The Evening Blues - 9-29-15
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features Chicago blues sax player A.C. Reed. Enjoy!
A.C. Reed - Reedman's Boogie
"As long as we can get redress in the courts, as long as the laws shall be honestly administered, as long as honesty and intelligence sit upon the bench, as long as intelligence sits in the chairs of jurors, this country will stand, the law will be enforced, and the law will be respected."-- Robert Green Ingersoll
News and Opinion
Legal Experts Try To Reignite Iraqis' Suit Against Torture Facility Contractor
A United Nations official, legal scholars, and human rights activists are expected to file friend-of-the-court briefs today supporting a lawsuit in which four Iraqi men allege military contractor CACI International orchestrated their torture at Abu Ghraib.
The amicus briefs will include one by Alberto Mora, former Navy General Counsel during the Bush era and a longtime opponent of that administration’s torture policies. Directed at the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, the briefs support reviving a case dismissed by a Virginia district court this past June. ...
This past June a judge dismissed the case under the so-called political question doctrine, which precludes the courts from deciding questions that are not essentially legal but rather political. Military maneuvers, for example, fall within the president’s domain, and it is not clear what judicial criteria would be used to evaluate them. In dismissing the case brought by the Iraqi men, the federal court for the Eastern District of Virginia found that interrogations in Iraq were similarly military matters outside the jurisdiction of the judiciary.
In response, last Monday, lawyers for the men filed the latest in a series of appeals, seeking to win them redress or at least recognition for the grotesque torture they suffered while in custody. Today’s briefs are filed in connection with that appeal. CCR says Mora’s brief “will be joined by five other briefs, from constitutional scholars, human rights organizations, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, the Center for Justice and Accountability on behalf of human rights victims, and retired military generals, admirals, and other officers.” ...
The CCR lawsuit does not allege that CACI employees themselves carried out the abuses, but that they instructed military policemen to “soften up” detainees, knowing that their directions would lead to torture. “This conduct rises to war crimes,”Azmy says.
The allegation that CACI employees were culpable for torture was also made in an internal Army report on Abu Ghraib by Maj. Gen. Anthony Taguba.
Obama & Putin Spar at U.N.: Will Regime Change in Syria Further Destabilize War-Torn Nation?
Putin Rules Out Russian Troops Fighting in Syria After Meeting With Obama
Hours after President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin exchanged barbs during the UN General Assembly on Monday, the two leaders met for 90 minutes inside a UN Security Council consultation room. ...
The Obama administration has insisted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad must not remain part of any political transition, while Putin says Assad should be offered support as part of efforts to dismantle the so-called Islamic State (IS). That discrepancy was on full display during the speeches the two leaders delivered earlier in the day. ...
Putin called the meeting "very constructive, practical and surprisingly frank."
"We've found a lot of common ground, but there are differences as well," he said.
Putin did not rule out the use of warplanes in Syria, but he did say, however, that Russian troops would not be deployed in fighting, saying "ground operations, involving Russian units, Russian troops — this is out of the question."
Why the west should listen to Putin on Syria
Putin is right. Everyone knows Putin is right, that the only way forward in Syria, if not to eternal slaughter, is via the established government of Bashar al-Assad and his Lebanese and Iranian allies.
That is the realpolitik. That is what pragmatism dictates. In the secure west, foreign policy has long been a branch of domestic politics, with added sermonising. “What to do”, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, even Ukraine, has been dictated not by what might work but what looks good. The megaphone is mightier than the brain. ...
The true nature of the west’s commitment in Syria was revealed in Barack Obama’s remark to the UN that “because alternatives are surely worse” is no reason to support tyrants. In other words, American feelgood is more important than Syrian lives. That cosy maxim has guided western policy in the region for over a decade. It has been a disaster. If we have nothing more intelligent to say on Syria, we should listen to Putin. He has.
'We cannot allow Syria fail, alternative is ISIS' - Lavrov's interview highlights
Pentagon Suspends Syrian Rebel Training Program
$500 Million Program an 'Embarrassing Failure'
Though an official announcement on the matter has not been made yet, reports are emerging that the Pentagon has suspended the “train and equip” program intended to create a new faction of “pro-US” Syrian rebels, which has been dubbed the New Syrian Forces (NSF). ...
If the first class was a failure, the second class was embarrassingly so, with the group almost immediately surrendering its weapons and vehicles to al-Qaeda. Centcom today released further details about the chain of events leading to this surrender.
