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This evening's music features blues slide guitarist and singer from Texas, Black Ace. Enjoy!

“The words consent of the governed have become an empty phrase. Our textbooks on political science and economics are obsolete. Our nation has been hijacked by oligarchs, corporations, and a narrow, selfish, political, and economic elite, a small and privileged group that governs, and often steals, on behalf of moneyed interests. This elite, in the name of patriotism and democracy, in the name of all the values that were once part of the American system and defined the Protestant work ethic, has systematically destroyed our manufacturing sector, looted the treasury, corrupted our democracy, and trashed the financial system. During this plundering we remained passive, mesmerized by the enticing shadows on the wall, assured our tickets to success, prosperity, and happiness were waiting around the corner.”

-- Chris Hedges

News and Opinion

Yes:

The Lies at the Heart of Our Dying Order

One should understand why people have lost trust in experts, the media, and politicians.

It is not difficult, it is the same reason people lost faith in Soviet Communism: Promises were made that turned out to be lies, those promises were not kept.

Soviet Communism was supposed to lead to a cornucopia and a withering away of the state. Instead it lead to a police state and a huge drought of consumer goods, and often enough, even food. Communism failed to meet its core promises.

The world order we live in was born in 1979 or 1980, with Thatcher and Reagan. It made a few core promises:

• If the rich have more money, they will create more jobs.
• Lower taxes will lead to more prosperity.
• Increases in housing and stock market prices will increase prosperity for everyone.
• Trade deals and globalization will make everyone better off.

The above core promises all turned out to be lies. It’s that simple. For the last 40-odd years, most of the population experienced either stagnation or decline.

This is the reason why people are going for “fake news.” This is why people are willing to listen to demagogues. This is why people don’t trust the press–and why should they? The press has lied to them repeatedly, it is the original fake news. This is why people don’t listen when hundreds of economists say Brexit is bad–why should they? Most economists missed the housing bubble.

Neoliberalism has discredited everyone who bought in to it. Who didn’t buy into it? Well, the hard left and what people are now calling the “alt-right.”

So people are turning in those directions, though more to the right. Because people are ideologically and identity driven, and most are not intellectuals, what they look for are signifiers that someone is not like the people who screwed them, who lied to them for 40 years.

Pentagon Memo Shows Trump Not Seeking Military Confrontation With Russia

A newly released memo from outgoing Undersecretary of Defense Brian McKeon to other officials within his office detailed the defense priorities of the incoming Trump Administration. Little focus among analysts was given to the priorities listed, instead focusing on the absence of Russia as a target.

This is already provoking criticism from some hawkish analysts, despite President-elect Trump repeatedly indicating over the last several months that he seeks improved diplomatic ties with Russia and thought it would “be nice” for the US and Russia to cooperate in fighting ISIS.

It would seem unsurprising, then, that the memo set out fighting and destroying ISIS as his top priority. The memo also said the administration wants to eliminate spending caps on the military to increase its overall size, to develop a “comprehensive” cyber-war strategy, and to generally find ways to improve efficiency. ...

Trump’s priorities begin and end with ISIS, with the memo also mentioning in passing briefings on China and North Korea, but not including them on the list itself. This may reflect Trump’s comments since the election, which have faulted the US as having a “policy of intervention and chaos” around the world, and needing to focus more narrowly on ISIS and not “fighting in areas that we shouldn’t be fighting in.”

Pro-Govt Turkish Media Blames CIA for Russian Ambassador’s Assassination

Last summer’s failed military coup in Turkey gave a lot of momentum to the idea of conspiratorial plots against Turkey, centering at the time on the government blaming exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen, and officials in the government treating the Obama Administration’s refusal to extradite Gulen as evidence of US involvement.in the plot, with most media reports speculating the CIA played a role.

That carried over into yesterday’s assassination of Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov in Ankara. All it took was a little baseless speculation by Ankara’s mayor that the assassin, a Turkish riot police officer, was in league with Gulen, to set pro-government media outlets to work.

Major newspapers like Yeni Safak are not just blaming Gulen for the assassination, but accusing the CIA of being behind the plot. Naturally, no evidence exists to support any of this speculation, but after the coup purge of most of the reporters in Turkey willing to question official narrative, it can be expected to remain unquestioned fact.

