The Evening Blues - 8-24-16



eb1pt12


The daily news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Johnny Otis

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features "The Godfather of R&B," Johnny Otis. Enjoy!

Johnny Otis - Hand Jive

"We passed welfare reform. All of you know I believe we were right to do it."

-- William J. Clinton


News and Opinion

20 Years Later, Poverty Is Up, But Architects of “Welfare Reform” Have No Regrets

A gathering Monday in Washington, D.C., featured a bipartisan group of former government officials agreeing on the benefits of slashing the nation’s safety net.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of “welfare reform,” the 1996 law passed by Congress and administered by President Bill Clinton that strictly limited the amount of federal cash assistance that the poorest Americans can receive — transforming the Aid for Families with Dependent Children program into the more restrictive Temporary Aid for Needy Families.

One of the main impacts of the law was to help double the number of American households living in extreme poverty in America – defined as living on less than $2 a day.

The Capitol Hill event, hosted by the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute and the Progressive Policy Institute, which has been referred to as President Bill Clinton’s “idea mill,” celebrated the 20th anniversary of the law. Its architects said they had no regrets about its passage.

Former Michigan Republican governor John Engler, who pioneered state-level welfare cutbacks and who today serves as the head of the corporate lobbying group the Business Roundtable, recounted how Bill Clinton’s support helped make national welfare reform possible.

“It was pretty stunning in 1992 to have a Democratic candidate for president, albeit a 12-year veteran in the governor’s office talking about ending ‘welfare as we know it,’” he said. “That was a pretty decisive moment.” ...

At the conclusion of the event, the speakers and audience were treated to a reception featuring alcoholic drinks, cheesecake squares, specialty meats, and gourmet cheese.

A Rare Glimpse of Abu Zubaydah 14 Years After First CIA Torture Session

Abu Zubaydah, 45 made his first appearance Tuesday on video from Guantanamo in a hearing before a Periodic Review Board, 14 years after the last day of a month-long interrogation at a CIA black site in Thailand. It was the first time the “enhanced interrogation techniques” approved by the Bush administration were used on a detainee. ...

Representatives from the media, nongovernmental organizations, and academia were permitted to view the unclassified opening portion of the hearing from a conference room at the Pentagon, but the segment does not include any statement or comments from the detainee. It was the first glimpse outside observers got of Zubaydah since a photo of his face with an eye patch was published by Wikileaks in 2011; at one point he was touted as al Qaeda No. 3. ...

The government opposes Abu Zubaydah’s release, and an unnamed official reading his detainee profile at the review alleged his participation in or knowledge of the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, the USS Cole bombing in 2000, and involvement in Khalid Sheikh Mohammad’s plans to attack US and coalition forces after 9/11, among other plots.

Yet the official also stated he “has shown a high level of cooperation with the staff at Guantanamo Bay and has served as a cell block leader, assuming responsibility for communication detainees’ messages and grievance to the staff and maintaining order among the detainees.”

That same cooperation is now being used to justify his continued detention. Abu Zubaydah, who has completed university coursework in computer programming, could be a threat because has used his time in Guantanamo to “hone his organizational skills, assess U.S. custodial and debriefing practices,” the official said, and that experience “would help him should he choose to reengage in terrorist activity.”

Americans are fighting and dying again in southern Afghanistan

Six years after thousands of US Marines flooded Afghanistan's southern Helmand province — an insurgent stronghold and a hub for Afghan drug production — American troops have returned to the volatile area to help counter yet another Taliban offensive. And already, one US soldier has been killed and another wounded.

The US military said on Tuesday that an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near a joint patrol by US and Afghan forces in the area. Six Afghan soldiers were also wounded in a separate blast. The wounded American is in stable condition, the Pentagon said. The dead US soldier has not been identified, pending notification of his or her next of kin.

Around 100 US soldiers were deployed to Helmand over the past week after the Taliban offensive threatened the provincial capital Lashkar Gah. ...

The Pentagon has not elaborated on what kind of operation the two US casualties were conducting when the IED explosion occurred, except to say they were participating in "train, advise, assist activities" with Afghan forces. In recent months, US ground troops have helped coordinate attacks by American aircraft during Afghan military operations.

US Efforts Fail to Rein in Iraqi Shi’ite Militias

US officials have for months made it clear that they realize Iraq’s “liberation” of Sunni cities is contingent on keeping the Shi’ite militias involved in those operations from conducting bloody purges against the “liberated” residents. Saying that, however, isn’t the same as doing something about it.

Despite the much-publicized US efforts, the capture of Fallujah away from ISIS back in June wasn’t nearly as successful as initially claimed, and evidence is growing that the militias’ torture and killing of Sunni civilians fleeing the city was far bigger than previously acknowledged. ...

Despite the obvious problems with Shi’ite militias killing all these Sunni civilians, Iraq is so heavily reliant on the militias, and their leadership is so politically influential that there is really little interest in doing anything about it. Instead, most of the effort is put behind downplaying the extent of the ongoing war crimes.

'Turkey is ready for a limited war in Syria'

Turkey sends tanks into Syria in operation aimed at Isis and Kurds

Turkey has launched a major military intervention in Syria, sending tanks and warplanes across the border in a coordinated campaign with Syrian opposition fighters, who seized an Islamic State-held village in the area in the first hours of fighting.

The operation, called Euphrates Shield, has a dual purpose: to dislodge Isis from Jarablus, its last major redoubt on the 500-mile border, and to contain the expansion of Kurdish militias in northern Syria.

