Opinon 2-28-2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/opinion/bernie-sanders.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage



My quck response:



28, Feb 2020 Response to David Brooks op ed on Sanders  wonder whether your paper expressed the horrors for Cubans living under the brutal dictatorship of the US puppet βaˈtista. Castro was hailed as a hero by much of US press following the overthrow of βaˈtista.

Your paper is very selective in its outrage. Perhaps you should document many of the crimes committed by successive regimes in Central & South America, Pakistan (remember “the “Blood telegram”), Vietnam, (napalm, Agent Orange etc.) Cambodia, Laos, overthrow of Mosaddeq in 1953 to steal Iran’s oil by CIA/MI6, Bogus WMD's to justify invasion of Iraq supported by your paper (war criminals, GW Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld C. Rice etc. still roaming free). Remember the torture school "The Scool of the Americas"? Cuba has an excellent health system something we should emulate. Please don’t conflate Sanders campaign with the gulags of the former USSR.

Is Karma haunting Britain’s future? 2-27-2020

27, February 2020              Is Karma haunting Britain’s future?

The sun has long set on Britain’s former empire. Its comeuppance is long overdue.

The bungling pinstripe-bowler hat brigade of elite British public schools and universities have long poured over world maps searching for ever greater conquests.

Dialing back the pages of history, novelist, Paul Scott reminds us of the utter decadence and destructive nature of the former architects of the British Empire who hastily withdrew and partitioned India into illogical member states.

The handsome but ethically challenged last viceroy Mountbatten was accurately described by historian, Andrew Roberts as a “mendacious, intellectually limited hustler.”  Britain looted India of much of its wealth, destroying its garment trade to promote the sale of inferior British goods.

It’s ironic that Mountbatten, who was derided in British circles as “Master of Disaster,” was put in charge of the “jewel in the crown” robbing India of its enormous potential.

It is mindboggling to understand the callousness of how Britain chose to dismember India.

Originally Britain announced its exit from India on June 1948. But Mountbatten hastily preponed the date to Aug. 15 1947. In an unguarded moment he admitted that it was a “ludicrously early date.” It was left to a little known lawyer, Cyril Radcliffe to draw up the boundaries of a country he had never visited. The result was sheer insanity. Punjab lost much of its former territory and historic temples to Pakistan. Pakistan was further subdivided into West Pakistan inhabited by Punjabis and East Pakistan inhabited by predominantly poor Bengalis. The ‘Blood telegram” sent by US diplomat, Archer Blood accurately describes the massacre in east Pakistan by General Yahya Khan with weapons supplied by the US. In a stunning turn of events, following its messy divorce from the European Union

Britain now faces the prospect of its own partition.



Following decades of bloodshed between northern and southern Ireland, religious passions have cooed and the desire for unification is growing. Scottish nationalists are also agitating for independence.

The Brexit debacle was started by former Prime Minister, David Cameron who recklessly gambled in a disastrous referendum to pacify rebels in his own party. The opportunist Remainder Boris Johnson, sensing the winds of change, quickly switched to become an ardent Brexiteer winning a thumping majority in the recent election.Following the Trump charade, “Make Britain great again” is quickly morphing into a looming economic and political disaster. Are the British being punished for their past misdeeds? The law of Karma is unforgiving.

The Godfather strikes again 2-14-2020

14, February 2020                 The Godfather strikes again

Following a sham impeachment trial with the Senate packed with his enablers, President “Corleone” Trump, the Godfather, continues to trash the US Constitution. He makes a complete mockery of the critical clause, “equal justice under law,” to favor his friends and punish his enemies. No longer can we claim to be a liberal democracy with respect for the law. 

He exposed his authoritarian nature during his 2016 campaign mocking his opponent as “crooked Hilary” smiling and clapping when his former national security advisor, Michael Flynn chanted “lock her up.” He ridiculed his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions because he recused himself and failed to protect him from the Mueller investigation.  He pressured James Comey, the former FBI Director to drop criminal charges on Flynn. He pardoned the former racist Arizona sheriff, Joe Arpaio.  And now we are witnessing another blatant interference in the Justice Department overruling the prosecutors in favor of his friend and former campaign advisor, Roger Stone. The meek and compliant attorney general, William Barr readily agreed and overruled the prosecutors. A jury convicted Stone of obstruction of justice, lying to Congress and threatening a witness and the presiding judge with bodily harm, charges that should have condemned the unrepentant Stone to a life sentence. Kudos to the four courageous prosecutors who resigned in protest.