The assassination of the Russian ambassador is the latest sign Turkey is becoming weaker and more unstable

The assassination of the Russian ambassador to Ankara by a 22-year-old riot policeman underlines the degree to which Turkey is being destabilised by the hatred and violence spreading from the wars in Syria. Spectacular killings and bombings are happening every few days in which the identity, affiliations or motives of the perpetrators are often in doubt because the attacks are a reflection of the multiple crises threatening to tear Turkey apart. ...

The international media has generally focused on his shout “Don’t forget Aleppo! Don’t forget Syria!” This fits in with a simple narrative that a lot of Turks are enraged by Russia’s support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and for his recapture of east Aleppo. Maybe one of them decided to do something about it.

But these cries were not the killer’s first words after he had fired the fatal shots and may not have been the most significant. These were in Arabic and spoke of those “who give Mohammed our allegiance for jihad,” suggesting that the speaker had moved in jihadi circles in Turkey. ...

What is not in doubt is that Turkey is becoming a more violent place and a weaker power. In the last 10 days alone the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or one of its offshoots have killed 58 people, mostly soldiers and police in carefully planned bomb attacks. The political leaders of the Kurdish minority, an estimated 14 per cent of the 80 million Turkish population, are being charged with terrorist offences for expressing even the mildest form of dissent. The same may be starting to happen to the Alevi who make up a further 15 per cent of the population. The failed military coup of 15 July provoked a purge of soldiers, civil servants, universities and media suspected of Gulenist connections with more than 100,000 sacked or suspended and 37,000 arrested. There is a continuing state of emergency and the purge has extended well beyond suspected Gulenists to include anybody critical of Mr Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Keiser Report: Putin, Hacking & Conspiracy

Russia Report: Foreign Services Launching Cyber-Attacks Following US Elections

The Russian Federal Security Bureau (FSB) has issued a new report today reporting that the nation is facing a series of preliminary cyber-attacks by foreign spy services, setting the scale for what are expected to be “large-scale cyber attacks.”

The report, issued through the Institute for National Securities Studies, says that they have evidence of plans to mass release provocative SMS-messages and statements on social media mocking the “Crisis of credit and the financial system in Russia,” after cyber-attacks badly destabilize the nation’s financial system.

Russian banks were targeted in a coordinated DDoS attack in November, around the US election. The hacking attacks overloaded some of the banks’ websites temporarily, but largely did not do serious harm, and was quickly forgotten.

Berlin attack: European arrest warrant issued for Tunisian suspect

German authorities have issued a European arrest warrant for a Tunisian man with alleged ties to Islamic extremists who has been identified as a suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack that killed 12 people on Monday.

The wanted notice, obtained by the Associated Press, says Anis Amri should be considered armed and dangerous and appears to have used six different aliases and three different nationalities.

Amri is being sought in Germany and across Europe’s border-free travel zone, the interior minister, Thomas de Maizière, said after briefing parliament’s domestic affairs committee. He stressed: “This is a suspect, not necessarily the perpetrator. We are still investigating in all directions.”

US Announces End to Anti-ISIS Campaign in Libya

A new statement from US Africa Command (Africom) has declared the US military campaign against ISIS in Libya to be “concluded,” following the fall of the last ISIS territory in the city of Sirte in recent weeks. 495 airstrikes were launched over the course of the conflict. ...

Despite nominally presenting the conflict as “over,” Africom’s statement also promised to continue US military involvement in Libya to help the “unity government” fight against ISIS across the country. In effect, they are just rebranding it as something short of a full military campaign.

Moving US embassy to Jerusalem could provoke violent 'chaos', experts warn

Donald Trump’s plan to move the Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would be a “game changer”, according to diplomats, as senior Palestinian officials warn that the move could provoke regional violence.

Criticised by international legal experts, analysts and former senior US officials, the proposal has heightened concern over what the president-elect’s policies would mean for an already moribund Israel-Palestine peace process and the future of a two-state solution.

In recent days, potential officials with the incoming administration have repeatedly made clear Trump’s desire to relocate the embassy early in his presidency.