Turkish tanks crossed the Syrian border as artillery and fighter jets pounded the militants in an operation backed by the US-led coalition. The incursion also opened corridors for Syrian opposition fighters backed by Turkey, who mounted an assault in the area. ...

The operation marks the first time Ankara’s ground forces have ventured into Syria, with the exception of a brief operation early last year to rescue the tomb of an ancestor of the founder of the Ottoman empire.

Turkey said it had hit 81 targets in northern Syria with F-16 warplanes and had also shelled Isis positions.

US arms all sides to fight each other. What a generous nation we are!

U.S.-Backed Turkish Offensive in Syria Targets U.S.-Backed Kurds

Turkey has "launched a major military intervention in Syria," the Guardian reports, dispatching tanks and warplanes to purportedly reclaim the city of Jarabulus, currently held by the Islamic State (ISIS), and to attack Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria. ...

Turkey's onslaught is backed by the U.S., while the Kurdish group that Turkey is targeting, the leftwing Kurdish nationalist YPG, is also backed by the United States. ...

And while Turkey has long battled against Kurdish nationals both within and outside of its borders while the West turned a blind eye, Wednesday marks the first large-scale Turkish military operation against Kurdish militias in Syria. ...

If Turkey has agreed to target ISIS to assuage D.C. politicians, it seems that Washington may be threatening to pull support from the Kurds in order to assuage Turkey: the AP reported Wednesday that Biden has ordered U.S.-backed Kurdish militias to give up territory and "move back across" the Euphrates River, as Turkey desires, or risk losing U.S. support.

Turkish MP: Erdogan always favoured ISIS over the Kurds

Syrian Kurds Seize Most of NE City of Hasakeh From Govt

Efforts to get a ceasefire in place in the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh have ultimately succeeded,  and Kurdish YPG forces stopped fighting with the Syrian Army. The deal did not see the YPG returning territory seized from the Army, however, and instead has them controlling materially the entire city. ...

This ends the fighting between the YPG and the military, at least for now, and seems to be setting the stage for further escalation to the west, where YPG-dominated forces recently captured the city of Manbij. Turkey claimed to have been assured by the US the Kurds would immediately withdraw from the mostly Arab city after expelling ISIS.

That didn’t happen. There is no sign the YPG or its allies are leaving the city, and Turkey has already launched a flurry of artillery strikes against it. With Turkish-backed rebels planning to invade the city of Jarabulus, to the north, it seems that the Kurdish force could quickly find itself face-to-face with the rebels over Manbij, a major battle that would include substantial Turkish backing against the Kurds, who they desperately want to see expelled from the area around the Euphrates River.

A Clinton Family Value: ‘Humanitarian’ War

The current debate over the future of U.S. foreign policy is largely over whether the U.S. should continue its self-anointed role as the policeman of the world, or whether it might be wise for the next administration to put, in the words of Donald J. Trump, “America First.”

On the other hand, Hillary Clinton has repeatedly called for a more active U.S. foreign policy. The 2016 election is shaping up to be, among other things, a battle between the inarticulate isolationism of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton’s liberal interventionism. Hers is an approach which came into vogue during the administration of her husband. ...

During [Bill] Clinton’s tenure, the U.S. military was dispatched on ostensibly humanitarian grounds in Somalia (1993), Haiti (1994), Bosnia (1995), and Kosovo (1999). Clinton also directed airstrikes on Sudan in what was said to be an attempt on Osama bin Laden’s life.

Clinton bombed Iraq (1998) over its violations of the NATO enforced no-fly zones. That same year, Clinton signed the Iraq Liberation Act into law which stipulated that “It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.”

In some ways the now deeply embedded belief in the efficacy and rightness of humanitarian intervention dates back to NATO’s intervention in Bosnia in 1995. The success of the Dayton Accords seemed to cement the idea that America was, after all, the indispensable nation in the minds of the Clinton foreign policy team. ...

The Clinton administration’s second intervention in the Balkans in 1999, set the template for what George W. Bush attempted in Iraq, and, later, what Barack Obama attempted in Libya. Once again, in the absence of U.N. sanction, Clinton launched a war under humanitarian pretexts. The 77-day aerial bombardment of Serbia carried out by NATO was ostensibly undertaken to prevent what was said to be the looming wholesale slaughter of Albanian Kosovars by Serbian forces. ...

Given her record, should Hillary Clinton win in November, the elder Bush’s foreign policy “realism” will have little chance of reappearing.

Read this whole article if your blood pressure can stand it. It's important.

The Bogus ‘Humanitarian’ War on Serbia

NATO’s war on Serbia in 1999 was the template for other “humanitarian” wars – in Iraq, Libya and now Syria – but it wasn’t “news” when the Serbian leader was cleared.

The exoneration of a man accused of the worst of crimes, genocide, made no headlines. Neither the BBC nor CNN covered it. The Guardian allowed a brief commentary. Such a rare official admission was buried or suppressed, understandably. It would explain too much about how the rulers of the world rule.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has quietly cleared the late Serbian president, Slobodan Milosevic, of war crimes committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, including the massacre at Srebrenica.

Far from conspiring with the convicted Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, Milosevic actually “condemned ethnic cleansing,” opposed Karadzic and tried to stop the war that dismembered Yugoslavia. Buried near the end of a 2,590-page judgment on Karadzic last February, this truth further demolishes the propaganda that justified NATO’s illegal onslaught on Serbia in 1999.

