"Obama's Meeting with Dalai Lama Irks China."-CNN

Hoooo, China's irked, China's irked. Hooooo. 

Get lost, punks.

"Usquebach" is the Gaelic word for whiskey. The literal translation is "water of life." Smart people, those Scots.

Got me.

A few posts ago I wrote that sometimes a reader will click on an old post that I don't recognize and when I read it myself I don't like it. Last night someone read a "Democracy in Arabia" post I wrote back in 2011, I think it was.* I read it, too. And I winced.

I have been really hard on Thomas L. Friedman and on the New York Times generally since June of last year (Not that they have noticed). I have written that 2013 was the worst year of my life: I lost faith in the Times, Friedman (Truth: I have been on his case since 2002), President Obama and my country. I lost faith because of "U.S. interests," the primacy given to them over the interests of other people, over morality, legality, decency...I get upset recalling this and writing about it now.

All right. Anyway, the "Democracy in Arabia" post could have been written by Friedman, or Susan Rice, or by Obama, who indeed issued a similar statement in the joint communique with Francois Hollande recently. This post is not to express regret for being hard on them, it is to be equally harsh on myself for that 2011 post. I voluntarily submit to a struggle session.

* Feb. 25, 2011: http://publicoccurrenc.blogspot.com/2011/02/democracy-in-arabia_6669.html?m=1 (Added 8:52 pm).

Euromaidan: WhatsApp?

Good. Looks like a good strategy, bare-chested against shields. Karate man bleed on the inside. Good.

Fireworks.

Catapult. Middle Ages.

Crusades. Middle Ages.

Knights in Rusty Armor. Crusades shield.

All in a square.

Alright, then. Ukraine protesters...keep in touch.

"Facebook to Buy WhatsApp, a Messaging Startup, for $16 Billion."-New York Times.

I renew my offer to sell Public Occurrences. I offered it several years ago to Hu Jintao but he never responded. :(

Euro No-Maidan.

Ukrainians: Squares...not so good for confrontations with government. See Tahir Square, Tienanmen Square. Concentrations of civilians good for government security. A thousand points of bomb-fire light better than one big bonfire in Maidan. See Che Guevara, Mao Zedong, Osama Bin Laden.

Opinion. Foreigner.

Euromaidan, Be Strong, We Are With You.

Kiev is aflame this morning and the violence has spread to other cities. Government security installations have been besieged. God bless the people of Ukraine.

Has anybody ever written Jack Nicholson's biography? That I could do.

Lot of resolve in Justice Kirby's letter. Will the UN follow through? China is likely to block any follow-through. Kim will blow this off; may threaten to blow-up South Korea. Probably nothing will come of Kirby's letter any time soon. Things change though, Kim, you have a long life ahead of you, the UN will be here, waiting with those documents. Kirby's report is like a Grand Jury Report summarizing the evidence. The letter, like an outline of an indictment. They'll be filed away and when the time is right, they'll be available. You're on notice Fade Boy.

Crimes Against Humanity.

A United Nations body has issued a report calling for Dennis Rodman's best friend, DPRK dictator Kim Jong-Un, to be tried before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. The itemization of crimes includes "extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence."

My friend Dr. Rongfen Wang suggested that Song Binbin be tried before that court for CAH. Kim's case illustrates why Dr. Wang's suggestion is misplaced. Kim: Head of State; Song: Head of the Girl's School Attached to Beijing Normal University. If I understood her letter correctly, Dr. Wang would have jurisdiction conferred on the ICC by holding Song responsible for all the crimes committed during the Cultural Revolution. No criminal court would entertain such a notion with Song. Obviously, the only person who could have been arraigned before the ICC for CR crimes would have been Kim's counterpart, Mao Zedong.

At least in legal theory, Song Binbin (along with others) could have been tried for the unlawful homicide of Bian Zhongyun and for a home burglary and battery in a separate incident. But as Rongfen pointed out there are "time limits," statutes of limitation, applicable to any current criminal prosecution. And, such a trial would have to be held in the People's Republic of China. I know of no legal theory that would take Song's case(s) international.

Has anyone ever written a biography of Abraham Lincoln?