Chelsea Manning's Attorney: "Her Life Depends on Obama Taking Action Now"

EU's highest court delivers blow to UK snooper's charter

“General and indiscriminate retention” of emails and electronic communications by governments is illegal, the EU’s highest court has ruled, in a judgment that could trigger challenges against the UK’s new Investigatory Powers Act – the so-called snooper’s charter.

Only targeted interception of traffic and location data in order to combat serious crime – including terrorism – is justified, according to a long-awaited decision by the European court of justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg.

The finding came in response to a legal challenge initially brought by the Brexit secretary, David Davis, when he was a backbench MP, and Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, over the legality of GCHQ’s bulk interception of call records and online messages.

Davis and Watson, who were supported by Liberty, the Law Society, the Open Rights Group and Privacy International, had already won a high court victory on the issue, but the government appealed and the case was referred by appeal judges to the ECJ. The case will now return to the court of appeal to be resolved in terms of UK legislation.

Free Leonard Peltier: Obama Urged to Grant Clemency to Native American Activist

Trump protesters plan to open 'movement house' in Washington DC

A group of millennial activists from across the country plan to open a “movement house” in Washington DC next month, which will serve as a permanent base to protest Donald Trump’s presidency.

The organizers are mostly women of color, many of whom campaigned for Bernie Sanders during the Democratic primary.

The house, which will be set up by inauguration day on 20 January, has been dubbed “District 13”, in a reference to a rebellious neighborhood in the Hunger Games books and films.

Activists told the Guardian that it will serve as a “space for the best kinds of troublemakers from around the country”. The property will be located in Capitol Hill, close to the White House and the Capitol building, and will enable activists to quickly mobilize against Trump should he court controversy during his presidency.

“Ultimately it’s to make sure we hold him accountable,” said Moumita Ahmed, the founder of Millennials for Revolution, a group which span off from the Bernie Sanders-supporting Millennials for Bernie. ...

The groups launched a crowdfunding effort on Tuesday to support District 13. They aim to reach $50,000, which will cover the house’s rent for one year.

'Cautionary Tale' for Nation Under Trump as Texas Targets Planned Parenthood

Texas is moving to cut off Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding, despite a recent federal order that forbids states from doing just that.

State health officials on Tuesday delivered a final legal notice to defund the healthcare organization from the funds it receives through Title X, the federal program that gives financial support to groups providing family planning and preventive services to low-income patients.

The Texas Tribune, which obtained the statement, reports that funding is due to be shut off in 30 days.

Planned Parenthood said it would challenge the order in court rather than seek an administrative hearing with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to try to delay the cut-off deadline.

At stake is about $4 million a year in federal funds.

"Texas is a cautionary tale for the rest of the nation," Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards said in a statement. "With this action, the state is doubling down on reckless policies that have been absolutely devastating for women." ...

Federal officials warned that the move could violate federal law. Earlier this month, the White House issued a final rule that blocks states from cutting off funding to Planned Parenthood or other abortion providers as long as the clinics also offer family planning and preventive services.

California Secessionist movement opens first “embassy” — and it’s in Moscow

MOSCOW — The first foreign outpost of California’s slapdash secessionist movement, Yes California, opened here on Sunday. Housed in a research institute in northwestern Moscow, the offices are described as an “embassy” by the group’s founder and president, Louis Marinelli, a stocky, unassuming 30-year-old with grey-flecked hair. ...

Marinelli denies receiving support from the Kremlin, but the opening of his group’s “embassy” raises broader questions concerning Russia’s growing and diffuse influence on the politics of Western countries. Over the past few years, as its relations with Europe and the United States have frayed, Russia has been linked to various radical parties and separatist groups with the apparent aim of sowing disunity among its rivals. Efforts that now face intensified scrutiny amid the fallout of U.S. intelligence finding Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election.

Yes California is marginal by any standard, but it started receiving more attention after Donald Trump was elected president in early November despite losing California by more than 4 million votes. Marinelli argues that the more progressive Golden State should leave the “dysfunctional household” of the United States so that “we can govern ourselves as we want and they can govern themselves as they want.” Now the group has 29,000 followers on Facebook and continues to agitate in California under its vice president, Marcus Ruiz Evans, author of “California’s Next Century.”