The new details make Centcom’s timeline look even worse on the matter. The NSF forces entered Syria on 9/18, and Centcom spokesman Col. Patrick Ryder claimed to have first gotten information on the arms surrender on Sunday 9/20. The first media reports to that effect emerged Tuesday, 9/22, and on Wednesday 9/23 Ryder himself loudly denied the media reports, accusing al-Qaeda of making the whole thing up even though he’d known for days it was true. The Pentagon finally admitted what happened on 9/25.
Israeli Strikes on Syria Continue Into Second Day, Targeting Army Posts
Israeli forces continued their attacks on the Syrian military for a second day, confirming attacks on two more army posts and claiming a single mortar shell fired by an unknown faction, which strayed into the Israeli-occupied Golan, as the pretext for the continued strikes. ...
Israeli military spokesmen claim that they consider the Syrian government responsible for everything that goes on in their war-torn country, and that attacking them is legitimate even if it’s for something they had no part in doing. This is largely the way Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have worked the last few years as well, attacking Hamas for rocket fire they concede Hamas is trying to prevent.
Syria is estimated to control only about 10% of the border with Israel at this point, with a coalition of Islamists dominated by al-Qaeda holding most of it. The al-Qaeda takeover put pressure on UN observers in the area, with al-Qaeda repeatedly targeting them. Israel has confirmed admitting al-Qaeda fighters into northern Israel for medical treatment and sending them back to Syria to continue fighting.
This excellent article by Michael Hudson should be read in full, here's a taste:
Orwell at the UN: Obama Re-Defines Democracy as a Country That Supports U.S. Policy
In his Orwellian September 28, 2015 speech to the United Nations, President Obama said that if democracy had existed in Syria, there never would have been a revolt against Assad. By that, he meant ISIL. Where there is democracy, he said, there is no violence or revolution.
This was his threat to promote revolution, coups and violence against any country not deemed a “democracy.” In making this hardly-veiled threat, he redefined the word in the vocabulary of international politics. Democracy is the CIA’s overthrow of Mossedegh in Iran to install the Shah. Democracy is the overthrow of Afghanistan’s secular government by the Taliban against Russia. Democracy is the Ukrainian coup behind Yats and Poroshenko. Democracy is Pinochet. It is “our bastards,” as Lyndon Johnson said, with regard to the Latin American dictators installed by U.S. foreign policy.
A century ago the word “democracy” referred to a nation whose policies were formed by elected representatives. Ever since ancient Athens, democracy was contrasted to oligarchy and aristocracy. But since the Cold War and its aftermath, that is not how U.S. politicians have used the term. When an American president uses the word “democracy,” he means a pro-American country following U.S. neoliberal policies, no matter if the country is a military dictatorship or its government was brought in by a coup(euphemized as a Color Revolution) as in Georgia or Ukraine. A “democratic” government has been re-defined simply as one supporting the Washington Consensus, NATO and the IMF. It is a government that shifts policy-making out of the hands of elected representatives to an “independent” central bank, whose policies are dictated by the oligarchy centered in Wall Street, the City of London and Frankfurt.
Given this American re-definition of the political vocabulary, when President Obama says that such countries will not suffer coups, violent revolution or terrorism, he means that countries safely within the U.S. diplomatic orbit will be free of destabilization sponsored by the U.S. State Department, Defense Department and Treasury. Countries whose voters democratically elect a government or regime that acts independently (or even simply seeks the power to act independently of U.S. directives) will be destabilized, Syria- style, Ukraine-style or Chile-style under General Pinochet. As Henry Kissinger said, just because a country votes in communists doesn’t mean that we have to accept it. This is the style of the “color revolutions” sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy.
Jordan’s Syrians Are Leaving — and Many Are Risking Home Rather than Europe
Jordan's Syrian refugees are disappearing in droves. Those who can afford it are flying to Istanbul, and then paying smugglers to hustle them into unseaworthy boats on a journey to Greece. A growing number of others are going somewhere arguably more dangerous: home. ...
It's not completely clear how many Syrian refugees live in Jordan. UNHCR has registered around 630,000 people, but government and NGO research suggests the number is around 1 million. For every two who live in a refugee camp, eight live in Jordan's towns and cities, renting shabby to middling accommodation and trying to carve out some normalcy in an increasingly abnormal situation. ...
Unlike in Lebanon, Syrians are forbidden to work in Jordan without a permit, and these are notoriously difficult to arrange. As a result, many Syrians work in the informal economy, in shops, restaurants, and garages for cash in hand. They earn very little and have to avoid detection by the authorities: Syrians caught working illegally have been arrested, jailed and, deported. ...
In August, the UN's World Food Program (WFP) was forced to slash funding, effectively cutting off 229,000 people it categorized as "vulnerable" (the 211,000 people it calls "extremely vulnerable" still get 10 dinars per person a month). Those 229,000 people last got food assistance on August 6, but it was only a half-measure at 5 dinars. Now, they are feeling the pressure.
