Open Thread - The Weekly Watch

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 5:45am

The big news of the week is the distortion, disinformation, and distraction by corporate media (with the help of the CIA) in order to mislead people and promote profit...oops wait, that's the big story every week....but it is more obvious than ever.

I think that's the director of national security wearing the TV

How about some real news about fake media? This is worth an hour of your time., or take your pick from this is a terrific series of interviews with Glenn Greenwald on Democracy Now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYNLsZepegI (11 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvEaFUaQjuE (13 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh3fKrLk-sE (10 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nztqwj5BOPI (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1kPL1E6v9M (16 min)
I do my best to find the most relevant news for the weekly watch. These interviews are some of the most insightful and plain spoken in recent memory...highly recommended.

Prefer reading to watching? Glenn Greenwald writes about the Washington Post's two blockbuster stories about the Russian threat that went viral: one on how Russia is behind a massive explosion of “fake news,” the other on how it invaded the U.S. electric grid. Both articles were fundamentally false.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/04/washpost-is-richly-rewarded-for-fals...

The US Intelligence Community has accused Russia and Vladimir Putin personally of meddling in last year's US presidential election, through hacking and propaganda. RT responds. (12 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3DvaVrRweY
The official report from the director of national intelligence (what an oxymoron) the 25 page pdf.
http://www.mrt.com/file/187/9/1879-ICA_2017_01.pdf

'Fake news' is making a comeback to the headlines, and hashtags - after the Washington Post retracts its big story on Russian hackers penetrating the US power grid. (5.5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUz0NwFjGwE

Media analyst Lionel of Lionel Media discusses CNN’s grim prospects going forward with RT America’s Manila Chan (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiCNV87Isk4

Obama's Recently-Signed National Defense Authorization Act Includes A 'Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act'. The Intercept's Alex Emmons Explains... (10 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXhGhCmpDKA

Sure is sad when art has to fit a political narrative. American University took action on Tuesday to remove a 9-foot statue of Peltier from its campus after FAUX news objected. (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXkX54Idos8

Nina Turner, former state of Ohio Senator and Bernie Sanders surrogate will be hosting a new show coming soon on The Real News in 2017. (3 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPBS8MU4Gc0

The Intercept interviews Bryan Stevenson who says, "In my view, slavery didn’t end in 1865, it just evolved. It turned into decades of terrorism and violence directed at people of color."
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/02/i-dont-think-were-free-in-america-an...

I never thought I would recommend a Sean Hannity clip, but here he is with Assange in a 40 min wide ranging interview (aimed at trashing the democrats). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptqIZAsB1vI

We may as well face up to it....President for Profit T-rump, inc. Corporation in chief!
Wanna go to the Inauguration?

President Hairball (I miss hecate)

Occupy Inauguration is a mass rally and protest taking place in Washington D.C. during the Presidential Inauguration and the seven year anniversary of the Citizens United ruling. January 20th-21st, 2017. We believe another world is possible, to achieve it we will need to build a united struggle for the 99%, to put people and the planet over profits.
http://www.occupyinauguration.org/

T-rump is having a hard time finding talent for the ceremony. British singer Rebecca Ferguson says she’d be willing to accept an invitation to perform at Donald Trump’s inauguration—but only if she’s allowed to sing Billie Holiday’s "Strange Fruit". (4 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojKKEZ-_61g

But, the entertainment is shaping up...let's see there some of the Radio City Rockettes, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, AND a Mennonite autoharper. (SNARK warning)
http://dailybonnet.com/trump-manages-convince-mennonite-autoharp-player-...

And don't forget the entertainment enhancer... Pro-marijuana organization DCMJ will begin distributing 4,200 joints at 8 a.m. on Jan. 20 at Dupont Circle. Four minutes and 20 seconds into Trump’s speech, protesters will light up.
http://www.thecannifornian.com/cannabis-news/politics/pro-marijuana-grou...

