The Evening Blues - 9-14-15
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features Chicago blues singer Jimmy Lee Robinson, also known as Lonesome Jimmy Lee. Enjoy!
Jimmie Lee Robinson - Boss Man
"You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before."-- Rahm Emanuel
News and Opinion
The Intercept has the best commentary on the anniversary 9/11 that I've seen:
9/11: An “Enormous Opportunity”
“Through my tears I see opportunity.”
— George W. Bush, September 20, 2001
“If the collapse of the Soviet Union and 9/11 bookend a major shift in international politics, then this is a period not just of grave danger, but of enormous opportunity. Before the clay is dry again, America and our friends and our allies must move decisively to take advantage of these new opportunities.”
Condoleezza Rice, April 29, 2002
“Israeli officials view last week’s terrorist attacks … as reinforcing their argument that Israel and the West are battling a single enemy. Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting with ministry staff in the aftermath of the Kenya attacks, said that the incidents had presented Israel with a ‘golden opportunity’ to strengthen its strategic ties with the United States and other Western countries.”
— The Forward, December 6, 2002
“Targeting America in Iraq in terms of economy and losses in life is a golden and unique opportunity. Do not waste it only to regret it later.”
— Osama bin Laden, December, 2004
For normal people, terrorism and wars are purely and only tragedies.
For our would-be “leaders,” however — in every country — the situation is different. Of course, they pretend to feel the same as normal people. They give teary-eyed speeches about sorrow and suffering.
And yet, behind their tears, there seems to be something else. When they think no one is looking, you glimpse another expression flitting across their face. You think it couldn’t be. But — yes, incredibly enough, they’re smiling. Because before the bodies are cold, before the mothers and fathers have stopped shrieking, our leaders are thinking:
This is really a fantastic opportunity.
The government is skirting the Geneva Conventions and other international human rights standards by refusing to immediatedly release Tariq Ba Odah, a Yemeni Guantanamo detainee suffering from severe malnutrition and deterioration following an eight-year hunger strike, the Center for Constitutional Rights argued in a legal brief filed on Friday. ...
Ba Odah’s petition to be released due to his failing and irreversible health condition revolves around two statutes: Article 110 of the Third Geneva Convention, and Section 3-12 of Army Regulations 190-8. The Geneva Convention mandates that prisoners of war be repatriated to their own country if their physical or mental condition is “gravely diminished” and is not likely to recover in one year. The Army regulations clause controls the repatriation of sick or wounded enemy prisoners of war, requiring a neutral doctor and direct repatriation in cases of serious injury or illness.
In a memorandum in August, the government argued that the Army regulations do not apply, because Ba Odah is not a prisoner of war, and because his failing health is self-inflicted. But it did not address whether Ba Odah should qualify for medical repatriation under the Geneva Conventions, arguing instead that the court has no power to decide whether or not it does apply.
Obama seems to have forgotten who the boss of the Defense Secretary is again. Or perhaps there has been a coup and the public has not been notified yet.
White House Blames Defense Secretary for Not Closing Gitmo
After taking office in 2009, President Obama promised to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center within the year. Six-plus years later, the facility is no closer to being closed, and the White House is looking for a new scapegoat. Right now, that seems to be Defense Secretary Ash Carter.
Officials say that Carter’s predecessor Chuck Hagel was ousted in no small part because he wasn’t doing much to close the site, and Carter was selected because they figured he was more supportive of the plan. Yet the White House is complaining Carter is even slower in releasing people cleared for release, noting Hagel released 44 in two years, and Carter has only released six overall.
Two Short Paragraphs that Summarize the US Approach to Human Rights Advocacy
In his excellent article on the unique guilt-by-association standard being imposed on newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, my colleague Jon Schwarz references a passage from a 2013 Washington Post article that I want to highlight because of how illuminating it is. That Post article describes the Obama administration’s growing alliance with human-rights-abusing regimes in Africa, which allow the U.S. to expand its drone operations there, and contains this unusually blunt admission from a “senior U.S. official” (emphasis added):
Human-rights groups have also accused the U.S. government of holding its tongue about political repression in Ethiopia, another key security partner in East Africa.
“The countries that cooperate with us get at least a free pass,” acknowledged a senior U.S. official who specializes in Africa but spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid retribution. “Whereas other countries that don’t cooperate, we ream them as best we can.” ...
This is not remotely new, of course, nor should it be even slightly surprising for people who pay minimal attention to the role of the U.S. Government in the world. But this nonetheless highlights what baffles me most about U.S. political discourse: how – whenever it’s time to introduce the next “humanitarian war” or other forms of attack against the latest Evil Dictator or Terrorist Group of the Moment – so many otherwise intelligent and well-reasoning people are willing to believe that the U.S. Government is motivated by opposition to human rights abuses and oppression.
Support for human rights abuses and tyranny – not opposition to it – is a staple of U.S. foreign policy. Standing alone: how can anyone believe that the same government that lavishes the Saudi regime with arms, surveillance capabilities and intelligence is waging war or using other forms of violence in order to stop human rights abuses?
Okinawa governor to block construction of new US airbase
The governor of the Japanese island of Okinawa is poised to halt work on a US airbase, in a move that is expected to irritate Washington and frustrate Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, as his government seeks to pass deeply unpopular security bills this week.
Takeshi Onaga, who was elected as governor last year vowing to prevent construction of an offshore US marine base in the remote Henoko district on Okinawa’s east coast, said he would revoke permits to conduct landfill work.
“This is a first step towards preventing this from being built,” he told reporters two days after the central government resumed reclamation work in Henoko’s pristine waters. Protesters in kayaks had previously clashed with the coastguard in the area. ...
The new base is supposed to replace another marine base, Futenma, which Tokyo and Washington agreed to close in the mid-1990s amid rising local opposition to the US military presence on the island.
