Hawaiian Wins Gold !

One hundred years ago today in the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku representing the USA won the 100 meter freestyle gold medal.He twice bettered the Olympic Record in preliminary rounds. Duke went on to win a total of five Olympic medals (in the 1912, 1920 and 1924 Games). His last Olympic competition age 42 was on the US Water Polo team in the 1932 Games.

Born Hawaiian, Duke became a US citizen at the age of 9 (US Hawaiian Organic Act, 30 April 1900) after the USA annexed Hawaii as a colonial territory.

Another hero of the 1912 Olympics was Jim Thorpe of the USA, a mixed race athlete (typically labeled Indian or "redskin") who won both the Pentathlon & Decathlon Gold Medals.

These athletes struggled to overcome racism. Their successes helped pave the way for a brighter present day world.

 The Hawaiian Gazette  12 July 1912, pg 1

http://chroniclingamerica.com/lccn/sn83025121/1912-07-12/ed-1/seq-1/

 Sweden's King Gustaf V (on podium) confers Duke's 100-meter Freestyle Gold

A great celebrity, Duke Kahanamoku became perhaps better known for introducing & popularizing the Hawaiian sport of surfing around the world.

Yankee Go Home

Nearly 30,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea. Both governments seem satisfied with present arrangements. But it's ugly and frankly, it sucks.

Why should American taxpayers shoulder huge costs defending Korea? Korea is a proud member of the OECD and major economic power. The Korean people should police themselves.

Confronted with the American military, Korean civilians feel a mix of shame and anger.

The Japanese feel similarly about U.S. military forces in Japan (about 40,000 troops and US civilian employees). The Germans also dislike their foreign protectors. Regardless of good intent, the U.S. bases are military encampments, small violent destabilizing cities. Return the resources to decaying America.

Urgently: --- Yankee Go Home.

Nukenergy Luck

Successful nuclear power stations avoid accident -- perhaps through luck.

The downside to disaster is horrible.  Survivors face decades of life-changing cleanup.

It's not worth the risk.

Cut & Run Corporation

We are surrounded by, and rely upon, local, national & global companies. It should be more widely recognized that in times of serious trouble, most are constructed as "cut & run" corporations.

We give limited liability corporations the option of leaving creditors unpaid. Their cut & run often leaves the public holding the bag, paying assorted inflated costs for their mistakes. What an exit strategy!

Limited liability corporations should be very strictly regulated. A capitalist fundamental is to cut costs, so they can't regulate themselves. Horrible examples are Enron and the Madoff empires, found ultimately rotten to the core. TEPCO ("responsible" for Fukushima's nuclear safety) is another example.

The Libor rate manipulation scandal now engulfing major banks around the world shows corporate manipulation jerking the public to pay more. Again we're chumps, manipulated by insiders.

Such deceit and negligence must be criminal. The enabling conspirators should be heavily fined, shamed and imprisoned.

Joe Public pays the tragic flimflam costs... Republican "friends" never return his stolen money.

Dirty Facebook?

Be cautious with your Facebook network. Keep your network closed for safety, and purge little-known "friends" who never post (perhaps a data collector's sham alias).
Americans should beware commenting on their friend's health: leaked information can damage insurance coverage. (Prospective) employers also monitor social networks...

Dirtyhanded Paperboy

Though my paperboy is grubby, it doesn't stop me reading the newspaper.

The postlady may fart & smell bad, but I still open my mail.

Julian Assange of Wikileaks may be dirty (and he may be clean) but the important story is not his personal life, but rather the Wikileaks documents themselves.

The documents highlight scheming warmaking, dodgy financial acts, assassination, and underhanded diplomacy; these are the real issues. The Assange debacle continues to deflect attention from a wide assortment of bad behavior, high crimes and midemeanors orchestrated by others, well-documented by Wikileaks.

Julian's story is a sideshow, designed to distract attention from truly huge criminal activities waged by those more powerful. The failure of most big media organizations to highlight this fact clearly indicates corporate media comfortably treats us as dumb idiots to be hoodwinked.

Responsible Corp = Low Tax

We collect tax to pay for social investment & costs. One major cost is cleaning up after private interests. We sadly provide a cut & run option to Limited Liability Corporations -- companies can abandon their mistakes and leave society the cleanup costs.

This undermines everyone's economic security. It is not good.

Raise corporate tax rates on limited liability corporations !

Increase criminal penalties for corporate crimes.

On the other hand, we could register companies in formats that do not allow defection. Investors would be & should be liable for their actions. Responsible.

Responsible companies deserve lower taxes.

The Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) & Public Limited Company (PLC; "public" means publicly-traded) are formulated to serve private interests. They have incentives to cut costs, and to shift costs to others. To assure their operations don't become a public burden, their selfish activities are monitored and circumscribed; they should be highly taxed. 

LLC & PLC = High tax

SRC = Socially Responsible Corporation = low tax

Peon Prime Minister - UK

British Prime Minister David Cameron fortunately became a great friend of Rupert Murdoch & Co....       Cozy.
Can Cameron survive scrutiny? Yes he Cam!

News International Ltd. 

The Sun  

The Sunday Times

The Times

The Times Literary Supplement

News of the World

Dow Jones

The Wall Street Journal

Barron's

Star TV

National Geographic Channel

HarperCollins

The Australian

British Sky Broadcasting

20th Century Fox

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox News

Peon Prime Minister - Sweden

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has been a good pet of the USA.