The Evening Blues - 4-26-17



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Duke Ellington

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features jazz composer and musician Duke Ellington. Enjoy!

Duke Ellington - C Jam Blues

"The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars."

-- William Westmoreland


News and Opinion

Members of Congress Demand Trump Provide Legal Justification for Syria Attack

Nearly three weeks after ordering a cruise missile attack against one of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s airfields, Donald Trump has yet to explain how that was legal without congressional authorization. Two Democratic members of Congress are demanding that Trump offer some sort of legal justification beyond off-the-cuff remarks from administration officials.

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Rep. Adam Schiff of California sent a stern letter to the White House on Tuesday, warning that Trump could be setting a dangerous precedent for conducting pre-emptive strikes and risking war with major powers, while cutting Congress out of the picture. Two days after the missile strike, Trump sent Congress a notice that he had ordered it and that he had the “constitutional authority” to do so.

Kaine and Schiff wrote: “These assertions of authority do not provide Congress with the information it needs to exercise our constitutional responsibilities. Nor do they provide comfort to a public that fears deeper involvement in a horrific civil war at a time when the U.S. troop presence in the region is already increasing. The legal justification for an attack on the Syrian government is not an afterthought, but rather a first order consideration, and something that is vital for the American people to understand at the outset.”

The authors also expressed concern that the Trump administration might take pre-emptive strikes against North Korea without consulting Congress.

Trump's Military Strategy Is Just Like Obama's - But With A Lot More Bombs

Despite Trump’s promise of a “tremendous difference” between his military strategy and Obama’s (and a presidential memorandum vowing to compose a new plan within 30 days to defeat ISIS), military analysts familiar with current U.S. strategies say Trump has shown little to no variance from Obama when it comes to broader counterterrorism efforts.

“[Trump] has basically done what President Obama has done, maybe just a little bit more forcefully,” said Bill Roggio, editor of Long War Journal, a website dedicated to covering the U.S. war on terror.

Forcefully is the key word. In just four months under Trump, U.S. forces have launched 75 strikes on Yemen (more than in any entire year under Obama); launched 59 Tomahawk missiles on Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces; dropped more bombs in Syria and Iraq in each of the last three months than in any of the prior 32 months of war against ISIS; and dropped a MOAB, the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal, on Afghanistan. ...

The Pentagon has long been powerful, and under Trump it has quietly expanded its footprint week by week, approving greater counterterror operations in Yemen and Somalia, deploying 400 troops to Syria and 300 more to Iraq, all the while weighing a marked increase in Afghanistan, and doing so with little disclosure or public discourse.   ...

The Pentagon’s expanded leadership presence in foreign policy decisions has its risks, said Rebecca F. Lissner, a fellow specializing in national and nuclear security at the Council on Foreign Relations. ... Trump’s clear preference for military leaders and military advice (he has more generals in his cabinet than any president since World War II) even as he enacts enormous cuts at the civilian State Department, Lissner said, is one indication of a “real militarization of American foreign policy in a way that will have long-term damages and consequences.”

Chomsky on North Korea & Iran: Historical Record Shows U.S. Favors Violence Over Diplomacy

Donald Trump’s Failing Presidency

The 100-day mark may be an artificial measuring stick for a U.S. president. Obviously much can happen in the remaining 1,361 days of a four-year term. But Donald Trump’s decisions in his first three months in office have put him on an almost irreversible path to failure. He now appears to be little more than a traditional Republican with more than a little dash of Kardashian sleaze in him, a boorish reality-TV star reading from a neocon script that could have been written for many of his GOP rivals, except he delivers his lines with worse grammar and a limited vocabulary, favoring imprecise words such as “beautiful” and “sad.” ...

On the foreign policy front, Trump has broken his vow to move away from endless war and needless confrontation – and avoid their extraordinary costs in blood and treasure. After months of getting newspaper-slapped by the mainstream media over Russia-gate, Trump has put his tail between his legs and become a housebroken dog to neocon dogma. He also licks the hand of Israel and Saudi Arabia as he and his team keep repeating the favorite Israeli-Saudi mantra that “Iran is the principal sponsor of terrorism.”

