After the massive international opposition to the Vietnam War, the US began a clamp-down on media coverage of their wars. As Tim Page (a photojournalist covering the Vietnam War) famously said, “Every war photo is an antiwar photo.” But it isn’t just photo coverage that is controlled; they also employ news blackouts, embedded reporters, & other trickeries like using proxy armies & mercenaries, pretending wars are “low-intensity,” aren’t even going on, or have ended. The US has refined the adage “truth is the first casualty of war” to an art form of unspeakable malignancy.

Truth about these barbaric wars is fundamental to rebuilding international antiwar opposition. Despite how distressing you will find these reports, truth nourishes indignation & indignation fuels antiwar opposition & social transformation.

US out of Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Niger, Somalia! No to drone bombing!

–from an October 22, 2013 post I wrote about US wars.

I am always honored to receive friend requests from Kashmiris because of my immense respect for them & their freedom struggle. But if you’re mourning the death of that murderous Syrian general, I don’t want your shabby-assed grief showing up in my newsfeed. The Kashmiris I respect & can learn from are those who stand in solidarity with the Syrian revolution against the Assad dictatorship, with the Rohingya people, with Palestinians. That solidarity is one of the things that makes their struggle against occupation & colonialism so monumentally important.

Assadism is fascism

Assadist harassment Oct 22 2017

Assad supporters, mourning the Syrian general who got blown up on his way from one humanitarian massacre to the next, have been bombarding my wall for four days. Political methods matter. If harassment of political opponents is part of your repertoire, that says something about the character of your politics. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that is why they support the bombing of civilians in Syria to support the fascist Assad dictatorship.

When I refer to Assadists as fascists, that is not a glib designation or an attempt to up the rhetoric. It’s an accurate political term for the political ideas they espouse. How else could one support all militarism in Syria, except of course US militarism–as if there was a humanitarian form of carpet bombing civilians. Oliver had posts on her walls supporting the Duterte regime, which is conducting death squads against the urban poor & war against Muslims; posts supporting both the Burmese & Thai fascist military dictatorships. They support the genocide of the Rohingya people & call it Wahhabi/Salafi terrorism. They support the Thai military which not only prevents Rohingya refugees from landing but is involved in human trafficking & murdering them & is ruthlessly repressive toward the Thai people.

All bombing of civilians in Syria & elsewhere should be denounced & actively opposed by whichever army: Syria, Russia, the US, Australia, France, the UK, Israel, & all other military forces involved. All foreign intervention should be opposed. But that would allow the Syrian people to carry their revolution against Assad to completion & that is the reason these corrupt & fascist political forces support Russian & Syrian bombing of civilians & misrepresent the counter-revolution against Assad which includes the US.

This photo was posted by an Assadist named Sioux Oliver with the caption “Mary, you look suspiciously like Theresa May.” It’s one of the less offensive of the at least fifty posts I’ve deleted. Demonizing is all you have left if you do not have cogent arguments to defend fascism.

Got a little health tip for those with peripheral neuropathy which I developed in my foot. Thirty-five percent of people with peripheral neuropathy are gluten intolerant so often gluten-free diets help resolve the problem. Acetyl-L Carnitine & Alpha-Lipoic Acid supplements have also been found useful. I just started the regimen but I have it on good word.

My old tip for carpal tunnel issues related to using a computer keyboard: 100 mg. of Vitamin B-complex twice a day. That came from a Texas doctor who worked with factory workers who had repetitive motion problems. Works like a charm.

If they don’t work, don’t sue me for malpractice or send me a bill for vitamins.

Juan-Pierre, my 12 pound Chihuahua mutt has fallen in love with Bianca, my 65 pound Rhodesian Ridgeback. He swoons over her. You have to take animal love seriously but this one is so comical, with no disrespect intended.

A compelling feminist insight into braid-chopping incidents in Kashmir:

“Incidents of braid-chopping in Kashmir are designed to instill dread & fear into Kashmiri women & push them indoors so that they do not dare to be a part of the everyday resistance against the Indian state. Especially because Kashmiri women have been an integral part of that resistance enacted out in the streets….Braid chopping incidents have indeed occurred. I refuse to believe that this is just “hysteria” & does not involve the machinations of the Indian state occupation.”

-Heba Ahmed

Media reports that the Chinese Communist Party which rules China announced its support today for Suu Kyi & the Burmese military & will not join other nations in condemning what they call the “ethnic cleansing” of the Rohingya people. What other nations would that be who have done more than whimper out a little protest?

Sincere condolences to the families of the US special forces guys killed in Niger. I’m sorry they got killed but I’m having a hard time working up sympathy for the soldiers. The antiwar movement has never blamed soldiers & veterans but has tried to win them to an antiwar perspective based on their experiences with war & the price they have paid for being naïve or being conscripted. They are a respected part of the old antiwar movement usually leading off the demonstrations. But special forces units are something else entirely. These are specially trained elite psycho squads who torture, execute, commit monstrous human rights & war crimes. Call me heartless, but I just haven’t got it in me to cry for them. My sympathies are more for their victims in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, & elsewhere.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina plays humanitarian whilst trying to deport Rohingya refugees

Sheikh Hasina with Rohingya boy Oct 21 2017

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina doing her humanitarian schtick. Notice she poses with little Rohingya kids & not the adults who would ask about her plan to deport thousands of them to an uninhabitable island under water most of the year, about her attempts to deport them back to genocide in Arakan state without consulting with them, & about all the other sleazy tricks she’s trying to pull on refugees.

Is Bangladesh overwhelmed by 582,000 new Rohingya refugees? Of course. But the right thing to do is mobilize every resource of the Bangladeshi government to assist refugees, to include Rohingya refugees directly in all decisions made about their future, to demand other governments provide immediate emergency humanitarian aid, & demand other governments provide asylum with safe transportation & full human & refugee rights to the Rohingya. This maternal posturing using little kids as props is beyond shameful & not the least convincing.

Facebook suggests I connect with my government representatives. In the past when I’ve done that, it’s been an unpleasant situation for them. And not even as unpleasant as I would like it to be for them.