The Evening Blues - 1-12-17



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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Lightnin' Hopkins

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Texas bluesman Lightnin' Hopkins. Enjoy!

Lightnin' Hopkins & Billy Bizor - Trouble In Mind

"The purpose of counter-intelligence action is to disrupt and it is immaterial whether facts exist to substantiate the charge. If facts are present it aids in the success of the proposal but the Bureau feels … that disruption can be accomplished without facts to back it up."

-- J. Edgar Hoover


News and Opinion

Pulling a J. Edgar Hoover on Trump

The decision by the U.S. intelligence community to include in an official report some unverified and salacious accusations against President-elect Donald Trump resembles a tactic out of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s playbook on government-style blackmail: I have some very derogatory information about you that I’d sure hate to see end up in the press.

In this case, as leaders of the U.S. intelligence community were pressing Trump to accept their assessment that the Russian government had tried to bolster Trump’s campaign by stealing and leaking actual emails harmful to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, Trump was confronted with this classified “appendix” describing claims about him cavorting with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room.

Supposedly, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and CIA Director John Brennan included the unproven allegations in the report under the rationale that the Russian government might have videotaped Trump’s misbehavior and thus could use it to blackmail him. But the U.S. intelligence community also had reasons to want to threaten Trump who has been critical of its performance and who has expressed doubts about its analysis of the Russian “hacking.”

After the briefing last Friday, Trump and his incoming administration did shift their position, accepting the intelligence community’s assessment that the Russian government hacked the emails of the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign chief John Podesta. But I’m told Trump saw no evidence that Russia then leaked the material to WikiLeaks and has avoided making that concession. ... Now, however, we know that Trump simultaneously had been confronted with the possibility that the unproven stories about him engaging in unorthodox sex acts with prostitutes could be released, embarrassing him barely a week before his inauguration.

The classified report, with the explosive appendix, was also given to President Obama and the so-called “Gang of Eight,” bipartisan senior members of Congress responsible for oversight of the intelligence community, which increased chances that the Trump accusations would be leaked to the press, which indeed did happen. ...

Now the tales of illicit frolic have been elevated to another level. They have been inserted into an official U.S. intelligence report, the details of which were leaked first to CNN and then to other mainstream U.S. news media outlets. ...

Perhaps the more troubling issue is whether the U.S. intelligence community has entered a new phase of politicization in which its leadership feels that it has the responsibility to weed out “unfit” contenders for the presidency. During the general election campaign, a well-placed intelligence source told me that the intelligence community disdained both Clinton and Trump and hoped to discredit both of them with the hope that a more “acceptable” person could move into the White House for the next four years.

Heh, the IC now feels like playing a little game of slap and tickle with Trump.

Spy chief trashes leaks, assures Trump of loyalty

The outgoing U.S. director of national intelligence has extended an olive branch of sorts to Donald Trump — denouncing media leaks, casting skepticism on a report that Russia has damaging material on the president-elect, and assuring Trump that America's spies stand ready to serve him.

In an unusual statement, James Clapper said he had spoken Wednesday evening with Trump, five days after the spy chief and some of his counterparts met with the incoming president to discuss U.S. intelligence assessments that Russia tried to interfere in the 2016 election, possibly to help him win.

The assessment has badly aggravated existing tensions between the intelligence community and Trump.

On Tuesday, CNN, BuzzFeed and other media outlets reported that, during Friday’s briefing, the intelligence officials told Trump about an unsubstantiated private report that detailed how Russia's government allegedly had salacious information about him. In addition, BuzzFeed published the apparent dossier, which Trump has since denounced as “fake news.”

"I expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press, and we both agreed that they are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security," Clapper said of the information that has come out since last week's intelligence briefing. ...

As far as the "private security company document," Clapper said, "I emphasized that this document is not a U.S. Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC. The IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions."

Chris Hedges: The Real Purpose of the U.S. Government’s Report on Alleged Hacking by Russia

The primary purpose of the declassified report, which offers no evidence to support its assertions that Russia hacked the U.S. presidential election campaign, is to discredit Donald Trump. I am not saying there was no Russian hack of John Podesta’s emails. I am saying we have yet to see any tangible proof to back up the accusation. This charge—Sen. John McCain has likened the alleged effort by Russia to an act of war—is the first salvo in what will be a relentless campaign by the Republican and Democratic establishment, along with its corporatist allies and the mass media, to destroy the credibility of the president-elect and prepare the way for impeachment.

The allegations in the report, amplified in breathtaking pronouncements by a compliant corporate media that operates in a non-fact-based universe every bit as pernicious as that inhabited by Trump, are designed to make Trump look like Vladimir Putin’s useful idiot. An orchestrated and sustained campaign of innuendo and character assassination will be directed against Trump. When impeachment is finally proposed, Trump will have little public support and few allies and will have become a figure of open ridicule in the corporate media. ...

The final task of the report is to give the Democratic Party plausible cover for the catastrophic election defeat it suffered. ... The Democratic Party leadership cannot face, and certainly cannot publicly admit, that its callous betrayal of the working and middle class triggered a nationwide revolt that resulted in the election of Trump. It has been pounded since President Barack Obama took office, losing 68 seats in the House, 12 seats in the Senate and 10 governorships. It lost more than 1,000 elected positions between 2008 and 2012 nationwide. Since 2010, Republicans have replaced 900 Democratic state legislators. If this was a real party, the entire leadership would be sacked. But it is not a real party. It is the shell of a party propped up by corporate money and hyperventilating media.

Welcome to our annus horribilis.

Will Trump Cave to Republican Pressure to be More Aggressive on Russia?

