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“Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.”

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt

News and Opinion

This is an interesting article worth a read. Here's a taste:

Those who lived through the Russian Revolution understood history – unlike us

As we approach the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, responses will come in three flavours: conservative condemnation; the liberal mixture of admiration and regret; and enthusiastic commemoration. Though I reject Bolshevism, and date the degeneration of the revolution to the early 20s, I will be among those celebrating. The Russian Revolution was an intervention by the masses into history, like the French before it, and it is possible to celebrate that if you also acknowledge and celebrate the fight workers put up against the fairly rapid shutdown of their freedoms that happened in the years afterwards.

For me, the revolution of 7 November represents exactly what the densely typed leaflets the Bolsheviks distributed in the run-up to the event promised: “class power”. The liberal-socialist provisional government that had run Russia since the tsar’s abdication was foundering. Numerous generals were mobilising for a military coup. The army at the front was falling apart. Anti-Jewish pogroms were breaking out.

The working class, said Lenin’s agitators, was the only force that could step into the power vacuum, pull Russia out of a war it was losing badly, end the pogroms and suppress the rightwing officers preparing for military rule. There would be a civil war in any case. ...

We know today how wrong it went. Lenin and the Soviet military commander Leon Trotsky knew that, unless the workers of France and Germany joined in, their own revolution was doomed – and they knew from studying the French Revolution of 1789 exactly what kind of doom it faced: either to be crushed by foreign-backed armies or face a takeover by an authoritarian tendency from within. Though they acted all too ruthlessly against the external threat, they were ineffective against the internal one, and, on balance, stand guilty of promoting it.

What strikes me now, reading the oral accounts and memoirs that researchers have recently dug up, is how historically literate many ordinary people were. As they resisted the idea of a workers’ revolution, working-class supporters of the Mensheviks – a moderate socialist party – repeatedly used the word “Thermidor” to warn of what might happen. Thermidor was the month in 1794 during which the Jacobin phase of the French Revolution was ended, with the beheading of Robespierre.

Spain Charges Catalan Leaders with “Sedition, Rebellion & Embezzlement” & Implements Direct Rule

Catalan government insists Monday is 'normal working day' despite being ousted by Madrid

Catalonia’s deposed government is heading for a fresh showdown with the Spanish authorities today after Catalan ministers promised they would go to work on Monday morning despite being fired over the weekend by Madrid. A source close to Carles Puigdemont, the deposed president of Catalonia, told The Telegraph that Monday would be “a working day” for the administration, officially ousted under special powers triggered by Spain’s government.

“The president of the country is and will continue to be Carles Puigdemont”, added Catalonia’s deposed vice president, Oriol Junqueras, in a newspaper article yesterday.

As 300,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Barcelona on Sunday to reject the declaration of independence by a majority in Catalonia’s parliament, another of Mr Puigdemont’s regional officials stated his clear intention to stay in his post. “My intention on Monday is to come here, not as a councillor of the Catalan regional government, but as a minister of the new Catalan republic,” said Josep Rull of the Territory and Sustainability department in a public video message.

The defiance is the first major test for Madrid’s new security structure put in place under direct rule over the weekend. Catalan police officers could be called upon to block access to buildings to their former political masters after the entire regional government was dismissed on Saturday.

Catalan leaders facing rebellion charges 'flee to Belgium'

Catalonia’s ousted president and several members of his deposed cabinet are reported to have fled to Belgium hours before Spain’s attorney general asked for charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds to be brought against them over their decision to declare independence last week.

Shortly after the possible charges were announced on Monday, Spanish media reported that Carles Puigdemont and five of his former ministers had driven to Marseilles and then caught a flight to Brussels. There was speculation they could be intending to set up a government in exile or claim asylum.

Spanish government officials said Puigdemont was in Brussels but a spokeswoman for his Catalan Democratic party (PDeCat) would not confirm his whereabouts. However, in an apparent reference to Josep Tarradellas, the Catalan leader who lived in exile in Paris during the Franco dictatorship, she added: “We had presidents in this country who were not able to be here during Franco’s time and they were still the president of the Catalan government.”

