Life In Japan: Washlets

The first time I ever saw a washlet, to be entirely honest about it, I was genuinely afraid to sit down.  To my unschooled Western eyes, it looked like an ejection seat in a fighter jet.  Seeing it plugged into the wall most definitely made me pause.  I'm not exactly excited about having 100 volts of electricity anywhere near the 2nd most important cluster of organs on my body -- the ones responsible for both a great deal of pleasure, as well as relief from the build up of sludge and stinky fluids.



The washlet is the technological evolution of the "bum gun", a simple, standard approach to hygiene for the private parts, still commonly seen in Southeast Asia -- Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar.

When I first saw a bum gun, I thought "how primitive!"  The real truth?  My disdain itself was an embarrassingly primitive, insular, knee-jerk reaction.  What do I mean by that?

Is this the best we can do? Seriously?

I imagine an advanced race of extraterrestrials returning from our beloved planet Earth, reporting to the Council of Wise Elders on their own beloved space rock: "Well, they're an interesting but strange bunch there on Earth.  In some ways, they're quite advanced.  But in others quite puzzling to say the least.  They actually cut down trees to wipe their asses."

Yes, we cut down trees, process them, turn them into pulp, then toilet paper.  You know what happens next.

The bum gun does the job much more admirably and is much more eco-friendly, at least in terms of maintaining forest cover on our ravaged planet.

Just spray and wash.  Pat with a towel.  Get on with your life.  Frankly a thorough wash is much more sanitary than . . . you know how it goes.



Back to the washlet, a Japanese innovation I put on a par with the invention of the steam engine or artificial intelligence.

Washlets come in varying degrees of sophistication, accessorized to accommodate a wide range of tastes.  But they all perform the same purpose.  They wash you.  Men in back. Women back and front.
You can adjust the temperature of the stream, the intensity of the stream.  It can be just a direct stream or in "massage mode" a wiggling stream.



Some washlets greet you!  Some play music.  Some put the toilet seat up and down for you.
This borders on somewhat excessive for my particularly pedestrian world view and spartan expectations.  But there's one feature pretty standard on washlets that is truly admirable.  THE TOILET SEATS ARE HEATED!  And you can adjust the temperature on them too.

Why haven't these caught on in Western countries?  Has someone tried to market them to the wiping/smearing/stinky-butted round-eyed barbarians of Europe, the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the rest of the non-Japanese world . . . and gone bankrupt?  I don't get it.

Yes, I admire much about Japan.  And every country has its pluses and minuses.  You can examine and study, compare and argue, go back and forth, weighing the pros and cons. 

Then some one thing comes along which is so phenomenal, so HUGE and AMAZING, so entirely off the charts, so beyond anything else on the table, it's no longer a contest.

The simple unavoidable truth is . . .

Washlets put this country in a class by itself! 



[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . https://jdrachel.com ]



Life In Japan: Washlets

Book Review: “The Russian Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert” by Ron Ridenour

Ron Ridenour’s masterfully-written indictment of U.S. militarism and its take-all-prisoners imperial project is of such breathtaking scope and astonishing depth, it would be hard to exaggerate its value and timeliness, as the foreign policy of the Empire of Chaos now as never before in recorded history, steers the world toward apocalyptic confrontation and puts the survival of the entire human race at risk.

Those readers still in the embrace of the most toxic pile of propaganda ever assembled by a world power, that America is a force of good, spreading democracy, defending human rights, standing with the oppressed and marginalized, should have medics in the room with them to apply emergency procedures as the truth pours off the pages of this book.  Ridenour pulls no punches and with meticulous research and documentation, leaves little doubt that his narrative offers nothing less than the explicit and savage truth of over a century of exploits and exploitation.  We see brutal, barbaric, merciless application of military and economic power, with the clear and unambiguous goal of world domination — the U.S. as the ultimate empire blessed by God and history and the Fates, exempt from the rules of international law and judgment by anyone who would challenge it.  While the focus is Russia, this book covers a lot more ground, offering glimpses into many theaters of confrontation and conflict: China, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, of course the Middle East, as well as many countries in its more immediate sphere of influence, Central and South America.  With its 800+ bases currently sprawling across the planet, we’re hard-pressed to find anywhere where the heavy foot of American power does not exercise its self-serving prerogative.

