Black Lives Matter: Picture’s from today’s rally

I said rally and not protest because it was more supportive of people in other countries, not about problems with police here.  There were 10-12 different speakers and presenters over a roughly two hour event, and a nine minute long silence at one point.  It wasn’t overwhelmingly loud, but the crowd was several hundred strong.  It was also noticeable and predictable which foreigners weren’t there.

My facebook page post about it is public, so you should be able to view all the pictures without being logged in.  There are about three dozen photos, easier to leave there than hog bandwidth here.  As the tag says, “my lousy photography” because my phone’s camera isn’t the best.

Presentations were in many forms: singers, discussions of politics, the victims of police violence, their own experiences (two said they came from St. Louis).  They also made sure to mention all different people – cisgender, Transgender, Non-Binary, Disabled, and others.

Unlike a lot of protests, rallies and parades, all the BLM events I have heard or read of online were inclusive or didn’t mention specific groups.  BLM has had a noticeable focus on inclusivity, not exclusion as other events and groups have done.  What the Los Angeles LGBT group did to Black Lives Matter was shameful.

There was one suprising moment halfway through.  One of the speakers gave a planned announcement in support of Hong Kong and against the criminal “extradition law”, and an attendee attempted to climb on stage.  I don’t know the full details, so no comment or speculation.

 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

There are a lot of schools that discriminate in hiring foreigners to teach.  It’s sadly all too common in various Asian countries.  “Native speaker only” is usually code for white, and some job ads placed by recruiters illegally specify appearance (the school and the recruiter blaming each other, neither taking responsibility).  I previously worked for an employer who refused to hire a British woman with a Master’s Degree in Education solely because she was of Indian descent.  She was better qualified than anyone I’ve ever worked with.

If there are any instances of Black foreigners being targeted by police in Taiwan, I haven’t yet heard of any, though I may simply not have been told.  The ex-pats I do know (friends or casual acquaintances) have never reported any.
Below is just one of the pics.  It was reduced, hence why it looks terrible.  The originals are on the facebook post, untouched other than facebook processing them.

There was also a beach clean up event on Saturday which was planned and advertised two months ago.  I don’t know how many foreigners missed today’s event to go there, but I do know certain . . . individuals (because I can’t make myself call them people) would never have attended today’s event, even if there was nothing to do today.

 

Deliberately Chosen: Trump loves anniversaries as much as Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda was big on anniversaries, and preferred to carry out new terrorist attacks on the dates of prior attacks.  The 2004 Madrid Train Bombing (March 11) and the 2005 London Bombing (July 7) immediately come to mind.

It seems Cheetolini and his collection of criminals prefer to do the same things.  Except in their case, the terrorism is the intentional and direct provocation of of Black people by referencing prior terrorist acts perpetrated by white people.

Moving the “rally” from the June 19th to the 20th matters little.  The statement of intent was made: “we want it to happen again after the election”.

Trump delays Tulsa rally that had been planned for Juneteenth

June 13, 2020

By Phil Helsel

President Donald Trump on Friday night tweeted that he is rescheduling a Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally that was to take place on Juneteenth, which is the commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States.

Trump wrote that the rally would be moved a day, to June 20. Juneteenth is June 19.

[. . .]

Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said the decision to hold a rally there on June 19 “is disrespectful to the lives and community that was lost during the Tulsa race riot.”

A second planned “rally” for the rabble has been planned for August 27th, in Jacksonville, Florida.  “Axe Handle Saturday” happened sixty years ago, the kook klux klowns and others perpetrating unprovoked violence and corrupt cops supporting them by arresting those who helped the victims.  It sounds a lot like today.

