spoke at a UN climate summit scolding world leaders saying, "How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood." And then, "You say you hear us and that you understand the urgency, but no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that. Because if you really understood the situation and still kept on failing to act, then you would be evil and that I refuse to believe." I dunno. I'm a bit older and more jaded than our Greta and I believe there might be a touch of evil here...

Trump, who pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement, endured maybe 15 minutes of this summit before leaving, and has made countless anti-environment moves as POTUS, got this now famous look from Greta:

In January of this year, Greta was in the Swiss Alps at a World Economic Forum in Davos where she did the same thing. "Some people, some companies, some decision-makers in particular have known exactly what priceless values they have been sacrificing to make unimaginable amounts of money, and I think many of you here today belong to that group of people." Journalist and climate activist Naomi Klein said of Greta, "It takes deep courage to go to Davos and tell the masters of the universe to their faces that they knowingly torched the planet to become filthy rich." Greta met Jane Goodall at this summit. Check out the difference in facial expression!

Australian PM Scott Morrison is one of Greta's detractors. He says she is causing "needless climate anxiety." Like a good politician, his speech at the recent UN climate summit was at times true, at times misleading and at times false. He's a big supporter of fossil fuel companies. And I wonder what the Chinese, by FAR the world's most notorious ignorers of climate change, are going to do with all that land they're buying up down undah!

Maxime Bernier has long been a proponent of the oil and gas industries and proposes to inexplicably "reduce corporate welfare" by reducing taxes on fossil fuel corporations, which is corporate welfare. He says he believes the climate is changing but that CO2 is just food for plants. He says a carbon tax would have zero impact on the climate. To employ some Trumpian sarcasm, I just can't imagine why he wouldn't like Grata Thunberg.

And you knew we'd get back to him, Donald future ex-president Trump doesn't like her either. The guy who four times said he didn't know there were category five hurricanes while category five hurricanes became part of his presidential duties. The guy who may have done more for the fossil fuel industry than anyone in the last 3 years. The guy who was ready to go to war when somebody bombed his oil buddies and some of his best, hard cash paying customers, Saudi Arabia. He says, with heavy sarcasm, "She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future."

Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Unless it's digital. I think she does have a bright future. And I think she will contribute to something that IS wonderful! And I'm not talking about the Nobel Prize she's nominated for and Trump isn't. I mean a huge increase in international awareness and action on saving our planet. And she will continue, as a 16-year-old kid, dressing down these adults acting like children and giving them the verbal spankings they deserve. "Shame on you! NO NO NO! That's a BAD billionaire!" And even though she has a condition that limits things like social interaction and empathy, she will school these money-addled social deviants on how to behave like the responsible leaders they're supposed to be. If a child can overcome these drawbacks, even use them for good, surely these adults using the similar antisocial symptoms they acquired through their love of money, can transform them from evil greed to the superpower of climate activism.

"And a child shall lead them." In that scripture verse the "them" includes wolves, leopards and lions! Greta Thunberg is taking on a massive challenge. And I say MORE POWER TO HER!

Tribalism

Here's a great example of tribalism. This dude was totally busted! Corey Lewandowski blasting Alisyn Camerota (who has read the Mueller Report) for believing "scores of legal experts" (who have read the Mueller Report) citing many examples of obstruction of justice, including at least two that this bum was involved in. He tells her she should read page um er uh whatever page it was that, um, I'm told states that there was no collusion or obstruction. Then he admits he hasn't read it. He then finds out that SHE HAS! And it doesn't say there was no collusion or obstruction. Quite the opposite. Does that take any wind out of his argumentative sails? NO! He doubles down!

"The members of congress were very clear about what was in that report yesterday." Well by that he means heavily biased members of the Trump tribe were very clear about what the other members of the tribe have agreed to SAY the Mueller Report is about. Seemples! "No collusion! No obstruction!" No need to read it yourself or discover the truth. Just listen to the boss.

So then Alisyn says there were 10 examples of obstruction of justice. He is ready to argue to the death that there were NOT because that's what he was told by some Trump flunkies. She offers to show them and then the most beautiful exhibit of his mindless tribal loyalty: After the pot calls the kettle black (he says SHE's being disingenuous - pretending to know something she doesn't) she shows the 10 examples. He says, "You're going to put the Mueller Report on the screen? Okay put it up there. That's NOT the Mueller Report." So he is acting as though he will accept nothing less than direct quotes from the report to believe her side while he has just admitted that he believes what HIS tribe has told him without ever having seen the Mueller Report. And let's face it, if he were shown direct quotes from the original Mueller Report with Bob Mueller's sweat and coffee stains on it, he would still not be moved. THAT'S tribalism.

I'll give you another ism. And before you dismiss it, please read it through. It might surprise you. Encyclopedia Britannica includes this in their definition of Nazism: an anti-intellectual and atheoretical movement, emphasizing the will of the charismatic dictator as the sole source of inspiration of a people and a nation, as well as a vision of annihilation of all enemies of the Aryan Volk as the one and only goal of Nazi policy. If you're wondering, as I was, "volk" just means people. Folks. Another word for tribe.

Think about Trumpism now. Definitely anti-intellectual! Read my last post and all doubts of that will wash away… unless you are of his tribe already. Atheoretical. No real theory behind it. I don't know how charismatic you find Trump, but he's a dick tater for sure. And his will is the sole source of inspiration amongst his... uh... volk. I will give other examples. The annihilation of all non-whites? Maybe not yet. But there is plenty of solid evidence that Trump is a white supremacist. His father, his hero and a guy who gave him enough money to buy himself god status in the head of a boy who likes nothing better, or possibly nothing other, was a member of the KKK and was even arrested during a protest. Right now he's close (again) to fighting a war with Iran because they may have bombed Saudi Arabia. See if anybody stops him even though it's a seriously stupid idea.

Remember about a dozen Trump Tribe scandals ago when he put his Sharpie to that map of the projected course of Hurricane Dorian? Well here's Wilbur Ross being a good tribemate. He threatened the jobs and livelihoods of members of NOAA after they corrected Trump's ignorant rantings that Alabama better prepare for the hurricane. The workers at NOAA were telling people that they didn't need to panic or store food and water or evacuate or other things people do in a false hurricane panic. They were doing their jobs. But they were contradicting the dictator of the Trump Tribe and their correctness needed to be corrected. You see how this works?

Remember several dozen Trump Tribe scandals previous to that when the Don made Bill Barr his new Attorney General? Barr had already written a 19-page tribal dance, which I read, and here is a fairly good summary of how moronic it was. I am not a lawyer but while reading this piece of obvious ass-suckery, I noticed one main Joseph Hellerian, Jonathan Swiftian, piece of sophistry written in fairly skilled legalese that could easily be missed. A perfect circle of logic that proceeds thusly: Donald Trump cannot be convicted of illegally obtaining his office of president, indeed any such attempt would be "disastrous" as would the characterization of any of his presidential acts as "obstruction of justice" by virtue of the fact that he IS the president making the manner in which he obtained or maintains the office irrelevant because the office transcends the law. This was just Bill Barr being a good Trump Tribesman.

