Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features blues and boogie piano player Cecil Gant. Enjoy!

“And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.”

-- John Steinbeck

News and Opinion

Bobby Seale, Bill Ayers & Bernardine Dohrn on Police Repression, Fred Hampton Murder & Prison Strike

Trump Bizarrely Warns of Left-Wing 'Violence' If Democrats Win Midterms

Multiple accounts of a meeting President Donald Trump held with evangelical Christian leaders Monday night revealed that the president warned of "violence" from both Democrats and anti-fascist protesters if Republicans fail to retain control of Congress in the midterm elections. "They will overturn everything that we've done, and they'll do it quickly and violently, and violently," Trump told the leaders, according to NBC News and the New York Times. "There's violence. When you look at antifa, and you look at some of these groups—these are violent people."

Trump was referring to anti-fascist protesters who have counterprotested at white supremacist rallies around the country. While some members of the loosely organized movement have resorted to violence, Democratic leaders have not endorsed the protesters.

On CNN, political analyst Jeffrey Toobin argued that Trump was employing a racist dog-whistle. "Let's be clear also about what's going on here. The theme here is, 'I'm Donald Trump and I'll protect you from the scary black people,'" Toobin said.

The president did not elaborate on how or why Democrats would become violent if they were to win control of the House or Senate, but critics condemned his vague threat—especially after Trump himself has explicitly advocated for violence toward his opponents by his own supporters.

Australia may ban Chelsea Manning from entering country

The Australian government is considering banning the US whistleblower Chelsea Manning from entering the country for a speaking tour. ...

Manning, an occasional Guardian columnist, is scheduled to give a speech at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday night as part of the Antidote festival, as well as addresses in Brisbane and Melbourne.

The Australian organiser of her speaking tour, Think Inc, has written to supporters asking them to lobby the newly installed immigration minister, David Coleman. Section 501 of the Australian Migration Act gives the immigration minister broad and unchallengeable powers to refuse or cancel visas, either on national interest grounds or because they decide applicants or holders have not passed a “character test”. ...

Manning is due to speak in New Zealand the weekend after her first Australian address, but the opposition there has also called for her to be blacklisted.

Media Already Pushing War With Iran

US may resume war games as North Korea negotiations stall

The US secretary of defence, James Mattis, has suggested the US and South Korea could resume large scale military exercises, as negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program stall.

President Donald Trump announced the suspension of drills, which have long drawn the ire of Pyongyang, in the wake of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June. But since that historic meeting, there has been little progress toward the US goal of North Korean denuclearisation.

“As you know, we took the step to suspend several of the largest exercises as a good-faith measure coming out of the Singapore summit,” Mattis said at a news conference on Tuesday. “We have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises.”

Restarting military drills would likely infuriate North Korea, which has in the past responded to the annual drills with threats of force. But the comments highlight frustrations within the US administration over stalled nuclear negotiations.

An excellent article by Gareth Porter that's worth a click and a full read. Here's a teaser:

How the Department of Homeland Security Created a Deceptive Tale of Russia Hacking US Voter Sites

The narrative of Russian intelligence attacking state and local election boards and threatening the integrity of U.S. elections has achieved near-universal acceptance by media and political elites. And now it has been accepted by the Trump administration’s intelligence chief, Dan Coats, as well. But the real story behind that narrative, recounted here for the first time, reveals that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created and nurtured an account that was grossly and deliberately deceptive.

DHS compiled an intelligence report suggesting hackers linked to the Russian government could have targeted voter-related websites in many states and then leaked a sensational story of Russian attacks on those sites without the qualifications that would have revealed a different story. When state election officials began asking questions, they discovered that the DHS claims were false and, in at least one case, laughable.

The National Security Agency and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigating team have also claimed evidence that Russian military intelligence was behind election infrastructure hacking, but on closer examination, those claims turn out to be speculative and misleading as well. Mueller’s indictment of 12 GRU military intelligence officers does not cite any violations of U.S. election laws though it claims Russia interfered with the 2016 election.

CNN Posts Dumbest & Funniest RussiaGate Article Yet

1,000 First Responders Urge Congress to Restore Net Neutrality After Verizon Throttles California Firefighters During Wildfires

More than 1,000 first responders from across the country threw their support behind net neutrality protections on Tuesday, with a letter demanding that lawmakers in Congress pass the Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to reverse the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s repeal of net neutrality.

"We are joining with millions of businesses, veterans, and Internet users in asking Congress to use their Congressional Review Act (CRA) powers to restore the strong net neutrality rules and other consumer protections that were lost when the FCC voted to repeal its 2015 Open Internet Order," reads an letter endorsed by the internet freedom advocacy group Fight for the Future.

