The Evening Blues - 10-12-17
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter Harmonica Fats. Enjoy!
Harmonica Fats - Tore Up (Over You)
"The mythology of the Reagan presidency is that he induced the collapse of the Soviet Union by luring it into unsustainable military spending and wars: should there come a point when we think about applying that lesson to ourselves?"
-- Glenn Greenwald
News and Opinion
An excellent article worth a full, nausea-inducing read.
Here’s Where Your Tax Dollars for ‘Defense’ Are Really Going
Hawks on Capitol Hill and in the US military routinely justify increases in the Defense Department’s already munificent budget by arguing that yet more money is needed to “support the troops.” If you’re already nodding in agreement, let me explain just where a huge chunk of the Pentagon budget—hundreds of billions of dollars—really goes. Keep in mind that it’s your money we’re talking about.
The answer couldn’t be more straightforward: It goes directly to private corporations and much of it is then wasted on useless overhead, fat executive salaries, and startling (yet commonplace) cost overruns on weapons systems and other military hardware that, in the end, won’t even perform as promised. Too often the result is weapons that aren’t needed at prices we can’t afford. If anyone truly wanted to help the troops, loosening the corporate grip on the Pentagon budget would be an excellent place to start.
The numbers are staggering. In fiscal year 2016, the Pentagon issued $304 billion in contract awards to corporations—nearly half of the department’s $600 billion-plus budget for that year. And keep in mind that not all contractors are created equal. According to the Federal Procurement Data System’s top 100 contractors report for 2016, the biggest beneficiaries by a country mile were Lockheed Martin ($36.2 billion), Boeing ($24.3 billion), Raytheon ($12.8 billion), General Dynamics ($12.7 billion), and Northrop Grumman ($10.7 billion). Together, these five firms gobbled up nearly $100 billion of your tax dollars, about one-third of all the Pentagon’s contract awards in 2016.
And remember: The Pentagon buys more than just weapons. Health care companies like Humana ($3.6 billion), United Health Group ($2.9 billion), and Health Net ($2.6 billion) cash in as well, and they’re joined by, among others, pharmaceutical companies like McKesson ($2.7 billion) and universities deeply involved in military-industrial complex research like MIT ($1 billion) and Johns Hopkins ($902 million). ...
The heads of the top five Pentagon contractors—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman—made a cumulative $96 million last year. These are companies that are significantly or, in the cases of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, almost entirely dependent on government dollars. That means one thing: Your tax dollars are basically paying their exorbitant salaries. And that $96 million figure doesn’t even count the scores of other highly paid executives and board members at major weapons contractors like these. Don’t you feel safer already?
US Nuclear Upgrade Began Before Trump
“No Kin In the Game”: Study Finds Members of Congress Without Draft-Age Sons Were More Hawkish
A new study finds that members of Congress who didn’t have draft-age sons were significantly more likely to support hawkish, pro-conscription policies over the course of four major U.S. wars.
Academics from Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown authored the paper, which is titled, “No Kin In The Game: Moral Hazard and War in the U.S. Congress.” They studied 249 conscription-related votes and the family composition of 3,963 members of Congress who served during the period of four conflicts: World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
They concluded that lawmakers who had draft-age sons during those periods were between 10 and 17 percent less likely to take hawkish votes, compared to legislators with only daughters of draft age.
Kissinger Meets Trump to Advise on North Korea, China
On Tuesday morning, former U.S. Secretary of State and accused war criminal Henry Kissinger will meet President Trump at the White House again, this time to discuss North Korea and China, among other items, a White House official told The Daily Beast.
North Korean hackers stole U.S. and South Korean wartime plans, Seoul lawmaker says
North Korean hackers stole a huge trove of classified U.S. and South Korean military documents last year, including a plan to “decapitate” the leadership in Pyongyang in the event of war, a lawmaker in Seoul said Tuesday.
The purported revelations come at a time of heightened tensions over North Korea. President Trump recently said that “only one thing will work” when it comes to Pyongyang, hinting that he thinks diplomatic efforts are proving futile and military action may be necessary.
The defense minister in Japan, a close military ally of the United States, said Tuesday that Trump might take such action against North Korea as soon as next month.
“I think President Trump will judge in the middle of November how effective pressure and other efforts have been,” Itsunori Onodera told reporters in Tokyo. “If there have been no changes from North Korea, it’s possible that the U.S. will take severe measures.” ...