U.S. intelligence chiefs are set to brief Congress after Trump compares them to Nazis

A few hours after President-elect Donald Trump repeated his accusation that the American intelligence community was using tactics from “Nazi Germany” to undermine his legitimacy, leaders of the NSA, CIA, FBI, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence finalized meetings to brief both houses of Congress starting tomorrow on their findings about Russian interference in the presidential election. ...

The meeting follows reports that the intelligence assessment includes a two-page summary of unverified allegations that are both salacious and politically damning. ... The intelligence agencies are continuing investigations into whether Trump’s presidential campaign coordinated with the Russian government, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal yesterday; a previous New York Times report from October indicated that FBI investigations on the subject went nowhere.

Russian tech expert named in Trump report says US intelligence never contacted him

A Russian venture capitalist and tech expert whose name and company are mentioned in the now-notorious document alleging connections between the Donald Trump campaign and Russian hackers says no intelligence officers have ever contacted him about the accusations, which he says are false.

A report compiled by a former Western intelligence official as opposition research against Trump was made public Tuesday when BuzzFeed posted its 35 pages. The document included unsubstantiated claims of collusion between the Trump campaign team and the Kremlin.

It also alleged that global tech firm XBT Holding, with operations in Dallas, was instrumental in the hack of leaked Democratic Party emails that embarrassed Hillary Clinton and fellow Democrats.

XBT, owner of Dallas-based enterprise-hosting company Webzilla, is run by a successful Russian tech startup expert, Aleksej Gubarev. ... Gubarev said he operated 75,000 servers across the globe and got real-time information if there had been hacking or illicit activity tied to his businesses. There is no evidence of that, he said, adding that no one has contacted him. ...

The report alleges that Gubarev and another hacking expert were recruited under duress by the FSB, the Russian intelligence-agency successor to the KGB. Gubarev said he had not been threatened or blackmailed, nor had his mother, who lives in Russia.

CPJ: Watch Out for "Leak Investigations" Targeting Journalists Under Trump

Fictional or not, the Trump dossier affair is another win for Putin

Russia insists it had nothing to do with what it has described as the “pulp fiction” scandal swirling around Donald Trump. But for Vladimir Putin, the dossier affair, following allegations of a compromised presidential election, has the effect, deliberately planned or not, of advancing Moscow’s long-held aim of weakening the US, paralysing its political decision-making process, and avenging Russia’s humiliation at the close of the cold war.

It may be that Putin is entirely innocent, as the Russian president’s spokesmen claim. Or the opposite may be the case. In a sense it does not matter. The damage has been done, and for the Kremlin, it’s a no-lose. The unprecedented confusion and disarray in the US is what old KGB agents like Putin could only dream of. ...

Since the sources who spoke to Christopher Steele, the former MI6 officer named as author of the dossier, are unidentified, it is impossible to know whether the information he reported concerning Trump’s alleged behaviour in Russia is accurate, or was fabricated by agents of the FSB (the successor agency to the KGB).

With Trump yet to be installed in office, the ramifications of this continuing uproar are endless. There will be no honeymoon for him. The current congressional and media frenzy is likely to intensify rather than subside once Trump sits in the Oval Office.

There is already talk of impeachment and a Watergate-sized crisis. Trump is seriously damaged, although his press conference performance on Wednesday suggests he does not realise it.

Russia says US troops arriving in Poland pose threat to national security

US troops and tanks arriving in Poland as part of the biggest US deployment in Europe since the end of the cold war have drawn the ire of Russia, which has described the move as a threat to its national security.

The deployment, part of a strategy agreed at last summer’s Nato summit in an attempt to reassure east European states nervous about Russia, has been put in doubt by the inauguration of Donald Trump.

About 1,000 of a promised 4,000 troops arrived in Poland at the start of the week, the Polish defence ministry announced on Tuesday. Their arrival will be formally marked in a welcome ceremony on Saturday.

The Kremlin made clear on Thursday it was concerned by the move, which was described by a spokesman for Vladimir Putin as an aggressive step along Russia’s borders.

“We perceive it as a threat,” Dmitry Peskov said. “These actions threaten our interests, our security. Especially as it concerns a third party building up its military presence near our borders. It’s not even a European state.”

Deployment was originally scheduled for later in the month but a decision was made last month to bring it forward, possibly a move by Barack Obama before he leaves office to try to lock the president-elect into the strategy.

Rex Tillerson sets collision course with Beijing in South China Sea

Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, has set the stage for a potential clash with China, saying it should be barred from artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea.

Tillerson said China’s control and construction of artificial islands in waters claimed by neighbouring countries was “akin to Russia’s taking of Crimea”.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, building seven artificial islands on reefs and rocks and outfitting them with military-length airstrips and anti-aircraft guns.

“We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed,” Tillerson said during his confirmation hearing to become America’s top diplomat. “They are taking territory or control or declaring control of territories that are not rightfully China’s.” ...

“[Chinese president] Xi Jinping will not be seen as weak and soft in the face of pressure from the United States, so I really do worry about an early crisis with China,” said Bonnie Glaser senior adviser for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “China is not going to allow the United States to deny it access to what it sees as its own territory.”

US Bombing of Kunduz Last Year Killed 33 Civilians, Military Probe Concludes

A U.S. military bombing in Kunduz Province last year killed 33 civilians and wounded 27 others, according to a military investigation that concluded on Thursday.

The bombing was not the same one that struck a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in October 2015, which the human rights group said amounted to a war crime, but was part of a firefight waged by American forces during an Afghan operation to arrest Taliban commanders in Buz-e Kandahari in Kunduz in November of last year.

Afghan forces reportedly requested the bombing during the raid. The report concluded that the U.S. military had acted in self-defense.

A province official told the Associated Press that the death toll was actually much higher.

"More than 50 people, including women and children, were killed in the Afghan and U.S. forces' attack in Buz-e Kandahari," said Toryalia Kakar, a deputy provincial council member.

