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“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”

-- Willie Nelson

News and Opinion

Syria - U.S. CentCom Declares War On Russia

Yesterday three high ranking Russian officers were killed in an "ISIS attack" in eastern Syria. It is likely that they were killed by U.S. special forces or insurgents under U.S. special forces control. The incident will be understood as a declaration of war. The U.S. Central Command in the Middle East wants the oil fields in east-Syria under control of its proxy forces to set up and control a U.S. aligned Kurdish mini-state in the area. The Syrian government, allied with Russia, needs the revenues of the oil fields to rebuild the country.

Last week the Russians issued sharply worded statements against U.S. coordination with al-Qaeda terrorists in Idleb province and warned of further escalation. Yesterday the Russian Ministry of Defense accused the U.S. military in east-Syria of direct collaboration with the Islamic State[.] ...

For three years ISIS had besieged Syrian troops in Deir Ezzor city and its airport. It had not once managed to successfully attack the Syrian headquarters or to kill high ranking officers. Now, as U.S. proxy forces "advised" by U.S. special forces, have taken position north of Deir Ezzor, "ISIS" suddenly has the intelligence data and precision mortar capabilities to kill a bunch of visiting Russian officers?

That is not plausible. No one in Damascus, Baghdad, Tehran or Moscow will believe that.

Nominally the U.S. and Russia are both in Syria to fight the Islamic State. The Russian troops are legitimately there, having been invited by the Syrian government. The U.S. forces have no legal justification for their presence. So far open hostilities between the two sides had been avoided. But as the U.S. now obviously sets out to split Syria apart, openly cooperates with terrorists and does not even refrain from killing Russian officers, the gloves will have to come off.

Russia Releases Photos Showing US Special Ops At ISIS Positions In Syria

The aerial photos of ISIS' territory north of #Deir_ez_Zor where #USA special operation troops are seen https://t.co/lH6u8H9bvZ pic.twitter.com/gjqlQubi9o

— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) September 24, 2017

The Russian Defense Ministry has released aerial images allegedly showing ISIS, the SDF, and US special forces working side-by-side on the battlefield against Syrian and Russian forces in Deir el-Zour, Syria.

As Adam Garrie reports, via The Duran, it has long been thought that the US proxy militia SDF is operating in collusion with ISIS in various parts of Syria. This has especially been the case in respect of Deir el-Zour. In Deir el-Zour, the Russian Defense Ministry has previously stated that the Syrian Arab Army and their allies are fired on most intensely from positions known to be held by the SDF.

Furthermore, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov recently stated,

"SDF militants work to the same objectives as Daesh terrorists. Russian drones and intelligence have not recorded any confrontations between Daesh and the ‘third force’, SDF”.

He added that Russia will not hesitate to target SDF forces that threaten the battlefield progress and personal safety of Russia’s allies, namely the Syrian Arab Army. Other reports surfaced of US military helicopters airlifting known ISIS commanders to safety as the Syrian Arab Army made its advance on the former ISIS stronghold of Deir el-Zour.

All of this has happened as the US is moving its proxy Kurdish led SDF forces from Raqqa to Deir el-Zour, in a move that appears to be an attempt to stop Syrian forces from liberating their own country’s legally recognized territory.

Syria: Army Forces purge the final Islamic state group fighters from Raqqa

Afghan militants try to shoot plane carrying US defence secretary

Afghan militants have unsuccessfully attempted to shoot a plane carrying the US defence secretary, James Mattis, during an attack on Kabul airport. The south end of Camp Sullivan, a US embassy compound near the international airport, was hit by what appeared to be rocket-propelled grenades or mortars.

Mattis, who was visiting Kabul with the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, had arrived before the attack took place and there was no indication he was in danger at any point.

A weapons depot caught fire during the assault, triggering explosions. Additional attackers fired small arms at three military entrances to the airport. At least five civilians were wounded, officials said. Two US and one Afghan military aircraft were reportedly damaged, along with a civilian plane.

In a statement, the Taliban claimed responsibility, saying it had targeted Mattis’s plane. Islamic State later issued a competing claim of responsibility.

Yemenis Suffer "Silent Deaths" as Saudi Arabia Refuses Human Rights Probe in Deadly U.S.-Backed War

Saudis threaten fallout if Yemen probe passes

Saudi Arabia has threatened other countries over a proposed resolution at the U.N.'s main human rights body, saying if they send international, independent investigators to war-torn Yemen that could "negatively affect" trade and diplomatic ties with the wealthy kingdom, a Saudi letter obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press shows.

