The Evening Blues - 9-28-18
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features Texas-by-way-of-Louisiana blues musician Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Enjoy!
Roy Clark And Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Frankie and Johnny
“Equality before the law is probably forever unattainable. It is a noble ideal, but it can never be realized, for what men value in this world is not rights but privileges.”
-- H.L. Mencken
News and Opinion
House lawmakers introduce bill to end US support in Yemen civil war
Two dozen House lawmakers on Wednesday officially introduced a War Powers resolution to end U.S. military involvement in Yemen's civil war. "One year later, the bloodshed continues with widespread destruction and disease contributing to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. U.S.-fueled planes continue to drop U.S.-made bombs on innocent victims,” the resolution's lead sponsor, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), said in a statement Wednesday.
“This time around, our coalition to end the war has expanded and the call for withdrawing U.S. involvement is louder,” he added. Khanna tried to force a vote on a similar resolution last year. Under the War Powers Act, the resolution becomes “privileged,” allowing lawmakers to force a vote on it.
Khanna and a group of 10 House Democrats, including the House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.), previously announced their intention to introduce the resolution earlier this month. The resolution introduced Wednesday gained support from more top Democrats, including House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.). Two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.), are also co-sponsoring. The pair are typically outliers in their party on foreign policy. ...
The resolution is also co-sponsored by Democratic Reps. Mark Pocan (Wis.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Raul Grijalva (Ariz.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii), Michael Capuano (Mass.), Yvette Clarke (N.Y.), Ted Lieu (Calif.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Beto O’Rourke (Texas), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), Joe Kennedy (Mass.), Joe Courtney (Conn.), Gwen Moore (Wis.), Debbie Dingell (Mich.), Pramila Jayapal (Wash.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.) and Earl Blumenauer (Ore.).
UN envoy announces plan to restart Yemen peace talks
Every day the war in Yemen goes on “is a day that a mother loses their child”, the UN’s envoy to the country has said as he announced a plan to restart peace talks. The scheme would introduce a set of confidence-building measures within a week, including reopening Sana’a airport, prisoner swaps and payment of civil service salaries. It was arranged by the UN special envoy Martin Griffiths after a frenetic round of meetings in New York designed to prevent Yemen from sliding towards a humanitarian disaster as fighting escalates.
Griffiths said he was optimistic that overlapping steps could be agreed by Houthi rebels and a Saudi-led coalition that includes the United Arab Emirates and that backs the UN-recognised government of Yemen. He said: “There is a huge appetite for this. Both sides reconfirmed to me their desire to be reconvened, and they both recognise that there is no other solution to this war apart from through this process. We are now working on ways to get them back together as soon as possible.” ...
In a sign of the complex diplomatic cross-currents over Yemen, EU states including the UK clashed with Saudi Arabia on Friday by backing a one-year extension of the mandate for an independent group of experts set up to investigate breaches of humanitarian law in Yemen. In a report in August that was rejected by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, the experts said they had found widespread breaches of the law and said the predominant responsibility for deaths lay with the Saudi coalition.
Saudi foreign minister demands Canada stop treating it like a 'banana republic'
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has demanded Canada stop treating it like a “banana republic” and called upon the government of Justin Trudeau to apologize for calling for the release of jailed human rights activists, further escalating a simmering diplomatic row that began over the summer.
“You can criticize us about human rights, women’s rights … that’s your right. You can sit down and talk about it, but demand the immediate release? What are we, a banana republic? Would any country accept it?” said the foreign minister, Adel Al-Juebir, at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, as world leaders gathered for the United Nations general assembly.
Al-Juebir referenced a tweet sent by Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, calling for the release of jailed activists Samar Badawi and her brother, Raif Badawi. Raif Badawi’s wife and children are Canadian citizens. It was a separate tweet of the same content, but translated into Arabic and sent by the Canadian embassy in Riyadh, that in August prompted a wave of anger from the Saudi government, culminating in the expulsion of Canadian diplomats, the near-cessation of trade and the removal of all Saudi medical students from Canadian universities.
Iran Ridicules Netanyahu for 'Arts and Crafts' Accusations of Secret Nuclear Site
The Iranian government has responded with ridicule and demands for Israel to come clean about its own undeclared—but very real—nuclear arsenal after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday claimed evidence of a secret stockpile facility in Iran during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly.