His administration also blames Iran – not Israel, Saudi Arabia and indeed the United States – for Middle Eastern instability. But it was President George W. Bush and his neocon advisers who devised the disastrous invasion of Iraq with Israeli backing; it was President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who pushed for “regime change” in Libya and Syria, another Israeli-Saudi priority; it was Saudi Arabia and its Gulf State allies that have armed Al Qaeda, Islamic State and other Sunni terrorist groups; it is Israel that has persecuted the indigenous Palestinian population for generations and invaded Lebanon among other neighbors. For all its faults, Iran has mostly opposed these operations and is now contributing military forces to fight Islamic State and Al Qaeda militants in Iraq and Syria. Yet, Trump has now conformed to the upside-down view of the Middle East that all the “important people” of Official Washington know to be true, that it’s all Iran’s fault, except – of course – what can be pinned on Russia.

Trump is now shifting U.S. foreign policy more into line with what the neocons demand than Obama did. With Trump’s goal to work more cooperatively with Russia smashed by Russia-gate, he is now cementing a foreign policy that is almost indistinguishable from what Trump’s vanquished Republican rivals, such as neocon Senators Marco Rubio of Florida, or Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, would have espoused. Or, for that matter, Hillary Clinton. As The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, “The Trump administration’s still-emerging foreign policy has come into sharper focus as Defense Secretary Jim Mattis continues a whistle-stop tour through the Middle East, quietly placing building blocks for resetting ties that had been strained under the Obama White House.

“Over the past week, Mr. Mattis visited leaders in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Israel bearing the message that the Trump administration wants to realign with those nations and stressing that Washington and capitals in the region have shared interests, such as fighting terrorism. An animating feature of Mr. Mattis’s effort is to counter what he repeatedly has described as the malign influence of Iran.” In other words, Trump is signaling that he is now in thrall to the influential Israeli-Saudi tandem and that means he will continue to deform U.S. foreign policy to meet Israeli-Saudi regional desires, which include a new bid for “regime change” in Syria and a heightened confrontation with Iran and Russia.

I wonder how long it will take for this to be debunked:

Assad forces carried out sarin attack, says French intelligence

French intelligence has identified the chemical “signature” of the Syrian government at the site of a gas attack earlier this month, indicating that the sarin used in the bombing came from Bashar al-Assad’s stockpiles.

Samples from the scene of the attack in the town of Khan Sheikhun, which killed more than 80 people, contained chemical compounds that were a hallmark of Assad’s sarin manufacturing process and matched samples collected from the site of a prior attack by government forces, said a declassified intelligence report.

It also indicated that the sarin used in the dawn attack on 4 April was delivered from the air, adding further weight to the international consensus that the Assad regime was responsible for the massacre. ...

French analysis of the chemical compounds from the site also pointed to the presence of sarin, hexamine and a chemical called diisopropyl methylphosphonate, a compound formed when sarin is synthesised. The chemicals found there essentially match the biological fingerprint of the Assad government’s sarin manufacturing process, as the same chemicals were found in samples collected from a 2013 attack in the town of Saraqeb in Idlib, and which was also linked to the regime.

US 'deeply concerned' after Turkey bombs allies in Iraq and Syria

US officials said they were "deeply concerned" after Turkey carried out a series of airstrikes Tuesday against US allies fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq. A senior US defense official told CNN that the US was given about one hour's advance notice of the strikes by the Turkish military. The official added that no US or coalition advisers were in the vicinity. Turkish warplanes struck targets in northern Syria and the area of Sinjar in northern Iraq. The Turkish armed forces issued a statement saying it had "neutralized" 70 PKK "terrorist" fighters -- 40 in northern Iraq and 30 others in northeastern Syria. ...

But Kurdish elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces, America's primary Syrian ally in the fight against ISIS, and the Iraq-based Kurdish Peshmerga both said that they suffered casualties as well as a result of the airstrikes. "We are very concerned, deeply concerned, that Turkey conducted airstrikes earlier today in northern Syria as well as northern Iraq without proper coordination either with the United States or the broader global coalition to defeat ISIS," acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Tuesday. "We have expressed those concerns to the government of Turkey directly," Toner added.

Former Israel DM: ISIS ‘Apologized’ to Israel for November Clash

In a shocking revelation, former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud), who served from 2013 until mid-2016, revealed that the November gunbattle between Israeli troops and ISIS forces along the Golan frontier, materially the only significant fight between the two sides, was followed up with an ISIS “apology.”

