Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago blues guitarist Otis Rush. Enjoy!

"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words."

-- Philip K. Dick

News and Opinion

US spy chief's 'highly unusual' reported contact with military official raises concerns

James Clapper said to have frequent communication with military official who is said to be implicated in a Pentagon inquiry into manipulated intelligence

Barack Obama’s intelligence chief is said to be in frequent and unusual contact with a military intelligence officer at the center of a growing scandal over rosy portrayals of the war against the Islamic State, the Guardian has learned.

James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, is said to talk nearly every day with the head of US Central Command’s intelligence wing, Army Brigadier General Steven Grove – “which is highly, highly unusual”, according to a former intelligence official.

Grove is said to be implicated in a Pentagon inquiry into manipulated war intelligence.

In communications, Clapper, who is far more senior than Grove, is said to tell Grove how the war looks from his vantage point, and question Grove about Central Command’s assessments. Such a situation could place inherent pressure on a subordinate, sources said. ...

Clapper’s calls, knowledgeable sources speaking on condition of anonymity said, placed Grove in a difficult bureaucratic position: between the nominal leader of the entire US intelligence apparatus and his lower-level analysts, several of whom consider the year-long war against Isis to be in dire straits.

Grove and his civilian deputy, Greg Ryckman, are said to be the sources of dissatisfaction among analysts within Central Command, where an internal controversy about integrity in intelligence has now sparked an official inquiry by the Pentagon inspector general.

More than 50 intelligence analysts, both those within Central Command and their seconded Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) colleagues, have registered complaints about manipulated or skewed data, the Daily Beast reported on Wednesday. Analysts object to internal portrayals, said to come ultimately from Grove and Ryckman, of a war proceeding better than Isis’s persistent hold over large swaths of Iraq and Syria suggests. The existence of the Pentagon inquiry was first reported last month by the New York Times.

U.S. government blocks release of new CIA torture details

U.S. government officials have blocked the release of 116 pages of defense lawyers' notes detailing the torture that Guantanamo Bay detainee Abu Zubaydah says he experienced in CIA custody, defense lawyers said on Thursday.

The treatment of Zubaydah, who lost one eye and was waterboarded 83 times in a single month while held by the CIA, according to government documents, has been the focus of speculation for years.

"We submitted 116 pages in 10 separate submissions," Joe Margulies, Zubaydah's lead defense lawyer, told Reuters. "The government declared all of it classified."

Margulies and lawyers for other detainees said that the decision showed that the Obama administration plans to continue declaring detainees' accounts of their own torture classified. A Central Intelligence Agency spokesperson declined to comment. ...

Margulies said the 116 pages of notes he submitted for clearance were limited to Zubayda's description of his torture and did not include prohibited information.

Margulies said he followed "the rule to the letter" and accused the CIA of trying "guarantee that Abu Zubaydah never discloses what was done to him."

Zubaydah, a 44-year-old Saudi national, has been held in Guantanamo for nine years and not been charged with a crime.

The CIA Asks America to Please, Think of the Torturer

Tomorrow, the U.S. Naval Institute — a non-profit organization that encourages debate on national security — will publish the CIA’s rebuttal to the Senate’s torture report. The 353-page tome is mostly old news.

The bulk of Rebuttal: The CIA Responds to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s Study of Its Detainment and Interrogation Programis previously published work, including the CIA’s official response and the Senate minority response.

Its first 40 pages, however, are an intransigent masterpiece.

Eight editorial essays from agency luminaries such as George Tenet, Porter Goss and Jose Rodriguez, Jr. kick off the book. The pieces read like the grumpy tantrums of adult children begging the reader to remember the context of the torture program and realize the SSCI’s report was a politicized attack by Democrats.

The writers also quibble and squirm over the definition torture and … and, incredibly, beg readers to consider the feelings of the agents who performed the torture.

“I cannot tell you how disgusted my former colleagues and I felt to be labeled ‘torturers’ by the President of the United States,” writes Rodriguez, a 31-year CIA veteran. Rodriguez worries over the possibility that his colleagues might be criminally prosecuted for their actions at black sites.