Kakar also disputed the military report's claim that the airstrikes had killed 26 Taliban fighters, saying it was no more than 10. He urged the U.S. military to compensate families of the civilian victims.

Trump’s plan to move U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem a gift to extremists

President-elect Trump and his team have repeatedly promised to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which would fulfill a longtime dream of many high-ranking Israeli officials, many of whom see the holy city as Israel’s true capital.

But it’s not as easy as just packing up one building and taking embassy operations to another city. Critics of the promised move warn that it would inflame tensions in a volatile region, kill the chance for any peace talks, and give Israel’s unilateral annexation of east Jerusalem de facto U.S. blessing. On Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry predicted that a U.S. embassy in Jerusalem would cause “an absolute explosion in the region.” ...

Jerusalem is also the site of the Haram al-Sharif compound, the third-holiest place for Muslims, and the city is an important issue for Arabs around the world watching with concern over the status of Jerusalem and the Palestinian state.

Last week, a Jordanian government spokesman said moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem would be a “gift to extremists,” echoing the concerns of other experts who warn that militants like the Islamic State group (ISIS) would instantly seize on the embassy move for recruiting purposes. It could also be a boon for the narrative of Iran and Hezbollah, who have emphasized confrontation with Israel and the U.S. over the ties that both countries have forged with Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf Arab states.

Netanyahu: Middle East peace talks are a rigged move against Israel

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has denounced this Sunday’s Middle East peace conference in Paris as a “rigged” move against Israel.

The increasingly embattled Netanyahu, who is the subject of two police corruption investigations, described the conference – at which about 70 countries will take part – as “a relic of the past … before the future sets in” in an apparent reference to Donald Trump’s inauguration as president of the US next week.

The prime minister’s comments are the latest in a series of interventions on the diplomatic front in recent weeks that have become ever more explosive since the UN security council a motion before Christmas that called the Jewish settlement of the occupied Palestinian territories a “flagrant violation” of international law. ...

The conference on Sunday will take place five days before the US presidential inauguration and is seen as part of recent diplomatic moves to “Trump-proof” the ailing Oslo peace process – and its two-state solution – against a new and unpredictable era in Washington.

Israeli Embassy Official Plotted to ‘Take Down’ U.K. Politicians

In a deeply embarrassing episode revealed on Sunday, a senior employee of the Israeli Embassy in Britain was recorded plotting to “take down” senior British politicians critical of Israel and calling Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson “an idiot” who “has become minister of foreign affairs without any responsibilities.”

The Israeli ambassador, Mark Regev, offered a formal apology on Friday, according to a statement from the Israeli Embassy. The embassy also said that the employee, Shai Masot, who described himself as a former major in the Israeli Army now working as a political officer, would soon leave his job.

Mr. Masot made the comment in October, in footage filmed in a London restaurant and obtained by the newspaper The Mail on Sunday. ... The conversation involved Mr. Masot and Maria Strizzolo, an aide to Robert Halfon, an education minister and former political director of Conservative Friends of Israel.

Mr. Masot was particularly eager to target Alan Duncan, a minister in the Foreign Office who has been critical of Israel and its settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, a sensitive issue in British politics. Mr. Duncan, he said, “is causing a lot of problems.”

Keiser Report: Bull Market in Corruption

Theresa May to deliver long-awaited Brexit speech on Tuesday

Theresa May will set out the government’s plans for negotiating Brexit on Tuesday in a keenly awaited speech that will be pored over by EU politicians and financial markets.

The prime minister has been under intense pressure to offer more details about her approach in advance of triggering article 50, the formal process for leaving the EU, which she has said she will do before the end of March.

May’s government is still awaiting a supreme court judgment on whether it must consult parliament before triggering article 50. The verdict is expected later in the month. If the high court ruling is upheld, the government is expected to table a brief bill, authorising ministers to press ahead.

May told MPs on parliament’s liaison committee last month: “I will be making a speech early in the new year setting out more about our approach and about the opportunity I think we have as a country to use this process to forge a truly global Britain that embraces and trades with countries across the world.”

The prime minister also told MPs she would publish more information about the government’s priorities. Backbench Conservative MPs had hoped for a white paper, but now expect a less formal “menu”, setting out the key issues.

Chris Hedges Talks With Michael Gecan About Building Organizations to Empower Ordinary Citizens

Senate passes first step toward dismantling Obama's healthcare law

The Senate has passed a measure to take the first step forward on dismantling Barack Obama’s healthcare law, responding to pressure to move quickly even as Republicans and Donald Trump grapple with what to replace it with.

The nearly party-line 51-48 vote early on Thursday came on a non-binding Republican-backed budget measure that eases the way for action on subsequent repeal legislation as soon as next month.

“We must act quickly to bring relief to the American people,” said the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky.

The House is slated to vote on the measure on Friday, though some Republicans there have misgivings about setting the repeal effort in motion without a better idea of the replacement plan.

Trump oozed confidence at a news conference on Wednesday, promising his incoming administration would soon reveal a plan to both repeal so-called Obamacare and replace it with legislation to “get healthcare taken care of in this country”.

Donald Trump Won’t Give Up His Brand to Be President

At his Wednesday morning press conference — his first since winning the election more than two months ago — Donald Trump, the president-elect, stood beside a pile of paperwork and attempted to explain how he would separate himself from Donald Trump, the brand. Rather than putting his assets into a blind trust, as many have recommended for America’s first billionaire president, Trump said he would turn day-to-day control of his business over to two his children and a longtime Trump Organization executive. He also reneged on a promise that there would be “no new deals” done during his time in office.