Being ISIS generally speaking means never having to say you’re sorry, and the group has no real allies so it generally doesn’t come up. That ISIS felt the need to apologize to Israel for the brief clash, which had no Israeli casualties, speaks volumes about the group’s position.

Russia steps in after Ukraine cuts off power to Luhansk

Russia has pledged to supply electricity to separatist-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine after the Kiev-based Ukrainian government cut off power due to unpaid bills.

Boris Gryzlov, the Russian envoy mediating talks between Russia-backed separatists and the Ukrainian government, said on Tuesday that the Russian government has decided to help provide Luhansk region with electricity.

Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, defended the decision as a humanitarian mission, but would not disclose how the power supply would be organised in the Ukrainian region that borders Russia.

He also said that the move was "another step by Ukraine on the road to rejecting territory" which has been under rebel control since 2014.

Chomsky: Like Obama, Trump Is Radically Increasing the Danger of Nuclear War

Controversial US. missile defense system moved into South Korea as tensions rise in the region

In the latest development on the Korean peninsula, the U.S. military began initial installation Wednesday of a controversial anti-missile defense system in South Korea, designed to protect the country from threats made by Pyongyang. The move was greeted by fierce protests from locals, denounced by the frontrunner in the campaign for the South Korean presidency, and drew further criticism from China as a potentially destabilizing initiative.


The first parts of the controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system were deployed earlier-than-expected in response to the growing threats from North Korea, according to the South Korean defense ministry: “South Korea and the United States have been working to secure an early operational capability of the THAAD system in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile threat.” ...

“China strongly urges the United States and South Korea to stop actions that worsen regional tensions and harm China’s strategic security interests and cancel the deployment of the THAAD system and withdraw the equipment,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Wednesday.

Yemeni protestors ‘March for bread’

Yemeni protestors reached the Red Sea city of Hudaydah on Tuesday, ending a weeklong march from the capital to demand the Houthi-held port be declared a humanitarian zone. Hundreds of protestors made the 225-kilometer walk, dubbed the “march for bread”, to call for unrestricted aid deliveries to Yemen. Protestors waved flags emblazoned with loaves of bread and chanted slogans demanding the port be spared in the war, which the United Nations estimates has killed more than 10,000 people and left millions struggling to find food.

Rights group Amnesty International said that the city’s port is a crucial access point for “lifesaving international aid”. UN chief Antonio Guterres urged countries Tuesday to pitch in to help prevent a looming famine in war-torn Yemen, warning that children especially were already dying at an alarming rate.

“Yemen today is experiencing a tragedy of immense proportions,” the UN Secretary General told country representatives gathered in Geneva for an aid pledging conference. "We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation,” he said, adding that Yemen is gripped by “the world’s largest hunger crisis”.

Yemen aid not reaching intended recipients, say activists on ground

Hisham Al-Omeisy, a political analyst based in Sana’a, said people in Yemen were not optimistic about the prospects of international aid. “Without putting an end to the war, ending the Saudi-led coalition’s blockade and corruption of factions in the ground, I’m afraid there will be many more aid conferences to come and no supply will ever be enough to meet demand,” he said. ...

He said: “The current conditions on the ground [are] hindering delivery and distribution [of aid] – little is trickling in and reaching the actual deserving recipients.

“On the one end, the Saudi-led coalition is enforcing a commercial blockade and restrictions on relief supplies. Ninety percent of imports are food, fuel, and drugs: the blockade is choking the country that is heavily reliant on imports, and unreasonable delays in inspection as well as rejections of letting aid through.

“On the other hand, local groups and warlords are also hindering delivery of aid, and at times [there is] outright looting and selling on the black market. While Houthis block access to besieged cities like Taiz, others from both sides of the conflict, including the Saudi-backed Yemen government, are making huge profits creating shortages and spiking prices of certain items such as fuel and gas.”

Trump plans to cut foreign aid, merge State and USAID

President Trump reportedly plans to merge the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), according to a Monday Foreign Policy report.

The White House budget proposal released in March previewed a proposed one-third cut to the U.S. government’s financial assistance to developing countries, without providing many details of what would be slashed. ...

Field missions, regional bureaus, global health funding and food programs are all on the chopping block, FP reports. Acting USAID Administrator Wade Warren reportedly told employees during a recent staff meeting that the White House may merge USAID with the State Department in order to comply with Trump’s executive order aiming to streamline the executive branch.