In Seoul, Lee Cheol-hee, a lawmaker in the ruling Democratic Party and a member of the parliamentary national defense committee, said North Korean hackers broke into the Defense Integrated Data Center in September last year to steal secret files, including American and South Korean “operational plans” for wartime action. The data center is the main headquarters of South Korea’s defense network.
Why North Korea Wants Nuke Deterrence
The Western media has been awash in speculation as to why, about a year ago, North Korea’s “crazy” leadership suddenly launched a crash program to vastly improve its ballistic missile capabilities. That question has now been answered. In September 2016, North Korean cyber-defense forces hacked into South Korean military computers and downloaded 235 gigabytes of documents. The BBC has revealed that the documents included detailed U.S. plans to assassinate North Korea’s president, Kim Jong Un, and launch an all-out war on North Korea. The BBC’s main source for this story is Rhee Cheol-Hee, a member of the Defense Committee of the South Korean National Assembly.
These plans for aggressive war have actually been long in the making. In 2003, the U.S. scrapped an agreement signed in 1994 under which North Korea suspended its nuclear program and the U.S. agreed to build two light water reactors in North Korea. The two countries also agreed to a step-by-step normalization of relations. Even after the U.S. scrapped the 1994 Agreed Framework in 2003, North Korea did not restart work on the two reactors frozen under that agreement, which could by now be producing enough plutonium to make several nuclear weapons every year. However, since 2002-03, when President George W. Bush included North Korea in his “axis of evil,” withdrew from the Agreed Framework, and launched an invasion of Iraq over bogus WMD claims, North Korea once again began enriching uranium and making steady progress toward developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver them.
By 2016, the North Koreans also were keenly aware of the horrific fate of Iraq and Libya and their leaders after the countries did surrender their unconventional weapons. Not only did the U.S. lead bloody “regime change” invasions but the nations’ leaders were brutally murdered, Saddam Hussein by hanging and Muammar Gaddafi sodomized with a knife and then summarily shot in the head. So, the discovery of the U.S. war plan in 2016 sounded alarm bells in Pyongyang and triggered an unprecedented crash program to quickly expand North Korea’s ballistic missile program. Its nuclear weapons tests established that it can produce a small number of first-generation nuclear weapons, but it needed a viable delivery system before it could be sure that its nuclear deterrent would be credible enough to deter a U.S. attack.
In other words, North Korea’s main goal has been to close the gap between its existing delivery systems and the missile technology it would need to actually launch a retaliatory nuclear strike against the United States. North Korea’s leaders see this as their only chance to escape the same kind of mass destruction visited on North Korea in the first Korean War, when U.S.-led air forces destroyed every city, town and industrial area and General Curtis LeMay boasted that the attacks had killed 20 percent of the population. ...
Awareness of the role of the U.S. war plan in spurring the dramatic escalation of North Korea’s missile program should be a game changer in the world’s response to the crisis over Korea, since it demonstrates that the current acceleration of the North Korean missile program is a defensive response to a serious and potentially existential threat from the United States.
North Korea says Trump has 'lit the wick of war'
Speaking to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said his country’s nuclear program guaranteed peace and safety in the region and would not be a matter of discussion.
“With his bellicose and insane statement at the United Nations, Trump, you can say, has lit the wick of a war against us,” TASS quoted Ri as saying. “We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words.”
Ri has previously called Trump “President Evil” and his comments are likely to fuel an escalating war of words between the U.S. President and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“We have almost reached the last point on the journey toward our final goal - to achieve a real balance of power with the United States,” he said.
Is The U.S. Responsible For Erik Prince's Savage Mercenaries Murdering Civilians In Yemen?
Not many Americans are especially aware of Yemen, an ancient country at the foot of the Arabian peninsula. it isn't on many tourist itineraries and there hasn't been a lot of U.S. business involvement. The country is not oil rich. But there is a horrifying war going on that has brutally devastated the country being carried out by U.S. allies, primarily Saudi Arabia, but also Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Bahrain, all authoritarian anti-democratic, feudal countries. Oh and I forgot another participant: Trump's neo-Nazi amigo Erik Prince-- who Bannon is trying to persuade to run for a Wyoming U.S. Senate seat-- has his savage mercenaries committing mayhem in the country as well. The war is being fought with U.S.-supplied weapons and U.S. technological and strategic assistance. ...