Airstrikes Take Toll on Civilians in Yemen War
Of the many perils Yemen’s civilians have faced during the last six months of war, with starvation looming and their cities crumbling under heavy weapons, none have been as deadly as the coalition airstrikes. What began as a Saudi-led aerial campaign against the Houthis, the rebel militia movement that forced Yemen’s government from power, has become so broad and vicious that critics accuse the coalition of collectively punishing people living in areas under Houthi control. ... More than a thousand civilians are believed to have died in the strikes, the toll rising steadily with little international notice or outrage.
Rather than turning more Yemenis against the Houthis, though, the strikes are crystallizing anger in parts of the country against Saudi Arabia and its partners, including the United States. The Obama administration has provided military intelligence and logistical assistance to the coalition, and American weapons have been widely used in the air campaign. Human Rights Watch has found American-manufactured cluster munitions in the fields of Yemeni farmers. Near the site of airstrikes that killed 11 people in a mosque, researchers with Amnesty International saw an unexploded, 1,000-pound American bomb. The United States is finalizing a deal to provide more weapons to Saudi Arabia, including missiles for its F-15 fighter jets.
More than 4,500 people have been killed in the war. Hundreds have died in street battles between the Houthis and their rivals for control of Yemen’s most important cities, like Taiz and Aden, where residents have accused the Houthis in particular of resorting to brutal force. The ground war and harsh Saudi restrictions on imports have deepened humanitarian suffering in Yemen, causing shortages of fuel, water and medical supplies while inflating prices of food and other goods.
The majority of civilians have been killed by coalition warplanes, often dropping American munitions ranging from 250 to 2,000 pounds. There are no comprehensive tallies of the deaths. But the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner said on Friday that of 1,527 civilians who died between the start of the Saudi offensive and June 30, at least 941 people were killed by airstrikes.
Curfews, Commandos, and a Car Bomb: Nine Dead as Fighting Escalates in Turkey
Kurdish militants killed two police officers in a car bomb attack on a checkpoint in southeastern Turkey on Sunday, as authorities imposed a curfew in the region's largest city Diyarbakir where clashes broke out, security sources told Reuters.
Turkish forces backed up by helicopters and commandos shelled a mountainous area where the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters had fled after the checkpoint attack in Sirnak province, killing six of them, the sources added.
Another police officer was reported killed in separate confrontation.
Hundreds of militants and more than 100 police and soldiers have died since a ceasefire collapsed in July, shattering a peace process launched in 2012. It is the worst violence Turkey has seen in two decades.
The Diyarbakir governor's office said it had placed the central historic Sur district under a round-the-clock curfew. Security sources said seven police officers were wounded in clashes there.
In other central areas of the city, police fired tear gas and a water cannon at small groups of youths who threw stones and tried to set up street barricades in protest against the curfew.
Iraq Backs Turkey’s PKK War, But Wants Coordination
In comments made at the Arab League,Iraqi central government spokesman Ibrahim al-Jaafari endorsed the Turkish war against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), saying Turkey had every right to “self-defense” against the Kurdish secessionist faction.
Jaafari, who made the comments Saturday, went on to say that Turkey needs to coordinate its attacks in northern Iraq with the Iraqi government. He confirmed that Turkey has offered no coordination so far, including last week when Turkish ground troops invaded northern Iraq outright. ...
The more serious reaction is liable to come from the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has been condemning the Turkish offensive loudly, noting that it is their towns that are being hit in Turkish airstrikes, and probably won’t take kindly to Jaafari’s apparent support for the concept for Turkish attacks.
‘Period of tolerance for illegal migrants ends’ – top Hungarian politician
Refugee crisis: EU governments set to back new internment measures
EU governments are expected to back radical new plans for the internment of “irregular migrants”, the creation of large new refugee camps in Italy and Greece and longer-term aims for the funding and building of refugee camps outside the EU to try to stop people coming to Europe.
A crunch meeting of EU interior ministers in Brussels, called to grapple with Europe’s largest refugee crisis since the second world war, was also expected to water down demands from the European commission, strongly supported by Germany, for the obligatory sharing of refugees across at least 22 countries.
The draft statement, obtained by the Guardian, said “reception facilities will be organised so as to temporarily accommodate people” in Greece and Italy while they are identified, registered, and finger-printed. Their asylum claims are to be processed quickly and those who fail are to be deported promptly, the ministers say in the draft statement.
“It is crucial that robust mechanisms become operational immediately in Italy and Greece to ensure identification, registration and fingerprinting of migrants; to identify persons in need of international protection and support their relocation; and to identify irregular migrants to be returned.”
The Europeans are to set up “rapid border intervention teams” to be deployed at “sensitive external borders”. Failed asylum seekers who are expected to try to move to another EU country from Greece or Italy can be interned, the statement says.
“When voluntary return is not practicable and other measures on return are inadequate to prevent secondary movements, detention measures ... should be applied.”
Germany Enacts Border Controls After Overwhelming Influx of Migrants and Refugees
The German government announced on Sunday that it would implement temporary border checks after being overwhelmed by the waves of migrants and refugees entering the country.
Berlin announced that the measures would be taken first on the southern frontier with Austria, where migrant and refugee arrivals have soared since Chancellor Angela Merkel effectively opened Germany's borders a week ago.
"The aim of these measures is to limit the current inflows to Germany and to return to orderly procedures when people enter the country," said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, adding the move was also necessary for security reasons.
Tens of thousands of migrants and refugees have entered Germany in recent weeks after making arduous journeys through multiple countries or across the Mediterranean. Germany said it has taken in at least 50,000 migrants and refugees in the last week alone.
Berlin instituted the border control measures — allowed under Europe's Schengen treaty as long as they remain temporary — a day before EU interior ministers are scheduled to hold an emergency meeting to discuss spreading asylum seekers around the 28-nation bloc.