Pussy Riot might agree to play this one at the inauguration. Wonder if T-rump asked? (5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-bKFo30o2o

Of course T-rump better watch his p's and q's or he might not make it to the swearing in...Senator Schumer just said that unless the soon-to-be President of the United States begins showing the intelligence community the respect they feel they are accorded, they will retaliate against him. “If you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday to get back at you.” Don't mess with the deep state (remember JFK?)
http://www.newslogue.com/debate/256/CaitlinJohnstone

Speaking of distractions...

The plan is to conduct 6 cabinet hearings on January 11, the same day as T-rump's first press conference in months. Do you get the feeling they are cramming these nominees down our throats (in a hurry)?

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will hold its confirmation hearing for CIA director-designate, Representative Mike Pompeo of Kansas, on January 11. That same day, three more of Trump's picks, Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson, Attorney General-designate Sen. Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos are all also scheduled for confirmation hearings before the relevant Senate committees. Trump himself will also hold his long-promised press conference to address questions regarding conflicts of interest between his business empire and his incoming administration on the same day. (1 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrTaMfLcRAk
and they didn't even mention Transportation secretary nominee, Elaine Chao nor Homeland Security secretary nominee, John Kelly, whose hearings are also on 1/11.

Here's the WSJ view of the tough questions Rex Tillerson, Sen. Jeff Sessions, Steven Mnuchin and Rep. Tom Price are preparing for at their Senate confirmation hearings. (3 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXocKHDwLp0&spfreload=10

A memo from the top prosecutors at the California Attorney General's Office Consumer Law Section, described in great detail how they had “uncovered evidence suggestive of widespread misconduct” at OneWest Bank while Mnuchin was in charge. Mnuchin’s bank didn’t merely act callously when it foreclosed on homeowners, but did so with blatant disregard for the law.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/03/treasury-nominee-steve-mnuchins-bank...

Cornell William Brooks, president and CEO of the NAACP, and five other civil rights leaders were arrested during a sit-in at the office of Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, demanding he withdraw his name from consideration for attorney general. (15 min interview)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxw3rhSmCGY

Veteran civil rights prosecutor Gerald Hebert, who played a key role in Sessions's failed bid for a federal judgeship in 1986, says the senator has had 30 years to prove he is not a racist, and instead opposed virtually all civil rights legislation (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thyGCKYWpZc

Earlier in the week the new congress almost made Ethics Unethical! It's kabuki theater...

From Democracy Now, Craig Holman, Public Citizen’s government affairs lobbyist on campaign finance and governmental ethics, helped to set up the Office of Congressional Ethics after it was established in 2008, and says it "literally quadrupled" the number of ethics actions taken in the House but will now be "neutered." (10 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJyWu-OXTpg
Holman says the Trump administration is a scandal in waiting because of the vast number of conflicts of interest he brings. Part 2 (10 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkCVYB9LARc

Facing Public Outrage, House Republicans Back Down on Gutting Ethics. Public Citizen's Lisa Gilbert says the Office of Congressional Ethics was targeted because it is an effective check on Congressional misconduct (5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLE_KmCbds8

House Republicans have backtracked on plans to abolish the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) after Democrats found an unexpected ally in President-elect Donald Trump, who urged his party to focus on “more important things.” (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxe1KmB9EQc

International News

2016 has seen terror attacks, the rise of anti-establishment sentiment and political upheaval, events that have changed the course of the world (4 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0naifxXyEw

Medea Benjamin and Paul Jay examine how 115 billion dollars in recent US arms sales and a dictatorship that helps dominate the oil rich region is the reason for the lasting "friendship" (21 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-2fURt0QQo
part 2 (19 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6bAHaI8oVY

Experts fear the military operation could lead to a problem even bigger than Islamic State itself. Mosul's dam is at risk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COD6Ph4RG-o (2 min)

The Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) international terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the New Year’s Eve shooting in a crowded Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people. (2 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXAW2tGgiOo

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Nevada Sen. Dean Heller introduced the new legislation, which would include real — and dangerous — consequences for U.S. diplomatic staff if Trump refuses to quickly relocate the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/04/senators-threaten-to-cut-worldwide-e...

