Obama in Asia

This past week US President Barack Obama has been touring South-East Asia with stops in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. You may remember that as the area under the focus of the US' "Pivot Towards the Pacific" policy S.E Asia was targeted heavily by the third and final leg of Rihanna's Diamonds World Tour at the end of 2013. You may also remember that Rihanna's tour as a whole and the final leg in particular was a disaster politically speaking with the US achieving nothing aside from p*ssing a lot of people off.

Displaying something of a troubling relationship with reality the US appears to consider it's Rihanna operation to have been a total success and seem intent on pushing ahead with it with Drake replacing Chris Brown in the role of Rihanna's owner and Miley Cyrus providing the big talked about tour of 2014. As a result the US has been experiencing a lot of push-back from its allies while Obama has been touring S.E Asia.

For example whilst Obama was in Japan the hope was that he would be able to announce the signing of the multi-trillion dollar Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact. That simply didn't happen and although these things are kept as closely guarded secrets it appears that while the talks have not yet completely collapsed they have become deadlocked with Japan in no mood to do the US any favours.

Next Obama travelled to South Korea (Republic of Korea, ROK) which is a nation totally gripped by the recent Sewo ferry disaster in which a suspected 305 people were killed - the majority of them school children. With a crew that apparently were unable to realise that the ship was in trouble and therefore failed to order a life-saving evacuation along with a reference to a large and unsightly gash this disaster provides a rather apt metaphor for the US' Rihanna operation. After all if the US does lose control of the situation with North Korea (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, DPRK) as they seem intent on doing then the threat to South Korean lives far exceeds the death-toll in the Sewo sinking.

Following South Korea Obama moved onto Malaysia which is a nation gripped by the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Although that stunt has wider and more sinister elements to it a large part of the plan was to make it look as though Malaysia and by extension the UK Commonwealth were giving the US a damn good talking too about the disastrous Rihanna operation and their insane desire to continue. For example a large part of the planned success from the Rihanna operation was supposed to have come from the idea that nations would be unable to track her movements as Rihanna flew between nations. By involving the US military in the search for MH370 Malaysia has afforded itself plenty of opportunity to explain to the US that nations in S.E Asia are perfectly capable of tracking aircraft in the air - especially when they are following a designated flight path.

After Malaysia Obama made his final stop in the Philippines. Being the poorest and least politically stable nation on the schedule I would have been happy for the Filipinos to take a back seat and allow their richer neighbours to stand up to the US. As it turns out it appears that the Filipinos landed the heaviest blow of all with the signing of a 10 year agreement that would see US troops stationed on the islands. Initially this caused some controversy because at first glance it appeared that US pressure had forced the Filipino government to violate an article of the national constitution preventing US bases in the nation. However on closer inspection the Filipinos have actually agreed to allow US troops to be stationed on bases run and commanded by the Filipino military. Although as always the devil will be in the detail it seems that the Filipino government has managed to strike one of the best deals with the US military ever seen because the US despises having its troops placed under foreign command. The advantage to the Philippines is obvious because should problems with groups such as the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) like those that plagued Rihanna's visit or Typhoon Haiyan which rapidly followed it occur in the future the responsibility will very much be on the US troops to sort out the ensuing mess.

The big announcement that changed the tone of the entire trip came not from the S.E Asian region but from the Middle-East. On Thursday (24/4/14) it was announced that the much hyped, US brokered peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine had totally collapsed. Clearly this was more then the US' already bruised ego could take so they responded by throwing an absolutely massive and aggressive tantrum.

A large part of this was a stream of thinly veiled and ultimately empty threats on Twitter towards me along the lines that I had better do as the US wanted or they'd have me killed. With it being something of an open secret that I was spending the weekend alone in Croydon in order to defend the property whilst my father attended a family wedding in Wales this was intended to create fear for my safety amongst my supporters which at this point seems to be anyone who isn't the US.

The US threatening behaviour really intensified on Friday (25/4/14) when a teenage boy stabbed and killed a teenage girl at a school in Connecticut, US. The motive for the killing is not yet known but it has been claimed that the boy killed the girl as revenge after she refused to go to the school prom with him. Obviously with me taking up a defensive position alone in a borough where there has been a recent surge in gang related knife crime all this talk about stabbings was supposed to contribute to the culture of fear surrounding my safety. Beyond that though if you sign up to the US' version of reality I suppose you could liken my actions during Rihanna's tour as me as a spurned lover lashing out against her. However if you sign up to everyone elses version of reality you could liken Drake's current behaviour towards Rihanna to a murder carried out by a jealous lover. After all it's clear to all concerned that Rihanna just isn't that into Drake and his behaviour has killed her just as sure as if he'd plunged a knife into her throat.

Later on Friday it was announced that the suspect in the mass stabbing of people at a High School in Pennsylvania on April 10th (10/4/14) had been charged with a further 21 counts of attempted murder in addition to the 4 counts he already faces. That incident was a direct response to a burglary that I experienced a few days before and was intended to find out what exactly China knew about the school aged suspect. Apart from being an attempt to further add to fears about my security this announcement was intended to increase the pressure the Chinese by forcing them to work out what the US was talking about. The main focus of the Pivot Towards the Pacific policy is to contain growing Chinese influence in the region so the US was hoping that China would be hanging on every word during Obama's visit. Essentially the US was trying to convince everyone - mainly itself - of its continued strengh by announcing that they were going to continue with what they viewed as a successful and viable plan.

