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"In nuclear war all men are cremated equal."

-- Dexter Gordon

News and Opinion

Obama Won’t Promise Not to Launch Nuclear First Strike

President Obama, who has weighed ruling out a first use of a nuclear weapon in a conflict, appears likely to abandon the proposal after top national security advisers argued that it could undermine allies and embolden Russia and China, according to several senior administration officials.

Mr. Obama considers a reduction in the role of nuclear weapons as critical to his legacy. But he has been chagrined to hear critics, including some former senior aides, argue that the administration’s second-term nuclear modernization plans, costing up to $1 trillion in coming decades, undermine commitments he made in 2009.

For months, arms control advocates have argued for a series of steps to advance the pledge he made to pursue “a world without nuclear weapons.” An unequivocal no-first-use pledge would have been the boldest of those measures. They contend that as a practical matter no American president would use a nuclear weapon when so many other options are available. ...

But in the end, Mr. Obama seems to have sided with his current advisers, who warned in meetings culminating this summer that a no-first-use declaration would rattle allies like Japan and South Korea. Those nations are concerned about discussion of an American pullback from Asia prompted by comments made by the Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump.

Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Secretary of State John Kerry also expressed concern that new moves by Russia and China, from the Baltic to the South China Sea, made it the wrong time to issue the declaration, according to senior aides in the Defense and State Departments. Secretary of Energy Ernest J. Moniz, whose department oversees the nuclear arsenal, joined in the objections, administration officials confirmed.

Pentagon’s New ICBM Nuke to Cost at Least $85 Billion

Part of a massive multi-decade scheme of “modernization,” the US Air Force is planning a new ICBM nuclear weapons program to replace the Minuteman III. The Pentagon’s latest projections are that this will cost “at least” $85 billion. ...

The rising costs, and the growing admissions that even the estimates are probably too low, seem like they’d be a wake-up call for a modernization plan that many are believing will extend into the trillions of dollars over the next few decades. Though many officials continue to insist the expense is “necessary,” there is no clear visibility on where the money is going to come from.

Syrian opposition coalition to announce democratic transition plan

The High Negotiation Committee (HNC), an umbrella body representing more than 30 political and military forces seeking to wrest power from Assad, unveiled its 25-page plan at a meeting in London.

UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson and his counterparts from the EU, Turkey, the US and Gulf states, were in attendance. ...

The HNC blueprint sets out a six-month negotiating process leading to a single transitional governing body responsible for overseeing a unitary decentralised state, leading within 18 months to parliamentary presidential and municipal elections.

The vision makes an unambiguous pledge to commit to democratic non-sectarian values. Assad and his immediate clique would be excluded from the transitional body. ...

It promises all Syrian groups will be represented “without discrimination or exclusion based on religion, sect, ethnicity, or class” in one homeland “where women can enjoy their full public and individual rights and are ensured constitutionally protected active contribution in all state institutions and decision-making bodies and positions by at least a 30% quota”.

But the plan is likely to be dismissed as a pipe dream in view of the battles and sieges raging across Syria at present, as well as the apparent unwillingness of Russia to use its influence with Assad to end his destructive air bombardment and instead reopen talks about a political transition away from his regime.

There are also questions about the extent to which the HNC still speaks for the military factions inside Syria fighting Assad and Isis, including the Kurdish YPG.

Turkish Official Says U.S. Was Not Complicit in Coup Plot

Despite dark conspiracy theories in Turkey linking the United States government to the military coup attempt on July 15, Turkish leaders see no signs of American complicity with the plotters, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Tuesday.

But Mr. Kurtulmus also said it was “the expectation of the people of Turkey” that the American judicial process would lead to the extradition of the person they regard as the chief plotter, Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania who is a rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

“We know that it will take time,” Mr. Kurtulmus said in an interview with The New York Times editorial board. “It is not the business of the policy makers, it is the business of the judiciary system.”

He said the Turkish judicial officials had sent 80 boxes of files to their counterparts in the United States containing information to support their contention that Mr. Gulen was implicated in the coup attempt and should be extradited to face charges in Turkey.