Milosevic died of a heart attack in 2006, alone in his cell in The Hague, during what amounted to a bogus trial by an American-invented “international tribunal.” Denied heart surgery that might have saved his life, his condition worsened and was monitored and kept secret by U.S. officials, as WikiLeaks has since revealed.

Milosevic was the victim of war propaganda that today runs like a torrent across our screens and newspapers and beckons great danger for us all. He was the prototype demon, vilified by the Western media as the “butcher of the Balkans” who was responsible for “genocide,” especially in the secessionist Yugoslav province of Kosovo. Prime Minister Tony Blair said so, invoked the Holocaust and demanded action against “this new Hitler.”

Japan condemns North Korea's submarine missile launch as 'unforgivable'

Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, has denounced North Korea’s latest missile launch as an “unforgivable” threat to regional stability after the isolated state successfully test-fired a missile from a submarine on Wednesday morning.

US Strategic Command said the missile, believed to be a KN-11, had been fired from the North Korean coastal city of Sinpo at around 5:30 am local time and flew about 500 km before landing in the Sea of Japan.

Abe noted that it was the first time a North Korean missile launched from a submarine had entered Japan’s air defence identification zone, a reference to areas that countries designate to help maintain air security.

“This poses a grave threat to Japan’s security, and is an unforgivable act that damages regional peace and stability markedly,” Abe told reporters, adding that Japan had lodged a protest with North Korea.

James Bamford: Evidence points to another Snowden at the NSA

In the summer of 1972, state-of-the-art campaign spying consisted of amateur burglars, armed with duct tape and microphones, penetrating the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. Today, amateur burglars have been replaced by cyberspies, who penetrated the DNC armed with computers and sophisticated hacking tools. ...

Now, in the latest twist, hacking tools themselves, likely stolen from the National Security Agency, are on the digital auction block. Once again, the usual suspects start with Russia – though there seems little evidence backing up the accusation.

In addition, if Russia had stolen the hacking tools, it would be senseless to publicize the theft, let alone put them up for sale. It would be like a safecracker stealing the combination to a bank vault and putting it on Facebook. Once revealed, companies and governments would patch their firewalls, just as the bank would change its combination. ...

There are, of course, many sophisticated hackers in Russia, some with close government ties and some without. And planting false and misleading indicators in messages is an old trick. ... In hacktivist style, and in what appears to be phony broken English, this new release of cyberweapons also seems to be targeting Clinton. It ends with a long and angry “final message” against “Wealthy Elites . . . breaking laws” but “Elites top friends announce, no law broken, no crime commit[ed]. . . Then Elites run for president. Why run for president when already control country like dictatorship?”

Then after what they call the “fun Cyber Weapons Auction” comes the real message, a serious threat. “We want make sure Wealthy Elite recognizes the danger [of] cyberweapons. Let us spell out for Elites. Your wealth and control depends on electronic data.” Now, they warned, they have control of the NSA’s cyber hacking tools that can take that wealth away. “You see attacks on banks and SWIFT [a worldwide network for financial services] in news. If electronic data go bye-bye where leave Wealthy Elites? Maybe with dumb cattle?”

Snowden’s leaks served a public good. He alerted Americans to illegal eavesdropping on their telephone records and other privacy violations, and Congress changed the law as a result. The DNC leaks exposed corrupt policies within the Democratic Party. ... But we now have entered a period many have warned about, when NSA’s cyber weapons could be stolen like loose nukes and used against us. It opens the door to criminal hackers, cyber anarchists and hostile foreign governments that can use the tools to gain access to thousands of computers in order to steal data, plant malware and cause chaos.

It’s one more reason why NSA may prove to be one of Washington’s greatest liabilities rather than assets.

FBI investigates whether Russia hacked New York Times reporters, US says

The FBI is investigating cyber intrusions targeting reporters of the New York Times and is looking into whether Russian intelligence agencies are responsible for the acts, a US official said Tuesday.

The cyberattacks are believed to have targeted individual reporters, but investigators don’t believe the newspaper’s entire network was compromised, according to the official, who was briefed on the investigation but was not authorized to discuss the matter by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. ...

It was not immediately clear how many reporters may have been affected, nor how many email accounts were targeted.

The Philippines' war on drugs death toll is growing too quickly to count

Hundreds of suspected drug dealers and addicts have been killed in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte essentially declared open season on them after his election in May. But with international outrage mounting over the wave of extrajudicial killings, keeping track of the exact death toll has become increasingly challenging.

On Monday, National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa told the country's Senate that more than 1,900 drug suspects have been killed in the past seven weeks. Although cited extensively in media reports, that number stands in stark contrast to a running tally of confirmed deaths maintained by the Philippine Inquirer. According to the newspaper's "kill list," there have been 712 drug-related killings since May 10, the day after Duterte was elected.

According to Sanho Tree, director of the Washington-based Drug Policy Project, the 1,900 figure includes more than 700 confirmed killings by police officers, as well as hundreds of additional murders committed by vigilantes. ...

In response to growing methamphetamine use in the Philippines, Duterte has offered to award medals and bounties to citizens and police officers who kill drug suspects.

Activists call for Facebook 'censorship' change after Korryn Gaines death

A consortium of activist groups has sent an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg asking him to implement an “anti-censorship policy” at Facebook in its dealings with law enforcement officials in the wake of the death of Baltimore woman Korryn Gaines.