Latin America
Ecuador's Ambassador to the UN Geneva briefs TRNN on Resolution 26/9, the UN Human Rights Council mandate to elaborate an international legal framework to regulate activities of transnational corporations under binding international human rights law (15 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ4AROMtPU4
part 2 (10 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2CLYzhYQKo

With Brazil, Peru, and Argentina, more governments shifted to the right in Latin America in 2016, imposing neoliberal economics in a context of high dissatisfaction with government, says TRN's Greg Wilpert (17 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpXPhkT1InQ
The second part of our look at how governments shifted to the right in Latin America in 2016, imposing neoliberal economics in amidst high dissatisfaction with government (18 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWwYYo2HfGk

It is capitalism not socialism that has failed the people of Venezuela. a consequence of generations of Venezuela’s unofficial status as US neo colony controlled by a small clique of oligarchs
http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/04/venezuela-on-the-brink/

PERI's Leonce Ndikumana responds to Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Steigiltiz who argues unfair trade deals cost developing countries more than the West gives in aid (16 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgxVMVuPnM0

Pipeline Protests

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau approved two controversial oil pipeline projects before the end of 2016. Now, Canada's First Nation chiefs are spearheading a movement against the Trans Mountain Pipeline as well as an expansion of the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline (6 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzZg_02eNiw

Hopeful interview with Jasilyn Charger, a water protector from Cheyenne River Reservation, who has camped at Sacred Stone Resistance Camp since it launched in April. Jasilyn founded the International Indigenous Youth Council at Standing Rock. She was also part of the resistance to the Keystone XL pipeline before that. (33 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCQPszxc5yM

Hundreds of 'water protectors' rallied against the North Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project in Pasadena on Monday. Protesters carried banners reading "No DAPL" and "Water is life" as they sang Native American songs and chanted slogans against the project. (2 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3rjdM5V1OE

More disinformation about Standing Rock...from blazinAZ
http://caucus99percent.com/content/standing-rock-disinformation-ramping

Three people were arrested Sunday after two protesters rappelled down a banner declaring anti-Dakota Access Pipeline messaging at U.S. Bank Stadium, local WCCO 4 News - Jan. 1, 2016 (4 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5hcta6rKeo

Hottest year ever 2016...till 2017. http://www.climatecentral.org/news/daily-record-highs-2016-21019?utm_sou...

A massive rift has opened up on the Larsen Ice shelf on the Eastern edge of the Antarctic peninsula. This reflects overall changes in the dynamics of the ice sheet and is a strong indicator that the climate system is undergoing abrupt change
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoJrLZxtsjQ (9 min)

Lindsay Meiman of 350.org is well spoken as she discusses Monday's Day Against Denial demonstrations against what some are calling the most fossil fuel-friendly cabinet in history (12 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCzkDQGAfmM

Okay, time to get high. Journey to the edge of space with a weather balloon (5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCve1w1GFOs

You may have noticed that sunrise isn't getting earlier even though we are past the solstice. It is because the solar days in December are on average 24 hours and 30 seconds, while our clocks and watches are still assuming that each day is exactly 24 hours, this causes the day to shift about 30 seconds later each day." This cumulative shifting explains why the evenings draw in towards their earliest sunset a couple of weeks before the shortest day, and why the mornings continue to get darker until a couple of weeks after. Learn more at: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30549149
However, the days are getting longer (in the northern hemisphere), and soon daybreak will be earlier too.

Here's hoping your days are productive and well filled no matter the day length!

What's on your mind today?

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Open Thread

weekly watch

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Comments

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 6:36am

Breaking through news blackout

Thank you lookout. Stratfor on the job now in Mexico.
Four dead, 1,000 arrested as demonstrations continue across Mexico

The gasolinazo protests have begun to attract the attention of the ruling class in the United States, which until now has largely blacked out press coverage for fear the protests will generate sympathy among American workers. The intelligence-linked web site Stratfor wrote that the demonstrations were spontaneous and had “largely remained regional” and “not yet coalesced into a coordinated national movement.” Stratfor noted that taxi, truck and bus drivers had called strikes “in several states, lending weight to the demonstrations.”