“Having been the subject of a criminal investigation myself,” Rodriguez explains — investigators questioned him during the Iran-Contra affair. “I can tell you of the terrible effects such investigations have on the morale and well-being of individuals being investigated and their families.”

Remember, this man is writing about the psychological damage that possible pending criminal investigations could have on people who tortured other people.

Military Curfews, Firebombings, Airstrikes & Shattered Peace Deal: Is Turkey on Brink of Civil War?

Pentagon Intel Chief: Syria, Iraq Unlikely to Survive Current Wars

For months now, ISIS has controlled “more than half” of Syria’s territory. Al-Qaeda controls the Idlib Province, and they and various other factions control the border with Jordan. Meanwhile, Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has been acting as de facto independent for over a year, seizing disputed territory including the city of Kirkuk, while ISIS holds much of Western Iraq, including the major city of Mosul, which they’ve had for over a year.

It’s worth asking at this point whether Syria and Iraq are even a thing anymore, or indeed if they’ll become a thing again in the future. While the official US stance is “yes,” Pentagon intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart conceded at a defense conference today that he has “a tough time” seeing either nation ever really coming back together.

Saudi Blockade Paralyzes Food Shipments to Yemen

A nation with little arable land, Yemen has long had to import some 90% of its food from abroad. This has traditionally meant ships, but with a Saudi-led naval blockade of the entire Yemeni coast for the past several months, it’s not easy to get those ships into port.

Many shipping companies have pulled out, since trying to deliver to Yemen means endless delays from the naval forces off the coast. Those who continue to try to deliver food warn of a growing risk of famine, particularly in the north, where the blockade is preventing virtually all shipments.

23 ships are parked off the cost of Hodeida alone, with no indication when or even if they’ll be allowed to dock. Even when they’re given the go-ahead, it’s difficult to make their deliveries since Saudi warplanes destroyed much of the port’s infrastructure in airstrikes, including the cranes that would usually lift huge cargoes of grain off the ships.

"I Saw With My Own Eyes That They Killed People": Afghan Speaks Out As U.S. Reopens War Crimes Probe

Disturbing Video Shows Migrants Being Thrown Food 'Like Animals' in Hungarian Camp

Hungarian police said on Friday they had launched an investigation after video posted online showed a crowd of migrants clamoring for food in a hangar at a reception center as police in surgical masks throw out packs of sandwiches.

The description of the footage says it was taken at a refugee camp in Roszke on Hungary's southern border with Serbia, where thousands of migrants have been crossing into the European Union every day.

"It was like animals being fed in a pen, like Guantanamo in Europe," Klaus Kufner, a volunteer at the camp, told AFP. ...

In an emailed response to Reuters' questions, police said they had launched an "emergency enquiry" into the matter, describing it as a fact-finding investigation, without elaborating.

Obama calls on US to resettle 'at least 10,000' Syrian refugees in 2016 fiscal year

New target not enough to clear backlog of 15,200 refugees awaiting resettlement as aid groups criticize move for being ‘barely a token contribution’

The White House announced on Thursday that President Barack Obama had called for resettling “at least 10,000” Syrian refugees in the United States in the next fiscal year, in what would be an exponential acceleration of US efforts so far to welcome the refugees.

But the plan immediately met with criticism from across the political spectrum, including an influential member of Congress who warned of security risks and aid groups who said the plan did not go far enough to address a historic humanitarian crisis.

The new target number for resettlements was unveiled as tens of thousands of refugees from four years of war in Syria and other conflicts continued to move on foot north through Europe, setting off a new round of global alarm.

While the 10,000 figure represented a significant leap above the 1,800 Syrian refugees total that the United States was expected to have admitted by the end of this month, it would not be enough to clear a backlog in the US resettlement program.

Under a referral program managed by the United Nations, 15,200 Syrian refugees currently await processing by the United States for resettlement, according to State Department figures. Security vetting and other processing for each refugee normally takes 18 to 24 months post-referral, the State Department has said, but aid groups have put the typical wait time at closer to about 33 months.