Death toll in Venezuela's unrest rises to 26

Two Venezuelan men died on Tuesday from gunshots at political demonstrations, bringing to 26 the number of fatalities around this month's protests against President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government.

The state prosecutor's office said Orlando Medina, 23, was gunned down on a street in western Lara state during a protest local media identified as anti-Maduro. Luis Marquez, 52, died in the Andean state of Merida in the early morning after being shot on Monday at a pro-Maduro rally, state ombudsman Tarek Saab said.

In more than three weeks of chaos since Venezuela's opposition launched street protests, 15 people have died in violence around demonstrations and 11 others in night-time lootings, the state prosecutor's office said on Tuesday. ...

The ruling Socialist Party accuses foes of seeking a violent coup with U.S. connivance, while the opposition says Maduro is a dictator repressing peaceful protest. With near-daily demonstrations by both opponents and supporters of Maduro, there have been fatalities on both sides, as well as one National Guard sergeant killed during a protest.

Chomsky: CIA Targeting of Julian Assange of WikiLeaks is "Disgraceful Act"

The Guardian collected some interesting comments from French left voters about the choice facing them.

'Death of the French left': why voters are hesitating over Macron

Eddy, 39, Dijon, local government officer:

I voted for Mélenchon because he was the only one whose programme brought some hopes for social issues and the environment. I will definitely not vote for Le Pen, but I’m not sure I will vote for Macron. His politics will only bring more social injustice, and help the Front National get even bigger.

Macron’s politics will only be even more economically liberal. And nothing new. But everyone seems to be happy: the media, the big companies, banks and Germany.

French people are tired of politicians, the two old parties. I suppose they think they voted for something new, which they actually did not. ...

Clement, 33, London, father of two

I feel quite disappointed, but really not surprised. Firstly because Le Pen is in the second round and secondly because Macron is a marketing product full of vacuities. He is very likely to be the next French president and carry on the liberal politics that have caused so much damage to so many and are partly the reason for the French voting far-right.

Macron will keep the status quo, and will be the puppet of the industrial and corporate lobbies that intoxicate our democracy. No wonder the Germans and financial markets are so excited today.

There are some interesting similarities between French politics at the moment and American politics. The media conversation exhibited on France 24, though seems far more sophisticated than what is allowed on American media, though.

France's Undecided: Anti-Le Pen vote no longer a given

Trump to unveil proposal for slashing corporate tax rate to 15%

Donald Trump will unveil a proposal for a major corporate tax cut on Wednesday, involving dramatically cutting corporate tax rates to 15% from 39.6% and ending taxation of corporate profits earned overseas.

The treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, confirmed the cut on Wednesday morning at a speech in Washington but declined to say how specifically the administration would pay for the cuts.

Trump has long heralded tax cuts, particularly on corporations, as a major component of his economic plan. In his joint address to Congress in February, the US president previewed his proposals, saying: “My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone.” He added: “It will be a big, big cut.”

However, while Trump has billed his proposal as tax reform, it’s unclear if the proposals will simply consist of tax cuts or will be an overarching plan to reshape taxation in the United States.

Obama collects his payoff.

Barack Obama to be paid $400,000 for speech at Cantor Fitzgerald event

Barack Obama is to be paid $400,000 (£312,000) to speak at a healthcare conference organised by the Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald. ...

The fee is nearly double that received by Hillary Clinton, who had hoped to replace him as president, for speeches at Goldman Sachs and indicates the scale of the potential earnings of the former US president.

Neither his officials or Cantor Fitzgerald could be reached to comment on the reports from the US, where he is facing criticism for his decision to accept the engagement.

Unemployment Rate Hides the Historically Low Employment Rate

Federal judge blocks Trump’s attempt to punish sanctuary cities

A federal judge has blocked President Trump’s executive order cutting off funding to so-called sanctuary cities, despite the president’s assertion that those cities are causing “immeasurable harm to the American people and to the very fabric of our republic.”

U.S. District Judge William Orrick granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday to the city of San Francisco and bordering Santa Clara county, which both sued the Trump administration alleging the order was unconstitutional and could deprive them of billions of dollars in federal funds.

Judge Orrick’s ruling suggested Trump’s January 25 executive order was unenforceable because it attempted to give the office of the Attorney General the unilateral authority “to impose new conditions on federal grants” — a power reserved exclusively for Congress.