“There is a risk,” the web site warned, “of violent demonstrations spiraling out of control and sparking further protests. Supply disruptions could also occur as looters attempt to hijack gasoline trucks.”

Fears in the American and Mexican ruling classes of “supply disruptions” underscore the strategic necessity of uniting Mexican and American workers. An increasingly prominent section of the Mexican ruling class, led by National Regeneration Movement (Morena) leader and former mayor of Mexico City Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), is attempting to undermine the protest movement with the twin poisons of nationalism and class

Solidarity

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 6:55am

Thanks for the info eyo

I knew about the teacher strikes, but sounds like they are working up to a general strike. Will the folks in the US ever show that sort of resolve? We can hope.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 7:17am

"Exploring the Untapped Potential of Mexico"

As The World Burns
An Oil & Gas 360® Exclusive Interview with IFR President Steve Hanson

...
After 77 years of a government monopoly in the industry, Mexico decided to liberalize and allow companies like IFR to develop some of the 9.8 billion barrels of proved oil reserves in the country. In 2014, Mexico produced 2.8 MMBOPD (87% crude oil) through its state-owned operator Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), down 27% from a peak in 2004. The continued declines in production sent the government searching for ways to revitalize the industry, which generated 11% of the country’s export earnings in 2014.

State-owned PEMEX has reported losses in 14 consecutive quarters dating back to 2012, which also encouraged the Mexican government to search for other companies to help turn the industry around. To that end, Mexico began an auction process to denationalize 914 oil and gas blocks, both onshore and offshore.
...

To paraphrase their president, "Relax and have patience, the free market will make gas cheaper once the privateers take over."

good luck

Submitted by LaFeminista on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 7:07am

Expect every losing party to say...Russians

http://www.france24.com/en/20170108-ahead-french-vote-digital-hygiene-ur...

With France's presidential election less than four months away, political parties have been urged to practise "digital hygiene" to avoid cyberattacks, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday.

He said in an interview after US intelligence Friday accused Russia of being behind hacking attacks on Hillary Clinton's election campaign, Le Drian said France's digital security service had detected no "signs of operations aimed at destabilising the French elections."

However, he told the Journal du Dimanche weekly, such operations "cannot be ruled out"

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 7:19am

They were in on Saddam's WMD too

These people lie over and over, and the majority buy it. Pretty amazing really.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by dkmich on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 8:05am

Good morning

Incredible round up....

Does anyone know what happened to our Twitter and FB repost buttons? Putin!

—

"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 8:25am

it may be a conspiracy!

I think T-rump's in on it too.

Putin rides T-rump.jpg

No twitter nor FB for lefties, muslims, and mexicans!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 8:50am

On my mind today is how wonderful, smart,

impressive, dutiful, etc., you and the other authors of open threads are. Thank you so much for them. I am not fully awake yet, so I will have to bookmark the thread. But, thank you so much.

I did note that you posted videos of Greenwald. I am so glad Greenwald is now writing for a publication that seems fearless. The propaganda thrown at him by this country's neoliberals are incredible. It's amazing how much the PTB hate anyone to the left of John McCain!

Thanks again, Lookout.

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 9:09am

Henry, thanks for all your insights and comments too

The intercept was co-created by Glenn. Thank goodness that people like Glenn that are dedicated to presenting free and honest press stories rather than just propaganda.

At launch, the editors announced:

"A primary function of The Intercept is to insist upon and defend our press freedoms from those who wish to infringe them. We are determined to move forward with what we believe is essential reporting in the public interest and with a commitment to the ideal that a truly free and independent press is a vital component of any healthy democratic society....
We believe the prime value of journalism is that it imposes transparency, and thus accountability, on those who wield the greatest governmental and corporate power. Our journalists will be not only permitted, but encouraged, to pursue stories without regard to whom they might alienate."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Intercept

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by HenryAWallace on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 10:16am

Funded by the founder of ebay!