Gaines, killed just after her Facebook Live video stream of her confrontation with police officers was turned off, was being served an arrest warrant after failing to appear in court for a traffic violation. She was shot dead by police and her five-year-old son, whom she was holding at the time, was wounded.

The archived video from the stream was briefly unavailable as well, in what Facebook called “a technical glitch”. Police officers said they had asked Facebook to turn off Gaines’s video stream.

The signatories of the letter say they don’t buy the “glitch” story. “If your company agrees to censor people’s accounts at the request of police – thereby allowing the police to control what the public sees on Facebook – then it is part of the problem,” they wrote.

NYPD's Muslim surveillance violated regulations as recently as 2015

NYPD inspector general finds investigators consistently failed to get proper authorization for surveillance, and that 95% of reviewed cases targeted Muslims

The New York City police department has violated several regulations in its surveillance of predominantly Muslim communities as recently as 2015, a report released on Thursday found.

The 67-page report was completed by the NYPD’s inspector general, and examined the police department’s intelligence unit.

The report found that, when examining political groups, investigators consistently failed to get proper authorization or timely extensions for investigations or the use of informants and undercover cops.

“This investigation demonstrates a failure by NYPD to follow rules governing the timing and authorizations of surveillance of political activity,” said Mark G Peters, commissioner of the department of investigations (DOI), a city-wide watchdog. NYPD’s inspector general office is a part of the DOI and was only created two years ago following a law passed in the city council.

NYPD’s guidelines for investigating are dictated by the Handschu agreement, established 32 years ago following a class-action lawsuit filed by several political organizations that accused the NYPD of unconstitutional surveillance.

“The Guidelines were designed to establish certain baseline controls on NYPD’s considerable investigative power,” the report explained.

The office of the inspector general examined investigations that were closed between 2011 and 2015, some of which started as early as 2004.

Ferguson's school board election is unfair to black residents, judge rules

A federal judge in Missouri has put school board elections in Ferguson and several neighboring communities on hold, saying the process has "essentially blocked African American voters from exercising effective political power."

The ruling by Judge Rodney W. Sippel came in response to a lawsuit against the Ferguson-Florissant School District (FFSD) filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of three black plaintiffs and the Missouri chapter of the NAACP. The judge said systemic racial problems within the district violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

"The ongoing effects of racial discrimination that have long plagued the region, and the District in particular, have affected the ability of African Americans to participate equally in the political process," Sippel wrote in his decision. ...

Sippel barred the district from holding elections until they change the voting process — but he said he could not "make any findings now as to the proper remedy."

Migrant mothers at Pennsylvania center suspend hunger strike ‘due to threats’

Female asylum seekers held with their children at the Berks County Residential Center in Pennsylvania say they have been “pushed to suspend” a two-week long hunger strike “due to threats from immigration officials”.

In a letter to reporters, 22 mothers who refused meals to protest their indefinite detention said they were told: “If our health is weak, the government can take our children from us and send us to jails for adults.”

The women are now eating one meal a day, but say they will resume the strike within a week if they have not been released. Lawyers who visited their clients during the hunger strike said some had lost significant amounts of weight, about 10lbs in some cases.

“Their faces looked sunken and gaunt,” said attorney Carol Anne Donohoe.

All of the women have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since they arrived with their children at the US-Mexico border seeking asylum from violence in El Salvador and Honduras. Their protest has raised questions about whether ICE is flouting a federal judge’s mandate that puts a 20-day limit on the time children can be detained.

This week, four of the families will mark a full year in custody.



the horse race



I can't tell, is that barking in the distance a sheepdog or a rottweiler?

'Our Revolution' Kick-Off Signals New Phase for Movement Sanders Built

With the goal of carrying the progressive vision far past Election Day, Bernie Sanders and his supporters Wednesday evening are formally launching the next phase of the political revolution.

Our Revolution is officially kicking off at 9pm EDT, when Sanders will address the tens of thousands expected to gather at the more than 2,600 launch events and house parties being held across the country. The live stream will also be available here.

The launch was not without a few bumps. A number of staffers, including Our Revolution organizing director Claire Sandberg, quit last week after it was announced that Weaver, who also served as campaign manager for Sanders' presidential bid, would be leading the new organization. According to Politico, the rift largely boiled down to differences of opinion on fundraising and campaign tactics.

Since losing the primary, the senator has thrown his weight behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. And while many of his supporters remain unhappy about the alliance, Sanders argued in an op-ed earlier this month that defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump is "the most immediate task we face" in the struggle to transform America.

The senator is also expected to release a book and revolution manifesto shortly after the election detailing how to keep the pressure on Clinton and the Democratic establishment.

The Real Scandal of Clinton's Emails: Conducting Foreign Policy In Secret

Arms Industry Donating to Hawkish Clinton Over Incoherent Trump

Employees of 25 of the nation's largest defense companies—such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Raytheon—are choosing to fill the coffers of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over those of her rival, GOP nominee Donald Trump.

That's according to a new analysis by Politico, published Wednesday and based on federal campaign finance filings.

Indeed, Politico found that Clinton—whose hawkish tendencies have been front-and-center during the 2016 campaign—is leading Trump "by a ratio of 2-to-1 in campaign donations from employees working for defense giants like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. That's a sharp turnaround from 2012, when defense contractors gave more to then-Republican nominee Mitt Romney than to President Barack Obama."

