The Evening Blues - 11-30-15
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features delta bluesman Mississippi John Hurt. Enjoy!
Mississippi John Hurt - Spike driver blues
"Control of thought is more important for governments that are free and popular than for despotic and military states. The logic is straightforward: a despotic state can control its domestic enemies by force, but as the state loses this weapon, other devices are required to prevent the ignorant masses from interfering with public affairs, which are none of their business…the public are to be observers, not participants, consumers of ideology as well as products."-- Noam Chomsky
News and Opinion
What Foreign Policy “Debate” Means on “Face the Nation”
CBS’ Face the Nation is the most-watched Sunday morning news television show in the U.S., attracting roughly 3 million viewers each week. On this Sunday morning, the show is focused on foreign policy, as it interviews Ben Carson, Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham on the issues of ISIS and refugees. As it always does, the program has assembled a panel of “experts” to discuss those matters; one of them, Jeffrey Goldberg, proudly announced its composition this morning:
I'll be on @FaceTheNation this morning with @jdickerson, @MJGerson, @IgnatiusPost, and @Peggynoonannyc, so, watch, if that's your thing.
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) November 29, 2015
In addition to host John Dickerson and Goldberg himself, the rest of the panel is composed of former Bush 43 speechwriter and current Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, and former Bush 41 speechwriter and current Wall St. Journal columnist Peggy Noonan.
Aside from the glaring demographic homogeneity – all middle-aged-or-older white people who have spent their careers in corporatized Washington establishments – there is a suffocating ideological and viewpoint homogeneity on this panel as well, particularly when it comes to foreign policy. All of the panelists, for instance, were vocal, aggressive advocates of the invasion of Iraq (as were all three GOP presidential candidates featured on this morning’s show). ...
There is, needless to say, an enormous amount of viewpoint, experience and mentality homogeneity among these Face the Nation panelists extending far beyond their vocal enthusiasm for the attack on Iraq. The fact that the nation’s most watched Sunday morning news TV show convenes such similar “experts” to comment on foreign policy illustrates how illusory is the supposed “free debate” which establishment media outlets permit.
CNN reporter took orders from US State Dept
This article documents that attacks in Paris are imperial blowback for France, aided and abetted by Hillary Clinton.
How Gaddafi’s Ouster Unleashed Terror
The bloody terrorist attacks in Paris had their genesis not only in the poor Muslim suburbs of France and Belgium, and on the battlefields of Syria, but also in NATO’s operation to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The Libyan strongman gave the West fair warning at the time that his ouster would give an enormous boost to radical jihadists. Because no one in power listened, thousands have died in Libya, Syria, Iraq, Mali and now France.
Among the many extremist groups running wild in Libya today is the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL or Daesh). Headquartered in the city of Sirte — the late Col. Gaddafi’s hometown on the central Mediterranean coast —the ISIS colony now hosts as many as 3,000 foreign fighters who enforce their iron rule over a 150-mile stretch of the country’s coast. ISIS also has a strong presence in northeastern Libya, around the towns of Derna and Benghazi.
Since Gaddafi’s fall in 2011, Libya has exported thousands of its own extremists to support jihad in other countries. In Syria, one group of Libyan supporters of ISIS went by the name of Katibat al-Battar al Libi. One of its leaders was none other than Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected organizer of the recent Paris attacks. His connection to those Libyan fighters in Syria was first established back in January, before the killings in Paris, by Belgian researcher Pieter van Ostaeyen. ...
With the release of Hillary Clinton’s emails, we now know that she had learned from an adviser that France was stoking the uprising to impose a “new government of Libya to favor French firms and national interests, particularly regarding the oil industry in Libya.” France used humanitarian flights to shuttle executives from leading oil, construction and aerospace firms into the country to negotiate with the opposition so they could profit from the new order.
To this day, Clinton remains unapologetic about her strong advocacy of U.S. intervention. Yet Libya has become a lawless land fought over by 1,700 armed groups and militias. At least a third of the country’s population has been affected by the fighting and lacks adequate access to health services, according to the United Nations.
Blair and Bush went to war in Iraq despite South Africa's WMD assurances, book states
Tony Blair went to war in Iraq despite a report by South African experts with unique knowledge of the country that showed it did not possess weapons of mass destruction, according to a book published on Sunday.
God, Spies and Lies, by South African journalist John Matisonn, describes how then president Thabo Mbeki tried in vain to convince both Blair and President George W Bush that toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003 would be a terrible mistake.
Mbeki’s predecessor, Nelson Mandela, also tried to convince the American leader, but was left fuming that “President Bush doesn’t know how to think”. ...
South Africa had a special insight into Iraq’s potential for WMD because the apartheid government’s own biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programme in the 1980s led the countries to collaborate. The programme was abandoned after the end of white minority rule in 1994 but the expert team, known as Project Coast, was put back together by Mbeki to investigate the US and UK assertion that Saddam had WMD – the central premise for mounting an invasion.
Mbeki, who enjoyed positive relations with both Blair and Saddam, asked for the team to be granted access.