Jonathan Campbell, the WFP's emergency coordinator for the Syria Refugee Operation in Jordan, thinks a drop in food aid is one of the factors driving refugees back over the border.
Obama: ‘Mistakes’ Made in NATO War on Libya, US Should’ve Done Even More
Suggests Even More Intervention the Answer
Speaking today at the UN General Assembly, President Obama took a surprisingly contrite stance, however briefly, on the NATO war against Libya, conceding that “mistakes were made” in a war that led to the current state, with much of Libya ungoverned and multiple competing city-based governments vying for control.
Not that Obama regrets the war. Rather, he insists that the US and NATO should’ve “done more” to ensure that the pro-NATO government propped up after the ouster of Gadhafi was able to survive. In short, his regret on a disastrous war is that he didn’t double down on it.
That seems to be the default position for wartime US presidents to take these days, and the desperation to keep occupation forces in Afghanistan 14 years after the invasion seems to reflect a fallback policy to avoid admitting failure by simply continuing to compound it.
Missile attack on Yemen wedding kills 131
The death toll from an missile strike on a wedding party in Yemen has jumped to 131, medics have said, making it one of the deadliest attacks on civilians during the war and drawing strong condemnation from the UN secretary general.
A Saudi-led Arab coalition that has air supremacy over Yemen has strongly denied any role, and a coalition spokesman suggested local militias may have been responsible.
Residents said on Monday that two missiles tore through tents in the Red Sea village of Al-Wahijah, near the port of Al-Mokha. A local man affiliated with the Houthis – the Shia rebel group who are fighting the coalition – was holding his wedding reception.
A source at a hospital in Maqbana, where the casualties were taken, said on Tuesday that the death toll from the attack had risen to 131, from 27 reported on Monday.
Rupert Colville, spokesman for the office of the UN human rights chief, said: “If the numbers are as high as suggested, this may be the single deadliest incident since the start of the conflict.”
Thousands Protest Indian PM Narendra Modi in U.S. over Human Rights Record
US supreme court: conservatives set to retake reins after year of liberal wins
While 2014-15 will be remembered for surprise wins by the liberal wing of the court, particularly two blockbuster decisions endorsing gay marriage and Obamacare, legal experts expect this year will see a clutch of decisions that reassert the power of the conservative majority. ...
“The big question about the Roberts court has always been is it radically Conservative, with a big C, or moderately conservative, with a small C,” says David Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University.
“If the court comes out with more radical decisions this term, it’s because they have taken on cases in areas where they have been pretty darned conservative, like race and affirmative action,” he told the Guardian.
Perhaps the strongest example of the right’s careful choice of targets this year is the return of a lawsuit seeking to clip the wings of American labor unions by removing their ability to collect dues from employees, where workplaces have voted in favour of collective bargaining.
The principle that unions have a right to charge all employees a fee to represent them, even those who choose to waive the political component of their membership, was first established by the court back in 1977 in a landmark case known as Abood versus Detroit Board of Education.
But in a new case against the California Teachers Association, brought by Orange County teacher Rebecca Friedrichs and others, the supreme court is being asked to overturn Abood on the grounds that forcing union members to pay union dues for collective bargaining infringes on those members’ first amendment right to free speech, because it forces them to pay to take part in a political act they do not agree with.
“Why is the court reconsidering this issue? I think it’s a matter of a change in the court and a change in the political climate toward unions,” claims Ann Hodges, professor of law at the University of Richmond, during a panel discussion with Cole and others at the American Constitution Society.
Jamaica calls for Britain to pay billions of pounds in reparations for slavery
David Cameron is facing calls for Britain to pay billions of pounds in reparations for slavery ahead of his first official visit to Jamaica on Tuesday.
Downing Street said the prime minister does not believe reparations or apologies for slavery are the right approach, but the issue is set to overshadow his trade trip to the island, where he will address the Jamaican parliament.
Ahead of his trip, Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission, has led calls for Cameron to start talks on making amends for slavery and referenced the prime minister’s ancestral links to the trade in the 1700s through his cousin six times removed, General Sir James Duff.
In an open letter in the Jamaica Observer, the academic wrote: “You are a grandson of the Jamaican soil who has been privileged and enriched by your forebears’ sins of the enslavement of our ancestors ... You are, Sir, a prized product of this land and the bonanza benefits reaped by your family and inherited by you continue to bind us together like birds of a feather.