Doug Stanhope says a lot of things about American people that are funnily accurate. People work 5 days to relax for two. They all hate it but anyone who hasn't, why, they haven't worked a day in their lives! They're proud of living a life they hate. Hard workers vs. people who don't work hard. Tribes. He says that Americans could vote on anything stupid like coffee or tea. Coffee would win. Probably 80 percent coffee and 19% tea. They'd fight for their choices too! But only the one percent say, "What? Who the hell cares?" And that's the right answer! They are trained to be tribal.

If you think tribalism is limited to the US, or if you think it's a new thing, I've got news for you! You may have noticed that reference I threw in last paragraph to Jonathan Swift. In the early 1700's he was writing satire about the politics and religion of England. (and France I guess) Most of you have heard of Gulliver's Travels and I bet a lot of you know of the country of Lilliput and its tiny people. But you may not have heard of Blefuscu or the Big-Endians and Little-Endians. Whigs and Tories, Catholic and Protestant, Swift equated the differences to about as important as how you break a boiled egg. Do you break it at the big end or little end. People formed tribes according to their preferences and many wars were fought.

Nowadays you walk down the street wearing a green shirt but that neighbourhood supports a red shirt football team, you'll get your ass kicked. Post game hooligan fights. Tribalism!

These days in Korea we are seeing tribalism at its finest. The party in power has recently appointed a new Minister of Justice named Cho Guk. But not without controversy. It appears that some skeletons have come out of his closet to create some phony outrage amongst the politicians and people, most or all of whom have MUCH scarier (and probably many MORE) monsters in THEIR closets you can bet. People are protesting, calling for his resignation, even shaving their heads, not because they think he's an unjust minister of justice, (hell, they've all done worse than what he's accused of) but I think it's mostly for two other reasons: one being to point fingers at another person with the hopes that you are assumed to be innocent of the crime you are condemning in that other individual (but of course you aren't), and the other being that he is a member of an opposing tribe, or political party.

Here is a very good summary of it. I have disagreed with Jason Lim in the past, but I think he's gotten it right this time. I was told by one of my students that many other people were considered for the position and all turned it down. Why? Because of the secrets that are exposed in the vetting process. I doubt they'd be able to find anyone with fewer than Cho Guk. And the people protesting would undoubtedly do the same or worse if they were in his shoes. I've worked in some of the most reputable universities in Korea and they're all corrupt. I've been asked countless times to help people cheat for educational or employment purposes. I've seen teachers helping students on standardized tests. I've been ordered to commit academic fraud. The education system is rife with cheating. I think I've mentioned before that I haven't given a test or even played a game (and we're talking well over a thousand tests and games here) without at least one person trying to cheat. Koreans are cheaters when it comes to education and from my experience the same goes for business. Like the Chinese, they blame it on the huge population and competition. Whatever the case may be, what Cho Guk did was the equivalent of nothing here really. Given his status and wealth, it's a bloody miracle he's cheated so little!

So why the outrage? Or the "fake" outrage as I've called it. The magnificent irony of it all is that the one-word answer is the very manufactured distraction that will be the highest hurdle in Cho Guk's stated mission of reforming the legal and political systems of Korea: tribalism.

I certainly can't leave my home and native land out of this post. It's election time in Canada. Tribalism's birthday. As usual I haven't taken much time to go through the candidates in enough detail to tell you which are the giant douches and which are the turd sandwiches. But I do know enough about them to not waste a vote on them. I'll tell you what though, if Cho Guk and Moon Jae In (the president of Korea) really DO take a bite out of corruption in Korea and it's not just a Xi Jin Pingian attempt to get rid of their political opponents under the GUISE of fighting corruption, I'll take a lot more interest in THEIR careers! We've had one politician in Canada that I know of since I was born who was actually like that. If another one comes around who genuinely wants to fight the deeply entrenched corruption and collusion between our politicians and our large industry and financial institutions, I'll support him/her. The sad thing is, that ship has probably sailed. Even the least corruptible Canadian who throws his/her hat in the ring will have a(n) Herculean task just to make it 4 years without losing self-respect.

I believe it's because, as in the US, people don't fully understand politics until they are deep in it. At that time they recognize that they don't have as much power to change things as they'd believed. In Canada we have two main parties, like most places. Ever wonder why that is? Because they do the same things. There's no creativity at all. The conservative parties make laws. Laws that benefit the rich. They sign contracts, treaties and business deals (with our tax money) that benefit the rich. Much of which the public doesn't know about or doesn't want.

But then it's the liberal party to the rescue, right? That's what we think. But they can't change much or any of the crap the conservative party did while they were in power. So they try to do things that LOOK liberal like increase immigration and create jobs. Unfortunately this also helps the rich. You might think the rich only vote for the conservatives and hate the liberal parties, but in reality, they are in such total control that they don't much care. Let me splain.

Remember when there were lots of good jobs? Like 40,000 bucks a year for example. Something a Canadian could survive on. Those jobs are disappearing because big businesses don't want to pay that much. Or pay benefits. Or pay anyone overtime or full time for that matter. So they don't. They divide a 40,000 a year job into two 20,000 a year or even better three 13,333 a year jobs. HEY you know what that is? It's "job creation!" At least that's what the politician take credit for. Canadians don't want to just eke by on 20,000 a year and CAN'T on 13,333. But people from other countries like China or India can!

How can a politician change this? They really can't. I think Justin Trudeau seems to be a good fella. He doesn't want to do a lot of things he's doing or break promises he's breaking, he has to. He promised not to build a pipeline to the west coast but he didn't know about Harper's 39 year deal with the Chinese. He can't get out of that so he has a choice: Build the pipeline and break the promise or lose a lawsuit to China and give them taxpayer's money instead of their contractually promised oil. People like him who had big dreams broken by the reality of Canadian politics eventually learn to drink or do drugs and just ease into the corruption. Do you suppose this is why he finally legalized marijuana?

And as if to support my blog post, the most followed meme of the day is a picture of Trudeau from his youth when he performed in an Arabian Knights play in "brown face" (which I didn't even know was a thing). Mysteriously popping up at election time and even though he has immigrant and refugee intake records of 1% a year during his term as PM (which is huge) one picture from his past makes him the devil. Recovering alcoholic: "I'm four years sober." Canada: "Hey good for you!" Trudeau: "I performed in brown face but have four years of stellar treatment of foreigners since." Canada: "Get thee behind me Satan!" Tribalism! I am sure he'll lose votes for this though. Do you see how it works? I mean after four years of reverse Robin Hood tax cuts and law changes taking from the poor and benefitting the rich this is like a Trump supporter voting for Liz Warren or Bernie Sanders because at some point in the year 2005, Trump didn't have Grey Poupon mustard in his fridge. Incidentally folks, he did this in Canada, not Greenbow A LA BAM A! Lighten up ffs! I am now scared to go as The Hulk on Halloween lest my "greenface" offend green people. And I can't run for office because when I was 7 I went as Aunt Jemima for Halloween. And, yes, my Mom darkened my face. That picture pops up on the internet and my political career is over before it begins!