The letter comes days after Californians got a first-hand look at how their lives are already being affected by internet service providers (ISPs) that are unencumbered by net neutrality rules, which prohibit companies like Verizon and Comcast from slowing down internet speeds and creating paid "fast lanes" for wealthy internet companies. ...

The incident provoked emergency workers from California as well as other states to urge the passage of the CRA. "Our call paging system relies on private ISPs to relay information from 911 dispatchers to ambulances—it is unconscionable for corporations to endanger public safety for the sake of profit," said Corey, a paramedic in San Diego, in a personal note added to the open letter. "EMTs rely on data to receive pages, vital paperwork necessary for patient care, and to help locate calls outside of our service area," added Larry, an EMT based in Little Rock, Arkansas. "Throttling speeds can delay care and cost lives."

Sparking More Calls for His Ouster, 'Utterly Useless' Chuck Schumer Cuts Deal With McConnell to Fast-Track 7 Trump Judges

In addition to openly refusing to pressure his caucus to unite against President Donald Trump's Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is also helping his Republican counterpart ram through Trump's far-right lower court nominees at a torrid pace. Sparking immediate outrage from progressives, Schumer cut a deal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday that allowed the GOP to fast-track votes on seven of Trump's federal court nominees in exchange for... well, it's not exactly clear what he received in return, outside of getting to go home for a few days.

"Schumer is utterly useless," wrote journalist Chase Madar, a sentiment that was echoed across social media in response to the Democratic leader's dealmaking.

Just hours after the deal was reported, all seven judges were confirmed, with the help of some Democrats. Because these judges—selected with the help of the right-wing Federalist Society—are relatively young, they are now in a position to shape American law for decades to come, threatening the planet, workers, and women's reproductive rights. ...

While Schumer received much of the backlash on social media following his agreement with McConnell, activist and writer Jonathan Cohn pointed out that rank-and-file Democrats deserve some blame as well, given that they actually outnumbered Republicans in the Senate chamber for some of Tuesday's votes. Adam Jentleson, public affairs director for Democracy Forward, argued in a lengthy Twitter thread late Tuesday that ultimately Democrats' refusal to use all the procedural tools at their disposal to block Trump's right-wing court picks is due to a complete lack of political will at the top of the party.

Study finds extreme CEO-worker pay disparity at taxpayer-supported companies

Some of the most extreme examples of the gap between executive and median worker pay occurs at companies directly supported by federal contracts and subsidies, a new study has found.

The latest Executive Excess report, published annually by the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington-based thinktank, found that at many federally funded companies the gap is far in excess of what ordinary American taxpayers find acceptable.

Some of the largest defense contractors are the most glaring culprits, the report found.

The study, Taxpayers Subsidize Giant Corporate Pay Gaps, found that more than two-thirds of the top 50 government contractors and top 50 recipients of federal subsidies, receiving a total of $167bn, currently pay their chief executive officer more than 100 times their median worker pay. All top 50 contractors paid their CEO more than 25 times the median worker’s pay – the maximum that modern management guru Peter Drucker has deemed appropriate and far more than the six-to-one pay ratio polls show most Americans find appropriate.

At the top of the scale are leading military contractors, with the top bosses at Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman each earning an average of $21m, or between 166 and 218 times average worker pay. Nearly 70%, or $35.2bn, of Lockheed Martin’s $51bn in sales last year, came from business with the US government. ... Another company, the Geo Group, which took in $663m in 2017 from the justice department and homeland security to maintain immigrant family detention centers, paid CEO George Zoley $9.6m, or 271 times the employee average of just over $35,000.

The study also singled out Yum! Brands, beneficiary of a $7.25m taxpayer-backed loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to finance the expansion of KFCs and Pizza Huts in Mongolia. The fast food giant paid its CEO 1,358 times as much as its median employee in 2017. Even Walmart, the go-to source for government purchases of everything from TVs and doughnuts to $5 gift cards, paid half of its 2.3 million employees less than $19,177 last year. The company’s CEO, the study found, made 1,188 times that amount.

Establishment Candidates Teamed Up Against Zephyr Teachout in New York Attorney General Debate

Why is Sean Patrick Maloney — a sitting House member in a newly competitive New York congressional district that Donald Trump won in 2016 — running to be New York’s next attorney general? After last night’s debate in New York City, between Democratic primary contenders Maloney, Letitia “Tish” James, Leecia Eve, and Zephyr Teachout, the answer doesn’t seem any clearer — or perhaps it does.

Anybody who presumed that Maloney was in the race as a Teachout spoiler came away from Tuesday’s attorney general debate with that impression only solidified. Teachout challenged Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a primary in 2014 and performed especially well in the Hudson Valley, where Maloney is also an elected official. She also ran for Congress two years later in a neighboring district, NY-19, losing to Republican Jon Faso. Cuomo, meanwhile, is backing James, the New York City public advocate who is popular in the city but largely unknown in the rest of the state. Maloney invested his time in attacking Teachout and agreeing with James at almost every available opportunity, though by the end of the debate, it was no more clear what potential path to victory he saw for his own candidacy. ...

