Stuart Jeanne Bramhall's Blog: The Most Revolutionary Act , page 1131

South Korea’s Sunshine Policy: 80 Percent of South Koreans Support Peace and North-South Engagement

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Korea was well on their way for reunification in 2000 when Bush Jr intervened to stop it from happening: Down the Old Memory Hole: How Bush Jr Quashed the Movement for Korean Unification

Counter Information

For South Koreans, the biggest threat to peace isn’t North Korea but the United States.



By Tim Shorrock and Seth Ackerman

Global Research, November 10, 2017

Jacobin 8 November 2017

With Donald Trump scheduled to address the South Korean parliament today, Jacobin’s Seth Ackerman spoke to Tim Shorrock, a veteran journalist who’s covered the Koreas for decades.

Shorrock describes how a vibrant South Korean left with roots in the labor and democracy movements of the 1980s is coping with the latest security threat in the White House. Despite a conservative military establishment with deep ties to the US security state, South Koreans are seeking dialogue with the North.

Seth Ackerman: Everyone focuses on Trump’s bluster on North Korea, but less attention is paid to how things are seen south of the demilitarized zone. What’s the mood in South Korea these days?

Tim Shorrock: According to one poll, 80 percent of South Koreans…

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Dear Mr. Trump: here’s something you can do to defend America’s heartland: attack Monsanto

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Bill Clinton was a Monsanto man. Obama was a Monsanto man. What about you, Mr. Trump?

Jon Rappoport's Blog

Dear Mr. Trump: here’s something you can do to defend America’s heartland: attack Monsanto

By Jon Rappoport

Something is happening in America’s heartland, Mr. Trump, and you don’t know what it is. Or if you do know, apparently you don’t care.

Because Monsanto’s favorite killer pesticide, Roundup, isn’t destroying farmers’ weeds, as promised, the company has gone to a stronger and even more toxic solution: dicamba.

Zero Hedge has the story: “…[dicamba] spray drifts from those liberal herbicide applications began to wipe out the crops of neighboring farmers who didn’t plant Monsanto’s dicamba-resistant seeds.”

“Now, as the Wall Street Journal points out today, after allegedly wiping out millions of acres of farm ground across the Midwest. [with dicamba], Monsanto once again finds itself in a familiar spot: the courtroom.”

Wall St. Journal: “Arkansas has been a flashpoint in the dispute: About 900,000 acres of crops were reported damaged there, more…

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Trump Lands $84 Billion Chinese Fracking Contract For West Virginia

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China Energy Investment Corporation Limited has signed an agreement with the West Virginia Dept. of Commerce on an $83.7 billion plan to invest in shale gas development and chemical manufacturing projects in West Virginia. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed Thursday in Beijing, witnessed by President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

ThereAreNoSunglasses

[Does this relieve Trump of all the promises he made to put West Virginia coal-miners back to work?]

FRACTRACKER, GAS/OIL producing area marked in orange/yellow.

China Energy to invest $83.7 billion in West Virginia

BEIJING, China (WSAZ) — China Energy Investment Corporation Limited has signed an agreement with the West Virginia Dept. of Commerce on an $83.7 billion plan to invest in shale gas development and chemical manufacturing projects in West Virginia.

The Memoradum of Understanding was signed Thursday in Beijing, witnessed by President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

West Virginia Secretary of Commerce H. Wood Thrasher and China Energy President Ling Wen signed the MOU.

“This is a great day for the state of West Virginia,” Gov. Jim Justice said. “I’ve been saying for the last couple months that the tides are turning in West Virginia and this is proof. Today is another sign as we…

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The Basques: Spain’s Other Separatists

 

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The Basque History of the World

by Mark Kurlansky

Penguin (1999)

Book Review

The Basque History of the World is a history of Basqueland, a semi-autonomous region in the Pyrenees straddling the French-Spanish border. Despite the recent declaration of independence by Catalonia, there is surprisingly little attention on historical efforts by Basqueland, to break away from Spanish rule. Like Catalonia Basqueland, which has its own unique language (Eskuera), has been a major industrial and economic powerhouse for the rest of Spain.

Global Mercenaries, Traders, Shipbuilders, Navigators and Bankers

Historically the Basques were traders and mercenary soldiers dating back to the 4th century BC. The Greeks hired them, as did Carthage in their war against Rome. Although Basque was technically “occupied” by the Roman empire for nearly 400 years, the Romans demanded no tribute (taxes) and exerted no military oversight.

In the 7th and 8th century, the Basques became Europe’s leading shipbuilders (which they learned from the Vikings) and iron mongers (which they learned from the Celts). They were the world’s first commercial whalers, establishing whaling stations as far distant as Newfoundland and Labrador. In the 9th century, they also dominated the European trade in salted cod, fishing off Iceland, Norway, Britain, as well as Newfoundland.