“Saddam agreed, and gave the South African team the freedom to roam unfettered throughout Iraq,” writes Matisonn, who says he drew on sources in Whitehall and the South African cabinet. “They had access to UN intelligence on possible WMD sites. The US, UK and UN were kept informed of the mission and its progress.” ... On their return, they reported that there were no WMDs in Iraq.
US knows ally Saudi Arabia is the source of terrorism : Disaster Capitalism author
John McCain and Lindsey Graham call for 20,000 troops in Syria and Iraq
Two senior senators called on Sunday for Washington to nearly triple military force levels in Iraq to 10,000 and send an equal number of troops to Syria as part of a multinational ground force to counter Islamic State in both countries.
Republicans John McCain and Lindsey Graham criticised Barack Obama’s incremental Islamic State strategy, which relies on airstrikes and modest support to local ground forces in Iraq and Syria, and said the need for greater US involvement was underlined by this month’s Paris attacks.
“The only way you can destroy the caliphate is with a ground component,” said Graham, who is seeking his party’s presidential nomination. “The aerial campaign is not turning the tide of battle.”
McCain, chairman of the Senate armed services committee, recently proposed intervention in Syria by a European and Arab ground force backed by 10,000 US military advisers and trainers.
On Sunday, he and Graham told reporters during a visit to Baghdad that US personnel could provide logistical and intelligence support to a proposed 100,000-strong force from Sunni Arab countries like Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Graham said special forces would also be included.
Kurdish fighters say US special forces have been fighting Isis for months
US denies peshmerga claims after Obama last year announced redeployment of 300 military advisers to Iraq, saying US combat troops would ‘not be fighting’
On a damp afternoon in Iraqi Kurdistan, a 29-year-old peshmerga fighter named Peshawa pulls out his Samsung Galaxy mobile phone, flicks hurriedly through his library until he finds the video he wants, and presses play.
The clip, filmed just after dawn on 11 September, shows four tall and western-looking men in the heat of a battle against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq. “These are the Americans,” says Peshawa in a secretive tone.
One is crouched behind a machine gun firing round after round from the top of a fortified mound; another lies on his front a few feet away, legs outstretched and taking aim at the enemy with a long rifle. A third wields a long-lens camera taking photo after photo, and the last stands back, apparently overseeing the others during the combat south-west of the city of Kirkuk.
The footage, Peshawa says, is evidence that US special forces have been waging a covert war on the frontline in Iraq for months. ... Having won election promising to end the Iraq war, however, the president has repeatedly insisted that he will not send back ground troops. In June last year he announced the redeployment of up to 300 military advisers there but pledged: “American combat troops are not going to be fighting in Iraq again.” ...
Yet in interviews with the Guardian, a dozen Kurdish fighters and commanders said that US special forces troops have been participating in operations against Isis for months.
Turkey will not apologise for shooting down Russian jet
Ankara will not apologise for downing a Russian fighter jet on the Syrian border but Moscow should reconsider retaliatory sanctions, the Turkish prime minister has said.
Ahmet Davutoğlu said: “Protection of our airspace, our border is not only a right but a duty for my government and no Turkish premier or president ... will apologise [for] doing our duty.”
Speaking on Monday, at a joint press conference with the Nato head, Jens Stoltenberg, Davutoğlu added that he hoped “Russia will reconsider these measures in both our interests”, referring to the sanctions that Moscow imposed after the shooting down of the jet last week.
“If the Russian side wants to talk, we are ready; if they want more information, we are ready; if they want to normalise relations, we are ready to talk,” he said.
Davutoğlu was speaking as the Kremlin said Vladimir Putin had rejected an invitation to meet his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on the sidelines of the Paris global climate conference.
An interesting historical tidbit in a longer article about the Turkish downing of a Russian plane:
Another Big Step to a Major War
The location of this Russo-Turkish clash was very interesting, though unnoted by western media. It occurred along the southern end of a small, narrow salient of Turkish territory jutting into Syria.
The Turkish territory in question is Hatay Province: it contains the former Crusader stronghold of Antioch and the important port of Iskenderun. Hatay has been the arena of military crises since the first recorded battle there in 853 BC.
Hatay belonged to historic Syria until detached after World War I by Syria’s French colonial masters and handed to Turkey in an attempt to bribe the Turks to become French allies. Syria has long demanded the return of Hatay.
This week’s clash over Hatay will likely revive Syrian demands for a return of Hatay. Turkey dismisses all Syrian claims. The groundwork has thus been laid for a new Syrian-Turkish conflict.
Israeli defence minister says Russian plane recently strayed into Israel from Syria but was not shot down thanks to communication systems
A Russian jet recently entered Israeli airspace but was not shot down thanks to an open communication system between the two countries, Israel’s defence minister has said, as tensions continued to flare between Ankara and Moscow after Turkish troops shot down a Russian warplane.
Israel’s defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, said the plane entered about one mile (1.5km) into Israeli airspace by mistake and immediately turned around back to Syria when the Russians were notified. ... Ya’alon said: “Russian planes don’t intend to attack us and therefore there is no need to automatically, even if there is some kind of mistake, shoot them down.”
Al-Qaeda Recaptures Aleppo Town From Syrian Army
Two weeks ago, the Syrian military had claimed a major early victory in their high-profile Aleppo Province offensive, seizing several towns include Tal Bajer. At the time, this was seen as a huge momentum shift as Russian warplanes backed the offensive.