Kerry Exaggerates Recent Russian Role in Syria

Finland Proposes Taxing the Rich to Take in More Refugees

As Obama administration considers taking in 10,000 Syrian refugees, Finland plans on accepting 30,000

Finland on Thursday proposed raising taxes on high earners to help pay for an influx of refugees that is expected to arrive later this year from war-torn regions in the Middle East and Africa.

Finance Minister Alexander Stubb said the highest bracket of earners would pay one percent more on capital gains taxes, while those who make more than $81,000 USD (72,300 euros) a year would pay what Stubb referred to as a "solidarity tax."

"These will help to cover higher immigration costs which we estimate to be about 114 million euros this year," Stubb said on Thursday at a press conference.

Finland is expected to take in 30,000 new refugees, compared to just 3,600 last year, at a time when the numbers of asylum seekers from Syria, Eritrea, and Afghanistan, among other countries in the Middle East, are rising with meteoric speed.

'Where to Invade Next': Michael Moore Fights US Empire with Progressive Solutions

Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, known for his provocative critiques of American politics, institutions, and culture, this week premiered his newest project—Where to Invade Next, an exploration of European countries that value progressive policies and quality of life.

Opening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Thursday, the satirical documentary received "eager laughter and frequent applause," writes the Hollywood Reporter.

While its title implies a judgment of U.S. military policy, the film is, in fact, "an impishly entertaining, career-summarizing polemic bent on demonstrating how other countries around the world—with their happy workers, superior schools, humane prisons, healthy sexual attitudes and fully empowered women—are putting U.S. progress to shame," writes Variety.

This is an interesting interview with public intellectual Henry Giroux, it's an opportunity to hear him speak plainly, outside of the context of an academic article. Here's an excerpt to whet the appetite:

The Violence of Neoliberalism and the State of the American Left - An interview with Henry Giroux

What are your thoughts on Bernie Sanders and his candidacy within Democratic Party? Few months ago Ralph Nader said: “He makes Clinton a better phony candidate. She is going to have to agree with him on a number of things. She is going to have to be more anti-Wall Street to fend him off and neutralize him. We know it is bullshit. She will betray us once she becomes president. He is making her more likely to win. And by April he is done. Then he fades away.”

HG. The response to Bernie Sanders from the right is to dismiss him as a socialist, a term that stands in for everything conservatives don’t like, such as economic justice, but refuse to talk about. Various elements on the left dismiss him because of his support for Israel’s bombing of Gaza, the war on terror, the military budget, and his failure to reach out to racial and ethnic minorities. What I think is notable about Sanders is that he is highlighting the lack of democracy in the United States and talking about issues that are crucial to address. These range from breaking up the banks, a single-payer health care system, the regulation of drug prices, a tax on corporate trading, stronger labor unions, elimination of corporate tax havens, an investment in crumbling infrastructures, new economic models for producing jobs, the raising of the minimum wage, and the expanding of social Security Medicare, Medicaid and nutrition programs. These are all worthwhile goals. On another level, Sanders offers a platform grounded in reason, justice, and logic. He offsets the Donald Trump campaign which is grounded in spectacle, crass populism, appeals to hate, racism, and mobilizes moral panics. Sanders proves at one level that there is still room in the American public to challenge the fascist mobilization of desire, emotion and nonreason. My critique of Sanders following that of Chris Hedges, Jeffrey St. Clair, Stanley Aronowitz and others is that the problem is that Sanders is pushing for radical reforms within the Democratic Party, which is completely in the hands of the corporate elite. This is a party that is not only reproduces a morally and politically bankrupt system, but embraces almost all of what can be called the pathologies of neoliberalism. Sanders is useful only in that he provides a case study on why his platform, which is progressive, should be in the hands of an independent political party and not the corporatized Democratic Party. Also, there is those reactionary elements in Sanders’s politics that must be addressed and include his support of the war machine industries,  his support for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, his silence on Israel, and his refusal to argue for a an independent political formation outside of the democratic party.  Remember the Democratic party is the party of war and surveillance, a party that shreds civil liberties, prosecutes whistle blowers, and uses the police to quell student demonstrations, strikes, and collective dissent that spills into the streets. Sanders is a decent man operating in a dead end political machine and in that sense his failure should serve as an insight into the limits of the kind of politics he is endorsing.

