The Evening Blues - 3-18-16
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features The King of the Blues, B.B. King. Enjoy!
BB King - Why I Sing The Blues
“If we are to violate the Constitution, will the people submit to our unauthorized acts? Sir, they ought not to submit; they would deserve the chains that these measures are forging for them. The country will swarm with informers, spies, delators and all the odious reptile tribe that breed in the sunshine of a despotic power ... [T]he hours of the most unsuspected confidence, the intimacies of friendship, or the recesses of domestic retirement afford no security. The companion whom you most trust, the friend in whom you must confide, the domestic who waits in your chamber, all are tempted to betray your imprudent or unguarded follie; to misrepresent your words; to convey them, distorted by calumny, to the secret tribunal where jealousy presides — where fear officiates as accuser and suspicion is the only evidence that is heard ... Do not let us be told, Sir, that we excite a fervour against foreign aggression only to establish a tyranny at home; that [...] we are absurd enough to call ourselves ‘free and enlightened’ while we advocate principles that would have disgraced the age of Gothic barbarity and establish a code compared to which the ordeal is wise and the trial by battle is merciful and just."-- Edward Livingston
News and Opinion
The U.S. Government Is Still Fighting to Bury the Senate Torture Report
Government lawyers on Thursday continued their fight to bury the Senate Torture Report, arguing before the D.C. District Court of Appeals that the 6,700-page text could not be released on procedural grounds.
When the 500-page executive summary of the report was released more than a year ago, it prompted international outcry and renewed calls for prosecution. The summary describes not only the CIA’s rape and torture of detainees, but also how the agency consistently misrepresented the brutality and effectiveness of the torture program.
But many of the most graphic details are in Volume III of the full report. ...
The ACLU filed for the release of the full report under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Thursday’s hearing centered on the question of whether the report is an “agency record,” and thus subject to FOIA. Alternatively, if the report is a “congressional record,” its disclosure cannot be requested under the statute.
[For further play-by-play coverage, see this article, too: Judges Consider Release of Full CIA Torture Report - js]
When will the US government stop persecuting whistleblowers?
The US government is heavily invested in an internal surveillance program that is unsustainable, ineffective, morally reprehensible, inherently dangerous and ultimately counterproductive.
In the months following the US government’s initial charges against me over the release of government records in 2010, the current administration formed the National Insider Threat Task Force under the authority of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and several other US government agencies.
The mission of this taskforce is breathtakingly broad. It aims at deterring threats to national security by anyone “who misuses or betrays, wittingly or unwittingly, his or her authorized access to any US Government resource”. Unfortunately, the methods it outlines amount to thousands of government personnel being effectively under total surveillance.
Chelsea Manning: government anti-leak program a 'blank check for surveillance'
‘Insider Threat’ program, based largely on Manning’s WikiLeaks disclosures, targets government employees for ‘continuous evaulation’ using a variety of subjective labels
Thousands of US government employees under permanent surveillance are being investigated for signs of “greed”, “ego”, money worries, disgruntlement or other flaws in the hope of intercepting the next big official leak, according to a document obtained by Chelsea Manning.
[Chelsea Manning], who is serving 35 years in military prison as the source of the 2010 WikiLeaks disclosure of secret state documents, requested her own intelligence file under freedom of information laws.
The file was compiled under the “Insider Threat” program that was set up by President Obama in the wake of Manning’s disclosures. The file shows that officials have been using Manning’s story as a case study from which they have built a profile of the modern official leaker in the hope of catching future disclosures before they happen.
At the start of the 31-page file, government officials list the eight characteristics that agents should look for in employees as telltale signs that they might be tempted to reveal state secrets. The character traits are called “Insider Threat motives”.
Those surveillance categories are themselves extracted from an analysis of Chelsea Manning’s story.
[The motives listed are:
- Greed or financial difficulties
- Disgruntled or wants revenge
- Ideology
- Divided loyalties
- Vulnerable to blackmail
- Ego/Self-Image
- Ingratiation
- Family/personal issues
- js]
In an opinion article in the Guardian, Manning said that the use of subjective labels in her file such as “greed”, “disgruntlement” and “ideology” meant that virtually every government employee could be targeted under the Insider Threat program. “The broad sweep of the program means officials have been given a blank check for surveillance.”
Redaction error reveals FBI did target Lavabit to spy on Edward Snowden
A redaction oversight by the US government has finally confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s targeting of secure email service Lavabit was used specifically to spy on Edward Snowden.
Ladar Levison creator of the email service, which was founded on a basis of private communications secured by encryption and had 410,000 users, was served a sealed order in 2013 forcing him to aid the FBI in its surveillance of Snowden. ...
After 38 days of legal fighting, a court appearance, subpoena, appeals and being found in contempt of court, Levison abruptly shuttered Lavabit citing government interference and stating that he would not become “complicit in crimes against the American people” ...
Documents obtained from the federal court were published by transparency organisation Cryptome, as noted by Wired’s Kim Zetter, revealing that “Ed_Snowden@lavabit.com” was the intended target of the action against Lavabit.
Egypt's Sisi tells West to keep out of Libya
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has warned Western powers Libya could spiral out of control if they try to intervene militarily in the conflict-wracked North African state.
Speaking in a rare interview, the military-backed ruler of one of the region's biggest powers said the West and its allies should instead concentrate on strengthening the army of Libya's internationally recognised government and let it do the job of stabilising the country.
The army is commanded by Khalif Haftar, an officially retired general who spent 20 years in exile in the United States and has been described as a potential 'Libyan Sisi' because of his fierce opposition to Islamist groups.
"If we provide arms and support to the national Libyan army it can do the job better than anyone else, better than any outside intervention which would risk dragging us into a situation that risks getting out of hand and triggering uncontrollable developments," Sisi told Italy's La Repubblica in an interview published Thursday.
Saudis Say They Will Soon Scale Back Yemen War
Saudi Arabia’s military spokesman today announced their intention to scale back military operations against Yemen at some point in the future. They suggested this would happen soon, but that airstrikes against Yemen would continue.
The announcement comes as UN officials took the Saudi military to task for a series of Tuesday airstrikes against a Yemeni marketplace, killing at least 119 civilians. ... The US, of course, has participated in the Saudi war, both refueling Saudi warplanes during airstrikes and participating in the naval blockade.
Ramadi, from Iraq's third city to a ghost town
EU strikes deal with Turkey to send back refugees
The EU has struck a deal with Turkey that would mean all refugees and migrants arriving in Europe from Sunday being sent back across the Aegean Sea. ...