This weekend, however, those gains are looking fleeting, as al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front has already retaken Tal Bajer and is looking to contest other towns in the area. Al-Qaeda released drone footage showing their forces advancing on the town in tanks.
First Muslim Member of U.S. Congress: Restrictions on Syrian Refugees Driven by Fear, Xenophobia
Bombing Syria: Thousands hit the streets in Europe
Thousands of people demonstrated in London and Madrid against the potential participation of their countries in air strikes in Syria, as political momentum grows to broaden the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
At least 5,000 people gathered in central London on Saturday carrying placards reading "Don't bomb Syria", "Drop Cameron, not bombs", and "Don't add fuel to the fire." ...
A parliamentary vote on bombing Syria is expected as early as this week, and many formerly reluctant politicians are thought to have changed their minds after the Paris attacks earlier this month.
Also on Saturday, about 5,000 people demonstrated against potential Spanish involvement in the conflict, with protesters chanting "No to war" outside the Reina Sofia museum in the capital Madrid.
Israel Suspends EU Role in Peace Process With Palestinians
Israel announced on Sunday it would suspend the European Union's role in the peace process with the Palestinians following its decision to explicitly label goods produced in israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The EU approved new guidelines last month stating that Israeli exporters sending products must explicitly label farm goods and cosmetics that come from settlements when they are sold in member states — a move officials said was technical, not political, but which was met with anger in Israel. Now the Israeli government is responding politically.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the foreign ministry to carry out "a reassessment of the involvement of EU bodies in everything that is connected to the diplomatic process with the Palestinians", a ministry statement said.
"Until completion of the reassessment, the Prime Minister has ordered a suspension of diplomatic contacts with the EU and its representatives in this matter."
NSA Authority to Collect Bulk Phone Metadata Expires
The National Security Agency no longer has legal authority to collect phone metadata in bulk as of midnight, Saturday, November 28. The executive branch previously claimed the government possessed such authority under Section 215 of 2001’s USA PATRIOT Act, which gave the FBI power to demand “any tangible things” needed “for an investigation to obtain foreign intelligence information.” The FBI was thus able to obtain the phone records of millions of Americans from U.S. telecommunications companies and turn them over to the NSA.
The executive branch will now be able to obtain phone metadata by asking the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to order telecommunications companies to turn over specific records.
Trial for Baltimore Police Officer Charged in Freddie Gray's Death Begins Today
The trial opens on Monday of a Baltimore police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, whose death from an injury while in police custody in April became a potent symbol of an ongoing debate in the US over police brutality.
Officer William Porter, 26, is the first of six officers scheduled for separate trials in Baltimore City Circuit Court for Gray's death. The trial will begin with jury selection. ...
Porter, who faces charges of second-degree assault, manslaughter, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment, could face more than 25 years in prison if he is convicted on all counts. He is accused of ignoring Gray's requests for medical aid and not putting a seatbelt on him, even though he was shackled and handcuffed.
Chicago Protesters Disrupt Black Friday to Demand Justice for Laquan McDonald
Activists are marching throughout Chicago on Friday to protest the police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald last year and the subsequent attempted cover-up of his death by city officials.
The protests, which began at 11:00am and are set to disrupt the retail bonanza of Black Friday in one of Chicago's biggest shopping districts, were organized after the release this week of a police dashcam video showing Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, firing 16 shots at the black teenager as he tried to walk away.
Actions began at Michigan Ave. and Wacker Drive and are poised to continue through the "Magnificent Mile" shopping district to disrupt and boycott retail activity.
"How many more videos?" the protesters chanted as they marched.
Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, which endorsed the protests, said Thursday, "When we take to the streets on Friday we will show the city that we intend to disrupt its economic center as we call on people of good will to join us in our fight for justice for Laquan and other victims of questionable and unjust police shootings in our city."
Eyewitness Recalls Shooting by Alleged White Supremacist at Minneapolis Black Lives Matter Protest
After Shooting, Anti-Choice Rhetoric Denounced for Creating Culture of Hate
Words matter.
That's what women's health and reproductive rights advocates are repeating in the wake of Friday's shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs that killed three people and left nine others injured.
"How we talk about abortion matters," wrote columnist Jessica Valenti at the Guardian on Sunday. "We know it, and anti-choice extremists and politicians know it... Do we really think that there are no consequences to claiming that abortion is murder, or that Planned Parenthood is an organization of money-hungry monsters selling baby parts?"
Those consequences, said Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains president and CEO Vicki Cowart immediately after the attack, include the creation of "a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country."
The alleged shooter, 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear, was arrested Friday after a five-hour standoff at the facility and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. While his motives are still under investigation, law enforcement sources say the suspect told police "no more baby parts" as he was taken into custody—an apparent reference to the anti-choice video smear campaign that began over the summer.
Vulture Capitalists Are the Real Winners of Argentina's Elections
Sooprise, Sooprise, Sooprise!
Koch “Alliance” on Criminal Justice Reform Exposed as Trojan Horse
The New York Times on Wednesday reported the shocking news that the “rare coalition” on criminal justice reform that included liberal groups and the right-wing billionaire Koch brothers is falling apart.