Specifically, employees of those 25 firms have donated $93,000 to Clinton, compared with $46,000 for Trump. "Clinton's donor rolls also include more than two dozen top defense executives, while Trump's show just two," Politico adds. ...

Signs abound pointing to "where she would go." As commentator JP Sottile wrote earlier this month of Clinton, "she's weaponized the State Department. She really likes regime change. And her nominating convention not only embraced the military, but it sanctified the very Gold Star families that neocon-style interventionism creates."



the evening greens


Air pollution threat hidden as research 'presumes people are at home': study

Previous investigations fail to reveal impact of ‘world’s largest human health threat’ because they do not account for people’s movement, researchers say

The true impact of air pollution has been obscured by the failure to consider people’s exposure as they move around during the day, according to a new study that has mapped the hotspots of New York’s air pollution based on where people gather for work or recreation.

The research cites air pollution as “the world’s single largest environment and human health threat” but laments that the problem has not previously been “considered spatially and temporally”, with most studies basing a person’s pollution exposure on where they live.

Using information obtained from cellphone towers, the researchers were able to build up a picture of millions of New Yorkers’ movements over the course of 120 days. They used a formula that charts population density as well as pollution levels to look at how people’s exposure to PM2.5, an airborne particle linked to an array of health problems, varies according to where they typically congregate during the day.

The researchers found that areas of midtown and lower Manhattan, which have some of the highest PM2.5 levels, saw large numbers of people exposed during the day, but less so at night. Conversely, areas of southern Brooklyn with high PM2.5 levels peaked in pollution exposure at night as people returned to their neighborhoods after work. Areas of Queens near LaGuardia airport remained elevated throughout the day.

Concentrations of PM2.5 also vary throughout the day and affect the identification of hotspots, depending on factors including power generation and traffic.

Native Activist Winona LaDuke: Pipeline Company Enbridge Has No Right to Destroy Our Future

As Court Hears Arguments in Dakota Pipeline Suit, Protesters Say 'Protect Our Water'

[http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/08/24/court-hears-arguments-dakota... As peaceful prayer camps grow in North Dakota against the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, demonstrators in Washington, D.C. are marching and chanting in solidarity while a U.S. federal court hears arguments regarding the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's motion to halt pipeline construction.]

In its motion (pdf), the tribe argues that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated several federal laws by approving the pipeline, and seeks preliminary injunctive relief to halt the pipeline construction.

The tribe says that the pipeline will destroy sacred lands and threaten their access to clean water.

"If the judge grants the preliminary injunction, what we can anticipate is that the Energy Transfer Company and possibly the Department of Justice will file an appeal," said Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II to Indian Country Today Media Network. "They can appeal. But they won't be able to continue construction."

A federal judge is expected to issue a ruling Wednesday.

Day After Obama Tours Louisiana Flood Damage, Gov't Holds Massive Gulf Oil & Gas Lease Auction


Also of Interest

Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.

Propaganda for Syrian ‘Regime Change’

Militant Leader Talks About Break With Al Qaeda and Possible Syrian Rebel Merger

What’s Next for Turkey’s Exiled Cleric Fethullah Gülen?

'The legacy Langston left us': Harlem artists hope to reclaim Hughes home

10 of the least-visited US national parks

Trump’s New Billionaire Backer Also Funds Huge Stockpile of Human Urine


A Little Night Music

Johnny Otis - Young Girl

Johnny Otis - Mambo Boogie

Johnny Otis - Rock Me Baby

Johnny Otis & Marci Lee - Telephone Baby

Johnny Otis - All Night Long

Johnny Otis & Marci Lee - Castin' My Spell

Johnny Otis - Country Girl

Shuggie Otis & Johnny Otis - Cold Shot

The Johnny Otis Show - The Watts Breakaway



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janis b's picture

Oh my, Twenty Years Later, Poverty is Up ...

That’s what the Clintons call charity?

And this is what Maine’s governor says!! …" Maine’s Republican Governor Paul Lepage recently claimed that food stamp recipients in his state are on a “steady diet of Mars bars and Mountain Dew.”

joe, do we have to boycott the beautiful state of Maine? What happened to reason and civility in America?

I think I need a Cold Shot

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joe shikspack's picture

i'm sure that the clintons are well insulated from the people whom they cause to suffer with poverty. so, to them it doesn't exist.

i can't believe that the maniacs elected paul lepage. he's a total moron. i'm sure that having him as governor is significant punishment on its own.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

Two opponents split the anti-LePage vote between them, and since Maine doesn't have a "required majority" rule, the person with the most total votes - LePage - won with a small plurality. And it happened twice.

That's the official story, anyway.

With politics as dirty as it is, at all levels, election fraud is also a possible explanation....

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

joe shikspack's picture

and lepage will be ineligible to run for governor in 2018. the bad news is that he has been making noises about running for senate in 2018. with any luck, he'll run against angus king and lose.

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OLinda's picture

Watched some of his Florida rally. He misspoke when talking about Hillary's crimes re email, Foundation, etc. He said it was pre-medicated instead of premeditated. After correcting himself, he said he thought he "liked it better the first way." (Pause) "premedicated - I like that." (Pause) "I love that."

Hahahaha.

Later when talking about crowd size, he said he had a bigger crowd than Elton John. "And I don't have a piano. He has pianos. I don't have a piano."

Haha.

I think he'll kill at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Just lightening up all the heavy news. Wink

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JekyllnHyde's picture

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A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma

joe shikspack's picture

heh:

img002

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joe shikspack's picture

i'm sure that the comedian's union is licking its chops over the mere thought that the donald could be president. we're talking material that writes itself.