Those readers who already are familiar with the scope of U.S. hypocrisy, who understand that behind the smiley face of official beneficence and goodness lies an agenda that serves a ruling elite at the expense of the vast number of everyday citizens, both inside the U.S. and out, will still benefit enormously from this book.  Much of it might constitute a refresher course, but I suspect many, myself included, will be pleasantly — or unpleasantly — rewarded with both disturbing factual knowledge and Ridenour’s fresh insights and analysis.  It may be for such readers “preaching to the choir” but I’ve never heard a choir that didn’t need to be tuned up from time to time.

Ridenour quotes “The Naked Human”, a poem written by Gustav Munch-Petersen.

I am only a human
but I shall one day
raise earth’s mountains
and let them shake
in the ears of those who sleep

I am only a human
but I shall one day
take the sun down from heaven
and light up all the dark holes
with merciless white light

I am only a human
but I shall one day
steal the gods lightning
and sweep the earth clean of dust

If I may do some metaphorical borrowing, I’d say that with The Russian Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert Ron Ridenour has raised some mountains, taken the sun down from heaven, and stolen lightning from the gods.  Let’s hope his exceptional scholarship and writing wakes up some people, lights up the dark holes, and sweeps away the dust.
Our survival as a species depends on it.


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



Book Review: “The Russian Peace Threat: Pentagon on Alert” by Ron Ridenour

It’s not easy being infallible . . .

 

In case you didn't hear President Obama's historic speech at the Hiroshima Peace Park this past May 27th, let me sum it up for you.  Paraphrasing . . .

"It's very sad.  War is nasty.  Shit happens."

There is broad consensus among reputable historians -- who don't filter everything through the brainwashing lens of American exceptionalism -- that dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was entirely unnecessary.

There is concrete evidence -- I've seen the U.S. government documents on display at the Hiroshima Peace Museum myself -- that dropping the bombs was an experiment.  These two Japanese cities, both of relatively marginal importance in terms of the war effort, were the petri dishes, the Japanese were the bacteria.  The nuclear scientists who had developed a deployable nuclear weapon wanted to see how people and dwellings would hold up in the 10,830º fireball.  You think I'm exaggerating about any of this?  The bombs didn't target factories or military installations.  The epicenter of the Hiroshima explosion was directly over a medical clinic, for chrissakes!

With those two heinous war crimes, of course, America was just getting warmed up.

Next came Korea, or more specifically North Korea.  In what was considered a savage and one-sided genocidal attack, over 20% of the population -- by some estimates close to 1.4 million people -- mostly civilians were killed by the U.S. campaign.  North Korea was reduced to rubble.  At the end of the carpet bombing, planes were returning with all of their bombs, with the pilots complaining there was nothing left to bomb.  Why did North Korea deserve such genocide?  They were demanding that as promised at the end of World War II, when they were finally liberated from the oppressive rule of the Japanese, that the country be unified and free democratic elections be held.  You think I'm making this up?  If you can go beyond the facile fairy tales of our high school history texts and do some reading, you'll find this right in the historical record.


 

After taking a little breather, the U.S. moved on to Vietnam.  What was the problem there?  These misguided gooks might go communist and we couldn't let that happen!  Of course, Vietnam is now a communist country.  I've been there.  It's a pretty decent place.  No one tried to shoot me.  I practically never saw any police.  The food is spicy.  Amazingly, I was treated with courtesy and kindness.  Why was I amazed?  Because we slaughtered between 1.3 and 3.9 million Vietnamese in that war, again mostly civilians.  We sprayed them and their farmland with lethal chemicals that are still causing horrible birth defects.  In fact, America dropped twice as many bombs on this tiny country as was dropped by all sides in every theater of World War II! 

Try to wrap your head around that.

