Tag Archives: Asia

Alfred McCoy: The Future of the American Empire

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“Alfred McCoy was a young rebel academic who waded into the war zone in Southeast Asia to investigate the relationship between the CIA, crime syndicates, and local drug lords. The result, which the Agency tried unsuccessfully to suppress, was his classic The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade. In the 45 years since, McCoy has consistently probed the underside of American global power, analyzing how the United States uses covert interventions, local proxies, torture, and worldwide surveillance to maintain its global empire.”

Read more: https://www.thenation.com/article/alfred-mccoy-the-future-of-the-american-empire/

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In North Korea, Black Markets Are Saving Lives

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“Initially, these markets consisted of disorganized traders meeting in fields, facing seizure from police if they did not come up with a bribe.  Today, the jangmadang practice has led to fully-fledged markets, complete with stalls selling street food, smuggled electronics, ingredients, and clothes; certain markets allegedly grew to encompass upwards of a thousand stalls.  Today, the markets remain a crucial element of survival for many North Koreans, with some reports estimating that around 5 million (around a fifth of the overall population) are ‘directly or indirectly dependent on the markets’.”

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/in-north-korea-black-markets-are-saving-lives/

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US, S. Korea to stage massive air exercise in show of force against N. Korea

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“The massive five-day annual exercise comes as Washington pushes what President Donald Trump has called a ‘maximum pressure campaign’ against Pyongyang over its nuclear programme.  The exercise, named Vigilant Ace, starts on December 4 with 12,000 US personnel and an unspecified number of South Korean airmen flying more than 230 aircraft at eight US and South Korean military bases.”

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-korea-stage-massive-air-exercise-show-force-082750271.html

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This Trade Treaty Got Better when the US Bailed

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“Though the treaty is still imperfect, it does raise hope for more trade and therefore higher living standards. What is downright humiliating for Americans is that the treaty became better only after the US withdrew from it.”

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/this-trade-treaty-got-better-when-the-us-bailed/

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Trump, Duterte, Congress, and the Philippine Drug War Killings

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“The Philippine National Police (PNP) acknowledge over 3,900 people have been killed in anti-drug operations under the Duterte administration, plus nearly 2,300 more drug-related murders and thousands still ‘unexplained.’ Our statement also notes the Philippines saw a roughly 50% increase in its official homicide rate, starting immediately when Duterte took office – hard to explain in the absence of an official policy of extrajudicial killing.”

Read more: https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2017/nov/17/update_and_action_alert_trump

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Japan’s Abe to push for rearmament, war powers after election win

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“Amending the charter’s pacifist Article 9 would be hugely symbolic for Japan. Supporters see it as the foundation of post-war democracy but many conservatives view it as a humiliating imposition after Japan’s defeat in 1945.  It would also be a victory for Abe, whose conservative agenda of restoring traditional values, stressing obligations to the state over individual rights and loosening constraints on the military, centers on revising the constitution.”

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-election/japans-abe-to-push-pacifist-constitution-reform-after-strong-election-win-idUSKBN1CS0C3

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Declassified files reveal US supported Indonesia’s fascist massacre

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“Declassified files have revealed new details of U.S. government knowledge and support of an Indonesian army extermination campaign that killed several hundred thousand civilians during anti-communist hysteria in the mid-1960s.  The thousands of files from the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta covering 1963-66 were made public Tuesday after a declassification review that began under the Obama administration. The Associated Press reviewed key documents in the collection in advance of their release.”

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/files-show-details-us-support-indonesia-bloodbath-50529889

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The Tragic Failure of Ken Burns’ “The Vietnam War”

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“We are reliving the Vietnam War because no one was ever really held responsible for its horrors.”

Read more: https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/10/10/the-tragic-failure-of-ken-burnss-the-vietnam-war/

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Bitcoin Now Buys You Citizenship in Pacific Nation of Vanuatu

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“The Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has become the world’s first county to accept the virtual currency bitcoin for its citizenship program.  The Vanuatu Information Centre (VIC) announced that its Development Support Program (DSP) will allow foreigners to qualify for Vanuatuan citizenship through a one-time payment of $200,000 – or its cryptocurrency equivalent.  At current market prices, this puts the price of citizenship for the so-called Paradise Islands at slightly more than 43 bitcoins.”

Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/bitcoin-now-buys-you-citizenship-pacific-nation-vanuatu-680443

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Japanese debt-slavery: more dropping dead from overwork

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“Japanese employees work significantly longer hours than their counterparts in the US, Britain and other developed countries. Japan’s employees used, on average, only 8.8 days of their annual leave in 2015, less than half their allowance, according to the health ministry. That compares with 100% in Hong Kong and 78% in Singapore.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/05/japanese-woman-dies-overwork-159-hours-overtime

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