Marinelli is campaigning to hold a “Calexit” referendum in 2019. If it succeeds (highly unlikely) and California secedes from the United States, Marinelli says, the former 31st state will apply to become a member country of the United Nations — and in so doing, it will need Russia’s security council vote for admittance.

The giant private prison operator GEO Group may have illegally funded a Donald Trump super PAC

Few organizations stand to benefit from Donald Trump’s presidency as much as the GEO Group. It’s one of the largest private prison operators in the United States — and it’s accused of breaking the law to help put Trump in the White House.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) received new information on Tuesday from the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog, about a complaint alleging that the GEO Group violated a federal ban on political contributions by government contractors.

The complaint, obtained by VICE News, accuses the GEO Group of using one of its subsidiaries, GEO Corrections Holding Inc., to make more than $225,000 worth of illegal contributions to Rebuilding America Now, a pro-Trump super PAC.

The GEO Group operates 64 detention centers with more than 75,000 beds in the United States. The company reported total revenues of $1.84 billion last year, much of it derived from contracts to house inmates for states and the federal government.

Federal contractors are banned from making political contributions to avoid so-called “pay to play” arrangements, in which elected officials dole out lucrative deals to companies that supported their campaigns.

How Did a Nation Crippled by Wall Street Billionaires End Up With Them Running the Country

Donald Trump is increasingly looking like Wall Street’s back up plan in the event that the Wall Street Democrats didn’t triumph in the 2016 election. Trump has appointed two Goldman Sachs alumni and the current President of Goldman Sachs to top posts in his administration. On Monday, Trump announced that Vincent Viola, a billionaire who spent the bulk of his adult life trading oil and gas futures on Wall Street, would become Secretary of the Army – at a time when tens of thousands of service members rely on food pantries to get by. Forbes reports this about how Viola gets by: “Viola owns a 20,000-square-foot townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, near Central Park. In December 2013 he listed the home — complete with a giant red bow tied across its facade — for a staggering $114 million. He later quietly reduced the price to $98 million before pulling it from the market.”

Curiously, the New York Times called Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Army, a “retired Army Major.” That phrasing suggests Viola had a long military career including battle experience. In fact, Viola achieved his rank of Major in the reserves. Shortly after graduating West Point nearly 40 years ago, the Wall Street Journal reports that Viola only served “several years” of active duty in the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

According to Federal Election Commission records, over the past 14 years, Viola has kicked in over $300,000 to both Democrats and Republicans and their committees. The images attached to those filings show that he has repeatedly listed his career as a “commodities trader.” ...

Wall Street veteran and critic Nomi Prins calls Trump’s anti-establishment rhetoric during the campaign “the biggest scam of his career,” writing the following at her blog: “In the realm of politico-financial power and in Trump’s experience and ideology, the one with the most toys always wins. So it’s hardly a surprise that his money- and power-centric cabinet won’t be focused on public service or patriotism or civic duty, but on the consolidation of corporate and private gain at the expense of the citizenry.” ...

Why did so many working class Americans buy into the rhetoric of a billionaire philanderer ensconced in a penthouse in Manhattan with a long history of disdain for labor rights. Figuring that out is likely to be the stuff of many history books in future decades. One thought that comes to mind is that America has fallen so far and so fast at the hands of Wall Street that a slogan on a hat, “Make America Great Again,” was seized upon like a comfort food.

Older Americans Pushed Into Poverty as Feds Garnish Social Security for Student Debt

The federal government is garnishing Social Security checks to recoup unpaid student debt, leaving thousands of retired or disabled Americans below the poverty line and setting the stage for an even bigger problem, according to a new report.

The data from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), compiled at the behest of Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), showed that people over the age of 50 are the fastest-growing group with student debt, outpacing younger generations—and compared to younger borrowers, older Americans have "considerably higher rates of default on federal student loans." This leaves them open to having up to 15 percent of their benefit payment withheld, in what's called an "offset."

In 2015, the GAO reported (pdf), the Department of Education collected about $171 million in defaulted student loan debt through Social Security offsets from 114,000 people, the majority of that from borrowers aged 50 or older and receiving disability benefits. About 38,000 were above age 64, and more than three-quarters of older borrowers took out the loans to cover their own education, rather than to pay for their children's schooling. The typical monthly offset was slightly more than $140. And more than 70 percent of the money collected through offsets went toward interest and fees, as opposed to the loan balance.