Florida Historical Society: Ax Handle Saturday

Date in History: 27 Aug 1960

1960 – Ax Handle Saturday in Jacksonville occurred on this date. Black Sit-ins began two weeks earlier when students asked to be served at the segregated lunch counter at Woolworths, Morrison’s Cafeteria and other eateries in the city. They were denied service and kicked, spit at and addressed with racial slurs. This came to a head on “Ax Handle Saturday” when a group of 200 middle aged and older white men (allegedly some were also members of the Ku Klux Klan) gathered in Hemming Park armed with baseball bats and ax handles. They attacked the protesters conducting the sit-ins. The violence spread, and the white mob started attacking all African-Americans in sight. The “Boomerangs” (a black street gang) attempted to protect the demonstrators. Police, who had not intervened when the protesters were attacked, now became involved, arresting members of the Boomerangs and other black residents who attempted to stop the beatings. The events were reported on in Life Magazine and newspapers in Chicago, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami and New York. Reporters from the Jacksonville Times-Union and the Jacksonville Journal were not allowed to cover the events.

Doing this twice isn’t an accident nor is it tone deafness.  This is a deliberate dog whistle.

There is another anniversary I would like to see Cheetolini re-enact: the imprisonment of DC Stephenson (grand wizard of the kook klux klowns) in 1925.  His arrest, conviction and imprisonment led to the downfall of the kook klux klowns, a level of power they would never achieve again.  Cheeto deserves the same fate and punishment.

Waste Not, Want Not: Both sides of the border (patrol)

Who says Canadian politicians and cops can’t be as corrupt and self-serving as those in the US?

The US’s gestapo…sorry, “customs and border protection” were alloted US$112 million to buy food and medicine for immigrants held in the concentration camps.  So what did they do with it?  Buy toys and leave people to starve, of course.

I strongly predict the only consequences will be sideways career moves.

Customs and Border Protection used money meant for food and medicine on dirt bikes and ATVs, says GAO

June 12, 2020, 5:06 AM CST

By Adiel Kaplan

Customs and Border Protection spent parts of a $112 million emergency fund meant to buy food, medicine and other items for migrants on all-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes and boats, according to a Government Accountability Office report published Thursday.

“Congress provided this additional funding for the primary purpose of improving conditions for migrants at the border and ensuring migrants were receiving adequate healthcare after the deaths of multiple children in custody,” Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement. “Instead of helping migrants and improving conditions on the ground, CBP then broke the law by spending this taxpayer money on things that were not authorized — such as ATVs, dirt bikes, and computer systems.”

On the other side of the border in Canada’s buybull belt, Alberta’s “united conservative party” (UCP, a merger of Progressive Conservatives and the racist Wildrose Party) has allowed similar corruption and misuse of public funds by cops.  Only this time, the cops have permission.

The money was intended for victims of crime (e.g. survivors of Intimate Partner Violence) to obtain resources.  Instead, the money is now being used to arm violent cops.

UCP proposal to use part of victims fund for policing and prosecution is a conflict, critics say

Meghan Grant · CBC News · Posted: Jun 08, 2020

Alberta’s UCP government is taking money away from victims to fund policing initiatives in the province, a move opponents of the proposed legislation changes have called unethical and a “ploy.”

Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer proposed changes to the Victims of Crime Act and Fund that would allow the government to dip into money meant to support those affected by crime.

[. . .]

Money for the fund comes from provincial fine surcharges imposed following convictions with an objective to help crime victims through financial relief and support programs.

Aside from the Rudd’s concerns, defence lawyer Deborah Hatch says there are also ethical concerns surrounding the proposed changes to the legislation.

“It is a conflict. It seems to create a financial incentive — or at least the appearance that there is a financial benefit to the prosecution and to the police — to make sure that cases end in convictions,” says Hatch.

I always knew Alberta’s rightwing politicians were cut from the same cloth as the US’s republicans: garbage bags.

The Voters Spoke: It’s time to go, Guo

In 2018, Han Guo-yu (“Korea Fish”) of the Kuomintang (KMT) prty won the mayoral race in Kaohsiung.  The south has traditionally been the KMT’s stronghold, their presidential candidates from there.  After Terry Guo (owner of Foxconn) was forced to withdraw from the federal election for January 2020, Han became the KMT’s golden boy for those who want reunification with China.

In early 2019, Tsai Ing-wen (“vegetable English”) looked like a final year president, ready to lose gracefully.  Then Hong Kong happened, and attitudes changed.  What looked like an easy return to power for the KMT became an uphill slog.  Worse yet, Han’s campaign was plagued by his own and his party’s blunders (e.g. openly referencing the 921 earthquake).  Tsai ended up winning the election handily (56% in a three way race), and her currently approval rating is in the 70-75% range, a reflection of how the government has handled COVID-19 and the economy.