Two competing resolutions — one by Saudi Arabia and other Arab states and another by Canada and the Netherlands — have been proposed on how to best document the human rights violations in Yemen. The resolutions are shaping up as the main diplomatic showdown at the Human Rights Council session that ends Friday.

Saudi Arabia has sent a letter to at least two foreign countries warning that the Arab states "will not accept" the Dutch-Canadian resolution, which seeks an "international, independent investigation."

Trump Could Be Guilty of War Crimes After an American Bomb Killed Yemeni Children

A bomb made and supplied by the United States was used in a Saudi Arabia-led coalition airstrike that killed 16 civilians, including seven children, in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, on August 25, Amnesty International revealed on Thursday.

The bombing of residential buildings, which horrified much of the Arab world even before the link to the U.S., was due to a "technical mistake," said the Saudi government, which is fighting Iran-backed rebels in a larger Saudi-Iran battle for control of the Gulf region.

The human rights group is calling on the U.S. government to immediately cease selling arms to Saudi Arabia.

"By sending arms to Saudi Arabia, knowing that they may be used to kill civilians, the U.S. government may be complicit in violations of international law, including war crimes," Raed Jarrar, Amnesty International's advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa, tells Newsweek.

This is not the first time U.S.-made bombs have been used in a Saudi-led airstrike that killed civilians, but it might be the most publicized example. 

Trump pledges to 'fix the mess' of North Korea's nuclear program

Donald Trump vowed to “fix the mess” over North Korea’s nuclear program a day after the country’s foreign minister claimed that the US president had declared war in a tweet and threatened to shoot down American bombers in international airspace.

Trump also said on Tuesday that any US military attack would be “devastating” as his administration sought to turn up the economic pressure with fresh sanctions to punish North Korean banks and their workers.

As the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said the US was still hoping for a diplomatic resolution, Trump echoed the sentiment, declaring that a military strike was “not a preferred option”. Still, Trump said the US was “totally prepared” to pursue that route if necessary.

“If we take that option, it will be devastating, I can tell you that. Devastating,” Trump said in a White House news conference. “If we have to take it, we will.”

The president appeared eager to push back on the notion that it was he, not the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, who was responsible for upping the rhetoric between the countries to alarming levels. And he assigned some fault for the mounting crisis to his predecessors for failing to address the North’s nuclear ambitions over many decades.

“It’s left me a mess,” Trump said. “I’ll fix the mess.”

In Their Own Words: When Trump and Obama Sounded the Same

For both Trump and Obama, war is a necessary evil, and only the US is capable of making the determination when such evil is to be applied. Neither seemed bothered by the fact that the US is only second to Russia in the number of its nuclear warheads, as it has stockpiled 6,800 nuclear weapons compared with North Korea’s estimated 10-40 devices.

Obama (2016): “We cannot escape the prospect of nuclear war unless we all commit to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and pursuing a world without them … When North Korea tests a bomb that endangers all of us. And any country that breaks this basic bargain must face consequences.”

Trump (2017): “Our military will soon be the strongest it has ever been … North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatens the entire world with unthinkable loss of human life … The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”

[Plenty more comparisons at the link above. - js ]

The Rise of the New McCarthyism

Make no mistake about it: the United States has entered an era of a New McCarthyism that blames nearly every political problem on Russia and has begun targeting American citizens who don’t go along with this New Cold War propaganda. A difference, however, from the McCarthyism of the 1950s is that this New McCarthyism has enlisted Democrats, liberals and even progressives in the cause because of their disgust with President Trump; the 1950s version was driven by Republicans and the Right with much of the Left on the receiving end, maligned by the likes of Sen. Joe McCarthy as “un-American” and as Communism’s “fellow travelers.”

The real winners in this New McCarthyism appear to be the neoconservatives who have leveraged the Democratic/liberal hatred of Trump to draw much of the Left into the political hysteria that sees the controversy over alleged Russian political “meddling” as an opportunity to “get Trump.” Already, the neocons and their allies have exploited the anti-Russian frenzy to extract tens of millions of dollars more from the taxpayers for programs to “combat Russian propaganda,” i.e., funding of non-governmental organizations and “scholars” who target dissident Americans for challenging the justifications for this New Cold War.

The Washington Post, which for years has served as the flagship for neocon propaganda, is again charting the new course for America, much as it did in rallying U.S. public backing for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and in building sympathy for abortive “regime change” projects aimed at Syria and Iran. The Post has begun blaming almost every unpleasant development in the world on Russia! Russia! Russia!

For instance, a Post editorial on Tuesday shifted the blame for the anemic victory of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the surprising strength of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) from Merkel’s austerity policies, which have caused hardship for much of the working class, or from her open door for Mideast refugees, which has destabilized some working-class neighborhoods, to – you guessed it – Russia!