It is Presidents Day in the US&A, a day set aside to honor...presidents.
Honor.

A lot of people aren't working, they are staying at home reading biographies of presidents. Very noble people, Americans.

It's the School of, not for, Oriental and African, not something, Studies, University of London. I apologize for any inconvenience. And you're welcome, again. Now I am going to sleep. No hanky-panky. No frigging publicoccurrenc.frigging Djibouti, okay? Okay? Unexpected struggle.

Somebody from the School for Oriental and...something Studies in London clicked on that post, I didn't recognize the post from the url or whatever it's called and clicked on it my own self to refresh my memory. My only purpose in copying the link, which is when I noticed the .uk suffix, was because I was going to write that I like that post...Yeah, well sometimes I don't, okay?...And that it sums up a lot of what I think about China. So, there. I done wrote it. And yeah. That takes care of that. You're welcome.

What in the hell is this. http://publicoccurrenc.blogspot.co.uk/2011_06_26_archive.html?m=1
There is no Public Occurrences .uk. I wrote that on June 6, 2011, that's this site, publicoccurrenc.blogspot.com...How does it have a UK suffix? A couple of weeks ago I swear I saw a Public Occurrences .ru but I got busy and couldn't find it when I went back and just forgot about it till now. Here, I captured it. I never created a UK or Russian Publocc. I might have if I had known I should...They can access the blogspot Publocc, can't they? You don't have to create a shadow blog in every country. Man, I am dumb, admittedly, but I am really lost here.

It is Monday. The struggle resumes.

There are those, Oh, there are those, who say Shani Davis, above, and the ENTIRE U.S. Olympic speed skating team SUCK. Don't give me that, we're Americans, we don't suck at ANYTHING, it's the SUITS! Look at the vents in Shani's suit. Look how un-aerodynamic the sleek, aerodynamic Shani looks in that sorry suit and helmet! Disgusting. America DOES suck in making speed skating suits. That's all.

Russian Police Choir, "Get Lucky."

I do not know what to make of that. Like: Did they understand the English meaning of the words or did they just memorize the sounds? The Russians could have bird-pumped this. A few years ago they played Borat's version of the Kazakhstan national anthem at the "Arab Shooting Championships." The first stanza of the lyrics actually goes well with Russia hosting the Olympics: phoenix rising, etc. But then, weirdly--daftly--they morph into getting lucky sexually. Did the Russians read beyond the first stanza? They just took the first entry for "Kazak national anthem"--which was in English in Borat. "Kazakhstan, prostitutes cleanest in the region, except of course for Turkmenistan's." Missed that. The Russians missed that.

Arab Shooting Championships aside, you have to assume the Russians did read and understand beyond the first stanza. What did they think the refrain meant? I just read that Daft Punk claims the refrain refers to connecting with another person, people. So, the Olympics...connecting people, etc. The Russians could have believed that. I don't believe that for a minute. That's absurd. Daft Punk could claim the refrain refers to shooting dice, that doesn't make it so. "I'm up all night to get some"--what, stimulating conversation? Get the hell outta here. How about this, "Shake your booty:" Refers to pirates displaying captured gold, jewels, right?

The Russians are that gullible? I guess we have to assume so. The alternative is to believe that they understood the explicit sexual references and decided it was appropriate for police officers in full uniform to sing them during the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Full uniform. They performed the song. Police officers singing and moving to a disco-beat song about getting pussy/connecting with people in full uniform. Have to assume the incongruity was deliberate, knowing, intended to be whimsical, cute, fun.

That's a fail.

Have not watched the Sochi Olympics. Nyet. Missed the Russian Police Choir singing "Get Lucky"  by Daft Punk. Missed Daft Punk's version of "Get Lucky." Never heard of Daft Punk. Nyet. 