Who could have predicted that?

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 10:24am

I found that curious too

They send me a free weekly e-issue. I have no idea of the business model, but Glenn's digs sure look upscale in the DN interviews. Less so in last weeks jimmy dore interviews where he appears to be skyping on his back porch.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by riverlover on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 8:52am

That Wx balloon vid is cool!

I must revisit that and rotate. Glorious!

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 9:18am

Good morning RL

I thought that was fun too. I try to end each weekly with a fun big view from (or of) space. Just to remind us we are mighty small in the scheme of things.

Hope all is going well with you and the loss of your Mom isn't too painful. My friend Lotus Dickey put this poem to music, but there's not a you tube. I'll just post Wordsworth's poem (Lotus didn't use all the stanzas though.)

A Psalm of Life

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

What The Heart Of The Young Man Said To The Psalmist.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,— act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o’erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by riverlover on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 9:43am

Nice. Per my handle, a magnet off inner front door.

If time should shield me from your light
Or your ship sails from my sight
It isn't that the journey ends
It's only that the river bends.

Yes.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Submitted by mimi on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 9:23am

Your Weekly Watch Open Threads are incredibly usefull and

simply so great to have and bookmark and/or archive. Thank You for all your work you put into them. When I read them I see how many of the links I haven't watched or read yet and wonder how I will ever keep up on them. And sometimes I am happy because I realize I had watched them and found them as worthwhile reading as you do.

Thank You, Sir, Madame or just Lookout.

—

https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 9:38am

So glad you find it useful...

I so enjoy your continental perspective, and appreciate your comments and essays. I took your advice from the other day and ordered a used copy of "the heart of stone". I'm looking forward to it. Have a good Sunday!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Bisbonian on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 9:52am

A bunch of us banjo players have agreed

to go to Washington and perform for T-rump's inauguration. "Dueling Banjos"...the theme from Deliverance.

—

"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 10:03am

I can see it now....

Here's one approach to a marching banjo band (30 sec)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD4l_PeDXFg

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 12:14pm

"The best scene in one of the greatest movies of all time."

okay here it is

I quite enjoyed it actually, made me want to jig a little too.

Submitted by Crider on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 1:43pm

Bobby Kimball, former lead singer of Toto

also agreed to perform at Trump's inauguration, based on what my super secret sources told me.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSvWSYgSM-g]

Submitted by on the cusp on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 6:30pm

wtf?

The singers were in a different key than the band?
AWFUL!
Hoping he is that bad at the inauguration! lol!

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by on the cusp on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 7:59pm

Crider, this is crazy and can't be true! lol!

5 years ago, I went on safari in S. Africa during the dry season.
It was my first trip off the continent, and over the ocean.
And of all things, it rained. I wouldn't allow myself to sleep. I wanted to hear it splash down on the tent, with that song playing in my head.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by Crider on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 8:28pm

Well . . .

Turns out there are several old Toto song vids from that one performance, and after I posted I was listening to them and smirking, but on one Kimball himself posted a comment and he said there were no monitors hooked up to his mic and no earpieces and he couldn't hear himself sing! LOL

Submitted by on the cusp on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 8:32pm

He absolutely stuck to his throat and chest memory

with the only rational relationship to the song being percussion.
GAWD AWFUL.

—

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 12:44pm

Tin foil hat on a boiling frog

Middle East Now Without a US Carrier "not a surprise" just in case anyone doesn't have someone else to think about today. http://www.defensenews.com/articles/no-us-carrier-now-in-the-mideast

The relief ship, the carrier George H. W. Bush, has yet to leave Norfolk, and it's unlikely to do so before the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, according to a Navy source. The gap could last as long as two months, sources said, between the time the Eisenhower left the combat theater and the Bush arrives.