No arts & craft show will ever obfuscate that Israel is only regime in our region with a
and *undeclared* nuclear weapons program - including an *actual atomic arsenal*. Time for Israel to fess up and open its illegal nuclear weapons program to international inspectors.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) September 27, 2018
Separately, Bahram Ghasemi, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, characterized Netanyahu's charges as "not worth talking about."
"These farcical claims and the show by the prime minister of the occupying regime (Israel) were not unexpected," Ghasemi added.
While Israel has continued to deny that it maintains a clandestine nuclear weapons program—including an arsenal estimated to include somewhere between 65 and 300 nuclear warheads—the Iranians have allowed infinitely higher levels of transparency regarding its nuclear intentions and the deal it signed with the Obama administration and other leading nations in 2015 opened it up to comprehensive international inspections that have repeatedly confirmed that no nuclear weapons activities are taking place within Iran.
Kristinn Hrafnsson replaces Julian Assange as WikiLeaks editor-in-chief
Icelandic investigative journalist and former WikiLeaks spokesperson Kristinn Hrafnsson is set to become the whistleblowing organization’s new editor-in-chief, replacing isolated founder Julian Assange in the role.
The announcement was made late Wednesday in a statement issued through the WikiLeaks’ official Twitter account.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Assange appoints Hrafnsson Editor-in-Chief after six months of effective incommunicado detention, remains publisher [background: https://t.co/2jOgvSu5bG] pic.twitter.com/0Fwvf3SrkL
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) September 26, 2018
Hrafnsson is a longtime confidante of Assange and a respected journalist in his home country of Iceland with multiple awards for his work.
In his first statement since his promotion, Hrafnsson took the opportunity to raise awareness of Assange’s situation. “I condemn the treatment of Julian Assange that leads to my new role,” he said, “but I welcome the opportunity to secure the continuation of the important work based on WikiLeaks ideals.”
Despite Gut-Wrenching Testimony from Dr. Blasey Ford, GOP Moves Forward with Vote on Kavanaugh
After all that, Senate Republicans plan to push through Kavanaugh anyway
After nine hours of emotionally charged testimony that included a credible report of sexual assault, Republicans moved Thursday to ram through Brett Kavanaugh's nomination, with a quick Committee vote on whether to progress his nomination to the Supreme Court. Speaking to reporters after a closed-door meeting of GOP senators late on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said the Senate Judiciary Committee will push forward Friday with a vote on whether Kavanaugh should advance. ...
If a scheduled 1:30 a.m. vote does take place, the outcome is far from certain. Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, of Arizona, reportedly still undecided after Thursday’s hearing. With 11 Republicans and 10 Democrats on the Committee, Flake’s vote is critical. Should the vote pass, Republicans plan to hold a procedural vote on the Senate floor at noon Saturday, with an official vote taking place early next week.
Republicans hold the chamber by a slim margin of 51 to 49, and GOP leaders are worried about the votes of Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine). There are also undecideds on the Democratic side, including Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) — both of whom face tough re-election bids in states that voted strongly for Trump in 2016. Manchin met with the three undecided GOP senators Thursday but it was unclear if they came to a consensus.
Kavanaugh hearing puts America's state of disunion in stark relief
The senators told Christine Blasey Ford that she was not on trial. They told Brett Kavanaugh that he was not on trial. But America’s political culture was on trial. And the verdict was guilty. All the bile, all the ugliness, all the tribal politicking of Republican-controlled Washington in 2018 was on display as the Senate judiciary committee met in a cramped room on Capitol Hill on Thursday. It was a dark spectacle that offered a glimpse of the state of the disunion.
In this upside-down era, it was the accuser who was sober as a judge and the supreme court hopeful who was angry, indignant, tearful and deeply politicised, throwing out allegations of a vast leftwing conspiracy. In short, he was channeling Donald Trump. The gender ironies were inescapable. The actor and activist Alyssa Milano, who was present in the room, tweeted: “If a woman were to yell, interrupt and cry while being questioned, people would call her unhinged or say she had a melt down.” ...
The pundits’ advice was that, just as Thomas did 27 years ago, Kavanaugh could only save himself by coming out all guns blazing. He did, delivering a fiery opening statement that alleged “a calculated and orchestrated political hit” and raging against a “national disgrace”, “circus” and “grotesque and obvious character assassination”. It was a white-privileged Chevy Chase version of Thomas’s “hi-tech lynching for uppity blacks”. ...