Three very serious minded Members of Congress, Walter Jones (R-NC), Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Mark Pocan (D-WI) penned a joint editorial for the New York Times that ran yesterday, Stop The Unconstitutional War In Yemen. They start by asking us to "imagine that the entire population of Washington State-- 7.3 million people-- were on the brink of starvation, with the port city of Seattle under a naval and aerial blockade, leaving it unable to receive and distribute countless tons of food and aid that sit waiting offshore. This nightmare scenario is akin to the obscene reality occurring in the Middle East’s poorest country, Yemen, at the hands of the region’s richest, Saudi Arabia, with unyielding United States military support that Congress has not authorized and that therefore violates the Constitution."
When we reached Ro after publication of his OpEd, he told us that "You are seeing both progressives on the left and conservatives in the Freedom Caucus express concern about the neocon/neoliberal vision of foreign policy. There is an appetite for greater restraint and a recognition of the harms of interventionism. The hope is that the Congressional leadership will allow for a vote and recognize the bipartisan coalition that is growing for reasserting Congress' role in matters of war and peace." Congressional leadership... that means Paul Ryan, so, alas, probably very futile hopes.
The resolution already has 30 co-sponsors, including Ted Lieu (D-CA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Keith Ellison (D-MN), John Conyers (D-MI) and Tom Massie (R-KY) -- and that's just on day 1.
War Powers Act Challenge on Yemen Postponed to November 2
The House leadership’s attempts to undermine the bipartisan House Concurrent Resolution 81, which would end US involvement in the Saudi War in Yemen, is failing. On Wednesday, the House unanimously agreed to delay the vote on the resolution to November 2.
The concurrent resolution directs the president to end all military participation in the Saudi war in Yemen immediately, pointing out that Congress never authorized such an operation. Congress has sole discretion to make such a determination, and in over two years of war in Yemen, there’s never been such a vote. ...
Indications are that support in the House for this resolution is growing, unsurprising given the House’s recent votes on selling arms to the Saudis have been increasingly close. The delay will give the vote’s supporters more time to shore up support. Those wishing to call their representatives to express support for H. Con. Res. 81 can find contact information here.
Hamas and Fatah sign deal over control of Gaza Strip
The rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have signed a preliminary reconciliation deal in the latest in a series of attempts to end a decade-long Palestinian territorial, political and ideological split that has crippled statehood aspirations.
The deal, signed in Cairo in the presence of Egyptian intelligence officials, focuses on who should control the contested Gaza Strip and on what terms.
The two sides’ mutual hostility has defined the stark geographical and ideological division in Palestinian society between the West Bank and Gaza, which they have ruled separately since clashes that broke out in 2007. ...
Under the agreement, the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority is to resume full control of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip by 1 December, according to a statement from Egypt’s intelligence agency. According to reports the agreement would also see Palestinian Authority forces take control of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
In exchange, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and the PA are expected to lift crippling restrictions on electricity supply to Gaza that have made the lives of its 2 million residents miserable in recent months.
Carles Puigdemont: From journalist to Catalan independence leader
Spain gives Catalan leader 8 days to drop independence
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Wednesday gave the Catalan government eight days to drop an independence bid, failing which he would suspend Catalonia’s political autonomy and rule the region directly.
His move could deepen the confrontation between Madrid and the northeastern region but also signals a way out of Spain’s biggest political crisis since a failed military coup in 1981. ...
“The cabinet has agreed this morning to formally request the Catalan government to confirm whether it has declared the independence of Catalonia, regardless of the deliberate confusion created over its implementation,” Rajoy said in a televised address after a cabinet meeting called to consider the government’s response.
He later told Spain’s parliament the Catalan government had until Monday, Oct. 16 at 0800 GMT to answer. If Puigdemont was to confirm he did declare independence, he would be given an additional three days to rectify it, until Thursday, Oct. 19 at 0800 GMT. Failing this, Article 155 would be triggered.
Guantanamo inmates starving amid new medical rules
The authorities at Guantánamo Bay have ceased the ten-year practice of force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners, under a new policy by the Trump Administration.