Contrast the treatment of Stone and Flynn with Trump’s former fixer Michael Coen who spoke the truth and is now languishing in jail. 

Dump Facebook 2-11-2020

Feb. 11, 2020                              Dump Facebook

There is little doubt that Mark Zuckerberg and his flagship, Facebook propelled Donald Trump to victory in 2016 and is likely to repeat the favor in 2020. He has left the door wide open for Russian trolls and other fake news. His partners in crime are Twitter and Google who generate $billions in political advertising making little effort policing its content. They engage in blatant theft of users’ personal data to bombard them with advertising to maximize their profits. But Facebook is by far the worsen villain in amplifying political messages.

There is a longstanding law — Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — that insulates social media platforms from legal liability and defamation and similar claims. Facebook posts false information without taking any responsibility for its content. There seems to be a cozy relationship between Trump and Facebook in which Facebook post messages enhancing Trump’s reelection and in return is fully protected by the enormous power of the presidency. 

In 2016, Facebook provided embedded staff to the Trump campaign to optimize its advertising program.

Brad Parscale, the digital director of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign and now his campaign manager for 2020, admitted that Facebook tilted the election in Trump’s favor in 2016 and will likely propel him to victory in 2020. Readers, please dump Facebook and save our democracy.

The Imperial president 2-6-2020

6, February 2020                     The Imperial president

President Trump and Mitch McConnell may be popping champagne over the rigged verdict from their kangaroo trial but their actions have driven a giant stake into our democracy.

They have anointed President Trump as “dear leader” with unfettered powers.

The impeachment trial was a complete sham. Witnesses like John Bolton were denied their day in court making a complete mockery of our democracy and rule of law. Over 70% of Americans demanded that witnesses be allowed to speak.

They handed Trump a blank check for the rest of his presidency to break the law, undermine our national security, and obstruct legitimate congressional investigations of those crimes - all in the name of helping Republicans win the next election. 

The new party manifesto, what’s good for Trump is good for America. The guard rails to limit his wild irrational behavior have been removed. Senator McConnell and his entourage of supporters will enter the history books with ignominy. The ghost of Senator Joseph McCarthy has been resurrected.  

Rather than reining in a president who clearly abused his power for personal gain Senate Republicans with exception Senator Mitt Romany, do not the courage to express their true feelings in public lest the wrath of their mighty leader descend upon them. Shameful

“Peace Deal of the Century” 2-3-2020

3, February 2020                  “Peace Deal of the Century”

It was a sad day for America and the world when two political fraudsters slithered into the White House. Both have much in common. Trump managed to establish a “house of cards” business” with a massive infusion of wealth from his father. Harvard was successfully bribed by a large donation from Kushner’s father  allowing this underperforming son to gain admission. Both are presenting themselves as “foreign policy experts”

Trump’s ‘deal of the century ‘ (DOTC)is 80 pages of banality masquerading as a ‘peace agreement’. It is filled with mega doses of egregious indignities heaped on the Palestinians.

It is replete with self-aggrandizing  references to “visions.” 

Imagine if an American born in the US, is driven from his-her home by armed squatters and is condemned to exile. That is the fate of millions of Palestinians  who have been driven from their homes, declared outcasts and refused the “right of return.”

Farewell to  Jerusalem  which was been gifted to Israel by President Trump. The annexation of most Palestinian land in the West Bank will be “gifted” to Israel. Funding to the Palestinians through UNRWA has been suspended by the US. Israel has also been protected from multiple UN resolutions condemning its illegal occupation and violations of international law by US vetoes.

As Gideon Levy of the Israeli daily Haaretz, stated,  it is  “the final nail in the coffin of that walking corpse known as the two-state solution. Israel has degenerated into an apartheid state” assisted by $billions from the US who are complicit in its many crimes.

Democracy on Life Support 2-2-2020

THE BERKELEY DAILY PLANET

Public Comment

                                             Democracy on Life Support

 February 02, 2020 

DJT has successfully declared war on immigrants separating children from the parents. His racist policies have emboldened white supremacists. His tax cuts have driven a big gaping hole in the federal deficit (current interest on fed debt $479B) to be paid by our children & future generations of Americans. Team trump and the Senate Republicans who are complicit in his many crimes are black slapping & giving themselves high 5’s for blocking witnesses terrified that the sordid truth of Trumps dealings with Ukraine might see the light of day. The blood of all those dead Ukrainians who died because of the delay in US military aid will wash over Trump & his disgusting minions. The age of courageous independent thinkers seems to have vanished. Democracy is on life support.