Intelligence Overseer Says Press Is More Aggressive Post Snowden

The press has become more aggressive about reporting on national security in the post-Snowden world, ranking House Intelligence Committee member Adam Schiff said Thursday.

Speaking to a convention of government contractors, the California Democrat attributed the change partly to “less confidence or trust” in the government, and partly to a “rush to publish.”

“One of the dynamics that has really changed post-Snowden is the conversations that traditionally have taken place between the media and the intelligence community — when the media has a story, and they go to the IC and say we’re going to run with this story, and there’s a discussion of, OK, what impact would that have, and the newspaper’s willingness to effectively self censor, not publish out of the public interest — I think that dynamic has changed,” Schiff said during a roundtable discussion at the annual Intelligence and National Security Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

DOJ Vows to Crack Down on Corporate Criminals, But Watchdogs Skeptical

After years of letting Wall Street greed run rampant, the U.S. Department of Justice is now claiming that it will finally crack down on corporate criminals.

But observers and watchdog organizations say that a set of new guidelines, authored by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates on Wednesday, come "way too late" and do not, in themselves, constitute bold action.

"The memo amounts to a striking admission that the DOJ's policy on Wall Street corporate crime has been completely ineffective," said Robert Weissman, president of watchdog group Public Citizen, in a statement released Thursday. "The real test going forward will be if the agency can put this policy into action and enforce it aggressively." ...

New York Times reporters Matt Apuzzo and Ben Protess reported the guidelines Wednesday night as the "first major policy announcement by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch since she took office in April."

But buried within the Times article are key qualifiers. "Because the memo lays out guidelines, not laws, its effect will be determined largely by how Justice Department officials interpret it," Apuzzo and Protess wrote. "And several of the points in the memo merely codify policy that is already in place."

Seattle teacher strike: parents show support despite scheduling upheaval

Eleven kids, 25 quesadillas and two days into Seattle’s first major teacher’s strike in 30 years, David Seawell’s child-wrangling duties were done for the day Thursday night. With parents rushing to find last-minute childcare, Seawell and four other families from Hawthorne Elementary collaborated to create an ad hoc childcare collective – a creative solution for a situation that took many by surprise.

Despite the inconvenience, Seawell fully supports the teachers entering the third day of a strike that kept kids home on their first days back at school.

“The fact that 30 minutes of guaranteed recess for elementary school was a ‘sticking point’ before the strike ... it’s shameful that the district was pushing back on that,” Seawell said.

Many parents are expressing similar concerns with the district’s emphasis on over-testing and under-playing. While there have been the odd yells of “You’re paid too much already!” from a handful of passing motorists, the feedback from the community has been overwhelmingly supportive – both on and offline.

The teacher strike developed after negotiations broke down over wages and other issues. After receiving no cost of living increases in six years, teachers are balking at the district’s proposal to add another half hour of instruction time without additional pay. Many point out that educators work nights and weekends – time that remains unpaid and unaccounted for.

The district maintains that they simply do not have the money to meet the teachers’ demands.

'There's No Going Back': Why Spain and Catalonia Are on Immediate Collision Course Over Independence

Catalonia now stands on the brink of a historic election that will serve as a de-facto referendum on the Spanish region's independence. The electoral campaign begins today — somewhat fittingly on September 11, the National Day of Catalonia — and over 1 million independence supporters will gather on the streets on Barcelona.

On September 27, the region will take to the voting booths and if the separatist parties win an absolute majority many are predicting that they will begin preparation to secede unilaterally from Spain within 18 months. ...

The pro-independence faction sees the election as a unique opportunity to begin the emancipation of the Catalan people from the bullying, centralist Madrid government. Unionists see Catalan nationalism as a dangerous form of populism doomed to divide a region and cripple the economy. What both agree on, however, is that a unilateral declaration of independence would be a watershed moment in history, not only for Catalonia, but also Spain itself, Europe's fifth largest economy. ...