Some so-called ‘forever’ prisoners have been striking for as long as four years, peacefully protesting a lack of charges or a trial. The ten-year practice had been to force feed them when they have lost one fifth of their body weight. However, human rights organisation Reprieve understands that on September 20th, a new Senior Medical Officer (SMO) stopped tube-feeding the strikers, and ended the standard practice of closely monitoring their declining health.
While the total number of strikers is not unclassified, it is estimated to include six of the 24 ‘low value’ prisoners. Among them is Ahmed Rabbani, detained without charge since September 2002 and on hunger strike since 2013. He reportedly weighs just 95 pounds, and is suffering internal bleeding. ...
The prisoners have told Reprieve that the new policy, which is combined with offering them trays of food, is designed to force them to end their strike. “I don’t want to die,” said Mr Rabbani, “but after four years of peaceful protest I am hardly going to stop because they tell me to. I will definitely stop when President Trump frees the prisoners who have been cleared, and allows everyone else a fair trial.”
‘Spy Lab’: No proof found of NY Times claims of Kaspersky spying
Germany Says 'No Evidence' Russia Hacked Kaspersky to Steal U.S. Intel
Germany's BSI federal cyber agency said on Wednesday it had no evidence to back media reports that Russian hackers used Kaspersky Lab antivirus software to spy on U.S. authorities.
"There are no plans to warn against the use of Kaspersky products since the BSI has no evidence for misconduct by the company or weaknesses in its software," BSI said in an emailed response to questions about the latest media reports. ...
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Israeli intelligence officials spying on Russian government hackers found they were using Kaspersky software as a sort of Google search to find sensitive data stored by U.S. government agencies and others.
Trump hints at ending aid as Puerto Ricans forced to drink polluted water
Donald Trump has seemingly threatened to pull federal emergency support from Puerto Rico a day after his administration reported that desperate people in the US territory have been drinking from contaminated wells due to a lack of water.
In a series of tweets sent on Thursday morning, Trump said: “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. Forever!”
The president preceded this with tweets that stated “Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes” in Puerto Rico and quoted a TV host who said of the territory that “a financial crisis looms largely of their own making”. ...
Sufficient aid has yet to reach many people in Puerto Rico, three weeks after much of the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria. More than 80% of the island is without electricity and nearly half of all people are still cut off from communication.
The water situation has become particularly dire, with the state department estimating that about a third of Puerto Ricans are without potable water. This has led to some people attempting to access wells that have been sealed due to toxic pollution, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
A Federal Judge Upheld Joe Arpaio’s Pardon, But the Legal Challenge Isn’t Over Yet
Although a federal district judge last week dismissed the criminal case against former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump, lawyers who challenged the constitutionality of the pardon say the fight is far from over.
“I don’t think that the decision by the judge in the criminal case is the end of the story,” said Ron Fein, legal director at Free Speech for People, one of the groups challenging the constitutionality of the pardon. “There is a viable challenge that could be launched, and we are actively exploring this on the same grounds that we mentioned in our friend of the court brief and be able to expand on it.”
As The Intercept previously reported, Free Speech for People is one of a number of groups that filed friend-of-the-court briefs in Arpaio’s criminal case to argue that Trump’s pardon was unconstitutional. The basis of their objection was that the pardon power is not absolute, and it does not allow the president to pardon an elected official for ignoring a court order to stop violating people’s constitutional rights, as the former Maricopa County, Arizona, sheriff did.
Now, Fein told The Intercept, the group is considering civil litigation on behalf of people whose rights were threatened as a result of Arpaio’s violation of the court order.
Keiser Report: 'Deep State'
Mensa offers to host IQ test for Trump and Tillerson
In an interview with Forbes published Tuesday, Trump suggested he and Tillerson — who allegedly once called the commander in chief a “moron” — go head-to-head in an intelligence quotient showdown.
ITK reached out to the geniuses at Mensa — which describes itself as “an international society whose only qualification for membership is a score in the top 2 percent of the general population on a standardized intelligence test” — and asked if they’d be willing to take Trump’s suggestion.
“American Mensa would be happy to hold a testing session for President Trump and Secretary Tillerson,” said Charles Brown, the group’s communications director.
In Historic Step, Banking Giant Cuts Ties With Tar Sands
EPA’s 4-year plan says nothing about climate change
Climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon dioxide are nowhere to be found in the Environmental Protection Agency’s four-year strategic plan.