Of course, just because we were at war with Vietnam didn't mean we would confine our destruction and carnage to that country, in losing the war.  We also mercilessly bombed Cambodia and Laos.  In Cambodia -- a country we weren't at war with -- America dropped a half million tons of bombs killing 100,000 innocent people. 

But that was child's play compared to Laos, again a country which was neutral not in any way participating in the Vietnam conflict.  Laos has the chilling distinction of being per capita the most bombed country in the history of the world!  Yes, we really cut loose on this tiny, impoverished nation by dropping 2,000,000 TONS OF EXPLOSIVES on them!

And how bad does America feel about the death and destruction it inflicted on tiny Laos?  Never one to let an opportunity for cynical irony go ignored, Obama in his public relations swing through Southeast Asia stopped by to do some glad-handing.  While when it comes to countries we've abused Obama prefers to leave the past behind, to look ahead toward a bright, harmonious future -- in particular one controlled by the corporate totalitarian regime of TPP -- he did give a nod to a little problem that 2,000,000 tons of explosives had left scattered across the landscape of Laos: that of unexploded ordnance.  He was in such a generous mood that he committed $90 million to help clean up the mess before more children lost their arms and legs.  $90 million for 2 million tons of explosives only four-and-a-half decades late.  What a guy!

I could go on but we'd be looking at a book.  A very depressing one at that.

The point is the bombing and the wars just keep on going and in parallel we are treated to a never-ending barrage of self-righteous deceptions and exceptionalist demagoguery.

The only difference now is that the rhetoric is more vitriolic and audaciously deceitful.

Since hopefully many of you like myself may not be amused by Obama's infinite capacity for expectorating America-first drivel, let me spare you from listening to this narcissistic ideologue and sum up his recent speech before the United Nations.  I read between the lines a bit, and here's the gist of this remarkable gust of self-congratulatory hot air:

"We know if you repeat a lie often enough, it will stick.  We are also firmly committed to never admitting a mistake, and no matter how implausible, always finding someone else to blame for what goes wrong.  Finally, the United States of America never apologizes."

For the final UN speech of his celebrated 8 years as president, I think Obama has done an excellent job of clarifying exactly where the U.S. stands, and sealing his place in the history books after the U.S. inevitably implodes, as one of the most myopic of our chief executives.

Having said that, I'm still for offering a balanced view.  Though we often get caught up in quibbling about the details, let's look at the big picture and give credit where credit is due.

Do you think keeping track of the torrent of destructive but spellbinding lies dumped on the American public and the rest of the world is easy?

Can you fathom how thoroughly exhausting it must be to relentlessly embrace and nurture such intemperate arrogance, such malignant hubris, such shameless moral insensitivity, how draining it is to keep feeding the rhetorical river of buttery self-congratulations and slimy bombast?

What about having to unrelentingly deny facts, obfuscate and hide the truth?  What about the colossal task of constructing an alternative and patently false reality to keep American citizens from waking up to the horror their leaders are visiting on the rest of the world?  You're going to tell me this is not incredibly grueling work?

In a nutshell . . .

Do you think it's easy being infallible?

Maybe we should ask President Obama at his next news conference.


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



It’s not easy being infallible . . .

Peace is as American as . . . ?

Has America ever really had a peace movement?

Yes, there was an anti-war movement in the late 60s, early 70s.

But it was an anti-war movement . . . specific to one particular war.

The Vietnam War.

Why?

Because young people -- I was the perfect age and in the thick of it -- didn't want to get blown away in some rice paddy in some country in Asia they could barely find on a map.

It's was survival.  Demonstrate.  Burn your draft cards.

Stay alive!

To be in principle for peace means you are values-driven.

But Americans for the most part are results-driven.

Get the job done.  Get the job done right.  Have a beer.

Which troublingly is a short leap to "the ends justify the means".

To see how that works out, just ask the civilian survivors of Dresden, Hiroshima, Nagasaki.

Ask the citizens of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Kosovo, Yemen.

Get the job done.  Get it done right.  Watch the Super Bowl.

