US Accepts Korean Corruption?

Korea's President Park Geun-Hye (박근혜) is tangled in multiple scandals, including both bribery & collusion with Samsung, and improper infiltration of crony Choi Soon-sil (최순실) into Korean national strategy & decisionmaking.

Of course, South Korea is still heavily occupied by US military forces - many tens of thousands of highly-trained American professionals work 24-hrs each day in Seoul & throughout Korea to protect the nation's people.

What did Yankee do when discovering corruption at the peak of Korean politics?

Nothing?  Blackmail ?
Why's nobody asking?

Corrupted Japan ?

Japan's Ministry of Finance reportedly sold land in Osaka to an ultra right-wing organization with close ties to Prime Minister Shinzō Abe & his wife Akie. As the land was sold far below its appraised value, the uncommon deal at first was kept secret (link).

Akie Abe, nicknamed "Akky" was named Honorary President of a planned school that would inculcate Shinto values into the curriculum and student life. At one point the ultranationalist school was to be named for Prime Minister Abe.

Now the sweetheart deal is coming apart. Did serious pollution (buried garbage) create the low price? What was done with the pollutants, and is the site now safe for children? Does Moritomo Gakuen threaten children's health?

[ Land valued at ¥956 million was sold for ¥134 million to the far-right corporation, supposedly because buried garbage reduced the value. And before the land was sold, the government gave ¥131.76 million to Moritomo Gakuen toward decontamination. Something rotten... ]

How much has the "Akheed Scandal" dirtied Japan's government? It appears the tentacles of ultranationalism and Nippon Kaigi have reached deeply into the Ministry of Finance, Osaka Prefecture, and Japan's Board of Audit. But perhaps not -- at least some people feel this case is an unreasonable insider scandal...

「アッキード事件」

There seems unexplained corruption, and criminal misreporting with links to Japan's highest politicians and bureaucracy. How deeply implicated are the right-wing Abe and his Defense Minister Tomomi Inada? Abe's wife Akie already appears dirty. Yasunori Kagoike should testify before the Japanese Diet to explain his activities.Reuters reports that Kagoike is the head of the Osaka branch of Nippon Kaigi; who knows what dirty garbage might emerge from Kagoike's sworn testimony?

Donate to Shinzō Abe Elementary School?  (安倍晋三記念小学校の寄附)

Wag the Trump?

Was it a mixup at tonight's Oscars for the Best Picture prize? Or was it a message to the people of the world that news is often scripted and can be tainted?

Commentators claimed "Nobody could write this script" but it's already wrapped.

The film "Wag the Dog" speaks of how the population of America is manipulated by media. Looking beyond, the election of President Donald J. Trump was more than unexpected. Was he legitimately elected? If not, how many people were enlisted to dupe the nation, and were they Americans?

Would President Trump even know he'd been installed via deceit? Better he didn't know...

What's a moldova?

Almost half-million people have watched this 'humor' video about Moldova:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=380xwSXnzeU
MOLDOVA

Yes, it is ridiculous.
Yes, it is insulting.

But dozens of other nations have made similar videos, and behind the jokes, it actually teaches a lot about Moldova (facts the typical person wouldn't know, and probably never otherwise hear about).

Hundreds-of-thousands of people spent 4+ minutes watching this presentation. Maybe as a marketing tool, humor & sarcasm are second to none...


I've visited Moldova for business four times, and as a member of the Swedish-Moldovan International Association I must tell you Moldova is Great in many ways. But it's too often unknown & forgotten...