Over the weekend, Belgium’s immigration minister suggested that Puigdemont could be offered asylum in the country. “It’s not unrealistic, looking at the current situation,” Theo Francken, a member of the Flemish separatist N-VA party, told the Flemish-language broadcaster VTM on Saturday. “Looking at the repression by Madrid and the jail sentences that are being proposed, the question can be asked whether he still has the chance for an honest court hearing.”

On Monday, Spain’s attorney general, José Manuel Maza, announced that he would ask the national court to bring the charges against 14 members of Puidgdemont’s administration for pushing ahead with independence in defiance of Spain’s constitution and constitutional court. ... The crime of rebellion carries a maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment, while sedition carries a 15-year penalty. Misuse of public funds is punishable with a six-year jail term.

Madrid stuck in the past with idea of unity above all else – Catalan MEP

Spanish envoy: Catalan leader out of a job 'no matter what'

Catalonia's deposed leader is now out of a job "no matter what he says" but could run in December's early regional election if he hasn't been imprisoned by then, Spain's foreign minister said Sunday. Alfonso Dastis told The Associated Press that Catalonia's civil servants won't recognize former regional leader Carles Puigdemont's authority if he ignores the Spanish government's orders and tries to come back to work on Monday.

"If he wants to live in a parallel universe he may go on, but nobody, I think, is going to obey him," Dastis said in an interview in Madrid. In an unprecedented move, Spain's central government took direct control of the northeastern region of Catalonia after the regional parliament voted Friday to declare independence from Spain. Puigdemont hasn't said whether he will leave office voluntarily but he appeared on regional television Saturday urging Catalans to peacefully resist the takeover.

Puigdemont would be welcome to run, provided he hasn't been prosecuted for his role in staging an Oct. 1 referendum on independence that the Spanish Constitutional Court declared illegal, Dastis said. "I don't know what kind of judicial activity will happen between now and Dec. 21," the foreign minister said. "If he is not put in jail at that time I think he is not ineligible."

Asked to comment on possible outcomes of Spain's worst political crisis in decades, Dastis said he didn't think it would lead to the breakup of Spain but could potentially lead to expanded self-rule for Catalonia. "I rule out full independence but not necessarily more autonomy, even if they are now already one of the regions with the highest powers and competences not only in Spain but in the world at large," he said.

Kurdish leader Barzani resigns after independence vote backfires

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said he would give up his position as president on Nov. 1, after an independence referendum he championed backfired and triggered a regional crisis. ... In a televised address, his first since Iraqi forces launched a surprise offensive to recapture Kurdish-held territory on Oct. 16, Barzani confirmed that he would not extend his presidential term after Nov. 1 “under any conditions”.

“I am the same Masoud Barzani, I am a Peshmerga (Kurdish fighter) and will continue to help my people in their struggle for independence,” said Barzani, who has campaigned for Kurdish self-determination for nearly four decades. The address followed a letter he sent to parliament in which he asked members to take measures to fill the resulting power vacuum.

The region, which had enjoyed unprecedented autonomy for years, has been in turmoil since the independence referendum a month ago prompted military and economic retaliation from Iraq’s central government in Baghdad. In his address, Barzani vigorously defended his decision to hold the Sept. 25 referendum, the results of which “can never be erased”, he said. The vote was overwhelmingly for independence and triggered the military action by the Baghdad government and threats from neighbouring Turkey and Iran. He added that the Iraqi attack on Kirkuk and other Kurdish held territory vindicated his position that Baghdad no longer believed in federalism and instead wanted to curtail Kurdish rights.

Barzani condemned the United States for failing to back the Kurds. “We tried to stop bloodshed but the Iraqi forces and Popular Mobilization Front (Shi‘ite militias) kept advancing, using U.S. weapons,” he said. “Our people should now question, whether the U.S. was aware of Iraq’s attack and why they did not prevent it.”