Peace is a warm and fuzzy idea. It's something you can wriggle right up to, get all friendly, pinch its cute little cheeks, coddle it like a newborn, smile for the camera.

Yes, peace is really awesome!

As long as you don't have to be peaceful.

Therein lies the conundrum.

America likes to kick ass!  It's our way or the highway.

It's our way or you better head for a bomb shelter, mofo!

America is tough.  You know where America stands.

America wears its temperament on its sleeve.

It open-carries its guns . . . fair warning.

Don't even think about it!

Fuck with me and you're dead meat!

Doesn't exactly sound like fertile ground for a peace movement, eh?



However, peace signs are great!

Simple and attractive.

Make a great tattoo.  Charm bracelet.  Bumper sticker.

They're compact, symmetrical.

Fit nicely anywhere.

FUCK YEAH!  PEACE, BROTHER!


[ This originated at the author's personal website . . . http://jdrachel.com ]



Peace is as American as . . . ?

Self-Loathing

 

More news. And it's bad.

We have the Senate report on torture.

What can we expect now?

Nothing.

What happened after the Wall Street banks blew up the economy?

Nothing.

What happened after Sandy Hook?

Nothing.

What happened after the NSA got caught spying on innocent citizens?

Nothing.

Just look around at what is happening at the same time as this report.

The House of Representatives, based on fabrications and unfathomably 
simple-minded propaganda, just passed HR 758. It declares Russia the 
source of evil in the world and deems it an enemy. It is effectively a 
declaration of war.

What did we learn from Vietnam?

Nothing.

What did we learn from the gross deceptions leading to Iraq?

Nothing.

America is now a domestic abuser, a man who beats his wife to a bloody 
pulp, then comes crying and pleading for understanding and forgiveness 
__ refer to the Senate report __ and finally tops it all off by beating his wife
again to within a breath of delivering her lifeless corpse to the morgue.

When self-criticism __ which can be constructive __ becomes self-loathing,
it becomes a pathological addiction, a sadomasochistic descent into the
writhing depths of agony.

I've never understood self-loathing.

But I've never understood cockfighting either.

I just know it when I see it.

Tonight on your favorite TV station: Hand wringing. Despair. Teeth clenching. 
Nausea. Self-inflicted pain.

Lots and lots of pain.

Don't miss it!


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Conscious . . . Conscience

 
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, being 'conscious' means being "awake
and able to understand what is happening around you."

And 'conscience' is defined as "the part of the mind that makes you aware of
your actions as being either morally right or wrong."

People who have no conscience because they are unconscious due to no fault of
their own can hardly be criticized for their lack of morality __ e.g. the brain dead, 
coma victims.

People who are fully conscious but have no conscience are often referred to as sociopaths.

People who are fully conscious but choose to have no conscience might be categorized 
as full-blown psychopaths.

My quandary is how do we deal with people who are fully conscious,
basically stable and mentally sound, have a conscience, but who ignore
what that conscience is saying to them.

# Native Americans slaughtered and dispossessed of their land:  Tens of thousands.

# Vietnamese killed in unnecessary and unsuccessful Vietnam War:  882,000

# America soldiers killed in unnecessary and unsuccessful Vietnam War:  58,220

# innocent citizens killed by death squads of U.S. backed El Salvador government: 35,000.

# innocent citizens killed by death squads of U.S. backed Guatemala government: 60,000.

# Iraqi children starved to death by U.S. sanctions 1993-2000:  500,000.

# Iraqi citizens killed in illegal and unjustified Iraq War:  Over 460,000.

# innocent citizens killed in illegal drone warfare (Pakistan, Yemen):  400-600

# innocent people killed (so far) in Eastern Ukraine by U.S. installed coup government, one which includes neo-Nazis:  Almost 2600.

# innocent people about to be killed in Iraq War 3:  To be announced.
 
"No man is an island . . . ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee." 

Riiiiight! No man is an island.  Great stuff.  Ha ha.  Totally!  I hear ya, babe!
Boo hoo hoo. Anyone with a violin up for playing "Hearts and Flowers"?

