NEWS WATCH - a few thoughts...

LINK

Greetings to those of you on my mailing list. Just a few thoughts about the ongoing bizarre machinations that the administration is going through to dodge the responsibility for the Benghazi fiasco and their overal failure of policies abroad. During this same period an air base in Afghanistan was hit pretty hard with loss of life and many aircraft destroyed.

Question: why has the media not covered this event? Is it the same reason that they continue to be spoon fed by the talking point wizard in the White House? We have all lived long enough to have experienced and to understand that the political powers, Right or Left, running the country will lie to protect their own political futures. See also for example the continuing struggle of many Korean Service Veterans trying to get approved for Agent Orange claims from the DOD and the hobbled response by our government to fulfill a basic obligation for them, Right or Left.

My gut tells me that we are living through another one of those times when the political and news outlets in support of the President and his party dodge and spread confusion and mis-information that does not let the public become well enough informed to see that we are being, essentially, lied to for their political gain. Obviously a benchmark has been reached that surpasses the everyday political speech that manipulates information for political gain. But, now, well, people are dying and our country has lost its footing in the world. I wonder why that doesn't seem to be an impulse against which the powers that be would respond.

In my lifetime presidents Johnson, Reagan, Clinton, and now Obama have stepped up to this dubious honor to protect or to push their misguided agendas. Johnson in Vietnam and the passing of social programs we could not afford. Reagan - Iran-Contra - enough said. Clinton - Lewinsky, again, enough said.

Obama's handling of international affairs has appeared challenged from the beginning, but the recent North African mess, the assassination of a US Embassador, and sundry riots and abuse of the US is heightened for me by the continuing bizzare talking points that dodge back and forth between an obscure film and the facts, leaving someone watching this political dialogue confused. It's clear, and was clear, that the events were a terrorist event, but somehow that clarity has not reached our highest office or those that read the talking points like our Sec. of State, Embassador to the UN, the Press Sec. or the President himself. And, in the strange twist of the evolution toward an Orwellian world made in the likeness of President Hope and Change, the presscorps doesn't challenge or investigate the truth that lay behind these events. Where's ABC, CBS, CNN, or well, NBC?

Go to the link noted above and read how during this same period, our forces suffered a severe defeat with the loss of several aircraft and ask yourself why you haven't heard or read about this information from US media? Because it points again to an administration and its Pravada like national media that is challenged by a world that will not roll over to have its belly rubbed. Distrubing, as it always is when our government for we many of us served to protect, lies to us. Google Camp Bastian and try to find a major US media outlet that shares a link that reports about thise incident. Slim pickings, and that's not the actor.

PS...I didn't include Bush above for the Iraq War because the Left and Right were both responsible for dragging us into a war for which they had no exit strategy and let us languish for 3 years or so before they finally came up with a manner by which we could pull out our forces. The story there, or in the Middle East, is a story that is not yet finished, nor our part in it, either as a bumbling foreign policy, or as we may be dragged into a conflict that our current President is unable to lead us through.

My best to all, Tim

New Book by Tatjana Soli, author of the Lotus Eaters

Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli.

Greetings.
If you haven't read this book, The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli, about photographers during the Vietnam War, I recommend it highly. Tatjana Soli also has a new book coming out, and if her work in the Lotus Eaters is any indication, it too, will be a great read. I have included a recent newsletter here for you to get an idea of the novel and links to purchase it.
Best, Tim

Hello Everyone,

This is the second newsletter I've sent out  — the last was Dec. 21, 2010 so don't worry about me flooding your inbox. I'd like to give you a quick update on what has happened to The Lotus Eaters. The paperback made the New York Times Bestseller list! A huge thrill. It was also named an American Library Association (ALA) Notable book, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award. Last August it won the James Tait Black Prize, which is the oldest literary award in the UK. In the past it has been won by heroes of mine such as Graham Greene, and more recently by J M Coetzee, Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Jonathan Franzen, and Cormac McCarthy. It was an unimaginable honor, and I got to go with my mom to the ceremony in Edinburgh. If you'd like to see video of the award from the BBC, plus a segment of me reading in front of Edinburgh castle (it was cold in August!) go here: http://www.tatjanasoli.com/

My second novel, The Forgetting Tree, will be out Sept. 4, 2012. I'm very excited and have included some of the prepub below for you. You can also go to my new website to read more. The two pages that will give you the best feel for the book are the excerpt page, and the Behind the Scenes essay I wrote about what inspired parts of it.