What then is the purpose of this mindless tribalism? Why are we encouraged to pick a side and support them without knowing who or what we're voting for? Bear with me a bit longer. You might have noticed my reference above to the great Joseph Heller. You may know him as the author of "Catch 22," a classic and one of my faves. But he also wrote something called "Picture This," which is about the beginnings of democracy in ancient Greece. Like me, Heller considers politics nothing more than a spectator sport in that we are not participating, only watching our so-called democracies. The deterioration and corruption started as soon as the phenomenon was invented. "The motion in the Athenian assembly to invade Syracuse was deceitful, corrupt, chauvinistic, stupid, irrational and suicidal. It passed by a huge majority." This is one of the best lines from the book. Heller says that it is easier for government to create wars (us vs them, the ultimate tribalism) than to administer the domestic problems of society. The foremost task of the leader is to manipulate the emotions of the people and their only purpose is to keep their jobs.

Where did things go wrong? Well, Heller believes that human weakness is the answer to that. It was always expected that the captains of industry would control their democratic countries. What was also expected was that they would be men of integrity and once they had accumulated enough wealth, they'd concentrate their efforts on the public good. We're still patiently waiting for that to happen. I guess they haven't yet accumulated enough wealth. In 380 BC Plato said "All societies we know of are governed by the selfish interests of the ruling class." The illusion of participation in governance is all the rest are allowed. And a clever strategic part of that illusion is tribalism. We are encouraged to vote and choose sides and debate and even argue over politics if only for its legitimization. The legitimization of politics and our false participation in it distracts from the reality that we are all just victims of varying degrees of its corruption.

As for the idea that one person or even a group could come along and clean things up, well Heller and I agree on that too. He says, "There’s no system I can envision that would elevate to office the kind of people that we would like to see elevated."

More Idiot Than Asset

I heard from my 7:30 student this past Monday morning that Donald Trump MUST be smart if he's the CEO of this and the owner of that! It was a gut shot! Have I taught these men NOTHING?

Let's start off like this again: Please read this. It won't be difficult. If you're like me, once you start, you won't be able to stop. It's just too bad it is so short! I'm sure there is much more to be added, but not for free. The stories of Nikola Trumpsla's intellectual inadequacies will fill volumes even if (please GOD) he is only a one term president. If anybody around the Whitehouse found him useful, not excluding his family members who work there, he probably wouldn't be relegated to the golf course so often. 60% of his time at the Whitehouse (so that's not including golf time) is what has been euphemistically labeled "executive time."

Here's the Daily Show take on it. Watch the whole thing. It's worth it.

Trevor Noah has the president figured out. Until he loses (again please GOD) in 2020, just keep him far away from major issues lest he fuck up something that can't be unfucked. "I'm cool with OTHER presidents working hard, but I don't want MY little guy hurting his brain. Safety first."

If you run down what we know about his daily life, it's chilling. He says himself that he checks in with Fox News a LOT! With Sean Hannity nearly every weeknight. He does an inordinate amount of tweeting. On average 11 to 12 a day. Usually calling people names if they disagree with him. He watches a LOT of TV, including both Fox News and the "fake news." As mentioned, he golfs a ton. And, unsurprisingly, the "Commander in Cheat" cheats. 

Subtract toilet time, meals and sleep and he really can't have a whole lot of presidential stuff to prepare for. Yet he STILL manages to mess THAT up too. Use some of that time to learn how to pronounce hard words, get the names of people, countries and trails right, (there is no Tallahassee Trail) study hurricane strengths and trajectories, discover that you are not smarter than science, read, try it, it can only help. What in the wide, wide world of sports is stopping this lunatic from at least boning up on Russia and U.S./Russia relations? Doesn't this compulsive liar know that he is on trial for colluding with the Russians, he borrowed money from the Russians because banks don't lend him money any more so he NEEDS to lie and details make the lie? He constantly lies and still isn't good at it! People are already pretty sure of collusion. He's either a Russian asset or a useful idiot. There's that word again. If he were to take the stand in his trial on Russian collusion, he would lie, but not believably. Study, Donald, study!You don't have to read boring stuff like politics, that job you pretend to do, maybe you could read a story of a war hero or two. That way you could use some of the plot points to cover up your family history of military cowardice. You ARE supposed to be leading a country that doesn't much like that.

Wow, now I'm talking at Trump. He has that ability to bring out the frustration in you! Just ask Tony Schwartz. You may not know who that is, but you should. He's the guy who wrote "The Art of the Deal," NOT Donald Trump although Schwartz says over the years, he believes Donald Trump has convinced himself that he DID write the book. And if you ask Tony Schwartz, he's very worried that Trump will get his hands on the nuclear codes and that it will lead to the end of civilization. He feels a bit like Dr. Frankenstein being at least a little responsible for creating this monster. He believes Donald Trump will, and does, lie about anything. He equates his ghostwriting of the book as "putting lipstick on a pig." If he could change the title of the book, he says he'd call it, "The Sociopath."

He credits Trump with an unbelievably short attention span and doesn't believe he's read an entire book in his life although Ivana Trump claimed he kept a copy of "My New Order," Adolph Hitler's collected speeches in a cabinet beside his bed. Schwartz couldn't get information through interviews because Trump quickly got bored, so he was allowed to monitor Trump's calls and shadow him. He found that not intelligence, skill, or business savvy, but Trump's complete lack of conscience about lying, among other things, (plus a whole lot of his father's money and influence) gave him a strange advantage in business. And when challenged about his lies, he would double down and become angry and belligerent. Sound familiar?

In "The Art of the Deal," Trump described his father and massive benefactor, Fred Trump, as being born in New Jersey of Swedish parents. Recently, to Angela Merkel, he said his father was born in Germany. In fact, his father was born in the Bronx of Scottish and Bavarian parents. Whatever sounds better!

At the time, Schwartz noticed that Trump was cheating on Ivana with Marla Maples. He also noticed he spent very little time with his family and had no friends. "He's a transactional man - it was all about what you could do for him." He concluded the above article in the New York Times by saying, "If Trump is elected President, the millions of people who voted for him and believe that he represents their interests will learn what anyone who deals closely with him already knows—that he couldn’t care less about them.”

More recently, the New York Times has looked into Donald Trump's past taxes ('85-'94) and found a lot of interesting things! During the writing of the above book, Trump was DEEP in the red. This is why its own author refers to the book as a work of fiction. In the above ten years, according to IRS figures, Trump LOST 1.17 Billion dollars, which was more than almost any other single businessman. This means he was statistically, (almost) the worst businessman in America!

Trump is famous for claiming that he turned a small 1 million dollar loan from his father into an empire worth billions. The NY Times also found that he had inherited at LEAST 413 million dollars from his father. But the Washington Post has reported him going on a cash spending spree of 400 million in 2018. Where did he get that cash infusion? In a word: Russia.