But as The Intercept’s Lee Fang wrote earlier this month, the ostensible alliance over liberalization of America’s criminal justice laws was based on a misunderstanding of the Koch brothers’ fundamental political goal.
That goal is, quite consistently, to advance their own corporate interests.
So, while the Kochs and the liberal groups used similar language in their critique of the criminal justice system, when it came down to actual legislation, the Kochs were focused on reducing criminal prosecutions of corporations, not people.
Koch and the House Republicans turned out to be pushing a bill that critics describe as a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for white-collar criminals.
Henry Giroux has some excellent analysis of Trump's totalitarian movement. It's well worth clicking the link to take in the full article.
Trump’s Embrace of Totalitarianism is America’s Dirty Little Secret
Business Mogul, reality TV star, and presidential candidate, Donald Trump recently mocked Serge Kovaleski, a New York Times investigative reporter with a disability, at a rally in South Carolina. This contemptuous reference to Kovaleski’s physical disability was morally odious and painful to observe, but not to comprehend, at least not politically. Trump is a hate-monger, and spreads his message without apology in almost every public encounter in which he finds himself.
Some reporters claim he stepped over the line with this act of reprehensible cruelty. That is only partly true. In this loathsome instance, he just expanded his hate-filled discourse, making clear his embrace of a politics founded on arrogance, cynicism, unchecked wealth, and a deeply ingrained racism. In actuality, he stepped over the line the moment he announced his candidacy for the presidency and called Mexican immigrants violent rapists, gang members, and drug dealers. Or for that matter when he called, along with other right-wing extremists, to put refugees in detention centers and create a data base for them. These comments sound eerily close to SS (SS chief) Heinrich Himmler’s call for camps that held prisoners under orders of what euphemistically called “protective custody. To quote the Holocaust Encyclopedia:
In the earliest years of the Third Reich, various central, regional, and local authorities in Germany established concentration camps to detain political opponents of the regime, including German Communists, Socialists, trade unionists, and others from left and liberal political circles. In the spring of 1933, the SS established Dachau concentration camp, which came to serve as a model for an expanding and centralized concentration camp system under SS management.
What is truly sad, dangerous, and even cowardly is how few people along with the corporate media and his intellectual defenders recognize that Trump is symptomatic of the brutal seeds of totalitarianism now being cultivated in American society. Donald Trump represents more than the anti-democratic practices and antics of Joe McCarthy.
On the contrary, he signifies how totalitarianism can mutate and take different forms in specific historical moments. Rather than being dismissed as a wild-card in American politics, it is crucial to recognize that Trump’s popularity represents a dangerous “political space…in both the wider culture and in recent history.” This is evident not only in his race baiting, but in his increasing support for violence against protesters at his rallies, and his call to “make American great again” by any means necessary, none of which is new to American society.
Who is Supporting Trump?
Coal CEO Thanks Lamar Smith, Asks Him to Expand Probe of Climate Scientists
In recent remarks Robert E. Murray, the chief executive officer of Murray Energy, the largest privately held coal mining company in America, enthusiastically praised Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, for leading an investigation into prominent climate scientists and environmental officials.
Since assuming the chairmanship of the House Science Committee, Smith has led a series of attacks on the scientific consensus around global warming, including hearings at which Smith and other GOP lawmakers berated officials involved in creating climate policy. Smith has also proposed legislation to create political criteria for studies funded by the National Science Foundation and to cut the budgets of scientists involved in climate research.
In recent months, Smith has adopted more aggressive tactics. In June, NOAA scientists published a study in the peer-reviewed journal Science that refutes claims that global warming has “paused” or slowed down, a popular argument among climate change deniers, including Smith. In response, Smith issued subpoenas to the scientists who participated in the study, as well as to NOAA director Kathryn Sullivan.
Smith’s subpoena goes beyond scientific data and asks for all “communications between or among employees.” Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, the ranking Democrat on the committee, charged Smith of “furthering a fishing expedition.”
Japan Is Back to Killing Whales in the Name of Research
Japan is preparing to send its whaling fleet on an expedition on Tuesday, despite protestations from anti-hunting groups and Australia's environment minister who say that it is not necessary to kill whales in the name of research.
The expedition will take place in the Antarctic and will last three months. In a statement, Japan's Fisheries Agency said that 333 Antarctic minke whales would be captured and killed, though non-lethal research would also be carried out.
This comes after a year-long cessation in whale-killing, following a ruling by the United Nations's International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Japan must cease its whaling programs, which Australia argued were just commercial whaling in disguise.
The Australian Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt posted a statement on his website responding to the new mission, saying: "The Australian Government has made repeated representations at the highest level to urge Japan not to resume whaling this year.
Thousands Defy Paris State of Emergency, Protest Ban to Sound the Alarm on Global Climate Crisis
People's Global Climate March 2015: Taking to the Streets for Our Future
On the biggest day of climate change activism ever seen worldwide, millions of of people are joining in on Sunday, at more than 2,500 events all around the globe, using people power to put pressure on world leaders to unite in fighting global warming at the COP21 summit opening in Paris on Monday.