Michel Friedman on Turkey's attack on press freedom

A Fight to the Death: Syria’s Kurds Defend Their Land Against Invading Turks

The Syrian Kurdish leadership vows to defend their de facto state in north east Syria to the end, but is fearful of a growing understanding between the Syrian and Turkish governments in opposition to Kurdish separatism at a time when US support for the Kurds is faltering.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Sihanouk Dibo, a senior Syrian Kurdish official says that the Kurds will fight to the death to stop Turkey “invading the region” and speaks of possible reconciliation between Damascus and Ankara on the Kurdish question.

The Syrian Kurds, who have been the most effective US ally in the war against Isis in Syria, now see themselves as possible victims of international betrayal. The US support for the Turkish military intervention in Syria on 24 August and demand that the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), who had just captured the strategic town of Manbij from Isis after a hard-fought siege, should pull back east of the Euphrates river, were bitter blows to the Kurds. Without whole-hearted US support, they are vulnerable to attacks by the numerous enemies who encircle them, notably Turkey and possibly, in future, the Syrian government. ...

Mr Dibo did not say so, but the danger for the two million Syrian Kurds is that they are isolated apart from the unsteady and largely military relationship with the US. As for Turkey, it may have made itself an important player in Syria through its military intervention, but it has not solved its basic problem. It has stopped Kurdish expansion westwards, but there is a de facto Kurdish state in northern Syria that will be an inspiration and a sanctuary for the embattled Kurdish minority in Turkey. Given that Turkey has chosen a military solution to its Kurdish question at home, it can only hope to win there by also defeating the Syrian Kurds across the border. The Turks may find that they are like the Americans in Vietnam half a century ago, who intervened in Cambodia only to find that they had spread the war rather than ending it. The political kaleidoscope in Syria changes, but looking through it, the prospect is still for more war.

It's All About Russia

A persistent line emanating from the “national security” experts who have flocked to Hillary’s side is that Trump would threaten the safety of the United States. That many of the crossovers are neoconservatives who have brought us a number of unnecessary wars in the past fifteen years is pretty much ignored by the media just as the argument that the U.S. has a presumptive right to intervene militarily wherever and whenever it chooses is generally accepted. The latest talking head who stands firm for national security is Paul Wolfowitz, who was interviewed by the German magazine Der Spiegel on August 26^th. Some readers might recall Wolfowitz. He was the number two at the Pentagon under Donald Rumsfeld. A forceful advocate for the Iraq war, he is famous for having observed that the Iraqis would welcome the American invasion and that the war would pay for itself rather than the $5 plus trillion that it has actually cost. How he came to the latter erroneous conclusion is not very clear, though it may have had something to do with looting Iraq’s oil reserves and exporting them through a pipeline to Israel, an idea that was once floated by Wolfowitz’s godfather Richard Perle.

Wolfowitz has never been apologetic. He now claims that he was deluded by the information provided by the intelligence establishment into believing that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, an odd claim as he himself was largely responsible for the bad intelligence through his setting-up of the Office of Special Plans, a separate organization within the Pentagon intended to critique and supplement what CIA was producing. ...

In any event, Wolfowitz, who has now characteristically found yet another comfortable and well remunerated niche at the largely defense contractor funded American Enterprise Institute, has finally joined the neocon host that is working for a Hillary victory in November. They understand that it is a bread-and-butter issue. Hillary is clearly predisposed to continue the kinds of mindlessly aggressive policies that have made Neoconservatism Inc. and its vibrant cash flow possible in the first place.

More to the point however, in the real world both Hillary and Wolfie sometimes visit, there is renewed enthusiasm for jumping on the hate Russia bandwagon. To belong to that club one has to repeatedly accuse Moscow of interfering in American politics, preferably without any evidence at all to support the claim. Not surprisingly, the reality is actually quite different. It is the Hillary camp that has injected Russia into the campaign debate to use it as a bludgeon to beat on Trump. They do so without considering that regular excoriation of Russia in the media and from various political pulpits might actually have consequences.

This is an excellent, longer article well worth a read. Here's a tease to get you started:

New York Times and the New McCarthyism

Traditional U.S. journalism and the American people are facing a crisis as the preeminent American newspaper, The New York Times, has fully lost its professional bearings, transforming itself into a neoconservative propaganda sheet eager for a New Cold War with Russia and imposing a New McCarthyism on public debate.