Meanwhile, the report states: "Older borrowers who remain in offset may increasingly experience financial hardship. Such is the case for a growing number of older borrowers whose Social Security benefits have fallen below the poverty guideline because the offset threshold is not adjusted for increases in costs of living."

In Time for Christmas: A Social Security Plan Only Scrooge Could Love

Donald Trump ran a campaign that rejected Republican orthodoxy on a variety of issues. He consistently and emphatically rejected the party line on slashing social insurance programs like Medicare and Social Security. And yet, Congressional Republicans are ploughing ahead with plans to gut these benefits. The latest proposal, from House Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Sam Johnson (R-Texas), actually slashes benefits even more than would be sufficient to close Social Security’s projected shortfall. The extra savings generated by these cuts is used to reduce taxes on higher-income households.

Johnson attempts to camouflage the draconian nature of his plan with targeted benefit increases for low earners. Despite this window dressing, as many low earners will see cuts as will see increases, according to the Social Security Actuary’s analysis of the plan. This hasn’t stopped budget hawks from touting its supposed progressivity, pointing to a benefit formula more tilted in favor of low earners and an increase in the special minimum benefit going to those with steady work histories. However, for most workers, including many low earners, these provisions are more than offset by benefit cuts.

The first major plank of the Johnson plan revises the overall benefit formula for retirees. By itself, this provision would increase benefits for roughly half of workers (the 51 percent with earnings below 90 percent of the average wage index) while reducing them by a greater amount for the other half. Johnson also introduces a revised special minimum benefit that would increase benefits for around 37 percent of workers. However, other provisions increase the normal retirement age (equivalent to an across-the-board cut) and enact a range of other cuts. On net, only one in four workers (26 percent) would come out ahead from Johnson’s plan, while 70 percent would see benefit cuts, with some workers seeing cuts of up to 74 percent based on the examples modeled in the Chief Actuary’s analysis.

On average, workers will see a 19 percent reduction in benefits over the 75-year projection period based on the Chief Actuary’s analysis. This is curious, because even if Congress did nothing to extend the system’s solvency, current revenues would be sufficient to pay for 84 percent of promised benefits over that time period. In other words, a plan being sold as a way to “permanently save” Social Security is worse for beneficiaries than doing nothing at all. The cuts get deeper over time, averaging 33 percent by the end of the projection period (74 percent for high-income long-career beneficiaries).

Donald Trump on tape saying 'every racist thing ever', claims actor Tom Arnold

The actor Tom Arnold has claimed to have video of Donald Trump using racist language, obscenities and denigrating his own son in outtakes of The Apprentice.

“I have the outtakes to The Apprentice where he says every bad thing ever, every offensive, racist thing ever. It was him sitting in that chair saying the N-word, saying the C-word, calling his son a retard, just being so mean to his own children,” Arnold told the Seattle-based radio station KIRO.

The actor and comedian said a contact from the reality TV show passed him the material before last month’s election, but he did not release it because of a confidentiality clause and the expectation that Trump would lose. ...

Arnold said that the Sunday before the election Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Hollywood agent asked him to release the material on behalf of Hillary Clinton.

“I get a call from Arnold’s CAA agent, sitting next to Hillary Clinton. They said, ‘I need you to release him saying the N-word.’ I said, ‘Well, now these people – two editors and an associate producer – are scared to death. They’re scared of his people, they’re scared of they’ll never work again, there’s a $5m confidentiality agreement.”

There was no immediate way to verify the claims. Arnold’s representatives did not respond to an interview request to elaborate on the allegations. Nor did Trump or his representatives immediately respond.

Greg Palast on Why Clinton Didn't Push for Michigan Recount

FBI feared Huma Abedin’s laptop had been hacked, contained secret emails

The FBI thought Huma Abedin’s laptop computer had evidence of she and her boss, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, mishandling classified information, according to a search warrant released Tuesday that shows the basis agents had for upending the presidential election with their election-season probe.

Agents were also hoping to see if anyone had used the laptop to hack into Clinton emails, according to the affidavit agents filed to justify the warrant.

