The Evening Blues - 9-28-17
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features jazz clarinetist and sax player Johnny Dodds. Enjoy!
Johnny Dodds With The New Orleans Bootblacks - I Can't Say
“We have now sunk to a depth at which the restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men.”
-- George Orwell
News and Opinion
Glenn Greenwald lays out the unspeakable but obvious truth. Worth a full read:
Yet Another Major Russia Story Falls Apart. Is Skepticism Permissible Yet?
Last Friday, most major media outlets touted a major story about Russian attempts to hack into U.S. voting systems, based exclusively on claims made by the Department of Homeland Security. “Russians attempted to hack elections systems in 21 states in the run-up to last year’s presidential election, officials said Friday,” began the USA Today story, similar to how most other outlets presented this extraordinary claim. This official story was explosive for obvious reasons, and predictably triggered instant decrees – that of course went viral – declaring that the legitimacy of the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election is now in doubt. ...
So what was wrong with this story? Just one small thing: it was false. The story began to fall apart yesterday when Associated Press reported that Wisconsin – one of the states included in the original report that, for obvious reasons, caused the most excitement – did not, in fact, have its election systems targeted by Russian hackers.
The spokesman for Homeland Security then tried to walk back that reversal, insisting that there was still evidence that some computer networks had been targeted, but could not say that they had anything to do with elections or voting. And, as AP noted: “Wisconsin’s chief elections administrator, Michael Haas, had repeatedly said that Homeland Security assured the state it had not been targeted.” Then the story collapsed completely last night. The Secretary of State for another one of the named states, California, issued a scathing statement repudiating the claimed report. ...
[T]his is no isolated incident. Quite the contrary: this has happened over and over and over again. Inflammatory claims about Russia get mindlessly hyped by media outlets, almost always based on nothing more than evidence-free claims from government officials, only to collapse under the slightest scrutiny, because they are entirely lacking in evidence. [See article for examples of previous debunked claims. - js] Each time the stories go viral; each time they further shape the narrative; each time those who spread them say little to nothing when it is debunked. ...
Regardless of your views on Russia, Trump and the rest, nobody can possibly regard this climate as healthy. Just look at how many major, incredibly inflammatory stories, from major media outlets, have collapsed. Is it not clear that there is something very wrong with how we are discussing and reporting on relations between these two nuclear-armed powers?
Yeah, investigating 4Chan is a great use of government resources and Democrat legislators' highly-compensated time. It's not like there are any other real problems that need to be attended to.
Russia Investigation to Probe "Foul Corners" of 4Chan and Reddit
A congressional committee probing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election could broaden its investigation to look at Reddit and 4Chan as potential tools of clandestine activity, according to a congressional aide.
The Hill reported Wednesday that Sen. Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wants to look at the loosely controlled internet message boards, which became a hub for the so-called alt-right during the election. ...
The controversial TheDonald subreddit, which launched the same day Trump confirmed his candidacy, will be of particular interest. It has been described as a “safe-harbor” for racists, white-nationalists, and white supremacists to express their views and spread conspiracy theories, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism.
Russian operatives used Facebook ads to exploit America’s racial and religious divisions
The batch of more than 3,000 Russian-bought ads that Facebook is preparing to turn over to Congress shows a deep understanding of social divides in American society, with some ads promoting African American rights groups, including Black Lives Matter, and others suggesting that these same groups pose a rising political threat, say people familiar with the covert influence campaign.
The Russian campaign — taking advantage of Facebook’s ability to send contrary messages to different groups of users based on their political and demographic characteristics — also sought to sow discord among religious groups. Other ads highlighted support for Democrat Hillary Clinton among Muslim women.
These targeted messages, along with others that have surfaced in recent days, highlight the sophistication of an influence campaign slickly crafted to mimic and infiltrate U.S. political discourse while also seeking to heighten tensions between groups already wary of one another.
The House and Senate intelligence committees plan to begin reviewing the Facebook ads in coming weeks as they attempt to untangle the operation and other matters related to Russia’s bid to help elect Donald Trump president in 2016.
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam B. Schiff of California, said he hoped the public would be able to review the ad campaign. “I think the American people should see a representative sample of these ads to see how cynical the Russians were using these ads to sow division within our society,” he said. Schiff had not yet seen the ads but was briefed on them, he said, including the ones mentioning “things like Black Lives Matter.”
Birchers in the Beer Joint: Trump “Resistance” Revives Old Slurs
In recent days, a disturbing trope has appeared among the self-declared “Resistance” to Trump. Citing “research” that often has the scientific rigor of Donald’s Trump’s investigations of Barack Obama’s birthplace, they say that Russia is fanning the flames of the Black Lives Matter movement and the “Take a Knee” campaign. Some of these progressive Resisters are taking it a step further, tracing Kremlin perfidy in stirring up trouble in God’s perfect American heaven back to the Sixties. Yes, liberals are now aping the John Birchers and Klan goobers and American Nazi goons of old who claimed the Civil Rights movement was just a Commie plot. They really are going there, as Max Blumenthal has pointed out.
