Protest today in Srinagar, Kashmir: for those who have not endured occupation & such extreme oppression, it is a marvel Kashmiris can sustain this level of resistance for now four months–knowing they can be injured, disabled, disfigured, arrested, disappeared, tortured.

What is not a mystery of human consciousness is why the Indian government is determined to crush this movement. Every freedom struggle–from Palestine to Kashmir to the US Black community to the struggle against caste oppression in India to the fight against genocide in Myanmar–poses a direct threat to the status quo of power.

Just as the US civil rights movement of the 1960s, although uncompleted in its mission, inspired millions around the world to stand against racist & colonial oppression, a successful struggle in Kashmir would change the balance of power around the world to the advantage of the oppressed.

That is why for solidarity activists, “Aes Chi Kaeshir” (I am Kashmiri).

Long live Kashmiri Intifada. End the occupation. Self-determination for Kashmir.

(Photo by Faisal Khan)

Day 118 of the military siege in Kashmir. protesters are pelting an armored vehicle carting off arrested youth.

You can see how useless nearly four months of brutal & violent repression has been in daunting the spirit of Kashmiri resistance.

Long live Kashmiri Intifada. End the occupation. End the siege. Self-determination for Kashmir.

(Photo by Aman Farooq)

There might be something to that Zombie Apocalypse thing. In such a scenario–once considered comic book or nuts–the inscrutable & surreal suddenly begin to make sense.

Think about it: Trump as a presidential candidate boasting about his private parts & sexual offenses; Kissinger still crawling the earth at 93; Russian bombers & Putin heralded as freedom fighters; ISIS taking over several countries without even an air fleet or a navy; Saudi Arabia, Israel, Russia, the Philippines, India, & US on the UN Human Rights Council; Bono designated a Woman of the Year.

If it looks more like a Zombie Apocalypse than 4-million years of human evolution, maybe that’s what’s really going on. Anyone got a better explanation? Or is it just neoliberalism, the barbaric phase of capitalism?

One of the ugliest features of a detestable election campaign has been the intemperate language & personal venom directed at Clinton. She is, without question, personally & politically corrupt. Can anyone think of a US president who wasn’t? Not in my lifetime & not from what I read in history.

I have no soft spot for her because she’s a woman. I reject everything she stands for. I don’t believe a word she says. But I can’t relate to the hating on her that passes for politics. People have to get over that & start being temperate in their attitude toward her because the likelihood is she will be the next president. Do you really want to go through the next four years in a state of white heat?

You may think me compromised with her corruption but I also didn’t feel personal hatred for Reagan, Nixon, Bill Clinton, or Bush. Who wants to operate apoplectic all the time? They are what they are– political leaders in the barbaric phase of capitalism–so you aren’t going to get much. You might as well take your distemper down a notch or two. It’ll do wonders for your longevity & mental health. Hate is bad for the system unless you save it for the things that matter. Go to town on hating war, racism, misogyny, inequality, injustice, violence. Politicians aren’t worth it.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reports that so far this year just over 334,000 refugees have arrived in Europe on all three of the major Mediterranean routes: from Turkey to Greece, from Libya to Italy, & from Morocco to Spain. That’s compared to 1,016,000 in 2015 but of course this year Frontex (the EU border control agency), European navies, & NATO ships are intercepting refugees & turning them back.

The UNHCR used to report the number of drownings & missing persons per route but this year changed to reporting the overall number of deaths on all the routes. As of now, they report 4.220 deaths in 2016, many of them infants & small children, making this year the deadliest year on record. With three times the refugees in 2015, there were about five hundred fewer deaths. From sketchy reports in media & other sources, we know most of those deaths are of those in capsized, overcrowded dinghies who departed from Libya to Lampedusa, Italy, the longest & most dangerous route.

Thousands are reported rescued on the Libya to Lampedusa route but it is often by fleets operated by NGOs like Proactive Open Arms & Doctors Without Borders. When the Italian coast guard reports rescues it isn’t certain how many were by its fleets & how many by the NGOs since in the past Lampedusa officials & fishermen have accused the Italian coast guard of intentionally bungling rescue operations & letting refugees drown.

The unspeakable outrage of these deaths, for which there should be criminal culpability, is that Frontex & additional naval fleets from Europe are patrolling that route across the Mediterranean Sea with high-tech surveillance equipment. There is no excuse for the drownings of 4,220 people. Those are human rights crimes & should be prosecuted as such.

UNHCR also monitors Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar & Bangladesh across the Andaman Sea. Between January & May 2015, an estimated 25,000 Rohingya fled on that route & were adrift in boats without food or water after being refused landing. Only 1,107 were rescued & allowed to land in Malaysia & only 1,807 in Indonesia. Just over 1,000 were picked up by the Bangladesh & Myanmar navies. The UNHCR estimates 5,000 were abandoned by human smugglers but does not denounce Thailand for refusing Rohingya refugees or for the refusal of Indonesia & Malaysia to launch search & rescue operations. Fishermen brought the boats to shore. Beside the fact that their numbers don’t add up, no agency, including the UNHCR, has ever made an accounting of what happened to the thousands abandoned & not rescued but still inexplicably report deaths from 70 to 300.

The UNHCR cannot be prosecuted for slipshod monitoring but it sure as hell should be held accountable for the racism implicit in its monitoring systems, for its refusal to expose & denounce countries & the European Union for refusing asylum, endangering the lives & causing the deaths of tens of thousands of refugees.

Immigration is a human right. Open the damn borders.

(Photos of refugees off coast of Libya from August 2016 by Emilio Morenatti/AP)

News is already minimizing polls showing Clinton & Trump running neck-in-neck within three points. CBS said outright that what matters anyway is not the popular vote but the Electoral College votes. Citizens do not directly elect the president but choose electors to do it for us. When was the election for US electors? Anyone ever remember choosing an elector?

Why they go through the charade of an interminable campaign must be to give an illusion of democracy & whip us into giving a damn which of these two jokers wins.

This election isn’t bringing out the best in politics. It appears trolls are taking over the planet. Some are warning about the “Trump Apocalypse”; some are marching with banners saying “Putin & Trump will save the world.” Some are beating the drums furiously for Clinton, certain she will usher in an era of annihilation in Syria under the banner of a No Fly Zone.

Such credulity makes fools of the most credentialed. When we wake up in January after Clinton or Trump takes office, the same think tanks, special advisors, generals, CIA officials, bankers, & corporate chiefs will be determining US policies. The US capitalist system is a massive, complicated enterprise & those who run & own it don’t take chances on who administers it for them & don’t take orders from the president.