The agreement means that all refugees and migrants arriving in Greece from Sunday can expect to be returned to Turkey. The accord, which is expected to be formally signed off later on Friday, represents a climbdown by Turkey, which had been pushing to restart EU membership talks in five areas.
In return for taking back refugees, Turkey can expect “re-energised” talks on its EU membership, with the promise of negotiations on one policy area to be opened before July. The EU has also agreed to speed up the disbursement of €3bn (£2.3bn) intended to help Syrian refugees in Turkey, with new projects to be agreed this week.
Turkey has promised that all returned people will be treated in line with international law, including guarantees that they will not be returned to the countries they have fled from.
#StopAcuerdo: No al comercio con personas refugiadas https://t.co/QB6BNV5oKB #StopTheDeal pic.twitter.com/1QbHYgMVrC
— Amnistía España (@amnistiaespana) March 16, 2016
Critics Condemn EU-Turkey Deal That Turned Refugees into Bargaining Chips
As European Union ministers in Brussels on Friday accepted a controversial plan described as a direct assault on the "very principle of international protection for those fleeing war and persecution," advocates for refugees and human rights condemned not only the deal's specifics but the deplorable deterioration of values it represents. ...
The paraphrased argument of critics, according to the Washington Post, is that the current deal under consideration in Brussels amounts to an "immoral and potentially illegal solution that would corral refugees in Turkey, a nation plunging deeper into instability and violence."
Amnesty International—which has been staging a running protest in Brussels throughout the week under the banner "Don't Trade Refugees"—demanded governments reject the proposed deal outright and said that Turkey cannot be viewed as a "safe" country for refugees given the current situation of those already there, the increasing concerns about the Turkish government's human rights record, and the ever-increasing descent into authoritarianism by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
"The breach of the right to seek asylum is not mitigated by the fiction that Turkey is a 'safe' country for refugees," wrote members of Amnesty's leadership in a statement on Thursday. "Turkey has granted 'temporary protection' to more than two million Syrians, but it still refuses effective protection in practice to non-Europeans including Afghans, Iraqis and others applying for it. Turkey has also repeatedly pushed Syrians back into the war zone and closed borders to others seeking to flee."
Making matters worse, the statement continued, "Turkey’s president and government have embarked on an intense crackdown on human rights. The breakdown of the Kurdish peace process and extended security operations in the south east, along with nationwide repression of critics, political opposition and media perceived as hostile to the government, may soon add Turkish nationals to the refugee flows."
North Korea missile launch: Pyongyang defiant as ever as ally China calls for calm
North Korea Just Fired Another Couple of Missiles at Nothing in Particular
North Korea's annual March madness saw its latest blast of firepower in the early hours of Friday morning, when Kim Jong-un's forces launched a ballistic missile that flew into the sea off its eastern coast, as the isolated state stepped up its defiance of tough new sanctions.
Then it fired another.
After the first launch, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the missile was likely a medium-range Rodong-missile. It would mark North Korea's first test of a medium-range missile capable of reaching Japan since 2014.
The first missile was launched from north of Pyongyang, the capital, flying across the peninsula and into the sea, the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The second projectile launched soon after the first and from the same region. It disappeared from radar at an altitude of about 17 km, the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Further analysis was needed to determine the nature of the second projectile, it said.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the second projectile might have disintegrated mid-air.
Speaking of weapons of mass destruction:
Latest Leak Confirms TTIP a 'Serious Threat to Democracy as We Know It'
EU member states and the European Parliament will be "sidelined" in favor of big business and U.S. interests should the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) go through, according to a leaked document revealed Friday.
The leak, of the corporate-friendly trade deal's draft chapter on "regulatory cooperation" between the EU and U.S., was made public by The Independent and Brussels-based campaign group Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO).
It exposes "a labyrinth of procedures that could tie up any EU proposals that go against U.S. interests," as The Independent put it, as well as "the extent to which major corporations and industry groups will be able to influence the development of regulatory cooperation."
As Kenneth Haar, researcher for CEO, explained:
Lengthy procedures, including vetting by business for possible economic impacts, are thus envisaged for new regulations. Such measures have already been used informally to weaken EU ambition on financial sector supervision in the years leading up to the 2008 collapse, to offer a free pass to US companies on personal data protection, and to delay or water down EU proposals on animal testing and aviation emissions.
This leaked document from the negotiations confirms fears that the Commission will be obliged to consult with US authorities before adopting new legislative proposals while EU Member States and the European Parliament are sidelined. The leak also offers a glimpse at the proposed bureaucratic labyrinth of impact assessments, dialogues, consultations and reviews that could tie up any proposals that go against US business interests.
In short, he said, "this document shows how TTIP's regulatory cooperation will facilitate big business influence—and U.S. influence—on lawmaking before a proposal is even presented to parliaments."
Rancher Cliven Bundy denied bail over infamous 2014 government standoff
Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who led an infamous standoff with the federal government in 2014, was denied bail in federal court and will remain behind bars as he awaits trial on charges that he threatened, assaulted and conspired against law enforcement.
US judge Carl Hoffman Jr ruled at a hearing in Las Vegas on Thursday that Bundy, 69, would pose a danger to the public if he was released, according to Natalie Collins, spokeswoman for the US attorney’s office. ...
He avoided charges for nearly two years but was taken into custody when he attempted to travel to Oregon, where his sons Ammon and Ryan Bundy led a similar standoff with an armed occupation at a wildlife refuge.
NYPD Arrests Bill de Blasio Adviser for Filming Arrest of Homeless Man
Detroit Public Schools May Close After April 8 Due To Lack Of Funds
Detroit Public Schools have been in an uncomfortable financial situation for a few years now. Teachers have had to take pay cuts in various forms and DPS is in hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
The current financial strain may get even more serious in less than a month when it could potentially run out of funds and leave up to 46,000 kids without schools, according to FOX2 Detroit.
Merrick Garland and Judicial Restraint: How A 'Moderate' Judge is A Gift to Republicans
Black Leaders, Progressives Not Thrilled with Obama's SCOTUS Pick
Many in the civil rights community were not exactly ecstatic with President Obama's selection of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. ...
National Organization of Women President Terry O'Neill fired off a press release shortly before the President presented Garland to reporters and members of Congress in the Rose Garden.
