The Evening Blues - 4-11-17
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features Bay Area blues singer Johnny Fuller. Enjoy!
Johnny Fuller - Fools Paradise
"In the first documented case of total national amnesia, the population of the United States of America appears to have completely forgotten the events leading up to the invasion and subsequent occupation of the nation of Iraq.
Experts, who were initially made aware of the unprecedented phenomenon by the shocking amount of public support for cruise missile attacks against the Syrian government, are baffled.
`It’s like the entire Iraq war never happened,' said Dr. Davinder Easwaran of Oxford University. `The false flags, the propaganda against the nation’s leader, the lies about weapons of mass destruction, the immediate full-throated support by mainstream media outlets for regime change — they appear to have forgotten the entire thing ever happened, and are now reacting to the Syrian situation as though we did not watch this exact same scenario play out in the exact same way between 2002 and 2003.'"
-- Caitlyn Johnstone
News and Opinion
Bomb First
For an American president, bombing is easier than thinking. For an American lawmaker or opinion-maker, it costs nothing to celebrate the resolve of a president who bombs. ... John McCain and Lindsey Graham—who have been among Trump’s most strident critics in the Republican Party, and who have long been calling for the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad—immediately applauded the action. The House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, approved it as “proportional.” Trump’s rapid and definitive response was likewise praised by Fareed Zakaria: “I think Donald Trump became president” by bombing—a true president at last (he meant) after weeks of dithering and confusion. ...
This was a peculiar turn of fortune. A president who for many months, both before he won the election and after, had been characterized as dangerously unstable by the people he calls the establishment, now witnessed the same establishment promote him to the ranks of the sane and responsible. What conclusion will be drawn by the mind of Donald Trump? ...
Coverage of the chemical attack in Syria—and of the American missile strike that issued as a “punishment” of Assad to enforce “international norms”—was apparently supported by evidence satisfying to journalists and editors. But here, as in the treatment of secret information about Trump and Russia, there was an order of logic in the reporting that should have set off an alarm. For something new was happening in both cases: the major newspapers, networks, and websites vouched for conclusions — regarding the accuracy of the inferences about Trump; regarding the source and motive of the chemical attack in Syria—which they described as having been drawn from a sound interpretation of solid evidence. Yet only conclusions were disclosed. The evidence was revealed in the broadest outlines and with little effort to trace the path by which it acquired legitimacy.
Go back a moment to the lesson that Trump is apt to learn from events of the past week. Would it be wrong to reduce it to the following? “You can make some highly respectable new friends by throwing missiles at an obnoxious foreign power. It works like a dream so long as you do it fast and give it a humanitarian gloss.” In the sheer quantity of the attention paid, and the narrowness of the attention, something terrible about our political culture has come to light. ...
On April 9, on the CNN news show GPS, General David Petraeus summoned Americans to a lengthened Syrian war. It would not, he said, be a war lasting just a few years beyond 2017, but “a generational struggle,” a venture that would require us to measure out in careful quantities the necessary “blood and treasure.” Petraeus may yet run for president. He is looking ahead to a merger between a new cold war and a great-power scramble for the Middle East. In response to this extraordinary proposal, his interviewer, Fareed Zakaria, offered no challenge and no question.
Trump Attack on Syria a Deadly Political Game and Reflection of Deep Systemic Crisis
Tillerson warns that Russia must end support for Syrian President Assad ahead of first official trip to Moscow
As he prepared to fly to Moscow Tuesday for his first official visit as secretary of state, Rex Tillerson issued an ultimatum, telling Russian President Vladimir Putin that he has to choose between siding with the U.S. and its allies or remaining committed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Tillerson added that the U.S. sees no future role for Assad in Syria but stopped short of directly calling for him to step down.
Tillerson met with his fellow G7 foreign ministers in Italy on Tuesday morning before his flight to Russia but the group could not agree on tightening sanctions against the Kremlin for its continued support of the Assad regime — something both the U.K. and Canada have called for.
Following the meeting, Tillerson said it is clear “to all of us that the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end,” and that Russia must choose between siding with the U.S. and its allies or aligning with Assad, Iran and Hezbollah.
US-Russia Tensions: how is Moscow likely to respond to Tillerson's latest remarks?
Rexxon says that Trump wants to be the global cop after all.
White House warns of potential US 'red line' over Syria barrel bomb attacks
The Trump administration has signalled much broader grounds for future military intervention in Syria, suggesting it might retaliate against the Assad regime for barrel bomb attacks.
On the eve of a critical visit to Moscow at a time of high US-Russian tensions over Syria, the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, appeared to go even further, saying his country would come to the defence of innocent civilians “anywhere in the world”.
The administration had initially stressed strictly limited objectives for a cruise missile strike last week on a Syrian air force base, saying it was intended to deter the repeat of a chemical attack on Tuesday against civilians and that the focus of US efforts in Syria remains combating the Islamic State (Isis).