Like the legend of the phoenix
All ends with beginnings
What keeps the planet spinning (uh)
The force of love beginning

(Look)

We've come too far to give up who we are
So let's raise the bar and our cups to the stars

She's up all night 'til the sun
I'm up all night to get some
She's up all night for good fun
I'm up all night to get lucky

We're up all night 'til the sun
We're up all night to get some
We're up all night for good fun
We're up all night to get lucky

We're up all night to get lucky

We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky

The present has no ribbon
Your gift keeps on giving,
What is this I'm feeling?
If you wanna leave I'm ready (ah)

We've come too far to give up who we are
So let's raise the bar and our cups to the stars

She's up all night 'til the sun
I'm up all night to get some
She's up all night for good fun
I'm up all night to get lucky

We're up all night 'til the sun
We're up all night to get some
We're up all night for good fun
We're up all night to get lucky

We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky

(We're up all night to get
We're up all night to get
We're up all night to get
We're up all night to get)

(We're up all night to get (together)
We're up all night to get (let's get funked again)
We're up all night to get funky
We're up all night to get lucky)

(We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky)

(We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky)

We've (we're up all night to get lucky)
Come too far (we're up all night to get lucky)
To give up (we're up all night to get lucky)
Who we are (we're up all night to get lucky)
So let's (we're up all night to get lucky)
Raise the bar (we're up all night to get lucky)
And our cups (we're up all night to get lucky)
To the stars (we're up all night to get lucky)

She's up all night 'til the sun
I'm up all night to get some
She's up all night for good fun
I'm up all night to get lucky

We're up all night 'til the sun
We're up all night to get some
We're up all night for good fun
We're up all night to get lucky

We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky

We're up all night to get lucky

We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky
We're up all night to get lucky

Hey:

This Sunday afternoon 4-6pm

Does a More Equal Marriage Mean Less Sex?

At Revolution Books, 146 W 26th Street

Cool.

It’s impossible to imagine the American canon without him.
chronicler of the so-called lost generation.
liked to fish and hunt.
wrote well about being alive.
put everything [he] had into every sentence.
“Everywhere I turn, another fight.”

                                 -New York Times on Malcolm Cowley, born 1898 Belsano, Pennsylvania; died 1989 New Milford, Connecticut.

"i want a recording of "we rise with o..."

That was a search keyword today and refers to the song "We Rise with Our Dreams," written by Joe Henry, sung on Subaru Ski World years ago by John Jarvis, sung by Marty Balin more recently, and profiled here four times over the years, including with an email kind of interview of John. Ten hits on the 2008 post, 18 on the 2010 post this week. Got an email from a reader today asking if I had any more info. I don't. I also don't expect ever to write about this subject again.

P.S. Another one:"ski world public occurrences." Enough.

And...DONE. Valentine's Day is over. Back to normal.

To all nice girls and grown-up girls, Happy Valentine's Day.

You are not alone. Don't be lonely.

These are the top ten search keywords today:

1. hate valentine quotes. I wish to be executed.
2. i hate valentine's day tumblr.
3. valentine's day god's love quotes.
4. valentine's day with sry i realize bab... I wish that person to be executed.
5. abemama (site: wordpress.com or si...
6. alone on valentine's day tumblr.
7. alone on valentines day quotes.
8. bob avakian. I do not wish him a Happy Valentine's Day.
9. fouk you. Foreign individual.
10. fuck valentine day quotes...

This is what I hath wrought.

Come.

The former mayor of New Orleans, Ray ("10,000 killed in Hurricane Katrina!") Nagin was convicted today of 20 counts of corruption-related crimes in federal court. 

Hurry! Pre-Valentine's Day love event.

Thursday, February 13, at 7pm  at Revolution Books     a discussion of the interview in Revolution...    "You Don't Know What You Think You 'Know' about...  The Communist Revolution and the REAL Path to Emancipation: Its History and Our Future"   An Interview with Raymond Lotta This Thursday, February 13: We will discuss the Chinese Revolution Raymond Lotta is an advocate for Bob Avakian's new synthesis of communism. He is a political economist, author of America in Decline, and writer for Revolution. He directs the "Set the Record Straight Project," which brings out the truth of the Soviet and Chinese revolutions and provides web resources.   COMING UP: On Thursday, February 20, Revolution Books will continue its series of viewings and discussions of sections of the film of a talk by Bob Avakian "BA Speaks: "REVOLUTION-NOTHING LESS!" These discussions will happen on the first and third Thursdays of the month.