"It's unfortunate that President Obama felt it was necessary to appoint a nominee to the Supreme Court whose record on issues pertaining to women's rights is more or less a blank slate. Equally unfortunate is that we have to continue to wait for the first African American woman to be named," O'Neill said in the statement adding hotly that, "the highest court in the nation was a cipher—a real nowhere man." ...
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) was focused on Garland's qualifications and obstruction by the Senate but was also quick to point out that there needed to be an African-American appointed to the Supreme Court.
"We simply do not have the African American point of view on the bench and we need that. I am also disturbed about the packing of the court with Harvard-trained lawyers," Johnson added.
Hillary Clinton’s Indefensible Stance on the Death Penalty
Clinton has been honing [her response to the death penalty issue] since at least November, when she tempered her long-held support for the death penalty at a Democratic forum by saying it should be reserved for “really heinous crimes,” mostly at the federal level. There, too, she criticized the states — “predominantly but not exclusively in the South” — for hastily seeking death sentences. ... Clinton struck the same note at a Democratic debate last month, telling MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, “I deeply disagree with the way that too many states are still implementing” the death penalty. “I have much more confidence in the federal system,” she said.
“If it were possible to separate the federal from the state system by the Supreme Court,” Clinton added, confusingly, “that would, I think, be an appropriate outcome.”
If it’s hard to imagine how the Court might strike down the death penalty for states but not the federal government, this is just one problem with Clinton’s hedging on capital punishment. It is emblematic of Clinton as a politician that she has managed to stake out a position that lets her have it both ways while costing her absolutely nothing: vague semi-opposition to the death penalty at the state level (for which she would bear no direct responsibility as president), paired with confident support for executions at the federal level — the only realm in which opposing the death penalty could have any practical impact.
Apart from being slippery and convoluted, Clinton’s stance also happens to rest on a view of the death penalty that is both outdated and misleading. Worse, she has decided to perpetuate the insidious notion that the death penalty can be reserved for the “worst of the worst” — a myth that has been debunked again and again.
Bernie Sanders says calls for him to drop out of Democratic race are 'absurd'
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, responding to reports President Barack Obama called on Democrats to rally around Hillary Clinton as the likely nominee, said on Thursday it was “absurd” to suggest he drop out of the race.
Sanders, a Vermont senator and democratic socialist, while saying he did not want to comment directly on Obama’s reported remarks, pushed back on the idea that his campaign had run its course and he should throw in the towel.
“The bottom line is that when only half of the American people have participated in the political process … I think it is absurd for anybody to suggest that those people not have a right to cast a vote,” Sanders told MSNBC in an interview.
An interesting read, here's a snippet, click the link for more.
Sanders Needs to Run as an Independent in November
It is clear that, as of now, Sanders is still fighting to win and has stepped up his attacks on Clinton since Super Tuesday. Millions of people in states that have not yet voted in the primaries are waiting their turn to support Sanders’ stand against the billionaire class and we wholeheartedly identify with that.
But it is is also time to look soberly at the situation and draw lessons from the experience so far and prepare the way to break from the Democratic Party. Sanders should declare his intention to take the political revolution all the way to the general election in November, as an independent if necessary. Sanders’ supporters need a debate on how to make sure we do not end up imprisoned by the constraints of the Wall Street dominated Democratic Party.
Before Sanders officially launched his campaign last year, Socialist Alternative called on him to run as an independent candidate. While Bernie believed he could have more impact in the Democratic primaries, we made the case that the Democratic Party is hostile territory for a pro-worker, anti-corporate campaign. The obstacles include the undemocratic methods and structures the Democratic leadership imposes on the primary process, the power of Wall Street money, and the establishment media, as well as the more conservative character of the small minority of primary voters. This means it is far harder for Sanders to take over the Democratic Party than it would be to begin building a new political party. ...
Sanders should not allow the political revolution to die at the July Democratic Convention. Millions have been inspired by his call for a $15 minimum wage, free college, and Medicare for All. That energy must be used to continue to build the movement until November and beyond. No challenge to the billionaire class will ever be successful that begins and ends in a presidential primary. ...
Bernie should call for a national conference of his supporters and those on the left to launch a discussion and begin making plans to run independent candidates on a pro-worker, anti-corporate platform. This conference could begin the process of building a party of the 99% in the United States.
The Economist rates Trump presidency among its top 10 global risks
A Donald Trump presidency poses a top-10 risk event that could disrupt the world economy, lead to political chaos in the U.S. and heighten security risks for the United States, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Electing Trump could also start a trade war, hurt trade with Mexico and be a godsend to terrorist recruiters in the Middle East, according to the latest EIU forecasts.
The well-respected global economic and geopolitical analysis firm put a possible Trump presidency in its top 10 global risks this month, released Wednesday. Other risks include a sharp slowdown in the Chinese economy, a fracture of the Eurozone, and Britain's possible departure from the European Union.
Invasion of the American lobsters: Sweden asks EU for help
Sweden has asked the European Union for help to stop an invasion of American lobsters, saying they could wipe out their European cousins with deadly diseases.
The Swedish environment ministry said more than 30 American lobsters have been found along Sweden’s west coast in recent years.
It said the American lobster, also known as the Maine lobster, “can carry diseases and parasites that could spread to the European lobster and result in extremely high mortality”
Reservoirs are getting a big boost from 'Miracle March' — but the drought isn't over yet
A series of storms during this "Miracle March" has caused Folsom and two of its neighbors, Lake Oroville and Shasta Lake, to swell. The massive reservoirs are at above-average levels for the first time since the spring of 2013.
But experts say subsequent reports of the drought's demise have been exaggerated. With the state's most-telling snowpack measurement less than two weeks away, California can boast little more than an average year of rain and snow.
This month's rains have bumped the 154 reservoirs tracked by the state up from about 17 million acre-feet of stored water at the end of February to about 21.5 million acre-feet now, said state hydrologist Maurice Roos. That puts California at about 81% of the end-of-March-average, he said.
The water content in the state's snowpack is also important because when the snow melts, the water runs off into the reservoirs. The snowpack on Thursday stood at 92% of normal and is expected to still be slightly below average when surveyors perform their March 30 measurement.
A few weeks or even months of rain also cannot undo years of groundwater depletion in the San Joaquin Valley, where desperate locals have drilled deeper and deeper wells.
Dimock Water Contamination Verdict Prompts Calls for Federal Action on Fracking
Last week, in a historic verdict, a Pennsylvania jury awarded $4.24 million to two families in Dimock, PA who sued a shale gas driller, Cabot Oil and Gas Corp., over negligent drilling that contaminated their drinking water supplies. ...