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"Don't believe marketing is about what you want to say. Craft something other people – the people you're trying to reach – want to listen to, read, interact with... To be interesting today: Earn people's time.  If you haven’t made that commitment you're just talking to yourself in public... who's going to make time to listen to that?"  (Mark Di Somma)

Dos Equis Beer, "Most Interesting Man" marketing campaign created a fictional celebrity endorser (and fabulously boasting about him). Most ads end with the most interesting man dressed in a tuxedo surrounded by beautiful women, at which point he says, "I don't always drink beer, but when I do I prefer Dos Equis." For a beer spokesman to admit he doesn't always drink beer, does not seem like the smartest marketing campaign decision, but the numbers have proven its worth. People want to be seen as interesting.  (Jaci Russo)


Ads can be funny to better sell the brand -- "designed to create a longing in someone who wants to be as interesting as the ads' leading man and brand spokesperson." Emotional connection: [My Nation & I are nearly as cool as America & Trump]  (Sage Marketing Group)

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More nasty videos mocking the America First movement:
http://everysecondcounts.eu/index.html

Please remember, FIRST to create such a video was the Netherlands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELD2AwFN9Nc
It's Great. Fantastic.

Ultra-Nationalist Japan

Some people celebrate when rabid leaders pledge to cleanse their country of foreign scum.

But racism and hate ultimately are costly & hurtful to us all.

Japan has allowed the ultra-right to flourish. In part, Japan's rightists were protected by America during the 1950s and 60s, claiming to be anti-Communist.

Now, organizations such as Nippon Kaigi 日本会議 are vigorous (link), reaching to the pinnacle of the political world. Reportedly 15 of 19 ministers, and 289 of the 480 National Diet members, are Nippon Kaigi as of 10/2014. Maybe forging sweetheart deals with Japan's Ministry of Finance?

Moritomo Gakuen 森友学園 and 瑞穂の國記念小學院 are frightening!

Kids must memorize the prewar Imperial Rescript on Education 「教育勅語」

But the waste & destruction of WWII are easily remembered in Japan, and many (probably most) people are unsupportive of right-wing extremists.

Thankfully, abusiveness is monitored & sometimes reported upon, such as sex scandals:

Dietmember Yoshitaka Shindō 新藤義孝
元内閣府特命担当大臣（地方分権改革、国家戦略特別区域）

http://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2017/01300801/?all=1
(English summary here)

After a funeral, lawmaker Yoshitaka Shindō 新藤義孝 reportedly goes whoring

Theft of the Sacred

Property and community of Hawai'i's indigenous people are threatened by development of sacred Mauna Kea. Similarly, construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline by Energy Transfer Partners is being forced upon native communities, uprooting their environment.

On Mauna Kea, should cars and vehicles be allowed at the summit?

Early maneuvering by pro-development forces sought to stifle resistance through arrests claiming protestors blocked traffic.

Scientific activities have already harmed Mauna Kea. "The cumulative impacts of certain resources of past and existing development in the astronomy precinct have already been substantial, significant and adverse." (written testimony by James T.Hayes to BLNR Contested Case Hearing, Thirty Meter Telescope, p.34; link, video 3:08:15)

Worse, this person with primary responsibility for the Environmental Impact Study on Mauna Kea by the TMT, James T. Hayes, cites the existence of the road around Mauna Kea's summit as the key factor the proposed Northern Plateau site is no longer a pristine area -- see Dexter Kaimana cross-examining James T. Hayes, link, at 3:12:48
http://cdn-origin.peg.tv/vod/T01590/2016-10-31-LOW_LIVE_TMT_Hearing_103116.mp4

When people can tour through special places in their own messy vehicle, chugging slurpee, listening to sports or talk radio, eating a burger, they too easily overlook the fact they are guests within an honored & exceptional place.

We too often give precedence to motor vehicles.

Ban cars from upper Mauna Kea. Heavily tax every allowed vehicle, with revenues to Native Hawaiian programs.

Political Scum?

Americans who've been shaken awake by the first weeks of Donald J. Trump's presidency are surely partly to blame for wider national crises.

America's many troubles have grown up under the carelessness of both Democrat & Republican lawmakers, "public servants" who serve themselves and their funders before anything trickles down to the masses.

Nancy Pelosi and her husband are not people I admire. The Republican leadership is no better. It seems clear to me the people Hilary Clinton most wished to help were wealthy financiers. Fatcats threatening hellfire to the insufficiently Christian?    -- No Thank You.