Ms. Abedin, one of Mrs. Clinton’s top aides from her time in the State Department and again on the campaign trail, had shared the laptop with now-estranged husband Anthony Weiner. The FBI seized the laptop in a probe of Mr. Weiner, but discovered it also had messages between Mrs. Clinton and Ms. Abedin.

Governor Rick Snyder remains unindicted. This needs to be remedied.

Conspiracy in Flint

With the state of emergency in Flint, Michigan, approaching the one-year mark, the number of those believed culpable for the public health disaster continues to grow. On Tuesday, the office of Michigan’s attorney general, which has been handling the investigation into the city’s ongoing toxic-water crisis, announced criminal charges against four new individuals: Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, two former emergency managers appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder; Daugherty Johnson, the former utilities administrator for Flint; and Howard Croft, the former public works director.

All four are facing felony charges of “false pretenses and conspiracy to commit false pretenses.” Earley and Ambrose face an additional two charges of willful neglect of duty and misconduct while in office.

District Court Judge William Crawford II approved the charges, which allege the men knew the Flint Water Treatment Plant was unable to produce safe drinking water yet conspired to enter a contract “on false pretenses” that made Flint River the default source of drinking water for the city’s 100,000 residents. ...

With the latest round of charges, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has now charged a total of 13 individuals for their responsibility in the lead-contaminated-water crisis. Eight current or former state employees and one City of Flint employee were previously charged with tampering of evidence or willful neglect of office. Two of the accused have cut deals with a special prosecutor.

Will Gov. Snyder Be Next to Be Charged Over Poisoning of Flint's Water Supply?

Ice-melting temperatures forecast for Arctic midwinter

Scientists are forecasting ice-melting temperatures in the middle of winter for some parts of the Arctic for the second year in a row. And analysis shows such recent record temperatures there would have been virtually impossible without human greenhouse emissions.

Over the coming days, some parts of the Arctic are expected to get gusts of warm air that are more than 20C hotter than usual for this time of year, some of which will tip over the 0C melting temperature of water.

Maximum temperatures in parts of the Arctic will be warmer than the maximum over most of Canada for the next five days, according the global forecasting system run by the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa).

The extreme temperatures predicted coincide with record low sea-ice levels in the Arctic, which have already been wreaking havoc with weather North America, Europe and Asia, according to leading climate scientists.

A low pressure system near Greenland is pulling the warm air towards the Arctic, in a similar pattern to that seen in 2015. And a paper published this month showed events like that, called “midwinter warming”, were occurring more frequently, and made more likely by the loss of winter sea ice – something itself caused by climate change. With less ice, warm air moved closer to the Arctic and could then more easily be swept over it, the scientists claimed.

Wow, great, just in time for Trump to overturn the ban. I guess Obama could have done this 8 years ago, but then of course, some large energy companies would have been inconvenienced.

Barack Obama bans oil and gas drilling in most of Arctic and Atlantic oceans

Barack Obama has permanently banned new oil and gas drilling in most US-owned waters in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, a last-ditch effort to lock in environmental protections before he hands over to Donald Trump.

Obama used a 1953 law that allows presidents to block the sale of new offshore drilling and mining rights and makes it difficult for their successors to reverse the decision.

However, Obama’s ban – affecting federal waters off Alaska in the Chukchi Sea and most of the Beaufort Sea and in the Atlantic from New England to the Chesapeake Bay – is unprecedented in scale and could be challenged by Trump in court.

America's first offshore wind farm just started producing energy

The first offshore wind farm in the United States started producing clean energy in mid-December. Located 13 miles from the coast of Rhode Island, the five turbines will power 17,000 homes, including all the energy necessary to sustain the nearby Block Island.

[See video at link. - js]

Also of Interest

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

Exxon Mobil Is Fighting to Keep Its Dangerous Chemicals in Children’s Toys

Polish leaders back down on media restrictions but standoff continues

After Turkey’s failed coup, a sense of fatalism has set in

A Little Night Music

Black Ace - You Gonna Need My Help Someday

Black Ace - Whisky And Woman

Black Ace - Ace's Guitar Blues

Black Ace - Farther Along

Black Ace - Santa Fe Blues

Black Ace - Golden Slipper

Black Ace - Trifling Woman

Black Ace - Your Legs Too Little

Black Ace - Christmas Time Blues (Beggin' Santa Claus)