Yet as the national party pours resources into the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s “Red to Blue” program — to flip vulnerable House seats — Maloney vacating his post could do precisely the opposite, leaving open a seat that City & State New York had already called one of New York state’s most competitive before Maloney announced his AG run. He’s running his AG and congressional race simultaneously in a move that has drawn legal challenges from his Republican opponents, and the ire of fellow Democrats at the state and national level. While there is one Republican running for the New York AG seat, Keith Wofford, a Democrat is heavily favored to win that race.

While speaking occasionally on his own policy priorities, most of Maloney’s purpose on stage seemed to be helping Tish James pile onto and rebut Teachout — the only candidate in the race not taking corporate PAC or LLC donations — in a move that made it seem as if both of them saw her as the frontrunner; she recently racked up endorsements from the New York Times and New York Daily News. On several accounts James and Maloney used the same language in reference to their opponent, remarking on what a luxury it is for Teachout to be “holier than thou” and swear off donations from corporate PACs or LLCs, with Maloney claiming that such a stance was equally as poisonous to American democracy as corporate money, because, well, he didn’t offer a reason. He laughed as James called their opponent “Professor Teachout” (she’s a professor at Fordham Law) in an attempt to paint her as a head-in-the-clouds academic, a jab notably deployed against Elizabeth Warren in her 2012 Massachusetts Senate race.

California moves towards 100% carbon-free electricity after landmark vote

California has given fossil fuel-derived energy a hefty shove towards obsolescence after legislators voted to require that 100% of the state’s electricity come from carbon-free sources. The bill, which will need to be approved by the state senate and Governor Jerry Brown, will require a complete shift to clean energy such as solar and wind by 2045. It would also demand that electric utilities source 60% of their power from renewable sources by 2030, up from the current target of 50%.

California ridding itself entirely of carbon-intensive energy has been a politically vexed proposition for the past two years, with state Republicans arguing it was unfeasible and would drive up electricity prices.

But the state has emerged as a bastion of defiance to the Trump administration on climate change, among other issues, as it has been scorched by record wildfires and a prolonged drought. A report released this week warned that the state is on course for punishing heatwaves, thousands of additional deaths and the erosion of two thirds of its coastline due to rising temperatures, wildfires and sea level rise.

Brown has already set out ambitious goals to expand renewables and the use of electric cars. The state legislature has already passed a law that requires newly built homes to be equipped for solar power. In July, the state announced its greenhouse gas emissions were lower than in 1990, despite a growing economy. ...

Brown has yet to confirm he will sign the bill his predecessor as governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, wrote to lawmakers to back the legislation and urge them to be “undeterred by those who wish to stop our progress and move backwards”.

Fish populations could rise even with extreme climate change, study shows

Better management of fishing rights around the world would increase catches even if climate change takes hold, new research has found, ahead of key negotiations on fishing at the UN next week.

Even if temperatures rise by as much as 4C above pre-industrial levels – in the upper range of current forecasts – the damaging effects on fishing can be contained through improving how stocks are fished and managed. The finding is crucial because more than 1 billion people globally rely on fish, particularly key species such as tuna and mackerel, as their main source of protein.

Governments are meeting from 4 September in New York for the first round of talks on a new global treaty of the high seas, which would aim to conserve overfished stocks and make access to key fisheries more equitable. Any agreement is likely to take several years to negotiate and longer to come into force, but scientists say there is no time to be lost, given the magnitude of the threat to the world’s marine ecosystems.

Climate change is already causing the movement of some species as their traditional habitats grow warmer, and overfishing is wreaking heavy damage on stocks. However, by adapting fisheries management to a warming climate, and instituting better systems such as monitoring of fleets, the global catch can be increased despite these factors, according to the paper published on Wednesday in the journal Science Advances.

Also of Interest

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

Joseph Stiglitz: Weak economic recovery was down to flawed policies, not secular stagnation

Back in the (Great) Game: The Revenge of Eurasian Land Powers

Tom Carper and the Rise and Fall of the Delaware Way

A Little Night Music

Cecil Gant - We're Gonna Rock

Cecil Gant - What's On Your Worried Mind / I Gotta Gal

Cecil Gant - Train Time Blues

Cecil Gant - Nashville Jumps

Cecil Gant - I'm A Good Man But A Poor Man

Cecil Gant - Cecil Boogie

Cecil Gant - Blues In L.A.

Cecil Gant - That's The Stuff You Gotta Watch

Cecil Gant - Loose As A Goose