The recently released 38-page draft of the EPA plan instead focuses on cleaning up the environment, and it proposes redistributing certain federal responsibilities to the states. ...
“The past administration was using every bit of power and authority to use the EPA to pick winners and losers and how we generate electricity in this country,” Pruitt said Monday during the announcement. “The war on coal is over.”
A new coal mine opened in Pennsylvania during the summer — the first in years — and more in Alabama, West Virginia, and Wyoming are scheduled to open soon. The president opposes wind power due to how many birds it kills, and Trump’s social media statements suggest he does not believe in climate change.
Kaziranga: The park that shoots poachers to protect rhinos
Kaziranga National Park is a story of success when it comes to conservation of rhinos – but what they’ve done to achieve it is allowing its workers to shoot and even kill potential poachers. So far, the park has killed 50 poachers.
Rhinos are safe there – a century ago, there was only a handful of Indian one-horned rhinoceros. Now, the park hosts more than 2,400, which is two-thirds of the world’s population.
However, little is talked about the fact that in 2015, more people were shot dead by park guards then the number of rhinos killed by poachers.
These people all went after rhino horn, as they could be sold for as much as $6,000 for 100g and are considerably more expensive than gold.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Vintage photos taken by the EPA reveal what America looked like before pollution was regulated
PG&E power lines linked to Wine Country fires
Now, if only they could figure out what happens to socks in the dryer...
Astronomers find half of the missing matter in the universe
Wim Wenders on his Polaroids – and why photography is now over
A Little Night Music
Harmonica Fats - My Baby Didn't Come Home bw Drive Way Blues
Harmonica Fats - How Low Is Low
Harmonica Fats - I Get So Tired
Harmonica Fats W/Joe Kincaid & Soul Brother Band - Harmonica Symphony Stomp
Harmonica Fats + Bernie Pearl - Vampire Blues
Harmonica Fats - Summertime bw Top Show
Harmonica Fats - Mama, Mama, Talk To Your Daughter For Me
Harmonica Fats & Bernie Pearl 1996
Comments
Metamorphosis!
They enter a larval state and the high heat transforms them into hangers in your closet.
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
evening mm...
heh, i was thinking that maybe they might account for some portion of the missing matter in the universe.
Evening Joe
Here's one for ya. This blog is usually about music but this is pretty much the SNL takedown I'd write if I was a writing type:
SNL: Still Not Laughing
Here's a teaser:
I think he got in a few relevant points about Colbert, who may be even the bigger disappointment. SNL has never really been as sharp on the political satire as Colbert was. And I can't be the only one snickering at the irony of Trump going after NBC now after they did so much to inflate the guy in the first place, dating all the way back to The Apprentice.
Also, no actual evidence about Kaspersky...you don't say? Another day, another RUSSIARUSSIARUSSIA story collapses.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
evening dr jc...
good article. apparently there is good money to be had in stirring up a fake resistance. it's not that the idiot liberals that are part of this "resistance" don't believe that they are valiant resistance fighters, they really do. it's just that they are resisting some moron with cheeto-colored hair that they think is the personification of evil, rather than fighting the evil that has the orange menace as its pitchman.
nbc/snl are just another part of that evil, running a distraction service for it.
About the Tina Fey thing.
Seems that successful propaganda and agitprop is built brick by brick,. Look at the build up to the Iraqi invasion. The MSM everyday laid the bricks for convincing Americans to support Bush's invasion. Now certain events may look like they caused the whole shebang but it seems the impact could only occur if the foundation was laid down. Katie Couric's interview probably had more effect.
And discounting the Electoral College, Clinton did win the popular mainly because of heavily urban CA, NY, and MA.
In terms of Russia what Colbert and others are doing is laying down individual bricks. But given the audience numbers, those bricks are probably bigger than say some CNN report or a TOP diary. But they are not the entire structure.
The article was pretty good. One thing the author is right about in terms of SNL and other Hollywood venues, Trump uses them to his advantage with his base.
Liberal-ish celebrities and "comics"
can profit handsomely from mocking Trump and his Deplorables. Which is after all not a very hard thing to do -- nor does it require much intelligence or wit. But I haven't noticed any of them taking a hard look at their own paymasters, the teevee and media execs who will support US warmongering wholeheartedly, as long as it isn't done quite so openly and unfashionably.
native
Nauseating article, indeed
what's more nauseating is that some members of congress have to think about ending this country's participation in the Yemen genocide.