Trump’s proposal, arriving nine days before he assumes the presidency, comes after weeks of delays and public feuding with the Office of Government Ethics, the federal office that is supposed to oversee potential conflicts of interests.

The larger message was clear: Trump does not feel that he is required to do anything about his conflicts of interest. His own lawyers had told him so. Trump staked out turf that he will likely try to occupy for the duration of his presidency: The rules only apply to me insofar as I choose to follow them.

Rex Tillerson says the U.S. should be tougher on Russia but avoids committing to sanctions

In his confirmation hearings Wednesday, former Exxon Mobil CEO and secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson advocated a surprisingly aggressive series of military measures he thinks the U.S. should have taken in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. But he was less clear about whether the U.S. should continue with sanctions against Russia, a key area of business interest for the global oil giant he recently led. ...

Tillerson took a hawkish tone as he spoke to the panel, describing the annexation of Crimea as “taking of territory that was not theirs” and Russia’s intervention in eastern Ukraine as an “illegal action.”

Tillerson said he would have advised a stronger response from the U.S., including giving defensive military weapons to Ukrainian forces. “I would have recommended that the Ukraine take all its military assets it had available, put them on that eastern border,” he said. “Provided those assets with defensive weapons that are necessary just to defend themselves.” ...

Tillerson was less aggressive about how economic weapons should be deployed against Russia, however. His first response to questions about sanctions from Democratic New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez stressed the downside of sanctions, with regard to their impact on U.S. businesses.

Investigation: Did Trump's Defense Secretary Nominee James Mattis Commit War Crimes in Iraq?

Cory Booker unleashes unprecedented attack against confirmation of Jeff Sessions

Sen. Cory Booker broke with Senate norms on Wednesday and launched an unprecedented attack against the nomination of his colleague Jeff Sessions as attorney general, testifying under oath that the Alabama senator has demonstrated a “hostility” against upholding equal rights for the “marginalized, most degraded, [and] most unfortunate” of Americans.

The New Jersey senator, speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the second day of Sessions’ confirmation hearing, argued it was “not enough” for an attorney general to commit to supporting law and order, but not to “equal rights and justice for all.” He also expressed skepticism that Sessions would be able to set aside his personal politics in the interest of equality.

Booker was joined by members of the Congressional Black Caucus in his opposition to Sessions’ nomination, including civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga.

Booker argued that Sessions’ record suggests he would not seek to protect the rights of LGBT Americans, uphold voting rights, or protect “immigrants and affirm their human dignity.” ...

Booker also argued that Sessions, 70, has not recognized and would therefore not lead the “urgently needed change” in the criminal justice system, at a time when the head of the FBI has spoken out about the need to address implicit bias in policing, and the last two attorney generals have worked to to address “systemic abuses in police departments.”

Democrats Go Soft on Jeff Sessions and Why That Should Concern Us All

Homeland Security Nominee Gen. John Kelly Failed to Disclose Position at Lobbying Firm on Ethics Disclosure

John F. Kelly, the retired Marine Corps general nominated by Donald Trump to be secretary of Homeland Security, did not disclose his position as a vice chairman at a lobbying firm called the Spectrum Group on his federal ethics forms made public this week.

The failure to disclose the position may run afoul of federal law requiring Senate-confirmed nominees to reveal potential conflicts of interest to the lawmakers and the public.

“He came on as a vice chairman in the end of last year,” said Esther Lofgren, the vice president of the Spectrum Group, when reached for comment.

Pharma and Lockheed Martin Stocks Tumble After Trump Criticizes Overpayments

President-Elect Donald Trump ashed out at overspending on drugs and fighter jets during his press conference on Wednesday, giving progressives something to hope for but sending stocks in related companies diving.

First, he took aim at the drug industry, complaining that it is making too many of its products overseas and that the government does not negotiate with the industry for prices for the Medicare program.

“We have to get our drug industry coming back. Our drug industry has been disastrous, they’ve been leaving left and right,” he said. “The other thing we have to do is create new bidding procedures for the drug industry because they’re getting away with murder. Pharma, Pharma has a lot of lobbyists — a lot of lobbyists — a lot of power, and there’s very little bidding on drugs. We’re the largest buyer of drugs in the world and yet we don’t bid properly and we’re going to start bidding and we’re going to save billions of dollars over time.”

The NASDAQ Biotechnology Index, which includes drugmakers, fell after the comments.

Big Pharma-Backed Dems Join GOP to Block Sanders Effort to End Drug Price Gouging

While the Republican Party is publicly dismantling millions of Americans' health safety net, more than a dozen Democrats late Wednesday quietly threw their weight behind Big Pharma and voted down an amendment that would have allowed pharmacists to import identical—but much less expensive—drugs from Canada and other countries.

The "power and wealth of the pharmaceutical industry and their 1,300 lobbyists and unlimited sums of money have bought the United States Congress," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) declared in a speech on the Senate floor while introducing the amendment, co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), which would have been attached to the chamber's budget resolution. It came amid a flurry of legislative activity during Wednesday evening's "vote-a-rama." ...


Many were particularly dismayed that Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) had sided with Big Pharma after winning liberal praise for his unprecedented testimony against Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). Notably, 12 Republicans and two Independents, including Sanders, voted for the measure.

Sanders' attempt to attach such a provision to the 21st Century Cures Act last month was similarly blocked.



the evening greens


As Tillerson Dodges, Exxon Ordered to Hand Over Evidence of Climate Cover-Up

On the same day that former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of state nominee, was dodging questions about the ongoing ExxonKnew investigation, a Massachusetts court on Wednesday ordered the oil company to hand over decades of documents regarding what it knew about climate change.

The ruling (pdf), handed down by Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Heidi Brieger, denied Exxon's attempt to delay, directing the company to comply with the investigation by state Attorney General Maura Healey.