A couple of days ago, an Australian journalist named Chris Zappone tweeted a chart put out by the “Alliance for Securing Democracy,” a group of heartfelt patriots including Michael Chertoff, leading security apparatchik from the Bush Regime who cashed in to become the head of a highly profitable fear-mongering consultancy; Bill Kristol, a notorious lover of world peace through military aggression and mass murder; and Michael Morrell, former CIA apparatchik and stout defender of “extrajudicial killing” and torture, who, needless to say, is also now lapping at the “security consultant” gravy train. ... They now provide a vital service in “tracking Russian influence on Twitter.” This is actually not as hard as it sounds. You might think it would require extensive technical know-how and spycraft to ferret out the Kremlin’s connection to this nefarious network. But no; all you have to do is find tweets with the theme of “anti-Americanism.” This includes any reference to the Syrian conflict that doesn’t follow Washington’s approved narrative; tweets criticizing Morgan Freeman; any support of secession movements in Catalonia or Kurdistan; and, perhaps most sinister of all, “a travel guide for Crimea.”
Anyway, the Australian journalist tweeted a chart, with the ominous warning that “Pro-Russia social media” (that is, tweets by people “not necessarily…aligned with Russia”) was in “overdrive,” trying to “stoke outrage” about the “Bend a Knee” campaign which is protesting the wanton killing of unarmed people — primarily African-Americans — by unaccountable police departments. Obviously, no one would normally be outraged by this unless they were being “stoked” by Kremlin tricksters. Max Blumenthal jumped in to make this very point – “Yup, Putin is tricking us Americans into being outraged at racism. It’s all a Russian op.” – to which Zappone riposted with this zinger:
“Yes, it’s not like Russia doesn’t have long history of making hay about US race issues.”
And presto, there we are, back in the beer joint with the John Birchers, growling about them Commies stirring up the coons.
The “Resistance” — especially the part led by Establishment worthies and Hollywood celebrities who act as if Trump is some eruption of unprecedented evil in a previously pure system — is going to some very dark places. They are beginning to equate any criticism of American policy or American society with treasonous foreign influence. People who “stoke outrage” over police killings by supporting the entirely peaceful, silent protest of football players are now part of a Kremlin “network.” And the “Resisters” are working this trope backward into American history, trying to taint any protest movement or action for social change as “anti-Americanism” which was “stoked” by nefarious Russians.
Sweet Jesus, is there nothing sacred to these meddling Russkies, not even fracking? General Jack was surely correct that there is an international communist conspiracy to to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids!
U.S. lawmakers ask Facebook, Twitter for information on anti-fracking ads
A U.S. House committee investigating whether Russia has tried to influence U.S. public opinion on fossil fuels asked Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet on Wednesday to turn over information about Russian entities that may have bought anti-fracking advertisements.
House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican and climate change denier, asked the CEOs of the technology companies to turn over documents by Oct. 10 that detail the involvement of Russian-based or funded entities detected on their platforms, information on ads they purchased, and any communications concerning ads advocating for "so-called green initiatives."
Smith and the Republicans on the committee that oversees U.S. scientific agencies have targeted mainstream climate change scientists, questioning their integrity and calling for eliminating federal funding for climate research. They have also accused environmental groups of colluding with Russians to push for regulations to curb fossil fuel extraction.
"The committee is concerned that divisive social media and political messages conveyed through social media have negatively affected certain energy sectors, which can depress research and development in the fossil fuel sector and expanding potential for natural gas," Smith wrote in letters to the CEOs.
The MSM’s Anti-Russia Bias
The anti-Russian/anti-Soviet bias in the American media appears to have no limit. You would think that they would have enough self-awareness and enough journalistic integrity -– just enough -– to be concerned about their image. But it keeps on coming, piled higher and deeper. One of the latest cases in point is a review of a new biography of Mikhail Gorbachev in the New York Times Book Review (September 10). The review says that Gorbachev “was no hero to his own people” because he was “the destroyer of their empire.”
This is how the New York Times avoids having to say anything positive about life in the Soviet Union or about socialism. They would have readers believe that it was the loss of the likes of Czechoslovakia or Hungary et al. that upset the Russian people, not the loss, under Gorbachev’s perestroika, of a decent standard of living for all, a loss affecting people’s rent, employment, vacations, medical care, education, and many other aspects of the Soviet welfare state. ...
