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This evening's music features blues musician Taj Mahal. Enjoy!

“If your house is on fire, you don't comfort yourself with the thought that houses have been catching fire for thousands of years. You don't sit idly back and think, "Oh well, that is the way of nature." You get going, immediately. And you don't spring into action because of an idealistic notion that houses deserve to be saved. You do it because if you don't, you won't have a place to live.”

-- Bill Nye

News and Opinion

Top Climate Scientist, Journalist & Activists Blast Trump's Withdrawal from Paris Accord

French President Emmanuel Macron Offers Refuge to American Climate Scientists

Just one hour after Donald Trump announced that he was withdrawing the United States from the global climate accord negotiated in Paris — saying that he was “elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris” — the new French president, Emmanuel Macron, offered refuge in France to American climate scientists.

In a three-minute address to the American people streamed live from the Élysée Palace, Macron offered hope for the future, and a message of solidarity that seemed to echo those once delivered by American presidents to captive nations suffering under the yoke of dictatorship — or aimed at resistance fighters in an occupied country.

“To all scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, responsible citizens who were disappointed by the decision of the president of the United States, I want to say that they will find in France a second homeland,” he continued. “I call on them: come and work here with us. To work together on concrete solutions for our climate, our environment. I can assure you, France will not give up the fight.”

At the end of his remarks, the French president made it crystal clear that his message was intended as a rebuke of not just his American counterpart’s decision, but his entire worldview.

pic.twitter.com/3g5LYO9Osj

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 1, 2017

Trump and Putin Could Form “Axis of Mass Destruction” on Climate, French Minister Fears

France's new environment minister, Nicolas Hulot, does not mince words when it comes to the possible consequences of Donald Trump pulling the United States out of the Paris climate accord. Such an act, Hulot said in March, when Trump first signaled that he might withdraw from the agreement to limit carbon emissions, would be “a veritable middle finger to our children,” and could even expose the American president one day to charges of “crimes against humanity.”

Worst of all, Hulot told French television, was the danger that Trump’s action could encourage his fellow climate skeptic, Vladimir Putin, to ignore the restrictions on industrial emissions. Together the two leaders could create, Hulot warned, “an axis of mass destruction between two great powers,” with catastrophic consequences for the planet.

Hulot, who was an environmental activist before joining President Emmanuel Macron’s new government, expressed his concern after Trump ordered the E.P.A. to rescind restrictions on carbon emissions and Putin said that the melting of Arctic ice was most likely a natural process that Russia should take advantage of, not try to stop. ...

Putin has a long history of climate skepticism, which has earned him lavish praise from conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones. His views appear to have changed little since 2003, when he told an international conference that a spike in temperatures would mean Russians could “spend less on fur coats” while “agricultural specialists say our grain production will increase, and thank God for that.”

EU to bypass Trump administration after Paris climate agreement pullout

The European Union has rejected Donald Trump’s offer to renegotiate the Paris climate agreement and pledged instead to bypass Washington to work with US business leaders and state governors to implement the historic accord’s commitments.

Less than 24 hours after the US president announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 agreement and strike a new, less ambitious deal with the world, Brussels declared its outright refusal to engage in such talks. EU officials will instead cut out the White House to deal directly with the US states and major corporations, many of whom who have already pledged to live by the terms forged in Paris.

Miguel Arias Cañete, the European commissioner for climate action, said a global agreement should not be put at the whim of a domestic election. “The Paris agreement is fit for purpose,” the Spanish politician said, gripping a copy of the document that 195 countries have pledged to support. “The Paris agreement is here to stay. The 29 articles of this Paris agreement are not to be renegotiated. They are to be implemented. That’s what the EU will do.”

Cañete, who was speaking in Brussels after finalising a joint statement with China on accelerating efforts to reduce carbon emissions, said: “The world can continue to count on the EU on providing global leadership fighting climate change … We will do so developing strong partnerships.

“The fight against climate change cannot depend on the result of elections in one country of another. When a country signs an international agreement it has to fulfil its commitments. There will be new administrations. I’m pretty sure President Trump hasn’t read the articles of this treaty. There is nothing to renegotiate here.”

Protesters Take to Streets in NYC, Enraged by Trump's Decision to Withdraw from Paris Climate Deal

Elon Musk and Disney boss quit Trump's business panel over Paris pullout

Donald Trump may think tackling climate change is bad for business. But business? Not so much.