Along the way, Han forgot to do something very important: his job.  In his year long campaign for the presidency, he largely neglected his duties as mayor of Kaohsiung.  Residents were so upset that a recall campaign began.  (There were also claims of corruption and incompetence by his office, but I don’t have the full details.)

The recall vote happened on Saturday night, June 6th.  For the recall to succeed, as least 25% of registered voters (575,000) would have to cast a recall ballot.  Nearly a million votes were submitted.  Han was elected with 890,000 votes in 2018, in a two way battle.  Over 939,000 voters on Saturday chose to get rid of him, the highest ever recall turnout in Taiwan.  Only 25,000 supported him.

Breaking News: KMT mayor of Taiwan’s Kaohsiung loses recall vote

A total of 42 percent, far more than the required minimum 25 percent of eligible voters (574,996 people), showed up to cast a valid ballot, and the final number of votes agreeing with the recall motion exceeded the number of those opposed by 939,090 to 25,051, CNA reported. Never before has such a high elected government official been targeted by a recall vote.

In November 2018, Han received about 890,000 votes to make him mayor, fewer than the number of votes kicking him out of office Saturday. The complete turnaround in public support followed his failure to turn grandiose promises into real achievements, reports said. Several of his projects, including a Ferris wheel and a United States-backed amusement park, never materialized.

More below the fold.

[Read more…]

Black Lives Matter: And what people here are doing about it

Black Lives Matter has spread to many countries around the world, opposition to racist statues (e.g. a slaver in England, the butcher Leopold in Belgium), peaceful protests everywhere and hostile government responses in some of them (e.g. Australia).

Taiwan now has its own Black Lives Matter movement begun last week, organized by several ex-pats from the US and other countries.  It’s amazing how much people can accomplish with no money and little time.  There was a Black Lives Matter event on Saturday night, though regrettably I couldn’t attend because of my back.  There is another larger public demonstration planned for next Saturday which I intend to attend.

These meetings and demonstrations have a new impetus because of recent events in Taiwan.  In early May, a dance troupe inexplicably did a “performance” in blackface.  And did it a second time after already knowing it was inappropriate.  More below the fold.

[Read more…]

Music Notes: Songs for Donald Trump’s birthday

Previously I’ve compared Cheetolini (Donald Trump) to Nikita Khrushchev, hoping for a bloodless coup within the US government.  Thus far, no such luck.  But he’s sounding more and more like a Tin Pot Dictator Tin Foil Hat Dictator like Ceausescu, demanding the public fawn over and praise him on his upcoming 74th birthday.

Trump Campaign’s Plea For Video Messages To Celebrate President’s Birthday Backfires

Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign put out a call on Twitter Thursday for people to film and send in videos wishing the president a happy 74th birthday, which is on June 14.

“We want to make this year President Trump’s BEST BIRTHDAY EVER,” read Trump’s campaign website, which provided a form for people to fill out and upload clips. The campaign promised to show Trump “the first 500 responses TONIGHT.”

[. . .]

my birthday is also June 14 and i invite you to send your selfie videos of you furious and screaming in your SUV to me instead

I doubt we’ll such much of that.  Pitchforks and (non-tiki) torches are more likely.

But I’ll be nice and dedicate a song to him: Trooper’s “General Hand Grenade“, recorded in 1975, back when Cheetolini was all of 29 years old (corrected).

[Read more…]

Music Notes: Birth and death notices

First this so it’s buried below more important posts to follow.

It’s been a busy week in musical notices. June 3rd marked the seventieth birthdays of two significant women in popular music.  The same day in 1950, 400km apart.

Deniece Williams is an R&B singer with four grammies and multiple #1 hits. Williams’s two biggest hits were “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late”, a 1978 duet with Johnny Mathis, and “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” in 1984.