The decision was widely hailed as a big win for Healey and other state AGs probing allegations, unearthed by the Los Angeles Times and InsideClimate News, that the oil giant had suppressed evidence going back to the 1970s of the impact of burning fossil fuels on the climate as well as funded misinformation campaigns to spread skepticism about the growing scientific consensus. 

Do Exxon's Climate Denial & "Trail of Carnage" on Human Rights Make Tillerson Unfit for State Dept?

Tillerson Called Out for 'Lying About Climate' During Confirmation Hearing

At his senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, U.S. secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson on Wednesday dodged questions about ExxonMobil's long history of denying climate science, lending credence to claims his tenure would be a disaster for the planet.

When pressed by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) about the major charges unearthed by the ongoing ExxonKnew investigation—namely, that the oil company hid evidence going back to the 1970s of how the burning of fossil fuels impacts the climate, and funded misinformation campaigns to spread skepticism about growing scientific consensus—former Exxon CEO Tillerson "essentially pled the fifth," said Oil Change International executive director Stephen Kretzmann.

"Since I'm no longer with ExxonMobil, I'm in no position to speak on their behalf," said Tillerson, who recently separated from the company after 42 years. "The question would have to be put to them."

Kaine asked as a follow-up question: "Do you lack knowledge to answer my questions or are you refusing to answer my question?"

Tillerson responded: "A little of both."

Meanwhile, InsideClimate News reporter Neela Banerjee noted that "Tillerson answered questions about whether the United States would remain in the Paris climate accord in a such a non-committal way that he left open the possibility for the Trump administration to ditch the agreement or pull out of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), as some of the President's team have recommended."

And when questioned about whether human activity is contributing to climate change, Tillerson also failed to give a straight answer.


Also of Interest

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

BuzzFeed was wrong to publish the Trump rumours.

Trump, Spy Stories, Prostitutes and the U.S. Dollar

“Many Areas of Appalachia and Mississippi Delta Have Lower Life Expectancy Than Bangladesh”

Around The Empire – Episode 4: The Destruction Of Yemen Feat. Ben Norton


A Little Night Music

Lightnin' Hopkins - Lightnin's Boogie

Lightnin' Hopkins - Letter To My Back Door Friend

Lightnin' Hopkins - Cotton

Lightnin' Hopkins - Let Me Play With Your Poodle

Lightnin' Hopkins - Woke Up This Morning

Lightnin' Hopkins - Walk On

Lightnin Hopkins - Nothin' But The Blues

Lightnin' Hopkins - Coffee For Mama

Lightnin' Hopkins - Mojo Hand



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Pricknick's picture

Cory Booker is sure getting his name out there.
First this week , he claims he's open to a 2020 run.
Then he has the simpleton task of taking down Sessions.
Then to top it off, he joins other craptastic dems in shooting down lower drug prices. He's only taken $267000 from the pharmaceutical industry. Can't be cutting off that gravy.
Hope he runs so we can be blamed for him losing.
Thanks Joe.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

joe shikspack's picture

wow, he's like the democratic partisan superhero of our current economic slump. i guess like all of the other party worms, booker senses the power void at the top of the corpadem heap.

have a great evening!

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Dragonkat's picture

Here you go.

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See, their morals, their code... it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be.

-The Joker-

OzoneTom's picture

And on-the-record. I expect that he will continue to put the incumbents in the position of having to take a position.

Several (Cantwell, Carper, Casey, Donnelly, Heinrich, Heitkamp, Menendez, Tester) will be up for re-election in less than two years. If they are primaried or challenged by third-party candidates, there should be plenty of on-the-record material to hang around their miserable, corrupt necks.

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Strife Delivery's picture

I was wondering if this was going to pop up here on C99 (sounds like a radio station when i say it out loud).

Scouring the web, it seems the few places I've looked into are disgusted, though a few exceptions remain...one of the few defenders are the people at Kos. I merely go from far left to center publications to get a range of public perception, and boy, those folks over there are defending this. Seems they will do whatever it takes to defend capital.

In the infamous words of Donald Trump: "Sad."

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Steven D's picture

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Bollox Ref's picture

is fast entering The Slimeball Hall of Fame™.

You'd have to be comfortably dumb to consider him precedent-worthy.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

Steven D's picture

approved cash he rolls around in.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Bollox Ref's picture

Let's hope they are unissued bills.

We wouldn't want him to catch anything.

Go DNC!!

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

joe shikspack's picture

well, he certainly must be exhausted from his exertions in behalf of the corpadems today.

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dervish's picture

but I came across what purports to be John McCain's propaganda broadcast as a prisoner in Vietnam. It sounds plausible.

[video:https://youtu.be/zO0mHEJyC3Y]

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

Azazello's picture

There watching the Maidan protests and looking for American flags in the crowd.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvsN9syhZP8]

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

mimi's picture

I have to shake this off my mind now.

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Azazello's picture

spends more time in Ukraine than he does in Arizona.

(CNN) - Sen. John McCain said Friday that Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election amounted to an "act of war."
The Arizona Republican, who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also has scheduled a hearing for next week on foreign cyberthreats to the US, which will also focus on Russian cyberhacking, a committee aide told CNN earlier Friday.

McCain, who is one of Washington's most prominent foreign policy hardliners, has criticized the recent sanctions and expulsions announced by the Obama administration this week as insufficient and belated. He made his latest comments in Ukraine, a nation threatened by a resurgent Russia, after meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
"When you attack a country, it's an act of war," McCain said of the recent hackings on Ukrainian TV, according to a transcript compiled by Reuters. "And so we have to make sure that there is a price to pay so that we can perhaps persuade Russians to stop this kind of attacks on our very fundamentals of democracy."