Over 20,000 pairs of shoes were laid out in the Place de la Republique in Paris to symbolize absent marchers after France banned Sunday's march that was meant to be at the heart of the global action.
#PopeFrancis has joined thousands of other soles in the #Paris #ClimateMarch
#ParisClimateConference pic.twitter.com/JSPOjJ5r08— VaticanCommunication (@PCCS_VA) November 30, 2015
France Uses ISIS Emergency Laws to Arrest Climate Activists
In just a blink of a tear, France has twisted its new powers designed to fight ISIS into a tool of repression against climate change activists. Any more transparent and the whole thing would look like Miley Cyrus’ underwear.
At least 24 activists who advocate for climate change have been placed under “house arrest” ahead of United Nations talks in Paris. France used emergency laws that were implemented after the Paris shootings to arrest the green campaigners, the French government confirmed on Saturday.
Activist Naomi Klein said French leaders are carrying out “a gross abuse of power that risks turning the summit into a farce.” Hearing the voice of activists is important at an event where lots of world leaders will be present, she added. “Climate summits are not photo opportunities to boost the popularity of politicians. That is democracy, messy as it may be. The French government, under cover of anti-terrorism laws, seems to be trying to avoid this, shamefully banning peaceful demonstrations and using emergency powers to preemptively detain key activists.”
Naomi Klein on Paris Summit: Leaders' Inaction on Climate Crisis is "Violence" Against the Planet
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Chris Hedges: The Age of the Demagogues
How the Gates Foundation Reflects the Good and the Bad of “Hacker Philanthropy”
70,000 Kalashnikovs: Cameron’s “Moderate” Rebels
Ex-US Intelligence Chief on Islamic State's Rise: 'We Were Too Dumb'
How the US started to break its fossil fuel addiction – 12 steps in 50 years
Here’s What We Saw at the Huge London Protest Demanding Action on Climate Change
What Are the Only 3 States That Score Higher Than a D+ in the Corruption Index?
A Little Night Music
Mississippi John Hurt - Make Me a Pallet on the Floor
Mississippi John Hurt - Lonesome Valley
Mississippi John Hurt - I shall not be moved
Mississippi John Hurt - My Creole Belle
Mississippi John Hurt - Avalon Blues
Mississippi John Hurt - Candy Man Blues
Mississippi John Hurt - Cocaine Blues
Mississippi John Hurt - Poor Boy, Long Ways from Home
Mississippi John Hurt - Louis Collins
Mississippi John Hurt - The Chicken
Mississippi John Hurt - Stackolee
Mississippi John Hurt - Salty Dog Blues
Comments
Former highest ranking military official:Bush cause ISIS
link
he also unloads on Obama.
Great links, thanks. FWIW Bush's name came up in Paris
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
evening do...
i hope all is going well for you guys and you're getting settled back in.
i found a new favorite quote about shrub today while surfing for news:
Okay, sorry, we laughed out loud.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
if there were just footage for this ... :-) /nt
https://www.euronews.com/live
ABC played a particularly suspect role in promoting war on Iraq
From Variety (yes, the show business newspaper) in 2008:
ABC and the Anthrax Scare
There's a lesson here that always has to be kept in mind. It doesn't matter how "reputable" and "major" news organizations are — in any particular case, it is still possible that what they are promoting is a lie and a fabrication from start to finish.
Hey joe glad you made it through the long weekend
Thinking of the country's obsession with turkey over the weekend Jakkalbessie was chuckling at her laptop, and when i asked what was up she said it was post showing a picture of a bear 'saying' something : 'black, white, brown, muslim, christian, jew -- all taste like chicken.'
RE: your feature on Syria bombing protests, was good to see what happened in UK
Nice to see they are still putting things to a vote over there. We just get the memo after its a done deal?
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
evening do...
yep, i survived turkey, relatives, kids, dogs and projects around the house requiring multiple trips to the hardware store. it was a great thanksgiving.
yeah, it's funny, congress allegedly has the constitutional duty to determine when the united states will defend itself by putting the military in the field. oddly, the cart seems to get before the horse a lot. somebody ought to do something about that.
Really do appreciate your work here, and thankful
you had a great weekend and even got responsible and all!
We passed up invites to family gatherings in TX, just wanted to get back 'home' to our place here in SFNM, and veg and regroup.
We have been unpacking, cooking, paying bills, planning next year's air miles trips, evaluating our lifestyle, catching up on the news, very thankful to still be alive. A few health issues here and there but went to a yoga class today and stretched out a great deal of the kinks from the last four months. Great stuff.
We, as all addicts, struggle with drug of choice (travel) and its nasty carbon footprint . Right now Jakkalbessie has been plugging in numbers to this found via a page reccd for us by FB (whooboy) UN CarbonMechs FB page.