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link

The Democrats had a successful convention, the Republicans didn't. Clinton's campaign has been smooth; Trump's has careened between disasters. She has reached out to independents and Republicans; he has insulted the family of a soldier killed in Iraq, along with people with disabilities, Latinos and women. Clinton has outspent him 3 to 1.

And she's only ahead by five percentage points.

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If severing family connections would hurt beneficiaries of the foundation's philanthropy, here's a solution worth considering: Turn it over to the Carter Center, former President Jimmy Carter's group, which also has done remarkable work.

I was thinking warren buffet/bill gates myself, but this is better. Can you imagine the sad they'd have over the thought of all the money they'd miss out on?

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joe shikspack's picture

despite clinton's small margin, it appears to me that she has more to worry about from leaks and hacks than she does from her opponent.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

elenacarlena's picture

given $2 each and told to go feed their households on that all day. Better yet, give them $14 and tell them to try it for a week; one day of crap won't kill you, but a week might. What a bunch of arrogant a$$hole$ lacking empathy genes.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

Lily O Lady's picture

experience in an otherwise very well stocked kitchen they think they've really experienced true privation giving them an overwhelming feeling of smug self-satisfaction.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

elenacarlena's picture

And they can't ask for help from friends, family, employees, or others either.

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joe shikspack's picture

heck, i'd like to turn the process into reality teevee. all of those asswipes get $14/week to live on and they compete to see who can last the longest.

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elenacarlena's picture

With no clear end in sight, I'm betting most would vote themselves off the island in less than a day.

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Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.

hecate's picture

that The Hairball's new buffoon maintains a mammoth urine vault. No doubt all the best feces farmers are aboard the clown car as well.

They will never release Zubaydah. They destroyed him. They don't want the people to know. What they did.

"It's not simulated anything. It's slow-motion suffocation with enough time to contemplate the inevitability of blackout and expiration—usually the person goes into hysterics on the board. You can feel every drop. Every drop. You start to panic. And as you panic, you start gasping, and as you gasp, your gag reflex is overridden by water. And then you start to choke, and then you start to drown more. Because the water doesn't stop until the interrogator wants to ask you a question. And then, for that second, the water will continue, and you'll get a second to puke and spit up everything that you have, and then you'll have an opportunity to determine whether you're willing to continue with the process."

Eighty-three times. They did that. So that he became "completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth."

As one of his lawyers, Joseph Margulies, says, "he's the poster child for the torture program. And that's why they never want him to be heard from again."

He was mentally ill, when they picked him up. They rendered him batshit.

He spent all of his time masturbating. Like a monkey in the zoo. He went at it so much, at some point he injured himself. They had to intervene. He didn't care that they were watching him. He masturbated constantly. He wasn't facing the camera, but it was rigged so there was no place for him not to be seen.

He complained to the interrogator that he would never have the chance to feel a woman's touch again, and lament that he would never have children. He freaked at one point, because there was blood in his ejaculate. He saved it for the doctors in a tissue, to show them in the morning.

The doctor said not to worry.

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riverlover's picture

we have ingratiated ourselves to his former friends and family. What a waste. Such good PR.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

joe shikspack's picture

i have the sense that if, by some miracle, zubaydah managed to get released, the cia would find a way to dispose of him. they have too much riding on their crimes not being exposed.

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Shockwave's picture

I look forward to Bernie's speech. Let's see what happens.

And this;
 photo sidov_zpshiuec3za.jpg

Then again like Bill Curry, says in the Real News YouTube above, it's not so much she leaked classified emails it's how she conducted policy in secret to avoid any transparency and "freedom of information". No press conferences is another data point.

Thank you Joe.

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The political revolution continues

joe shikspack's picture

i'm interested to hear what bernie has to say, too. i don't plan to get involved with his organization, but i'm interested to see what path he wants to take.

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Shockwave's picture

Bernie has started a revolution indeed.

 photo image_zpsyahzsn2m.jpeg

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The political revolution continues

divineorder's picture

Quite a few shockers as usual among your digest. Thanks for the work.

Some tweets for those interested in the current realities of US politics

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

katchen's picture

-700ef55aad67c388_0.jpg

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joe shikspack's picture

heh, it's more like a bogeyman contest.

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joe shikspack's picture

i hope you guys are doing well.

excellent tweets!

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Shahryar's picture

"who's advising Trump on foreign policy? Is it Henry Kissinger?"

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joe shikspack's picture

excellent question. it's pretty hard to come up with an advisor worse than that hoary old war criminal.

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enhydra lutris's picture

amazing person who lived an amazing life, and far ahead of his time in many ways. One of his most far out moves was to decide to be black

As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black.

Clinton's welfare reform was multiply nefarious, not only replacing AFDC with TANF, but then including TANF as one of the types of funding that could be applied through "charitable choice" to fund religious "contractors" instead of directly servicing the needs of the poor.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

joe shikspack's picture

heh, otis was a very talented musician, if he had decided to be white he probably would have been more rich and famous than elvis.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

like Italians and other Mediterranean/Levantine peoples. So it wasn't that much of a "choice".

It's interesting, though, that his decision doesn't draw as much flak as, say, Espera di Corti/Tony Cody/"Iron Eyes" Cody, who still gets dumped on as a "Pretendian" even though he's been dead for years - and even though he made a total lifetime commitment to living up to what he claimed to be. (Sicilians didn't have it any better than Greeks. Worse, maybe, since the public equation was "Sicilian = Mafia".)