What's even more nauseating is how many people blindly stand up for the national anthem, repeat the pledge of allegiance because they think that their country is spreading goodwill all over the world. And that if anyone disagrees with what this country stands for, they are traitors to the men and women who died while killing others in countries that haven't threatened them so that the corporations can streak those people's resources.
I've been nauseated for a long time.
evening snoopy...
not much to add. to update chairman mao, "democracy" grows from the barrel of a gun.
socks in the dryer
Are you sure that isn't what the astronomers found?
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
evening sean...
heh, could be.
If Missing Socks Are Antimatter, I Could Power Warp Drive. nt
“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu
Speaking of socks going missing in dryers
I thought they went missing in washing machines. Mine are in my basement and my home is pretty old so the drain for the washer was rigged. The drainage tube connects to a pvc pipe that connects with the drain in the floor.
Last week I had water around the drain and figured that my pipes needed another dose of drano.
Just now when the washer was draining I heard a weird noise and water was flooding out of the tube where the drainage tube goes into the pvc pipe.
I'm wondering if it's plugged by a sock or if the whole drainage system is plugged. I have no idea how to figure out what's causing this. Or who to call to fix it. The first thing I'm trying is drano because it's the cheapest option.
Anyone have any other suggestions?
Don't use Drano.
That's what my plumber tells me. They don't like getting noxious chemicals all over them when they are trying to fix the problem. We don't send our washing machine water to the sewer, that's a waste. We route ours out to the back yard to water plants. A lot of folks use gray water here in the desert where water is precious.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
you might consider...
going to the hardware store and picking up a plumber's snake and running it through your drain line. if you have a tool rental center nearby, that might allow you to use an even better (and longer) plumber's snake for a similar cost. (it might be worth it if your drain line is pretty long.) it's kind of a gamble. if it works and clears your drain line, it's much cheaper than a plumber visit. if it doesn't work, well, it adds to the cost of getting your drain cleared.
Yeah, rent the big one, with the clutch, the 80-footer.
We just went through that a couple months back. Not fun. It helps if you have cleanouts. That way, you can maybe figure out where the blockage is and you'll know how much snake you need.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Thanks for the excerpts on the endless war stuff, js
Good evening, and thanks for all the news!
Prince getting some press for his overseas mayhem again, eh? Gah, what a country.
Glad to see some in Congress working but will have to see.
While the US is killing or facilitating non-judicial killings in multiple countries bet it is still sobering for some to read about the death of the poachers in India.
Due to our multiple trips to Kruger National Park we have seen news that South Africa has had some poachers killed. Not sure how many or how long ago.
Last trip we we saw a black uniformed worker and a white male park official heading away from one of the gates on foot into the bush with a long gun. Not sure what they were up to, but glad we did not witness it....
By the way the name of the washateria we use in Jackson Hole is the 'Missing Sock.'
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
I went on safari in S. Africa 6 or 7 years ago.
In the places where poachers were prosecuted or fined, poaching was common. In the places, and I can't recall if it was provinces or precincts, where it was the policy to kill poachers on sight, poaching was zero.
Seems the darts used to kill the rhinos could only be obtained from local vets.
EVERYBODY knew the veterinarians were involved in the illegal trade.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hi otc. We saw them using dogs earlier this year.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
@divineorder In Kenya an Tanzania,
In Kenya an Tanzania, do not take your guns to a park. You won't live. Poaching is almost zero.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening do...
like most folks, i'm sure, i have mixed feelings about killing poachers. on the other hand, i am very happy for the wildlife that is thriving.
it's time for a serious re-ordering of economies to change the incentives.
I personally was appalled the
I first time zI read of them killing poachers. I remain opposed to it. And yes, SA, like USA , seriously needs that reordering!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
yep...
it's the whole global economy that needs to be reordered to reflect the fact that we are living on a finite planet. the incentives that are required to create financial growth for the dozens of "masters of the universe" are going to destroy the planet for billions of people and gazillions of other species.
the poachers that get killed are probably low-paid flunkies for the most part, responding to the incentives built into the system. they are undoubtedly the same sort of desperate people that turn to other black or grey market economies (drugs, diamonds, precious metals, antiquities, guns, etc.) due to the failure of the larger economy, rigged by greedy rich people, to provide for even their survival needs.
so, it's just awful. i don't want people to poach animals, nor do i want them to have to.