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joe shikspack's picture

it certainly sounds like him.

sounds like mccain has had a long career in creating propaganda.

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dervish's picture

Propaganda anniversary. I thought it would be appropriate in light of his role in the recent dossier release.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

snoopydawg's picture

into the missing POWs who weren't returned after the war was over. He goes to great lengths to avoid anyone asking him questions about why he will not allow any investigations into whether all POWs were returned.

McCain, whose POW status made him the committee’s most powerful member, attended that hearing specifically to confront Alfond because of her criticism of the panel’s work. He bellowed and berated her for quite a while. His face turning anger-pink, he accused her of "denigrating" his "patriotism." The bullying had its effect–she began to cry.

After a pause Alfond recovered and tried to respond to his scorching tirade, but McCain simply turned and stormed out of the room. The PAVE SPIKE file has never been declassified. We still don’t know anything about those 20 POWs.

The so called Maverick is a coward in my opinion. And a bully.
He votes against almost every bill that would help veterans. Real piece of work.
https://www.thenation.com/article/why-has-john-mccain-blocked-info-mias/

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Azazello's picture

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODnsZbVSXOY]

So, Samantha Power is at it again. It says in her Wiki bio that she got her start as a journalist writing about the Clintons' wars in Yugoslavia, presumably about the "genocide" there that was used to justify NATO bombing the shit out of the place. I wonder if she also wrote about how our Saudi and Gulf state allies sent money, guns and foreign jihadis there. The only difference between "liberal interventionists" and right-wing Neocons is the type of lies they use to justify wars of aggression. Just like the difference between Dems and Repubs, it's more about style than substance.
Here's a new one from Jimmy Dore:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge_DuOy-CUM]

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joe shikspack's picture

samantha power can't be replaced fast enough. i am looking forward to not hearing from her for a long time.

thanks for the jimmy dore piece. unfortunately, the mushroom people who really need to hear what he has to say will likely never watch it.

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Crider's picture

And other news organizations (CNN, David Corn's Mother Jones story) acting as some sort of gatekeepers for the unwashed masses just doesn't wash with me. I spent years working at a real daily newspaper and, believe it or not, there's nothing special or unique about the individuals who put them together. They're just like you and me.

Getting to see the actual document, rather than somebody else's dramatization, is more in tune with our internet age. Printing a thirty page document in a newspaper or magazine was impractical, but hosting it in a pdf file is the way information needs to be treated. We need more dossiers, not fewer.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fK9hK82r-AM]

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joe shikspack's picture

i'm not averse to the idea of them printing the document that a lot of people are talking about so that the american people can see the allegations for themselves.

on the other hand, i feel that if you are going to print a document like that, complete with allegations of treason (a hanging offense), then context is everything. it seems to me that a "journalist" has a role as a responsible purveyor of information to investigate the material as fully as possible and present a great deal more information about the credibility of the various claims than the somewhat skimpy disclaimer that buzzfeed ran with the story.

my $.02

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Azazello's picture

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Crider's picture

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A sixth-grader can get it.
Thanks for the link, it's a good one.

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snoopydawg's picture

Another point I keep making is that after DWS lost all those seats and states, she wasn't fired. The reason why she wasn't was having the DP in the minority let Obama hide behind the republicans obstructing his agenda.
I am pretty sure that if Russia put troops in Mexico or Canada then our country would have a problem with that. Putting US troops on Russia's borders should be considered as threat that military action could possibly happen soon.
And will someone explain the Crimea situation?
Hasn't Russia had a base there for decades and had every right to defend it? Also the people of Crimea voted to stay with Russia, right? So is this more propaganda?
And of course the democrats lobbed softballs at Sessions. They don't have any hard Balls.

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joe shikspack's picture

it looks to me like as long as dws kept the money coming in, the democratic establishment didn't really care what happened in the states or to their majorities in the legislature.

I am pretty sure that if Russia put troops in Mexico or Canada then our country would have a problem with that. Putting US troops on Russia's borders should be considered as threat that military action could possibly happen soon.

heh, america runs on western double standard time.

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Azazello's picture

and has been since 1783. Catherine the Great had the port of Sevastopol built in 1784 as a base for the Russian Black Sea fleet. Russia has always needed a warm water port. As an example, Russia is now the world's largest exporter of wheat and most of that wheat is shipped from its busiest port, Novorossiysk. See map.

As you can easily see, whoever controls Crimea controls shipping on the Black Sea. The Russians defended a besieged Savastopol twice, once during the Crimean War and again during the Second World War. The population is majority Russian speaking and many are veterans of the Russian navy, sort of like San Diego is to the US. In addition, Crimea has been a Russian tourist resort since forever. No responsible Russian leader is going to allow NATO a base in Crimea. Such a base was one of the reasons for the Kiev coup, NATO membership for Ukraine was being proposed.
Here's an old Russian political cartoon:

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dervish's picture

and a vital US interest, for reasons that no one can elaborate beyond stealing Russia's primary Black Sea bases.

It's as if Russia suddenly sponsored a coup in San Diego and wanted to turn it into a Russian base, how well would that go over? Heck San Diego hasn't even been in US possession for as long as Crimea has belonged to Russia.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

snoopydawg's picture

Still hoping that someone can answer my question about Crimea.

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joe shikspack's picture

the people of crimea voted overwhelmingly to join russia.