The government had previously claimed the order was “merely an exercise of the President’s ‘bully pulpit’ to highlight a changed approach to immigration enforcement,” a contention Judge Orrick firmly disagreed with, citing threats made by both Trump and Sessions to the sanctuary cities. “If there was doubt about the scope of the Order, the President and the Attorney General have both erased it with their public comments,” he wrote.



the evening greens


A new wave of state bills could allow public schools to teach lies about climate change

Legislation proposed across the country since Donald Trump’s election threatens to bring climate change denial into the classroom under the guise of “academic freedom.” Currently, six states have legislative measures pending or already on the books that would allow anti-science rhetoric, including the rejection of global warming, to seep its way into schools’ curricula. While these types of proposals have become fairly routine in certain states, some of the most recent crop have advanced farther than in the past.

Senate Bill 393 in Oklahoma, for example, would permit teachers to paint established science on both evolution and climate change as “controversial.” ... A bill similar to Oklahoma’s is currently working its way through the Texas Legislature. And Florida has two bills pending aimed at letting local residents object to the use of certain instructional materials, such as textbooks that teach human-induced climate change, in public schools.

Some states are passing resolutions, which have a less direct influence but send strong signals about where the state Legislature stands on climate change. In February, Indiana successfully passed its Senate resolution supporting teachers “who choose to teach a diverse curriculum,” giving climate denial and creationism the chance to enter classrooms. A similar “academic freedom” resolution has already made its way through the Alabama House. Finally, Idaho locked in a legally binding Senate resolution in March that deletes material about climate change and human impact on the environment from the state’s science standards.

“Academic freedom bills are the new normal,” said Glenn Branch, deputy director for the National Center for Science Education. According to him, state legislators across the country have filed over 70 academic freedom bills since 2004. That’s when state-level legislation began using vague language to protect teachers’ “academic freedom” by permitting educators to teach about the “strengths and weaknesses” of existing scientific theories. The bill pending in Texas, for example, includes “climate change, biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, and human cloning” among its controversial theories.

Trump review threatens to rip up Obama protections for wilderness areas

Donald Trump is triggering a review of protections that cover more than a billion acres of US public land and waters in a move that could potentially rescind the designation of several national monuments declared by previous presidents.

Trump will on Wednesday sign an executive order relating to the Antiquities Act, a law introduced by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1906 which gives presidents the ability to name areas of federal land and waters as national monuments. The order will direct Ryan Zinke, the secretary of the interior, to review about 30 national monuments that are larger than 100,000 acres and have been declared since 1996.

Zinke will recommend if any monuments should be “rescinded, modified or resized”. No national monument’s status has ever been revoked previously and any attempt to cancel or shrink a protected area would almost certainly spark a legal battle waged by environmental groups. “In some cases national monuments have resulted in the loss of jobs, reduced wages and loss of public access,” Zinke said. “We feel the public, the people the monuments affect, should be considered and given a meaningful voice.

During his final month in office, Obama designated 1.35m acres of southern Utah as the Bears Ears national monument. The designation, applauded by several tribal leaders who regard the area as sacred, protects an area that includes twin buttes that resemble a bear raising its head. Republicans from Utah vigorously opposed the designation and Zinke’s review will initially focus on Bears Ears. In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Orrin Hatch, a senator from Utah, said Obama “betrayed” people in the state in order to “satisfy the demands of far-left interest groups”.

t's Now Been Three Long Years Since Flint Had Clean Water

April 24, 2014 was the day that city officials made the disastrous decision to switch the city's water source to the Flint River, whose polluted water corroded aged lead pipes and poisoned residents' water with lead.

The city still does not have clean water. Residents must purchase filters to reduce the lead in their water, and the city says it will be three more years before all of the city's lead pipes are replaced, according to NPR. ...

"The people of Flint have been through hell over the last three years and it's absolutely disgusting that there has been little change in their daily lives. Many still rely solely on bottled water and over 1,000 days into this crisis still cannot trust the water from their taps," said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, in a statement. 

"While the residents of Flint struggle without clean water and are denied their basic rights, no significant legislation has been passed to prevent another crisis like this one and the Republican-led legislature has yet to issue one subpoena to investigate the crisis," Scott added.