It should be noted that in 1999, USA Today reported: “When the Berlin Wall crumbled [1989], East Germans imagined a life of freedom where consumer goods were abundant and hardships would fade. Ten years later, a remarkable 51% say they were happier with communism.” [USA Today, October 11, 1999, p.1] Earlier polls would likely have shown even more than 51% expressing such a sentiment, for in the ten years many of those who remembered life in East Germany with some fondness had passed away; although even 10 years later, in 2009, the Washington Post could report: “Westerners [West Berliners] say they are fed up with the tendency of their eastern counterparts to wax nostalgic about communist times.” [Washington Post, May 12, 2009; see a similar story November 5, 2009] ...
The current New York Times review twice refers to Vladimir Putin as “authoritarian”, as does, routinely, much of the Western media. None of the many such references I have come across in recent years has given an example of such authoritarian policies, although such examples of course exist, as they do under a man named Trump and a woman named May and every other government in the world. But clearly if a strong case could be made of Putin being authoritarian, the Western media would routinely document such in their attacks upon the Russian president. Why do they not?
The review further refers to Putin to as “the cold-eye former K.G.B. lieutenant colonel”. One has to wonder if the New York Times has ever referred to President George H.W. Bush as “the cold-eye former CIA Director.”
Kurdistan Independence Vote Faces Fierce Opposition
Kurdistan rejects Iraq's demand to hand over airports, Baghdad readies air ban
The Kurdistan Regional Government on Wednesday rejected an Iraqi government ultimatum to hand control of its international airports to Baghdad.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, reacting to the independence referendum held by the autonomous Kurdish government on Monday, had told the KRG to hand over control of Erbil and Sulaimaniya airports or else he would suspend direct international flights to and from Kurdistan on Friday.
But KRG Transport Minister Mowlud Murad told a news conference in the Kurdish capital Erbil, said keeping control of the airports and keeping direct flights to Erbil was needed for Kurdish authorities and security forces as part of the fight against Islamic State militants.
Iraqi parliament asks leader Abadi to take back Kurd-held Kirkuk
The Iraqi parliament on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send troops to the Kurdish-held region of Kirkuk and take control of its oilfields.
Kurdish Pehsmerga fighters took control of Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic region, in 2014 when the Iraqi army fled in the face of Islamic State militants who overran about a third of Iraq. ...
The area, historically claimed by the Kurds, is also home to Turkmen and Arab communities. The Kurdistan Regional Government included it in the independence referendum held on Monday.
Turkish nationalist leader says thousands ready to fight for Iraq Turkmen
Thousands of Turkish volunteers are ready to fight in Kirkuk and other Iraqi cities to defend the country’s Turkmen population, the head of Turkey’s nationalist opposition said on Wednesday.
Devlet Bahceli said the minority Turkmen, who have close ethnic ties to Turkey, would not be abandoned in Kirkuk.
“At least 5,000 nationalist volunteers are ready and waiting to join the fight of existence, unity and peace in the Turkish cities where Turkmens live, notably Kirkuk,” Bahceli, the head of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said in a statement on the party’s website. ...
Bahceli’s party is not in government and does not set policy, but its staunchly nationalist agenda reflects the views of a segment of Turkish society which fiercely opposes the idea of an independent Kurdistan and supports Iraq’s Turkmens.
Catalan police warn of public disorder if polling stations closed
Catalan police warned Wednesday, September 27, that public disorder may erupt as Spain orders the authorities to prevent public buildings from being used as polling stations and stop the region holding a referendum on independence.
The Catalan government has vowed to press ahead with Sunday's (October 1) plebiscite in the wealthy northeastern region despite a crackdown by Madrid which wants to prevent a vote deemed unconstitutional by the courts.
The showdown is one of Spain's biggest political crises since the end of the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco 4 decades ago and the referendum has deeply divided Catalonia, which is home to about 7.5 million people and accounts for about a fifth of the country's economy ...
High school students began a strike on Wednesday against the crackdown. University students will go on strike on Thursday, September 28.
"We are thinking of occupying our school because on Sunday people have to vote there," 16-year-old student Marti Blanco told Agence France-Presse, echoing a sentiment expressed by many other students.
A group representing around 100 farmers, La Assemblea de Payeses, urged its members to use their tractors to protect polling stations.
Palestinian Ambassador to France on joining Interpol
Israeli anger as Palestine receives full Interpol membership in secret vote
Israel’s ongoing campaign to stop Palestine joining international organizations suffered another blow Wednesday when intergovernmental police organization Interpol accepted their neighbor as a full member. Israel argues that Palestine is not a state and should therefore not be allowed to join international bodies.
Interpol said Palestine’s membership was approved in a secret vote at its annual general meeting, passing by 75 to 24 votes, with 34 abstentions. “This victory was made possible because of the principled position of the majority of Interpol members,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Palestinian “diplomatic offensive will not go unanswered.”