It made a mockery of Kavanaugh’s past claim that “a good judge must be an umpire – a neutral and impartial arbiter who favors no litigant or policy”. Susan Glasser, a journalist at the New Yorker magazine, tweeted: “Anger and partisan fury like this will be very hard for Judge Kavanaugh to overcome as Justice Kavanaugh.”
Warning - If the committee advances the nomination this afternoon, my client and I are going to thoroughly enjoy embarrassing @ChuckGrassley @LindseyGrahamSC @tedcruz and all of the other GOP members on the committee this weekend when her story is told and is deemed credible.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) September 28, 2018
Democrats Walk Out of Committee Meeting in Protest as GOP Pushes Toward Kavanaugh Vote
As Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley indicated that he would push through a vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a number of Democrats walked out in protest after condemning Grassley for violating the panel's rules.
Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Corey Booker (D-N.J.) left the room en masse as Grassley read a statement about Wednesday's proceedings and the Republicans' position that Ford's allegations and those of Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick do not cause sufficient concern to delay a vote on Kavanaugh, call for an FBI investigation to objectively examine the allegations, subpoena eyewitness Mark Judge, or call for the nomination to be withdrawn.
Kavanaugh Hearings: Toxic Masculinity is ‘Endemic’ to the Far Right
Sexual assault survivors confronted a visibly uncomfortable Jeff Flake on his way to vote for Kavanaugh
Shortly after Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake announced he intends to vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, he got a very personal appeal not to confirm: On his way to the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting ahead of its vote Friday morning, two sexual assault survivors confronted Flake as he stepped onto an elevator — and the conversation was caught on live TV.
A sexual assault survivor just confronted Jeff Flake (who just announced he's voting for Kavanaugh): "Don't look away from me! Look at me and tell me that it doesn't matter what happened to me, that you will let people like that go into the highest court of the land" pic.twitter.com/Jix2BI090B
— David Mack (@davidmackau) September 28, 2018
“What you are doing is allowing someone who actually violated a woman to sit on the Supreme Court,” one protester said to Flake. “This is not tolerable. You have children in your family. Think about them. I have two children.”
Flake, who was visibly uncomfortable during the confrontation, stared at the ground. “Look at me when I’m talking to you,” another protester said, through tears. “You are telling me that my assault doesn’t matter, that what happened to me doesn’t, and that you’re going to let people who do these things into power. That’s what you’re telling me when you vote for him. Don’t look away from me.”
Kavanaugh advanced from the committee with an 11-8 vote, Flake's requests delay
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, threw a wrench Friday in Republicans' plans to push Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh through to confirmation.
Flake issued a statement Friday morning saying he will support Kavanaugh's confirmation, emboldening Republicans. But then, Friday afternoon as the Senate Judiciary Committee was set to vote, Flake said he wants to delay the Senate floor vote for up to a week so the FBI can investigate. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, another key GOP vote who hasn't announced where she stands on Kavanaugh, also voiced support for Flake's proposal, as did Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.
Kavanaugh advanced from the committee with an 11-8 vote, but if he lacks votes on the floor, Republican leadership won't want to push the vote through.
Even the American Bar Association, which gave Kavanaugh its highest rating, wants an FBI investigation
If senators truly want Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, the American Bar Association thinks they better slow down and consider an FBI investigation before proceeding with votes to confirm him.
In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday night, American Bar Association President Robert Carlson urged that the Senate Judiciary Committee, responsible for recommending Kavanaugh for a full Senate confirmation vote, had no need to rush through the process without a proper investigation.
“The basic principles that underscore the Senate’s constitutional duty of advice and consent on federal judicial nominees require nothing less than a careful examination of the accusations and facts by the FBI,” Carlson wrote. ...
“Deciding to proceed without conducting an additional investigation would not only have a lasting impact on the Senate’s reputation, but it will also negatively affect the great trust necessary for the American people to have in the Supreme Court,” Carlson added in the letter to the committee.
Kavanaugh’s High School, Georgetown Prep, Warned Parents in 1990 of “Sexual or Violent Behavior” at Parties
According to a 1990 article in the Washington Post, the headmasters from seven prestigious Washington, D.C.-area private schools sent a joint letter that year to parents, warning them that their children had developed a party culture that included heavy drinking leading to “sexual or violent behavior.”