The crisis is particularly acute because another top national newspaper, The Washington Post, is also deeply inside the neocon camp.

The Times’ abandonment of journalistic principles has become most noticeable with its recurring tirades about Russia, as the Times offers up story after story that would have embarrassed Sen. Joe McCarthy and his 1950s Red-baiters.

Operating without any actual evidence, a recent Times article by Neil MacFarquhar sought to trace public challenges to official U.S. government narratives on world events to a massive “disinformation” campaign by Russian intelligence. Apparently, it is inconceivable to the Times that independent-minded people might simply question some of the dubious claims made by Official Washington.

Perhaps most stunningly, the Times sought to prove its point by citing the slogan of Russia’s English-language television network, saying: “RT trumpets the slogan ‘Question More.’”

So, now, presumably if someone suggests questioning a claim from the U.S. government or from the NATO alliance, that person is automatically a “Russian agent of influence.” For a major newspaper to adopt such a position is antithetical to the tenets of journalism which call on us journalists to question everything.

The Times’ position is particularly outrageous because many key claims by the U.S. government, including some used to justify aggressive wars against other countries, have turned out to be false. Indeed, the Times has been caught peddling some of these bogus claims, often fed to the “newspaper of record” by U.S. government officials or from think tanks funded by American military contractors.

Keep calm & blame Russia: Will Clinton & Trump ever get tired of summoning Kremlin boogeyman?

One Out of Every 200 Children in the World Is Now a Refugee

Nearly 50 million children have been uprooted from their homes around the world, and 28 million of those are refugees fleeing violence and conflict—and "that is a conservative estimate," according to a UNICEF report published Tuesday.

The total number of child refugees doubled between 2005 and 2015, the report says, and children now comprise half of all refugees despite accounting for less than a third of the global population.

The report, "Uprooted: The Growing Crisis for Refugee and Migrant Children," (pdf) presents "for the first time, comprehensive, global data about these children," UNICEF writes. ...

"Children do not bear any responsibility for the bombs and bullets, the gang violence, persecution, the shriveled crops and low family wages driving them from their homes," the United Nations agency argues in the report's executive summary. "They are, however, always the first to be affected by war, conflict, climate change and poverty."

Tens of Thousands of Protesters Demand New Elections in Brazil

The Hard Message from Brazil’s ‘Soft Coup’

In a historic vote on Aug. 31, Brazil’s democratically elected President Dilma Rousseff was formally ousted by the Brazilian Senate, surpassing the required two-thirds majority with 61 votes in favor and 20 votes against. The controversial impeachment formalizes the provisional government of former Vice President Michel Temer and his Partido do Movimento Democrático Brasileiro (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, PMDB), bringing an end to 13 years of governance by Rousseff’s own Partido dos Trabalhadores (Worker’s Party, PT). ...

Rousseff’s ouster sets a negative precedent for the country in two ways. On the one hand, it institutionalizes the political abuse of power by politicians seeking to avoid corruption charges. On the other, it shamefully obscures the underlying motive for removing the PT from office: a desire to return to conservative rule and neoliberalism. Both of these strategies subvert the democracy that Brazil has worked hard to uphold.

Temer’s interim government almost immediately implemented a far more conservative agenda than the Rousseff Administration with neoliberal ideals that seemed to have been waiting in the wings for an opportunity to be reinstated. ... Temer immediately slashed funding for programs that benefit the rural and urban poor, women, afro-descendants, the LGBTQ community, and indigenous people. These changes augur how Temer will govern now that he has been sworn into office.

Conservative parties came together to secure what they had been unable to achieve through popular elections: a presidential victory over the PT. ...

Progressive governments of the region see Brazil as the latest example of the epidemic of “soft coups” that have brought down Pink Tide governments that came to power through democratic elections. Increasingly, right-wing forces opposed to progressive governments and discontent with their social and economic programs — but unable to defeat them in popular elections — have turned to judicial and institutional processes to roll back the left’s hold on executive office.

Fox News settles with Gretchen Carlson for $20 million

Gretchen Carlson, the onetime Fox News host who sued her former boss Roger Ailes for sexual harassment in July, reportedly settled with parent company 21st Century Fox on Tuesday for a sum of $20 million. The company, currently run by Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch, also put out a public apology.