Okay, I've given you a lot of reading to do. But to sum up, THIS is what all the glacially slow investigations into Trump will discover if they too aren't corrupt: He isn't, nor has he ever been a good businessman. He has remained rich due only to borrowed money from his old man, banks and Russia. Nobody knows how much he borrowed but he has lost almost as much. Why? Because he's a colossal IDIOT! Don't fall for his self-promotion. One of the only mysteries about him remaining is will he burn through the Russian cash before he eventually lands in prison?

Time will tell.

Unfortunately for the world, that other mystery, the one Trevor Noah and I am most concerned about, the un-unfuckable legacy worry remains. He's trying to make his mark. Everything he tries to do that, in his own little egotistical world, he thinks only HE is capable of doing, like making America great again, bringing peace and "total de-nuclearization" to the Koreas, changing global climate, rerouting hurricanes, and ending the war in Afghanistan, he fails at. With the next US election less than 14 months away, the world should be collectively shaking in terror wondering how this twit will "make his mark" on mankind before his tenure as president ends. Will he drop a nuclear bomb on a hurricane? Discover that pot is legal in Canada, conclude that there are "lots of bad people" to the north, declare war on Canada and build a Canadian border wall? Bomb Iran in some area where there is no oil? Pass legislation that allows fracking on the San Andreas Fault? Forget to remove his KKK hood before making an internationally televised speech on global co-operation? Give Putin the nuclear codes for his birthday? Purchase the stock market, then immediately declare bankruptcy? Appoint Ivanka Queen of the World?  Maybe because he's paranoid that Melania will run away with Justin Trudeau, he'll initiate a secret NASA program to bring the moon closer to the earth a la Jimmy Stewart. He'll fuck it up, of course, and the moon will crash into the earth causing complete devastation and ushering in the Apocalypse. Who knows what this imbecile is capable of?

Even though he doesn't do much, every day there is news about him that makes us wonder how he remains in his unearned position of so much power. He's like a monkey flying a plane. He might be okay while he's in the air, but eventually he'll need to land that aircraft. Will he accept help from a pilot or will he say, "Hey man, get away from me, I can land this thing. I am a fine pilot. Tremendous! The best!"

Time will tell.

Now go to sleep little ones. Sweet dreams!

Korea/Japan Trade War

Well evidently Korea didn't get the message when I suggested they shake hands and get back to business. Now, my last post may have been a bit harshly written, here's a very tactful and tastefully written account of the current trade war between Korea and Japan. Gregg A. Brazinsky is a teacher at George Washington U., he's written his thesis and a book on Korean history, so he's one of those non Koreans who knows more about Korea than Koreans. Though he speaks Chinese and Korean and looks like he may have Asian blood (with a name like Brazinsky it's gotta be only on the Mother's side) so he may NOT be, but his ability to face the truths that are hidden by both sides of the issues suggests to me that he has no skin (or blood) in the game. Hence, a more objective point of view.

I have shared this article in its entirety with a few of my students and they have all reacted very positively. They are astounded at the knowledge Gregg (and I) have about Korea. They genuinely don't think foreigners care enough to learn that much about a foreign country let alone Korea. One of my students ordered his book. It is really encouraging to see Koreans who can force themselves to look beyond the propaganda and politics and face reality. The general public in Korea is far too willing to get sucked in by anti-Japanese rhetoric spouted by politicians desperate to raise their approval ratings among others. "Japan sucks" is Korea's equivalent of "Support the troops" in the U.S. Or "Who wants Tim Hortons?" in Canada. Pretty much unquestioned support. But if Korea's not careful, this is going to bite them in the arse.

Recent events have illustrated that despite their position as the 11th largest economy in the world, Korea's dependence on Japan remains absolute. Japan withholds, in fact, they only have to THREATEN to withhold three chemicals necessary to the semi-conductor, tech, phone, tablet, high tech gizmo industry and within days the tech market destabilizes, the Korean currency loses 5% of its value, chip prices spike, and people panic about their phones being more expensive or harder to get. On one hand Korea should feel proud that the world is so dependent on THEM for their gadgets, but on the other hand, the clear message was that messing with Japan could jeopardize your economy. While you are still dependent upon them, you don't have that luxury.

So what was the Korea reaction? Did they start pursuing diversification even though Japan is close, convenient and comfortable? I haven't seen that yet. Did they say, "Sorry Japan, sorry. We didn't mean to embarrass you by forcing you to pay a pittance to some guys you subjected to slavery during WWII." Nope. Did they say, "Okay, we need to learn from the forefathers we imagine we are honouring by pissing Japan off and separate our history from our economy and work with the Japanese to make Korea economically prosperous?" Don't think so. The collective reaction of Koreans inexplicably seems to have been, "Poke the bear and it hurts our country? Well then let's poke the bear even MORE!"

The key line in the above article states, "For a more peaceful and prosperous future, countries must contend with history - no matter how ugly." See what I mean he's tactful? He doesn't even say KOREA needs to deal with their history, he says "countries." But it comes to bear. There are many countries that have had severe atrocities committed against them and are now doing business with the country that wronged them. Vietnam is doing business with the U.S. and Korea. 50% of Samsung phones are made there. Yet if you read about the atrocities committed during the Vietnam War by Koreans against Vietnamese, it is chillingly similar to what Koreans suffered from Japan. And much more recently!

So what needs to happen? How can Korea "deal with their history?" Just forgive and forget? That's not likely or even possible. Why not? What are the Koreans' feelings about what needs to happen? If you follow the story it's usually the same thing. In 1965 with Park Chung Hee and later with his daughter Park Geun Hye, the problem was that Korean individuals didn't get a voice. They didn't get any of the money either. Or for that matter a believable apology. But let's concentrate on the voice part because I think that is the key to solving this historical mess and getting these countries back to making money together instead of a trade war of attrition.

You see, I believe the people who suffered the atrocities DID have a voice. A fucking strong one! I think they sent an incredibly clear message. It just hasn't really been recognized by Koreans because they are so bent on punishing Japan by working against them. They are not honouring their forefathers in this way no matter how genuinely they believe they are. And this is not ME, a white guy, trying to tell Koreans what their forefathers wanted, this is me telling Koreans that it wasn't just the Japanese who weren't listening.

Read the article. If you don't get the message from the Korean victims of Japanese atrocities, read it again. It'll come to you. It should be pretty loud and clear. What did they do immediately after the war? Did they pursue vengeance on the hated Japanese? No. They actually worked with them. For 20 years! Because they didn't want to leave a poor country to their children. Then in 1965 when the Japanese agreed to normalization payments in exchange for Koreans foregoing any further claims for wartime or colonial atrocities, what did they do? They worked with the Japanese for ANOTHER 20 years. People who were raped, tortured, forced to adopt a foreign culture and forget their own, worked for nothing, put that all aside. They were silent for 40 years! But in that 40 years the Korean economic miracle occurred and by cooperating with the Japanese, Koreans had made a prosperous country and a bright future for their families. I can't imagine being tortured or raped or living in a forced labour camp, but I don't imagine it would be much less suffering (if any) going to work every day and smiling at the war criminals who have brought such suffering onto you and your peers... for 40 years!