French Activist: Emmanuel Macron is "Younger, Prettier" Face of Anti-Worker Reforms & a Police State
Lindsey Graham on Obamacare Repeal: I Had No Idea What I Was Doing
Toward the end of [Sen. Lindsey Graham]’s bid to rewrite the health care system, as the mirage of the bill’s momentum began to be exposed, the typically charming and witty Graham began to turn acidic in the halls of the Senate, denouncing colleagues in both parties who were objecting to his legislation. “I’m speaking English, right?” he snapped at one reporter.
But now that it’s over, the old Graham is back and more than willing to laugh at how improbable it was that a national security expert briefly held the national limelight as a supposed health policy wonk.
Graham, though, said he was not alone in his lack of understanding of health care. “Nobody in our conference believes Obamacare works. It must be replaced. But until now, we didn’t know how to do it,” Graham told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday. A reporter pointed out that such ignorance at this late stage is hard to understand. “You’ve been working to overhaul this for seven years. Why is this so hard?” she asked.
“Well, I’ve been doing it for about a month. I thought everybody else knew what the hell they were talking about, but apparently not,” Graham clarified, adding he had assumed “these really smart people will figure it out.”
Don't buy the spin: The new tax plan is a huge giveaway to the rich
The tax cutters in the Republican Congress and White House were very careful to dangle only a few details of their tax plan before the public, but fulsome in their claims that it would be a boon to the average American — putting “more money into the pockets of everyday hardworking people,” according to a quote from President Trump at the top of the “framework” released Wednesday.
Don’t buy the spin. Judging from the scanty details in the framework, low- and middle-income Americans may or may not see a tax cut, and if they do, it will be modest. Wealthy Americans, however, will be granted immense benefits. Their most cherished tax breaks will be protected, other tax breaks will be added and they’ll even see a reduction in their top marginal tax rate.
It’s a bit premature for tax analysts to put hard numbers on the scale of the giveaways in the outline just released, and especially difficult given the lack of details. Most of the crucial information will be left to tax-writing committees on Capitol Hill. But we know what the upper crust hoped to see in the tax plan, and it’s obvious that much of its wish list has been granted.
'What a Rigged Economy Looks Like': Top 10% Now Own 77% of American Wealth
As President Donald Trump and the Republican Party unveiled their "cruel joke" of a tax plan that would provide an enormous boon for the rich disguised as a "middle class miracle," an analysis by the People's Policy Project (3P) published Wednesday found that the top 10 percent of the income distribution now owns a "stunning" 77 percent of America's wealth while those in the bottom ten percent are "net debtors," owning -0.5 percent of the nation's wealth.
In response to the analysis, conducted by 3P president Matt Bruenig, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on Twitter: "Meanwhile, the Walton family of Walmart has a net worth of $144 billion. This is what a rigged economy looks like."
"We do not live in a democracy. We live in an oligarchy," added the progressive group Digital Left.
3P's examination of newly released Federal Reserve data also found that "[t]he bottom 38 percent of American families have an average net worth of $0." By contrast, the top one percent—set to benefit massively from Trump's tax agenda—owns 38.5 percent of the nation's wealth. In 1989, that number was 29.9 percent.
Wall Street Got a Bailout, Why Not Puerto Rico?
The Law Strangling Puerto Rico
President Trump declared that “Puerto Rico was absolutely obliterated” and issued a federal disaster declaration. But the United States needs to do more. It needs to suspend the Jones Act in Puerto Rico.
After World War I, America was worried about German U-boats, which had sunk nearly 5,000 ships during the war. Congress enacted the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, a.k.a. the Jones Act, to ensure that the country maintained a shipbuilding industry and seafaring labor force. Section 27 of this law decreed that only American ships could carry goods and passengers from one United States port to another. In addition, every ship must be built, crewed and owned by American citizens.
Almost a century later, there are no U-boats lurking off the coast of Puerto Rico. The Jones Act has outlived its original intent, yet it is strangling the island’s economy.
Under the law, any foreign registry vessel that enters Puerto Rico must pay punitive tariffs, fees and taxes, which are passed on to the Puerto Rican consumer. The foreign vessel has one other option: It can reroute to Jacksonville, Fla., where all the goods will be transferred to an American vessel, then shipped to Puerto Rico where — again — all the rerouting costs are passed through to the consumer.
Thanks to the law, the price of goods from the United States mainland is at least double that in neighboring islands, including the United States Virgin Islands, which are not covered by the Jones Act. ... This is a shakedown, a mob protection racket, with Puerto Rico a captive market.
Donald Trump waives Jones Act to allow foreign ships to supply Puerto Rico
The White House on Thursday waived an act that was preventing foreign ships from delivering supplies to Puerto Rico, more than a week after Hurricane Maria devastated the US territory.
The White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, said in a tweet that Donald Trump had authorized the Jones Act to be waived for Puerto Rico at the request of its governor, Ricardo Rosselló. “It will go into effect immediately,” she said. ...
The law was suspended in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma to help ships reach Florida and Texas, but the president expressed reluctance to do the same for Puerto Rico.