Also of Interest

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

Empire Abroad, Empire At Home

Presenting the Trump doctrine: 'forever war'

Giving Peace a Chance in Korea

No Exit? The NY Times and North Korea

The Looting Machine Called Capitalism

France Circles Back to Status Quo

No one sabotages Donald Trump better than Donald Trump

The 22 Dems Supporting Sanders' $15 Minimum Wage Bill... and 24 Who Aren't


A Little Night Music

Duke Ellington and his Orchestra - The Mooche

Duke Ellington - Blues In Orbit

Duke Ellington & Louis Armstrong - Black And Tan Fantasy

Duke Ellington - Isfahan

Duke Ellington - Jumpin' At The Woodside

Duke Ellington - Blues To Be There

Duke Ellington - Jeep's Blues

Django Reinhardt + Duke Ellington - Honeysuckle Rose

Duke Ellington - Crescendo + Diminuendo In Blue



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Unabashed Liberal's picture

list of data providers, thought I'd throw in my two cents regarding several of them.

I agree with DO that many of the plans aren't particularly inexpensive. After he mentioned T-Mobile, I checked it out, and was surprised that they have a fairly decent plan for heavy wi-fi users. Of course, the best plans require 'auto-renewal,' so not sure I'd want to get involved with that--unless it's month-to-month, with a 30-day notice of cancellation. From the language, I couldn't tell if there is a contract involved. We want no part of that, if one is required.

Anyhoo, I can speak to about five of the plans on this list that DO provided.

Familiar with Virgin Mobile (the best carrier, but apparently, pulled out of the market)--we had an 'unlimited' plan for about 7 years. Was even 'grandfathered' after it was discontinued for about 3 years. Excellent customer service--they even replaced a hot spot that I didn't purchase directly from them! Of course, eventually the 3G connection slowed to a crawl, and eventually we had to drop it. But, it was probably the best overall experience that we've ever had with this type of plan.

Verizon--great coverage, but expensive. Didn't recall that there was a 60-day window for data usage, but that's a plus (IMO).

A slightly cheaper plan (with more options) is the Straight Talk hot spot from Wal-Mart, if they offer Verizon as the carrier. (It varies, for some reason. AT&T is the carrier on the ST plans in some regions.)

One thing to watch for, though--wouldn't purchase a Umax hot spot--a piece of junk! I'm pretty certain that they have an updated version, now. One other problem Mr M had with his device--from time to time, he would have to call Customer Service for a refresh signal. Possibly, because he used this when he traveled without me, and wasn't using it regularly. (ST Customer Service wasn't exactly impressive.) Plus--data lasts for 60, instead of 30 days; cost, reasonable.

AT&T - expensive. IMO, it's better to purchase a $45 or $60 monthly smart phone plan, and use the hot spot function instead of purchasing one of their hot spot data plans. (They now 'roll over' unused data from month to month.) Actually, since you posted the piece about AT&T, we're looking to rid ourselves of them, altogether. Their Customer Service is pretty decent, so, it's really not too bad a deal. Of course, that's fairly steep if you're only wanting something for a week or two, from time to time, when you vacation.

Both Verizon and AT&T 4LTE networks have pretty decent speed, but, we've gone through data at lightening speed on their networks! Honestly, I don't trust their 'meter,' or whatever they use.

For the money, hard to beat a couple of companies that use the Sprint Networks. Virgin Mobile's gone, but, Boost offers as cheap a data package as one can find (that I know of) - 10G for $50 per month. Of course, none of the internet data packages that we've used charge taxes--unlike their cell/smart phone counterparts. And that's a fair savings, over time.

The Customer Service for VM, Boost, and now AT&T is mostly out of the Philippines, with basically helpful and pleasant agents. (AT&T has its tech support stateside, though. In Utah, the last time I spoke to them.) Some of Boost's call centers are in Mexico--had a good conversation with an agent for them when we were still deciding our retirement destination. Ran across the notes I made from that call, the other day. Of course, we've lived in Mexico, but the agent was in a west coast region that we hadn't traveled. He almost sold us on it!

Hey, TMI--as Mr M would say! Wink

Gotta run an errand, but look forward to swinging back by, and putting in my two cents about the Administration's 'tax reform' plan. Already Dems are howling that there are no 'offsets' being offered. This may be an interesting and revealing discussion, if Repubs decide to push it through as a temporary measure through reconciliation--then we'll get to see what the Dems are really made of, assuming that they take office by time the tax reform is slated to either expire, or extend. From what I heard today during the White House Briefing, some folks may be in for a reaming. Time will tell.