Suzi Quatro is credited as the first woman musician (not just singer) to lead a successful mainstream rock band.  1973’s “Can The Can” was her first hit, while “Stumblin’ In” (a duet with Chris Norman of Smokie) was her only US hit.  She sold 50 million records worldwide, but is a one hit wonder in her own country (outside of Michigan).  Quatro is more famous in the US for her appearances as Leather Tuscadero on “Happy Days”.  A documentary on Quatro’s career will be released on July 1st.

Now for the sad notes….

Rupert Hine (born September 21, 1947) died of undisclosed causes on June 5th, age 72.  Hine was one of the best and most high profile record producers of the 1980s and 1990s, his work crossing many categories and many best selling albums and artists: Tina Turner, The Fixx, Rush, Stevie Nicks, Saga, Chris de Burgh, Howard Jones, Suzanne Vega, etc.   Some might describe Hine’s production as “sterile”, but his work aged well unlike a lot of 1980s producers.  His sound was clean, instruments are distinct, and he used few or no dated effects (e.g. cheap synthesizers, gated drums).

Steve Priest (February 23, 1948) of The Sweet died on June 4th of undisclosed causes.  He was the group’s bass player and sang on some songs like “Ballroom Blitz“, eventually taking over singing duties after Brian Connolly left the band. Other favourites of mine include “Action” and “Fox On The Run“.

 

Caught Out: If someone hears you, claim someone else said it

In June 2010, humanitarian ship the Rachel Corrie was bound for Gaza, Palestine, bringing medical and other supplies.  The Israeli Terrorist Force (ITF) confronted the Rachel Corrie’s crew on the radio.  The ITF falsely reported that the RC crew had said “go back to auschwitz”.  After the recording was professionally examined, the ITF and Israeli government admitted falsifying it and adding the words themselves.

I mention this because a similar story from New York has emerged today, with the lie going the other direction.  From TMZ:

NYPD Scanner: Calls for Violence Against Protesters … ‘Shoot Motherf*****s’ Heard, But Who Said It?

NYPD officers allegedly urged police to shoot and run over protesters — at least that’s what was heard over the citywide police scanner … but the question now is whether those words came from a cop or someone who stole a radio.

As protesters marched toward the 77th Precinct in Brooklyn, you could hear someone on the scanner calling in to describe the scene before another voice urges cops to, “Shoot those motherf*****s.”

Later in the evening, the scanner picked up what sounded like officers saying they were surrounded by protesters near the intersection of Albany and Dean Streets in Crown Heights. A voice on the scanner responds, “Run them over.”

Obviously, the scanner broadcasts are beyond alarming IF they really came from police officers. NYPD tells us … they’re aware of the comments and are looking into it.

TMZ independently found the radio transmissions on a website that records police scanners — so the audio is legit. However, law enforcement sources tell us … during this latest wave of civil unrest, police radios have gone missing, and there is a possibility the transmissions on the scanner did not originate from police.

Cops no longer deserve the benefit of doubt nor the presumption of innocence.  When they claim, “the radios were stolen from police cars,” it’s safe to assume they are lying and those words were spoken by cops.

 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

I’ll correct this on the weekend when I have time. I hate my memory issues.

It should also be noted that the same night June 2010 that Israel made the false accusation, ITF pirates boarded the Rachel Corrie and murdered nine crew members in cold blood, executing them with bullets fired at point blank range. No Israelis were ever brought to trial for the murder of unarmed sailors in Palestinian waters.

How many protesters in the US this week have been murdered in a similar fashion, unarmed and murdered with a shot from point blank?

Gas Chambers: ICE is HDQ Neutral Evil

As we all know, the ICE concentration camps are chambers of horrors.  ICE has (I suspect intentionally) employed sexual predators and allowed them to molest and rape children.  But they don’t see that as their problem; ICE denies any responsibility for the sexual abuses.

As of this week, they have begun poisoning the hostages and kidnapped with “HDQ Neutral”, a toxin that will cause painful and irreversible damage.  It’s dangerous and debilitating when used on adults, potentially fatal when used on children.

Did I say used on?  I’m sorry, I meant that ICE are not spraying directly on people (no doubt for “plausible deniability”).  They are spraying it on surfaces inside of buildings, while the victims are inside, forced to breathe it in aerosol form.  The instructions for HDQ Neutral specify adequate ventilation with no people around, time to allow it to disperse AND rinsing or washing it off.  (Why does the corporate media repeated use “say”?  Are they inferring the victims are all liars and ICE is telling the truth?)

