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“The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.”

-- Mark Twain

News and Opinion

Syria chemical attack: Scores killed in Douma, White Helmets say

A chemical attack in Douma, the last rebel-held stronghold near Syria's capital, Damascus, has killed at least 70 people and affected hundreds, rescue workers have told Al Jazeera. The White Helmets, a group of rescuers operating in opposition-held areas in Syria, said on Saturday that most of the fatalities were women and children.

"Seventy people suffocated to death and hundreds are still suffocating," Raed al-Saleh, head of the White Helmets, told Al Jazeera, adding that the death toll was expected to rise as many people were in critical condition. Al-Saleh said that chlorine gas and an unidentified but stronger gas were dropped on Douma. ...

The US government has warned of a global response against Syria if reports of the chemical attack are confirmed.

The Syrian government, however, is calling it a fabrication, dismissing talk of the Syrian army using poisonous gas as "farcical".

State Dept Accuses Russia And Syria Of Gassing Civilians Before Any Investigation

Just weeks ago, two firebreathing neoconservative war whores were promoted to the highest echelons of influence within the Trump administration. The new National Security Advisor John Bolton only has one key on his piano, and that key is war. Neoconservative hawk Mike Pompeo was promoted from the head of the notoriously vicious Central Intelligence Agency to Hillary Clinton’s old job as Secretary of State after famously announcing that he was trying to make the CIA “a much more vicious agency.” Trump supporters talk a lot about the Deep State as though it is something separate from and at odds with the Trump administration. If that was ever the case, it certainly isn’t anymore. ...

We continue to closely follow disturbing reports regarding alleged chemical weapons attack targeting a hospital in Douma, #Syria. The Assad regime and its backers must be held accountable and any further attacks prevented immediately. https://t.co/8TfYjIYQ9S pic.twitter.com/i3pmVKYVTp

— Heather Nauert (@statedeptspox) April 8, 2018

Pompeo’s State Department has issued a press release by way of its soulless spokeswoman Heather Nauert about the nonsensical new report that the Syrian government once again decided to kill a bunch of children with poison gas at the least strategically opportune moment imaginable. The press release is riddled with falsehoods and jaw-dropping accusations which cannot possibly be based in fact since they were made mere hours after the allegations surfaced, long before any sort of investigation into them could have even begun, much less been completed.

[From the press release:]

“We continue to closely follow disturbing reports on April 7 regarding another alleged chemical weapons attack, this time targeting a hospital in Douma, Syria. Reports from a number of contacts and medical personnel on the ground indicate a potentially high number of casualties, including among families hiding in shelters.”

We should note here that that the “ground” these sources are “on” is controlled by the Al Qaeda-allied terrorist group Jaysh al-Islam, and the reports we’re seeing sourced by the press are in fact coming from the western-backed and Al Qaeda-affiliated propaganda firm known as the White Helmets and the “pro-opposition Ghouta Media Center”. There’s no reason to believe that there is anyone “on the ground” in Douma willing to make themselves available as a source who is not supportive of jihadist factions and the western empire’s longstanding regime change agenda in Syria.

“These reports, if confirmed, are horrifying and demand an immediate response by the international community.”

If confirmed. That’s an open acknowledgement from the State Department that these reports are unconfirmed, which renders all the accusations which come later in this press release nonsensical. ...

Half of this press release about Syria is actually about how awful and evil Russia is, the same nation the western empire has been finding any excuse to escalate tensions with since 2016 in a steadily escalating new cold war. Funny how this is all happening after the spectacular collapse of the “Novichok” narrative the UK was trying to use to unite Europe in aggressions against Russia.

Glenn Greenwald on Syria: U.S. & Israel Revving Up War Machine Won’t Help Suffering Syrian Civilians

Russia has called out Israel for striking Syria’s T4 air base

Russia and Syria blamed Israel Monday for the attack on a military airbase near the city of Homs that left at least 14 people dead. The strike was likely a response to the chemical attack on Douma Sunday that killed 70, including a number of women and children.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday two Israeli F-15 fighter jets fired eight guided missiles at the Tiyas air base, known as T4, without entering Syrian airspace.

Syria’s missile defense systems shot down five missiles, but three hit their target, killing 14, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group.

Though analysts believe a large number of Russia troops are located at T4, Moscow said there were no Russian casualties in the attack. Some Iranian advisers are reported among the dead. Israel has yet to comment on the strike, while the U.S. and France have denied involvement.