One of the schools was Georgetown Prep, from which Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh graduated in 1983. Christine Blasey Ford, who during congressional testimony on Thursday described being sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh in 1982, attended one of the other schools, Holton-Arms.
The Post article also reported that before the letter was sent, Georgetown Prep had “held a conference with parents to discuss the problem of unsupervised parties.”
Malcolm Coates, then-headmaster of the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, is quoted saying that the schools decided to write the letter jointly “to give it more impact. … The fact that seven schools decided it was enough of a problem to address it is significant.”
The Post also quoted Charles P. Lord, then-headmaster at Holton-Arms, saying that “a number of parents and kids have expressed dismay over some of the situations at weekend parties. … We’re concerned about the potential for tragedy.”
Keiser Report: Trust Busting Silicon Valley
Facebook says 50m user accounts affected by security breach
Facebook Inc says it has discovered a security issue affecting almost 50 million accounts. The social media company said engineers discovered the incident took place last Friday, on 25 September, and an investigation is still in the early stages. ...
“Since we’ve only just started our investigation, we have yet to determine whether these accounts were misused or any information accessed,” the company said in a blogpost.
Vulture Funds Stand to Make Millions in Wake of Hurricane Maria
Vulture funds scooped up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Puerto Rican debt after Hurricane Maria hit — underwritten by Wall Street and purchased at a massive discount, according to new numbers compiled by the nonprofit LittleSis and provided to The Intercept. Now it’s time for the payoff. A deal agreed to last week between creditors, the Puerto Rican government and the Washington-appointed fiscal control board overseeing the island’s finances could now funnel hundreds of millions of dollars to those same bondholders in the coming decades. There’s also ample reason to suspect at least some of those funds will be siphoned from federal recovery dollars, intended to help rebuild after the storm.
According to court filings made public as a result of ongoing debt negotiations, several hedge funds have bought up massive amounts of Puerto Rican bonds in the year following Hurricane Maria, after which prices dropped. GoldenTree Asset Management, a bondholder for the Urgent Interest Fund Corporation — known by its Spanish-language acronym COFINA — owned $587 million worth of Puerto Rican government bonds before the storm, as noted in a filing dated August 18, 2017. As of another filing almost exactly a year later, the company owned $1.5 billion. Tilden Park Capital Management, another COFINA creditor, increased the value of its holdings by $370 million over the same period. General obligation bondholders Aurelius Capital Management and Monarch Alternative Capital have increased their holdings from $39 million before the storm to $488 million as of the last filing. (Aurelius and Monarch both also hold some COFINA bonds.) ...
Not counting pension obligations, Puerto Rico is estimated to be saddled with about $74 billion total in municipal debt. While it’s proven a gold mine for vulture funds, Wall Street banks and consultants, significant payments on the debt will ultimately come at the expense of rebuilding Puerto Rico’s economy — both from the storm and from the over a decade long depression on the island. COFINA bonds were designed principally by big banks to skirt Puerto Rico’s borrowing limit, allowing the island to sell off more bonds and for the banks to scrape millions off the top in underwriting fees. Repayment on COFINA bonds is pegged to sales tax, meaning the 11.5 percent sales tax Puerto Ricans pay — higher than any on the U.S. mainland — is legally claimed by bondholders.
“It’s a direct transfer of wealth out of a situation where there’s a deep crisis,” Kevin Connor of LittleSis told me by phone. “Instead of that being addressed, money is being used to line pockets of vulture funds. The payouts promised in this deal are insanely high and basically portend more social and economic crisis.” He adds that the bullishness in the bond market triggered by the deal’s announcement is “inflating a bubble of expectation around this crisis that will not be sustainable. They inflate the market for this debt, vultures sell out of their positions before they crash and then the cycle begins again.”
With Nation Transfixed By Kavanaugh Monstrosity, House GOP Votes to Give Rich Another $3 Trillion in Tax Cuts
With the nation's attention rightly transfixed by the Senate GOP's monstrous efforts to ram through a Supreme Court nominee who has been credibly accused by multiple women of sexual assault, House Republicans on Friday voted overwhelmingly to approve another $3 trillion in tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans just weeks before the November midterms. ...
Three Democrats—Reps. Conor Lamb (Penn.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.)—voted for the GOP-crafted measure, which would permanently extend the individual tax cuts under the current Republican tax law.