For years, Cabot Oil and Gas has maintained that the problems with the water were simply cosmetic or aesthetic, and that even if the water was not good, their operations in the area had nothing to do with it.
The federal jury's verdict last Thursday represents a legal conclusion that the water was in fact contaminated because of the negligence of the drilling company — no small matter for those who spent years living in a deeply fractured community where emotions over the shale rush have run high and pitted neighbor against neighbor.
The verdict also has broader ramifications for the national debate over shale drilling and water contamination.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the risks to American drinking water supplies from unconventional oil and gas drilling and fracking. And while the Ely v. Cabot case did not center directly on hydraulic fracturing, the wells surrounding the Ely property suspected of causing the contamination were mostly fracked shale gas wells.
“This jury trial reflects that drilling and fracking caused groundwater contamination, and this is only the beginning,” actor Mark Ruffalo said in a statement on behalf of Americans Against Fracking. “It is also time for President Obama to let the US Environmental Protection Agency do its job and investigate thousands of complaints across the country of drilling and fracking polluting drinking water supplies and harming the American people.”
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Five Big Unanswered Questions About NSA’s Worldwide Spying
How Propaganda Feeds War on Syria
Think Again Hillary Democrats: 10 Reasons Why She Could Lose this Fall
Candidates, Is America Exceptional, or Only Great?
Cruz Hires Neocon Loons, Gaffney, Ledeen, Abrams
Moodys: Public Pension Underfunding to Worsen as Returns Lag
IRS Auditing of Big Corporations Plummets - Potential Annual Revenue Loss $15 Billion
A man’s discovery of bones under his pub could forever change what we know about the Irish
A Little Night Music
BB King - Woke Up This Morning
B.B.King - Nobody Loves Me But My Mother
B.B.King - Never Make Your Move To Soon
Ray Charles & B.B. King - Sinners Prayer
B.B. King - How Blue Can You Get
B.B.King w/Koko Taylor - Something You Got
B.B King - Hummingbird
B.B.King Live in Bonn 1994
Comments
Good evening, everyone!
Thanks, Joe! I just wanted to pop in and say hi! before going up to read. Have a beautiful Friday night!
"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...
have a great read!
and now, i'm going to do my disappearing act and go grab some dinner. see you after a while.
Have a well earned evening joe ! (Now where did I put disco
8 tracks? )
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...
did you perhaps leave them in the old chevy with the vinyl roof under a pile of dirty qiana shirts, platform shoes and coke spoons?
Hypocrisy of Clintons & Sidney Blumenthal
This is not about how anyone feels about this organization. It's about the HYPOCRISY of Clinton & Blumenthal's. SOP for them.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/18/politics/bernie-sanders-aipac-speaking/ind...
A petition started by Max Blumenthal, the son of former Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal and a pro-Palestinian writer, had garnered more then 5,000 signatures urging Sanders not to speak at AIPAC. One of the signers is Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters, who has endorsed Sanders.
Hillary Clinton will be a "featured speaker" at AIPC.
Anything to stir up trouble. Anything. Why isn't Max Blumenthal creating a petition urging Clinton NOT to speak at the conference.
I admit that at first I didn't want him to, either.
Then I remembered him going to the winger college and engaging them, answering their questions from his zen center, no fear. That was a bfd for me, that he went into the 'lion's den'. S
Now I think, yes, we need him to go talk to them and let them know that a new day is coming. He will have to deal with them eventually, like all pols do these days.
Jakkalbessie and I donated to a dailykos effort to support downticket progressives, gave money to a younger up and comer from El Paso. Then of course got on his email list, which was cool, since being from Austin we really knew next to nothing about El Paso but firgured, hey, if he was willing to stand up send him a few shekels from our pension check. Got some good news for a while about what he was working on.
Then one day we got an email that he had been chosen to go on a trip for new Congressment to Israel. Wonder who paid for that? Heh.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Well, here's hoping that he doesn't turn into a Kinky Friedman
song --
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
evening caerus...
one thing that i'd say is that max blumenthal has very different political leanings than his father, sidney blumenthal does. i'm pretty sure that the former despises aipac and has little love for the clintons, while the latter is an aipac supporter and a clinton toady.
that said, everybody seems to want to tell bernie what to do (heck, i probably do, too) and dictate "advice" to him.
on the other hand, telling clinton not to speak to aipac is like telling godzilla to stay away from tokyo.
Because Blumenthal
is a Clinton weasel. I find it hard to believe the he is pro-Palestinian given what a neocon/neoliberal Clinton poodle he is. I really would like to know what Sidney and Hillary were chatting about on her bathroom server email account.
Good evening Joe & c99%-ers.
Thanks for the musical treat and the excellent news roundup, Joe.
And three cheers to the ever-growing C99%. Hip hip Hurray! Thanks JtC for this cozy Juke Joint.
evening funkygal...
you're welcome.
yep, jtc deserves all the attaboys we can muster. he has been working tirelessly for a couple of weeks to keep all of the balls in the air.
It is amazing how Trump(his racism,hatred notwithstanding) is
outing the Republicans (and to some extent the elite consensus) and laying it all bare for even more of us to see. One need to see this excerpt for the utter contempt the conservative establishment has for poor working class Whites in dying communities in Appalachia etc (who supposedly form Trump's base).
Note : I clicked the NRO link and it did not paywall me but then when I search for keywords, I am not finding it. But then here is another source as proof :
https://shadowproof.com/2016/03/16/trump-derangement-syndrome-national-r...
I am trying to sum up the reasons behind Trump's success
and the Establishment contempt for him.
Lot of c99%-ers know this, and I have said few times before.And too. Trump is not more or less racist than the ruling class elite. It is just that he says it openly - what shouldn't be mentioned in polite company. He does it with bombast. The real reason the knives are out against him from the Repub establishment is because :
1) He is not sufficiently pro-Israel.
2) He is not that much against Putin/Russia - not to the extent the neocons want . And that is besides his dissenting position on Syria etc.
3) He is going against the bipartisan neoliberal consensus reg free trade, healthcare etc.
The racist charge against him, though true, is a Red Herring. [Note: editing to make it extra clear] I mean to say that he is not uniquely racist as his accusers portray him. Except he is more outright. unlike the bipartisan establishment. [end edit]. The failure of "Merkan Demockery", as Joe terms it, a.k.a the phony 2-party system, is what fueled the rise of Trump. And the failure of the Liberal Class is a big factor - it failed to provide a credible alternative to Reagonomics and instead the Neoliberal Consensus.