On Monday, however, the White House spokesman, Sean Spicer, widened the criteria for retaliation. “When you watch babies and children being gassed, and suffer under barrel bombs, you are instantaneously moved to action,” he said. “I think this president’s made it very clear that if those actions were to continue, further action will definitely be considered by the United States.”
G7 rejects UK call for sanctions against Russia and Syria
G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy could not reach a consensus on a call by the British foreign minster Boris Johnson for targeted sanctions, and said there must be an investigation into last week’s chemical weapons attack in a rebel-held town before new measures could be adopted. ...
In Moscow, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, shrugged off western criticism of his support for the Syrian regime shortly, ratcheting up tensions with the US ahead of Tillerson’s difficult talks in Moscow. Putin compared western and Turkish accusations that Syria’s government dropped the nerve agent that killed dozens of civilians in Idlib to the now-discredited claim that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq stockpiled weapons of mass destruction. He also claimed that the US was planning further trikes on Syria.
The Russian foreign ministry also released a truculent statement noting that Russian-American relations were going through the “most difficult period since the end of the Cold War”. A “long list of irritants that have arisen through Washington’s fault is not decreasing”, the statement added. “Does Washington plan to shift to real cooperation with us to counteract terrorism, including in Syria? The recent US missile strike on the Syrian government forces’ Shayrat airbase, which was an act of aggression against a sovereign government in violation of international law, will most likely strengthen terrorists,” the statement said. ...
Moscow’ statement said it also hoped to hear US plans for Libya, which it said “ended up essentially fractured as a result of the military intervention of Nato countries,” and Yemen, where American weapons were being used in bombardments leading to the “death of peaceful residents”. Despite the reproach of Donald Trump’s missile strikes in Syria, the foreign ministry saved most of its venom for Barack Obama , whom it accused of trying to limit Russian influence and strive for “worldwide hegemony justified by arguments about American exceptionalism that recall the most evil historical associations”.
“Both the Ukrainian crisis and the Syrian problem, with all their tragic elements and ambiguity, are the direct result of the irresponsible policy of the Barack Obama administration, which was determined to obstruct the objective process of forming a multipolar world,” it said.
Vladimir Putin claims the US plans to plant chemical weapons in Syria, attack and blame Assad
Rand Paul wants Congress to review the evidence linking Assad to the chemical attack
Sen. Rand Paul believes the Senate Intelligence Committee needs to review the evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was behind a recent chemical attack that killed innocent civilians; and in retaliation to which President Trump ordered airstrikes on Thursday night.
Appearing on the “Laura Ingraham Show” on Friday, Sen. Paul said when objectively assessing the facts of the situation, it does not make sense why Assad would carry out such an attack. The senator noted that the Syrian dictator has the upper hand in his country’s ongoing civil war. Not only does Assad have Russia’s support, he also recently received reassurance from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that regime change was not something the U.S. was seeking.
“He’s either the dumbest dictator in the world, or it may be more confusing,” Paul told Ingraham.
“I would like to see the evidence,” Paul said. “In all this rush, why don’t we at least look at the intelligence instead of getting somebody’s conclusion on TV second-hand from the president?”
Congressman: 'I don't think' Assad is behind Syria attack
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie expressed doubt Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is responsible for Tuesday's chemical attack, and reinforced his stance that US intervention could "end up making the situation worse."
Speaking on CNN's "At This Hour" with Kate Bolduan, the Kentucky lawmaker told the host that he didn't think the Syrian leader launched the attack, and that further intervention by the US government may aggravate the situation.
"Frankly, I don't think Assad would have done that," Massie said. "It does not serve his interests."
Does Trump Stand to Profit Personally Off the Wars He's Escalating in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia?
Merkel Challenger Wants Germany to Back Disarmament, Not Arms Spending
Martin Schulz has led a revival in the left-leaning Social Democratic Party's (SPD) popularity since his nomination in January to challenge conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Sept. 24 federal election and try to deny her a fourth term.
Asked whether Germany's NATO membership could be up for negotiation in an SPD-led government after the election, Schulz said "we are a strong and reliable member of NATO". But he added: "What we need is not an upward spiral in armaments but rather disarmament initiatives."
Germany has come under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to raise its defense spending to meet a NATO target of 2 percent of economic output. Merkel has said Germany is committed to the goal.
By contrast, Schulz's comments indicate an SPD-led government would strongly resist the U.S. pressure to spend more on defense. He took issue with the NATO target, which he said "would mean a substantial financial burden for Germany."
North Korea 'ready for war' after US redeploys navy strike team
North Korea has warned of “catastrophic consequences” in response to any further provocations by the US, days after a US navy battle group was sent to waters off the Korean peninsula. The decision to divert the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and other battleships from a planned visit to Australia to the western Pacific came after tensions increased over ongoing military drills involving American and South Korean forces that Pyongyang regards as a dress rehearsal for an invasion.
“We will hold the US wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions,” North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying. “(North Korea) is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US.” The spokesman cited Washington’s refusal to rule out a pre-emptive strike against North Korean missile sites as justification for its nuclear programme.