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Azazello's picture

they demonstrated against a joint Ukrainian/NATO exercise in '06. From Stephen Cohen's Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives:

That possibility was foreshadowed by a little-know event in late May and early June 2006, at a port in Ukraine’s ethnic Russian region of Crimea. A U.S. naval ship suddenly appeared, and a contingent of marines went ashore to prepare for a NATO-Ukraine military exercise. Angry crowds of local citizens blockaded the port and confronted the marines, shouting “No to NATO in Ukraine!” An eyewitness account conveyed their mood: “American soldiers … Do you want a new Vietnam here? You will get it, and your mothers will cry!” Meanwhile, “Loudspeakers blasted a throaty rendition of ‘Holy War,’ the song that sent Russian soldiers off to battle during World War

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snoopydawg's picture

From the map above, I don't see an outlet or inlet into the Black Sea so how do ships get out? And how could a US ship get in?
I checked google earth and still didn't see anyway for a navy ship to get in there.

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Azazello's picture

see Istanbul, Turkey.

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snoopydawg's picture

I enlarged the map and now can see where it connects to it.
Thanks.

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Azazello's picture

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featheredsprite's picture

That would really be going from the frying pan into the fire.

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Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.

joe shikspack's picture

i agree. a pence presidency would be utterly disastrous. while i despise trump, he seems somewhat more sane than pence who is a total fruitcake.

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LeChienHarry's picture

does or says is wrong. At their/our peril. But they are not strategists and frankly don't seem to care.

We need a list of what elected officials do: two columns...one with the good things they said or did like Trump saying no to dismantling the Ethics committee, and, at least for one day saying no to the dismantling of ACA. Which now it looks like he's saying yes to.

Same with President Obama: good stuff...national monuments; clemency (we want more); bad stuff...foreign and domestic.

Clinton's domestic policies: bad stuff...deregulation - especially of banks and financial institutions; prison industrial complex - jail time for pot possesion by the tens of thousands; end of welfare with no replacement.

Makes my head spin to keep track: tables and lists work for me.

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Crider's picture

Being named Trump's Cybersecurity Advisor and all that because he didn't get a cabinet position. Later today, I saw on the Register,
Trump's cyber-guru Giuliani runs ancient, utterly hackable website

US president-elect Donald Trump's freshly minted cyber tsar Rudy Giuliani runs a website so insecure that its content management system is five years out of date, unpatched and is utterly hackable.

Former New York City mayor and Donald loyalist Giuliani was today announced by Trump's transition team as his cybersecurity adviser – a crucial role in defending America's computer infrastructures.

Giulianisecurity.com, the website for Giuliani's eponymous infosec consultancy firm, runs Joomla! version 3.0, released in 2012, and since found to carry 15 separate vulnerabilities.

Why am I not surprised? So I visited the site and clever cyber terrorists had already taken it down.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHYF0nISxxo]

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

Really excellent news roundup--thanks!

Couldn't disagree with a word that Parry and Hedges wrote. But, I really don't believe that DT will stick around to be impeached. For sure, I don't think he'd consider running for a second term, if by a miracle, he lasts through the first one.

Obviously, I don't know, but I seriously doubt that they (the 'deep state') can force DT to take many positions that he doesn't truly buy in to. I don't see that as a character trait of his. Which is not to say that I don't judge him to be a 'wheeler dealer.' I do--but on his terms.

I'm betting that he's refusing to divest himself of his [real estate] 'assets,' because he figures that his new 'gig' may not pan out. Guess time will tell.

I'm late another night walking 'the B' his last long walk, since I spent almost an hour scanning documents for Mr M's HRO. Talk about down to the wire--I had only one workday (tomorrow) left to comply.

Decided to post the two newspaper pieces about the VA, tomorrow. I'll be able to come in early, and have the time to post excerpts, not just a couple links. (Which I hope will make my points a bit clearer.)

Heard Paul Ryan's Weekly Briefing earlier today. Ryan claims to be on a 'rescue mission.' Gag!!! Thought I'd post it, so folks could hear for themselves, how he 'frames' his message. Frankly, he's the lawmaker that keeps me up at night, 'cause he's been planning and plotting to destroy our social safety net for years. I hope I'm wrong, but I believe that he could fool a lot of folks with his rhetoric. (right-leaning ones, anyway)

JANUARY 12, 2017
House Speaker Weekly Briefing House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), during his weekly press briefing to outline the Republican agenda, spoke about the options for Republicans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Mr. Ryan also responded to a question about President-elect Donald Trump comparing the intelligence community to Nazi Germany, saying the president-elect would come to appreciate the work intelligence agencies do, but that he is “understandably” frustrated with unsubstantiated reports leaked to the public.

Hey, Everyone have a nice evening!

Bye

[Edit: Typo - lawmaker, not lawmakers]

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

The SOSD Fantastic Four

Available For Adoption, Save Our Street Dogs, SOSD

Taro
Taro, SOSD

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

joe shikspack's picture

i am sure that by now trump has figured out that his presidency will not be a cakewalk and that he is going to have to deal with being undermined by a bunch of very sneaky, devious people - probably more talented at their treachery than the slimy people that he's dealt with in the business world. i would expect that he will not want a second scoop, if he makes it through the first one.

have a great evening.

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LeChienHarry's picture

exit stage left, or right, when he's fed up.

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Lightin Hopkins, oh my. He played a bit in Austin when I was there in the late '70s.
At Antone's, but the only clip I could find that was similar to what I experienced was at Austin City Limits:

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mimi's picture

"On Contact: Strategies of Resistance with Michael Gecan"?
For some strange reason (I guess I am hypersensitized through all the tap dancing on toe tips around the issue of civilians or the government trying to incite violence and am completely confused about it) I didn't feel as comfortable with Michael Gecan as I would have expected me being with guests Chris Hedges interviews. Chris Hedges hits the nails on the head so often with his hammer, I developed some "fan" emotions for his pieces and writings.