Immigrant detainees say ICE is using coronavirus disinfectant sprays that cause bleeding, burns and pain

Advocacy organizations have filed complaints against Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in Florida and California, claiming that migrants being held there are suffering severe side effects from disinfectant sprays being used to combat the coronavirus.

One of the complaints was sent by Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice and the advocacy group Freedom for Immigrants on May 21. That complaint, which focused on the Adelanto detention center in California, included testimonials from detainees who called in to a hotline run by Freedom for Immigrants.

“The guards have started spraying this chemical everywhere, all over everything, all the time. It causes a terrible reaction on our skin,” one of the detainees said, adding, “When I blow my nose, blood comes out. They are treating us like animals. One person fainted and was taken out, I don’t know what happened to them. There is no fresh air.”

[. . .]

Some of the detainees who called the hotline identified the chemical being sprayed at Adelanto as a disinfectant called HDQ Neutral, based on labeled bottles they saw at the facility.

Safety guidelines for HDQ Neutral issued by its manufacturer, Spartan Chemical, warn that the disinfectant is “harmful if inhaled” and that it “causes severe skin burns and serious eye damage.” The guidelines specify that HDQ Neutral should be used “only outdoors or in a well-ventilated area” and protective gear should be worn while handling the chemical.

According to the complaint about Adelanto, which is one of the country’s largest ICE detention centers, staff there are spraying HDQ Neutral “every 15-30 minutes” on surfaces throughout the housing unit, which lacks ventilation. The complaint said “at least nine” detainees have experienced severe symptoms from the spray since May 11, including blisters, rashes, bleeding, fainting, breathing difficulties, headaches, stomach pain and nausea. Multiple detainees complained of receiving inadequate care for these symptoms.

The warning labels issued by the government of Hawai’i say this about HDQ Neutral:

PRECAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

HAZARDS TO HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS

DANGER. CORROSIVE.

Causes irreversible eye damage and skin burns. Harmful if swallowed. Do not get in eyes, on skin,or on clothing. Wear protective eyewear (goggles, face shield or safety glasses), protective clothing and protective gloves(rubber or chemical resistant). Harmful if inhaled. Wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling. Removecontaminated clothing and wash clothing before reuse.

FIRST AID

IF IN EYES: Hold eye open and rinse slowly and gently with water for 15 – 20 minutes.  Remove contact lenses, if present,after the first 5 minutes, then continue rinsing eye.

IF ON SKIN OR CLOTHING: Take off contaminated clothing. Rinse skin immediately with plenty of water for 15 – 20 minutes.

IF SWALLOWED: Call a poison control center or doctor immediately for treatment advice. Have person sip a glass of water ifable to swallow. Do not induce vomiting unless told to do so by the poison control center or doctor. Do not give anything bymouth to an unconscious person.

IF INHALED: Move person to fresh air. If person is not breathing, call 911 or an ambulance, then give artificial respiration,preferably by mouth-to-mouth, if possible.Call a poison control center or doctor for treatment advice. Have the product container or label with you when calling apoison control center or doctor or going for treatment.

NOTE TO PHYSICIAN: Probable mucosal damage may contraindicate the use of gastric lavage. Measures against circulatoryshock, respiratory depression and convulsion may be needed.

ICE, Cheetolini and the regime couldn’t be any more blatant about their intent if they were using Zyklon B.

I Wonder: Who are the real terrorists?

So Cheetolini plans to label Antifa a “terrorist group” because a few members vandalized a pigsty or two.  It sounds like another “domino theory”, another “war on drugs”, another “war on terror”: excuses to perpetrate violence for no reason other than to terrorize and demonstrate white power.

What does that make him and his government that continue to poison the water in Flint and North Dakota?  That continue to deny water to First Nations people in Arizona?  How is that not terrorism and destruction of people property, endangerment of their lives?

A burnt pigsty WON’T kill anyone once the fire goes out.  Poisoned water and intentionally starving a popuation of water definitely will kill, both now and for years to come.