The evidence, as usual, is vague and self-interested, but sure to be swallowed by many Democrats and liberals, who hate Russia because they blame it for Trump, and by lots of Republicans and conservatives, who have a residual hatred for Russia left over from the Old Cold War. ... In this New Cold War, the Russians get blamed for not only disrupting some neocon “regime change” projects, such as the proxy war in Syria, but also political developments in the West, such as Donald Trump’s election and AfD’s rise in Germany. ... Arguably, if fascism or totalitarianism comes to the United States, it is more likely to arrive in the guise of “protecting democracy” from Russia or another foreign adversary than from a reality-TV clown like Donald Trump.

Spanish Government Cracks Down on Catalan Independence Vote

Catalan leaders compare Spain to North Korea after referendum sites blocked

The Catalan regional government has accused the Spanish authorities of behaving like Turkey, China and North Korea by blocking websites designed to help people vote in Sunday’s independence referendum.

Over the past week the Spanish government has stepped up its efforts to stop the unilateral vote by deploying thousands of extra police officers to Catalonia and taking control of the region’s finances. It insists the referendum is illegal and a clear violation of the Spanish constitution.

As well as arresting 14 Catalan government officials and seizing almost 10m ballot papers, police and the courts have been taking down websites connected to the referendum. On Monday police summoned 17 people for questioning over the development of web platforms related to the vote. A police spokesman told Agence France-Presse the 17 were suspected of “disseminating a website for people to participate in a referendum declared illegal by the constitutional court”. He said they were alleged to have “made it easy for people to get documents … to organise the plebiscite”.

A spokesman for the Catalan government described the latest moves as a threat to free expression and said a letter of protest had been sent to the European commission. “What they’re doing by blocking domain name servers is doing what Turkey does and what China does and what North Korea does,” said the spokesman. “No western democracy does that. The internet is the kingdom of freedom.” The letter says the online crackdown is part of “the ongoing unlawful repression of the institutions of autonomy of Catalonia” and calls on the commission to act as “the ultimate guardian of the open and free internet, which is truly at stake now”.

#TakeAKnee Vs. #BoycottNFL Is Vapid Establishment Wedge Politics

It baffles me how some people can continue to say that Donald Trump is politically inept and doesn’t understand how Washington works. He crushed both the Bush and Clinton dynasties on his path to election, he’s got a significant and heavily-armed support base willing to literally fight and die for him if he’s ever impeached, and his ability to use wedge issues to manipulate support puts even David Brock to shame. His political bullshitting IQ is off the charts. He was born for this. ...

Donald Trump does not give a shit about whether or not anyone stands, kneels, sits or urinates on the American flag, and neither do any of his plutocratic allies. What they care about is and always has been power, and by rallying the masses into a debate along establishment-dictated partisan lines, they help ensure that they keep that going. As a result of Trump’s deliberately inflammatory tweets, anti-establishment conservatives who’ve been critical of his healthcare failures and perpetuation of Obama’s corporatist and interventionist policies are standing on his side, angrily shaking their fists at their unpatriotic enemies.

And as always the GOP’s pretend opponents are doing the exact same thing, rallying anti-establishment leftists against Trump’s incendiary remarks and hopefully shepherding them into the partisan box they’re meant to remain in. The Democratic party, who was completely worthless throughout eight years of Obama in fighting the militarized police brutality that Colin Kaepernick and his supporters have been protesting, is now fanatically rallying behind viral hashtags and quotable talking points against the president’s remarks.

My goal here is only to point out that manipulation is happening, not to discourage people from protesting the draconian abuses of America’s increasingly militarized police force. Please do protest these things loudly and aggressively — but don’t do it because of Trump. Making it about Trump means entering into the same establishment partisan bullshit that saw this epidemic go completely unaddressed throughout Obama’s two terms and aligning yourself with the neoliberal neoconservative oligarchic one-party system. You might be saying some of the same things as the Democratic establishment loyalists, but please be acutely aware at all times that these people are not your friends, and they will not help you.

St. Louis cops are getting free body cams from the Taser company

The entire St. Louis police force is getting outfitted with body cams — for free.

The embattled city agreed last week to accept 1,300 free police body cameras — enough for the whole force — from Axon, the company that makes Tasers, as part of a one-year trial program.

The announcement comes after 11 days of sustained protests following the Sept. 15 not guilty verdict for the white St. Louis police officer who killed Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man, in 2011, echoing the 2014 Michael Brown case in nearby Ferguson that sparked widespread protests. Reports of the current protests allege harsh police tactics, with the ACLU bringing suit for “unlawful and unconstitutional” police conduct.