A European Commission proposal that calls for each country to accept refugees under a system of compulsory quotas is meeting strong resistance from some countries, especially in central Europe. Slovakia said on Sunday it would try to block the plan.
Police shop for military-style weapons amid protests at Urban Shield Expo
The expo and conference, which started on Friday – the 14th anniversary of 9/11 – at the Alameda County Fairgrounds and runs for four days, has also become well known for extensive Swat team trainings.
Organizers say that Urban Shield is the largest tactical exercise in the world and brings together more than 50 local, national and international law enforcement agencies. Hands-on trainings in fire, bomb squad, emergency medical services, and anti-terrorism scenarios are planned for 58 sites in five northern California counties.
Most Bay Area law enforcement agencies are attending Urban Shield along with some from other states including Texas and Florida. This year a team from South Korea is taking part in the exercises, and teams from 10 countries including Jordan, Uruguay, Colombia, Thailand and China are observing the trainings.
In previous years, Urban Shield was held in Oakland but after a series of protests and continued lobbying by activists, the expo was moved to Pleasanton, a city about 30 miles east of Oakland. Mohamed Shehk, spokesperson for the Stop Urban Shield Coalition, a group of 15 Bay Area and national organizations working to pressure the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to stop holding the Urban Shield Expo and Conference, says the goal for the coalition is to stop Urban Shield altogether.
EU states hollow out NY Fed: Lowest gold reserves in decades remain
New generation of United Auto Workers push to end second-tier union status
Thirty-one-year-old Jennifer Sanders is proud to be a fifth-generation member of the United Auto Workers, but like many millennials, she is frustrated that hers is the first generation to take some major steps backward on pay and benefits compared with those who went before.
After three and a half years working at the General Motors assembly plant in Orion Township, a Detroit suburb, Sanders makes $17.53 an hour as part of a lower, second tier of auto workers. In contrast, workers in the top tier – those hired before 2007 – generally earn $28 an hour, two-thirds more than Sanders and enough for a solid middle-class life.
Thousands of second-tier workers at GM, Ford and Chrysler are stewing about their lower pay, with many pressing to have the bottom tier eliminated in this year’s negotiations with the Detroit automakers. The UAW agreed to create the lower tier in the 2007 contract talks when the automakers were struggling and pushing hard to cut costs (GM and Chrysler, now owned by Fiat, filed for bankruptcy in 2009).
The Detroit negotiations are focusing on one of the biggest worries for many young Americans – whether their generation is falling behind their parents’ generation and whether they can somehow catch up. Sanders’ father recently retired from GM after making a comfortable living in that top tier.
“I understand why the two-tier system was set up,” said Sanders, the divorced mother of a seven-year-old girl. “It was necessary back then, but I very much feel that it’s not a necessity anymore. The auto industry has bounced back. They’re making good money.”
Dennis Williams, the UAW’s president, has said repeatedly that one of the union’s main negotiating goals is to “bridge the gap” between the bottom and top tiers. The UAW’s contract covers 140,000 hourly auto workers and expires on 14 September.
“Two-tier is the biggest issue in these talks,” said Arthur Schwartz, a former labor relations executive at GM and president of Labor and Economics Associates, a consulting firm. “But getting rid of it won’t be easy.”
Dave Dayen has an interesting piece up, the details of which are intriguing in terms of the banksters getting some payback, here's a taste to get you started:
Officials Cover Up Housing Bubble's Scummy Residue: Fraudulent Foreclosure Documents
Every day in America, mortgage companies attempt to foreclose on homeowners using false documents. ...
When the bubble burst, lenders foreclosing on properties needed paperwork to prove their standing, but didn’t have it — leading mortgage industry employees to forge, fabricate and backdate millions of mortgage documents. This foreclosure fraud scandal was exposed in 2010, and acquired a name: “robo-signing.”
But while some of the offenders paid fines over the past few years, nobody cleaned up the documents. This rot still exists inside the property records system all over the country, and those in a position of authority appear determined to pretend it doesn’t exist.
In two separate cases, activists have charged that officials and courts are hiding evidence of mortgage document irregularities that, if verified, could stop thousands of foreclosures in their tracks. Officials have delayed disclosure of this evidence, the activists believe, because it would be too messy, and it’s easier to bottle up the evidence than deal with the repercussions.
“All they’re doing is making a mockery of our judicial system,” said Bill Paatalo, a private investigator and one of the activists.
Conservative Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott Ousted by His Own Party
Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott Is Overthrown by His Own Party
Australia will get its fifth prime minister in eight years after the ruling Liberal Party on Monday voted out Tony Abbott in favor of longtime rival Malcolm Turnbull following months of speculation and crumbling support from voters.
Turnbull, a multi-millionaire former banker and tech entrepreneur, won a secret party room vote by 54 to 44, Liberal Party whip Scott Buchholz told reporters after the meeting in Canberra.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was elected deputy leader of the party which, with junior coalition partner the National Party, won a landslide election in 2013.
Since then, the popularity of the government and Abbott in particular has suffered from a series of perceived policy missteps, destabilizing infighting and leaks.
The opposition Labor Party has consistently led opinion polls, while Turnbull has been consistently viewed as preferred prime minister.
In Upset, Socialist Jeremy Corbyn Elected as U.K. Labour Leader on Antiwar, Pro-Refugee Platform
Chris Hedges: Where Is Our Jeremy Corbyn?
The politics of Jeremy Corbyn, elected by a landslide Saturday to lead Britain’s Labour Party after its defeat at the polls last May, are part of the global revolt against corporate tyranny. He had spent his long career as a pariah within his country’s political establishment. But because he held fast to the socialist ideals that defined the old Labour Party, he has risen untarnished out of the ash heap of neoliberalism. His integrity, as well as his fearlessness, offers a lesson to America’s self-identified left, which is long on rhetoric, preoccupied with accommodating the power elites—especially those in the Democratic Party—and very short on courage.