“We ask not for handouts or any such acts of indecent submission. We merely ask that you acknowledge responsibility for your share of this situation and move to contribute in a joint programme of rehabilitation and renewal. The continuing suffering of our people, Sir, is as much your nation’s duty to alleviate as it is ours to resolve in steadfast acts of self-responsibility.”
New Evidence Announced In Freddie Gray Case
FBI resists calls to reform voluntary reporting system for police killings
The FBI will continue to resist pressure from legislators and activists for the creation of a fully comprehensive count of all killings by American police officers, the bureau’s director signalled on Monday.
Writing as the FBI released its annual crime statistics, James Comey said an existing voluntary system, under which police departments around the country choose whether or not to submit data on homicides by their officers, will carry on.
Comey said the FBI would try to collect more information – but gave no specific details about how this would be done. ...
The FBI counted 444 “justifiable homicides” by law enforcement officers in 2014, according to statistics released on Monday. That total represented a 5.7% decrease from the 471 counted the year before.
Yet both the accuracy of the figures and any trends emerging from them have been called into question due to the voluntary reporting system.
The Guardian is counting all deaths caused by police and law enforcement in 2015, and collecting extensive details on each incident and those killed. As of Monday a total of 871 deaths this year had been recorded by the project, The Counted.
A spokesman for the FBI did not respond to a request for information on how many of the roughly 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the US had submitted data in 2014 or in previous years.
Ta-Nehisi Coates leads diverse group of MacArthur 'genius' grant recipients
Journalist and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates is among a diverse group of artists, advocates and scientists that make up this year’s recipients of MacArthur fellow “genius” grants, announced on Tuesday.
Coates joins 23 other MacArthur fellows who will receive a no-strings-attached stipend of $625,000, paid out over five years in quarterly installments. Other 2015 recipients include puppeteer Basil Twist, photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier and sociologist Matthew Desmond.
Coates, currently a national correspondent for the Atlantic, has come to wide prominence for his measured and reflective writing on racial identity, systemic racism and urban policing. His 2014 essay The Case for Reparations tackled the rationalizations for slavery and their effects on the US throughout the 20th century, such as red-lining. His second book, Between the World and Me, published this year, focuses on the evolution of his views on the constructions of race.
Coates said he was “overjoyed” and “deeply, deeply honored” after hearing from the MacArthur Foundation about the grant.
Rethug Carly Fiorina shows that she has the makings of a fine war criminal.
Carly Fiorina endorses waterboarding 'to get information that was necessary'
Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina has endorsed waterboarding, the controversial interrogation method that has been called torture, as an important tactic that was used only “when there was no other way to get information that was necessary”.
In an interview with Yahoo News, Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who surged in recent polls of Republican primary voters, said: “I believe that all of the evidence is very clear – that waterboarding was used in a very small handful of cases [and] was supervised by medical personnel in every one of those cases.”
The 2014 Senate report that called waterboarding – in which water is poured over a cloth on a prisoner’s face in order to simulate the feeling of drowning – tantamount to torture and said it produced little useful intelligence. Fiorina called the report “disingenuous” and “a shame” that “undermined the morale of a whole lot of people who dedicated their lives to keeping the country safe”.
Naureen Shah of Amnesty International told Yahoo of Fiorina’s comments: “This is completely rewriting the history of what happened.”
Fiorina also detailed how, as head of Hewlett-Packard, she provided the National Security Agency with a significant number of computer servers in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001. Then-NSA chief Michael Hayden phoned Fiorina and told her: “Carly, I need stuff and I need it now,” she said. The servers that she provided were used by the NSA to implement a warrantless surveillance program called Stellar Wind.
Left loves Bernie, hates Democratic party, still have no plan for organizing the folks that are aligned with Bernie's economic agenda (which matches their own reasonably well) to keep the movement mobilized and demanding the right kind of change. Would rather piss and moan about Bernie T. Sheepdog.
Leftists Love Bernie Sanders, But Here's Why Many Won't Be Voting For Him
The Evening Greens
'Critical First Step': Bill de Blasio Pushes NYC Coal Divestment
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is poised to urge the city's five pension funds to divest from coal, which could move at least $33 million away from the fossil fuel industry, officials said Tuesday.
The measure is being supported by NYC comptroller Scott Stringer, who is custodian to the pension funds' boards and has endorsed climate-friendly city policies in the past. De Blasio's push comes just ahead of the United Nations climate talks in Paris in December, and just after an analysis by a philanthropic consultant group found that institutions worth $2.6 trillion in assets have pulled funds from fossil fuels.
May Boeve, executive director of the environmental advocacy group 350.org, said de Blasio's announcement "is another big step adding even more momentum to this campaign."