Weather's perfect here, after almost a week of solid rain.

Hey, Everyone have a nice evening! (And please excuse the typos, in advance.) Biggrin

Bye

Mollie


"I think dogs are the most amazing creatures--they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive."--Gilda Radner

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went."--Will Rogers

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

joe shikspack's picture

@Unabashed Liberal

thanks so much to you (and do) for all of the information!

i have a sprint carrier now (credo) and i was trying to figure out whether to up my data package at such time as i get a vacation, or look for some other gadget/service. i've been hoping for years that there would be a breakthrough in the satellite market, since that would be the best way to deliver connectivity anywhere, but that doesn't seem likely to happen anymore.

it's been raining on and off here most of the week and might not break until the weekend. i'm looking forward to seeing the sun again.

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

@joe shikspack

satellite internet service, I wouldn't have a clue about the pricing. We last had a satelitte dish in the early 2000's. Back then, it was definitely a better deal than Cable service. Think it was called DirectTV, or something like that. Once, I did price their internet service, but the cost was prohibitive. So, we stuck with DSL for a number of years.

I've kept very basic cable programming in a residence, which allows us to watch C-Span programming [on the internet] that requires a Cable Provider account to access. The package is so basic and cheap that the only thing we get is several C-Span Channels, and preaching. Wink

Of course, satelitte radio is our primary source of news (other than here)--we couldn't function without it!

Mollie


"I think dogs are the most amazing creatures--they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive."--Gilda Radner

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went."--Will Rogers

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

Azazello's picture

Source of Johnny Mac's pee-pee dossier admits info unverified: Washington Times

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

enhydra lutris's picture

@Azazello "it must be true all the same" narrative in 3,2,1,...

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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 --

Azazello's picture

@enhydra lutris

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

Azazello's picture

@enhydra lutris
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84VhBJsBN1s&list=PL-IwCDn8H3QZTplpVK_QY0... width:500 height:300]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X8ZjKT-azA&list=PL-IwCDn8H3QZTplpVK_QY0... width:500 height:300]

up
0 users have voted.

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

enhydra lutris's picture

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0 users have voted.

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 --

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

heh, steele doesn't sound too credible in that piece. surely he knew what he was hired to find and what his client intended to do with it. steele would probably be the most clueless spy on earth if he thought that the purpose of oppo research is for a bunch of consultants to get together in a room and giggle about things that they have no intent of releasing to the public.

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Azazello's picture

@joe shikspack
He knew what was wanted so he pulled something out of his ass and sold it to McCain.

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

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

as i read the report back when buzzfeed first posted it, i thought, "that guy has some brass trying to pass off that stuff as credible oppo research."

then when the dems and the media bit on it, i recognized how desperate they are.

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@joe shikspack

Lol, and they knew where it had originated before they carried it in their mouths...

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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.

karl pearson's picture

The Federal Reserve doesn't seem to be very impressed with Trump's tax reform plan.

But the plan, if approved in the form Trump officials outlined on Wednesday, could add inflationary fuel to an economy already running near full capacity, a risk Federal Reserve officials have been warning about since Trump got elected.

I believe the Federal Reserve will have more clout than Trump when it comes to the issue of inflation. They want to continue to raise rates a couple more times this year since the rates have been too low for too long.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@karl pearson
Running at nearly full capacity? How so? No doubt because we have zero unemployment, I assume.

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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 --

joe shikspack's picture

@karl pearson

the fed has been itching to raise rates for a long time, though there's really little official inflation on the horizon. perhaps if inflation were measured more honestly, the fed would have something to talk about, but with the current measurement, it's all speculation.

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enhydra lutris's picture

queue up often enough. Missing one of my childhood faves, though.

I'm gritting my teeth over the articles on Trump's tas plan, but I'm determined to wait and see what it is. Typical thought- US corporations aren't taxed on income earned abroad now, unless they're stupid, and it would be the greatest loophole ever written to exempt all such income. It's tricky, so I won't go into it, but sheesh.

Back to the Duke --

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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 --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

i would assume that trump's tax plan is a laundry list of items that will allow the .01% to pay less than zero taxes for the most part. i presume that the bottom ~80% get to pay for it in a mix of higher taxes, fewer services and higher costs imposed by the externalities of capitalism that runs unregulated.