Sure would be cool if you posted something like that!
I love your OTs, but a post like that would rock as well, imo.
Just sayin'.
If congress created the EPA
Then how can Trump and his minions roll it back? Doesn't this take an act of congress to do it?
This administration should all be charged with crimes against humanity because of the deliberate damage it's doing to us.
I don't know if Pence would have appointed the same people as Trump did, or if Trump even made the decision, but his administration is going to cause a lot of deaths.
sd this is truly maddening.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
The sad part of this is that too many people here in Utah
agree with Bishop and Trump. They don't think that the government has the right to put so much land behind the protection of national monuments. Or that the BLM should get to tell people what they can do or where they can go.
This is reason #4,015 why I didn't want to move back here.
People are fully behind the cops when they kill unarmed people because all they had to do is do what cops tell them to do and if they have a problem they can take it up after they get to the police station. They won't admit that it doesn't matter what people do, cops will shoot them anyway.
The last person who was shot was pulled over by a cop because he crossed 6 lanes of the street and his tail lights were broken. The guy ran away and he was shot in the back. Cops said that he turned around and had a knife so they were scared for their lives., the district attorney doesn't see that they did anything wrong.
I had hope after the nurse was arrested for not allowing the cop to draw blood on an unconscious person, but that reaction might have been because she was white.
heh...
i don't believe that a president can unilaterally terminate a federal executive department (one with a cabinet member) like the epa.
on the other hand, over time, presidents have appointed individuals to various agencies whose agenda is counter to the mission of the agency. trump is certainly not the first president to appoint a hatchet man to run an agency, though he seems to be hostile to more agencies than any previous president.
trump and his minions are far less interested in maintaining the appearance of good faith than any of his predecessors, however, and that might be what gets him into hot water eventually.
Trump might just be the PTB's front man
he's getting away with all his cabinet members because people expect this type of action from him, but ending regulations has been a wet dream for corporations since they were enacted.
Thanks for the advice for my clogged drain. It is the pipe that is clogged because the water drained down the opening in the floor. Maybe I can disconnect part of the pipe and remove the sock(s)
Country Joe at Woodstock
When I was still teaching, there was a series of videos for use in the classroom that dealt with the decades of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s that I used as a spring board for deeper understanding of each of these decades. Played the one about the 60’s and the students were very interested in some of what was shown including anti-war protests, Manson murders and also Woodstock. They showed the part where Country Joe came out on the stage and did the call and response F......! Almost the entire class turned around in their chairs and asked, “did he just say what he said”. Great moment!
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
Heh. HS teacher of the year, good thing it was in Austin ! :)
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
evening jb...
back when i was in college in the 70's, i worked for a little while in a satellite library that served the college of education which had a bunch of audio-visual materials for k12 classrooms that student teachers could check out.
my favorite was this filmstrip-tape presentation called, "the alienated generation," which was all about the hippie movement. it was hilarious! i used to take it home to the communal house that i was living in to play at parties where it was much-beloved.
Hola, Joe & Gang! Quick drive-by
to say 'hi,' and thanks for tonight's rendition of News & Blues! I look forward to listening to the Harmonica Fats videos, which will probably have to be tomorrow.
For the most part, I haven't caught much 'news' today, 'cause I've been readying to spend the evening at our Aunt's home (taking the late night/morning shift). Which means that I didn't get to read much about DT's health care EO, which has been the cause of much consternation in some (media) quarters.
It so happens that at least one insurer in TN is already offering similar plans, because they are organized as an Association--which exempts them from some ACA requirements under State insurance law. The company that I'm referring to--Farm Bureau of TN--has elected to withdraw from the few ACA-compliant plans that they do offer; keeping, of course, the less expensive non-compliant plans. Apparently, their enrollment exploded this year due to their inclusion of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in their provider network. More on that later.
Oh, just gotta mention--today's weather was absolutely perfect. Even 'the B,' whose spinal condition limits his desire to walk, seemed to enjoy our walks.
Hope our western friends are making out okay, which includes Eyo and EL, that I know of off the top of my head. Obviously, I would include those Californians that I'm unaware of!