Gender is multivalent and fluid, we are told, but ethnicity is fixed and unchangeable...?

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

joe shikspack's picture

well, there's that, though talented celebrities and athletes were sometimes able to evade the rules that might apply to average joes to some degree.

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divineorder's picture

"charitable choice" to fund religious "contractors" instead of directly servicing the needs of the poor.

What a country!

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

clinton was a great republican.

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divineorder's picture

http://billmoyers.com/story/everything-wanted-know-1996-welfare-law-afra...

Economy & Work
Everything You Wanted to Know About the 1996 Welfare Law but Were Afraid to Ask

One of Bill Clinton's signature achievements has a troubling legacy.

By Rebecca Vallas and Jeremy Slevin | August 24, 2016

So where do we go from here?

To begin with, the federal government should require states to spend a certain share of TANF funds on the law’s core purposes — income assistance, child care and work programs. Requiring states to spend even half of TANF funds on these priorities would ensure that more families get the help they need. We should also hold states accountable for meaningful outcomes such as actually helping TANF recipients get jobs, and reducing poverty.

In addition, Congress should stop rewarding states for ending aid to families in need. Right now, states receive a so-called “caseload reduction credit” for reducing the number of people they help — regardless of whether they have jobs when they leave the program. In effect, instead of giving states incentives to provide needed assistance, we’re doing the opposite.

We also need to increase benefits so that families can meet their basic needs. In no state are benefits equal to even half the austere federal poverty level (the maximum benefit was about $10,000 per year for a family of three in 2015).

Strengthening TANF is critical to ensure that our nation’s safety net provides adequate protection against life’s unpredictability. But it is just one part of a broader antipoverty agenda.

Building an economy that works for everyone — not just the wealthy few — will require creating good jobs and ensuring a living wage; adopting work-family policies that ensure parents are not forced to choose between work and caregiving; putting childcare and high-quality education within reach for all families; and removing barriers to opportunity so that all families have the opportunity to succeed.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

where a basic income is provided to every citizen, and the basics, food, clothing, shelter, medical care and education are guaranteed as human rights.

not only don't we need every citizen to work, from an environmental perspective, it would be far better if production of carbon-intensive things was diminished and economic growth limited.

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CS in AZ's picture

I sometimes feel so alone in thinking it's long past time we stopped advocating for more jobs, and start acknowledging that we don't *need* everyone to work, especially at make-work. Guaranteed basic income and needs met for everyone is entirely doable. Then people could focus on creativity and innovation and living life instead of grinding through the days for a paycheck, or looking for one.

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katchen's picture

with child care, community gardening, tutoring...

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Lily O Lady's picture

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Raggedy Ann's picture

Another fine news day! The poor are getting poorer - Bill must be high stepping it today!

War, war, and more war. What do we want? WAR! When do we want it? NOW! Is that our rallying cry? Oh, I forgot, no one is paying attention, while people are being ravaged in their communities.

Speaking of ravaging communities, that Ferguson, MO must be a paradise!

My granddaughter moved into her apartment yesterday and will begin community college next Monday. Raggedy Andy and I are going over tonight to help her out - see what she needs. Such an exciting time for that young life.

Have a beautiful evening, folks! Bye

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

joe shikspack's picture

i'm sure that bill and hill are popping the champagne open to celebrate his great achievement tonight with all of their republican friends.

congratulations on your granddaughter's milestone!

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Lily O Lady's picture

what else? a fundraiser. Seeing video on to local TV news with starry-eyed young women clustered around him gave me the creeps.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

MarilynW's picture

'Screen Shot 2016-08-24 at 4.16.46 PM.png
Photo: Vantagenews.com

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/24/french-police-make-woman-r...
A witness to the scene, Mathilde Cousin, confirmed the incident. “The saddest thing was that people were shouting ‘go home’, some were applauding the police,” she said. “Her daughter was crying.”

I don't understand why what the muslim women are wearing hurts bystanders. I don't believe in religion but I do believe in human rights that include "freedom of religion." But some people wear clothing on sunny days for other reasons.

Today as I was walking my dog I met a woman who was also walking her small dog. I have talked with her on many occasions but today in a scolding tone she asked, "why are you wearing so much clothing on a hot day?! Aren't you hot?"

I was wearing jeans, long sleeved T-shirt and a light linen opened jacket. There was a breeze, I wasn't hot. I have to protect myself from the sun because I have had treatment for 3 pre-cancerous lesions. I was too shocked to give her a good answer but if it happens again I will just say one word "CANCER!" I have friend who covers up in the sun too. She's a nurse and she's just being careful. When I see other people who are completely covered in the hot sun it doesn't bother me. I just think they must have a good reason for it and it's none of my business. But the whole episode left me upset, it was a violation of my privacy. Whether we cover up for religious reasons or medical reasons, why should it bother anyone?

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To thine own self be true.

joe shikspack's picture

i saw that burkini story today in the guardian and, while it's shocking, as are the towns banning burkinis, it's nothing new for the french. they have banned religious garb and symbols before.

their efforts to preserve their culture often appear to veer off into intolerance. on the other hand, as a usian, i suppose that i have no latitude to criticize, all things considered.

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divineorder's picture

the treatment of blacks in this country. Still, people are frightened, their labor protections are under attack, so this is a sad result.