A Los Angeles School Board Scandal Could Upend Plans By Charter Backers to Take Over Public Schools

The District Attorney of Los Angeles County filed criminal charges this month against Ref Rodriguez, the school board president of the nation’s second-largest public school district. Accused of laundering money into his 2015 political campaign with the help of his cousin, Rodriguez faces three felony charges and 25 misdemeanors. It’s not your typical money-laundering case. In fact, it’s one that veteran campaign consultants and money-in-politics watchdogs have been calling the most bizarre they’ve ever seen. And it was part of a successful multimillion dollar, multi-cycle campaign by pro-charter school advocates to seize control of the board.

Following his 2015 victory, Rodriguez became the first charter school operator to join the Los Angeles school board. He was backed by the well-heeled charter school movement, which spent more than $2 million to help elect him. This past spring, education reform advocates won three more seats, giving the board a slim pro-charter majority for the first time ever. Rodriguez was then elected board president in July. In response to the felony charges, Rodriguez announced that he would step down as president, but remain on the seven-person school board, thus preserving the charter faction’s grip on power. United Teachers Los Angeles, the district’s teachers union, is now calling on Rodriguez to resign entirely, while some Rodriguez allies say the whole thing is being blown way out of proportion.

The struggle over the school board, and consequently for public education in Los Angeles, reflects larger proxy battles playing out in school systems across the United States. These fights typically pit so-called education reform advocates against backers of traditional public schools and teachers unions. Messy money-in-politics scandals have come to be defining features of these fights, as corporate money and funds from stratospherically wealthy activists flood in to what was once the sleepy politics of public education. How this all plays out in California will almost surely affect education politics elsewhere.

Profits vs. Puerto Rican Lives: Trump Admin Blocks Aid from Reaching Devastated Island

Puerto Rican Debt Holders Respond to Catastrophic Hurricane by Offering Puerto Rico More Debt

Puerto Rico, facing absolute devastation after Hurricane Maria barreled through last week, desperately needs immediate funding to restore critical infrastructure, particularly its hobbled electric grid. The entire island — home to over 3.5 million American citizens, roughly equivalent to the state of Connecticut — lost power, and satellite imagery shows how little electricity has come back. This affects not only electricity and telecommunications service but access to clean water, as many pumping stations run on the same grid.

A group of bondholders, who own a portion of Puerto Rico’s massive $72 billion debt, has proposed what they are calling relief — but in the form of a loan. So they’re offering a territory mired in debt the chance to take on more debt.

The announcement came after The Intercept spent two days reaching out to 51 of Puerto Rico’s known creditors, asking them if they would support a moratorium or cancellation of debt payments for the island, given the humanitarian crisis. Prior to this announcement, only three of the 51 creditors had so much as donated relief funds to charity or offered sympathy for island residents, all of them banks who actually have to face consumers, and so are a bit more adept at handling public relations. No creditor had supported debt relief.

Of the 51 creditors contacted by The Intercept, only Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and Scotiabank have pledged no-strings-attached money for Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands, in the form of donations to relief organizations totaling $1.25 million. Citi has also waived certain fees for citizens within disaster zones. Puerto Rico’s other creditors contacted by The Intercept would not say whether donations were made by their firms or their top executives, which include some of the richest people on earth.

Trump Blames Puerto Rico for the Economic Crisis the US Created

Poll: Nearly half in US unaware that Puerto Ricans are citizens

Nearly half of all Americans aren't aware that Puerto Ricans are citizens, according to a new Morning Consult poll.

The U.S. territory's natural-born residents have been American citizens since 1917. Puerto Rico has been under control of the United States since 1898.

Puerto Rico's status has received fresh attention over the last week as Hurricane Maria ravaged the island, leaving nearly all its 3.5 million residents without power and in many cases with no way to communicate with the outside world.

While 54 percent of Americans know that Puerto Ricans are citizens, 47 percent do not know that, according to the poll, which was first reported by The New York Times. Among Americans with a bachelor's degree, 72 percent are aware of citizenship for people on the island.

Roger Stone: Trump adviser denies Russia collusion during 2016 election

Roger Stone, a longstanding adviser to Donald Trump, made a combative appearance at a closed session of the House intelligence committee on Tuesday to reject allegations of collusion.

He told journalists later that his former business partner, Paul Manafort, who served as Trump’s campaign chairman, expected to be indicted soon. Stone said he expected Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating links between the Trump campaign and Moscow, to “manufacture” a charge against Manafort in an effort to force him to “bear false witness against the president”.