There is no debating it, the economy of Korea was a LOT more important to the generation that suffered under the yoke of Japanese mistreatment than was the mistreatment. What they clearly wanted was to make a country that is peaceful and prosperous so such things wouldn't happen ever again. I don't think you need to be a(n) historian, or a Korean to pick that up. I read them.

The question is, do Koreans read them? It appears they don't. Let me just run down the list of actions that have been taken or promised recently by Koreans that could jeopardize and/or diminish the business relationship their forefathers have built for them. The government of Korea has removed Japan from the Korean equivalent of the Japanese white list, their "fast track list of trading partners." They have threatened to pull out of GSOMIA, a military intelligence sharing agreement with Japan. The agreement ends in November and Korea says they won't renew. 2 self-immolations. Seoul demanded a Japanese war ship take down the rising sun flag or be barred from port. Also they are demanding that flag not be displayed at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. There is even talk of Korea boycotting those Olympics. Seoul is planning to tighten travel and food restrictions for the Fukushima area for fear of radiation poisoning. Including Olympic events held there and Olympic foods from there. And boycotts of clothes, beer, cars, travel, even fuel. And it seems like almost daily there are new battles in the war.

I'll tell you what else happens daily, I wake up dreading to see what I saw in 1997 when I was here, the Korean won value cut in half. All THAT required was an IMF credit rating downgrade. If Japan cuts economic ties with Korea, I think it might have the same effect.

The people in Korea and Japan who need to kiss and make up have never committed atrocities against one another. Practically all the victims are dead. There are like 3 comfort women and 10 guys who did forced labour for Nippon Steel and Mistubishi I think. And they're not working any more. So it should be a lot easier for Koreans and Japanese to get along. Maybe in a decade or two Korea will be so rich they can eliminate their dependence on Japan. THEN they'll have fun lobbing "face" grenades like the above court hearing at the Japanese. I would enjoy seeing it then. I still think Japan has the chosen-by-God chip on their shoulder and they could stand to lose a little face from time to time to keep them honest. By the way, the court ruling for those 10 workers was about 100,000 dollars each for their slave labour. Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel were fine with it. A million bucks is absolutely nothing to them. But it was the government and Shinzo Abe who refused to pay. To save "face."

But Korea just can't afford to be doing stuff like this if it will sink their economy. So the best course of action right now is to stop with the historical bickering. Put it aside like their forefathers taught them to do. Work their asses off until they earn independence. THEN they won't be so vulnerable when they take nationalistic actions.

It's easy to say. Hard to do. But not nearly so hard as what Korean old-timers put themselves through to establish this, the 11th largest economy in the world. Koreans would do well to keep that in mind.

Japan and Korea Need To Keep History and Business Separate

So here you go, read this, and it'll give you an idea of how some things between the big three Asian countries, Korea, China and Japan, are not getting any less complicated or despicable than they have been throughout history. A hundred million dollar sex trade and the girls are prostituted for as little as 5 bucks each? That works out to a lot of girls! Some as young as 9 and they're beaten too. The kicker in this story is the line, "South Korean companies want North Korean prostitutes for their businessmen" (when they're visiting China). Bunch of hermits... For centuries over here there have been two reasons to live: rape and pillage. The people of all three countries like to pretend that has changed, but has it really?

For over two thousand years the peoples of China, Korea, and Japan lived mostly at peace with each other and developed similar institutions, values, and customs. Tools, techniques and material goods as well as ideas were shared by China, Korea, and Japan and adapted to local circumstances to become distinctive parts of a common culture. Techniques of wetland rice agriculture became the basis of prosperity and cultural development throughout East Asia; illiteracy was dispelled by the spread of Chinese writing; Buddhism became the principal religion throughout the area; and Confucianism deeply influenced social and political institutions and eventually became the official state cult in all three countries. Indications of a shared culture are readily apparent as well in the literature, art and architecture of the three countries. The structure and appearance of public buildings, landscape painting, Buddhist sculpture, ceramic ware, and poetry in the pre-modern era is immediately recognizable as variations on common themes and techniques. But despite the similarities between the three nations, harmony was just not in the cards. Too much raping and pillaging to be done.

 If you go back as far as the 12th century and Genghis Khan's conquest of parts of China and all of Korea, there are stories told of his brutality. But it was tactical brutality designed to scare the next enemies into early surrender to save work. And it was during a time when there was little of what we nowadays call "refinement" to be found anywhere in Asia, much less the nomadic, horse breeding, blood-thirsty, arak drunk barbarians of Mongolia. (a description that would bring them no shame.) “The greatest joy a man can know is to conquer his enemies and drive them before him. To ride their horses and take away their possessions, to see the faces of those who were dear to them bedewed with tears, and to clasp their wives and daughters in his arms.” Genghis Khan. This reminds me of what Arnie says in the movie "Conan the Barbarian" when asked what is best in life.

Both were proud barbarians. The last part only intimates rape but we know what he means - wink wink nudge nudge.

Stalin killed an estimated 20 million people. That's more than the Nazis. Genghis Khan easily doubled that. He was the richest man of his time through his pillage and he is estimated to have impregnated over 1000 women. I doubt he had time, what with all the conquering and pillaging, to take them all out for dinner beforehand. If you know what I'm saying. 16 million people, that's half a percent of the population of the world, are direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Spread all over Asia and Europe. You could say he got around. It was recorded that after every victory over a territory the Mongols attacked, Genghis got his choice of the girls. The rest were raped by the victorious soldiers. He died in 1227, probably of an STD or pure exhaustion. But that was then. Things got more civilized afterward, didn't they?

What about Japan? Didn't Genghis conquer that conspicuously close and rich island? He didn't. His expertise was on the ground. He hated the water. It is possible that he never boarded a boat of any kind even while crossing rivers during his conquests. But Kublai gave it a whirl. He gave it TWO whirls. The Chinese, Mongolian and Korean soldiers under Kublai Khan twice tried to sack Japan and pillage their riches and rape their women, but twice were thwarted. Not by superior Japanese warfare but freak storms. The divine winds the Japanese called "Kamikaze," helped the inferior Japanese repel the most powerful military the world has ever seen not once but twice. The Japanese have had a "chosen-by-the-gods" chip on their shoulders ever since.

China's Sinocentrism, the belief that China is the center of the cultural, political and economic world was pretty well known at the time. The Chinese characters for "China" are the characters for center and country. Only China had an emperor, or son of heaven, the rest of the world had only kings. The Japanese use of the term "heavenly emperor" was actually a factor in some of the disputes between the two countries. But the Brits of all people (and a few Yanks too) weakened the power of China in the Opium wars of the mid 1800's. It also lost them money and caused the people to believe China had lost the support of the gods. Then came the Boxer Rebellion. All this turmoil made China ripe for some more raping and pillaging courtesy of the Japanese.