"We expect to see other municipal leaders around the world take note of the Mayor's words today, and join New York in acknowledging the financial and moral imperative to divest from climate chaos," Boeve said.
De Blasio is also expected to ask the pension funds to consider divesting from other fossil fuels.
Governor Bill Walker pivots on Shell announcement to renew calls to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and fill Alaska's trans-state pipeline
The same day that Royal Dutch Shell announced that it would be abandoning its offshore drilling operations, Gov. Bill Walker (I) said he was on the phone with the White House renewing his push to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for drilling.
During a press conference on Monday, Walker reiterated his intent to find another source to fill the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System now that it was clear that Shell's offshore drilling operations would not be flooding the 800-mile network, which is currently running less than one quarter of its total capacity.
"We need to get some oil in the pipeline, and we need to do it as quickly as possible," Walker said, adding that the state is an "oil dependent economy and we need to do everything we can to put oil—safely put oil—in the pipeline."
Near-Total Meltdown of Fukushima Reactor 2 Confirmed
At least 70 percent of nuclear fuel inside one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant melted down following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, bringing the total of reactors which experienced meltdowns to three, according to a Japanese research team.
In fact, it's possible that 100 percent of the fuel inside reactor 2 may have melted during the disaster, the researchers said over the weekend in Osaka, where they presented the results of their ongoing investigation. ...
Meanwhile, climate groups continue warning of the meltdown's long-term health and environmental impacts, including charges that pro-nuclear Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration pushed Fukushima refugees to return to their homes even as radiation in the area remains "so widespread and at such a high level" that it is still unsafe to live in.
In August, Japan restarted a nuclear reactor at the Sendai power plant despite widespread opposition and public safety concerns. Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan publicly protested the move, joining a last-minute rally outside the plant where he warned that Fukushima "exposed the myth of safe and cheap nuclear power, which turned out to be dangerous and expensive."
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
The Big Secret That Makes the FBI’s Anti-Encryption Campaign a Big Lie
Did a Rogue NSA Operation Cause the Death of a Greek Telecom Employee?
Why Are FBI Agents Trammeling the Rights of Antiwar Activists?
Defining Imperialism Down: Yes, the US Has Waged War on Syria
Canadian Leaders Greeted at Debate by Giant List of Names of 20,000 Dead Migrants
Gary Clark Jr on being the 'chosen one'
Meet Thor Halvorssen, Neocon Scam Artist Who Heads Bogus Human Rights Foundation
A Little Night Music
A.C. Reed - I'm In The Wrong Business
A.C. Reed - Lonely Man
Mojo Blues Band w/ A.C. Reed - The Sun Is Still Shining
Mojo Blues Band w/ A.C. Reed - I Stay Mad
Albert Collins & A.C. Reed - Instrumental Jam
A. C. Reed - I Am Fed Up
A.C. Reed - I Can't Go On This Way
A.C. Reed (Feat. Stevie Ray Vaughn) - Miami Strut
A.C. Reed - Talkin' Bout My Friends
A.C.Reed & Bonnie Raitt - She`s Fine
A. C. Reed - Boogalo Tramp
A C Reed - My Baby's Been Cheating
AC Reed - Big Woman
A.C. Reed - Junk Food
A.C. Reed - I Got Money To Burn
A.C. Reed - Oh Wee...These Blues is Killing Me!
AC Reed + Maurice John Vaughn - I got money
A.C. Reed - I'm a Jealous Man
Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Phil Guy, A.C. Reed - Mystery Train
A.C. Reed - Roadhouse Blues
Comments
Democracy
it's almost funny how putin makes obama look...
like a total hypocritcal incompetent.
oh, oh, don't say that, someone can get angry and
if you look at it from the right angle, both look sexy when they are half-naked. Just remain fair and balanced, Joe.
heh, i try to be fair...
but i can't even approximate balanced. B)
if
The Hairball is elected president, he and Putin could work out in the gym together, grill big slabs of meat on a balcony way up in one of the Towers, creep into the woods to shoot shit, ride shirtless together across the land. Putin likes to get pious with the longbeards of the Russian Orthodox Church; The Hairball is now hosting prayer orgies:
The horror. The horror.
Putin on 60 Minutes
I watched his interview the other night, and I couldn't help by notice how much smarter and savvy he was than Charlie Rose.
The incompetence comes first
Like with Nixon, it's another case of "Things are so fucked up, even HE looks good by comparison." It doesn't make Nixon or Putin good by any stretch of the imagination, it just shows how bad our current leaders are.