I will not support a politician who sells out the Palestinians and panders to the Israel lobby any more than I will support a politician who refuses to confront the bloated military and arms industry or white supremacy and racial injustice. The Palestinian issue is not a tangential issue. It is an integral part of Americans’ efforts to dismantle our war machine, the neoliberal policies that see austerity and violence as the primary language for speaking to the rest of the world, and the corroding influence of money in the U.S. political system. Stand up to the masters of war and the Israel lobby and you will probably stand up to every other corporate and neoliberal force that is cannibalizing the United States. This is what leadership is about. It is about having a vision. And it is about fighting for that vision.
Corbyn, who supports negotiations with Hamas and Hezbollah and once invited members from those organizations to visit Parliament, has called for Israel’s leaders to be put on trial for war crimes against the Palestinians. He has expressed support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel and the call for an arms embargo against that nation. He would scrap Britain’s Prevention of Terrorism Act, which, like the Patriot Act in the United States, has been used to target and harass Muslims. He wants the United Kingdom to withdraw from NATO. He cannot conceive of any situation, he has said, that would necessitate sending British troops abroad. He was a vocal opponent of the invasion and occupation of Iraq and a founder of the Stop the War Coalition. He denounced the United States for what he called its “assassination” of Osama bin Laden, saying the al-Qaida leader should have been captured and put on trial, and he assailed the British government for using militarized drones to kill two British jihadists in Syria in August. He advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament and has urged the elimination of Trident, his country’s nuclear weapons system. He opposes any British military intervention in Syria and wants to put pressure on “our supposed allies in the region”—read Saudi Arabia—that support Islamic State. He has called for talks with the leaders of warring factions in Iraq and Afghanistan to end the conflicts.
“There is no solution to the killing and abuse of human rights [in the Middle East] that involves yet more Western military action,” Corbyn has written. “Ultimately there has to be a political solution in the region which bombing by NATO forces cannot bring about. The drama of the killings and advances by ISIS in the past few weeks is yet another result of the Bush-Blair war on terror since 2001. The victims of these wars are the refugees and those driven from their homes and the thousands of unknown civilians who have died and will continue to die in the region. The ‘winners’ are inevitably the arms manufacturers and those who gain from the natural resources of the region.”
And that is just his foreign policy. [More at the link. - js]
Bernie Sanders under pressure to define stance on US response to refugee crisis
The race for the White House has been roiled by renewed ructions over the Syrian refugee crisis, as leading US presidential candidates continue to avoid making any clear commitments on how they would respond to the emergency.
The focus has now fallen on the Democratic party, and in particular Bernie Sanders. The leftwing independent senator from Vermont, who has shot to prime place in recent polls in the early voting states, is facing pressure to clarify what he would do, were he in charge of US foreign policy, to help deal with the large numbers of people fleeing Syria for Europe.
On Sunday, Sanders was asked directly how many refugees he would allow into the US were he president. He gave a non-committal reply.
“It’s impossible to give a proper number until we understand the dimensions of the problem,” he told NBC.
He added: “The world has got to respond, and the United States should be part of that response.”
Sanders also said he did not think the US should use military force to respond to the situation in Syria.
Fringe No More: Sanders Takes Major Lead in Key Battleground States
'Fringe candidate' no more, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders leads former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton among likely Democratic presidential primary voters in the battleground states of Iowa and New Hampshire, according to new polling released on Sunday.
The new CBS/YouGov poll finds U.S. Sen. Sanders (Vt.) with 52 percent support among Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire, while former frontrunner Clinton receives 30 percent.
"Possibly more worrying for the Clinton campaign is her performance in Iowa," writes YouGov US and UK assistant editor William Jordan—in that key caucus state, Sanders is now ahead by 10 points, with 43 percent to Clinton's 33 percent.
CBS News further notes that "[o]ne major difference right now is enthusiasm: Sanders is generating it and Clinton is not. Seventy-eight percent of Sanders voters in New Hampshire, and 63 percent of his voters in Iowa, say they enthusiastically support him, while just 39 percent of Clinton's backers in New Hampshire and 49 percent in Iowa say they enthusiastically support her."
Why Sanders & Trump Are More Alike Than You Think
The Evening Greens
'Off/On': Climate Leaders Present Next Bold Phase for Global Action
Nearly 2,000 people attended an evening event in Brooklyn, New York on Thursday night (with thousands more joining online) in order to hear 350.org explain the strategy and thinking behind the next phase of the group's ongoing international climate campaign, including a series of actions leading up to the UN climate summit in Paris later this year — as well as a bold vision that goes well beyond.
Under the banner "Off & On"—shorthand for the idea that the climate movement intends to "turn off" the fossil fuel industry while "turning on" the 100% renewable energy economy—the live-streamed event featured prominent 350 leaders—including board member Naomi Klein, co-founder Bill McKibben, and executive director May Boeve—alongside other key allies from the international climate movement, some of whom appeared on stage and others who spoke to the audience remotely.
Described as "part science lecture, part concert, part political rally," the event was a kind of singular follow-up to the group's 2012 'Do The Math' tour which helped popularize the idea that a large majority of the world's known fossil fuel reserves must remain in the ground if humanity hopes to avoid the very worst impacts of planetary warming and climate change.
California wildfires destroy hundreds of homes as residents flee
Hundreds of homes have been destroyed in two of California’s fastest-burning wildfires in decades.
The fires overtook several northern California towns, sending residents fleeing on Sunday on highways lined with burning buildings and cars.
As well as homes, hundreds of other structures were destroyed by the wildfire in Lake County that raced through dry brush and exploded in size within hours, officials said. The Sherif’s department was also investigating reports of a death.