Two of the US’s biggest business leaders, Tesla founder Elon Musk and Disney’s Robert Iger, have quit Trump’s high-powered business advisory panel after the president pressed ahead with plans to pull out of the Paris climate accord.

Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2017

As a matter of principle, I've resigned from the President's Council over the #ParisAgreement withdrawal.

— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) June 1, 2017

Trump created his business advisory panel shortly after his election as he sought to show how his administration would revamp the US by “drawing on private sector expertise”.

The departures are a disaster for the president. While Trump has claimed an economic rationale for the US’s exit from the most ambitious climate change agreement in history, big business has cried foul.

The Vampire Squid is displeased:

Today's decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.'s leadership position in the world. #ParisAgreement

— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) June 1, 2017

U.S. Hikes 'Combat Power' in Syria, With Eye on Iran-Backed Militia

The U.S. military said on Thursday it had bolstered its "combat power" in southern Syria, warning that it viewed Iran-backed fighters in the area as a threat to nearby coalition troops fighting Islamic State. The remarks by a Baghdad-based spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State was the latest sign of tension in the region, where the United States has forces at the base around the Syrian town of At Tanf supporting local fighters.

"We have increased our presence and our footprint and prepared for any threat that is presented by the pro-regime forces," said the spokesman, U.S. Army Colonel Ryan Dillon, referring to Iran-backed forces supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Dillon estimated that a small number of Iran-backed forces had remained inside a so-called "deconfliction" zone meant to ensure the safety of U.S.-led coalition forces since a May 18 U.S. strike on their advancing formation.

Meanwhile, a larger number had been massing directly outside the zone, which was agreed between the United States and Russia, which is supporting Assad. ... The U.S. military has also dropped about 90,000 leaflets this week warning the fighters inside the zone to depart, one U.S. official said.

Putin: We don't protect Assad, we protect Syria from becoming Libya

Retired generals, admirals urge Supreme Court to hear Guantánamo case

A dozen retired admirals and generals, including the Marine who opened the Guantánamo prison, are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case of Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, the Saudi accused of orchestrating the USS Cole bombing who argues the military commissions that seek his execution are illegitimate.

Nashiri, 52, is in pretrial hearings at Guantánamo in his death-penalty case, accused in the Oct. 12, 2000 bombing. He was captured in 2002, kept in the CIA’s secret prison network and intentionally subjected to cruel treatment, including waterboarding and confinement to a coffin-like box, “enhanced interrogation techniques” that his attorneys call torture.

The retired officers argue that the justices should decide the threshold issue of the “legitimacy and legality” of Nashiri’s military commission now — rather than after a conviction, as Congress intended — for national security reasons. ...

“An unlawful military trial is a powerful weapon for extremist groups, further reinforcing their narrative of a hypocritical and amoral United States at war with Islam,” lawyers write for the general and admirals in the 22-page filing released Thursday. “Clearly demonstrating the legality of military commission trials is crucial to maintaining the legitimacy of the counterterrorism mission and protection of U. S. national security. Allowing a trial of questionable legality to proceed would come at a significant strategic cost.”

Trump's White House to Dems' Oversight Requests: Fat Chance

Amid ongoing questions regarding the Trump administration's ethics, Politico reports Friday that the White House is shielding the president by rejecting Democrats' oversight inquiries.

The news outlet's Burgess Everett and Josh Dawsey write, citing "Republican sources inside and outside the administration," that the mandate to disregard the requests was delivered by White House lawyer Uttam Dhillon to top officials from federal agencies.

Rebuffing the requests would block "new information that could be used to attack the president," Republicans said. GOP lawmakers have also come under fire for failing to provide the necessary "ongoing and vigilant oversight" of the Trump White House.

Numerous Democratic lawmakers have already made such oversight requests, like demanding the visitor logs from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in West Palm Beach, Florida; asking why the administration dismissed Surgeon General Vivek Murthy; and requesting details about Trump's use of his unsecured personal smartphone.

Those are just a sprinkling of the oversight inquiries; in fact, Politico writes, a "senior Democratic aide said that of the Senate Democrats' 225 oversight letters sent to the Trump administration since January asking for information, the vast majority have received no response."

“Resistance” groups make millions on merch that isn't union-made

The Resistance will be branded — but it may not be union-made.

The country’s dizzying new array of anti-Trump groups haven’t just been marching, protesting, and melting Congressional phone lines. Since Election Day, they’ve also been selling millions of dollars worth of merchandise — clothing, pins, bumper stickers, bags — to raise money and advertise the movement. In order to make all the gear, the groups have largely turned to e-commerce businesses. ...