“The prevailing grave situation proves once again that (North Korea) was entirely just when it increased in every way its military capabilities for self-defence and pre-emptive attack with a nuclear force as a pivot,” the spokesman said, according to KCNA. “We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs in order to defend ourselves by powerful force of arms.”
Hmmm... pilots are voting with their feet and the military doesn't know what to do.
So many pilots are leaving the U.S. Air Force that some may be forced to stay
Pilots are leaving the U.S. Air Force faster than they can be replaced, and officials are considering a drastic solution — forcing the pilots to stay against their will. “If I don’t have pilots to fly, the enemy has a vote, and if I can’t put warheads on foreheads, then [ISIS] is winning,” Gen. Carlton Everhart, the chief of Air Mobility Command, told Roll Call.
Pilot attrition has been a problem for years, with many pilots leaving the service to work for commercial airlines. Several Air Force generals reportedly plan to meet with airline executives in May to discuss ways to manage the situation and avoid an Air Force “stop-loss,” or requiring pilots to remain in the service beyond the timeframe to which they committed.
There’s reportedly talk of increasing the bonus system to incentivize Air Force pilots to stay, but money may not be the issue. Everhart said that long and arduous deployments on one hand, and a lack of opportunities to actually fly planes when stationed in the U.S. on the other, are making the Air Force unattractive for pilots.
Violence Is Becoming Part of Everyday Life in U.S.
Security firm links CIA leaks to series of past attacks
The security firm Symantec believes it has observed one of the hacking tools described in CIA files released by WikiLeaks to a series of different attacks dating back to 2011.
WikiLeaks's latest series of leaks, dubbed "Vault 7," allegedly comes from a secure CIA server. ... Symantec released a writeup connecting the attacks to the CIA documents on Monday morning.
According to that report, [the CIA attack] targeted at least 40 computers in 16 countries across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa. The attacks used a variety of different, exclusive tools and struck governmental, financial, telecommunications, energy, aerospace, information technology, education and natural resources sectors.
Paraguay's youth mobilize against president
Paraguay’s ongoing crisis over rushed plans to change the constitution – which last week saw congress go up in flames – is thrusting students and young people onto the front lines of political activism.
Young people made up the bulk of the crowds, which braved teargas and rubber bullets to protest a congressional back-room vote which could see Horacio Cartes, of the rightwing Colorado party, stay in power for another five years from 2018. ...
Rodrigo Quintana, a 25-year-old Liberal party member, died after he was shot in the back by police in the party headquarters on 31 March, galvanising widespread anger against the government’s conduct.
Student associations have gathered to condemn police violence and protest against Cartes’s attempt to use a constitutional amendment to change the rules on term limits – something which, the constitution stipulates, requires an elected constituent assembly.
Jeff Sessions Pushes New War on Drugs While Killing Obama-Era Police Reform Measures
Wells Fargo takes back $75m from ex-executives after fake accounts scandal
Wells Fargo has clawed back $75m from two former top executives after an internal report concluded management had little interest in dealing with an overly aggressive sales culture that dated back at least 15 years until that culture spiraled out of control, resulting in millions of accounts being opened fraudulently.
The bank’s board clawed $75m in pay from former CEO John Stumpf and community bank executive Carrie Tolstedt, saying both dragged their feet for years regarding problems at the second-largest US bank. Both were ultimately unwilling to accept criticism that the bank’s sales-focused business model was failing.
The 110-page report has been in the works since September, when Wells acknowledged that its employees opened up to 2m checking and credit card accounts without customers’ authorization. Trying to meet unrealistic sales goals, Wells employees even created phony email addresses to sign customers up for online banking services. “(Wells’ management) created pressure on employees to sell unwanted or unneeded products to customers and, in some cases, to open unauthorized accounts,” the board said in its report.
Trump's "phenomenal" tax plan is going back to the drawing board
Before the election, Trump inked a “contract with the American voter” saying he’d work with Congress to present an ambitious tax reform plan within the first 100 days of his presidency. In early February he told a roomful of CEOs that his administration would be announcing something “phenomenal in terms of tax” within two to three weeks. Then his Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in late February moved the deadline back, saying a plan would be ready by August. But none of those things are likely to happen.
The Associated Press reported Monday that the president has “scrapped the tax plan he campaigned on,” as Republicans struggle to come up with a unified plan for how to remake the U.S. tax system. (An analysis of Trump’s tax plan when he was a candidate showed it would lower tax rates on all income levels, but it would benefit the richest Americans the most, while cutting federal revenues and raising the federal debt.)
A near-term failure to get anything done on tax reform would be another significant blow for the president’s domestic agenda, after courts blocked his travel ban from majority-Muslim countries and the effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act—known as Obamacare—came to naught.
New York State Just Passed a $163 Billion Budget and a Free College Tuition Plan
Travelers across New York state will get the chance to summon ride-sharing cars under a $163 billion state budget passed on Sunday that includes a free public college tuition program and ends imprisoning people younger than 18 with adults.