They say that there's a broken light for every heart on Broadway
They say that life's a game and then they take the board away
They give you masks and costumes and an outline of the story
And leave you all to improvise their vicious cabaret-- A. Moore
evening jq...
heh, neither nixon nor putin are good, but they were/are good at something that obama is not. they were chess players and obama by comparison appears to be playing tiddlywinks.
obama is such an obvious hypocrite, it's just awful to watch him embarrass himself and the nation that he represents.
Another dumbshit that will just prove how
"compliant" the Germans are with their US partner organizations: 'Fairview': Latest Snowden Doc Shows NSA Spied on German Intelligence"
Riiight. Of course not, they were totally unaware of the US surveillance in the Yemen hostage crisis. I mean, really? I think there should be a book written about: "Spying for German Dummies".
But we are good allies, aren't we?
Hola Joe, and Bluesters! Good News, and Bad News . . .
The Good News first:
After losing my excellent cell phone MSN Food & Drink app--which now connects to a pared down MSN Food & Drink website which is no where near as extensive as the former recipe and food app--I found a pretty good substitute online (not cell) website.
[Photo Credit: allrecipes, Bean and Kale Ragu]
Yummy!
The Recipe
Now, the Bad News:
There's article after article with Boehner and Pelosi pledging to 'work together' for the remaining month of his term as House Majority Speaker. And more than a few frank opinion pieces alluding to a possible 'bargain' on entitlements. I hoping to find one that actually uses the term "Grand Bargain." (The closest they come to mentioning a GB is the 'closing of tax loopholes.') There is no doubt in my mind that this is 'a,' if not 'the,' primary reason that Boehner's stepping down--to strike a 'Grand Bargain' on tax and so-called entitlement reform.
All I can say is that I feel really bad for those folks who are not already retired, or in a position to do so very soon. Also, I feel for the federal and military workforce who inevitably face more retirement, healthcare, and general benefit cuts if a 'bargain' is struck.
What's wrong with this picture?
Hey, I appreciate the RNN Smith video. I (somewhat) understand where he's coming from. I think the biggest issue for us (to reconcile) may not be that he didn't run as an Independent, which we would have preferred, but the idea that he's pledged to support "any" eventual Dem nominee--including a corporatist neoliberal like FSC. That's what we have a hard time wrapping our heads around. I do hope that Bernie will continue to work with his supporters after the 2016 election (if he doesn't win), to sustain his populist movement. It would be wonderful if he can pull that off, without taking a lot of heat from the Dem Party Leadership.
He's definitely leaps and bounds superior to the rest of the Dem Party field. If the Dem Party Leadership was not capable of playing dirty--which I fear they are--I believe that Bernie might have a chance to win.
We're looking forward to the first debate in a couple of weeks. I think that Anderson Cooper will be the 'MC.' He's capable of doing a good job. I hope that he doesn't pull a John Dickerson--throwing nothing but softballs, that is.
Have a good one, Everyone!
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Regarding the 'huge' recipe photo,
it was super big--before it was automatically sized down.
Sorry that it couldn't be made smaller. If there's a way, I'm unaware of it.
'M'
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Hi Mollie, is that better?
Edit the comment and look for the width and height size in the code. It was resized to 500x500, I changed it to 300x300. take a look at the code and you'll see what I did.
Thank you, JtC--I will. I didn't even think to look at the
HTML code.
Duh!!!!!!
'M'
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Hey, JtC--thank you for the "edit" function!
I'm going to include the recipe photo and the brief excerpt--downsized--in my OT comment.
Providing an edit function, sure does simplify things!
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
i would have preferred that he run as an independent, but then again, he wouldn't be making the stir that he's making if he had. i think that if you run for any party's nomination, it is pretty much required that you say that you will "support" the eventual nominee.
i think that bernie running as a dem is actually kind of a good thing, now. i think that his candidacy is stirring up expectations amongst the base that have been dormant for a long time - and if he is able to whip up enough of a support base, it may change the base.
for me, this is not about bernie at all. i'm sure that bernie is a nice enough guy, hell, i'm sure that i'd enjoy sitting down and having a discussion with him about politics. but, whether bernie wins or not is irrelevant to me. what's important is the degree to which a movement can be formed that will implacably demand that certain kinds of deep reforms are made.
my timetable has nothing to do with the election cycle. i don't really believe in the power of elections or politicians to make change - well at least the kind of change for the better that requires a wholesale reordering of the powers that be. i believe in the power of the people to make those changes, though.
i'm more interested in the demands that the base takes up than the fortunes of any politician or party.
what do you think about the Rev. Barber and
his efforts (and now together with the CUA folks and I guess the Black Kos folks at the gos) to build a movement, concentrating in the South?