Trump Admin Continues Threats & Provocations Against North Korea, Laying Groundwork for Nuclear War

Niger deaths ramp up pressure for new military authorization

The ambush in Niger that killed four U.S. soldiers has ramped up the pressure on Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who are preparing to testify Monday before the Senate on war authorizations.

Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee are expected to pepper the pair with questions about the expansion of the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) into Africa, with some insisting the new battlefield should require an update to the 16-year-old authorization for the use of military force (AUMF).

“I am very disturbed at the authorities question … just the extent of the operations,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said this week after a classified briefing on Niger. “I don’t think Congress has necessarily been kept completely kept up to date, and the American public I think certainly has not.”

Still, the hurdles that have kept Congress from passing a new AUMF in the past, including deep divisions over sunset dates, ground troops and geographic constraints, remain. That leaves the chances of success for this latest push unclear.

Puerto Rico to cancel $300m power deal with Whitefish, Montana company

The head of Puerto Rico’s power company said on Sunday the agency will cancel its $300m contract with Whitefish Energy Holdings, amid increased scrutiny of the tiny Montana company’s role in restoring the island’s power system following Hurricane Maria. The announcement by Ricardo Ramos came hours after Governor Ricardo Rosselló urged the company to scrap the deal. Ramos said Whitefish would continue with current work but the contract would then be scrapped, leading to delay of 10 to 12 weeks in completing the work. ...

Federal committees have been trying to investigate the contract awarded to the small company from the hometown of Donald Trump’s interior secretary, former congressman Ryan Zinke. The White House said this week it had no role in the awarding of the contract. Zinke criticised “dishonest media” and added: “Only in elitist Washington DC would being from a small town be considered a crime.”

The deal, which was signed shortly before the hurricane hit, is also being audited at the local and federal level. ...

A Whitefish contract obtained by the Associated Press found that the deal included $20,277 an hour for a heavy-lift Chinook helicopter, $650 an hour for a large crane truck, $322 an hour for a foreman of a power line crew, $319 an hour for a journeyman lineman and $286 an hour for a mechanic. Each worker also got a daily allowance of $80 for food, $332 for a hotel room and $1,000 for each flight to or from the mainland.

Trump-Russia inquiry heats up as three key aides indicted

The special counsel investigation into the Trump campaign’s links to Moscow unveiled its first charges on Monday, revealing that a former foreign policy adviser had lied to the FBI about meetings with Russians who claimed to have “dirt” on Hillary Clinton, and charging two other former aides with money-laundering and conspiracy to defraud the US government.

George Papadopolous, a former foreign policy adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to FBI investigators over his contacts last year with an unnamed Russian professor with close ties to the Russian government – who offered “dirt” on Hillary Clinton – and with a woman the professor identified as “Putin’s niece”. It is unclear from the charges, to which Papadolous pleaded guilty on 5 October, whether the unnamed woman really was related to the Russian president. But Papadopoulos’s contacts with her and the professor led to extensive contacts with Russian officials regarding a Putin-Trump meeting and other high-level exchanges.

The special counsel, Robert Mueller, also charged Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, and another senior campaign operative, Rick Gates, with money laundering, tax evasion and failing to register as agents of foreign interests. The indictments were the first issued by Mueller since he was appointed special counsel in May, with broad powers to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion by members of the Trump campaign.

Collusion itself is not a crime, unless it rises to the level of espionage or treason. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making false statements to FBI agents about the extent and timing of his contacts with Russians, and about his awareness of their links to the Kremlin. ... On Monday, after the Manafort indictment became public knowledge and as news broke regarding the Papadopoulos guilty plea, Trump tweeted: “Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign. But why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????”

Global atmospheric CO2 levels hit record high

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at record speed last year to hit a level not seen for more than three million years, the UN has warned. The new report has raised alarm among scientists and prompted calls for nations to consider more drastic emissions reductions at the upcoming climate negotiations in Bonn.