And that gap comes at a particularly inopportune time. Numerous media reports indicate intelligence organizations and analysts are on the lookout for provocative actions by potential antagonists — in particular Russia, China, North Korea, Iran or ISIS. Terror alerts, according to media reports, are high in many regions, including Europe, the Middle East and North America, due to a confluence of factors — the new year, ISIS’ diminishing power in the face of counterattacks in Iraq and Syria, and a natural tendency to test a new administration.

ding ding ding

Other Central Command carrier gaps have taken place in the past, usually when a strike group is needed elsewhere or maintenance issues at home have forced ships to deploy late. The Pentagon plans for such events, often dispatching expeditionary US Air Force units to the region to pick up the slack — something that seems to have taken place now.

The newest gap is not a surprise, and actually has been months in the making — arguably well over a year. [...]

good planning

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 12:58pm

have no fear...

the war (against a duly elected president) will rage on Syria despite the ship respite. Thanks for the info!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by CB on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 2:10pm

Margarita Simonyan of RT roasts CIA - enjoy the flogging

An Open Letter to the CIA from the Head of RT, Margarita Simonyan

Dear CIA,

You get a total F for this thing you wrote.

You don’t cover the subject in enough detail, some sources are un-named, and those you do name are either out of date, or simply untrue. The whole thing reads like something a schoolboy would write for a homework assignment.

At my KGB high school, you would have been flogged with a birch switch for this kind of incompetence, which, incidentally, is rather painful.

I’m going to have to step in here and give you a little friendly mentoring as you work to correct your mistakes. Let’s start with a few basic facts. These facts are indisputable and heavily documented.

Your assignment is to write out each fact legibly three times in neat handwriting with no mistakes, and not using an eraser.

After the holidays the teacher himself will grade your work!
....

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 3:19pm

I keep thinking...

come on folks, these are exactly the same people that said our phones were not tapped, Saddam had WMDs, and on and on.
Why would you believe them about anything???

Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practice to deceive!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by mimi on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 5:19pm

Breitbart has a mean and unhealthy interest to write

about Germany's right-wing AfD reports and in general all problems relating to difficulties Germany has supposedly with "refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants" .... Didn't know how wicked their reporting really is.

This is the "defense" of Breitbart to the attacks of many German news outlets criticizing Breitbart's
coverage of the New Years Eve "Allahu Akbar Church Fire Story".

Fake ‘Fake News’: Media Sow Division with Dishonest Attack on Breitbart’s ‘Allahu Akbar’ Church Fire Story.

Other reports from that site keenly search out and select stories that allow them to arouse Germans' feelings against foreign refugees and asylum seekers from ME and Africa for their "sex attacks" on German women. (That always works) Fluffy overblown reporting. It's just too seductive to let the opportunity pass to incite more excitement and division among the German population about obvious culturally different mores of how to approach women in public spaces.

Near Half of Sex Attack Suspects in Hamburg Were ‘Non-Germans’ In 2015

Pretty nasty. Nobody cares much about it or is truly scared of "those foreign men, who can't behave" aside from some partisan people who want to use these issues for their political grandstanding to succeed in the election year and some US-based news sites meddling with Germany's issues on the next elections and influence them.

For us it's not Putin, it's Breitbart! Run, folks, Breitbart will hack us Germans to pieces and mess up our election outcomes. /s

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https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 5:55pm

The US right wing...

allies with (and makes use of) the German right wing.

We're in for quite the ride. Hang on....

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by mimi on Mon, 01/09/2017 - 1:33am

very much so, so far only under the radar, but it's

getting worse. I hate it, because it works. Plenty of gullible young "politically interested" right-wing populists find their ways into the political scene with their demagoguery. It's the new normal now and accepted, because if it weren't it would be "fascist", "authoritarian" and "oppressive" and that is something Germans can't be. I became aware of it through Rumsfeld. It's going on in the undercurrents since quite a while.

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https://www.euronews.com/live

Submitted by Deja on Sun, 01/08/2017 - 6:47pm