"We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect that she & all our colleagues deserve," read the company's public apology, according to New York magazine.

Vanity Fair reported the break in Carlson's case, which was not lodged against the network but Ailes himself: Fox stepped in as the ex-chairman's guarantor, covering at least a large portion of the settlement along with Ailes.

Fox reportedly gets something out of the deal: Carlson agreed not to pursue any future legal action against other network executives or the company as whole, Vanity Fair reported.

Goldman Sachs Bans Partners From Giving to Certain Campaigns

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banned all of its partners from making campaign contributions to state and local candidates running for office, as well as state or local officials running for federal office.

As of Sept. 1, every partner is considered a “restricted person” prohibited from engaging in political activities or making campaign gifts to those candidates or officials, according to an Aug. 29 internal memo sent to partners.

“The policy change is meant to prevent inadvertently violating pay-to-play rules, particularly the look-back provision, when partners transition into roles covered by these rules,” the New York-based firm said in the memo, reported earlier Tuesday by Politico. “The penalties for failing to comply with these rules can be severe and include fines and a ban on the firm from doing business with government clients in a particular jurisdiction for a period of at least two years.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission enacted the pay-to-play rule in 2010 after a series of scandals involving money managers accused of trying to improperly influence state officials to win investment-management business. Some of that influence included arranging political contributions.

Panama Papers: Denmark buys leaked data to use in tax evasion inquiries

Denmark has become the first country in the world to apparently buy data from the Panama Papers leak, and now plans to investigate whether 500-600 Danes who feature in the offshore archive may have evaded tax.

Denmark’s tax minister, Karsten Lauritzen, said he will pay up to DKK9m (£1m) for the information, which comes from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. He said an anonymous source approached the Danish government over the summer. ...

“Everything suggests that it is useful information. We owe it to all Danish taxpayers who faithfully pay their taxes,” Lauritzen said, admitting that he had originally been “very wary”. He added: “The material contains relevant and valid information about several hundred Danish taxpayers.”

Danish officials said the cash hasn’t yet been paid. “It’s not a complete deal yet,” one said. ...

The Panama Papers, published in April, were the biggest leak in history. The archive includes 12.7m documents. There are details of offshore companies – half of them incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, a UK tax haven – as well as of secret “beneficial owners”.

‘Ridiculous to say there is no threat to Assange’ – adviser to WikiLeaks founder

The human toll of America's public defender crisis

In 1963, the landmark Gideon v Wainwright supreme court ruling enshrined the constitutional right for indigent criminal defendants – those who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer – to access legal counsel. But 53 years on, as the rate of incarceration across the country has more than quadrupled and up to 90% of criminal defendants in the US qualify as indigent, this cornerstone principle of the justice system has been eroded to breaking point. ...

In recent years the US has begun to reckon with its role as the world’s biggest jailer, home to a manifestly unequal justice system that disproportionately punishes poor people of color. In diagnosing the causes of this problem much of the focus has centered on sentencing reform, but in a country where 95% of criminal cases are settled by plea deal, little attention has been given to the critical state of indigent defense. Around the US, defenders routinely report an increase in overburdening and underfunding, caused by a variety of structural, political and economic drivers.

[See article for detail about various states' crumbling systems. - js] ...

Despite the urgency of the crisis, recognized by both the US attorney general, Loretta Lynch, and her predecessor, Eric Holder, the issue remains intractable. Congressional bills offering defender’s offices easier access to federal grant money have gone nowhere.

And in an election year during which Hillary Clinton has explicitly promised to “reform our criminal justice system from end to end”, dealing with the crisis in funding defense of the poorest people coming before the courts does not feature on her platform for change. Donald Trump, who has promised to be “the law and order candidate”, has a vision for reform that goes no further than a vow to appoint “the best prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the country”.

Gary Johnson could be the deciding factor in the US election

Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson continues to poll at historic highs for a Libertarian Party nominee and he's doing it with equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, according to a host of new national polls released Tuesday. Although he is unlikely to win the 2016 election, Johnson could be the difference between a Donald Trump presidency and a Hillary Clinton one.

With 63 days until election day, two polls released Tuesday by CNN/ORC and NBC News/SurveyMonkey confirm that the race is tightening and Trump is within striking distance of Clinton.