Thank you so much for your support in the past, and please feel free to get in touch with me. Let me know what you think of the new book.

Best,

Tatjana

"This novel has it all--mystery, psychological insight, emotional truth, and--most important--characters whose lives matter. You'll fall in love with these families. Soli writes with such passion it is inescapable, lyrical, and profoundly moving. The Forgetting Tree goes on my top ten list."

--Jonis Agee, author of The River Wife

"Will captivate readers... with this twisting, intriguing tale of a grieving California woman. Beautiful prose and striking detail."

--Publishers Weekly

"Soli has again created characters readers will love and care about. She does so with deceptively simple grace: Their yearnings breeze right into your life. And while the book is more cerebral than visceral, Claire’s future and Minna’s past are questions that keep the pages turning. The Forgetting Tree is a journey worth taking."

--BookPage

"A lush, haunting novel for readers who appreciate ambiguity, this work should establish Soli as a novelist with depth and broad scope."

--Library Journal

"Like her protagonist Claire who literally tastes the earth to predict the season’s crops, Tatjana Soli delves deep into the soil of two magnetic and powerful female psyches to produce a novel that is lush, evocative, and hypnotic. An incredible book, richly imagined and beautifully written."

--Nancy Zafris, series editor, The Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction 

"Tatjana Soli's elegant and sensuous prose will keep you spellbound.  THE FORGETTING TREE is an earthy book, full of beautiful surprises."

--Maria Semple, author of WHERE'D YOU GO, BERNADETTE

"The Forgetting Tree is a captivating, dreamlike story about the power of family ties... A lushly poetic, deeply authentic novel that surprises at every turn."

--Kat Bailey, Bookshop Santa Cruz

Synopsis

When Claire Nagy marries Forster Baumsarg, the only son of prominent California citrus ranchers, she knows she's consenting to a life of hard work, long days, and worry-fraught nights. But her love for Forster is so strong, she turns away from her literary education and embraces the life of the ranch, succumbing to its intoxicating rhythms and bounty until her love of the land becomes a part of her. Not even the tragic, senseless death of her son Joshua at kidnappers' hands, her alienation from her two daughters, or the dissolution of her once-devoted marriage can pull her from the ranch she's devoted her life to preserving.

But despite having survived the most terrible of tragedies, Claire is about to face her greatest struggle: An illness that threatens not only to rip her from her land but take her very life. And she's chosen a caregiver, the enigmatic Caribbean-born Minna, who may just be the darkest force of all.

Haunting, tough, triumphant, and profound, The Forgetting Treeexplores the intimate ties we have to one another, the deepest fears we keep to ourselves, and the calling of the land that ties every one of us together.

Tatjana Soli, author of The Lotus Eaters, New York Times Bestseller, and The Forgetting Tree. "Quietly mesmerizing... tough and lyrical."  — Janet Maslin

Egypt, Libya, and the debacle of our Mid-East Policy

Storming Embassies, Killing Ambassadors, and ‘Smart’ Diplomacy

By Victor Davis Hanson

September 12, 2012 8:31 A.M.

Comments

110

The attacks on the U.S. embassy yesterday in Cairo and the storming of the American consulate in Libya, where the U.S. ambassador was murdered along with three staff members — and the initial official American reaction to the mayhem — are all reprehensible, each in their own way. Let us sort out this terrible chain of events.

Timing: The assaults came exactly on the eleventh anniversary of bin Laden’s and al-Qaeda’s attack on America. If there was any doubt about the intent of the timing, the appearance of black al-Qaedist flags among the mobs removed it. The chanting of Osama bin Laden’s name made it doubly clear who were the heroes of the Egyptian mob. Why should we be surprised by the lackluster response of the Egyptian and Libyan “authorities” to protect diplomatic sanctuaries, given the nature of the “governments” in both countries? One of the Egyptian demonstration’s organizers was Mohamed al-Zawahiri, the brother of the top deputy to Osama bin Laden, and a planner of the 9/11 attacks, which were led by Mohamed Atta, an Egyptian citizen. In Libya, the sick violence is reminding the world that the problem in the Middle East is not dictators propped up by the U.S. — Qaddafi was an archenemy of the U.S. — but the proverbial Arab Street that can blame everything and everyone, from a cartoon to a video, for the wages of its own self-induced pathologies. So far, all the Arab Spring is accomplishing is removing the dictatorial props and authoritarian excuses for grass roots Middle East madness.