The passage completed a deal struck between lawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, on Friday, nine days after the fiscal year began.
Key components – raising the age of criminal responsibility and free tuition for students from families earning less than $120,000 a year – were pushed by Cuomo and led to the longest budget delay since the Democrat took office in 2011. ...
State residents with household incomes under $100,000 will be able to enroll in state public colleges tuition-free. The income limit rises to $125,000 in three years.
Keiser Report: What is Wrong with America?
Big Pharma Funds “Independent” Advocacy Groups Attacking Drug-Price Reduction Bill
Advertisements from seemingly independent advocacy groups are swamping Beltway newspapers with dire warning that recent proposals to lower drug prices will lead to dangerous consequences. In the last week alone, the ads have appeared in the Washington Post, Washington Times, Roll Call, The Hill, and Politico. The groups placing the ads have no obvious connection to pharmaceutical companies. For instance, the American Conservative Union (ACU), one of the organizations taking out an ad, describes itself as devoted to promoting “liberty, personal responsibility, traditional values, and strong national defense.”
But unbeknownst to readers, the organizations have undisclosed financial ties to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the umbrella lobbying group that represents the biggest names in the drug industry, including Merck, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Purdue Pharma, and Eli Lilly.
The ads have appeared as legislators are taking up proposals designed to lower drug prices — potentially cutting into the profits of the big drugmakers.
Schiff dismisses call for his recusal from Russia investigation
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee on Sunday rejected a call for him to recuse himself from the panel's investigation of Russian meddling in last year's presidential campaign. Rep. Adam Schiff of California characterized the suggestion of recusal, made by former Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), as not “serious.”
“A lot of us have characterized how we've seen the intelligence,” Schiff said on ABC’s "This Week." “Mr. Rogers and others don't quarrel with those who say they've seen no evidence.”
"Trump Forest" Blooms to Counter "Trump's Monumental Stupidity" and Attack on Earth
Want to help counter President Donald Trump's war on climate action and combat climate change? Help plant Trump Forest.
The brainchaid of climate scientist Dan Price and sustainable cap company founder Adrien Taylor, the Trump Forest initiatve launched last month with a batch of 1,000 trees planted in Christchurch, New Zealand. ...
How it works: an individual or business makes a donation to a local tree planting group indicating that it's in honor of Trump, and then sends the receipt on to the folks at Trump Forest who will track and map the growing "forest."
"We know Trump likes his things: Trump Tower, Trump Golf, Trump Vodka and so on. We thought he might like Trump Forest too," Taylor said in a press statement announcing the launch.
Price said he felt like "we had to do something" to counter "Trump's extremely dangerous incompetence."
Leaked Emails Show Big Oil Execs Oversaw 'Vast Bribery Scheme' in Nigeria
In a damning development in one of the oil industry's biggest global corruption scandals, leaked emails reveal that Big Oil executives knowingly took part in "a vast bribery scheme that robbed the Nigerian people of over a billion dollars," a new exposé has revealed.
The full investigation, titled Shell Knew, was published by watchdog groups Global Witness and Finance Uncovered on Monday. It includes newly-unearthed internal emails which show that officials at the highest level of Royal Dutch Shell and the Rome-based oil and gas company Eni were aware that a $1 billion payment in 2011 for OPL 245—said to be "one of Africa's most valuable oil blocks"—would end up in the hands of convicted money launderer and ex-Nigerian oil minister Dan Etete, and from there "would flow onward for bribes."
"This is one of the worst corruption scandals the oil industry has ever seen, and this is the biggest development so far," said Simon Taylor, co-founder of Global Witness, which has been investigating the scandal for six years. The oil giants have long-denied that they were aware of any foul playing, saying that they only made payments to the Nigerian government.
"Today's new evidence shows senior executives at the world's fifth biggest company knowingly entered a corrupt deal that deprived the Nigerian people of $1.1 billion," Taylor continued. "That is more than the country's entire health budget for 2016." ...
Shell is currently facing trial for charges of international corruption; an Italian court will begin hearings on April 20 to determine whether the trial will proceed.
How old spy photos are helping U.S. scientists study climate change
U.S. and Soviet planes and satellites produced untold numbers of photographs of the rival superpowers. And while the U.S. was looking for Soviet military and nuclear activity, it ended up producing thousands of detailed photos of the Western Siberian tundra — photos that are now ideally suited for documenting the effects of climate change on the region.
University of Virginia Professor Howie Epstein and then–graduate student Gerald Frost decided to use the photos, taken between 1960 and 1984 and declassified after the end of the Cold War, to aid them in their study of the tundra and to identify specific effects of climate change on the remote region. ...