As for his own hearing, Stone said that nothing he was asked made him “uncomfortable” and that he had answered all the questions put him but one.

He refused to tell the committee the identity of a journalist who was his intermediary with the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange – and who Stone says was the source of his advance knowledge of what WikiLeaks was planning to publish during the campaign on the Democratic presidential contender, Hillary Clinton, and a senior Democratic official, John Podesta.

Zinke says a third of Interior’s staff is disloyal to Trump and promises ‘huge’ changes

In a speech to a federal advisory board dominated by oil and gas industry executives, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke claimed that nearly a third of his staff is disloyal to President Trump, saying that workers in Washington are reluctant to relax regulations to permit increased mining for coal and drilling for natural gas and oil on public land.

Zinke promised a “huge” change by restructuring staff positions and possibly shifting decision-making positions in the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Reclamation from Washington to points out West in the speech Monday to the National Petroleum Council. His remarks were first reported by the Associated Press.

“I got 30 percent of the crew that’s not loyal to the flag,” the secretary said, according to participants. Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, invoked military and seafaring jargon to describe his approach to running the department.

He compared his experience taking over Interior to capturing a pirate ship where “only the captain and the first mate row over” to take over the vessel.

Zinke explained that he wanted to ensure Interior officials accelerated federal permitting for drilling and mining activities on federal land, saying it’s necessary to relocate some of the department’s major divisions to “push the generals where the fight is.”

E.P.A. to Spend Nearly $25,000 on a Soundproof Booth for Pruitt

The Environmental Protection Agency has signed a contract for nearly $25,000 to build a soundproof communications booth for the office of the administrator, Scott Pruitt. ...

Liz Bowman, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A., did not return requests for comment on the contract. In a statement to the Post, she said agencies needed to have such booths to guard against hacking and eavesdropping. “This is something which a number, if not all, Cabinet offices have and E.P.A. needs to have updated,” she said.

Critics say Mr. Pruitt has gone to unusual lengths to operate in secrecy at the E.P.A., where employees report he is often accompanied by armed guards even inside the agency, and avoids making important calls in his office. He is the first E.P.A. administrator to have round-the-clock security.

Zealandia drilling reveals secrets of sunken lost continent

The mostly submerged continent of Zealandia may have been much closer to land level than previously thought, providing pathways for animals and plants to cross continents from 80m years ago, an expedition has revealed. Zealandia, a for the most part underwater landmass in the South Pacific, was declared the Earth’s newest continent this year in a paper in the journal of the Geological Society of America. It includes Lord Howe Island off the east coast of Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand.

On Wednesday researchers shared findings from their two-month-long expedition, one of the first extensive surveys of the region, announcing fossil discoveries and evidence of large-scale tectonic movements. “The discovery of microscopic shells of organisms that lived in warm shallow seas, and spores and pollen from land plants, reveal that the geography and climate of Zealandia was dramatically different in the past,” said Prof Gerald Dickens of Rice University. ...

On Wednesday Prof Rupert Sutherland from New Zealand’s Victoria University said the expedition had discovered “big geographic changes”. “[The research] has big implications for understanding big scientific questions, such as how did plants and animals disperse and evolve in the South Pacific? The discovery of past land and shallow seas now provides an explanation: there were pathways for animals and plants to move along.”

Also of Interest

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

Intercepted Podcast: For Whom the Trump Trolls

Seven Rules for Running a Real Left-Wing Government

While US, North Korea Both Make Threats, Only One Has Killed Millions of the Other’s People

Outlets That Scolded Sanders Over Deficits Uniformly Silent on $700B Pentagon Handout

Trump’s Generals Fatten the Pentagon

The Trump Administration Is Playing With the Lives of 59,000 Haitians

Nestlé Makes Billions Bottling Water It Pays Nearly Nothing For

Centuries of friction between Catalonia and Spain

Jeremy Corbyn: neoliberalism is broken and we are now the centre ground

Revolutionary road: on the trail of Che Guevara’s last days in Bolivia

A Facebook Flamewar May Have Just Led to a Major Breakthrough on Confederate Monuments in Georgia

Hat tip divineorder:

Is Israel becoming a mafia state?

A Little Night Music

Wynonie Harris - Mr. Dollar

Wynonie Harris - Adam Come And Get Your Rib

Wynonie Harris - Git With The Grits

Wynonie Harris and the Royals - All Night Long

Wynonie Harris - Bad News Baby

Wynonie Harris - Shake That Thing

Wynonie Harris - Quiet Whiskey

Wynonie Harris - Wynonie's Blues

Wynonie Harris - The Comeback

Wynonie Harris - Dig This Boogie