All this comes at a delicate moment for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who is hoping that gradual economic recovery will help his right-wing Popular Party (PP) win another term at the general election due before the end of the year.

Rajoy has taken a hardline on the Catalan question, warning voters against the "virus of disunity" and endowing Spain's Constitutional Court with further powers to neuter any unilateral attempt to secede

Venezuela opposition leader Leopoldo López jailed for nearly 14 years

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López has been sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison, further heightening tensions in the country’s already polarised political landscape.

Convicted of inciting violence in his role as the leader of a 2014 street protest movement, López was reported to be calm as judge Susana Barreiros read the sentence of 13 years, 9 months and seven days in prison.

In a closed-door trial human rights advocates decried as politically motivated and deeply flawed, the judge allowed only one of the 60 defence witnesses proposed by his lawyers, and rejected 30 proposed exhibits, according to his lawyers.

Roberta Jacobson, the United States’ assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, said on her Twitter feed she was “deeply troubled by the conviction of Leopoldo Lopez” and called on the Venezuelan government to protect democracy and human rights.

López, a 44-year-old US-educated economist who hails from a wealthy family, is the leader of the more radical wing of the Venezuelan opposition, and has advocated for the removal of the leftist government led by President Nicolás Maduro. His radicalism has won him a loyal following among some and the ire of government supporters.

‘There is no parliamentary authority for military action in Syria’ – British MP Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn set to beat 100-1 odds to become leader of UK's Labour party

A longtime peace activist and rebellious local politician is poised to radically alter British political dynamics as he looks set to be elected the Labour party’s new leader, riding a wave of popularity that threatens to split his party.

Jeremy Corbyn, a soft-spoken leftwing lawmaker, is no career politician, nor a naive idealist. The 66-year-old socialist MP for London’s Islington North has been in parliament for 32 years, during which time he has voted against his own party leadership more than 500 times and had the lowest expenses of any MP.

His backers say his leadership will finally mean a choice for voters seeking an authentic and principled politician, anti-austerity and anti-elitism. His detractors, many in his own party, say he will turn Britain’s main opposition party into a political pressure group at best, with no hope of regaining office. ...

Corbyn’s vision is for Labour to campaign for a radical upheaval of the economic system, not be a softer “Tory-lite” party which also commits to spending cuts. His economic commitments are popular with the young, he has promised to bring the railways into public ownership and abolish university tuition fees. He champions “People’s Quantitive Easing”, which would allow the Bank of England to print money for housing projects, energy, infrastructure and digital development. ...

As a fervent anti-war and pro-Palestinian activist, Corbyn has attracted the most stringent criticism for his foreign policy, with the Conservative chancellor, George Osborne, going so far as to call him a “national security threat”. He opposes the funding of Britain’s Trident nuclear missile system and has previously indicated he would favour leaving Nato, or even the European Union, though he has played down both those ideas during the campaign.

Most notable of his desire to break with the past has been his promise to apologise for Tony Blair’s decision to go to war in Iraq, should he become leader.

Jeb Bush — and Rest of GOP — Court Adviser Who’s “Not a Big Believer in Democracy”

Before Jeb! Bush unveiled his tax! plan! on Wednesday, he met in Manhattan with Stephen Moore, an economist at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Also there were Steve Forbes (whose family owned Forbes Magazine until they sold it last year to Hong Kong-based investors) and Larry Kudlow (a CNBC contributor and the worst economic prognosticator since Irving Fisher).

Moore, Forbes and Kudlow wield real power in parts of the Republican Party, and together with economist Arthur Laffer have created something called the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. ...

What’s particularly notable about this is that Moore is honestly, straightforwardly dismissive of the importance of democracy. In the 2009 movie Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore went on camera to say, “Capitalism is a lot more important than democracy. I’m not even a big believer in democracy.”

El Niño expected to hit US hard, but not enough to ease California drought

Climate officials are warning that this winter’s El Niño weather pattern is likely to be one of the strongest on record, bringing huge storms and a cold, wet winter for many – but nowhere near enough rainfall to reverse the disastrous long-term drought in the western US.