Please add if I missed something or correct me. Thanks.
I honestly think the only reason they hate him
is because of his self-interest in wanting to ditch free-trade. Free trade screws the HELL out of Real Estate people, because it doesn't increase the value of their property. In fact, it diminishes it.
Ironically enough, the entire reason they hate him is he's JUST LIKE THEM. He's acting in his self interest, which drives them nuts because politicians are supposed to take their cut and act in THEIR interest.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
I think you're (FG & DMW) both correct! DT was
one of two Republicans (Huckabee was the other one) who did not agree to slashing/cutting Social Security.
Mitt Romney actually mentioned that Trump wouldn't cut entitlements, and that he would cause a recession if he imposed stiff tariffs during his March 3 address.
So, no question--free trade and the refusal to slash entitlements, has the Republican Establishments in a tizzy!
(Not to mention everything else that has transpired.)
BTW, I was pretty convinced that Repubs would succeed in getting Kasich nominated at a brokered convention.
But, earlier this afternoon, I saw a blurb about Mitt Romney supporting Ted Cruz! Blew me away. So, not sure which way they will go to stop DT.
Hey, Joe! I'll be back to post a screenshot after I walk 'the B'--the $1.070 Trillion dollars budget was passed in the House Budget Committee on Wednesday.
*Sigh*
Mollie at C99P & Daily Kos
elinkarlsson@WordPress
"We must stop looking for our salvation in strong leaders. Strong people, as Ella Baker said, do not need strong leaders. Politicians, even good politicians, play the game of compromise and are too often seduced by the privileges of power.
. . . Integrity and courage are powerful weapons. We have to learn how to use them."--Chris Hedges, Journalist, Author & Activist
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Oh, mollie, say it isn't SO !!!
Thanks, DNC for 2010 ! /s
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Sorry, DO--it's true! Now, we're only
talking about it being voted out of Committee (by party line vote). But, it's hard to imagine that it won't pass the House. I'm trying to ferret out more details, right now.
At this time, all that I've learned is that the budget resolution "is a ten-year GOP funding blueprint that lowers tax rates by broadening the tax base, reduces the cost of entitlements, . . ."
If passed, as is--it would repeal the ACA, and (their words) Wall Street Banking Reform.
Whew!
Stay tuned.
I'll shout it from the rooftops (here at EB), when I get something else!
Best to you and JB!
Mollie at C99P & Daily Kos
elinkarlsson@WordPress
"We must stop looking for our salvation in strong leaders. Strong people, as Ella Baker said, do not need strong leaders. Politicians, even good politicians, play the game of compromise and are too often seduced by the privileges of power.
. . . Integrity and courage are powerful weapons. We have to learn how to use them."--Chris Hedges, Journalist, Author & Activist
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
thanks, i hadn't heard that it cleared the budget committee. well, i guess we're on our way to a grand bargain. hopefully rethug intransigence will save us again.
It would seem so, Joe. Hope this tiny chart is
'readable.'
It's from a Tweet which I'll post later. Here's what it says, below, in case it's too hard to read.
Just so folks know--when Repubs are talking about the 2017 Budget (I know this from watching Fox News Sunday), they refer to so-called entitlements as 'welfare programs.'
Guess this helps Repub lawmakers get these cuts by their Base.
Notice, the two bullet points at the bottom of the table:
If that ain't the Grand Bargain, don't know what is!
I'll try to get links to the bill, summaries, etc., as soon as I can.
Have a good one!
Mollie
elinkarlsson@WordPress
"To maintain pure discipline is to do away with pretense and concealment." Milarepa
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
thanks mollie!
De nada! 'Thank you' for the excellent venue. ;-) EOM
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Correction: Romney will 'vote for' Cruz, NOT back him. EOM
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
the racism
is not a red herring. It is the core of his campaign. He is going to smash brown people: deport Mexicans, kill Muslims; too, his response to Black Lives Matter, is that the people of the US need to support the police, because the police are the people with the biggest grievance in this country about being treated "unfairly." He is the candidate speaking to the dead-enders in the last throes of whiteness. This is a man who has said he is going to "bomb the shit out of ISIS," go into Iraq and "take all the oil," dispatch a minimum of 30,000 US troops to Iraq and Syria and Libya, kill the families of people he deems "terrorists," blockade the South China Sea, gleefully torture people, assassinate Kim Jong-un, and execute Edward Snowden. He's a stone killer. He has such a hard-on for killing, he's already urging Americans to kill each other.
My bad. What I meant by '"Red Herring" is the
establishment portraying & attacking him as uniquely racist. I am NOT denying he is a racist - he is a raging one. You can see that if you read my comment above. All of what you said applies to varying degrees to the 2-party elites. Liberals may not say so openly but pay close attention to their actions. For example, the horror show that is Flint has Jennifer Granholm's hand in it via her support of emergency managers. And think about mass school closings in Chicago in Black communities, expansion of prisons under Bill Clinton etc. And don't get me started on the bipartisan state-sponsored terrorism.
Check this one out :
http://www.caucus99percent.com/content/monsters-inc-starring-hillary-t-i...
Add into the mix HRC's "superpredators" video, Obama's periodic, coded "responsible homeowners" reference, Hillary's "Nancy Reagan started a conversation on AIDS" etc etc.....
evening hecate...
i think that funkygal's point is that trump's racism is not out of character for an american president. the only significant difference is that trump celebrates his racism as a feature, whereas other politicians try to hide it behind a smokescreen of misleading rhetoric.
Of course Trump is racist.
How else would he communicate with such a vast audience of Americans, who are among the most racist and derogatory people in the world. (When they are not committing genocide.)
There is nothing illuminating that comes from your recital of his sins. No new information to be had. And the fact is, he speaks the language that most Americans can fully relate to. (From the beginning, however, I've felt that Trump was cynically pandering to Americans and trolling the Republicans. But it doesn't matter. Whether he's faking it or not, he gets the job done.)
Coincidently, I ran across an an analysis today showing which US states spew the most racial and gender slurs in the course of a day.
Big data housing firm, Abodo, monitored 12 million tweets coming from every corner of America for a period of two years — looking for foul and derogatory slurs in normal language use. Then they published a number of interesting charts you can see right here.
https://www.abodo.com/blog/tolerance-in-america/
All US states have soiid pockets of racism, but Louisiana has by far the most demeaning and intolerant mouths in the United States. (That's something I earned first hand.).