Over 1,000 firefighters battled the blaze, which had grown to 50,000 acres (78 square miles).
By Sunday night, more than 19,000 people had been evacuated from the area. The devastation comes after a separate wildfire to the south-east destroyed at least 81 homes.
Hawaii to experience worst-ever coral bleaching due to high ocean temperatures
Warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures around Hawaii this year will likely lead to the worst coral bleaching the islands have ever seen, scientists said.
Many corals are only just recovering from last year’s bleaching, which occurs when warm waters prompt coral to expel the algae they rely on for food, said Ruth Gates, the director of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. The phenomenon is called bleaching because coral lose their color when they push out algae.
The island chain experienced a mass bleaching event in 1996, and another one last year. This year, ocean temperatures around Hawaii are about 3F to 6F warmer than normal, said Chris Brenchley, meteorologist for the US National Weather Service (NWS) in Honolulu.
Bleaching makes coral more susceptible to disease and increases the risk they will die. This is a troubling for fish and other species that spawn and live in coral reefs. It is also a concern for Hawaii’s tourism-dependent economy.
Gates compared dead coral reef to a city reduced to rubble.
“You go from a vibrant, three-dimensional structure teeming with life, teeming with color, to a flat pavement that’s covered with brown or green algae,” said Gates. “That is a really doom-and-gloom outcome but that is the reality that we face with extremely severe bleaching events.”
'When You Drill, You Spill': Hundreds of East Coast Businesses Tell Obama to Ditch Offshore Plans
"When you drill, you spill."
That's what owners of hundreds of small businesses along the U.S. Atlantic coast have written in a letter to President Barack Obama, urging him to ditch any plans for offshore drilling in the region.
The letter (pdf), sent Thursday and organized by Environment America, states, "Our coasts are worth too much to risk."
There isn't offshore drilling there at the moment, but the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced in January a draft proposal to hand out oil and gas drilling leases for 2017-2022 in areas in the Mid- and South-Atlantic "[a]s part of President Obama's all-of-the-above energy strategy."
The over 300 signatories caution against the proposal, saying potential short term gains are dwarfed by the immense potential costs to the region's tourism and fishing industries. One needs to "[l]ook no further than the devastation the BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe brought to the Gulf of Mexico’s fishing, tourism and wildlife to recognize the impact drilling would have here on the Atlantic Coast," they write.
The letter concludes, "Rather than exposing our beaches, families and businesses to the inherent risks of drilling, we need to move this country in the direction of renewable energy. Thus [we] are calling on you to halt plans to drill off the Atlantic coast."
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
The government’s baffling brief in Ba Odah
New Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn Faces Special Guilt-by-Association Standar
Somalis in Minnesota question counter-extremism program targeted at Muslims
Would a Return to Conscription Substantially Reduce the Probability of War?
Britain's drone strike in Syria: These executions are a mark of tyranny
Evidence Keeps Piling Up: Unions Are Very, Very, Very Good for Workers
What the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know About Fracking
Breaking With Austerity Europe
A Little Night Music
Jimmie Lee Robinson - Lonely Traveling
Jimmie Lee Robinson - All My Life
Jimmie Lee Robinson - Rosalie
Jimmie Lee Robinson - Forty Days and Forty Nights
Jimmie Lee Robinson - Times is Hard
Jimmie Lee Robinson - I'll Be Coming Home
Jimmie Lee Robinson - Angry Lover
Jimmy Lee Robinson - Twist It Baby
Jimmy Lee Robinson - Twist It Baby
Jimmie Lee Robinson - See See Baby
Jimmie Lee Robinson
Jimmie Lee Robinson - for Maxwell street
Jimmie Lee Robinson and Sterling Plumpp on Maxwell street
Lonesome Lee - Cry Over Me
Comments
Obama's Legacy: It isn't peace
link
i predict that history will not be kind to president peace prize
he probably ought to cover his presidential library in teflon.
His legacy isn't good on climate change either
And the predictions are that he has no place to stand at the Paris Climate Conference in December.
Talking climate while giving away drilling permits just cancels itself out.
To thine own self be true.
Yeah,
That was the topping on a very poor environmental legacy. All of the above does not work. It is very sad that he had so many opportunities to be a great President and he wasted them all. And in the process, he did so much damage to our future.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
The other Kurdish conflict
this is awkward Two allies against ISIS
The Great Moldovan Bank Robbery
Moldova is a very small country
Sounds like some bankers need to hang before someone can find the money.
hmmm... was it the vampire squid or hsbc?
some bank somewhere is sporting a spare billion on its books. on the other hand, numbers that large are generally only ones and zeroes - not real, tangible assets. that missing billion dollars could simply be restored by an entry on a central bank's ledger while they poke around looking for the bankster with the unaccounted for large entry.
Good "evening", Joe. Your lead item reminds me
of hearing Bush say that this ws an opportunity to go straighten out the middle east (words to that effect) very early after 9/11. One of these days I have to find that for reference. Thanks for the reminder.
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 --
heh, it's afternoon here, el...
hope you're having a good one. bush's crass opportunism reminds me of how far war criminal henry kissinger's influence on american foreign policy has extended.
Hey Joe, thank you. I'm on my way to the mainland
but taking my computer with me. I'll be reading this on the ferry.
In the meantime, we got Max shilling for a pet salon:
He's the unkempt one.
To thine own self be true.
evening marilyn...
good to see that max has found gainful employment. B)
have a great evening!
Is Max a Westie?
We've been watching an old UK TV series called Hamish Mc Beth we took out from the library. It was filmed in a small town the Scottish Highlands. One of the characters is a Westie named Wee Jock. I noticed that even the cattle which wander around in the town and countryside are shaggy with bangs and look a larger version of a Westie. The Scottish Highlands are wild and beautiful and I love the beasties and the landscapes.