Syria: Sergei Lavrov reacts to alleged chemical attack on Douma

Trump to decide on US response to Syria gas attack 'within 48 hours'

Donald Trump has condemned the “heinous” deadly chemical weapon attack on a Damascus suburb and said he will decide within the next 24 to 48 hours whether to launch a military reprisal against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

Speaking to reporters as he convened his cabinet, the US president said: “We cannot allow atrocities like that”, adding that he had “not much doubt” about who was behind the poison gas attack in Douma that killed more than 48 people and affected hundreds more. When asked if military action was a possibility, Trump said: “Nothing is off the table … If it’s Russia, if it’s Syria, if it’s Iran, if it’s all of them together, we’ll figure it out, and we’ll know the answers quite soon. So we’re looking at that very, very strongly.”

Trump, who has consulted his British and French allies, announced: “We will be making some major decisions in the next 24 to 48 hours.” Later, with his new, hawkish national security adviser, John Bolton, beside him, he suggested a foreshortened timetable, saying: “We’ll be making that decision very quickly, probably by the end of the day.”

Asked if the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, bore any responsibility for the latest attack, Trump said: “He may, yeah, he may. And if he does it’s going to be very tough, very tough. Everybody’s gonna pay a price. He will, everybody will.” His remarks echoed a tweet on Sunday in which he specifically criticised Putin for the first time, warning that he would pay a “big price” for backing the Assad government.

North Korean “denuclearization” doesn’t mean what Trump thinks it means

North Korean officials have told their U.S. counterparts that Kim Jong Un is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, according to a report Monday. However, experts warn the despot is not actually willing to relinquish his nuclear arsenal. ...

“The U.S. has confirmed that Kim Jong Un is willing to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula‎,” a U.S. official confirmed. Yet despite the apparent progress, negotiations over what “denuclearization” actually means are likely to be fraught. For the White House, it means Kim giving up his nuclear weapons. Pyongyang sees it differently, according to multiple experts. ...

The term is a remnant from the 1990s, when North and South Korea signed a joint declaration on “the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” While the U.S. subsequently removed its nuclear weapons from the region, Pyongyang has worked to build a nuclear arsenal that could include as many as 60 missiles, including several capable of hitting the U.S. mainland.

“Rather than agreeing to disarm, Mr. Kim is saying he is willing to engage in a process, headed toward an ambiguous goal,” Jeffrey Lewis, the director of the East Asia nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California, said in a recent New York Times op-ed.

Kim is worried that he could end up like Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi, both of whom gave up their nuclear weapons only to be forced from office and later killed.

Israel Shoots 6 Journalists Covering Palestinian Protest

After Gaza Massacre, Israeli Leaders Should Be Prosecuted for War Crimes

On March 30, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers shot 773 unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza, killing 17 and wounding 1,400. Twenty remain in critical condition. The protesters were marching to demand the internationally mandated right of return of refugees to their cities and villages in what now constitutes Israel.

The Israeli leaders who ordered the massacre were in clear violation of international law. They should be prosecuted for war crimes.

The use of deadly force against the peaceful protesters was premeditated. The IDF deployed 100 snipers to the border fence between Gaza and Israel, where 30,000 to 40,000 Palestinians had gathered for the Great March of Return. In a damning tweet, later deleted, the IDF wrote, “Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed.” Jihad al-Juaidi, director of the ICU at the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that all of the injured people who came to the hospital were shot in the head, pelvic joints or knee joints. “This shows that Israeli forces were shooting-to-kill, or to cause disabilities,” al-Juaidi stated.

Israeli leaders fostered the false narrative that Hamas was sponsoring the protest. Jason Greenblatt, US envoy to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, followed suit, tweeting, “Hamas is encouraging a hostile march on the Israel-Gaza border” and accused Hamas of “inciting violence against Israel.” But the demonstration was actually organized by several Palestinian civil society organizations. “No Palestinian faction, organization or group can claim this march as its own. Hamas was simply riding the wave,” Jamil Khader wrote on Mondoweiss. Palestinian flags, not factional ones, were visible.