In the late 1500's Korea found themselves in the unenviable position of being a virtual runway to war between China and Japan. Any dispute between the two just naturally went through Korea. Once the Japanese warlords were finished trying to decide who was the most favoured of the people chosen by the gods and stopped killing, raping and pillaging each other in their own country for a while, they were united by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the feudal lords were ordered to attack Ming Dynasty China (by way of Korea of course) a couple of times. The first time, they were repelled. Then they took control of Korea and the emperor of China took control of Korea back. Then Japan reclaimed it. All the while Koreans, who were getting their noses and ears cut off by Japanese soldiers needing proof of kill quotas, were saying, "Ummm China? Japan? We're right here! Could you, like, fight somewhere else?" During this time, the ground forces of Korea took a thrashing from both sides, but a naval hero arose. Admiral Lee Soon Shin's story rivals that of the divine winds in Japan! One time he faced odds of 133 ships vs. 13 and WON! Without even losing one turtle ship! He's been reckoned by military historians to be near or at the top of greatest naval commanders in world history. Because of him, Koreans have a bit of a chosen-by-the-gods chip on their shoulders too, but really only Koreans know about him. They just don't get no respect!

Until as recently as 1997, there were stone monuments all over Korea (South Korea) stating that (and I'm paraphrasing) foreign barbarians from the West invade our soil. To submit peacefully would be to sell out our country. So we must fight. There may well remain some of these monument erected by the regent during the rule of Taewon Gun in Korea, I'm not sure. I haven't seen one since '97. But I have often seen glimpses of this sentiment.

Shortly after the above conflicts, Japan adopted a philosophy of isolationism they called Sakoku, Korea became a hermit kingdom (can you blame them?) and China enjoyed some time with the only people they've ever liked: the Chinese. After all the conflict, death, raping and pillaging, nothing had changed. Korea was partly controlled by China in a suzerainty, but not occupied. You'd be hard pressed to find three more xenophobic countries. Maybe because of all this conflict for nothing? But surely that changed, no? No. Not for a few hundred years. Until...

After the first Sino-Japanese war in 1895, which Japan won, they forced China to acknowledge Korea as an independent nation. RECORD SCRATCH WHAAAATT? Korea owes its independence to Japan? Well... not really total independence. The Koreans didn't trust Japan (wonder why) so appealed to Russians for help through then queen Min who was leery of increasing Japanese influence. She was assassinated by Japan and this made Korea grow closer to Russia. Japan declared war on Russia and won Korea as its protectorate in 1905. Korea did not accept it and the relationship between the two countries deteriorated. Or at least the hatred was no longer suppressed. PM Ito Hirobumi of Japan was assassinated by An Jung Geun and Japan declared annexation intentions in 1910.

Here's a brief summation of what happened in Korea after that. The Japanese were not known as "good hosts" at this time. Raping (comfort women), pillaging (forced labour) and killing (about 300,000-800,000 people died from forced labour in Korea), continued. If anything it was worse than before!

What were the Japanese up to in China during the same period of time? Well this should give you a bit of an idea. In both cases the details omitted are gruesome. The Japanese military was a brainwashed, hellbent hoard of animals. Note the repetitive "rape" and "pillage" once again in this article.

This leaves us at the end of WWII where the Japanese get nuked out of the picture for a while. As unutterable as it sounds, you look at the previous two paragraphs and you'll see why many say it was a well earned nuking. But on to the Korean war we go.

Historically solid. Lots of fighting and death but in the end nothing was different.

The Viet Nam War is more interesting. In 1964, about 20 years before anyone heard anything of Korean "comfort women," Korea sent soldiers to Vietnam. Now, maybe it was because Korea hadn't yet developed their deep-seated resentment toward the Japanese acts of sexual violence against their countrywomen by the Japs in WWII, or maybe they knew some history and they thought, "Well, isn't this what you do in wartime?" but the Korean soldiers who went to Viet Nam were almost Genghis Khan-like in their treatment of the Vietnamese. Atrocities such as killing of women and children and rape were committed by South Korean soldiers. The children of the Korean soldiers/rapists are known as Lai Dai Han and anywhere between 5000 and 30,000 of them remain. It's important to note that Korea has made no official apology and paid no money as reparations for the actions of their soldiers.

I think China and Japan are worse, but Korea is not totally innocent.

The point is, raping, pillaging, extreme hatred as well as hyper-nationalism, they have been a large part of the formative identities of all three countries. They nowadays publicly put on their best globalist faces, but these horrors of the past are far from forgotten. And all it takes is one false move and suddenly everybody turns into old people on rocking chairs reminding young whippersnappers about the past. I'm reminded of a comedy sketch from Bill Burr in which he says the best a man can hope for is a tie in an argument with his wife. You can't win. As soon as she sees the tide turning she'll bring up something from months or years ago that you thought was settled. "No honey, I'm not wearing that pink shirt. It's not my style and frankly I think it's a little effeminate." "Okay. That's fine." The longer you're married, or even in a relationship, the more you begin to understand that maybe it's not okay, and it most definitely isn't fine.

Then years later.... "Honey, we've gone over the finances three times. We just can't afford to move right now. I know Janice is a good friend of yours, and I like her too, I like her too, but it's not her work as the realtor that is the problem. The problem is we don't have the money right now. Maybe we stay here another year and THEN discuss moving." "Well the house won't be available by then." "That may very well be, but, honey, we just can't afford that house now. You know I'm right."

And lacking a reasonable retort, emotion overcomes logic, and it comes flying out her mouth, "Well at least Peter will wear a pink shirt!!!" Then YOU, lacking a reasonable retort, logic is overcome by emotion and you say, "Well why don't you marry Peter then? Go ahead. You've always wanted to. I've never been as good as him. Your parents like him better... Oh sure go ahead then, move in with your parents. See if I care..." and it turns into an international incident.

This is, sorta, how I see the recent international incident between Japan and Korea that has dropped the value of the Korean currency 5% in a month and that has me worried that SKhynix might suffer from Japanese withholding essential chemicals for making chips, which is what SKhynix does. If they suffer, I might suffer.

I've given you much of the back history. Don't believe either side if they try to tell you it has nothing to do with the current situation. It has a LOT to do with it. As much, and probably a lot more than a pink shirt. Here is a very good summary.

SKhynix probably has about 25000 employees in Korea and many more elsewhere. I'm not blaming them, or Korea, but wasn't there one person working for SKhynix, a vital Korean company, or even one person in the country, Korean or non-Korean, who knew something of the history between Korea and Japan who thought, "Okay, Korea is totally dependent on Japan for these chemicals. Korea is building statues of comfort women in front of Japanese embassies; putting little scarves and toques on those statues to keep them warm in winter; demanding payment and apologies; receiving payment and apologies; discounting payment and apologies as insufficient; demanding change in Japanese school curricula; demanding payment for forced labour in WWII; protesting; boycotting; WHAT IF Japan stops supplying our (probably #3 company in Korea) semiconductor giant SKhynix, with chemicals we can't get anywhere else? Shouldn't somebody look into a contingency plan, maybe with China, U.S., Canada or any other place where they make these chemicals and get them up to Japanese standards JUST IN CASE?" What happened to the healthy mistrust of the Japanese they had after the Sino-Japanese war?