(Apparently that is short for United National Climate Change Carbon Mechanisms, web page http://cdm.unfccc.int/)
Anyway, we have seen pros and cons on climate credits idea but decided to take a look at this as a way to think more deeply about our life.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
When I say I spent alone on Thanksgiving/Christmas,
people feel scandalised. Even more, they feel perplexed when I say I don't mind being alone rather with incompatible company, and that I appreciate solitude having experienced bad company. It is not a choice to be alone on such occasions - sometimes I am with a friend/their family and go out to eat, or go out for a walk or get-together in our homes informally - whatever works out. Or be alone, have a good sleep and do things lazily. It is as simple as that. but the way it makes some people go into a tizzy , ZOMFG! Some people in a well-intentioned way, invite me even if we are acquaintances - like one of my neighbors or some colleagues of mine. But with mostly a group of strangers, it could go either way - we may or may not click. Plus if it is in the burbs, people have to give me a ride and I will be stuck till the time someone is able to drop me back (and imagine if I feel bored with the group). I don't dismiss the loneliness of some on such days for whatever reasons - one of my buddies don't like to gather with his Christian fundie family and he is dead against celebrating Thanksgiving but he is coerced into it. There are some in our building whose family live far away and they couldn't afford to fly etc etc.
Heh, guess I'll stick my neck out and try to post a photo
During our month camping in Kruger National Park we met a number of South African campers who told us how sugar mills adjacent to the park and in other areas of the country had halted production due to drought, laying off many, which added to the overall problems in their economy. Last I read about it was Bloomberg article that was sobering.
Some 40ish white South African camper couples who were in law and tech management (who were pleased and a bit stunned that we were so obsessed with their national park that we had been there 5 times and stayed for a month during four of those) invited us to a braai . Braai is a seriously BFD in that country, as is Rugby and Football. After quite a few drinks of wine and beer and some awesome food and such they shared their frustration with the continual rise in crime in the country and crony corruption in the government, at one point saying that the corruption could go on if they would do something about the crime.
Would so hate to see the drought cause the fragile civil society in South Africa to go the way of Syria...
CNN:
Klein: War, terrorism & climate change are connected
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
good job posting the photos!
that photo of the jackal is really nice. i saw a story about a dog-sized dinosaur that was recently discovered. for some reason hyenas have always made me think of dinosaurs.
Thanks. From the safety of our little rental
car we have gotten to observe quite a few closely. Dinosaurs, can see that, what about aliens !!!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Great pics. The 2nd one - is he/she getting ready to
run or poop? I guess it is the 2nd one, Lolz ! Superb timing.
Heehee, yah, but think that tail raising is some form
of aggression signaling. We have seen a couple of very big ones dong that badass loping run barring their teeth and raising the spreaded tail , but we don't pretend to be very knowledgeable about them.
We came upon one very early one morning as it was tracking down beside a dirt roadside, sniffing, then right when we got close it squatted and sprayed a plant, then turned and looked us right in the eye. Quickly rolled up the window.
We thought 'well marking territory', but then one night in the electric fenced rest camp they were showing a vid on the relationship between hyenas and lions and from what we saw it was marking that it had found lion scent.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Hey Joe and Gang! Hard to compete with do's beautiful
photography, but a quick (friendly) drive-by to post a link about the former, or current--depending upon how you look at it, I suppose--TFA'er (Teach For America), Mr. DeRay McKesson.
Here's a brief blurb and link to WD's original post at the café babylon. (Folks might remember that I thought, from my reading, that this dude might not be all that he was 'cracked up to be.')
Apparently, I'm in good company.
Please, Everyone, take time to read Drew Franklin's excellent exposé.
Hope you and your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Joe. Noticed that you've been a bit scarce, so figured that you did.
Have a nice evening, Bluesters!
Mollie
"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare."--Japanese Proverb
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Hey there Mollie, thanks for kudos, but, gah
the charter movement, Reach For America'spocketbooks, all of it makes an old recovery public school educator like myself want to hurl. Was none to happy to see HRC who seams to be up with all of the above get early endorsement from national educator organizations....
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
De nada, do. Your wildlife photos are such a treat! Yea,
it made me sick, too.
But, having seen AFT (Union) Prez Randi Weingarten on C-Span numerous times, I wasn't particularly surprised. She's always appeared to be a part of the so-called 'Clinton Machine.' (IMO)
Have a good one!
Mollie
"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare."--Japanese Proverb
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Thanks, you too! Hey though of you
when we were reviewing past emails from Texas Retired Teachers Association.
TRTA Members Push Congress to Act on Medicare B Premium Hike
Think we might have been in Madagascar when checked in on Evening Blues and seem to remember you commenting about what was going on, then later reading something about it at dkos. Did you know that 90% plus of Texas teachers work in districts who opted out of Social Security and Medicare. We taught in Austin which was one of the small percentage that voted to pay in to both SS and TRS. These medicare cuts push us closer to disaster as your hard work often points out. This country is in for some tragic times with such huge numbers coming very quickly to poverty and lack of health care?
Somehow I was looking for news and info on Medicare when up pops an article posted recently by Kos re the turd way which really turned my stomach.
Hillary!
I have followed this from afar and know that HRC's plan to help women would open up means testing. Not too totally sure about Bernie's plan but have to admit I am far too ignert about something my whole life right now depends on.
The Third Way. Hillary Clinton. As an antidote, guess its time for me to check in on what Jill Stein is up to.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
I 'think' that FSC's Soc Sec expansion ideas are ones
that most Dem Senators support. The only difference is that she is stating her support for them, as a 'pander' to women.