“We are able to look at the exact same locations, in close detail, across several decades,” Epstein told UVA Today. Scientists know that much of the Arctic has been greening for decades, but the Siberian tundra had not been closely observed by satellites until relatively recently. So the spy photos provide crucial information that had previously been unavailable about what was occurring in Siberia in previous decades.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Russia-Baiting Pushed Trump to Attack Syria and Increases the Risks of Nuclear Annihilation
“It’s Complicated”: the Great False Argument for War
The Situation In Syria Is NOT Complicated — Here’s What You Need To Know
The New York Times’ Unbelievably Stupid Explanation For Assad’s Alleged Gas Attack
Universal healthcare supporters see their chance: 'There’s never been more support'
Barclays’ Whistleblower-Gate Raises Alarms Bells
A Little Night Music
Johnny Fuller - Mean Old World
Johnny Fuller - Prowling Blues
Johnny Fuller - Comin Round the Corner
Johnny Fuller - I Walk All Night
Johnny Fuller - These young girls
Johnny Fuller - The Power
Johnny Fuller - Mercy Mercy
Johnny Fuller - All Night Long
Johnny Fuller - Swingin' At The Creek
Johnny Fuller - She’s To Much
Johnny Fuller - Stop, Look & Listen
Comments
The Twilight Zone we are in is getting stranger by the day
Kremlin, angry at Syria missile strike, says Putin won't meet Tillerson
Single payer support by conservatives?
Charles Krauthammer: The road to single-payer health care
F. H. Buckley - Why Trump Should Embrace Single Payer Healthcare
The political revolution continues
evening shockwave...
heh, while it is surprising to find out that krauthammer has picked up a sense of the public sentiment of health care as a right, i'm pretty sure that the republicans and the corpadems have not heard us yet.
we are going to have to get a lot louder and more insistent (i.e. the politicians will have to be in an existential panic) before medicare for all lands on nancy pelosi's famous table.
single payer support
Krauthammer is not supportive of single payer, but he thinks it may be approaching inescapability. (As it has done for almost every other nation on Earth.) He still waxes fond of the "market based system", despite the fact that allowing capitalist markets (read: death panels) to decide who gets what doctoring when and how is what got us into this fix in the first place.
On the other hand, Buckley is defending the single-payer concept as a matter of common sense, for the exact reasons I pointed out above.
Not everything that is necessary or useful can or should be done for private corporate profit. That's not an opinion. It's a fact.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Strange week.
Trump has a cloud of unintended consequences hovering over his head. He does impetuous things and then strange things happen.
If Europe wants to relate to Russia without the US serving as intermediary, that's probably a good thing.
The Alt-Right seems to be pissed off about the bombing of Syria. Doctrinaire Republicans are talking about single payer health insurance. Hoodathunkit?
Do you suppose Trump will actually unite the US?
Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.
evening featheredsprite...
well he has brought the neocons and the democrats out of the closet to hold their war drum circle together in public, in front of everyone. their big common project of goading trump into bombing syria has certainly gone gangbusters for them.
we also might be looking at an opportunity for a political realignment between libertarian republicans and leftish dems.
unfortunately, the warmongers seem to outnumber the rest of us.
outnumber
I don't think the warmongers outnumber us. Unfortunately, their dollars do outnumber ours (by orders of magnitude).
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Evening Joe
Can't hear the blues for this pounding in the background.
Damn loud too...Drumbeat for War War War...sigh
I want a Pony!
evening arrow...
hanging out on the corner by lindsey graham's disco, eh?
Hey all ...
I highly recommend the Keiser Report video above. Both halves are good. Here's Jimmy Dore on Brian Williams' perverted love of war.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxQWIcopBiY width:500 height:300]
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
I caught a CNN clip of Anderson Cooper
at my son's place. (I don't get CNN). He was discussing the intimate details of cruise missiles with a salivating military expert. Still shocked by the unauthorized use of military force in a sovereign country, I actually felt sick. And now I am shocked by the number of sane people who are in favour of the bombing.
Now that a few days have passed we find out that 7 people were killed by it but what exactly has it accomplished? Trump's poll numbers may have gone up but the fact that he has said nothing of sense or exhibited any foreign policy or plan to go along with the bombs the numbers will go down.
To thine own self be true.
evening marilyn...
sadly, all trump has to do is keep the bombs dropping to keep the media wurlitzer churning out the happy, supportive news cycles.
Brian Williams truly is an awful human being.
Thank goodness we don't get MSNBC (the teevee is mainly used for film watching).
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
Make Sure News Benefits Clintons
I get it, but I haven't made a habit of tuning in since they kicked Keith Olbermann to the curb.
The second I get access to "cafeteria" style television service, on the other hand.....
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Thank you so much for Jimmy
I needed that today. Have to say too that even one friend who I thought might buy into Syria isn't. She want's Trump investigated for Russia, sigh, but I was at least glad to see she's not beating the war drums. And great point about Trump voters and his "promises" of getting us out of the wars. Maybe now some of these damned people will start to see it isn't party that's the problem, its the corruption and endless war of all of them.
