What’s not elaborated in all the penny-ante, Democrat vs. Republican reporting about Trump & the Russians is the sustained crisis of US rule. That means something when the government has been taken over by a lunatic & every agency of US rule (Congress, intelligence agencies, the Supreme Court, presidency, media) is exposed as corrupt in some way. But yet, notice how the US government continues on in war & austerity cutbacks without missing a beat even while the president is deranged & otherwise engaged. He’s the front office, not the engine of US policy.

The ersatz left is unable to take advantage of this crisis because its adherents hate liberals so much they either support or play equivocal toward Trump & show their political bankruptcy by opposing all protests against him. They had a momentary falling out with Trump when the US bombed the empty Syrian airport hangars because it impugned Assad for using sarin gas on civilians. A left that hates liberals, who make up the majority of protesters, but defends dirt-balls like Trump & supports dictators like Assad & Putin ain’t that left no more.

The libertarian left (indistinguishable from the libertarian right) rant against Russiagate & what the Democrats are doing to bring down Trump. Is there a problem with that? Shouldn’t he be brought down? Shouldn’t they all? Call me crazy, but didn’t the Trump cabal just give up the goods on that & admit they colluded with the Russkis not for detente but for the venal purpose of winning an election? Clinton still won the election. But the powers that be who really run this country handed the presidency to a screwball because they hoped he would implement a speedy & decisive shift to the right that would take years, even decades to reverse. Her regime would have taken slightly longer to get to the same place, inimical to working people.

I’m not a hater & don’t make that emotion the linch pin of my politics; I just disagree vehemently with capitalist politics & politicians. I save my hatred for the capitalist system of inequality & injustice where it can serve a useful purpose. So if you ask me, despite their ulterior & sectarian motives, the Democrats haven’t done a half-bad job exposing the arrant corruption of the Trump cabal & I hope they keep going for his jugular. Why libertarians don’t hate on the contemptible Trump & Republicans is because, quite frankly, they share most of the politics & all of the misanthropy. If you don’t believe me, try to distinguish between libertarian rants & Fox News.

Kashmiris protest Amarnath Yatra attack on Hindu pilgrims:

“Like always Kashmiris expressed their outrage against civilian killings, irrespective of their political, ethnic and ideological background. We are all united against the killings of Amarnath yatris. Are Indians united against the killings, disappearances, torture, sexualized violence, maiming and demonisation of Kashmiris by Indian State?”

–Khurram Parvez

An interesting video about graffiti art in Gaza. Graffiti also played an important political role in the Egyptian & Yemeni revolutions as popular & resistance art:

https://t.co/9meglKA6p2

Had trouble sleeping because the dogs waken me every time a possum walks past the house so asked the doc for a mild remedy with no side effects. I took his prescription once, was up all night peeing, had dry mouth in the morning. Checked out the side effects & saw depression & suicide among them. Tossed the pills.

Went back to the doc for numbness in my foot & he offered me a prescription saying its only side effect was drowsiness. Perfect, I thought. I’ll take the pill & get some sleep too. Checked out the side effects & saw delusions, dementia, stumbling, loss of vision, trembling, bloating, weight gain, & loss of balance. Tossed the pills.

I got melatonin for sleep & slept like a baby; got vitamin B-complex for the numbness & am giving myself foot massages. Expect to improve without losing my marbles, going senile, or taking my own life.

Hangdog is the expression dogs give when you catch them eating food off your plate & they want you to think they feel guilty. What’s the adjective for the expression they give when they want you to share your food with them & you don’t? It’s a relentless steady glare that combines guilt-baiting with homicidal impulses. It’s a good look for middle school teachers to acquire for unruly pupil control.

Another powerful defense of Rohingya refugee rights by Mohammed Imran, an honored friend to many of us:

http://www.thestateless.com/2017/07/rohingya-refugees-letter-to-un-refugee-agency-chief-filippo-grandi.html

A friend asked me, not in a hostile way, why I posted so much about international politics & not so much about US politics. That great big bloated US military budget & 1,000 US military bases are what link US working people inextricably to everyone else around the world. They’re cutting back on food stamps, Medicaid & Medicare, education, health care, affordable housing to pay for those bombs & weapons killing other people.

There’s also that matter of “an injury to one is an injury to all.” And aside from all that, why should human beings restrict their humanity to artificial national borders? As Rohingya human rights activist Mohammed Imran said: “Above all I am a human being….This world is a home for us & we are all members of same family.”

A Kashmiri friend tells me the internet has again been shut down in Kashmir & that only broadband is working. Isn’t that like an admission of guilt for human rights crimes India doesn’t want the world to know about?

Kashmiri friends: over the years many of you have sent me photos of protests in solidarity with Palestinians. They were on my timeline but I’m unable to find them in searching on Facebook. A friend is writing an article about Kashmiri solidarity with Palestinians & those photos would be quite valuable. Do any of you have them available & can you message them to me? Thank you.

This photo from July 12, 2014 is Kashmiri youth protesting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza during Israel’s murderous seven-week carpet bombing siege which millions protested around the world.

Sometimes Kashmiri youth have asked why there are no solidarity protests with Kashmir by Palestinians. Only because of the news blackout about Kashmir. Like the rest of the world, Palestinians did not know about the Kashmiri struggle or the political links & affinities between them in the struggle against military occupation & colonialism. Because of the work Kashmiri activists have done on social media, active bonds of solidarity can now be forged between these two monumental struggles whose victory can change the balance of forces in the world to the advantage of the oppressed.

This photo was shared to my wall by Kashmiri activist Sheikh Sameer.

(Photo from JandK Headlines)