The Roman Catholic Cardinal of Burma, Charles Maung Bo having an affable meeting with the architect of the Rohingya genocide, General Min Aung Hlaing on August 21st, 2017. At the same time, five other Catholic bishops from Burma were meeting with military officials to discuss “all inclusiveness & cooperation for the political affairs & peace making process,” as the General’s office reported it.

This meeting may be four days before the current genocidal offensive began but it was only seven months since the last one ended in a campaign that has been going on for years. Pope Francis cannot whimper out believable protests against this genocide or expressions of sympathy with Rohingya refugees if he does not rein these prelates in with denunciations & threats of excommunication. The last time the Catholic Church colluded in genocide was Rwanda & before that Germany. If Pope Francis doesn’t speak out against the blatant collaboration of Burmese prelates in genocide, all disclaimers about his role in Argentina’s Dirty War are open for reexamination & he can stuff his papal bulls where the sun don’t shine. What is the difference between Cardinal Bo & the Grand Mufti of Syria who signs off on torturing & hanging political prisoners?

Five Burmese bishops with Burmese military officials.

(Photos from Min Aung Hlaing’s office)

Now that Bannon is gone, do you think Kellyanne Conway is calling the shots on the Iran deal? Are we in for another Bowling Green massacre?

My Facebook archives for October 13th, 2016 included a post about the death of Thailand’s feudal monarch King Pumipon at the age of 88. It had a notice from Facebook that they blocked it from public viewing because it violated their community standards policies. It was typical of my obituaries for the detestable, full of ad hominem insults, but nothing compared to what I’ve said about Kissinger over the years. The only thing about the post that made it special in the offensive sense was the link to the obituary of Pumipon by Giles Ji Ungpakorn, a Thai-British political activist who wrote a book criticizing Pumipon’s support for the 2006 military coup in Thailand. As a result, he was accused under feudal lèse majesté laws which make it illegal in Thailand to insult or offend the king or any of his relatives. He fled to England in 2009 to avoid prosecution.

Ji Ungpakorn is a masterful polemicist & brilliant political commentator & not just on the politics of Thailand. His obituary of Pumipon is scathing & hilarious, taking ad hominem to new levels of vituperation, but at the same time a political demolition of Pumipon’s rule. Unfortunately, when I tried to repost it now, FB censors immediately blocked it out with the notice “We believe the link you are trying to visit is malicious. For your safety, we have blocked it.” Who knew Facebook had such an affinity for feudalism at its most decrepit or such a concern for my sensibilities!?

The obituary is really worth reading, as is all of Ji Ungpakorn’s work, & you can read it by googling Ugly Truth Thailand blog, King Pumipon of Thailand. (On my blog:

https://uglytruththailand.wordpress.com/2016/10/13/king-pumipon-of-thailand/

(Photo is Pumipon receiving groveling homage in 1960 by John Dominis—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Last year, a longtime FB friend made a disgrace of himself on my wall & his own proclaiming ardent support for Assad & repeating several times in the most insulting way that my opposition to Assad was evidence that all white people with “Christian ancestry” are incapable of political thought. A guy who doesn’t recognize a brutal dictatorship may be too obtuse to notice that the pro-Assad Hands Off Syria Coalition is majority white as are the best-known Assadists on social media. Skin color, of course, isn’t the issue. Identification with or opposition to a fascist regime is what the debate was about. Two can play that paltry game & I could have responded by saying, quite correctly, that he would never speak to me like that were I a credentialed academic of either gender or any nationality. But when someone stoops that low politically, I’m not interested in engaging further & instead I just dumped his ass. It’s not ad hominem I objected to; that’s one of my favorite tools of debate with scoundrels. It’s stooping to guilt-baiting which is a very different thing & after over 50 years in politics something that rolls off me like water off a duck’s ass.

Today, he’s circulating an article which specifically cites the authoritarian regime of Assad & its policy of arresting & executing journalists. And our man never thought to insult & abuse the author who is an academic. I rest my case against another Assad supporter.

Not trying to be a know-it-all, but I see lots of posts which show insufficient knowledge of Rohingya history in Arakan state, especially how long they’ve lived there & how long the persecution & then genocide have gone on. It’s a difficult history to get at because the scholarship is insufficient–at least in English. Wikipedia is not a reliable source on anything to do with Muslims, especially Palestinians, Kashmiris, & the Rohingya. The owner of Wikipedia is an Islamophobe & an ardent Zionist who was honored by the state of Israel a few years ago for services rendered to Israeli propaganda.

To correct just the worst mistakes I’ve read on social media, Rohingya presence in Arakan does not just go back to British colonialism when they brought in foreign workers, & the genocide did not begin just ten years ago–although neither of those misunderstandings negates the claims of the Rohingya people to human, democratic, & civil rights in Burma. But accurate history matters for Rohingya claims to citizenship in Burma, as we know so well from Zionist attempts to deny the existence of Palestine & Palestinians as a people.

Part of the persecution of the Rohingya in Burma includes denial of education; they are also excluded from higher education as refugees in Bangladesh. We will likely not see brilliant history of the Rohingya people written until they are free from genocide & persecution in Burma & given full access to education as refugees & can write their own history. We should not have to rely on snippets from a Scottish doctor traveling in the region in 1799 to prove their long residency & culture in Burma. Rohingya activists are already laying the groundwork for that research & history so I post this piece about Dr. Francis Buchanan published by Rohinga Vision:

http://www.rvisiontv.com/dr-francis-buchanan-and-roang/

Trump, in a speech to old white men just like himself, is calling for an end to attacks on Judeo-Christian values which they represent so well. How can anyone take this ass seriously?

(PS: there’s nothing wrong with being old, white, or male but if you’re just like him, you’re screwed.)

The Washington Post & 60 Minutes TV program have done a joint investigation on the role of pharmaceutical companies in the opioid epidemic which takes 144 lives in the US every day. Not only are the pharmaceuticals indicted as the primary drivers of the epidemic but also the US Congress which refuses to take measures to control or prosecute because politicians are influenced by lobbyists & contributions to their campaign funds. It’s completely criminal but it’s how capitalism works.

Activated charcoal, which has been used in folk medicine around the world for eons, is now showing up in toothpaste & tooth powder, facial cleanser, deodorant, & other such products. I came across it years ago & have long used it for myself & my pets. A few years ago, my neighbors had some puppies who got very sick from inhaling, maybe licking bleach so I offered them charcoal powder which saved the lives of all the puppies. My little rascal Bellissima has been sick for a couple days with loss of appetite & runny poop so I’m giving her charcoal tablets along with nux vomica, a homeopathic remedy for poisoning. If they don’t work in a day or so, I’ll bring her to a vet but I bet my bottom dollar they will heal what ails her. I highly recommend it for first aid & other health ailments.