"Exactly what's your point, John Rachel? . . .

. . . are you in the running for this year's Bleeding Heart Liberal Award?
Mother Theresa and all that cow poop. Maybe you and Bono can do tequila
shots in the back of his limo."

Hmm. What's this about?

Oh, now I remember!

I'm not in a coma.



[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

This Is War

1992 © Kenneth Jarecke (Contact Press Images)

Until recently, this photo was never seen in the U.S.
It's a soldier making a last desperate attempt at climbing out of a
military vehicle after it had been hit by an incendiary bomb. This was
during Desert Storm in 1991.

This is the side of war our leaders don't want you to see. For us they want it
to be all about waving flags, marching bands, grandiose speeches,
stars-and-stripes lapel pins.

Remember Bush's order that there be no reporting of coffins flown in from 
Afghanistan and Iraq containing the remains of our dead soldiers?

But this photo is what war is really all about. That scorched corpse could be
your son or daughter, one of your grandchildren, an uncle, cousin,
nephew or niece, that freckled neighborhood kid that used to ride by on a
bike.

When our politicians speak about some new crisis that requires our military
intervention, some challenge to our national interests or terrorist
threat to the homeland, then with the appropriate somber expressions and
deeply furrowed brows reel off patriotic slogans and chest thumping
battle cries that beg for our bravado and self-sacrifice, they want you
to imagine proud soldiers in clean pressed uniforms, glorious fireworks
reflecting in the pool of the national mall, the flag majestically
waving in the background atop the White House, they want you embracing
that triumphant feeling of being a citizen of the greatest country in
the world. They most certainly do not want you thinking about that
photograph.

Sure, our leaders claim that they want to avoid at all costs sending our brave
soldiers into harms way. They claim to value every young man and woman
in uniform as they do their own children __ though for some reason their
own kids never get sent into battle.

They claim the decision to wage war, even to commit our troops to  "limited
engagement", is a very serious one, that putting "boots on the ground"
is something we do only when every other conceivable option has been
duly explored, considered, weighed, exhausted.

Warning! When you hear any of this talk about war as a last resort, be VERY
AFRAID. Because it means the bombs are about to drop and the bullets are
about to fly. Last resort is now pure cover, a charade, just one
component of a PR game to tenderize public opinion, just more cynical
role play to get people ready for the slaughter.

When our leaders say they hate war, be VERY ANGRY. Because their actions betray
their love __ their worship! __ of military power.  Just look at their
priorities.  Just look at the national budget. Just take out a world map
and try to identify the 1000+ military bases
the U.S. has in over 140 countries across the globe. If they really
wanted peace, these would be Peace Corps camps, not military
installations.

When they talk about "humanitarian war" and "R2P" __ responsibility to protect __
LAUGH, then CRY. Because any humanitarian concern is not about you. And
when you're getting your ass shot at, the only reason they want to
protect you is so you can shoot back.

On the increasingly rare occasions, when our leaders do give their token nod to
promoting peace in the world, be INDIGNANT __ be OUTRAGED __ at the
blatant hypocrisy. Why, our Nobel Peace Prize winning president even
used his award acceptance speech to make the case for "necessary wars".

Let's see . . . necessary wars. When I was in college, it was Vietnam. Commies
would take over the world if we didn't stop them. Then we had to stop
Saddam Hussein from taking over Kuwait, even though 9 out of 10 American
thought Kuwait was a tropical fruit. Then, of course, we had to bomb
the shit out of Afghanistan to catch Osama bin Laden, though he strutted
around the caves and continued to make threatening videos for the next
eight years. Then, we really had to get Saddam Hussein, this
time before he dropped an atomic bomb on Baltimore or Orlando, even if
he didn't have one and if he did had no way to lob it further than the
Sea of Galilee. Then there was Libya because we had to get rid of that
pesky Gadaffi. And Syria because . . . well, just because. And of
course, we've been having  a regular hissy fit about Iran for decades
now, so they're high on the hit list. And now we have the Ukraine, for a
lot of reasons, including Snowden, and Putin's making Obama look like a
warmonger, which frankly is not that hard, and the BRICS, and the
abandonment of the dollar, and the deranged neocons running amok in the
State Department, and the piles of military hardware which we're
bankrupting the country to buy __ after all, you can't just leave that
stuff laying around, because it's dangerous, so it's imperative we use it. Hell, 
let's throw some ordnance at the Russkies, and the Chinese . . . and . . . and . . .