And really, why does Sanders have to pledge to support any Democratic candidate, who wins the primaries, if he loses? Why? Is that such a sin to not do it? I don't trust any other Democratic candidate running to initiate real changes on the issues I like to see them the most.
evening mimi...
i have nothing but the greatest respect for rev. barber and the moral mondays movement. i hope that eventually all of the socialist/progressive/left movements can join together to push a common, broad-based set of demands.
this is what the parties demand as the price of entry, so to speak. you see the same things demanded of rethug candidates by the rethug party. i remember amongst greens there was a great deal of debate, wailing and gnashing of teeth over ralph nader's perceived failure to help build the green party when he was chosen as the nominee of the party for president.
oh, glad to hear that,
the way I feel about it is that I would join the movement building efforts with or without any specific umbrella of a certain group or candidate or party. I certainly like to join a group, but more in real life than online.
I forgot to address Rev. Barber
Rev. Barber has my deepest and utmost respect. He is a humanist who is definitely following in the footsteps of Dr. King. He has merged people of all colors, all religions, and all walks of life to fight against the injustices we are seeing today. The south is where it is most evident, but his message is far beyond the south. I first learned of Rev. Barber when North Carolina placed the ugly Amendment 1 on the ballot which discriminated against same sex marriage and even civil unions. He spoke out loudly and forcefully against this amendment and likened it to racial discrimination.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
My thoughts
Two things.
1) Bernie or any other candidate has no choice other than to run under the banner of one of the two major parties. I keep pointing out that Jill Stein and her running mate were arrested at the 2012 Presidential debates when they tried to enter the forum. In other words, the system is closed to anyone outside the two major parties. Running under the Democratic or Republican party banner is simply a ticket to get in the door.
2) Any candidate who runs under a party banner (Democrat or Republican) is probably sworn to support the party's nominee. It is probably like a loyalty oath. If you do not agree, there are probably repurcussions. We saw this with the Republicans and Trump. I am guessing it is the same with the Democrats. We have to realize that the system is the big problem, moreso than the candidates of either party.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
yeah, sigh, it becomes very clear now to me, thanks /nt
evening gg...
good points, i'm pretty much completely in agreement. while i would have preferred that bernie had eschewed the democrats back when he was considering running, i recognize, like he did undoubtedly that it would likely have been a quixotic quest. my opinion on that has evolved to the point that i think that his stirring up the democratic base is a good thing (see comment above).
Yeah, the problem is the system
and like I posted in another comment, we are probably stuck with two parties under our current system. A parliamentary system would make it far easier for minority parties to participate. Thanks Joe.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
My understanding is that Democrats demanded
a 'loyalty pledge,' but that Republicans did not (at the beginning of the campaign cycle).
Since then, some state Republican organizations have looked at demanding a pledge in order for a Republican candidate to get on the state's ballot. They have resorted to this, partly because the national Republican Party didn't make such a demand (as I understand it).
Which is why Trump was able to declare during the first Republican Debate that he would not pledge, "to not run as an Independent." If folks recall, none of the Debate moderators brought up any 'rule' that he would be in violation of, if he were to do so.
(BTW, I did watch both debates. Guess you could say that I'm a glutton for punishment.)
Later, as I understand it, Trump offered to make a public showing of making a pledge that he would not run as an Independent. (RNC Chair Priebus and Trump held a press conference, together.) That was mostly a political move/stunt on his part.
And, by all accounts that I've read, as the pledge was written--it is not legally enforceable. IOW, it's not worth the paper that it was written on.
Frankly, I strongly object to any such restrictions, regardless of which party, or parties, do it.
This is part of why I distrust the Dem Party Elite/Establishment. Taken with the tight control of debates, it appears (to me) that Party Elites are doing everything that they can to select the eventual Dem Party nominee.
And I admit, I don't like it.
Postscript: I'll poke around regarding the rules for Republican Debates this election cycle. If I'm confused on this, and it's possible, I'll post a correction. But that's what I recall.
'M'
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
PPS: Don't mean to sound ill. Think I'll write about the Peruvian/Andean Bear tomorrow, and take a break from politics. It does get rather depressing, after a while.
If I don't, I going to feel like
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Just found info on the Republican 2015/2016 debate rules,
and I stand corrected. Please see below.
RNC rolls out 2016 debate schedule
The committee plans to partner mainstream organizations with conservative commentators and outlets.
By JAMES HOHMANN and ALEX ISENSTADT 01/16/15 01:27 PM EST Updated 01/16/15 07:20 PM EST
So, this rule applies to candidates of both legacy parties, although only one Party (Dems) reportedly required the signing of a loyalty oath.
That may change for Repubs after 'the Donald's' run.