Really emphasising that they intend to continue with the operation the US brought Rihanna back into play by getting her to fly from Los Angeles, California to New York City, New York on Friday. Primarily this was so she could attend a National Basketball Association (NBA) play-off game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Toronto Raptors. Before he was forced to sell up in order to consolidate his position Rihanna's mentor Jay-Z owned a tiny stake in the Brooklyn Nets so they obviously represent him in the sporting code. The Raptors are based in Toronto, Canada which is twhere Drake comes from meaning that they represent him in the sporting code. So over the course of the 7 play-off matches between the two we're supposed to all be searching intently for clues about whether Jay-Z will allow Drake's 'relationship' with Rihanna to continue. In order to maximise the attention given to the play-offs Rihanna attended the game wearing a tight white top without a bra underneath meaning that her breasts were clearly outlined producing the type of photographs that tabloid editors love to print.

The wider political context of the NBA play-offs is that they are taking place at the same time as the National [ice] Hockey League (NHL) play-offs for the Stanley Cup. Although most people know it to be untrue the US is very keen for Ice Hockey to be seen as a sport for white people while Basketball is a sport for black people. As such the rivalry between the NHL and the NBA play-offs is supposed to look a rivalry between white Americans and black Americans. Really driving this point home on Friday alleged recordings of LA Clippers NBA owner Donald Sterling telling his girlfriend not to show off pictures of herself hanging out with black people emerged. This prompted a wave of anger against Sterling by predominately black Americans and caused one TV commentator - Charles Barkley - to declare the NBA to be "a black league" invoking memories of the Negro leagues that existed before the civil rights era.

The reason why the Clippers were chosen for this is because they represent Rihanna in the sporting code. In old English slang a "Clipper" is a conwoman who pretends to be a prostitute by taking money in exchange for sex but then failing to deliver on her promise. As such the Clippers 7 game play-off series against the Golden State Warriors is supposed to look like the US carrying out an internal assessment of whether the Rihanna operation has been a success so far. After all as I've said time and time again while Rihanna's antics might fool the teenagers who buy her records she doesn't stand a chance against the type of warriors that inhabit the world of international diplomacy and espionage. For example Rihanna's decision to attend the Nets v Raptors game wearing that tight top does make her look rather foolish by playing up to her image as a Clipper.

Also contributing to the spectacle of "Race in America" theme that was established in Miley Cyrus' Robin Thicke inspired stage settings there has been the Cliven Bundy case. If you've not been following it Bundy is a Nevada rancher who has been grazing his cattle on land owned by the Federal government. Bundy claims he has the right to do this while the Federal government claims that he does not. Last Friday, April 18th (18/4/14) armed representatives of the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) moved in on Bundy's ranch in order to seize 900 of his cattle. Having become something of a cause celebre for the libertarian right Bundy was backed by equally well armed supporters from across the US. After a two day stand-off and fearing a repeat of the Branch Davidian massacre the federal agents backed off releasing the cattle that they hadn't already killed. Despite obvious differences such as me not owning cattle and the attacks against my property are by one privately owned entity against another privately owned entity the US has been keen to use the Bundy case as a metaphor for my situation.

On Thursday (24/4/14) a recording emerged of Bundy talking about how he'd driven by a what he termed "Negro" area. He then observed that the people there were simply sitting around with nothing to do because they were all on government welfare. He then went on to speculate on whether it was this culture of welfare dependency that meant black people in America experience higher then average rates of educational failure, family break-down, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse, violent crime and imprisonment. Finally Bundy questioned whether black people would in fact be better off if they were kept as slaves by white ranchers such as himself which obviously provoked a storm of criticism.

Although the way he phrased his comments were at best clumsy and at worst out and out racist Bundy did actually succeed in raising an interesting discussion point because black people in America are clearly not equal to white people meaning that the journey that began with the abolition of slavery has not yet been completed. Now this could be because of racism or it could be because of a culture where all the problems are blamed on racism and there is an expectation that the government owes people a living while people like Chris Brown, Al Sharpton and a succession of corrupt politicians are raised up as heroes. After all as someone commented on Twitter in the time between Trayvon Martin being killed and George Zimmerman being acquitted of murder some 10,000 black American men were killed by other black American men. I bet you can't name a single one of them.

While they may now cancel it after being called on it the next twist in the theme is likely to be the announcement that the Donald Sterling recordings are indeed fake. After all it seems highly unlikely that a woman who is suing Sterling after being sacked from her job would be given the access required to record such a private conversation between a man and his girlfriend. If that happens all the - predominately black - people who have been rounding on Sterling over the weekend - Rihanna included - are going to be left looking rather foolish and frankly second class inflaming the race debate even further. The sympathy vote the Clippers would then receive could help swing the remaining games against the Warriors back in their favour giving the entirely false impression that the Rihanna operation stands a chance.

On a related but not directly connected note the trial of Chris Brown for assault outside a Washington D.C hotel in October 2013 should have begun on April 23rd (23/4/14). However in order to allow him to act as a defence witness during Brown's trial his bodyguard Chris Hollosy was tried first separately. The problem for Brown's defence team was that Hollosy was convicted of assault and it was found that Brown was the initial aggressor in the incident. This meant that it was practically guaranteed that Brown would be convicted.

As a result Brown's defence team decided to appeal the Hollosy verdict delaying Brown's trial for what could be many months. During the delay Brown remains in prison but his defence team have applied for a hearing in front of the Los Angeles Court that initially sent him to prison. Now I've become involved that Court may free Brown until the Washington trial takes place. However even that will be difficult because Brown was initially jailed for violating probation by getting himself kicked out of a rehab facility rather then because of the Washington assault allegation. 

11:10 on 29/4/14 (UK date).