According to the an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center (TPC), the House GOP's measure—which progressive critics have denounced as "Tax Scam 2.0"—would send the vast majority of benefits to the very top. "The richest one percent of filers would see an average tax cut of $40,000, while those in the middle 20 percent of earners would see an average cut of $980," the Washington Post noted in a summary of TPC's findings.
Melting Arctic ice opens new route from Europe to east Asia
A Danish-flagged cargo ship has successfully passed through the Russian Arctic, in a trial voyage showing that melting sea ice could potentially open a new trade route from Europe to east Asia. The Venta Maersk made the journey as a one-off trial, said Palle Laursen, the chief technical officer of A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping group.
The ship, carrying a cargo of frozen fish, arrived in St Petersburg on Friday, after leaving Russia’s Pacific port city of Vladivostok on 22 August. “The trial allowed us to gain exceptional operational experience,” said Laursen, adding the ship had performed well in the unfamiliar environment.
The Northern Sea route could be a shorter journey for ships travelling from east Asia to Europe than the Northwest Passage over Canada because it will likely be free of ice sooner due to climate change.
The Fracking Industry’s Water Nightmare: Injection Wells Damage Production Wells, Rising Disposal Costs Will Increase Industry Losses
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has clearly documented the multiple risks — despite repeated dismissals from the oil and gas industry — that hydraulic fracturing (fracking) poses to drinking water supplies. However, the tables may be turning: Water itself now poses a risk to the already failing financial model of the American fracking industry, and that is something the industry won’t be able to ignore. Fracking is based on the “hydraulic” process of using pressurized liquid to shatter shale rock to let the oil and gas inside escape. And while that liquid is a mixture of many hazardous chemicals, it is mostly water. And acquiring that water and then properly disposing of the toxic wastewater produced by fracking is becoming a big and expensive problem for the industry. ... According to a study by Wood MacKenzie and reported by the Wall Street Journal, the costs of water disposal for the fracking industry could add another $6 per barrel of oil produced. For the U.S. shale oil and gas industry, which has consistently lost money over the past decade, adding another $6 per barrel in costs represents a grim outlook.
A new Duke University study concluded that from 2011 to 2016 the amount of water used to frack oil and gas wells rose 770 percent. But the amount of toxic wastewater produced in that same time period rose 1,440 percent. ... Some of the industry’s efforts to get rid of wastewater at low costs have included dumping it into rivers, watering crops, de-icing roads, dumping it into the Gulf of Mexico, letting it evaporate, injecting it into drinking water aquifers, and sending it to municipal water treatment facilities not equipped to handle that type of waste. And those were just some of the “legal” ways of dealing with it. They don’t include any illegal dumping that also occurred. ...
A 2015 Washington Post story about fracking wastewater disposal highlights the main issue in one sentence: “Currently there is no way to treat, store, and release the billions of gallons of wastewater at the surface.” Instead of addressing this glaring issue, the industry “solution” has been to pump the toxic water back into the ground in what are known as injection wells. And while the long-term risks of this practice aren’t known, it is widely credited for the large increase in earthquakes in the areas where it is done. ... While fracking pioneer and billionaire Harold Hamm, at least, would prefer to ignore the earthquake issue, injection wells present another problem which his industry does care very much about. By trying to drill and frack as many oil and gas wells as possible in a productive area, the newer wells seem to be damaging the existing producing wells via a process known as “frac hits.” And the same thing is now happening with the wastewater injection wells.
In sum: The shale industry’s preferred solution for disposing of its huge amounts of wastewater also damages existing oil and gas production infrastructure. While also causing earthquakes. Not exactly a sustainable option, and one of the reasons for growing opposition to wastewater injection wells.
Trump administration predicted seven degree increase in global temperature by 2100
The Trump administration predicted in a draft environmental impact statement last month that the planet will warm seven degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, a development that scientists say could be catastrophic.
Among the consequences of such a rise, coral reefs would dissolve, oceans would become more acidic, extreme heat waves would plague the globe, and coastal cities would be at risk of being under water, according to The Washington Post, which was the first to report on the prediction.
The draft statement was written to defend President Trump’s decision to freeze federal fuel efficiency standards for light trucks and cars built after 2020. It largely declared that the planet’s ultimate fate was already determined and that little could be done about it.