It is illegal to shoot unarmed civilians under international humanitarian law. Some protesters threw rocks and burned tires near the border fence. But HRW found “no evidence of any protester using firearms or any IDF claim of threatened firearm use at the demonstrations.” No Israeli soldiers were killed and “the army did not report any injuries to soldiers.” “Even if a Palestinian was throwing a stone, the chances that under these conditions such an act could cause an imminent threat to life — the only situation that would justify the use of lethal force under international law — are infinitesimal,” Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, wrote on HuffPost. “Indeed, even if Palestinians were trying to climb the fence, that would not give Israel the right to use lethal force.”

Gaza photographer's last video captures brutal crackdown on protests

The drone floats above the farmland at the east of Gaza’s narrow coastal strip where beyond the fence – the transition is almost invisible – Israel’s border communities begin. The video is among the last footage filmed by Palestinian photographer Yasser Murtaja in Gaza before he was shot dead by Israeli troops last Friday – and it eerily foreshadows his own fate.

Palestinian demonstrators walk through the flat fields, hold signs or sit in the shade of tents in the five border protest camps that dot the landscape from east of Jabaliya in the north to Khuza’a, a short drive from the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Murtaja died on the second of a series of mass Friday protests called the “Great March of Return”, which will culminate on “Nakba” Day (catastrophe in Arabic) on 15 May, which will commemorate the events of 1948 when, following the creation of the state of Israel, more than 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes.

Despite wearing body armour clearly marked with a press sign, Murtaja was shot in the stomach while covering the protests and died later of his wounds. He was one of nine Palestinian men killed in a space of a few hours.

Hungary election: OSCE monitors deliver damning verdict

International observers have delivered a damning verdict on the parliamentary election in Hungary, complaining of “intimidating and xenophobic rhetoric, media bias and opaque campaign financing”.

The vote on Sunday delivered an overwhelming victory for Viktor Orbán, who will now serve a third consecutive term as prime minister. Orbán and his Fidesz party campaigned almost exclusively on a programme of keeping migrants out of the country.

“Rhetoric was quite hostile and xenophobic and that’s a fact which we find regrettable in an electoral context,” said Douglas Wake, the head of the monitoring mission for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), at a briefing in Budapest on Monday.

The observers found that the hostile campaign “limited space for substantive debate and diminished voters’ ability to make an informed choice”. They also noted that public television “clearly favoured the ruling coalition”.

It is an unusually strong rebuke for elections in an EU country, but given the size of Orbán’s victory and his previous imperviousness to outside criticism, is unlikely to have much effect inside Hungary.

Glenn Greenwald: Brazil’s Right Wing Jailed Ex-President Lula Because They Couldn’t Win at the Polls

An interesting article which discusses in detail the way that information warfare is being applied inside of nations by their elites against the people and democratic functioning.

How an Army of Trolls Protects Guatemala’s Corrupt Elite

At 6:02 A.M. on August 27, 2017, the president of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, uploaded a video statement to Twitter declaring the former Colombian judge Iván Velásquez a persona non grata and ordering his expulsion from the country. Velásquez is investigating corruption on behalf of a United Nations-backed commission in Guatemala, and had recently moved to strip Morales of immunity from prosecution and open an investigation into his campaign financing. Velásquez’s commission had already helped send the president’s son and brother to trial for defrauding the government.

The expulsion order was immediately decried as an outrageous act of blatant self-interest. Anger grew further when Guatemala’s congress, concerned that the anti-corruption efforts would reach them, too, voted to preserve the president’s immunity, and also tried to soften penalties for campaign finance violations so that some criminals could buy their way out of prison sentences with fines. Morales’s declaration was blocked in court and, on September 20, a national strike shut down both the capital city and the provinces in protest of the “pacto de corruptos,” or the “pact of the corrupt.”

But amid the cries for Morales to step down, a counter-campaign surged, mostly online, in defense of Morales, and against Velásquez and his commission, which is known by its Spanish-language acronym CICIG. Vicious attacks against Velásquez and his supporters circulated on Twitter and Facebook, as well as in blasts to WhatsApp groups. CICIG was a plot by the United States, an “invasion of sovereignty.” Or, it was a communist scheme, “extortion” that would lead to a “dictatorship equal to Venezuela, equal to [Hugo] Chávez.” Some of the attacks combined these arguments into a confusing mishmash. Velásquez was a stooge, a plant, accused of fomenting a coup. His main ally in government, Attorney General Thelma Aldana, received the same abuse. The falsehoods flew, often clearly originating from fake accounts, but also retweeted and reposted by prominent right-wing commentators.