“We’re thinking about that,” Trump said on Wednesday. “But we have a lot of shippers and a lot of people that work in the shipping industry that don’t want the Jones Act lifted, and we have a lot of ships out there right now.”
The situation in Puerto Rico is dire – few of the hospitals are functioning and about 44% of residents are without clean drinking water, according to the US Department of Defense. There are food shortages and some isolated parts of the territory are still without functioning telecommunications systems. Cash is also running low on the island, where only a few banks are open and lines to withdraw money stretch for hours.
Trump Administration Moves to Open Arctic Refuge to Drilling Studies
An internal Interior Department memo has proposed lifting restrictions on exploratory seismic studies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a possible first step toward opening the pristine wilderness area to oil and gas drilling. ...
The Arctic refuge, which covers more than 30,000 square miles, has been closed off to commercial drilling for decades because of concerns about the impact on polar bears, caribou and other animals in the region. Opening it up has been a top priority for Republicans. Doing so, even to determine how much oil is available, would be politically explosive and set the stage for bitter fights between the administration and environmental groups.
Congress has the final say over whether to allow new drilling in the refuge, often referred to as A.N.W.R.
Climate and energy are becoming focal points in state political races
Hopes for a sane US federal government were misplaced. But they are replaced by a new hope – an emerging climate leadership at the state level and a continuation of economic forces that favor clean/renewable energy over dirty fossil fuels. In fact, it appears that some states are relishing the national and international leadership roles that they have undertaken. Support for sensible climate and energy policies is now a topic to run on in elections. ... Consequently, it is not surprising that one of the candidates for [Minnesota] Governor, Rebecca Otto, has outlined what may become the trend among other states. She is not yet elected, but her clean energy proposal has many people talking.
The proposal presents a two-part focus on clean energy-based economic development and climate-change mitigation. Basically, in my state (and in many other states), the clean energy economy is a major contributor to the creation of new, high-paying jobs. Here wind and solar power are king. If you drive through the farm fields of southern Minnesota, you will see wind farms that stretch as far as the eye can see. With solar, there are some large-scale solar farms but the real excitement is the small-scale commercial and residential solar generation that is complementing the large-scale wind turbines.
From an energy production standpoint, this makes sense. A diversified renewable energy portfolio is one that that includes large wind (which provides intermittent power) along with solar that also is intermittent but often generates power when the wind isn’t blowing (and vice versa). Also, the small-scale nature of solar makes it more reliable, less subject to local weather systems. So the proposed clean energy plan would leverage the fast-growing and high-wage industries in energy. It also brings to bear perhaps the best financing mechanism to spur clean energy growth (the so-called “fee and dividend”). The way fee and dividend works is a fee is charged to companies that produce greenhouse gas emissions. No longer would society be subsidizing the costs from carbon pollution. The revenue from the fees would be returned to citizens so that it becomes a revenue-neutral tool. There is no net increase in cost or increase in income. What the fee and dividend method does, however, is reward people and companies for good choices.
It will be interesting to see if similar plans emerge nationally. Most importantly, it will be interesting to see whether the climate change and energy topic becomes something that political candidates actively run on. In the past, this issue has been low on voter priorities lists. But, if proposing bold new plans can get votes, that may change – and quickly.
Volcano threat forces evacuation of thousands on Vanuatu island
Thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate an island in Vanuatu where a rumbling volcano is threatening to blow.
Ministers in the Pacific archipelago decided they could not risk people’s lives and so ordered the compulsory evacuation of Ambae island, which is home to about 11,000 people.
Ambae is one of about 65 inhabited islands in the Pacific nation about one-quarter of the way from Australia to Hawaii.
Officials raised the activity measure of the volcano to level four at the weekend, on a scale in which level five represents a major eruption. On Monday officials declared an emergency and had been relocating people close to the volcano to other parts of the island.
New Zealand’s military flew over the volcano on Tuesday and said huge columns of smoke, ash and volcanic rocks were billowing from the crater.
Huge rock fall leaves one dead on El Capitan in Yosemite national park
A hunk of rock “the size of an apartment building” has fallen off the famous granite face of El Capitan in Yosemite national park in California, killing one person and injuring another.
UPDATE: A viewer sent us a photo of the rock fall at El Capitan in #Yosemite that killed 1 person and injured more. https://t.co/pXouFj7ivH pic.twitter.com/bSJoRP9rQo
— KSEE24 News (@KSEE24) September 28, 2017
At least 30 climbers were on the wall at the time of the accident on Wednesday afternoon, but it was not clear if the victims were climbers or tourists, ranger Scott Gediman said. “It’s the heart of climbing season,” Gediman said. “It was witnessed by a lot of people.” ...