Postscript:
Vox reports that after Trump signed a RNC pledge on September 3, 2015, all the other Republican candidates were expected to follow suit. I'll have to dig a bit more to see if that actually happened. If it did, it was obviously AFTER the fact, since as I mentioned, he clearly had not broken any RNC pledge when he stated that he might consider an Independent run [during the first Republican Debate].
Now, I've read several articles, including those written by Republicans and conservatives, lamenting that the RNC pledge had no teeth (legally). How accurate that is, I can't say. Of course, the RNC and the Party could easily use it to "flog" him, if he breached the agreement.
The first official Republican Debate was held on August 3, 2015.
Mollie
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Hey, Joe--you've made some really good points.
Regarding the race for President, I can't entirely separate the candidate from the race. But, by the same token, members of my Family pretty much look exclusively at policy proposals, and could care less about the 'meta' that surrounds most campaigns--which is part of what I think you might be saying.
In the end, it is about more than one dude (or dudette)--it's about creating a movement, and the demand for particular policies. On that point, I couldn't agree more.
Also, I truly believe that the debates could be a turning point in the Democratic Party Primary.
Hey, I meant to mention that I found a piece--I'll probably post it tomorrow, or Thursday--about the BLM Movement.
It names and quotes the actual BLM "original" founders. I didn't know (for sure) until I read it, but activist DeRay McKesson is not one of the actual movement founders, nor is he considered an official spokesperson for BLM.
I'll post an excerpt and link, since the subject came up [here] a week or two ago.
'M'
"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."--Helen Keller
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Re: loyalty oaths and BLM
I am actually surprised that Republican party does not require a loyalty oath. It is one of the many ways that the insiders control the process. And while there is no legal way to hold anyone to a loyalty oath, refusing to sign or breaking it would result in a shunning at best.
There has been a big stink over at gos about DeRay McKesson not being a spokesperson for BLM and that many accuse him of being a grand stander. But in the same breath, they also say (much like the Occupy movement) BLM is not top down organization, but instead is a movement.
Mollie, I would be very interested in what you find. I suspect, it will be confusing at best.
Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy
Good evening, Joe.
"As long as we can get redress in the courts, as long as the laws shall be honestly administered, as long as honesty and intelligence sit upon the bench, as long as intelligence sits in the chairs of jurors, this country will stand, the law will be enforced, and the law will be respected."
-- Robert Green Ingersoll
Well, frankly, that was a while ago, now what?
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 --
evening el...
well, now we have a two-tiered legal system, one for the wealthy, well-connected and powerful and one for the rest of us.
i see no reason to respect the legal system.
When I read that I just thought ...
... there is nothing much of it since a long time, so the "as long" part is a bit funny in today's circumstances. The legal system and getting justice in court isn't there for most of the less fortunate and poorer folks. I am in the process of getting a taste of it up close. No fun. I don't know how one should respect that system. Of course it's nice when you win, but what if the injustice wins instead of the justice?
i don't think
you'd want the justice system Ingersoll was speaking amid, in which the "we" basically referenced white property-owning males only. Too, I think that quote comes from his defense argument in one of the Star Route cases, where he succeeded in securing not-guilty verdicts for a couple of avaricious government-grafters. ; )
I was thinking about Manning/Petraeus today
Chelsea Manning to rot in prison, treated inhumanely, an enemy of the state. Petraeus another one of those elitists who gets a light sentence because the damage to his reputation is punishment enough, then gets plush jobs and lots of money and his reputation isn't damaged at all because everyone forgets. And the justice system doesn't notice so doesn't address the problem.
And here's another guy who pissed me off. Fitz! Remember "Fitzmas"? Yeah, Fitz said "oh, I couldn't see so I couldn't investigate properly. Scooter Libby confused me so I can't go after anyone else."
#$%&*^&( 'em
I wonder if Jazz knows about or stands with Chelsea Manning.
Or if any of these other trans kids we see in the media are aware that someone like them is one of the big whistleblower heroines of the current era, and is paying a huge price for it.
I hope progress for trans people doesn't end up being one of those corrupt trades. As in the government saying, "We'll co-opt you and your demands but in exchange we don't want to hear anything about solidarity with Chelsea. If you want acceptance from government you have to abandon Chelsea. Forget Chelsea. She was the epitome of an 'insider threat.' Your movement had better throw her to the wolves if you know what's good for you."
Good Evening All
I arrived home yesterday, after 36 hours of traveling; so please forgive me for my incapacitatingly, unhinged jet-lag, and this absurd link to “would you like a job wiping away women's tears?”
Thanks joe for providing the blues and the news, the blues being the limit of what I can assimilate in this altered state.