Anti-Hispanic/Latino slurs are tweeted most frequently in California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico — states with large numbers of Latino residents.
I'd say Trump knows how to talk to his constituents. And the love him for that.
To a majority of Americans, Trump sounds more authentic than any other Presidential candidate. Trump appears to be a very skilled politician.
i think you are pretty much on target...
i think that the establishment hate him because he is too good at playing their game. they like to stir up the yokels that they have been diseducating and deskilling for years to vote against their own interests. he is loves the poorly educated and manipulates them like a champ. he has courted them and explained to them that the establishment rethugs have been cynically using them for years. they believe him as he plans to cynically use them, too.
he has poached their bewildered majority. they hate that.
the bewildered majority are drawn to him because he's promising the things that they want to hear about jobs and prosperity, offering them what the poorly educated see as plausible targets for their anger, and because he appears to be sticking it to the establishment of both parties.
Bernie Running Independant would
drive the Democrats completely bonkers.
Hence why he should absolutely do it.
Anything that pisses those sanctimonious arrogant fascists is OK by me.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
It's been one of my fondest wishes
ever since he announced. I would love nothing more than to see him make an Independent run against Trump and Clinton--and watch him sail into the White House. Presuming, of course, he can get on the ballot in all 50 states, which I have no doubt TPTB would fight with every dirty trick in their inventory, I truly believe he'd win. In every state.
Well, that how it feels, although likely somewhat idealistic on my part.
Team Hillary and the DNC
are incredibly lucky that Bernie has bags of integrity. If he didn't he could bring them all down very easily by running as an Indy
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
Fuck em.
I notice that I'm saying that a LOT recently. Comes from biting my tongue for years, I guess...
But I can think of much worse things that the Democrat party going up in flames.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bikl9-OPPmA]
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
evening steve...
i think you're right. my guess from looking at the states with open primaries outside the south is that bernie has good support from independents (who outnumber either dems or reps these days).
Evening Joe
that is about the strength of it - HRC gets very little love from independents - wonder why
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” -Voltaire
How is his not running
as an indie 'bags of integrity'? As much I think he is authentic and pretty much aware of whats going down, I cannot fathom how refusing to run and challenge the bogus rigged Democratic party is because he has too much integrity. If he really is for a political revolution why wouldn't he run as an as an indie (43% of voters and rising). It pisses me off and reinforces my niggling doubts about his candidacy from the start.
I sometimes think why does he caucus with the Democratic weasel's in congress? He's not alone in my disdain for so called progressive's in congress who have constantly rolled over and not fought for we the people. Why don't they obstruct with teeth on the people's behalf? They suck as the loyal opposition. Why does 60% =a majority?
How strange to talk the truth and get this many people engaged and then acquiesce to what he is supposedly fighting against. Sure he'd be done as far having a career in DC but if he really had integrity and was about a real political revolution he would take it all the way. Tacking amendments to egregious bills and acts may mitigate slightly the damage done but it won't even slow down the by-partisan corruption and abuses of power we're all living under. So a sheep dog after all. Perhaps he feels it's better for we the people not to change the iron boot of this fascist duopoly outside the gates they have built. If so what kind of fool is he?
I don't really think he's a fool but his political revolution is a sham if he won't step out of the bogus partisan lines drawn by people who have not only no integrity but are just evil regardless of having a D or an R after their names. I got over 500 likes on fb for arguing against a Chris Hedges article about how Sanders was a dead end but shit if he can't even put his money where is mouth is what good is he? Oh yeah he's going to push HRC to the left. Right. Like Hillary the Hun is about to evolve into a democracy loving compassionate 'moderate because Bernie's message got traction. Forget about that.
Why doesn't he put his integrity and the huge movement he has given voice to actually bucking the locked in system? He's no feeble Greener like Nadar he is a real contender. Integrity to what end?
evening dmw...
i'd love to see him do it. i don't think that he will, barring some sort of catalytic event or revelation of skullduggery, though.
The first snow of spring came early this year.
This is a grammatically correct sentence and is perfectly intelligible to anyone familiar with the language it is written in.
(They're predicting more snow in central New York on Tuesday, so I suppose that will officially be the first snow of spring.)
Hi, good one petral. :) Hope you, joe and all are well!
Heh. Reminds me of the time when we got snowed on while camping in the town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, inthe first week in July. A nice policeman (!) there said that it had snowed varying amounts every month he had been there for the last two years. This was probably 10-15 years ago. So yeah, I can believe you.
Severe thunderstorm warnings in the TX Hill Country just now. A week or so ago over in the next county, grapefruit sized hail was recorded. (Damn, that big might even break the solar panels on our old shack, or crack the brittle fiberglass on our ancient slide in camper. ) Got my fingers crossed that it will go around.
People generally like it when it snows in Santa Fe, NM, where we are usually hanging out between travels. Snow means more water for the reservoirs after the recent 500 yr empty cliff dwelling ruin creating drought. So hope it helps.
Went into Austin today for my mother's 85th birthday. She has Alz/Dem, and this was the first time she could not remember my name. The wildflowers were awesome as we drove along the 75 minutes to the metroplex.
During the drive Jakkalbessie commented that she had read that the Lake Travis (reservoir) was full for the first time since 2010. (We lived on a boat there the last three years we taught HS before we retired .)
As we got closer to Austin the development in the fragile Hill Country acquifer recharge zone area was astounding, ongoing, and sure to guarantee misery for those who would need to get into the captital with no trains etc available. Not to mention impact on water.
Something else we saw on our drive:
Pardon me if this seems cruel or repulsive to post, but it so reminded me of one of our favorite Texas (!) progressives:
Former Texas Agriculture Commisioner Jim Hightower's classic book:
--------------------------------------------------
There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos: A Work of Political Subversion
-------------------------------------------
Buy this book from Powell's
Buy this book for your Android device
----------------------------------------
#
"I make a lot of money these days speaking to corporations, so I'd really prefer not to admit how much I enjoyed 'There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road' , - Al Franken #
-------------------------------------------
The state highway we were riding on had been lavishly redone recently. Roads in TX mean huge money for contractors. Wish schools were as important but they have more lobbyists and the paid politicians and we don't. People have fought them for years but many have flat given up--witness TX has one of the lowest turnouts in the nation.