The durability of the third party candidates, particularly Johnson, is especially concerning to Clinton. No Libertarian presidential candidate has ever captured more than 1 percent of the vote but Johnson is consistently polling between 7 percent and 12 percent nationally even as pollsters have begun screening for likely voters.

More surprising, his support pulls equal numbers from both parties. ... Johnson has also consciously emphasized his support on issues that he agrees with Democrats on like criminal justice and immigration reform. Meanwhile he has softened some traditional libertarian stances like ending Social Security and not imposing environmental regulations.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton Hold Dueling Rallies — But Trump Gets Most of the TV Coverage

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton held rallies at nearly the same time on Tuesday, with Trump doing an event in Virginia and Clinton holding one in Florida. ...

Fox, CNN, and MSNBC responded by giving almost all of their attention to Trump. ...

Television news media has long seen Trump’s campaign as its bread and butter. “Go Donald! Keep getting out there!” CBS chief executive Les Moonves told an investor presentation last December. He followed up by saying that Trump “may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS, that’s all I got to say.”

'We wired it': Emails suggest Clinton aide stage-managed Benghazi hearing questions

Newly released emails suggest a senior Hillary Clinton aide stage-managed her first hearing on the Benghazi terrorist attack by feeding specific topics Clinton wanted to address to Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, who at the time was acting chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

"We wired it that Menendez would provide an opportunity to address two topics we needed to debunk (her actions/whereabouts on 9/11, and these email from Chris Stevens about moving locations,)" Clinton media gatekeeper Philippe Reines wrote to Chelsea Clinton the morning of the Jan. 23, 2013 hearing.

Right out of the gate, the first hearing question from Menendez that day covered both topics referenced by Reines. ...

Fox News asked the Clinton campaign as well as Menendez's office if they coordinated before the 2013 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing; what was meant by the term "wired;" and how the email exchange was consistent with the principle of independent congressional oversight. Both confirmed receipt of Fox’s questions. The Senator’s office said they would not be commenting. The Clinton campaign said they would advise Fox if they decided to react to Reines’ email.

'I approve this message': Jill Stein faces charges for North Dakota protest graffiti

Authorities say they will charge Green party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who is accused of spray-painting construction equipment during a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.

Morton County sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said Tuesday that Stein will face trespassing and vandalism charges.

A spokeswoman for Stein says activists invited her to leave a message at the protest site Tuesday. Stein sprayed “I approve this message” in red paint on the blade of a bulldozer.

Former Japan PM accuses Abe of lying over Fukushima pledge

Japan’s former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi has labelled the country’s current leader, Shinzo Abe, a “liar” for telling the international community that the situation at the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is under control.

Koizumi, who became one of Japan’s most popular postwar leaders during his 2001-06 premiership, has used his retirement from frontline politics to become a leading campaigner against nuclear restarts in Japan in defiance of Abe, a fellow conservative Liberal Democratic party (LDP) politician who was once regarded as his natural successor.

Abe told members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Buenos Aires in September 2013 that the situation at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was “under control”, shortly before Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Games.

“When [Abe] said the situation was under control, he was lying,” Koizumi told reporters in Tokyo. “It is not under control,” he added, noting the problems the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), has experienced with a costly subterranean ice wall that is supposed to prevent groundwater from flowing into the basements of the damaged reactors, where it becomes highly contaminated.

“They keep saying they can do it, but they can’t,” Koizumi said. He went on to claim that Abe had been fooled by industry experts who claim that nuclear is the safest, cleanest and cheapest form of energy for resource-poor Japan.

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s Lawyer: Judge’s Ruling Allows Dakota Access to "Desecrate" Sacred Ground

Tribes Secure Limited Victory with Partial Halt on Dakota Pipeline

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Tuesday reportedly denied an emergency request for a restraining order filed by the Standing Rock Sioux, however, the hearing is being seen as a partial victory for the tribe.

In a press conference, a representative for the tribe explained that an "agreement" was reached, however, under which the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) company will not continue construction on the area east of North Dakota Highway 1806, which is under jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers, until Friday, when Boasberg is expected to issue his ruling on the preliminary injunction. The judge said he did not have jurisdiction to suspend activities on both sides of the highway.

