This evening's music features one man band, Elmon Mickle who recorded as T-Model Slim and Driftin' Slim.

Good morning 99percenters!

Chris Hedges: “Why should we be impoverished so that the profits of big banks, corporations, and hedge funds can swell?”
Jeremy Hammond's a hero who exposed surveillance-state secrets. His excessive prison sentence should terrify us all

I sat in the front row of a New York federal court in November 2013 the day Jeremy Hammond was sentenced to 10 years in prison for hacking into the computers of a private security firm that works on behalf of the government, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Marine Corps, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and corporations such as Dow Chemical and Raytheon.

Good morning 99percenters!

'Paddle in Seattle' Protesters Welcome Shell Drilling Rig with Two Words: Go Away
Thursday's protest comes ahead of a larger sHell No! demonstration—including mass flotilla and direct action—planned for the weekend

Paddling activists rolled out the un-welcome mat as Shell Oil's hulking 'Polar Pioneer' drilling rig—whose presence is opposed by many local citizens, environmentalists, and city officials—pulled into the Port of Seattle on Thursday afternoon.

About 20 kayakers met the 307-foot-tall, 400-foot-long rig in the waters of Elliott Bay, singing, chanting, linking arms, and bearing a banner that read, "Arctic Drilling = Climate Change." Among the group were members of the Duwamish Tribe, who paddled through the waves in a long wooden canoe and led the group in chanted songs, according to the Seattle Times.

The Times adds:

Law-enforcement officers were on the water and overhead to enforce a 500-yard safety zone while the Polar Pioneer was in motion. Coast Guard officials warned the activists beforehand that any disruption of safe navigation could result in arrests.

But the authorities allowed the activists relatively close to the rig when it briefly stopped, and there were no disturbances of note during the afternoon demonstration.

This evening's music features New Orleans r&b singer and self-appointed "Emperor of the Universe," Ernie K-Doe.

Cross-posted from GoS.

Mainstream thinking, not just Republican thinking, is consistently wrong. Justification and support for the Iraq War? WRONG. Catastrophically wrong. Multi-generational even. Centennial even. An amazingly catastrophic mass lapse of establishment "reason" indeed.

Rest in peace, BB.

B.B. King, Blues Legend, Dead at 89

Hello everyone. I have mostly checked out of the 24 hour news cycle. That includes expending too much energy slogging through the Internet.

The television side of the business is lacking substance.

How have 24-hour news stations affected society?

This evening's music features jazz and blues singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone.

Good Morning, I would like to apologize for my words that showed hostility and bad, negative judgements towards some member's comments of this community two days ago. I reflected on myself and see how much I have done wrong. Let me say that I try to do my best so that it will not happen again. I ask to forgive me for my words and hope you can do so one day in the future.