I'll come back to this comment later, and expound on the two proposals that I 'believe' that she's referring to. At least one of them is a Bowles-Simpson policy proposal.
Of course, she seems to be against lifting the 'earnings cap.' Actually, I'm pretty sure that most corporatist Democrats are against this proposal--except at election time.
(Excluding Bernie. Frankly, I think that quite a few Dem Senators are cynical opportunists on this issue. They have mostly been outspoken in their support, AFTER they lost the Senate. IOW, they advocate for it when they know it can't pass.)
Later this week, I'll try to round up a blurb on the actual policies that I'm alluding to. I'm a bit pushed to dig it up, this evening, but it's worth putting out there for discussion. Personally, I take everything she says with a gigantic boulder of salt!!!
'M'
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Just posted a comment on van Jones and have to wonder
if he McKesson are all cut from the same cloth? Very saavy etc etc with lot of charisma..... but then diffuse populist outrage safely into electoral politics or whatever.
Hey, FG, my 'guess' is yes--McKesson's the same as Jones. ;-) NT
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
seams or hurling
As an older in experience public school educator, I also hurl but I was none to happy to see HRC who seems not seams..............
small thing but in my days of public education I would put out a memo about upcoming event, the English teachers loved to correct, proof, and send back to me! Can't help myself!
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
evening mollie...
thanks for the interesting investigative article about deray mckesson and tfa. i thought rania khalek's comment at the end was really spot on.
you might be interested in this article from tonight's "blog posts of interest" about the way that rich investor-types have been using "philanthropy" for devious purposes including creating the charter school movement.
Thank you, Joe. It is not only interesting, but oh so true--the
billionaire class, and millionaires, to some extent, want to blame 'everything but poverty' for so-called failing schools/communities.
Guess this is a reflexive response to ward off any suggestion(s) that they should pay more in taxes, Heaven Forbid!
Hey, another excellent roundup, this evening.
Thank you!
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 Joe & C99%-ers.
Good roundup Joe. Haven't gone thru most of the links yet, lots of good reading for later hours it seems.
It seems Van Jones was a sucker for aligning with Kochs on prison reform? I was impressed years back but then Thomas Friedman's endorsement of his book on Green collar economy bothered me (not to deny there might be good things in the book to my liking). And now this....
evening funkygal...
i don't know if van jones is a sucker, or a fellow traveller, frankly. there's something about him that has always set off my alarms. that aside, for crying out loud - aligning with the kochs? c'mon, really?
those fuckers have no interests in common with decent people.
Nice to see compassion from
my rep Keith Ellison. Reminder : he supported military intervention in Syria. So I suppose this is out of guilt among other factors, assuming he is capable of it. That, C99%-ers, is what passes for the leader of the Congressional "Progressive Caucus". When I mention to people about his warmongering credentials(he also cheered the Libyan War) in our city, people get shocked.
there is nobody "progressive" enough for the times...
in congress. there is not a single one of the 535 legislators in washington that is willing to stand up to the military-industrial complex and the corporations that profit from imperialism to stop the lunacy that is destroying our country and our world.
they all need to go.
Hey Joe.
armoryoftherevolution.wordpress.com/...
Why Progressives Should Vote For The Republican If Hillary Is Nominated
It makes quite the case against Hillary and for a GOP vote. Thought you all might find it interesting.
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
Sho, I'll look at it. What clusterbomb of a title
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
I am on my phone. It is difficult. N.t
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
No, I meant the content of the title not
about the partial link.
Did search and easily found the article.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
There you go, big job ahead.
a person who used to comment on EB was commenting about leaving if Trump or any of the other facists are elected. We were just in 7 African and Western European countries , and earlier this year in Costa Rica. All of these have their own problems and will be completely overwhelmed by the fail or success that emanates from here. That, plus the fact that my mother and Jakkalbessie's father are still alive keeps us here. But your comment is sad but true.
Curious , would love to know if you would have noted Kucinich as an exception back in the day?
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Decided to check on news of DK and found Scheer just int
interviewed DK
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/audio_robert_scheer_and_dennis_kuci...
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
She is BAAAAA.......CKKKKKKKKKKK ! One of my favorite
writers Arundhati Roy. And in "style" - visiting Snowden in the esteemed company of Daniel Ellsberg and John Cusack who prodded her and arranged the trip. 4 part :
http://www.outlookindia.com/article/things-that-can-and-cannot-be-said/2...
http://www.outlookindia.com/article/we-brought-you-the-promise-of-the-fu...
http://www.outlookindia.com/article/things-that-can-and-cannot-be-said-c...
http://www.outlookindia.com/article/what-shall-we-love/295799
Some snippets from the above which reminds me
why she is my all time favorite (along with Eduardo Galeano) :
And there is much more. I haven't read a lot about Ellsberg so I found interesting insights on him. And Snowden as always, the guy who is supposedly "mentally unstable" according to TPTB.
There is this about the psycho Robert McNamara :
I think I'll look for good things
sometimes I get tired of all this negativity. It's easy to be negative, of course. Hollande is another pretender. They're all bad!