It was the Guatemalan version of a form of information warfare now familiar the world over, with a homegrown name: the net center. Interviews conducted in Guatemala with researchers, journalists, activists, and other sources, as well as reports in the Guatemalan press, show how net centers are now used routinely and relentlessly to harass and intimidate opponents of Guatemala’s entrenched elite. They also reveal what precious little intelligence has been gleaned on the ground about these shadowy operations, which leave little or no paper trail and which appear to operate with protection from the nation’s powerful business interests, long allied with the military. ...

Guatemala is caught up in what has become a global problem. “Armies of ‘opinion shapers’” are now used on social media by the governments of 30 countries to support their agendas and attack detractors, according to a report by the nonprofit Freedom House. The report also said that digital malfeasance was used to manipulate elections in at least 18 countries from mid-2016 to mid-2017. Other analysts have documented local variants of political social media manipulation around the world: Mexicans, Peruvians, and Hondurans refer to theirs as “Peñabots,” “Fujitrolls,” and “JOHBots,” after their current or former presidents; Turks have “AK Trolls”; Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte reportedly has a “keyboard army” defending his murderous regime.

How to tell if Cambridge Analytica stole your Facebook data

Monday’s the day we find out if our Facebook profile information was taken as part of the Cambridge Analytica breach — but Facebook won’t be telling us which of our friends, if any, is to blame. The embattled social media giant announced last week that on April 9, users would be informed if their data was harvested by the U.K.-based data analytics firm without their knowledge or consent, and generally how it might have gotten into their hands.

“Finally, starting on Monday, April 9, we’ll show people a link at the top of their News Feed so they can see what apps they use — and the information they have shared with those apps,” Facebook wrote in a press release. “People will also be able to remove apps that they no longer want. As part of this process, we will also tell people if their information may have been improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.” ...

Users could have had their data stolen by taking a certain quiz — or if their friends took a quiz, or if friends of their friends took a quiz — that required them to log in to Facebook. If their data was taken because of a move made by one of their Facebook friends made, the user won’t be able to tell which friend is to blame.

YouTube illegally collects data on children, say child protection groups

A coalition of 23 child advocacy, consumer and privacy groups have filed a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission alleging that Google is violating child protection laws by collecting personal data of and advertising to those aged under 13.

The group, which includes the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), the Center for Digital Democracy and 21 other organisations, alleges that despite Google claiming that YouTube is only for those aged 13 and above, it knows that children under that age use the site. The group states that Google collects personal information on children under 13 such as location, device identifiers and phone numbers and tracks them across different websites and services without first gaining parental consent as required by the US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (Coppa).

The coalition urges the FTC to investigate and sanction Google for its alleged violations.

“For years, Google has abdicated its responsibility to kids and families by disingenuously claiming YouTube — a site rife with popular cartoons, nursery rhymes, and toy ads — is not for children under 13,” said Josh Golin, executive director of the CCFC. “Google profits immensely by delivering ads to kids and must comply with Coppa. It’s time for the FTC to hold Google accountable for its illegal data collection and advertising practices.”

Oklahoma teachers will continue their walkout into next week

Oklahoma teachers are poised to continue their walkout into at least next week, despite a busy day on the Oklahoma state Senate floor that yielded a series of bills adding to the funding of a $447 million revenue bill they hope will break the strike.

Hundreds of teachers stood in the rotunda just outside the Senate chambers, chanting “Pass this bill” as the votes took place.

The Senate ultimately sent three bills to Gov. Mary Fallin to sign that would require Amazon and other online retailers to collect sales taxes on purchases in the state, and imposes a new, controversial “ball and dice” tax on state tribal casinos. ...

Many school districts have already decided to close Monday to continue the fight for greater education funding, including in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Owasso Public Schools are closing for the entire week.

Stormy Daniels wants public to help ID man who threatened her to keep quiet about Trump

Stormy Daniels’ lawyer is asking the public to help identify the man who threatened the porn star in a Las Vegas parking lot in 2011.

Michael Avenatti said he plans to release a composite sketch Tuesday of the man who allegedly told Daniels (real name: Stephanie Clifford) to keep quiet about her alleged 2006-7 affair with Donald Trump if she wanted to stay safe.

“A composite sketch has been produced,” Avenatti said on CNN's “New Day” on Monday. “We're going to be releasing that tomorrow, along with a significant reward. We are asking that the public come forward. We are very close to identifying this individual.”

