In response to Trump’s racist & xenophobic State of the Union address, one is tempted to say keep stuffing his face with Mac & fries & let arteriosclerosis take its course. But better to take the high road & just say “No human being is alien to us.”

The rightwing political character of some Assad opponents

Not being one to pull my punches, let me say frankly that one of the reasons the Islamophobic & anti-Semitic tripe of Assadist propaganda has corrupted so many is that the opposition to Assad has so many rightwing social democrats who look to the US Pentagon to salvage the Syrian revolution. One even called for Saudi Arabia to salvage the revolution whilst they are bombing the hell out of the revolution in Yemen. On the street, we call it ‘not knowing your ass from your elbow’.

Their primary focus of attack is “the western left” even though no such current of thought has existed for years & now the straggling remnants have all joined ranks to support the Assad dictatorship & Russian & Syrian bombing of civilians. Leading anti-Assad writer Idrees Ahmad just posted an attack on all activism, describing it as performative, careerist, self-aggrandizing, mindless, & a “cult of the dumb.” What a deplorable anthem to passivity & conformity & how profoundly ignorant of what it takes to organize people to fight against injustice, war, occupation, genocide, & for human rights. No one objects to our man being antisocial. That’s his right. But to impugn those who will not stand passive, even risking their lives against injustice, is deplorable & wretched politics. Would he dare to openly mock the civil rights struggles, the undocumented immigrant movements, the anti-colonial & anti-caste movements, the anti-occupation & self-determination struggles in Kashmir & Palestine, the Arab Spring uprisings, the struggle against genocide in Burma as merely performative, careerist, self-aggrandizing, mindless, & a cult of the dumb? Well it might surprise him, but in that regard he shares more in common with Assadist propagandists than he thinks.

Muslim brothers & sisters: is it true what Trump told Piers Morgan that he loves Muslims & you love him? Because if it is, I will have to reconsider pandering to you & just start posting pictures of my unsavory green bean casseroles.

It’s nine years this week since I arrived in the Rio Grande Valley on the Texas border with Mexico. I was headed to retiring affordably in Mexico but couldn’t get my flock of rescue birds across the border legally so I stayed put to consider options.

The region, considered one of the poorest in the US, has a strong cultural influence of Mexicans (since it was once part of Mexico), with Spanish spoken as frequently as English. Every culture has its shysters & because of Texas lowlife politicians the state has a reputation as redneck hell. But the RGV, probably from a combination of Mexican culture & hard working people, is one of the most generous places I’ve ever lived. I’ve been graced with more human kindness here than I ever imagined. Just yesterday I took my shimmying car to my immigrant Mexican mechanic to see if I could drive it till Thursday when I would bring it to him for repair. He fixed it yesterday & said I could pay him on Thursday. That is just so un-American.

Living here has been a blessing for me, especially in the people I’ve come to know & become friends with, including gringos, of course. Don’t believe a word of what the lowlife in the White House says about Mexican immigrants. But then I know you don’t. <3

(PS: If anyone in the RGV is looking for a good mechanic, let me know.)

Without apology & without batting an eyelash, I censor what goes on my wall. I don’t care if racists like it or not. I can’t afford an exorcist every time one of them leaves their droppings. Exorcists don’t come cheap these days. If you want to dump, don’t do it here because I’m trigger-happy with the blocking. It’s enough we have to watch nightly news about the dirtball in the White House.

Have I missed something from the past or is Sweden playing a much more public & aggressive role in militarist & reactionary politics? So much for its kind of socialism. Down the toilet. Where it belongs.

FEMA ends delivery of clean water & food to Puerto Rico

FEMA delivery of water to San Isidro, Puerto Rico (Mario Tama:Getty Images) Jan 30 2018

Now, about four months after Hurricane Maria walloped the hell out of Puerto Rico, the government estimates a third are still without power, clean water, & food. Many Puerto Ricans estimate those without power at closer to 80-percent. But tomorrow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will end emergency water & food deliveries because ‘giving free water & food means families are not going to supermarkets to buy’. The functioning of capitalism cannot be fettered by a category five major hurricane. Commerce & supermarkets (even with empty shelves) must go on so the economy doesn’t collapse & socialism doesn’t rear its ugly head. Makes you weep. But do you think racism might be massively involved?

Photo is US soldier finally doing something of value to the human race by delivering water to San Isidro, Puerto Rico.

(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Do any of my Filipino friends have reliable figures of the number murdered in Duterte’s war against the poor? I’m doing a report about it & can only find figures up to August 2017. I know he pulled back somewhat after protests but never ended the executions & recently announced full resumption. The figure I have is 12,500 in August 2017 but I find it questionable, maybe even ridiculously low. Can anyone provide better data?