Whew! All these "necessary wars" are exhausting!

As anyone who reads my blogs knows, I have never recommended any 
organization and directed readers to support its activities. There are hundreds __
thousands __ of good, hard-working, well-meaning, probably extremely
worthwhile groups out there trying to make a difference. My reluctance
stems from observing that despite their best efforts, not a lot seems to
be getting done.

But now, since time is running out and this might be our last best hope, I'm going to break tradition.

Please go to the website for World Beyond War. One of the founding members and its current director is a man I greatly respect and admire, David Swanson, who I've written about before. There is much more on the web site itself but here is a quick summary of their agenda:

• Creating an easily recognizable and joinable mainstream international movement to end all war.
• Education about war, peace, and nonviolent action -- including all that is to be gained by ending war.
• Improving access to accurate information about wars. Exposing falsehoods.
• Improving access to information about successful steps away from war in other parts of the world.
• Increased understanding of partial steps as movement in the direction of eliminating, not reforming, war.
• Partial and full disarmament.
• Conversion or transition to peaceful industries.
• Closing, converting or donating foreign military bases.
• Democratizing militaries while they exist and making them truly volunteer.
• Banning foreign weapons sales and gifts.
• Outlawing profiteering from war.
• Banning the use of mercenaries and private contractors.
• Abolishing the CIA and other secret agencies.
• Promoting diplomacy and international law, and consistent enforcement of laws against war, including prosecution of violators.
• Reforming or replacing the U.N. and the ICC.
• Expansion of peace teams and human shields.
• Promotion of nonmilitary foreign aid and crisis prevention.
• Placing restrictions on military recruitment and providing potential soldiers with alternatives.
• Thanking resisters for their service.
• Encouraging cultural exchange.
• Discouraging racism and nationalism.
• Developing less destructive and exploitative lifestyles.
• Expanding the use of public demonstrations and nonviolent civil resistance to enact all of these changes.

Is it naive to think that the human race can rise above its long history of savagery?

Noam Chomsky says we are a "strange species which attained the intelligence to discover
the effective means to destroy itself, but __ so the evidence suggests
__ not the moral and intellectual capacity to control its worst
instincts."

Let's hope he's wrong.


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Spreading The Love

                "I'm America's CEO."

In the post-election euphoria, we've been led to believe that President Obama's trip to Asia is about spreading goodwill, creating new friendships, renewing old alliances, and making the world safe for democracy.
It's a charm offensive that's much longer on "offensive" than "charm".

What this trip is actually about is selling TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership" __ "selling" here being the equivalent of jamming a building the size of the New York Federal Reserve between the spread cheeks of the leaders of the countries in this part of the world.

TPP is not exactly popular even in the U.S. In fact, the more people learn about it, the more they realize that it's a Trojan Horse, another so-called trade agreement, which in point of fact mitigates the effectiveness of many environmental and worker-protection laws, compromises the sovereignty of nations, and puts in place yet another powerful mechanism for the already bloated and rich transnational corporations to amass more socially unproductive profits. Encouragingly, more and more people are outraged and speaking out against it. This is predictably being countered by a public relations campaign using our public officials as spokespersons for the transnational corporate elite who are promoting this onerous, ill-conceived weapon of economic destruction.

Don't be fooled by this self-serving and bogus propaganda.