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karl pearson's picture

I found this explanation for capacity of an economy:

Third, what are the consequences of demand exceeding supply?  If our economy is at capacity, then prices must rise, this will cause consumers to be able to consume less goods and services until demand is equal to supply.  However, if capacity were to grow over time, supply could increase to accommodate this demand.

Finally, what indicators could you look for?  I would look for low unemployment rates, high intensity use of capital (ie. factories going 24 hours a day), and very old and young people joining the labor force.  These would all be indicators that the economy is operating at near capacity.

IMO the Federal Reserve is always watching for any signs of inflation, even if it's not really there. Debtors benefit from inflation and creditors lose. It appears a little inflation helps the 99%. Can't have that.

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Thanks for the wonderful Duke Ellington, I listened to some Cab Calloway too, following the tubes. EB updates are frightening, so thanks? 80s flashback, Huey Lewis And The News - I Want A New Drug
It's gonna be like Reagan, but worse. That's what I see coming, large painful waves of suck.

Here’s how Jeff Sessions has disrupted the cannabis industry with words alone

...
The move comes after Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, leader of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department, told The Associated Press that he expects federal drug agents will attempt to step up marijuana enforcement as California moves forward with legalization.

“It’s likely there will be federal raids targeting the marijuana industry in California,” he told The AP. “To be able to set the tone, they may do that.”

I was just talking about our local Sheriffs in Sonoma and Mendocino in a different thread, hadn't seen that quote yet. Good thing they aren't a bunch of vindictive petty tyrants, otherwise "may do that" becomes highly selective, eh? Like if you haven't donated something somewhere lately, or similar. That's never happened before, oh no. Never. Just pretend archives don't exist. Claim fake history, or just erase it. Technology for the win! lol

Peace & Good Luck

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joe shikspack's picture

@eyo

i'm thinking that the worst damage that trumpenstein's administration will do is in terms of making law enforcement feel like it's ok to get off the leash, so to speak.

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why would someone want this?

Amazon is giving Alexa eyes. And it's going to let her judge your outfits.

The newly announced Echo Look is a virtual assistant with a microphone and a camera that's designed to go somewhere in your bedroom, bathroom, or wherever the hell you get dressed.

Amazon is pitching it as an easy way to snap pictures of your outfits to send to your friends when you're not sure if your outfit is cute, but it's also got a built-in app called StyleCheck that is worth some further dissection.
...
"All photos and video captured with your Echo Look are securely stored in the AWS cloud and locally in the Echo Look app until a customer deletes them," a spokesperson for the company said. "You can delete the photos or videos associated with your account anytime in the Echo Look App."

Motherboard also asked if Echo Look photos, videos, and the data gleaned from them would be sold to third parties; the company did not address that question.

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joe shikspack's picture

@gjohnsit

the idea of privacy is certainly getting a workout on the taffy-twisting machine in the "digital age."

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@gjohnsit @gjohnsit

The fashion police have gone automated? More job losses...

I wonder if helpful advice is also included when people are changing clothes on their less-than-perfect bodies (have you both considered this diet plan, so that he doesn't just roll off next time?) or having sex in their bedrooms, (no, no, your position is too far left! Always move right!) forgetting about those 'eyes'...?

Dammit, why follow fashion anyway when pics will create much laughter 10 years down the road - what's wrong with creating your own style and enjoying the laughter now?

Edit: also the 'fashion sense' demonstrated there - it burns! You'd have to kill me first, to get me into either of those hideous ensembles, one having been given given a 64% in the example, and out of my over-sized T-shirt and ragged black jeans!

Personal tastes differ. A lot.

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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.

divineorder's picture

Hate to leave you all here in the Northern Hemisphere and drop out into another dimension but that's exactly what we are about to do. Fly out tonight, stopover in Europe tomorrow, then another night flight. Layover in JNB then another flight back up to Malawi just in time for Mabuya Camp Happy Hour Friday afternoon. Two nights then a land transfer to the bush camp in Zambia. Hope to check in with you from time to time but probably not while you are awake.

It's been great to see California getting moisture. What an amazing coast.

473 (1024x576) (2).jpg

Have a great rest of the week!

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

@divineorder

safe and happy travels to you and jb!

we're looking forward to all the fabulous pics and stories.

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