Anyway, it'll be like an Easter egg hunt. I know there's good stuff hidden somewhere!
evening shahryar...
when i get to feeling like i can't maintain my equilibrium, i go on a news fast for a weekend. the world's in a tangle and there's a lot negative going on, but what's important (in my view) is not the force of awful, but the counterforce. for example, inside all of those awful stories i posted about police brutality and assassinations of unarmed black people are stories of often fragmented, under-resourced communities coming together and standing up, demanding the system respond and respect their rights. and they are making some much-belated headway.
So are people globally
I read and watched how people globally responded to the climate change summit. It gave me hope on one side and was so depressing on the so called world leader authoritarian side. I was moved to tears with the human chain, the shoe project and the marcher's everywhere, including the French people who had the courage to defy the ban on marching. The inability to connect the dots between the war on terra and climate change blows my mind. Obomber was disgusting and his reference to 9/11, Paris, and 'terrist's are gonna kill yer family' made me sick. On the other hand if you can manage to sort out the propaganda and pig ignorant sheeple responses you do find that humans globally are not buying the bs. the pols and the media pump out.
Under-resourced people make up the bulk of humanity. The vandals stole the handles and thank god for the net, I read the news daily and not the 'all the news that's unfit to publish' variety. I have no problem with my equilibrium it's intact. It's the non reality of this whole cloth fiction that a large percentage of humans, especially here in the US buy, into that freaks me out. Thank you and other here for publishing some real news. Might be depressing but hey it's better to know what your really dealing with then sticking your head in the sand and buying into the evil fuck's version of reality.
But I just had to look....
Great comment. Mr, I get almost clinically depressed
from it all sometimes, and am inexcusably angry and even get mean. Jakkalbessie quotes our friend and massage therapist who says to step away from the machine and reclaim your peace . Good advice?
When we are off, as someone said, ' following along behind the little animals' I forget it all and easily focus and celebrate the majesty and wonder that is life. Disappearing , but still, awe inspiring.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Another day in the Merkan Demockery and another radical
anti-choice White Domestic Terrorist guns down people. And we are supposed to be afraid of Islamic terrorism or Syrian refugees?
I have been making a list of all things the macho conservatives are afraid of :
"creeping Sharia law"/all things Muslims
refugees
Feminazis
GLBT people
Socialism
lady parts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdTkY_0inbM - a classic comical takedown by Alyona Minkovski back when was hosting a show on RT)
What else? I am sure there are lots of them.
Oh dear ! NYT has a sad and tries to "humanise" the
White radical terrorist :
http://fair.org/home/in-new-york-times-blue-eyes-wince-and-cloud-at-the-...
wow...
i'm going to have to look at what they wrote about anwar and abdulrahman al-awlaki.
Thanks again, but new to game
Thanks for all your stories as usual! Still new to the site and trying to learn all the ins and outs. Almost back to normal in the household and getting back into our exercise routine. Sorry that things have not magically gotten better but understand must do my part to do what I can. Anyway thanks for the blues and waiting to see what the new name will be!
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
afternoon jb...
glad to hear that everything is falling into place at home. if you have any questions about how things work here, just speak up, we're happy to help.
Thanks, Joe. Why do the western governments
require pundits to point out that imperialism driven regime change never works? How can it be that all of our citizens and leaders are such dimwits?
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 --
yes...
dimwits
the question of questions, no matter the content, why oh why? Pretenders of faith, lords of gold, men of no consequence and evil ones ruling instead of peace and loving genes, people, ordinary people, people.
>3
Hey, Smiley--welcome back! Thought you
must have expatriated.
"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.
Good to read
you again smiley7. Welcome back missed you.
smiley!
it's great to see you! i hope that all has been well.
i've always thought that the popular opinion of mankind as being composed of intelligent mammals lends itself to an interpretation that greatly overrates the collective intellect.
Hey smiley!
great so see you made it back from Europe, old chap. Anything exciting happen? Welcome back, my friend.
afternoon el...
i blame it on the teevee.
Jeremy Corbyn 'Systematically' Attacked By British Press
more hippie punching
Trump could charge networks $5 million for appearance
…on future Republican primary debate.
He may or may not be serious about this, but I know that is generally his foreign policy position on using the Navy to guard global trading routes. The world has to start paying for US military presence and protection. No more free ride. They have to pay American taxpayers for US military intervention, as well.
Now that's the kind of free market I can support.
IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"
Who the heck is supplying Al Qaeda and allies with *tanks*?
Tanks require constant maintenance and guzzle huge amounts of fuel. What model tanks are these? In what country were they made? The tanks are in a video, they should be easy to identify. Furthermore, these days movements of tanks are also easily followed with satellite pictures and drones, of which the U.S. and NATO have plenty.
Let's face it, if Al Qaeda or other ISIS think-alikes have tanks, it's because some set of NATO higher-ups want them to have tanks.
afternoon lotlizard...
if i remember correctly, a bunch of tanks were captured by isis in iraq along with all of the other military gear that they picked up from the fleeing iraqi army that the us trained so well for so long.
11:30 pm, and I still haven't got done all I should have today.
Hi, joe!
The Iraqi army conveniently ran away which they were then very tank-full for, on the Sunni side of the street.