Everyone have a nice evening!
Mollie
"I think dogs are the most amazing creatures--they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive."--Gilda Radner
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."--Will Rogers
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
heh, perhaps an extra day of blissful ignorance of the donald's eo won't turn out to be such a bad thing.
the weather here has taken a turn to being cool and wet, which i guess is ok. we hadn't had a good rain for a couple of weeks prior to this and all of the vegetation was thirsty.
have a great time with your aunt and give my regards to the b.
Twitter reaction to this CNN Russia piece was utterly hilarious
CNN had this piece on how the Russians used Pokemon to elect Trump. It is thee most fucking amazing video I have see on the Russian bullshit. The Russians defiled Pokemon.
Exclusive: Even Pokémon Go used by extensive Russian-linked meddling effort
http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/12/media/dont-shoot-us-russia-pokemon-go/in...
But on the serious side. Listen to the particularly the latter half. The conspiracy loon essentially was saying the scary Russians were doing what BLM was doing--organizing protests, condemning police violence, encourage activism, etc. All of these things are nefarious and scary!
If the Russians were smart, they should put up a shitload of ads advocating for BLM and let themselves get caught. Give a few months and Pelosi will come and claim BLM is a Russian plot.
evening mr w...
thank you for that link. that is just f#cking amazing.
that is so far beyond jumping sharks - it is sheer comic lunacy.
yes, black people have to be propagandized into action to protect themselves from brutal police thugs who kill, maim, injure, abuse and harrass them by the thousands every year.
righty-ho!
pffffttt!!!
LOL...good one.
Holy shit LITERALLY just watched Pokemon Go/Russian story
On ABC Houston local k something, channel 13.1
I can't, I just, I got nothin'.
Is nothing scared to the Russians?
Soon, Mickey Mouse.
So now the damn Germans are in cahoots with the Russkies, eh?
Who could have imagined that we'd ever see that?
Heh! Sadly, however, it is simply ...
more fake news from the NYT, wotta surprise. What's funnier is that even if it were true it would constitute the US whining about the loss in utility of the tools it uses to hack foreign governments, which is quite an indirect admission in and of itself.
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...
you know, i'm starting to feel sorry for the intelligence agencies. their propaganda has just become totally lame.
Yeah, moi aussie, as they say.
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 --
As to money spent on the military, money going to
Humana and other insurance companies DOES support the troops. My retired Army husband has health care from Humana to supplement our Medicare. Before we turned 65 Humana was our Tricare insurance company.
Worthless weapons systems may not support the troops, but health care does. There was a time when retirees received care at military hospitals, but times have changed. Even active duty family members use Tricare to receive care from civilian doctors.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Good Evening, Joe and EB friends and fans
ah, I have to show you this, because I can't get over it. Mr. Bezos being so generous and inclined to make all the poor people happy with his charity. How could I forget him...
I remember still the hands of a worker, who had yo work in one of his distributions centers to be a able to pay his bills. He worked on the conveyor belts, packaging in a center somewhere in NJ or Delaware. Don't remember. In any case his hands were full of callus and blisters.
I have a special place for Bezos in my heart since 1994, when he crushed all online and brick and mortar bookstores. I didn't know my heart had a place like that, but some people I do hate and the disgust I have for Mr. Bezos sticks to my heart in a dark corner, since 1994. For me that is rare.
Can you imagine an island like Maui has just one bookstore left and that one is going to close too?
I worked in a Washington DC's independent bookstore in the early eighties. It was my past time to just go through the aisles, sit down, read, meet with others there, enjoyed a coffee. Best past time ever. During lunch break I sneaked out to the next Barnes & Nobles. There were several excellent independent bookstores in DC and still three chains at that time. All are gone.
[video:https://youtu.be/DVGaEU7mY1Y]
Everything Jimmy Dore is saying is true. it all started with Bezos getting an exclusive license to put info of the "Books in Print" and and another distributors databases online on his website in 1994. Without that exclusive license he would have been a nobody. I still wonder how much he paid for that license. If I were an investigative reporter I tried to find out.
Have a good evening. I spent my whole day reading. Time to get up. It's already near my evening bedtime. it's pitch dark here at 6:30, driving is dangerous and sitting at the beach too.
Peace. There is no other option.
https://www.euronews.com/live