“The amazing thing they’re saying is human activities are going to lead to this rise of carbon dioxide that is disastrous for the environment and society. And then they’re saying they’re not going to do anything about it,” Michael MacCracken, who served as a senior scientist at the U.S. Global Change Research Program from 1993 to 2002, told The Washington Post.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Key Moments in the Senate Testimony of Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh
Kavanaugh Is Lying. His Upbringing Explains Why.
Bolivia's Morales Slams Trump to His Face at UN Security Council
Why Dodd-Frank Is a Protection Racket for Banks
A Little Night Music
Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Boogie Uproar
Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Caldonia
Canned Heat with Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Worried Life Blues
Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Up Jumped The Devil
Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Let The Good Times Roll
Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Honky-Tonk
Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Okie Dokee Stomp
Roy Clark & Clarence 'Gatemouth' Brown - Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad
Comments
So, what has changed?
Ms. Ford is still a courageous victim. Kavanaugh is still a belligerent, abusive liar (amid all his other faults of an ideological nature). Grassley was there to lock the door, and Graham was there to turn up the music. There was tawdry gossip (the media with their whirlwind of whispers "Is it true?"), and there were those (Dems) who professed sympathy, sincere or feigned. Thirty-something years ago, was it? Seems like only yesterday.
evening dance...
i hate these cheesy remakes where all of the actors are typecast.
well, i guess now clarence thomas might have an assistant to police the soft drink cans at the supreme court for stray pubic hairs.
And in other news up there, . . .
. . . celebrated Dem pick-up Conor Lamb votes with Republicans.
I could've sworn the frenzied denizens of another site were giddy about this "progressive."
PA4
Might as well be WV.
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
heh...
they sure can pick 'em over there, can't they? he's just another in a long line of disappointments.
Breakthrough in Korea peace talks?
promising
evening gj...
i guess there might be some small upside to trump's titanic ego and his need for a splashy accomplishment.
Kav
If I ruled the world… hahaha. I kept thinking yesterday that I knew better questions to ask, etc. I suppose we all sit back in frustration watching the people in charge continue to screw things up, and wishing we had a say.
From the essay:
Flake said he wants to delay the Senate floor vote for up to a week so the FBI can investigate. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, another key GOP vote who hasn't announced where she stands on Kavanaugh, also voiced support for Flake's proposal, as did Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.
The latest I've heard is that Flake said he will vote it out of committee on the promise of a week delay to conduct an FBI investigation. If the investigation does not take place, he will then vote no on the Senate floor vote.
It seems obvious to me that Mark Judge skipped town and went into hiding because he knows he is culpable in his actions with Kavanaugh, and guilty of helping and participating if not the actual act. If he had anything good to say, he would want to testify on behalf of his friend - - not hide!
The committee would send people to him, if he didn't want to testify in public, just as they offered to travel to see Dr. Ford.
The FBI should offer him immunity for any testimony regarding Kavanaugh. He's not worried about Kav. He's hiding because he's scared for himself!
Couldn't the FBI also get a warrant for his arrest, since he is a named material witness to a crime? Saying this since Mark Judge is being uncooperative and might be hard to get to to question? I don't know.
Then, the FBI should fact check half a dozen or so of Kav's suspected lies, or known lies, to show he lied under oath. In yesterday's hearing and previous hearings.
It's enough to give you the blues
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
Hi, OLinda! Judge already issued statement
that he'll cooperate with the FBI. It will be interesting to see what, if anything, he recalls--he's a recovering alcoholic, who's written about having experienced blackouts (including as a teenager). Of course, Judge wrote about this well before this hearing, so, there's no basis to believe that he's lying about it in order to help, or give cover to K.
The investigation will be limited in scope, and the duration will be no longer than one week.
(IMO, if pressure builds to extend beyond this timeframe, McConnell will pull this nomination. K wasn't his first choice, anyway.)
Good to see you. I always enjoy your Tweets!
Blue Onyx
"Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong."
~~W. R. Purche
Postscript: For the next couple months, I'll be posting this blurb and photo about O's "Grand Bargain" as my signature line. As a reminder!
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Kav and Judge
Hi UL! Good to see you too. I mean to post more, but somehow time gets away or - believe it or not - sometimes I have nothing to say!
As far as I know, Judge didn't say he'd cooperate. The sworn statement by him that Kav kept shouting about yesterday, was not signed by Judge, but only his attorney. And, no offer to cooperate. Just a statement that Judge didn't recall anything.That is all they had at the time of the hearing.