“Globally averaged concentrations of CO2 reached 403.3 parts per million (ppm) in 2016, up from 400.00 ppm in 2015 because of a combination of human activities and a strong El Niño event,” according to The Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the UN weather agency’s annual flagship report.

This acceleration occurred despite a slowdown – and perhaps even a plateauing – of emissions because El Niño intensified droughts and weakened the ability of vegetation to absorb carbon dioxide. As the planet warms, El Niños are expected to become more frequent. The increase of 3.3 ppm is considerably higher than both the 2.3 ppm rise of the previous 12 months and the average annual increase over the past decade of 2.08ppm. It is also well above the previous big El Niño year of 1998, when the rise was 2.7 ppm.

The study, which uses monitoring ships, aircraft and stations on the land to track emissions trends since 1750, said carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now increasing 100 times faster than at the end of the last ice age due to population growth, intensive agriculture, deforestation and industrialisation.

The last time Earth experienced similar CO2 concentration rates was during the Pliocene era (three to five million years ago), when the sea level was up to 20m higher than now.

New data gives hope for meeting the Paris climate targets

Over the past half-century, growth in the global economy and carbon pollution have been tied together. When the global economy has been strong, we’ve consumed more energy, which has translated into burning more fossil fuels and releasing more carbon pollution. But over the past four years, economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions have been decoupled. The global economy has continued to grow, while data from the EU Joint Research Centre shows carbon pollution has held fairly steady.

Chinese carbon emissions tripled between 1999 and 2013. To slow that rate of growth to zero as the Chinese economy continues to grow would require a dramatic shift in the country’s energy supply. But that’s exactly what’s happened, with the Chinese government cancelling over 100 planned new coal power plants earlier this year. Chinese coal consumption has in fact fallen since 2013. And China and the EU have pledged to strengthen their efforts to cut carbon pollution.

In 2016, American carbon pollution fell to below 1993 levels. The emissions decline began around 2008, which is also when natural gas, solar, and wind energy began rapidly replacing coal in the power grid.

To have a realistic chance of meeting the Paris climate target and avoiding 2°C global warming above pre-industrial temperatures, global carbon pollution likely needs to peak by 2020. That goal remains within reach, as we now appear very close to peak global carbon emissions.

Mystery of octopuses found crawling along Welsh beach

Dozens of octopus have been spotted emerging from the ocean and crawling along the Welsh coast in a nightly pilgrimage that has perplexed people at a seaside town. Up to 25 curled octopuses, which grow to a length of 50cm, were seen three nights in a row at New Quay beach in Ceredigion in west Wales. Some of the wayward cephalopods were later found dead, washed up on the beach.

Brett Jones, who runs SeaMôr dolphin-watching boat trips, said he first witnessed the phenomenon when he was returning from a sunset trip. “It was a bit like an End Of Days scenario,” he told the BBC. “There were probably about 20 or 25 on the beach. I have never seen them out of the water like that.” ...

The curator at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, James Wright, told the Telegraph that while he was aware of two other incidents of curled octopuses roaming in north Devon and Wales in the past week, the number witnessed in Ceredigion was “quite odd ... and suggests there is something wrong with them”.

“As the areas where they are exhibiting this odd behaviour coincides with the two areas hit by the two recent low pressure depressions and associated storms of Ophelia and Brian, it could be supposed that these have affected them,” Wright said. “It could simply be injuries sustained by the rough weather itself or there could be a sensitivity to a change in atmospheric pressure.”

Also of Interest

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

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“A Night at the Garden” Is the Most Terrifying Movie You Can Watch This Halloween

A Little Night Music

Gus Cannon - Minglewood Blues

Gus Cannon - Can You Blame The Colored Man

Gus Cannon - Viola Lee Blues

Gus Cannon - Poor Boy, Long Ways From Home

Gus Cannon - Going To Germany

Gus Cannon and His Jug Stompers - Money Never Runs Out

Gus Cannon - Come on Down to My House

Gus Cannon - Pig Ankle Strut