Any heavy rainfall will be welcome news for thirsty California, parched for the last four years by a historic dry period.

But people should not be fooled that the rain is the answer to long-depleted reservoirs and groundwater supplies and overuse in the bone-dry state, the scientists warned on Thursday.

Meanwhile, a forecast of El Niño bringing a dry, warm winter in the northern half of the US will not help the north-west’s chances of avoiding a repeat next summer of 2015’s deadly wildfires. However, as soon as any winter rains do arrive, the first storm brings a great risk of flash-flooding to areas of the region with a fire-blasted landscape, the experts warned.

The Climate Prediction Center of the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned that: “Strong El Niños can result in more frequent and intense storms and heavy rain and snowfall in certain parts of the country and an increase in tropical cyclones in the Pacific.”

The weather pattern already detected from El Niño that has kept the Atlantic hurricane season relatively quiet so far, however, is expected to continue to do so for the remainder of the fall, NOAA reported.

'Incredible News for Bees': Court Rejects EPA Pesticide Approval

Neonicotinoid known as sulfoxaflor may not be used in the U.S. until EPA obtains necessary scientific research

A federal appeals court on Thursday overturned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approval of a controversial pesticide, saying the agency violated federal law by giving a green light without obtaining or reviewing reliable studies on the neonicotinoid's impact on honeybees.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal's ruling (pdf) in the case, which was brought by environmental law firm Earthjustice, means that the pesticide in question—a neonicotinoid known as sulfoxaflor—may not be used in the U.S. unless the EPA re-approves it after obtaining the necessary analysis of its effects on pollinators.

Other neonicotinoids, such as clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam, have been linked to population declines among honeybees, bumblebees, and other insects, which environmental activists say threatens food security.

Trendsetting Manhattan Leads in Methane Leaks, Too

Methane is spewing from more than 1,000 natural gas leaks under Manhattan, giving it 10 times the number of leaks per mile in its aging natural gas pipelines as cities with more up-to-date infrastructure, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

Methane is the second-largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide, making the reduction of methane emissions a high priority in fighting climate change.

While methane emissions are significantly smaller than those of CO2, methane is much more potent as a greenhouse gas, trapping 86 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and 34 times more over 100 years.

In the study, researchers measured concentrations of methane on the streets of New York, which has a high concentration of decades-old cast iron and steel pipes beneath its streets. They compared the findings with measurements in Durham, N.C., and Cincinnati, which recently replaced their aging pipelines.

"What was surprising was how well [pipeline replacement] programs worked," said lead author Robert Jackson of Stanford University. "They reduced leaks to very low densities." ....

Replacing the pipes, some of which have been in use for more than 100 years, also improves air quality and reduces the risk of explosion. One such explosion killed eight people and destroyed an apartment building in East Harlem in 2014.

Also of Interest

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

Spy Chief James Clapper Compares U.S. ‘Intelligence Community’ to Spider-Man

How Hungary's Prime Minister Turned From Young Liberal Into Refugee-Bashing Autocrat

New Pluto images confirm it as a world of mysteries

'There have to be limits': mixed feelings from Germans over refugees

The stories Americans tell about 9/11 leave out discrimination against Muslims

Want to Know What’s Really Going on in Syria? Warning: It’ll Take You More Than 5 Minutes

A Little Night Music

Otis Rush and Eric Clapton - Double Trouble

Otis Rush - Three Times a Fool

Otis Rush - Homework

Otis Rush - Hold That Train

Otis Rush - Natural Ball

Otis Rush - My Own Fault

Otis Rush - As The Years Go Passing By

Otis Rush - All Your Love I Miss Loving

Otis Rush feat. Eric Clapton & Luther Allison - Every Day I Have The Blues

Otis Rush - My Love Will Never Die

Otis Rush - It Takes Time

Otis Rush - Whole Lotta Lovin'

Otis Rush - Tore Up

John Mayall ft Otis Rush - So Many Roads

Otis Rush and Friends at Montreux 1986