Yesterday, for example, I read an article called Canada Sued under NAFTA for Banning Fracking which tells about an American corporation initiating a lawsuit for damages of $250,000,000. You see, if a business entity feels that the laws of a participating country interfere with their now inalienable rights to exploit that country, NAFTA sanctions "investor-to-state" litigation. In this case, Lone Pine Resources Inc. spent large sums of money securing mining permits, but Quebec Province, where the mining was to take place, later determined that exercising those rights would cause grave environmental damage. NAFTA allows U.S. and Mexican companies to sue the Canadian government if they feel they have been wronged by a government policy or action. This is saying that Lone Pine Resources had no responsibility in determining in advance the environmental impacts of its plans. It can throw money down, then if local authorities discover that their proposed mining will pollute the water, dump toxins in the soil, subject people to carcinogens and other life-threatening chemicals, Lone Pine Resources has to be compensated for their own shortsightedness and stupidity.

As the article goes on to say: "Amazingly, instead of looking for ways to scale back and eliminate the rules in our trade agreements that threaten public interest policies in favor of corporate profits, eleven countries, including the United States and Canada, are currently in the middle of negotiations to expand the NAFTA investment rules in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact."

This is madness!!

TPP is NAFTA on steroids. Yes. Anyone who has looked at this "trade agreement", as its being misrepresented, can see it's nothing but another monstrous assault weapon being handed to transnational corporations to bulk up their bottom line at the expense of just about everything having to do with quality of life __ safety, human rights, worker rights, sustainability, environmental protection. Please! Just read this and this and this, then do your own research. This is not a shades of gray issue. It's black and white, folks.

Let me give a brief example from my own experience.

Japan Post is the postal service here. It is truly amazing in every respect. It's essentially a privatized, public service institution that with scrupulous government oversight, conjoins several organizations to provide a variety of services. At Japan Post, not only can you mail letters, cards, and packages locally and internationally, but you can pay your bills with a fully-functioning cash transfer system, do banking with an ATM machine, secure an entire range of insurance (home, life, auto, accident), purchase gifts, make travel plans and purchase tickets. When I look at the shell of an institution the U.S. Postal Service has become under the relentless assault of private corporations there, it's no contest. It's like comparing a scrub game of neighborhood football to the Superbowl.

The Japanese are furious about TPP. Under TPP, corporations in the U.S. through legal challenges would tear Japan Post apart. They'd claim the panoply of services and the incredibly competent and efficient delivery of those services are "unfair competition".

It's competition alright. It actually works! It provides useful services making the lives of Japanese citizens better and more hassle-free.

This is just one small example. I'm not going to do all of the work for you. Just extrapolate from this, read the recommended articles and imagine what will happen if these countries are "persuaded" __ read that as "coerced" or "bullied" __ into this agreement. America's military and economic power often makes such negotiations a sham. America is good at making less powerful nations an offer they can't refuse.

For those of you who might not have heard, America is a very unpopular country in most of the world. Despite the whitewashed image which is promoted by corporate media in the U.S., anti-Americanism is exponentially on the rise. I have experienced this first hand.

People defensively suggest that I don't love my country. This is both silly and ignorant.

I've always loved and always will love what America represents. I love the energy, the optimism, the whole idea of government of the people, by the people, for the people.

But TPP is not America. Corporation X and Corporation Y just because their registered in Delaware isn't America. The tiny powerful coterie of wealthy elite investors and Wall Street bankers who are turning our government into a puppet show isn't America.

You and I are America __ the people referred to in "of the people, by the people, for the people." We are America.

And no proud, sane, decent American would get behind TPP and the expanding corporate juggernaut that's being done in the name of proud, sane, decent Americans. Proud, sane, decent Americans believe in opportunity, justice, fairness, the "general welfare". Proud, sane, decent Americans truly love their country, and would never put corporate profits ahead of how America is supposed to serve its citizens. Proud, sane, decent Americans don't compromise the integrity of communities and schools to improve the bottom line. Proud, sane, decent Americans understand the hope America represents to the world. Proud, sane, decent American respect human rights and human life.

No, I don't hate America. But a lot of people in the world do. And if TPP and similar such agreements are put in place, the worst is yet to come.

We won't have time to spread the love.

We'll be too busy defending ourselves from all the hate.



[ This originated at the author's personal web page . . . http://jdrachel.com ]