“I saw a piece of rock, white granite the size of an apartment building, at least 100 feet by 100 feet, suddenly just come peeling off the wall with no warning,” said Canadian climber Peter Zabrok, 57, who was scaling El Capitan and was above the rock fall.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
“Committee to Investigate Russia:” Rob Reiner and Morgan Freeman’s warmongering video
Financial Times Columnist Skewers Wall Street Model in the New York Times
Israel only occupies 2% of West Bank, says US ambassador
Facing poverty, academics turn to sex work and sleeping in cars
'The last place on Earth': how Sumatra's rainforest is being cleared for palm oil
Linda Ronstadt: 'I don’t like any of my albums'
A Little Night Music
Johnny Dodds And The New Orleans Wanderers - Perdido Street Blues
New Orleans Bootblacks - Flat Foot
Johnny Dodds And The New Orleans Wanderers - Gate Mouth
Johnny Dodds and the New Orleans Bootblacks - Mad Dog
Johnny Dodds and his Black Bottom Stompers - After You've Gone
Johnny Dodds Washboard Six - Bucktown Stomp
Johnny Dodds Washboard Six - Blue Washboard Stomp
Johnny Dodds Washboard Six - Bull Fiddle Blues
Johnny Dodds & Blind Blake - Hot Potatoes
Johnny Dodds and his Chicago Boys - Wild Man Blues
Comments
Russia: from hysteria to insanity.
The FB "revelations" and the phony stuff about hacked state election computers has really driven the whole narrative by democrats and the media into the realm of insanity. How does one refute insane people.
Just a side note on the FB ads. I really can't see FB ever showing them as they are probably lame and in NO way could be seen as helping Trump. Basically as Consortium writes, FB was beaten into submission to come up with something anti-Russian. But then again, insane people will find secret messages in the ads.
Edit: missed NO.
Afternoon, Mr W , agree with you on potential lameness factor.
Heh.
Brand New Congress and 3 others follow
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Great tweets by Amir.
Yah, support BLM you are a Russian puppet. Don't support BLM you are a Putin puppet. I wonder if the democratic party power brokers understand how lunatic their children have taken the Russian conspiracies.
evening mr w...
i think that the only way to deal with the insane people is not by refuting them, rather by ridiculing them.
they seem utterly impervious to reason and/or demands for factual evidence, but they do seem to get damned upset when you make fun of them.
anyway, best of luck, comrade.
The illusion of explanatory depth
I get your angle, but like with Fundies & Rightwingers there is a useful technique described in this abstract.
Political Extremism Is Supported by an Illusion of Understanding
http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/04/24/0956797612464058.abstract
The abstract:
So if you get the chance to engage a #McResistance, ask them for a mechanistic explaination. It'll give them pause, not usually on the spot (they got a lot invested in their position!), but after time they may realize they got nothing...then, eventually, their position crumbles.
Don't mean to preach. (steps off soapbox)
Compensated Spokes Model for Big Poor.
@MrWebster
How could anyone possibly sink lower than to make people aware of deadly health risks and the destruction of essential water supplies caused by fracking?
The people are clearly there to be poisoned for The Right Corporation's profits and nobody but a filthy authoritarian foreigner could possibly be be concerned about public and environmental health! The American people know better than to try to protect themselves - and if they don't yet, they soon will!
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.
@MrWebster
Even if they have to play the ads backwards to decipher Satan's secret messages.
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.
Hey js, bluesters, howzit? Heh. How 'bout those Dems!
Joanne Leon Retweeted
Last evening we went to a Task Force meeting on starting a Public Bank in Santa Fe. Really complex undertaking.
This evening we are going an event put on by New Energy Economy here in Santa Fe:
http://www.newenergyeconomy.org/calendar
Should be interesting.....
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
evening do...
or should i say, comrade do.
perhaps we should just get it over and declare ourselves a non-marxist communist movement, seeing as we are all about to be labelled putinist dupes by assorted asshat congressworms.
hey, if you guys are going to start your own bank and renewable energy cooperative, how about developing your own local currency to go with it? i'm beginning to think that these days you just can't get far enough off-grid.
i'm doing well, thanks. the weather was beautiful today - perfect actually, and i got out and absorbed a bit of it. i hope you guys are both well and happy.
I'm a Menshevik.
I still believe in bourgeois democracy.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Greetings, Joe & Gang! Gotta run
a quick errand (after I take 'the B' out), so thought I'd quickly duck in here to thank you for tonight's EB.
I'm still trying to find material on DT's proposed tax cut/reform, before I start tearing into it,
but, from hearing his spiel from yesterday, my impression is that this is not only a cost shift from lower to higher income folks, but that it's a cost shift in respect to further shifting the tax burden onto seniors (empty nesters) and individuals (without dependents) away from families. And, one of the child credits (for child care) will arguably be more helpful to higher income families, than to lower income families.
And, get this--heard Steve Israel arguing (on XM Radio) that Dems wouldn't necessarily agree with the almost doubled standard deduction per household adult--because special interests such as realtors are lobbying against it. Whew!