But unlike more established Democratic groups like MoveOn.org, Emily’s List, and the Democratic National Committee, the new wave of anti-Trump organizations are selling gear that’s American-made, but not union-made. The union bug, a term for a union-made label, is typically seen everywhere during Democratic campaigns — on banners, business cards, t-shirts, and campaign literature.

“We support fair labor and choose to invest in companies that invested in their workers,” Milan de Vries, director of analytics at MoveOn.org, said when explaining why their merchandise is union-made or -printed. ...

Paul McConnell, vice president of FII Marketing, who also makes anti-Trump gear for groups like Emily’s List and End Citizens United, said he thinks that the lack of Resistance union swag is a consequence of a “generational gap.” Unions are not nearly as politically powerful or widespread as they were 30 years ago, and as a result, McConnell believes, young progressives “just don’t understand the impact that union has because it hasn’t been at the forefront of the political realm over the last few campaigns.”

Poor, poor Hillary Clinton. The whole world is out to get her and all of the people who try to help her are incompetent or broke, or both:

Hillary Clinton’s Deceptive Blame-Shifting

Hillary Clinton has grown even more insistent that she was not at fault for her stunning election defeat last November, claiming that 1,000 Russian “agents” and their American collaborators were a decisive factor, a bizarre twist that further locks the Democrats into their evidence-light “Russia-gate” obsession. In comments at a California technology conference on Wednesday, Clinton also repeated one of her favorite falsehoods – that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies unanimously concluded that Russia hacked Democratic emails and ran a covert influence campaign against her. ...

But Clinton’s statement is false regarding the unanimity of the 17 agencies and misleading regarding her other claims. Both former DNI James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan acknowledged in sworn testimony last month that the Jan. 6 report alleging Russian “meddling” did not involve all 17 agencies. Clapper and Brennan stated that the report was actually the work of hand-picked analysts from only three agencies – the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation – under the oversight of the DNI’s office. In other words, there was no consensus among the 17 agencies, a process that would have involved some form of a National Intelligence Estimate (or NIE), a community-wide effort that would have included footnotes citing any dissenting views. ...

But Clinton’s false claim about the intelligence consensus was not her only dubious assertion. Her reference to the 1,000 Russian “agents” is not contained in the Jan. 6 report, either. It apparently derived from unconfirmed speculation from Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, who mentioned this claim at a news conference on March 30, admitting that he didn’t know if it was true. ... Warner didn’t specify where his information about the “trolls” came from but it paralleled a claim by freelance journalist Adam Chen who asserted in a podcast with Longform that Russian “trolls” began writing favorably about Trump in late 2015. (The CIA/FBI/NSA report also apparently alluded to the same report without mentioning the name of the journalist or specifying the number of alleged “trolls.”) ...

Yet, besides blaming the Russians and WikiLeaks for her loss, Clinton spread the blame even wider, for instance, to The New York Times for focusing too much on her decision to use a private email server while Secretary of State – “they covered it like it was Pearl Harbor” – and for the Times’ Nate Silver publishing optimistic odds on her chances for victory. “I also think I was the victim of a very broad assumption I was going to win,” she said. Clinton also placed blame on the Democratic National Committee for lacking money and sophisticated technology. “I get the nomination. So I’m now the nominee of the Democratic Party. I inherit nothing from the Democratic Party,” she said. “I mean it was bankrupt; it was on the verge of insolvency; its data was mediocre to poor, nonexistent, wrong. I had to inject money into it.”

Caitlin Johnstone weighs in with an awesome rant:

Hillary Clinton Continues To Assure America That It Made The Right Choice

I don’t understand why everyone’s so hard on Hillary Clinton, personally. This great woman has accomplished so much, from being married to Bill Clinton to collapsing the nation of Libya, and here she is creating space in her busy schedule of drinking champagne, assaulting her house servants and masturbating to classified footage of Saudi war crimes to reassure her country that it made the right choice in November. All out of the goodness of her own heart.

Here is an actual, real-life, nonfiction excerpt from the transcript of Clinton’s interview at the 2017 Code Conference yesterday, which I swear I am not making up:

“And there have been some studies done since the election that if you look — let’s pick Facebook. If you look at Facebook, the vast majority of the news items posted were fake. They were connected to, as we now know, the 1,000 Russian agents who were involved in delivering those messages.”