Beginning in the 15th century they were sought after by many European explorers (including Columbus and Magellan) as pilots, navigators and seamen.

They were also the first capitalists, financing their shipbuilding via private venture capital. In 1999, when this book was published, they were still global leaders in banking.

Unconquerable

Neither the Moors (in the 8th century) nor King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (in the 15th century) succeeded in conquering Basqueland. Owing to the immense wealth the Basques generated, they paid no duty on foreign goods imported through their ports. Until 1876, they paid no tax to Madrid and were exempt from serving in the Spanish military. French Basqueland fared far worse after the French revolutionary government eliminated France’s three Basque provinces in their campaign to erase ethnic identities.

Spain was so poor when the second Spanish Republic was declared in 1931, only Basqueland and Catalonia (thanks to their strong industrial base) enjoyed a European standard of living. Both regions demanded full autonomy as a condition of supporting the Republic.

Following the successful coup of Spain’s fascist dictator Francisco Franco in 1939, the Basques provided the only organized resistance against his regime. They also played an extremely important role in the French resistance to Hitler’s occupation of France.

Role in Downfall of Franco Dictatorship

In 1973, ETA, the Basque armed militia assassinated Franco’s second in command, and Basque and Catalan leaders began meeting secretly to plan Spain’s transition to democracy.

Franco’s death and the fall of his government in 1975 would prove disastrous for the Basque economy. The dictator had been heavily subsidizing archaic Basque factories, which were totally unable to compete with modern European industries after Spain joined the EU.

In 1998, after uniting with Catalonia to win constitutional guarantees of legislative autonomy (for both Catalonia and Basqueland), ETA unilaterally renounced violence. This followed a 16-year battle with the GAL, an undercover police/paramilitary operation that engaged in extrajudicial assassinations and torture against Basque nationalists.

 

 

 

A Look At America’s Retail Apocalypse In Charts

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Recovery? What recovery? The wave of retail failures is a direct hit to an industry that is the largest employer of young Americans and those at the low end of the income spectrum

peoples trust toronto

While everyone likes to point the finger at Amazon, the growing retail apocalypse in America can’t be tied to just one catalyst. Certainly, there is no doubt that Amazon is taking a toll on brick-and-mortar retailers but massive excess capacity, perpetually over-levered capital structures and a constant lack of capital investment have undoubtedly helped accelerate the decline.

As Bloomberg points out today, up until this year, struggling retailers have largely been able to avoid bankruptcy by refinancing to buy more time. Alas, as evidenced by the Toys “R” Us bankruptcy, investor demand for retail debt has waned of late resulting in a whole slew of recent retail failures.

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Meanwhile, investor distaste for retail debt comes just as the industry faces a massive wave of maturities over the next five years.

Making matters more difficult is the explosive amount of risky debt owed by retail coming due over the next five…

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Fukushima radiation found in Hawaii fish — Almost half contain fallout from Japan nuclear disaster

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Almost half of Hawaiian fish irradiated via Fukushima plume.

Global Geopolitics

University of Hawaii at Mānoa, 2017:

In the Wake of Fukushima: Radiocesium Inventories of Selected North Pacific Fish

Thirteen commonly consumed types of fish caught in the North Pacific and locally available in Hawaii were analyzed using gamma spectroscopy to measure Fukushima-derived and historic 134 Cs and 137 Cs isotopes. All fish samples had detectable 137 Cs above 95% Confidence Intervals. Three out of the thirteen samples had 134 Cs, an isotope indicative of Fukushima releases, detected above 95% Confidence Intervals. The highest 134 Cs and 137 Cs concentration in the examined species was in ahi tuna carrying 0.10±0.04 Bq/kg and 0.62±0.05 Bq/kg, respectively. Other samples with 134 Cs activities found above their 2-sigma uncertainty were albacore tuna and swordfish…

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Evidence Of Voter Suppression On Election Day Raises Concerns For 2018 — News One

Many Democrats are still high-fiving each other about the voter participation surge on Election Day that swept their candidates into office. But the celebration has been dampened by evidence of attempts at voter suppression, which is causing concern for the upcoming midterm elections in 2018.

In one scheme, someone posted tweets falsely telling Democratic voters in Virginia that they could cast a ballot by text message, CNN reported.

The message was tweeted more than a dozen times and remained active for nearly three hours on Tuesday before Twitter suspended the account. That came after Twitter told the Senate Intelligence Committee that it actively searches for and removes misleading tweets that attacks elections.

Still, there were numerous reports of attempted voter suppression on Election Day via social media and old fashion methods.

Kristen Clarke, executive director of the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, tweeted about a report of someone who appeared to be a police officer telling Latino voters in Virginia who to vote for.