That letter is here
https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1045613022360850432
Since the hearing, his attorney probably realizing that was a problem, - - they have sent another letter saying the same thing, this time signed by Judge and the atty. I saw it this morning, but now can't find it.
A new letter signed by Judge that offers to cooperate only mentions the Swetnick allegations (Avenatti's client). You can see that letter here. I don't know, but I don't think he is offering to cooperate in any other regard.
https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1045759475532136448
I'm not sure how someone can have selective cooperation. Possibly answer questions regarding Swetnick, and plead the 5th on any other questions. ?
found letter
Found the letter referred to above. Sent yesterday after Judge's atty probably realized something needed to be signed by Judge, not just atty. Still no offer to cooperate. Just a statement.
https://twitter.com/soychicka/status/1045695369961721856
Thanks for all the info, OLinda. I hadn't
read any of the emails/letters, until you posted them, here. IOW, I heard about his offer 'to cooperate' on CNN earlier this afternoon (listening to XM Radio).
So, I suspect they were citing #6 of the September 28 email, which mentioned that he would cooperate in a 'confidential' manner. (I believe that means that he is still unwilling to speak publicly about any of these matters.)
Again, thanks. I'll keep my ears peeled!
Blue Onyx
"Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong."
~~W. R. Purche
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Samuel L. Jackson has a comment
I just saw the The NYT has a story up saying Judge said he will cooperate. They don't show the letter and they don't say where that information came from. I suspect it is their interpretation of the letter. I take the letter literally, but I guess we will see!
Now, to Jackson's comment:
Thanks for the update. Dana Bash (CNN)
just clarified that the 'limited scope' means that only 'current' charges will be investigated. And, that the confirmation vote will be taken as soon as they've finished it. Meaning, they won't wait a week, if the FBI finishes, early.
(Again, that's assuming that there are no additional major findings.)
Blue Onyx
"Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong."
~~W. R. Purche
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Mark Judge
I used one of K's yearbook quotes in a recent graphic. However, no one seems to be catching the implications which I thought were kind of clear.
The quote:
The quote although unidentified in the yearbook is from Benjamin Franklin; however, without the capitalized JUDGE.
Having taken three bazillion literature classes, I was taught to delve into the possible meanings of writings and author's choices and then to reject those that do not fit. Given K's other activities (those listed in his yearbook and current allegations), this quote with JUDGE highlighted sounds like a threat. This fits in very well with Judge being in hiding and making a recent statement that he is willing to be interviewed by the FBI IF it is kept confidential.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Hi, WD13! WaPo reports that his attorney
advised him to leave. The implication is that she's concerned that the stress might cause him to 'fall off the wagon,' since he's a recovering alcoholic (which is not meant to be snarky, since alcoholism is a serious medical condition)
From 'The Fix,'
IMO, if he continues to want to opt out of public testifying for medical reasons, he should have it certified by a medical health professional/physician that it's advisable that he do so.
Blue Onyx
"Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong."
~~W. R. Purche
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Hi U Lib! = )
He must be very close to his lawyer for him to ask, get and follow her advice based on something that he is not being charged for. It is good he has a support system.
I agree about the medical reason if he were asked to appear anywhere, but he has agreed to answer questions and he isn't being hauled into court. An FBI investigation will suffice. In addition, if he is adhering to AA guidelines, he will have to be as honest as he can be.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
evening olinda...
looks like flake may have found a way to put off his party and preserve a shred of his reputation.
as i understand it, the fbi is not opening any sort of criminal investigation, rather they are reopening his background check.
not directly. they are not investigating a crime at this point, so their tools of compulsion are limited. now, if they were to question him and he provably lies to the fbi agents who interview him, then they could arrest him and threaten him with a very serious perjury prosecution.
in all likelihood, though, judge seems quite likely to say absolutely nothing and if subpoenad, claim his fifth amendment rights. it could get interesting, though, if he is granted immunity.
given that this is a background check and even suspected lies are an important consideration, the fbi certainly should investigate them. whether they will or not (in the space of only a week) is anybody's guess.
Thank you, joe! nt
heh...
in looking at my last answer, i don't know the degree to which the committee is able to compel the fbi to narrow the focus of its background check. if the committee can limit the scope of the inquiries, it is likely to.
Good evening, joe and bluzerz!
Now that Graham's buddy McCon is dead, he's bellying right up to the Herr Drumpf bar. Trying to keep that butter on his bread. Another GOP sell-out afraid to lose his job. Big baby. But then again, nothing new here.