In addition to whatever that was, Clinton also repeated the now fully debunked lie she’s been spreading since October that “seventeen agencies” in the US intelligence community had agreed Russia was to blame for the WikiLeaks releases in the last election cycle, argued that Russia couldn’t have known how to run a propaganda campaign in the United States without insider information from the Trump camp, and blamed her loss on James Comey, treason, misogyny, “weaponized information”, Russia and Wikileaks (which she continues to assert are the “same thing”), fake news, the alternative media, the mainstream media, the right-wing media, social media, the New York Times (yes, that New York Times), the DNC (yes, that DNC), the Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, unreasonably high expectations that she would win, the Mercers, and bots. ...

And there you have it: clear, unequivocal reassurance that the American people did the right thing by refusing to hand that woman the keys to the most powerful military force in the history of civilization.

"Men in dark suits" rule the US - Putin on Deep State

France says no trace of Russian hacking Macron

The head of the French government’s cyber security agency, which investigated leaks from President Emmanuel Macron’s election campaign, says they found no trace of a notorious Russian hacking group behind the attack.

In an interview in his office Thursday with The Associated Press, Guillaume Poupard said the Macron campaign hack “was so generic and simple that it could have been practically anyone.”

He said they found no trace that the Russian hacking group known as APT28, blamed for other attacks including on the U.S. presidential campaign, was responsible.

Giant Antarctic iceberg 'hanging by a thread'

A giant section of an Antarctic ice shelf is hanging by a thread and could break off at any moment, researchers have revealed.

The split in the Larsen C ice shelf of the Antarctic peninsula will release a huge iceberg 5,000 sq km in size – an area about a quarter of the size of Wales.

“The rift is nearly 200km long now, and it has turned towards the ice front, suggesting that it has only got that last piece to go – and that last section is only 13km,” said Professor Adrian Luckman, a scientist at Swansea University and leader of the UK’s Midas project – an endeavour that has been monitoring the situation at the Larsen C ice shelf.

“Like any fracture in something, the longer the fracture becomes the more pressure there is on the remaining part of it. So it is really only hanging by a thread here,” he told the Guardian.

While the iceberg will not be the biggest ever recorded – the title is held by Iceberg B-15, a mass that broke off the Ross Ice Shelf in the year 2000 and had an area the size of Jamaica – it is expected to be among the top 10.

“It is a big event and it will change the landscape of the Antarctic peninsula - the Larsen ice shelf will be left 10% smaller,” said Luckman.

As Oil Starts to Flow Through Dakota Access Pipeline, Resistance faces Paramilitary Security Force

Fight to stop controversial Canadian pipeline gets fresh backing in BC

An alliance between opposition parties in British Columbia has offered new hope to opponents of a contentious Canadian pipeline expansion, and raises the prospect of a confrontation with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has thrown his support behind the project.

After an inconclusive election in the province’s legislature earlier this month, the Green party – which won three seats – agreed this week to form a minority government with the leftwing New Democratic Party, potentially putting an end to 16 years of rule by the Liberals. A confidence vote is expected to take place this month, which could force Liberal premier Christy Clark to resign.

On Monday, Green party leader Andrew Weaver and NDP leader John Horgan pledged to “employ every tool available” to the new government to stop the expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline.

The proposal would expand an existing route to lay nearly 1,000km of new pipeline from Alberta to Vancouver’s coastline. Critics say that oil tanker and barge traffic in the region would increase by nearly seven times, increasing the chance of a catastrophic spill in the Salish Sea, the network of inland waters that straddles the border with the US.

Also of Interest

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

Trump's reneging on Paris climate deal turns the US into a rogue state

Trump, Brennan and the Intel Community’s Iron Wall of Secrecy

The fight of his life: on the road with Jeremy Corbyn

'There's a real similarity': Corbyn gets rousing support from Bernie Sanders

Obama: a Hollow Man Filled With Ruling Class Ideas

Chained Together in Hell: Bush and Noriega

The “Market Forces” Behind the Obamas’ Record-Setting Book Deal

1968 poll shows what Jewish Jerusalemites thought of Palestinians

A Little Night Music

Taj Mahal - Fishing Blues

Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo' - Don't Leave Me Here

Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' - Diving duck Blues

Taj Mahal & Todd Rundgren - She Caught The Katy

Van Morrison, Taj Mahal - How Can A Poor Boy?

Taj Mahal & Bonnie Raitt - Done Changed My Way of Living

Taj Mahal & Corey Harris - Sittin' On Top Of The World

Taj Mahal - Cahors Blues Festival 2016

Doc Watson with Taj Mahal 08/09/1986