Brian Williams made me sick too. I no longer watch any news shows and to see it after almost a year was disturbing. I know I would have been sickened by that beauty of our weapons remark though, even when I used to watch him. I watched the live coverage by CNN of Gulf One as my then fiancé was over there. Hell, they announced it in WalMart near the base I was located at over the loudspeaker when the bombing began. I could not look away from it, but I never felt those bombs were beautiful, even in my most scared and vengeful moments could I see that as beautiful. Chilling more like it. And Jimmy is so right, they only show them taking off, not landing.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Glorifying “rockets’ red glare” and “bombs bursting in air”
is, if not in our DNA, indeed in our national anthem, as every child learns at an early age.
Our language programs our subjective universe. Sing about something all the time, it’s no surprise if it manifests.
Jimmy Dore's simple question:
"Who are we gonna replace Assad with?" seems not to have occurred to anyone inside the DC beltway, nor to anyone appearing on MSM teevee news channels. Doesn't anyone find it extremely odd that no one would be asking such a basic question?
native
No U.S. or NATO European leader asked that about Qaddafi either
and as for replacing Saddam in Iraq, they at first wanted to go with that Chalabi charlatan, and later went with Arthur Bremer, who went nuts pretending he was Milton Friedman in Pinochet-land.
Kinda like who we
gonna replace tRump with? Pence?
oh, wait...
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
@native
Personally, I'm kinda wondering why nobody was asking why another country 'invading/killing/yanking leaders to spread democracy' was undemocratically selecting leaders to form puppet governments of their own fossil fuel and other corporations without giving these people any more say than it seems they give their own people in their own country... But asking that might be a bad idea.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
evening azazello...
thanks for the jimmy dore video. as usual, he's right on target.
People like Brian Williams, Rachel Maddow,
Bill O'Reilly, and indeed most of our other famous teevee "presenters of the news" are first and formost, professional celebrities. They have become famous for being famous, and not on account of anything of substance they might know, or they might have done in their lives. The main thing they are good at, and the primary focus of their careers, has always been to present themselves as being authoritative and believable. This is their area of expertise, and for the most part they have no other expertise to speak of.
It is a primarily theatrical role and position, but is of course often augmented by whatever sincerely held beliefs that a given "News Presenter" holds, or is perceived to hold. However those who manage to rise to the top of this profession must severely curtail any beliefs they might have, that are to any significant degree unpopular. Because after all, their very livelihood depends on being, and remaining popular.
The fact that so many Americans look up to these stars, these celebrities of of teevee jornalism, for guidance and understanding of national and world events, explains a lot about why we are in the miserable fix we are in. A News Presenter like Wolf Blitzer for instance, though he is highly accomplished in his field of expertise (how to be a teevee celebrity) in fact knows next to nothing of the subjects he is being paid to talk about.
native
It's kinda' funny ...
MSNBC has become Fox News for Dems. Do you have older relatives who are unreachable because they watch Fox News ? Well, now you have friends and relatives who are unreachable because they watch Rachel. Woo Hoo.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Yes, I do.
The switch-over has been rapid and dramatic. In my long life of observing American politics (I have 70 years under my belt) I've never seen anything remotely like it. There seems to be a kind of mass upheaval occurring, a psychic vomiting of some sort, and not limited only to the USA. Whatever the underlying causes of it might be, I doubt they have much to do with current political structures.
native
Especially when Wolfie
went looking for cover at the start of Iraq I, 1990-ish. "We're here on the roof of our hotel waiting for America to start some uncontrolled ass kicking. And, looks like... yes.. that is some INCOMING!! Mommy! Mommy!" LoL.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Fuller = blues meets r& b meets early r & r.
Pelosi said "proportional." Very deceptive usage. Even in the already insane language of war, "proportional" is used in "proportional response," meaning retaliation. As in, "You killed 50 of mine, so my retaliating by killing 75 of yours is a "proportional response." But, no one attacked us. So "proportional" doesn't even apply in this situation. And where is her concern about the POTUS asking Congress to vote before initiating an act of war? Geebus, even Bush the lesser did that. Or are we going to pretend that Assad, too, was responsible for the 911 attack?
McCain and Graham: Like Hillary, McCain and Graham never met a war or a surge they didn't like. How do people like that ever sleep?
Law enforcement 101 (or CI, because it's an ancient concept in crime-solving): Motive and Opportunity. Assad had opportunity, but what was his alleged motive?
Merkel: The poor man's Thatcher.
Hmmm. Making someone do work they don't want to do somewhere they don't want to be for an employer they don't wish to work for. Didn't the Thirteenth Amendment forbid that? Does a salary really make all the difference in the world?
Doesn't that fall under the US statutory definition of terrorism?
Big PHRMA protesting affordable prescription drugs: As an organization, Big PHRMA deserves a slow, agonizing death.
If people stayed up nights spinning so-called conspiracy theories, they couldn't keep up with what actually goes on. https://caucus99percent.com/content/theory-conspiracy-theory-or-healthy-...
If you believe this Congress will pass Medicare for All, and/or that Trump will sign it into law, look at this--Hardly used. The owner is looking to sell. I can get you a deal. Trust me, Cookie.