During Pelosi's Thursday Press Availability (earlier today), all she could do is fret that there aren't going to be enough 'offsets' in DT's proposal. This is one of three conditions that Schumer's put forth regarding tax reform. He says nothing about cutting taxes for lower- to middle-income folks, though.
Hope to return in time to post a link to the Monday Town Hall. It was pretty milquetoast, so not sure there'll be much in the way of excerpts.
Everyone have a nice evening!
[Edited: Removed commas.]
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore– to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
The SOSD Fantastic Four
Available For Adoption, Save Our Street Dogs, SOSD
Taro
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
heh, thanks for wading into what detail there is on trump's tax fiasco. from what little i've seen thus far, the corporate sector's full laundry list of gimmes is accommodated by the plan (lowered overall corp tax rate, cut-rate on repatriated overseas funds, etc.) and the buy-off for the lower classes looks pretty paltry.
Hey, Joe--agree that it's a 'grab bag' of corporate
tax breaks. As soon as I can decipher what the main cuts are on the individual/personal side of the tax equation, I'll post them.
Mr M says we will travel tomorrow, so I'll go ahead and post a Medicare graphic. The reason for my sudden interest is that I came to realize that there is a concentrated effort to not only slash Medicare benefits, but there's one to do away with Medigap policies. And I mean, completely! For the most part, that effort has managed to stay beneath the radar.
Anyhoo, that's the reason for the various graphics that I'll be posting from time to time, regarding Traditional Medicare/Medicare Advantage and Medigap Insurance.
[Edited: Deleted duplicate signature line.]
Mollie
"The original meaning of 'fiscal conservative' may be gone. In fact, Democrats have had a better claim on the label in recent years than Republicans."
____David Leonhardt, Journalist, NYT, January 9, 2017
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."
____Author Unknown
"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
Fences For Fido
Meet 'Cupcake' - FFF's 1000th Zoomy!
[video:https://youtu.be/wmTPDjXW8gE width:250 height:150]
Thank You 'Fences For Fido' Volunteers - You Are All Saints!
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
They aren't even trying to hide their thefts anymore
The PTB have taken off their masks that started slipping during Obama's tenure. This blatant stealing from the lower and middle class is stunning. This tax
breakreform is the continuation of removing the tax breaks that we have been able to claim for decades. This started during the Reagan administration when he did away with allowing us to claim interests on our car loans, credit card interest and the other items we used to be able to claim.The republicans say that they are letting us claim few of our exemptions like the child tax and our mortgage tax breaks stay in, but many of the other ones are going away. Right. These are still being allowed this year, but how much longer until they take those away from us?
This tax reform legislation is a huge tax cut for the one percent. Period.
The estate tax only effects a very few rich bastards, yet they want them gone so their heirs get more of their pie.
This is going to cost the government trillions each year and to partly offset it, they are going to gut social programs. Who cares if people die because they can't afford to live on their meager retirement income? This would be good news for them. Us useless takers are taking too damn much money and they want it.
The democrats will watch helplessly from the sidelines wishing that there was something that they could do to stop them.
This is all part of the plan.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Hi, SD. The real story is the neoliberal
philosophy of "predistribution versus redistribution."
I first heard about this neoliberal philosophy from Chrystia Freeland before she ran for office in Canada. I'll see if I can find the podcast of her pontificating on this topic.
A perfect example would be the cuts in DT's budget that affect programs for seniors, such as Meals On Wheels, while the same budget expands child credits, and child care deductions to folks who earn up to one-half million dollars per year.
The current income cap for 2017 is $110,000 (joint return), $75,000 (individual), and $55,000 (married, filing separate).
BTW, Rahm's brother, Zeke Emanuel, also applies this philosophy to healthcare rationing--by age. I posted the transcript of an interview with him about this topic, 4 or 5 years ago. He's a real piece of work.
Bottom line, this philosophy dictates that the feds view everyone as a 'commodity.'
Frankly, I think we ain't seen nothing yet!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Commies!
Some Commies!
More Commies!
Yet More!
Not a commie
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
evening el...
heh, think of how many more commies there are now, since anybody who can think critically and doesn't have an investment in not doing so is a commie.
What's this ? Linda don't like her own stuff ?
That's OK, I still like it.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BifFedbcHzE width:400 height:240]
Add Tucson, from our alt-weekly:
Congressman in Cuffs
Charter Schools in AZ
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
evening azazello...
heh, i thought that piece would grab your attention.
i am intrigued by the info that she did a duet with frank zappa, i'd love to hear that.
heh, those damned fool cops always seem to arrest the wrong congressmen.
I can't believe that she doesn't like
"Canciones de mi Padre"
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 --
Or this one ...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TnR4IsoC_0 width:400 height:240]
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Indeed, wonderful.