And I'm not even saying Korea doing all those things was wrong! But they KNOW they're pissing Japan off and they KNOW they're incredibly vulnerable to Japan, still... here we are. It's as if nobody in Korea has ever been married! They were so shocked when Japan pulled THAT move out of the bag. Scratch them off the white list. Accuse them of fraternizing with North Korea. What amateur fighting! OF COURSE this is what they were gonna do! I can't believe there was nobody who could have seen this, like, 10 moves beforehand. But as I say, here we are.

And it's so disappointing to a guy like me who has been hoping these two powerhouses could work together and be a unified competitor to the U.S. and China (who, if you've read this blog at all, you know I hate socioeconomically speaking)! They were doing so well. They shared the World Cup in 2002, they increased business together, Japan had actually become the number one tourist destination amongst Koreans, they've been building a "future-oriented" relationship for the last 20 years, and suddenly, ppppbbbbthhthtthththbbbbtttt!

So what happens when you have a big blow-up with your wife like the above? This is the "hard work" everybody talks about in a relationship. You have to somehow work it out because you know you want to stay together. You don't want to waste 20 years of marriage and good relations. SOMEbody's gotta buy some flowers or chocolates here. Or, perhaps better than that, no - definitely better than that, some third party who you are both angrier at than each other will start some shit and you can mend your broken relationship by working together against that third party. A relative or friend in the case of the relationship. A country like North Korea, U.S. or China in the Japan/Korea relationship. Hopefully North Korea testing missiles or the U.S. pushing to park some of ITS missiles in Japan and Korea or Chinese tariffs or something like that can bring these arguing countries together. Then maybe like the above photo, they can shake hands and make up. I hope so.

Let's go back to the story at the very beginning about North Koreans being trafficked by China. I don't know if any of this goes on between Japan and Korea. I'd like to think that in modern Japan there are no people who have forced Koreans into sex or slavery. I'd also like to think no Koreans have done so to Japanese. The atrocities between the two countries are all a matter of history. And while history is important to remember and to learn from, Japan and Korea are the 3rd and 11th ranked economies in the world right now respectively and as such their business relationship must be kept separate from their history. They are far too important to the global economy to allow relatively unimportant issues, silly ideas of nationalism, or unchecked emotion to affect their trade. Perhaps this realization will save the relationship. If not, maybe they won't remain the number 3 and number 11 economies in the world.

Both leaders have said some things that are absolutely right. Moon Jae In: "Ultimately, this is a game that has no winners where all parties will be victimized, including Japan." Shinzo Abe: "Future generations should not be predestined to apologize themselves."

So let's put the incredible amount of money you have where your mouths are. Let's mature in the relationship. Smarten up, and get back to business. I'm not saying forget the past, or even stop seeking reparations, I'm saying it should be kept separate from business that affects not only people in your two countries but literally millions of others. Buy each other flowers and candy, stop being immature and, let's face it, selfish, and shake hands and make up for cryin' out loud!

J.D. Salinger Shall Return

We're almost finished July and as yet there are still no new J.D. Salinger books being released! I heard they'd be released by 2020. Get a move on you slow pokes! Before everybody who wants to read anything new by the man is dead. We're assured by Salinger's son, who whets fans' appetites with promises of more news of the Glass family and even Holden Caulfield, yet for a decade has obdurately left us with the extant stories, that he is working "as fast as he freaking can." Not a chip off the proverbial block. If he'd said, "as fast as he Goddamn can," he'd have been more convincing.

Short of world war, global catastrophe or Jesus' return, the long awaited release of a half century of my favourite author's writing should prove to be the most significant event in the latter half of my life. And like most major events in my life, it has been tantalizingly delayed. Read into that what you like.

Imagine if J.K. Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter, maybe the first two, then waited 50 years to finish the series. Choose an author: Tolkien just wrote "The Hobbit;" George R.R. Martin just wrote "A Song of Ice and Fire;" Stephen King just wrote "Carrie," "Salem's Lot" and "The Shining;" Tom Robbins only wrote "Another Roadside Attraction;" what if Shakespeare only wrote "Taming of the Shrew" and a couple of "Henries?" … and then spent 50 years writing in seclusion keeping us in excruciating suspense? Well that's just how I roll, folks. You should know that about me by now. I happened to choose as my favourite author, the most frustrating bastard a fella could possibly have chosen. Thanks for that Jerry!

Oh, how can I stay mad at old J.D.? Given all his eccentricities as a person, not the least of which was his reclusiveness, a trait I have termed in my own life "leave-me-aloneliness," he has written one HELLUVA first act! I have an endless list of questions about what lies ahead! But that, I gotta believe, is the method to all Salinger's madness. Some authors, like John Kennedy Toole, Byron, Keats, Shelley, Sylvia Plath, Jack Kerouac, Emily Bronte may have died before their greatest works were written. So they're dead. There's no way of knowing. There's a satisfactory finality in that. It's a bit frustrating but whatareyagonnado?

With Salinger, his greatest work may have existed unpublished for 50 years! FITTY YEARS! It's WORSE than if he had died! I could have enjoyed it for fifty years. Well, the world could have. I wouldn't have discovered it till college but a good thirty years of my favourite book could have been denied me already! In this way it will almost be a relief if when all of his new/old stuff is released, it absolutely stinks, but I am almost positive it won't. I think he was just rounding into top form when he "went away." Why do I think this? There is so much the average person doesn't know about the few writings of this Prospero with a pen! I don't want to get myself all worked up only to have to wait another year, but it's so hot today, I could anonymously drink Tom Collins' with the family of the bride my brother just left at the altar. < Probably the funniest of Salingers' short stories in which Buddy, Seymour Glass' brother, and sole representative of his family to make it to his wedding, invites infuriated members of his would-be wife's family to his apartment for drinks after they learn that Seymour got cold feet. (In the end Seymour and Muriel elope only to have Seymour blow his head off on his honeymoon after a girl from his hotel pretends to see a rare bananafish Seymour had made up) There is just so MUCH! So with nothing better to do, on a day unfit for man or bananafish, I suppose I'll catch you up a bit if you'll allow me. Beware lest you too become an unsatisfied fan held hostage by his family.

I suppose we should start with "Catcher." Everybody knows "Catcher in the Rye" and thinks since it is so well known, it's the best thing he ever wrote and the best he ever will. You're not a true fan if you do. If you are, you'll understand that this novel is just an aside, a mere footnote, a book written by the second best writer in the Glass family, Buddy Glass. Much like his hero and contemporary, who he met, shared "Catcher" with and received rave reviews from, Ernest Hemingway, Salinger's short stories are his strong suit. I didn't even like Hemingway's books. Being intentionally wooden does not translate to "macho" or cleverly stylistic in my opinion. Many, including Salinger, would disagree. But I DID like Hemingway's short stories. And I include "The Old Man And The Sea" as just a long short story. The aforementioned "Raise High The Roof Beams Carpenters" was also a long short story. Call it a novella if it makes you more comfortable, but both these guys were aces at the short story!