Is Michael Gecan a bit too intelligent? From the interview (at TC 5:34)

Because Power is organized people, and organized money. Most activists stress organized people and forget organized money

Couldn't help thinking that organized moeny could be part of organized crime and organized mafia. And he says that organizing money for the resistance community groups is not dependent on public money (ie government's money).
How does this square with his book title "Going Public"? As Hedges says at TC 4:27:

"The book has many elements in it that are counterintuitive."

and Gecan says at TC 6:50 in answering Chris Heges question of what is the overarching theme in building these resistance organizations with "Power". Now I definitely have to order that book, sigh.

So he is building "Power" in organizing money to make the resistance groups owning their power.

Why does this make me uncomfortable in my guts? I have my bout of lacking reading comprehension and a good deal of doubts.

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LeChienHarry's picture

Through my US filters, reflecting on OWS and Bernie, it seems that at least in a US context, his message may be the right thing. I think his assessment of movements that fail is correct on two points: lack of power, and the lack of money (power). That's what scared the Dem elites about Bernie: he was collecting money fast and developing a base with power, quickly.

I also liked his last four elements which are necessary for movements.

This approach may not work elsewhere, but certainly in the US at the moment.

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mimi's picture

and re-listen again. Too much material I watch and I get tired and discouraged and feel manipulated somewhat. But that too shall pass.

Did you see the video from the Real News produced and written by Thomas Hedges (is he related to Chris Hedges?) and edited by Paul Jay? I posted it in the NCTim's Open Thread of today, Reminds me of organized money and power, which got me so chickening and shaky.

Have a good day, leChienHarry. We had our first snow here in Germany's North.

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LeChienHarry's picture

to X-country ski. Did not see the Real News you refer to. I was very pleased to watch the Chris Hedges video, which I don't often do.

Stay safe and warm. We're house hunting in this weather.

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joe shikspack's picture

a caveat, i have not read gecan's book and i am unfamiliar with him - i am working on the basis only of what he said in the interview.

let me preface this by saying that organized activists typically do need some money for their organizing activities (for example: printing, physical meeting spaces, webhosting, transportation, etc.) and it is important where that money comes from. if it comes from "charity donations" from wealthy people, that gives them an effective veto on activism and, more importantly, people at the heart of the organization will tend to try to "keep the donors happy." this tends to lead to a sort of censorship of the organization where it will work only within the parameters of what a few, influential people are likely to approve of.

on to your point:

Couldn't help thinking that organized moeny could be part of organized crime and organized mafia.

you are absolutely right. that does happen - there was a time when american unions became a target of and some were said to be controlled by the mafia.

it's a recurrent problem in american society. 40 years ago i opened a bank account in a small, neighborhood bank, kind of a mom and pop bank, really. safe, humdrum, federally-insured, boring. the mom and pop that owned it got older, their kids didn't want to be bankers and it got sold to a somewhat larger, regional bank with a number of branches around town. a few years later, the regional bank got bought up by a much larger bank that was run by a former democratic party insider, a legal adviser to truman, kennedy, johnson and carter. that bank was illegally acquired through some very shady dealings by the even shadier bcci. after that, it got bought up by a larger bank based in georgia, then it got bought up by an even larger bank and i moved my savings to a credit union during the occupy move your money campaign. the current owner of the bank is the wall street behemoth, wells fargo.

so what i'm getting at is that aggregations of money draw thieves, whether they are small time hustlers, mafiosi or wall street thugs.

anyway, money is important, where it comes from is important, but to me, that is not the most important thing in a community of activists. the most important things are the causes that the organization is focused on, the cohesiveness of the community, the community's ability to coordinate and communicate its message, the spirit (caring, joy, humor, calm resolve, etc.) with which the community pursues its goals and the creativity of the community in crafting its actions to achieve results.

so, for me, i guess the answer to the money thing, is to keep your organization tight-knit, small and do the best you can.

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mimi's picture

aggregation part. Though I have been at a Credit Union since a long time, it's a Credit Union of an institution that is often criticized for their austerity measures it imposes on countries worldwide. So, I feel just half way comfortable with it. Here in Germany I look for something similar, but am not sure yet, who is owned by whom. We have a bank of our postal service, Deutsche Postbank. I thought it would be a good place, but then it is now owned by Deutsche Bank. So much for that.

I feel comfortable with your thoughts about what you consider the most important things in a community of activist. And I have to say that this site is reflective very nicely your preferred characteristics,, ie the ability to coordinate and communicate its message, the spirit (caring, joy, humor, calm resolve, etc.) with which the community pursues its goals and the creativity of the community in crafting its actions to achieve results..

I like to always be involved in some sort of active support of four issues I feel are important for every US citizen personally, public healthcare like Medicare for All, tuition free public higher education at colleges and university, better protective laws for workers and employees and the protection of the environment. Sanders was promoting some of them and I think they need to be pushed continuously. Considering foreign policies, I for sure have my "feelings" about it, but other than a general "I am already against the next war" (which I stole from Knuckleheads sig line), I would think it's pretty difficult to know what to stand up for or against.

That's why I am now listening to the audio contained in this essay:
Scheer Intelligence - The Insanity of a New Cold War: A Top Russian Scholar Sounds the Alarm - Posted on Jan 13, 2017.
It helps me to get a better understanding and if it weren't for sites like "truthdig"and the "caucus99percent" and "Democracy Now" or the "Real News", I never would have stumbled over this conversation between Scheer and Sergei Plekhanov.

In this week’s episode of KCRW’s “Scheer Intelligence,” host Robert Scheer is joined by Russian-born professor Sergei Plekhanov. Plekhanov teaches at York University in Toronto and has a wealth of knowledge about Russian culture and politics, which, he argues, are overlooked by Western media.

I don't know how to embed the audio file, but for me it was worth listening to.
I like this commuity here, because it's the place where in all likelihood someone I would be pointed to it. if not by your o EB, but then too by some authors here as well,

Thanks again for your answer.

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