Your early Evening Merseybeat - Earl Royce and the Olympics
a somewhat fatalistic philosophy
good stuff...
though when i think of the olympics, i think of these guys...
absolutely! And that's my favorite!
I love that song! Hully Gully, Dance By the Light of the Silvery Moon...great stuff.
On a related note, I saw a photo of four young white boys just this morning. They've got some rock group called "Flamingos". Shaharazade and I were talking about this yesterday. I can understand people who are unaware of the old groups re-using the name. To them it's a new name. I think there's a group around called the Zombies that has nothing to do with the real group! You'd think Earl Royce would have chosen something else for his boys because he must have known these Olympics.
So anyway, shaz and I were walking along the street when we saw, on a telephone pole, one of many posters for upcoming shows. It's for some Hawaiian hippie named Mike Love. Can you believe that?!? Mike Love! I thought "what's to stop myself from calling myself "Bob Dylan"? I could say "Bob Dylan in Concert!" and then act confused when the crowd got angry. But maybe that's the guy's name. As shaz said, "maybe the other one should change his name".
maybe
all these thieves you mention should get together and call themselves Bob Love and the Zombie Flamingos.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvzNeh4Mq1o]
Maybe "the penguins, moonglows, orioles and five satins, LLC"
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 --
heh, with all of the groups out there...
that have only a tenuous relationship to the original groups, like the bands that have one or fewer original members but still use a name like the coasters or the drifters, why couldn't you bill yourself as bob zimmerman if that's your real name? B)
even the Drifters when they were the Drifters werent...
the Drifters.
There was the Clyde McPhatter/Bill Pinkney group ("Money Honey", "White Christmas" and others)...
but the name was owned by a guy named George Treadwell so when Clyde left and the others wanted more pay...well, suddenly there was a new group replacing them! This is the group with Ben E. King
Ben E. wanted a raise, Treadwell said no, so Ben E. went solo and the group turned into the later version, with Johnny Moore on lead vocal
so which is the real Drifters? All of them? Wikipedia lists a total of 31 members!
back
in the punk days, when all the boys and girls wanted band-names that were deliberately offensive, a friend once challenged me to come up with a name so outre he wouldn't use it. I suggested Officer Down Syndrome. He quickly concluded that no, he would not play under that name. He was afeared he and his bandmates would end up in the morgue or the pokey.
I remembered this because he would occasionally play solo acoustic gigs as Robert Zimmerman. Just . . . Because.
Here's my favorite
Olympics song. As a kid in LA I went to sleep listening to pirate radio on my transistor. My favorite show was all doo-wop's with a disc jockey called Huggy Boy.
I've been thinking these past
I've been thinking these past couple of days about the times and ways I have been what one could label, a 'purist'. In the arena of politics I will probably always vote for the 'green party', which fortunately I have the choice of, and is a viable party in NZ (usually occupying 10-11% of the seats in parliament). But what occupied my attention more, in thinking about myself as a 'purist' or not, had to do with the nature of my photography over time. When I started my MFA, I only worked in the landscape, and only in b&w, with larger format cameras. I was gently pushed during my study to pick up a digital camera, which I did reluctantly. I started photographing everything other than landscapes and all in color with a point and shoot. It turned out to be a very formative experience in accepting, both the inevitability of change and the openness to other, formerly unacceptable possibilities.
So somehow, even though my natural inclination has generally always been to include the whole spectrum of life and possibilities, I was still somehow intellectually/academically convinced that it had to be a certain way, until I realized differently; and somehow it also increased my sense of 'happiness'. I just wanted to say that here and now, and also how you and everyone here have contributed to that learning. Thank you Johnny for providing such an open and inclusive venue.
Whatever you shoot with Janis, the images are magical
and mysterious. This comes from you, I don't think it is something that can be taught so easily.
To thine own self be true.
Thank you for that, Marilyn
It means a lot to me, coming from you, whose work and artistic vision is highly refined.
[video:http://youtu.be/px1AWRFSeKQ]
Beautiful!
This has to be one of my all time favorite comments here. You did not even need that many words to capture the essence of how we all should view life and everything around us.
It is strange how I identified with this part which made me read it all.
Many, many years ago, when I was just a very young student in the art department and we were required to take a photography class. We worked in black and white, mostly because it was far cheaper, but also because we were required to follow the entire process through from the shooting to the developing and finally the printing. I still love the black and white format because it strips everything down. But over the years, particularly after becoming friends with photographers who work in color, I realized that there is no purist way. The goal is more important and it os to create beautiful art.
Your analogy works beautifully in the context of our discussions here. Thank you so much for this comment.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Working from the foundation up
in a process is something that I know you appreciate. Thank you for your beautiful comment to me.
evening janis...
it's always good to be flexible and follow your curiosity. i really enjoy the way that you approach color in the photos that you've posted over time.
i do deeply envy your ability to vote for greens and have them actually represent you. i've voted for greens for years here to little avail.
and yeah, jtc has done a wonderful thing here, giving the homeless a home.
You started it ...
... my interest in responding in a more (even if somewhat naive) political manner, and with photography. Thank you.
heh...
i'm not sure what i did, but i'm glad i did it.
You're welcome Janis...
my pleasure.
Johnny Cakes
Always,
Janis
Heh...
haven't been called Johnny Cakes for a while.
some more on Turkey
I get my news from todayszaman
49ers fight for rule of law in Turkey
The subtitle in bold is
the first part of the article describes what has been reported before
Another article is how Erdogan is ruining the AKP party. As elected president, by law, he is in a non political office. But he runs the party and places hacks in positions of power.
Another article about an attack on a Kurdish area. They held it out of bounds and lied about how many had been killed. The first paragraph describes the history of the region and why this kind of a move is stupid. It seems that few have learned the lessons of guerrilla war - that includes the US.