ALERT: Annandale, VA cop reportedly outside polling site telling Latino voters who to vote for. Report #VoterSuppression to 866-OUR-VOTE.

— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) November 7, 2017

People should not be “surprised if officials use this moment to start pushing voter suppression tactics,” she said.

Democratic victories on election night will lead to sinister plots at voter suppression in 2018, David Frum of The Atlantic warned on Twitter.

Trump White House staff will study last night results, shake heads ruefully, & conclude, “Time to get serious about voter suppression”

— David Frum (@davidfrum) November 8, 2017

The concern is real. Messages have been circulating that remind Democrats that dirty tactics at the polls helped to sweep President Donald Trump into the White House. They look back at Wisconsin as a prime example.

Despite Dem victories yesterday don’t forget how voter suppression in states like Wisconsin tipped election to Trump pic.twitter.com/QkRjwqT301

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 9, 2017

 

via Evidence Of Voter Suppression On Election Day Raises Concerns For 2018 — News One

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5 Popular Orange Juice Brands that Tested Positive for Monsanto’s Glyphosate

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The brands included are Tropicana, Minute Maid, Stater Brothers, Signature Farms, Kirkland. Orange juice probably isn’t that good for you anyway – one glass contains as much sugar as 35 jelly beans.

Openhearted Rebel

By Aaron Kesel, Natural Blaze, Waking Times

Two samples of five major U.S. brands of orange juice including Tropicana and Minute Maid tested positive in lab results for contamination with Monsanto’s cancer-causing chemical, glyphosate, Moms Across America reported.

The average American consumes about 2.7 gallons of orange juice per year since 2015 according to the USDA food statistics. OJ is rich in vitamin C, fiber, and contains antioxidants that help protect and nourish the skin among many other benefits but according to grassroots non-profit Moms Across America, that may also be a toxic cocktail that is slowly killing Americans every morning.

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Despite Retreat, ISIS Still Earns $50 Million a Year from Oil

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Despite its ongoing territorial retreat, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is earning over $4 million a month from its involvement in the oil trade, according to a leading expert in the finances of the group. In the past, a sizeable portion of the Islamic State’s income came from oil revenues, as the group controlled several major oilfields in northern Iraq and eastern Syria. But the loss of its territory in the past year has delivered a sharp blow to the Islamic State’s finances. The group has lost virtually every oilfield that it used to control in northern Iraq, while two weeks ago it conceded Syria’s most lucrative oilfield, the Omar oilfield, which it controlled since July of 2013. In early October, the United States-led coalition estimated that the Islamic State’s oil revenues had fallen to approximately $4 million a month, down 90 percent from the group’s financial peak of $40 million a month in 2015.

But a leading expert in the Islamic State’s finances has warned that the group’s oil revenues remain formidable and should not be dismissed as insignificant. Dr. Patrick Johnston, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, told The Cipher Brief last week that the Sunni militant group will continue to profit from the oil trade in the foreseeable future. Johnston said that Islamic State coffers will most likely receive nearly $50 million this year from oil profits alone, an amount that remains formidable for any militant group. Much of that will come from extortion, said the RAND Corporation scientist, as groups of Islamic State fighters force commercial enterprises —including oil installations— in eastern Syria to pay them for “protection”. Additionally, the group continues to tax energy consumption in the areas that it controls, while also taxing fuel trucks that transit through areas under its control. As the militant group’s expenses shrink due to its loss of territory, and as its financial obligations decrease, its oil-derived revenue will be more than sufficient to sustain its operations, according to Johnston. . .

via Despite retreat, ISIS still earns $50 million a year from oil, says expert

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Steve Jobs: Lost Interview with Late Apple Founder

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Earlier this week Maori TV featured a remarkable interview with the late Apple founder Steve Jobs. The interview occurred in 1996, eleven years after he was forced out of Apple and founded a new computer platform company called NeXt. The videotape vanished and then mysteriously surfaced shortly after his death in 2011.

A year later he would sell NeXt to Apple. Then with the company 90 days away from bankruptcy, he would be recalled to be Apple’s CEO. Over the next eleven years he would oversee the introduction of the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, iTunes and the iMac, turning Apple into the world’ biggest company.

Jobs is credited with launching the personal computer revolution, with his creation of Apple computer in 1976. In 1984 he made desktop publishing possible with the release of the MacIntosh, the first personal computer to incorporate a graphical user interface.

I was intrigued to hear him discuss his motivation for starting Apple and pushing the company to innovate with new products. He maintains money is a really low priority for him – what really drives him is the excitement of collaborating with really brilliant people

His views on Microsoft, which he describes as “the MacDonald’s of the computer industry” are also really illuminating.

This video, which can’t be embedded, can be viewed at the Maori TV website for the next two weeks: Steve Jobs Lost Interview

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