We love Paris, stopped over there again this year for a week on way back from Africa. We flew out on Bastille Day and then learned of the events that day.. Last year, we left for Venice and three days later read about the bombings. The French government joined in the bomb fest in the middle east but pretty sure it did not benefit anyone but their MIC.

IMG_2281.JPG

Feel for the innocents there but also for those bombing victims in the ME.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

like to relive the feeling of being a great colonial power and enjoy flexing their muscles.

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divineorder's picture

Some nteresting articles today:

http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/

Just Like Healthcare Needs a Public Option, So Does Banking

The recent kerfuffle over private health insurance companies refusing to accommodate those with plans acquired through the Affordable Care Act exchanges has exposed a glaring issue -- why don't we have a public option to compete with private health insurance profiteers? The same could be said for banking, as well. READ MORE. http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/just_like_healthcare_needs_a_publi...

Local Power to The Rescue - "It's Our Money" with Ellen Brown

Improving the quality of life and local economies is a concern best addressed by local citizens. Guest David Morris, co-founder of the Institute for Local Self Reliance, talks with PBI Chair Walt McRee about how to reclaim the narrative that government can and should work well on our behalf. And PBI Founder Ellen Brown talks with “The World Belongs to Everyone” author Alana Hartzog about how our current method of taxation overlooks a more obvious and fair approach based on land and the Earth itself. LISTEN HERE. http://prn.fm/its-our-money-local-power-to-the-rescue-08-17-16/

Wall Street's Private Justice System: Mandatory Arbitration

JP Morgan Chase, along with other notoriously abusive banks on Wall Street, is allowed to force claims against it into a private justice system called mandatory arbitration. This system allows systemic abuses to avoid detection for years because claims made by both employees and customers are ushered into Star Chamber tribunals which lack the judicial protections afforded in a court of law. READ MORE. http://wallstreetonparade.com/2016/08/wall-streets-protection-racket-man...

A Look At Presidential Candidate Jill Stein's Radical Funding Solution

Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein salutes Bernie Sanders for the progressive populist movement he began and says it is up to her to carry the baton. Can she do it? Critics say her radical policies will not hold up to scrutiny. But supporters say they are just the medicine the economy needs.
READ MORE. https://ellenbrown.com/2016/08/02/can-jill-carry-bernies-baton-a-look-at...

Public Banking Beat - August 24th, 2016

Public Banking activists in New Mexico are working with the state treasurer to obtain approval for the formation of a state infrastructure bank to help in the state's struggle to grow its economy. Way to go New Mexico!
Read the details HERE.

http://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/public_banking_beat_august_24th_20...

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

maybe new mexico can be the first state to join north dakota in having a useful state banking institution.

thanks for the links. ellen brown's articles are always good.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

One of the few books recently that's changed my mind.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

joe shikspack's picture

is also an excellent resource for articles and commentary.

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divineorder's picture

banking. Interesting that Republican governor is a woman who has done little good for the state. No surprise, but she had a big drinking scandal earlier this year and maybe she will let a little good flow in now to get her @ss out of hot water.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Lookout's picture

with a chance it crosses FL and hits New Orleans at the end of the month. Hope the models are wrong...
Coming Hurricane to hit FL and gulf coast? (8 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRDjK0qszE4
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRDjK0qszE4]

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

joe shikspack's picture

wow, that's all louisiana needs just now. i certainly hope that the models are wrong, too.

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TheOtherMaven's picture

by the weekend, but will be turned back before even reaching Bermuda. No doubt the Bermudans are watching anxiously and hoping the forecast is correct!

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNlpuD42_BM]

I guess that makes us LeFou.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

joe shikspack's picture

not letting alphonse go first. Smile

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

I'd forgotten them!

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

lotlizard's picture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_and_Gaston

I hadn’t known about their latter-day appearance in Beauty and the Beast.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Gaston is hardly polite to LeFou in the Disney version. Smile

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

TheOtherMaven's picture

In one of his plays, two servants have a quarrel with each other and each wants the other to go first to let the master of the house in. This goes on for a bit, until said master declares that whoever doesn't open the door won't get any dinner that night. (They both snap to it, right away.)

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

riverlover's picture

extra-tropical storm. But not.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Lily O Lady's picture

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

CS in AZ's picture

I would appreciate your help. I "published" a post a little while ago, basically as a test of the process - it's just a poem that was written by a very special person who is no longer walking this earth, which I like very much and decided to use for my test. When I hit publish, I got a message saying my essay was published, and on my user page it is now in my essays, no longer drafts, but it still does not appear in the list of recent essays on the right side of the page, nor in the essay list linked on the left side.

Is there some special secret to getting one's posts to be listed in these areas?

I hope to eventually write some content of my own and post it here, but I seem to be missing something about how this works. Any info would be much appreciated.

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I found your essay, it was way down the queue. The date it was drafted was back in June, so when you published it, it published using the June date. It's not supposed to do that but it still does at times.

I changed the date to 8/25 and that brought it back to the beginning of the essay queue.

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CS in AZ's picture

I did first try to publish it back in June, which was the anniversary of when the author of the poem passed away, and the same thing happened then, it just never appeared on the essay list, so I unpublished it but it stayed in my drafts list. So tonight I decided to try again.

I really appreciate your help, and whenever I write a new post and publish it, hopefully I won't have to bother you again! You rock, thanks again!

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Don't hesitate sending me an admin email or a private message if you run into any more probs.

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