That dead armadillo and those yellow stripes reminded me to have courage to continue to work the work, begun by the likes of Hightower, Molly Ivins, and others.
Thanks for the work you do here joe, jtc, and all the others of the crew who birthed this nice place!
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...
hoping that the hail leaves you guys alone and falls harmlessly somewhere else.
happy birthday to your mom! i'm so sorry to hear about her decline. my mom had alzheimer's for more than a decade. it's really sad to see someone slowly slip away. you have my deepest sympathies.
who knew that a dead armadillo was a metaphor and a book recommendation?
evening petral...
they're calling for snow here sunday and/or monday. i'm not thinking that it will amount to much since the ground is warm and will likely melt the snow as it falls.
An independent Sanders run?
Typically not a good idea but things have changed.This is not a typical election.
If Bernie decides to go for it I'm with him.
Gary U.S. Bonds
live-daddy's come home
Solidarity
evening rwiley...
yeah, i have no concerns about him being a spoiler for an acceptable candidate if that's what it comes down to. both hillary and the donald are disasters.
If it's Hillary v Trump
I'll vote Hillary.If Bernie is on the ballot I vote Bernie.No question.
Gary U.S. Bonds - The Pretender
Solidarity
Ditto! I'd vote for him in a heartbeat as an Indie. ;-) EOM
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Can I just say.........
Thanks for this place. The Great Orange Hillary was just becoming too much.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
Plus...
It's a lot easier to navigate than the ordure that is DK5.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
evening bollox...
sure you can say that. it's not like we have any rules against being nice.
heh
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, heh...
musings on a Friday evening
Greeting to Joe and JtC and all you both do to continue to make this a great site! Went back and read the meta diary to catch up on some of what has transpired since we have been out of the country. Thanks again for your hard work!
Drove out of the beautiful hill country outside of Austin today to celebrate DO's mother's birthday in Austin. She is 85 and her brother and his daughter came to town to celebrate with her and the family. She is suffering from dementia and today was a good good time.day for her and we all had a very time.
We had some interesting conversations in this mixed political atmosphere. One member of the family works monitoring all the machines in the hospital in particular in the heart unit. She is very discouraged by the attitude of her boss and the pressure and being overworked and understaffed. Her boss has told nurses on the floor that want to quit, go ahead, I can hire a new graduate! DO and I decided not to be the first to give our viewpoint and young nephew jumped right in about this is not right and possible ways to get attention to her plight. Glad to see some others wanting to do more than just say, oh well, that is the way it is. Let's do something!
On the way home, we crossed the Pedernales River which empties into Lake Travis. The entire Hill Country has been in an extended drought for about 5 years but because of recent rains, Lake Travis is full stage for the first time since 2010. Of course, the sad news is that will make those climate change deniers believe there is nothing wrong here. Laughed as saw a sign on the side of the road, "Just Listed, waterfront property"! When the lake was down this property was about 20-30 feet from being waterfront.
Now must go clean up and put away rest of groceries. This computer is having technical difficulties and as I am typing move the cursor all over the page and so hope caught most of the typos!
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
evening jb...
glad to hear that you guys had a good time. also glad that the next generation is ready to jump in, roll up their sleeves and make some change.
heh, as long as the climate deniers remain comfortable they will continue to deny the obvious. hopefully their sort will be outnumbered soon.
Evening Joe, good people~
Welp, once again you've beaten me to the punch on my links, but that can only be a good thing. On this Apple thing, WTF? I was unaware the FBI was able to conscript us into their service. That is some big hairy bullshit right there.
I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~
evening triv...
heh, sorry, i guess. we have common interests. that's probably a good thing.
the fbi is hoping to get the courts to apply a law from 1789 (the all writs act) to the situation. i think that the better arguments are on apple's side, but we'll see what the court does with it. it's likely to take quite a while to unwind and will undoubtedly wind up in the supreme court unless the next president is less of a surveillance state fascist than this one.
What's the chances of that?
The next Prez being any less of a fascist creep than this one? I mean, I had initially intended to vote for Jill Stein, then Bernie got in it, so naturally it's my duty to back any reasonable opponent to a Clinton, but if he should not get the nom, and thinks he can sheepdog us back into the fold? Well, no. I'll be right back to voting for Jill, where I was to start with, but that will mean the next CIC will probably be more of a filthy snoop, not less.
This primary ought to be the last gasp of a bankrupt party, but I have no faith that it will. People are all too happy to cling to their labels as if they mean something, they don't. Not that I can see anyway.
I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~
we're on the same page...
i'm willing to be supportive of bernie despite that he's running as a democrat. if the democrats edge him out of the nom, unless he runs as an indie or moves outside the party to organize a movement, i'm done with him for this cycle. i don't care if he endorses hillary or accepts a position as her running mate. i was done with the democrats early in the clinton administration. i've voted for jill stein before and i'll be delighted to vote for her again.
Yeah...I got some leftie friends who are
downright pissy at me for pushing Bernie, hey man, I gotta do my part to break this shit up in any way I see fit. Bernie running against Clinton? Oh, hell yes, I'm going all out, baby, let's pull back that curtain and show just how low these establishment dems will go, lol. And yeah, I will be more than happy to vote for Jill come November.
I shave my legs with Occam's Razor~
HRC choose a (R) Meg Whitman for VP?
OMG on Chris Mathews talked about (R) Meg Whitman running with HRC for VP?. Last week he suggested Kasich as VP. Why is he putting republicans on the ticket? Hows that for DNC loyalty? That would be such a slap in the face.
Mamazing2
evening mamzing...
oh hell, why not? hillary is basically a republican anyway. do you think that it would be too obvious and give the game away to the public?
Probably too obvious.
I don't think the public would take too well to finding out they've been watching a two-headed sockpuppet show.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Is Isis ready to launch its first fleet of driverless carbombs?
Those whacky and innovative Arabs are just too much:
http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/isis-autonomous-car-bombs/
The US military needs to return to the US immediately, and never leave again.
They're testing them now at the ISIS branch of
DARPA.
The US already does that.
Only we call them "Drones".
Same shit, different package, and we have no fucking grounds to complain.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
evening pluto...
it's funny how a group that prides itself on its medieval mindset and lifestyle is so focused on the most modern, high technology weaponry.
Amen Pluto
I can't imagine Sanders running as an indie if he
loses the Democratic Party primary, but a clue might be whether he starts attacking Clinton more heavily in the coming weeks. Obama came out and called for unity under Clinton and indicated Sanders' rhetoric against Clinton isn't going to help. If Sanders obliges and focuses more on Trump and his standard campaign theme, that would indicate he's going to play ball as he's indicated in the past.