In a statement, Standing Rock Sioux chairman David Archambault II said, "We are disappointed that the U.S. District Court’s decision does not prevent DAPL from destroying our sacred sites as we await a ruling on our original motion to stop construction of the pipeline."

hey #Obama yr silence is deafening the #DAPL issue tip of iceberg or do U prefer 2 protect #CorruptDNC financiers? pic.twitter.com/AjRwrOQrJw

— Tod Moore (@TodMoore3) September 7, 2016

As Dakota Access Pipeline Fight Grows, Where Are Obama and Clinton?

As one presidential candidate faces charges for spray-painting construction equipment at a Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protest on Tuesday, many are calling for President Barack Obama and White House hopeful Hillary Clinton to make clear their own opposition to the controversial project.

But whereas Stein has been clear in her opposition to DAPL (as has former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders), Obama and Clinton have been absent—even as resistance has grown to include Indigenous people from across the U.S. and activists face increasingly severe crackdowns.

Three weeks ago, journalist and Oglala Lakota Nation citizen Simon Moya-Smith called on Clinton to weigh in, writing:

[B]ack in February, the Clinton camp posted to its website the candidate's policy platform for Native Americans. In it, Clinton declares that she "will continue to stand for Tribal sovereignty and in support of Tribal resources and sacred sites."

Earlier this year, Clinton stumped in Indian country, vying for votes. But if she truly supports Native American sovereignty, and if she is sincere about honoring the treaties and protecting sacred sites, then she will take a stand against this ominous pipeline as well as the brazen violation of our treaty rights.

As for Obama, Moya-Smith wrote at the time,

two years ago, the President and first lady Michelle Obama visited the very same reservation being threatened by the pipeline today. They laughed and played with the children there at Standing Rock. They listened to the kids as they sang in ancient languages once outlawed by Christian invaders (popularly known as "settlers.") Will the Obamas now be silent at a time when those same children they so affectionately embraced need them most?

But on Tuesday, he noted that there has still been no word from Clinton or Obama.

Iowa Landowners Sue to Stop Dakota Access Construction, Say Pipeline Provides No Public Service

Congress remains deadlocked over $1.1bn Zika bill after seven-week break

As the US Congress returned to Washington on Tuesday after a seven-week recess, lawmakers remained at an impasse over funding to combat the Zika virus even after the mosquito-borne disease spread rapidly during the summer across Puerto Rico and a host of states across the US.

Democrats in the US Senate again blocked a measure that would provide $1.1bn in funding to tackle Zika, objecting to language inserted by House Republicans that would target Planned Parenthood, undermine healthcare and reverse a ban on flying the Confederate flag at veterans’ cemeteries. The 52-46 procedural vote marked the third time the bill had failed to garner the 60 votes required to advance, prompting a bipartisan blame game that has become par for the course on Capitol Hill.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said it was “hard to explain” why Democrats had blocked the funding, while his Democratic counterpart Harry Reid accused Republicans of being “more interested in attacking Planned Parenthood and flying the Confederate flag – can’t make this stuff up, that’s really the truth – than protecting women and babies from this awful virus”.

Also of Interest

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

A Pipeline Fight and America’s Dark Past

The Fracking of Conservation: State Wildlife Agencies Invite Oil and Gas Industry to Fund Wildlife Management

How Congress Makes Regular Taxpayers Foot the Bill for Oil Pipeline Fat Cats

A Good Beginning (to the End of Empire)

Colin Kaepernick and the Death of American Democracy

The Next President of the United States and the Economy

Beyond Bernie: The Hidden Potential of Progressive Third Parties

We're Losing Tens of Thousands of Black Teachers. Here's Why That’s Bad for Everyone.

The fight to stop weed legalization this November has begun

A Little Night Music

Wilbert Harrison - Cheating Baby

Wilbert Harrison - Near To You

Wilbert Harrison - Don't Drop It

Wilbert Harrison - 1960

Wilbert Harrison - Confessin' My Dream

Wilbert Harrison - The Way I Feel

Wilbert Harrison - Let's Work Together

Wilbert Harrison - Say It Again

Wilbert Harrison - Stagger Lee

Wilbert Harrison - Baby Don´t You Know