'This Is Huge': Opposition Forces Kinder Morgan to Halt Trans Mountain Pipeline

Environmental and indigenous groups are cheering after Kinder Morgan announced Sunday it was halting most work on its controversial Trans Mountain expansion pipeline project, citing continuing opposition. "This is a sign that organizing works, and it could well be the beginning of the end for this dangerous pipeline," declared Clayton Thomas-Muller, a Stop-it-at-the-Source campaigner with 350.org. ...

In the company's statement announcing the move, chairman and CEO Steve Kean said Kinder Morgan was suspending "all non-essential activities and related spending" as a result of the "current environment" that puts shareholders at risk. "A company cannot resolve differences between governments," he added, referencing resistance from B.C. lawmakers that is at odds with support for the project coming from Ottawa and neighboring Alberta. "While we have succeeded in all legal challenges to date, a company cannot litigate its way to an in-service pipeline amidst jurisdictional differences between governments," Kean said. Unless legal agreements are reached by May 31, Kean said that "it is difficult to conceive of any scenario in which we would proceed with the project." (There are still 18 pending court cases that could thwart the project, the Wilderness Committee notes.)

B.C. Premier John Horgan, for his part, said in a statement Sunday, "The federal process failed to consider B.C.'s interests and the risk to our province. We joined the federal challenge, started by others, to make that point." ... Apart from Horgan's pushback, the project has faced fierce and sustained opposition from a range of groups who demand the rights of land, water, indigenous groups, and others trump those of Big Oil. Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of Coast Protectors said that "after some long hours in the boardroom," Kinder Morgan came "to the inevitable conclusion that that you simply can't ram a pipeline through in the face of such opposition—legal, political, on-the-ground opposition. It's impossible." ...

While the company "looks ready to pack it in," said Wilderness Committee Climate Campaigner Peter McCartney, the opposition is "not going anywhere until this pipeline no longer poses a threat to the coast, the climate, and Indigenous communities along the route." Despite such threats, Ottawa and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley are still aggressively pushing for the project. "This pipeline must be built," Notley declared Sunday, and threatened legal action "to impose serious economic consequences on B.C. if its government continues on its present course." She added that her province "is prepared to be an investor in the pipeline." Trudeau—who's touted his country's "unwavering... commitment to fight climate change"—said on Twitter, "Canada is a country of the rule of law, and the federal government will act in the national interest. Access to world markets for Canadian resources is a core national interest. The Trans Mountain expansion will be built. "

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has grown to twice the size of Texas

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is way bigger than we thought it was. At 618,000 square miles, it’s more than twice the size of Texas and nearly as big as the state of Alaska. That it makes it four to 16 times larger than previously thought, according to new research published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Until now, little was known about what made up the patch, even enormous as it is, sitting in the waters between California and Hawaii. It’s become a sort of myth, first spotted in 1997 by a sailor, Charles Moore, who cruised through it on his way from Hawaii to California. Now, advocates have gone so far as to put together a campaign to declare the patch a state.

But a group of researchers, by surveying the patch from planes and collecting samples of it, now have a better sense for how big it is and what it’s made of. It turns out, it’s largely fishing gear, though plastic is accumulating in it at an exponential rate. The entire patch weighs some 79 metric tons, 46 percent of which is made up of fishing nets, eel traps, and other fishing industry gear. But 94 percent of the individual pieces of stuff floating in the patch are made of plastic.

Also of Interest

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

Syria - Timelines Of 'Gas Attacks' Follow A Similar Scheme

A Radical Lesson from the Invasion of Iraq: Our War Monuments Should Honor the Sacrifice of Civilians, Not Soldiers

How Andrew Cuomo Failed Student Borrowers

Hungary’s Election Campaign Ends in a Flurry of Dirty Tricks

From the NFL to the World Bank, black people are being silenced

‘Our territory is our life’: one struggle against mining in Ecuador

A Little Night Music

Jimmy Smith - Organ Grinder's Swing

Jimmy Smith & B.B. King - Three O'Clock Blues

Jimmy Smith - The Jumpin' Blues

Jimmy Smith - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag

Jimmy Smith - The Champ

Jimmy Smith & Jimmy McGriff - Honky Tonk

Jimmy Smith - Root Down

Jimmy Smith - Watermelon Man

Jimmy Smith - Back At The Chicken Shack

Jimmy Smith Quartet - ZDF Jazz Club Leonberg, Germany 1988