Panmunjom Peace Summit

Historic meeting in Panmunjom, Korea!

After many decades of Japanese colonialism, and 'protective' military occupation of South Korea by the USA since 1945, perhaps the Korean people can begin to make their own, more peaceful future.

Constructing Peace - A Great Challenge

Protest over pudding, as Japan shoves divided Korea's leaders closer together.

Former colonial ruler Japan is not invited to tomorrow's intra-Korean summit in the Demilitarized Zone, but photos of dessert depicting Korean islets contested by Japan now sour relations with Tokyo (link).

Dokdo / Takeshima are just 0.2km² - twice the size of Yankee Stadium, but disproportionately controversial.  PEACE is more important!

Grubbing for Wealth?

                                                                                                                                                 photo:  In-seok

Kissing Earth: Execution pit prep

The US Department of Homeland Security seeks to compile databases and possible blacklists of "media influencers" - Bad News!
(link: Forbes)   (link: The Japan Times)   (link: PEN)

DHS press secretary Tyler Houlton (link) asserts that categorizing and assessing media people is "nothing more than the standard practice of monitoring current events... Any suggestion otherwise is for tin foil hat wearing, black helicopter conspiracy theorists"...

But in fact analyzing (and penalizing) media "sentiment" is a process familiar to the Gestapo. 

According to the Statement of Work, the private-sector contractor must have "Ability to analyze the media coverage in terms of content, volume, sentiment, ... reach, ... influencers, ... momentum, circulation." No detailed rubric is publicly provided by Government to how "sentiment" is determined.

Former government officials in South Korea have been convicted and are now in prison for compiling and operating similar "blacklists" of their enemies (link). That Jan. 2018 court ruling was clear: "... once the government discriminates against those who think differently, it leads to totalitarianism."

The Korean government had 9473 people on their known "blacklist" (문화예술계 블랙리스트 - link) and also a "whitelist" ("화이트리스트") of favored media actively funded & supported. Creepy!

Classifying media sentiment & Enemies List creation is far more dangerous than "monitoring current events"

Lance Armstrong Swindle "settled"?

Payoffs keep Lance wealthy & out of jail.
Bad News for anti-corruption:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/19/sports/cycling/lance-armstrong-postal-service.html

Americans are overly cocooned from the World
For sheltering an admitted criminal and never even trying to send this rich swindler to jail, our society enables further crimes. America's youth sees cheating rewarded. People outside the nation see: sports, money, cheating, doping, USA USA

Lance Armstrong's a permanent SHIT stain on the American flag. 

Cheating and Doping = East Germany and Old Glory USA

This swindler disgraces every American.

Armstrong - shit stain on our flag. Expel the Bum.

Sports, Money, Cheating, Doping, USA USA