Ration System in North Korea

Rationing system in N. Korea

By Andrei Lankov

It was reported recently, that ― obviously, following a reformist drive, the North Korean leaders decided to scale down the rationing system. In order to understand the significance of this change, we must keep in mind that for a few decades North Korea was a society where rationing was taken to a logical extreme.

From 1957, it became illegal to buy grain privately. As a result, rice and corn ― major sources of calories in the North Korean diet ― could be obtained only by those with ration coupons.

By the late 1960s, free trade in North Korea had all but disappeared. Pretty much anything of value was distributed by the state from then on. In this society, money had little meaning since even a shed-load of cash would not buy much without the requite ration coupons.

The distribution of grain, cooking oil, soya sauce and other basic food stuffs has been dealt with extensively. But what of other things, how could a North Korean living under the wise and energetic guidance of “The Great Leader” obtain a suit, a TV set or a bra ― yes, North Korean women wear them.

To simplify things a bit, there were two channels for the distribution of consumption goods. First, they could be given as ``presents of The Great Leader,” or second, they could be distributed through the local level distribution system that dealt with their supply. Third, they could be bought freely.

Let’s start with the last option, the list of items available freely in North Korea of the 1970s and 1980s was short, or though it varied according to region and year/season. Normally coupons were not required for stationary, toys, books or some basic snacks. In some parts of the country, one could buy freely, locally produced food, especially these particular varieties of fruits or vegetables were locally abundant. But, as a rule, pretty much everything edible had to be given by the state.

The most prestigious items were presented to North Koreans as gifts from Kim ill-sung. This might sound pompous, but most of these gifts were quite simple, soldiers in a military unit were given oranges for example, and on his birthday, children would be given cookies and sweets. The most prestigious items though, were also distributed in the same way, officials and high level military were given watches, TV sets, fridges and record players, among other things, as gifts of The Great Leader.

It was implied that Generalissimo (from 1992) Kim Il Sung, in his magnanimousness, was taking care of a particular North Korean, providing her with something as a token of his love. It was not only rationing, but also a shrewd propaganda move.

But the majority of consumption goods were not distributed as presents, nor were they freely available. They were instead sold to those who could produce the required ration coupons. For such things as socks or glass jars though, there was no nationwide rationing, rather the distribution norms were decided upon by the local authorities on an ad hoc basis.

Imagine a particular town in North Korea in the 1980s received 125 TV sets, the department of trade in the city administration would first put aside some of them for sale to those who have special standing or who happen to be relatives of the powerful and influential. Let’s assume that after such backdoor distribution, 95 TV sets are left over. The administration would then issue ration coupons which would then be distributed to the population.

In some cases, coupons were given at the place of one’s employment, but most of them to the so-called ``People’s groups.” The People’s groups include 20-40 families living in one neighborhood. Each People’s group had (and still usually has) a middle-aged woman with reasonably good political background who is the lowest cog in North Korea’s surveillance and administration system. In our hypothetical case, assuming that the town is not too large, more or less every people’s group would be issued one ticket for a TV set.

Then it was up to the leader of the ‘People’s group’ and in some cases other members as well, to decide who this ticket should be given to. If we are talking about items which appeared regularly ― like socks, kimchi jars or radio sets, the People’s group might have a waiting list. The distribution of rarer items could be a rather more troublesome business though.

Last, but not least, those lucky few who had access to foreign currency, could buy pretty much everything they wanted at specialized hard currency shops, where buyers had to pay for what they wanted in U.S. dollars or Japanese yen (Chinese Yuan was taken for serious money until around 1990). But such people were quite uncommon.

But nowadays this has all but disappeared. By the mid-1990s, this elaborate distribution system ceased to function, though it was never formally abolished. Today, North Koreans shop freely and buy what they want ― as long as they have the money to pay.

Professor Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and now teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. You can reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.

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Bucking the Odds in North Korea - By Jay Ulfelder | Foreign Policy

Bucking the Odds in North Korea - By Jay Ulfelder | Foreign Policy

Agent Orange Information & Link

Greetings. I know many of you who are receiving these posts also have interest in the Agent Orange deployment and usage in Korea. The link I am posting here has some very good information focused primarily on storage locations at Ascom City.

Agent Orange Ascom City.