Most of us know the shady reports of several killers, most notably Mark David Chapman, who assassinated John Lennon then read directly from the book during his hearing. Robert John Bardo, Lee Harvey Oswald, and John Hinkley (HEY a guy with only two names!) who either murdered or attempted to murder Rebecca Schaeffer, JFK, and Ronald Reagan respectively, have also been linked to the book. Ironically its largely overlooked theme of finding joy (Phoebe, Holden's sister) amidst the suffering of life make this book less doom and gloom than people think. But it probably needs to be tempered with the knowledge of some eastern philosophy that the BEST writer, nay poet, nay SEER of the Glass family, Seymour (who really does see more) exudes. In short, don't read "Catcher" till you've read "Nine Stories" "Seymour an Intro," "Roofbeams," "Franny and Zooey" and "Hapworth 16 1924." And there are several more stories that are harder to access that might shed some light on the whole story. For instance, I sincerely hope that the short story only available at the Princeton library entitled, "The Last and Best of the Peter Pans," a story about Vincent Caulfield, Holden's older brother, discovering that his mother had hidden his draft card is included in the new writings. He's angry but his mother mentions brother Kenneth who has already been killed in the war. Holden is briefly mentioned and there is a reference to babies crawling off a cliff. The mother was trying to protect her child. The title, "Catcher in the Rye" is from an old negro spiritual that goes, "When a body catch a body runnin' through the rye." And it's about kids running through grain higher than their heads toward a cliff, but they can't see. They need a "Catcher."

Ah ha! See how it all starts to come together? In this body of work, you are constantly feeling like a detective trying to piece the story together. Like, for instance, the part about Seymour being kicked off the radio show, "It's a Wise Child," for saying the Gettysburg Address was basically dishonest. He contended that 51,112 men were casualties at Gettysburg and "if someone had to speak at the anniversary of the event, he should simply have come forward and shaken his fist at his audience and then walked off-that is, if the speaker were an absolutely honest man." I am, however, quite certain John Wilkes Booth (why do so many assassins have three names?) did NOT read "Catcher in the Rye." But could this have contributed to the other killers' interpretation of Salinger's writing that triggered their murder attempts? Again, ah ha!

I got interested in Salinger by reading "Nine Stories" in high school. It is the best way to start your J.D. Salinger journey. I have three times given my copy of "Nine Stories" away. It is a book that SHOULD be given away if my reading of it is accurate. Like Waker, one of the Glass twins, gives away his expensive, brand new bike. His twin brother Walt, the college boyfriend of Eloise Wengler, was described in "Uncle Wiggily In Connecticut," (from Nine Stories) as the sweetest, funniest man she ever knew. Walt was killed in WWII. Waker spent WWII in a conscientious objector camp and went on to become a Carthusian Monk.

In another story, the narrator, Buddy Glass, goes to a college in Montreal to teach art by correspondence. He overstates his qualifications in his resume and changes his name from John Smith to John De Daumier Smith claiming family relation to Picasso. There are two spiritual epiphanies in the story, a common theme in Salinger, linking banal things like bedpans and shoe lifts to visions of God. I was the only one in my class to put forth a conjecture that John DeDaumier Smith might be J.D. Salinger (same initials) and that Buddy (this is commonly believed/known) represents J.D. Salinger in the Glass family. Hence, Buddy (JDS) was the author of "Catcher in the Rye." This is suggested in "Seymour an Introduction." He considers himself a phony like DeDaumier Smith. Probably one of the reasons behind the seclusion.

Webb Gallagher (Buddy) Glass is the author, narrator, and protagonist in some of the short stories. "Teddy," from "Nine Stories," is probably his best. Sometimes more than one at the same time. As such, I expect a buttload of new stuff from Buddy when and if this treasure trove of new JDS material is released. I consider him to be the translator for Seymour. Sometimes Seymour is on another level and can't be understood by any but those who know him best. Like the story with the wedding party in which, after a few Tom Collins' Buddy proceeds to tear the guests a new one (except for the ever agreeable short old man who is funnier than any Shakespearean comedic plant) for their ignorant disparaging of such a great man. I sometimes feel I need Buddy as a translator. He admits many times in his writing to be regrettably down-to-earth in comparison to his other-worldly brother, but it's that which makes him more loveable. Perhaps this is a modesty in Salinger that few experienced from the man himself.

And Seymour! The greatest of all Salinger characters by far! Holden just might, MIGHT, be in the top 5 in my opinion. Only because, as Seymour advises Buddy while teaching him to shoot marbles, he's aiming too much. In other literary advice he says that Buddy needs to write more from his heart. This, ostensibly, is what Salinger loved in Hemingway and what he tried to make "Catcher" a largely unsuccessful attempt at. So now that you know it was written by Buddy, a good, but not evanescent artist, you know "Catcher in the Rye" was written intentionally second rate. Which is why, way back at the start, I said you need to know more about Salinger if you consider "Catcher" his best work.

I've heard, and of course there is no way to verify this, but, I've heard there may be an appearance made by Seymour in these new writings FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE! How can I NOT get excited about that? Not like "Hapworth," a bit of a contrived letter from camp from a guy who despised letter writing, written by Seymour and posthumously discovered by Buddy, there may be some kind of story related by the now dead Seymour! Not sure how but I bet Salinger could have done it in a not-too-suspend-your-disbelief kind of way. Like maybe telepathy between Buddy and Seymour? Buddy learns to meditate? They touch upon a meditative state of "satori" or that state of pure consciousness that is to be with God before He said, "Let there be light." The family are all versed in world religion and mysticism. In Everything really. They began training early. In "Raise High the Roof Beam" we see Franny says she remembers Seymour reading a Taoist allegory to her while she was an infant. This allegory, parenthetically, I retold from memory as my speech at my best friend Gilbert's wedding. It's about judging horseflesh so I'm not sure how flattering his wife Jeanne considered it, but to this day I know no man more worthy a judge of seeing beyond the surface and looking to the heart of someone. That was the message of the allegory.

So you see why I'm excited. I've read everything I can from Salinger and I've seen wisdom, action, mysticism, religion, politics, personal relationships, inciteful social observation, the list goes on. This is why Salinger is my favourite. And this is why I am champing at the bit to read 50 years more of his work! It could contain almost anything. Or maybe they (not so disappointingly) just find some other lost writings of Seymour the eldest. The sage. The seer. Why oh why are they withholding this from me???

Well there, I've gone and done it. I've gotten too excited. Now I'll have to re-re-read some Salinger to calm me down. Over the years I've found re-re-re reading his stuff to be soothing. Succor in times of trouble. lol Again, maybe this was his purpose. Some writings are meant to be read more than once. I would absolutely qualify almost everything Salinger wrote as re-reading necessity. Which is why I'm going to finish up this post and do some re-reading.

Contrary to several highly unstable individuals, I always feel comforted when I read J.D. I hope you, my readers, can come to an understanding of him that is similar. This will probably prepare you for the greatest reading of your lives! If it ever gets out there!

Patience Grasshopper. The new stories will arrive when the time is right.

What? Seymour? Who said that? Old Kung Fu guy?

I want to tell you more but I fear I have said too much. Go now, Grasshoppers and read of the Great Oracle Jerome David Salinger. I challenge thee.