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 --
Canciones de mi Padre
In many ways Linda Ronstadt's acme, in my humble opinion. And with her body of work, that's saying quite a bit!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Linda Ronstadt
And I still love Linda!
One of my first teenage crushes, never went away. I mourn that she suffers from Parkinson's Disease now.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Twitter Says Only 201 Accounts are "Possibly" Russian
And yet Twitter itself has only been able to identify 201 Twitter accounts that might be owned by Russians:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-28/twitter-provides-russian-interf...
Evidently, Alliance for Securing Democracy is deeply psychotic - as is anyone who takes them seriously.
Mark F. McCarty
evening mark...
heh, it is deeply amusing to me that the democrat congressworms stirring the pot seem to think that facebook is strictly for americans and that "foreigners" shouldn't be able to interact with (and potentially influence the thinking of) american facebook users.
omg! how are we to protect the purity of our precious propaganda!?!
@joe shikspack
Do not let any American corporation operate in any fashion outside of America. No more international platforms or international anything at all, such as military, all to be kept safely at home, away from foreign influences and democracy nonsense - that'll keep 'em exclusively all-American!
The rest of the world can just go about their business without having the US PTB to kick around any more!
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.
I can't wait for this Russian crap to fall on its face
and we can say that "We. Told. You. So!!
Seriously, as the person asks, how can intelligent people fall for the government propaganda over and over and over....again? Didn't this start with the USS Maine over two centuries ago? But here we are today and we see millions of people still believing every damn thing our government tells us.
Hell, Obama didn't even have to make spreading government propaganda legal.
We should start a pool and pick when this is going to finally end. And how it does.
It collapses on itself or TPTB get their war against Russia.
Who wants to be in charge of the pool?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
evening snoopy...
h.l. mencken was a snooty sort of fellow sometimes. while i suspect that his feelings of charity towards the common fellow were solid and decent, his respect for his fellow citizens flagged considerably. in my darker moments, i am sometimes inclined to agree with him:
i am not a betting person, but thinking about the odds on your pool, i would note that both major parties and the media conglomerates that create reality in the us have an interest in having a conflict of some sort with russia.
the odds seem great that the russia propaganda campaign will not collapse.
if we are lucky, it will be supplanted by some other, less-well-armed villain - and we will trudge off to war and forget the "great russian perfidy that needs to be answered with arms and sanctions (not necessarily in that order)."
Great quote
This sure fits with what is happening now in this country.
If we get option two, will people even question what happened with the Russians who almost brought our democracy down?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
@joe shikspack
Seems kind of hard on '...some other, less-well-armed villain ...', although The Psychopaths That Be seem to be already have been messing up quite a number of other, less-well-armed countries...
Personally, I was kind of hoping that they'd take their stolen money and run away to hide like scared little bunnies without ruining any other people's countries any more than they already have...
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.
Must go to Sumatra.
Glad I am not an adjunct.
Glad I am 65.
Thanks for the CounterPunch Russia (Bad!) article. I had read it, wanted to share. You saved me the effort.
And all that you do.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening otc...
well, you should probably go there before they have chopped down the last bit of the rainforest.
a friend of mine (a full professor at a local university) once described universities as "places where they keep the commercially unprofitable brighter people warm and dry where they will not use their knowledge to cause trouble."
heh, perhaps there is hope for us all yet. go adjuncts!
good to see you! i hope that you are well and happy.
@joe shikspack I am well and "happy"
I am well and "happy" in my parameter that my bills are paid and nobody is suing me or shooting at me means happy.
Must go bear witness in Sumatra.
I filed charges against a person that a client hired me to sue. A defamation suit. We won, the loser is not happy. He made a threat on the courthouse steps.And it is all my fault. I am keeping a loaded gun at reach nowadays.
And lawyers take the blame, are the butt of the jokes.
Come to my house, enjoy a dinner.
At your peril.
With luck, the charges I filed will stick.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Over/under specification
When you order a new reality, don’t worry about the small stuff. Foolish to compromise. Big wins. Die laughing, but just split your pants. Welcome and soon good bye to Sept. 28, 2017: Another wild day in the magnificent present. Tomorrow, will only change, when you tire of the bs.
Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever
darn it, I knew that we Germans are the guilty guys again,
"Merchant Marine Act of 1920" , the Jones Act... who would have thought it would help to starve and kill brown people today in Puerto Rico. Only Germans can pull that off ...
just teasing ... I can't help it to see it that way.
Have a good night.
Robert Parry on
The Slimy Business of Russia-Gate.
I can't read anything anymore about Russia and Putin. If I hear Putin, it sounds like "Putain" in my francophil ears. And I don't do whore thingies. And Parry doesn't either.
How unamerican for the Washington Post to write so much junk news. The Washigton Post building should pull down the American flags hanging from their building.
Good Morning, c99p.