Pelosi is an idiot. Is she aware of this?
Trump said that he bombed the airport because he said that Assad's air force used it to drop chemical weapons on his citizens and the bombs killed 7 more citizens.
And it's only terrorism if another country did what the CIA did to those other countries. America is exceptional remember?
It's okay for us to invade countries and destroy those countries and kill a lot of people in order to spread freedom and democracy, but when the people in those countries fight back against our invasion they are called terrorists and insurgents. That is American exceptionalism too.
And it's only bad to do those things when it's a republican president doing it, not when it's a democratic president doing the same thing.
Got it?
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
I don't think she's an idiot or ill-informed.
I think her objectives are different from mine and she attains her goals better than I attain mine.
evening hw...
good observations. one thing though - thatcher would never have taken in large numbers of refugees. i am pretty sure that maggie didn't have any humanitarian urges, unless, as with so many recent american presidents, they were to be acted upon by a military engagement.
pontious pilots
What "makes all the difference in the world" is these pilots' ability to obtain the licensure necessary to perform the jobs they've worked all their lives preparing for.
American aircraft pilots all get their licenses from the same place: the Federal Government, who can render a military pilot ineligible to receive or hold those licenses for life with a stroke of a pen -- and with no other cause whatsoever besides leaving the military when the government didn't want them to.
I remind my readers that there are no entrees into commercial jet pilot employment for life-long civilians. A few schools exist for the required instruction, yes, but no employer will touch a pilot without a successful military career.
So that's what the military holds over the heads of the pilots they have today.
Gak.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
The only commercial pilot I knew personally was
a life-long civilian. Delta Airlines. Maybe I happened to meet the exception that proves the rule, but he was 100% of my personal experience with pilots.
I don't understand your remark
What did you want to say with that? Thatcher and Merkel have really very little in common.
https://www.euronews.com/live
It seems at least half the movies and TV series on *German* TV
are U.S. productions that glorify or even romanticize the CIA, the FBI, and/or militarized local law enforcement.
Last night the 2011
turkeylemonfilm Abduction was on, featuring Taylor Lautner, the teen heartthrob from the Twilight series. (German title: Atemlos – gefährliche Wahrheit.) Message: hey, boys and girls, remember, the CIA is just one big happy family and loves children and teenagers.Cultural hegemony. Trump or no Trump, our empire runs on our soft power over the hearts and minds of the people in our vassal states such as Germany.
Everyone looks down on right-wing populists, but I can’t help thinking that if I were German, why wouldn’t I be interested in reclaiming for my kids and grandkids at least some degree of sovereignty and cultural self-respect? Rather than ceding all power to Washington (or Langley, Virginia), to Brussels, and to Hollywood?
Good evening, joe and bluzerz!
Long time no check in!
Sorry for my long absence. My life has been busy, very busy.
I wanted to comment on the piece that life is becoming more violent. I knew this was coming - many of us knew this was around the corner. Unfortunately, this violence has touched my family, as my niece was murdered a week ago. I never thought murder would touch me and here it is.
We must be vigilant. We must stay together. We must be willing to fight and stand for what is right.
Thanks, as always, for your diligence in bringing us the truth, joe. I depend on this site for the "real news."
Have a beautiful day, folks!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
I've missed seeing you and your spicy comments
…in the hallways of this blog. Glad you swung through.
Thanks, Pluto.
I've been lurking early mornings and late evenings. The days have been full of details. I look forward to reading your insightful comments. I always learn from you.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
A rare double for me!
Do I get a prize?
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
evening ra...
i am so terribly sorry to hear about what happened to your niece. i hope that you and your family are able to find peace in the midst of such a tragedy.
perhaps in the fullness of time enough of us will all be able to stand up together and demand that those who perpetuate our violent and warlike culture stand down - and cause it to happen.
take care!
Thanks, joe.
Life is full of lessons. Death is for the living. Finding solace will come.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
violence
Cat, I'm sorry, Raggedy Ann!
It seems to suck all over!
With respect to your niece: "Nothing is ever forgotten!" Remember that -- and always remember her!
And we must be willing to fight and stand for each other -- because that is right!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Thank you, dear Greek friend.
The director of the program I work in is Greek, and she was equally comforting to me. We will overcome the madness. We must remain united.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Thank You! But I'm not Greek.
I'm just an Hellenophile.
So, when I was looking for a term meaning "Dead head", the userID you see before you is what I managed to come up with. Like in most places, there's already a user named "Dead Head" here, as well as at TOP. (Same dude, IIRC.)
There are more folks who love the Grateful Dead than the available userIDs will support!
I have similar experiences with the Greeks I've met, which is why I'm an Hellenophile. Not to mention their spirituality, their literature, and gyros, baklava, spanokopita, saganaki ("opa!") and....
Indeed. We must continue to love one another and defy our common foes. And we will.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
@Raggedy Ann I am trying to find some
I am trying to find some words of comfort and all I can come up with is that I love you, and without knowing her, loved your niece.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I love you, too
on the cusp. Love is the only thing that will save us.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Oh,
Sending love.