Who did the state fight against in Cizre?
the third article describes a state inspired, press supported and people participated in making Greeks "the other" killing, destroying their shops, etc. That happened in 1955. Something happened again this year. The article is a story about what happened before. It doesn't draw conclusion, but it is obvious that this is one of the strategies Erdogan is deploying against the Kurds.
Sincerity in hatred: September 1955-September 2015
evening don...
thanks for the stories from turkey. have they started the countdown clock to a genocide yet?
i guess it was a natural for obama to want to work closely with erdogan, war-criminal birds of a feather hanging together. grrrr...
...
[video:https://youtu.be/O-tpiTYeNyc]
Hey Joe, Hey Bluesters
Haven't been around much because it's down to the wire for Joe Hill and I'm buried in books and newspaper articles trying to get ready for November.
But did want to drop by and say Hi anyway at the new home of the Evening Blues.
Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.-Lucy Parsons
evening jr...
great to see you! i hope the writing goes well.
Hey, JR. Haven't seen you in a while. Hope that you,
and Max and Rusty had a wonderful August vacation. Give them a big head rub from Auntie Mollie, okay?
Seriously, good to see you back!
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Will do Mollie
Me and the boys had a great time with the family in MN, thx
Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.-Lucy Parsons
Good evening
My Lake County has taken a terrible beating from the fires this year. First the Rocky fire, then the Jerusalem fire and now this Valley fire which is the worst. So many houses have been burned — more than 400 at last official count. They're saying it will probably go past 1,000 after they've been able to count them all.
The fire came down from the mountains and overran this little Middletown. It went through so fast, there would be a house burned down, and then next door the house would be untouched. I used to live there, in a neighborhood outside of town and up on the mountain a bit called Anderson Springs. The person who made the video below shot it after the fire had swept over the area. He left Anderson Springs and went to the highway to go to Middletown.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lVPB3HI9Wg width:500 height:281]
This is hearbreaking, Crider
Sure do hope you are staying safe.
Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.-Lucy Parsons
I'm in the north by the lake
So we haven't had any fires so far. The cabin I lived in when I was in Anderson Springs has burned down, according to the rumor. Actually, most of Anderson Springs burned. It started life as a hot spring resort in the 1920s. THere were quite a few older houses still being used when I was there.
Ditto! Sending positive karma your way, Crider. My
cell phone "news service" has had numerous articles this past week about fire fighters deaths and/or injuries, not to mention the havoc and tragedy these fires have rendered for the public at large.
Take care of yourself, and your Family!
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
yikes crider!
i'm sorry to hear that your area is getting the short end of the climate stick. i hope that you and yours are away from danger and remain so.
Thanks, Joe!
Definitely we got the short end of the climate stick!
I'm so sorry, Crider and Californians
for your world burning up.
Best to you Crider during these terrible times
It's hard to imagine the horror of living through something like this. I hope it pours rain very soon.
To thine own self be true.
Greetings Joe, and Bluesters! Hey, it's nice to say
that again!
Greatly enjoyed the video of Amy and Tariq. I hope that the Brits have a good outcome as a result of this election. Our own Wikipedia has a photo of Clinton and Blair to illustrate "The Third Way." Anybody would probably beat ol' Tony, right?
Interesting article about the UAW. I'm not sure that I buy the premise that an union is likely to regain 'rights' or 'benefits' that have been previously forfeited, or bargained away.
But, I definitely wish them the best. I would imagine that there is only one likely path to success in achieving that--going on strike.
Sadly, today's unions are so 'risk averse,' that I can't imagine this happening. I hope that I'm wrong.
It's also one reason that I'm doubtful that we'll see any real political change, any time soon. (risk averson, that is)
*Sigh*
Great to have EB here full time, and to have the 'start time' earlier in the day.
Have a nice evening, Everyone!
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
i really enjoyed jeremy corbyn's speech. as chris hedges alluded to, it would be music to my ears to hear an american candidate speak that way. i wonder what it is about the british political system that makes it possible for a politician with corbyn's positions to lead a party that we don't have here.
i'm not sure that the uaw is going to get what it negotiated away back, either. most major unions seem to be closer to management and the corporate parties than is seemly.
Whoa! You're right, Joe--just changed Wi-Fi connections
to the 4 LTE connection, so that I could listen to Corbyn's speech.
Very impressive.
I hope that he can carry out what sounds like a splendid humanistic agenda. I have to say, if Corbyn can win with such odds against him, maybe Bernie can.
Of course, Corbyn didn't have to confront the obstacle(s) of the Dem Party Establishment, and America's "One Percent."
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
corbyn ran against his party's establishment...
by playing a dirty, rotten trick of offering the labour party's base what it wanted. the party establishment is still trying to undermine him. sanders is working on the same trick, but he hasn't offered the base all of the inducements that corbyn has. hopefully the dem base won't sell itself out cheap due to the incredible novelty of a politician offering to represent some of their interests.
Hi Mollie
I hope your family responsibilities are going well and appreciated.
Hey, Janis--thanks for the well wishes. You're one of
the folks that I most enjoyed visiting with over at (the old) EB, so I'm glad to see that you've come over here.
My own schedule, and to some degree my wi-fi connections--being too slow to carry the DKos EB diary--greatly hindered me from participating very often over the past months. The addition of "no ad" software helped a little bit, but not enough to offset the 'drag.'
Thankfully, this blog is seems to be less onerous, and I rarely have bottleneck problems here. (Thanks, JtC!)
I'm glad that Joe is here with the full version of EB; and, it's great that he's expanded the window of time that EB is posted. Unless there are days that I can't blog at all (which will likely happen for a while), it will surely be easier to slide in here, and at least say, 'hi.'
Looking forward to seeing all you Bluesters, again.
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."--Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Soon as I'm back in NZ
I'll be experiencing the same slow, frustrating wi-fi connections. Hopefully, it won't interfere too much.