If he does play ball and endorses Clinton, there will be a large shift happening within the left, perhaps in the entire country. If Clinton vs Trump wouldn't be a call for action against this political system, I don't know what would be.
Sanders has revealed how toothless...
much of what we think of as the "Left" actually is. We've been lulled into accepting eighth measures for so long, when somebody comes around who even offers a half measure, we pay attention.
My response from here on in to these quibbling little incremental suggestions is going to be a loud and determined,
"That's NOT good enough."
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
It's bigger than that to me
I think what we've seen over the last fifteen years proves beyond a doubt that we don't live in the country nor have the political system many of us believed we had. We don't live in a democracy, that has been proven without a doubt. And no amount of Sanders or Warren (I've already see the Hopers hoping) is going to change that.
We need to have this discussion as a country, it's time. Like you said, nothing else is good enough. I am just a much a human being as any of those fuckers who control us and I'm sick of being controlled.
evening al...
i have a hard time imagining sanders going indie, too. on the other hand, i think he really does want to win and his campaign rhetoric has heated up considerably over the period of the last several weeks. i think that clinton's sleazy half-truths and false claims have probably pissed him off enough that he no longer cares about skewering her over her record.
Exciting find on most recent trip to Costa Rica
e were pretty much exhausted from our long hike up to the hills above the ocean in Uvita in search of another waterfall we had heard about but did not see last year. A beautiful hawk startled us and screamed as it slowly glided away. We were really hot and tired, but glad we had gotten the work out.
Sat down on some big rocks at the river's edge, ate some peanut butter and cookies that Jakkalbessie had brought along, tiredly watched the blue and black butterflies and the red dragonflies flit about. Magic, really.
I creeked and strained, stood up, and began the walk back down toward Uvita. I heard Jakkalabessie behind me call urgently [divineorder] !!!!
I turned around and readied my camera. She pointed and and I was shocked as I began to shoot with the 100-400. "What the hell IS it?" I wondered to myself.
At first I thought 'hope against hope we are finally getting to see a jaguarundi.' Then I looked at the head, and thought, 'no'. Then looked at the claws and I though wtf, otter?
The creature was exquistely black and beautiful, and was on a mission headed down the streambe. He REALLY did not want to turn around. He hesitated, looked at us, started to leave, came back, then finally left.
Worth all the hours and hours of strain and sweat!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Wow
I think it is a type of weasel called a Tayra.
And the winner is, tadaaaaa, Crider!
I had never heard of it! Once was gone I thought about the Pine Maartens we saw in Grand Teton NP ! In Costa Rica they call it tolomuco.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
I concur, a fellow mustelid, I saw one in Belize on a
guided birding tour & the guide called it.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Glad you saw one in Belize!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
awesome photo, do...
that's an interesting critter! it looks quite formidable, too.
Thanks joe, we still are so elated to have seen such
a creature!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Ditto! Love your photos DO--thanks! EOM
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Appreciate your feeback, thanks!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
aaaawww, man!
That animal practically posed for you! My trip to Costa Rica gave me the sighting of a sloth. I had searched in Panama, Ecuador...finally saw one at a coffee plantation.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Haha, on the cusp, ain't it the truth!!!!!!!
Just glad I didn't blow it! Got about 7 clear shots, one of which provided definitive proof it was a male.
Tried to remain calm!
A week or so later we were on a bike ride in the Osa when some moneys began coming out of the mangrove crawling on the large roots and crossing the unpaved road not far in front of us. Thought I got some great shots especially of mother and baby. Then discovered that the knob had turned to bulb in my daypack and all were black!
Great to hear you got to see a sloth! We have seen a 4 or 5 of them over the years but on this trip they eluded us!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Thanks Joe
It's always a pleasure.
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...
a shared pleasure is a good thing...
Outraged indignation.
There is a story in Wednesday's Salon Feel the Bern, indeed: Sanders takes the low road with nasty Clinton tweet, undermining the promise of his campaign that is a perfect example of how far some in the media and others will go to smear Sanders.
In a huff, a Chicago Tribune writer, Alison Bowen, is claiming that a photo she took was stolen by the Sanders' campaign. I downloaded a copy of both photos. Yes, they are of the same subject and at the same place. No, they are not the same photograph.
1. The Bowen photo is a close up of a Clinton/Rahm '16 sign.
2. The Sanders' photo of the same sign is taken from a distance at a slightly different angle, the trash lid is titled more open, there is something hanging from the right side of the can that is not in the Bowen photo, etc.
I have done a lot of photography over the ages including darkroom work. I have never been able to take a close up shot and then later expand it into a distance shot.
The article is essentially a hit piece by one of the magazine's regular writers. I cannot find an address for her (other than following her which I have no wish to do) to retract his story, so I guess I will have to find one to write to Salon.
Thanks! I needed to get that off my chest. = )
PS. Thanks for the good articles in EB. Particularly appreciate the BB King. = )
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 winddancer...
you might look to see if salon has a public editor, or an editor with an email address to send your complaint to. the other place that might be interested is fair.org.
Thank you.
I will take a look at both.
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
Greetings, Joe and the Caucacks!
Or whatever we call ourselves these days. We lost another good Kossack to Kos' determined drive for purity today, so I thought I'd come over and say hi. Beyond that nothing much to report, just wanted to check in.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
evening ec...
good to see you! i'm not sure that we've settled on an appellation yet, but i am partial to 99ers or c99ers.
Evening, Joe!
OK, 99ers it is until we decide otherwise. Sounds better!
Nice compilation of news. I miss it over at TOP.
Please check out Pet Vet Help, consider joining us to help pets, and follow me @ElenaCarlena on Twitter! Thank you.
Oh good grief!
Let's don't call ourselves that.
I'm sticking to 99ers for now.
Love your sig line Pluto
seems nobody wants to look too closely at these scary monsters as they wear different masks to trick you.. It's easier to think this is not as bad a monster as the other one is. I can appease this better looking monster and convince myself it's not really evil. I will come out intact my world will not be devastated. It's better then the other monsters out there. I know this one. The Wild Thing was my kids favorite story over and over again. It's not possible to tame our current wild things by saying be still. They are not cute drawings they are the real monsters that have always lurked around. We need to quit feeding and appeasing them.
Lol. It is awful. Nt
"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon
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