Receiving your love.
More is needed in this climate. We have enough to spread liberally. I appreciate your support.
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Good evening, Joe. Bribery & corruption in Nigeria
and a bunch of other places is pretty much of an open secret among those paying attention. The problem has always been the lack of proof. Now we get a dribble, but that's just two producers and one block.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
evening el...
well, it has always been intuitively obvious that giant western corporations have extracted vast wealth from a large number of countries and their people remain terribly poor, while their environmental, working and living conditions deteriorate.
it's not been so much a matter of proof as a matter of will and a sense of decency.
Good evening Joe and All...
In the simple words of Robert Redford, "We are living in very dangerous times."
If only we could get away, sometimes.
Please send vibes and love to the stars for my dear 84-year-old-friend and fellow ski instructor, Andre. His cancer has taken a turn for the worse...
You can spot him as far as the eye can see coming down a slope in a crowd of good skiers, he's the smoothest of all.
Thanks.
Edit for typo.
evening smiley...
my best wishes go out to your friend, i hope that he has many years of happy, graceful skiing ahead of him.
i hope that you are well, too.
If, kharma moved faster...
Cheers, Joe.
This doesn't surprise me one bit
After all Sydney Bluementhal got away with stealing classified information from the NSA, Hillary got away with using his stolen information and passing it on to Obama who knew that she was using a private email server, but Chelsea Manning released evidence of war crimes in Iraq and she was sentenced to prison for 35 years.
Petraeus gave classified information to his mistress so that she could write a book.
Was he charged under the espionage act like Chelsea was? Nope. He was fined $100,000 and given two years probation, got to keep his rank and military pension.
John Edward"s two Americas is alive and well.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
evening snoopy...
i would not be surprised in the least if petreaus ran for president in the next election. i would also not be surprised if he was the official candidate of the war party, with all of the media supporting him.
may the fsm have mercy.
Oh, an edit, misplaced, but while I'm here
grasping, too, at straws; sucking the wind from the good. Take good care, All.
Hello joe and Bluesters. Hope all is well!
We are sitting here in the campground in Monterey reading the EB and appreciating your work. Chilly and at times raint here but we have had fabulous days of wildlife sightings as usual. Only thing that keeps us sane. That, and copious amounts of cheap red wine.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Really appreciate "Bomb First"
by David Bromwich for a clear summation.
Note the difference between his writing and that of Caitlyn Johnstone is that he doesn't tell the reader what to think right off the bat. He just presents the facts very clearly, step by step.
Thanks Joe, I have been looking for something like "Bomb First" ever since last Thursday.
To thine own self be true.
Have the democrats made peace with Trump?
It seems like they have since they are praising him for getting his feet wet with the war on terror by lobbying missiles into Syria and killing 7 people under false pretenses.
Weird how he was upset about Assad's killing civilians and while teaching him a lesson that he shouldn't do that again, Trump ended up killing Syrians too.
He had already gotten his feet wet in the Yemen debacle that killed 30 innocent civilians and in Iraq when he killed over 200 innocent civilians.
And as usual it seems that the democrats are continuing their short attention span of trying to delegitimize Trump's presidency by tying him to Putin.
Wars seem to have a way of bringing both parties together.
Yes Marylyn, we do need a regime change in this country.
Has anyone watched the tv show "Designated Survivor " where all of congress and everyone else who attends the state of the union address is killed when the capital building is blown up. Sigh, if only.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
"Yes, we need regime change!
for us."
A comment sent to the NYTimes.
To thine own self be true.
ok, I admit, I am Hitler.
So, what did I 'learn' today?
I have to support Le Pen, because she is against Trump's Syrian air strike.
North Korea's missiles could reach Hawaii.
Spicer says Assad is Hitler and Huffpo says he shouldn't be fired for it.
Erdogan said Assad is Hitler and it's not ok with Tillerson, because
Tillerson says in Turkey the fate of Syria will be decided by the Syrian people, not by Nazis.
Erdogan said Merkel is Hitler and it's ok with Trump, Tillerson and Spicer.
Trump is Hitler and that's fine to say.
JFK is Hitler, sez a Chinese guy, Castro said Reagan is Hitler and Obama is Hitler because he plaid golf with Boehner
I am Hitler and CIA Psy-ops made me believe that too. I don't understand anything and that's what the deep state wants.
What's wrong with America? You decide.
Crazy is as crazy does. Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what crazies you get writing.
Let's call it quits, because CIA has hacked my computer. They know I am a dangerous mama.
Thank you very much.
Good Night and no more Good Luck.
Good Luck is a no no, sez the
deepfake shallow state.https://www.euronews.com/live
Well, Germany is in its 3rd year of trying a 94-year old man who
was a guard in a concentration camp for some weeks.
I have to ask what kind of justice is this? Who is constantly telling German citizens that they’re supposed to want this from their system? Who does any of this benefit?