I'm looking forward to the weekend! Not doing anything special, what with foot issues and all, but I'm happy to be home doing my thing. I could retire, but I'm really trying to pay off my house. Then, I can start digging that below-ground hideaway.
Have a beautiful evening and weekend, folks!
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
Good evening, morning person
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
And a top of the
evenin' to you, good sir![video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYtV16lJSao]
"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11
evening ra...
heh, i saw graham's performance today. he almost out-emoted kavanaugh himself. what a sad excuse for a human being he is.
have a great weekend!
Hey Joe where ya' goin' ...
with that mouse in your hand?
The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. - Friedrich Nietzsche -
evening tim...
how's it going? cool covers!
Hola, Joe & Gang! We're delaying
travel until late tomorrow, so wanted to drop by with this Tweet as a parting comment, so to speak,
We're looking forward to traveling in such beautiful weather (one reason for the postponement). Too early for beautiful fall foliage, but, it will still be enjoyable. Only unpleasant aspect--it's not the same, without 'the B.'
Hey, Everyone have a great weekend!
Blue Onyx
"Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong."
~~W. R. Purche
Postscript: For the next couple months, I'll be posting this blurb and photo about O's "Grand Bargain" as my signature line. As a reminder!
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
it looks like the rule holds up that overprivileged prep school scum all support and cover for each other.
have a great weekend and safe travels!
I'm at a loss for words about the stupidity of humans
Polluting the only planet for profits has to be the most asinine thing. A close second is killing people for profits be it from wars or ignoring the destruction that climate change is going to do just so the industries can squeeze out more profits before they are gone.
So congress found out that people didn't freak out about the first massive tax scam so now they're going for an even bigger one. Will this get people to wake the fuck up and do something about this unrepresentative government? I'm not going to hold my breath.
Can't wait to find out the reason why only Kavanaugh is who should be next up on the Supreme Court. I bet it's going to be a doozy!
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Taxation Without Representation
I wonder what that could lead to.
On another of your comments, I am playing with the idea of tweeting to Trump something along the line of "You would be a hero to the American public is you chose a Woman conservative for the high court." Think he would bite? We already know he will put a conservative, but I think even given a lousy ideology, a woman would be more likely to be a swing vote. Might also mention, there probably wouldn't be any sexual allegations (though you never can tell).
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
evening snoopy...
have a great weekend!
oh my!
Thanks for CB Brown! Finally able to check in after exhausting season and what do I find? Magic. Dont know how you do it. Thanks. Oh, and the "news", same ol same ol. Quell creep is K. I went to high school just down the road from GP, and even then, antidiluvian, the place had a reputation for truly disgusting parties.
evening gb...
glad you enjoyed gatemouth!
yeah, i find kavanaugh to be even more repulsive than most of the republican picks for scotus. he's just got something extra.
Marvin Gaye and Ratt: The Mashup to End All Mashups.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57SNPbxi0r0]
Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.
Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.
evening ac...
that's indeed quite something.
have a great weekend!
thanks for all the blues all week JS!
Thanks for the blues all week JS! Bunch of great stuff! That Clark and Clarence is awesome. Gatemouth was great. So is the one with Canned Heat as backing band, his guitar talking is over the moon.
The whole fracking thing would not exist without the Cheney loophole, and it will come back to haunt all of us, after Cheney is dead no doubt. Meanwhile they buy up water rights. The next oil, after the oil guys destroy countless watersheds, they will be the ones selling water good enough to drink.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
evening dystopian...
there are a few other videos on youtube of roy clark and gatemouth from that episode of hee haw, they are all pretty good.
yep, darth halliburton really screwed humanity pretty good with his special loophole. makes you wonder about those folks who claim that cheney was working for the lizard people from outer space who want the planet cleared so that they can inhabit it - perhaps they were on to something.
Good evening one and all. Happy Friday js.
Crazy daze....
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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
evening do...
thanks for all of the links!
heh, remember when grover norquist wanted to drown the government in a bathtub? heh, now the government wants to drown the people in a bathtub!
go figure.
have a great weekend!
$3,000 to attend a book signing? Some people have no shame
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/business/media/michelle-obama-book-to...
I guess that hopey-changey stuff skyrockets in value as it ages, like fine wine. Luxury premium plutonomy class. Certainly not something any ordinary working person can afford.