Good Evening, Joe!
I always read, but rarely post. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your series, especially now that you are here.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
evening gg...
thanks for reading, that's what makes it all worthwhile.
Evening Joe, everybody.
You folks have pretty well covered the lineup already so hope it ok if I talk about something a little closer to home that I just heard about today. It seems a new PAC, with a real pretty name, ( Committee For Accountable Government In Missouri) was established last week here in Missouri and today some millionaire donated a cool half million to it. Some guy named David Humphreys. Did a quick google search and the first article I looked at, (there were many) was dated February 2013 and described him as a teabag nutjob with a passion for killing workers rights. What's even more interesting is that right now the fearless leaders in the Republican dominated legislature in Jefferson City are working their asses off to gather enough votes to override Nixon's veto of the so called "Right to Work" they passed earlier this year. You don't suppose any of that money will be used to influence the outcome do you?
Why the hell do the American people put up with such obvious corruption? It's insane that we let shit like this stand. BTW this post is much shorter than it would have been if I hadn't left out the 1126 cuss words I wanted to use. This is so damned depressing.
All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon
you asked the million dollar question...
outside of louisiana where corruption is an artform, i have no idea of why we put up with it. but we sure do enjoy the occasional perp walk.
Heh, don't hold back
"'BTW this post is much shorter than it would have been if I hadn't left out the 1126 cuss words I wanted to use. This is so damned depressing."
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Bad omen for blood-soaked Saudi rulers
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Bad-Omen-for-Blood-Soaked-by-Finian-Cun...
The Saudis interviewed the day after the tragedy
were calmly saying that all those who died are in paradise right now.
Death has a different meaning for people (extremists) who live for the future in paradise.
To thine own self be true.
So much for the "moderate" General Wes Clark.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/09/camp-clark-and-the-demise-of-free...
Wes Clark has been very helpful.
He always presents the prudent with useful information about what to expect. He's a mensch in that regard.
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/09/unmasking-isis.html#4
The US will be on lockdown soon enough. That was clear in 2001, when American's most basic legal rights were stripped. And, again in 2003, when the US exploded global terrorism and gave it a purpose.
On that note, be safe:
https://startpage.com/do/search
Bitcoin will soon be your best friend.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
You know we have entered dystopia when
It's okay for the USG to support the
Islamic State and al-Qaeda, but it's not
okay for certain selected (criteria
evolving) US citizens to do so.
Only connect. - E.M. Forster
thanks for that excellent link, pluto...
that washington's blog video compilation is a keeper.
It's it amazing?
It was just published yesterday:
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/09/unmasking-isis.html
I only linked to the Part 4 anchor link. The top link is above.
It is an ebook, actually, and a gift to all intelligent Americans. It has the potential to save their lives. Everyone else can STFU.
How tiresome it has been to push back against the ignorance and misinformation and delusions that US propaganda has used to disable the minds of USAians — while they enable their military to lurch around the world murdering as many brown people as they can.
With this one link, US propaganda is neutralized and sentient humans throughout the world will be able to see the true pattern of the US atrocities that have unfolded in Ukraine, Africa, Yemen, Palestine, Libya, Syria, and the mean streets of America.
The the most horrific threat against humanity and the source of most of the suffering in the world today — the US Empire — is finally coming to an end.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
A very good article
Well worth reading to the end. Thanks.
However, I have one pretty big quibble
with the author's jumping off point -
he accepts without question (and
thereby perpetuates) Clark's revisionist
history of US internment policies during
WW2. Contrary to Clark's assertion that
the US interned Nazi sympathizers, the
US interned no one based on ideology.
Japanese-Americans were notoriously
interned in camps, of course, as were
some German nationals and Italian-
Americans - but all were interned on
the basis of descent not ideology.
Clark's little bit of historical revision quite
conveniently sets the stage for the US
to now start interning people based on
their beliefs - and should never be
allowed to stand unchallenged.
Tarzie at the Rancid Honeytrap
discusses Clark's revisionism in the
article below, where, as throughout so
much of the internet, much really
interesting and enlightening material
is to be found in the comments BTL.
https://ohtarzie.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/did-wesley-clarks-world-war-2-...
Only connect. - E.M. Forster
Interesting blog.
I suppose the reason that Wes Clark gets away with a dystopian revision is because folks like Lindsey Graham have already jumped that shark. During his Presidential candidacy announcement in May, Graham declared:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/05/18/wonkbook-linds...
Clark is weak tea compared to America's 2016 presidential hopefuls.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
"Clark is weak tea"
Agreed. But the fact that weak teas are
singing from the same hymnal as the
expressos - and that the Fourth Estate,
especially leftish blogs are merrily
singing along - should be alarming to any
critical thinker.
Or are we past alarm?
Only connect. - E.M. Forster
People are adapting.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Salama from Madagascar
thanks for the roundup. Very interesting, no telling what we will find by the time we get to Europe in mid October.
For now, we are having a quite interesting time getting to know lemurs and other wildlife here camping at Mitsinjo Community Forest Reservve in the Andasibe National Park area of Madagascar. Just today we had a surprise visit from a family of brown lemurs and a peek at a baby lemur just outside our tent. Later A guide took us up into the forested hills to video Indrie Indrie calling and a Parson's Chamelon stick his tongue out and take a grasshopper.
We are staying in the general region where earlier they experienced an outbreak of pneumonic plague, but we have been assured that we are safe here.
Apparently there was rioting in the capitol but missed that .
Jakkalbessie and
I rarely take time to check the news, but when we do.... Evening Blues!
all the best!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
afternoon do and jb...
it's great to hear from you and great to hear that you're doing well and seeing amazing things. stay healthy and strong, bring back lots of cool photos and we'll look forward to seeing you again soon. the news will wait for you. B)