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“People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.”

-- Blaise Pascal

News and Opinion

It Is Possible Paul Manafort Visited Julian Assange. If True, There Should Be Ample Video and Other Evidence Showing This.

The Guardian today published a blockbuster, instantly viral story claiming that anonymous sources told the newspaper that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort visited Julian Assange at least three times in the Ecuadorian Embassy, “in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016.” The article – from lead reporter Luke Harding, who has a long-standing and vicious personal feud with WikiLeaks and is still promoting his book titled “Collusion: How Russia Helped Trump Win the White House” – presents no evidence, documents or other tangible proof to substantiate its claim, and it is deliberately vague on a key point: whether any of these alleged visits happened once Manafort was managing Trump’s campaign.

For its part, WikiLeaks vehemently and unambiguously denies the claim. “Remember this day when the Guardian permitted a serial fabricator to totally destroy the paper’s reputation,” the organization tweeted, adding: “WikiLeaks is willing to bet the Guardian a million dollars and its editor’s head that Manafort never met Assange.” The group alsopredicted: “This is going to be one of the most infamous news disasters since Stern published the ‘Hitler Diaries.'” ... While certain MSNBC and CNN personalities instantly and mindlessly treated the story as true and shocking, other more sober and journalistic voices urged caution and skepticism. The story, wrote WikiLeaks critic Jeet Heer of the New Republic, “is based on anonymous sources, some of whom are connected with Ecuadorian intelligence. The logs of the embassy show no such meetings. The information about the most newsworthy meeting (in the spring of 2016) is vaguely worded, suggesting a lack of certitude.”

There are many more reasons than the very valid ones cited by Heer to treat this story with great skepticism, which I will outline in a moment. Of course it is possible that Manafort visited Assange – either on the dates the Guardian claims or at other times – but since the Guardian presents literally no evidence for the reader to evaluate, relying instead on a combination of an anonymous source and a secret and bizarrely vague intelligence document it claims it reviewed (but does not publish), no rational person would assume this story to be true. But the main point is this one: London itself is one of the world’s most surveilled, if not the most surveilled, cities. And the Ecuadorian Embassy in that city – for obvious reasons – is one of the most scrutinized, surveilled, monitored and filmed locations on the planet. ...

If these meetings happened, British intelligence would almost certainly have video of him entering and exiting. https://t.co/VpSMOo7f0t

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) November 27, 2018

This leads to one indisputable fact: if Paul Manafort (or, for that matter, Roger Stone), visited Assange at the Embassy, there would be ample amounts of video and other photographic proof demonstrating that this happened. The Guardian provides none of that. ...

It is certainly possible that Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and even Donald Trump himself “secretly” visited Julian Assange in the Embassy. It’s possible that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un joined them. And if any of that happened, then there will be mountains of documentary proof in the form of videos, photographs, and other evidence proving it. Thus far, no such evidence has been published by the Guardian. ... The only reason to assume this is true without seeing such evidence is because enough people want it to be true.

Judge Delays Decision Whether to Unseal Assange Criminal Complaint

A decision whether to unseal U.S. government charges against Julian Assange was delayed for a week by Judge Leonie Brinkema in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Tuesday. In her comments to the court, Judge Brinkema appeared to be siding with the government’s argument that there is no legal precedent for a judge to order the release of a criminal complaint or indictment in a case before an arrest is made. However, Katie Townsend, a lawyer for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which filed an application to “unseal criminal prosecution of Julian Assange,” told the court that the government’s inadvertent revelation of charges against the WikiLeaks publisher should prompt the court to release the complaint. ...

Judge Brinkema asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg in court what “compelling” rationale there was to keep Assange’s status secret after the government’s inadvertent release. Kromberg said he could not discuss in public the specifics in this case regarding sealing. Judge Brinkema then listed the general reasons why indictments and complaints remain sealed before an arrest is made: to prevent a suspect from fleeing, from destroying or tampering with evidence, from pressuring potential witnesses, from being prepared to harm arresting officers and also to protect against alerting other defendants that might be named in a complaint or indictment. ...

The judge then asked Townsend to name any case in which a judge had ordered the government to release criminal charges before an arrest was made. Kromberg had argued that there were none. Townsend requested a few days to respond. Judge Brinkema gave both parties a week to make further submissions to the court.

Jeremy Corbyn Responds To Hillary’s Xenophobia

Democratic Opposition to the Yemen War Gains Momentum Ahead of Key Senate Vote

Opponents of the war in Yemen have picked up momentum heading into a critical Senate vote on Wednesday on whether to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee has said that he would support the measure. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, also on the Foreign Relations Committee, has told colleagues that he supports the effort as well, Democratic aides told The Intercept.

Both senators voted to table the effort — which was introduced by Sens. Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy — the last time it arrived on the Senate floor in March. Menendez is one of the more hawkish Democrats in the chamber, and his support for the resolution is a sign that the party is coalescing around opposition to the war. ...

In a procedural vote, the Senate voted 55-44 against a similar measure in March, with 10 Democrats voting against it. But five Republicans voted in favor at the time. If those GOP senators vote the same way on Wednesday, just four of the remaining eight Democratic holdouts would have to vote in favor for the measure to pass. ...

Four Democratic aides told The Intercept that in the wake of Khashoggi’s killing, many of the Democrats who voted against the measure in March are likely to flip. In addition to Menendez and Coons, North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, and others are considering a vote in support of the measure. West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin told reporters in the Capitol on Tuesday that he was undecided and would wait until after a Trump administration briefing Wednesday morning to decide how he would vote. It is unclear how Rhode Island Democrats Sen. Jack Reed and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse will vote. Both voted against it in the spring but have faced continued pressure from activists in their home state to support the measure.

'Yemen Can't Wait': Ahead of War Powers Vote, Urgent Push for Senate to End US Complicity in Saudi Atrocities

With a vote on Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) resolution to end U.S. complicity in the Saudi-led assault on Yemen expected as early as Wednesday, grassroots anti-war organizations are ramping up pressure on Democratic senators who sided with the Republican majority in voting down the same measure earlier this year and demanding that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) act on his words by co-sponsoring the resolution.

Our support for the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen has created a humanitarian crisis. Call your Senators and tell them to support S.J. Res. 54, my bill with @SenSanders and @SenMikeLee to end U.S. involvement in the war in Yemen. pic.twitter.com/VDTHONaEpJ

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) November 27, 2018

On Twitter, Peace Action, CodePink, and other anti-war groups focused their pressure campaign on the Democratic senators who joined hands with a nearly unanimous GOP caucus in March to block Sanders' measure, Senate Joint Resolution 54.

Those Democrats are: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Joe Donnelly (Ind.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Doug Jones (Ala.), Chris Coons (Del.), Jack Reed (R.I.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.).

To see where your senator stands on Sanders' Yemen resolution, see Win Without War's running whip count.

White House denies Haspel prevented from briefing Senate on Khashoggi murder

The White House has denied preventing the CIA director, Gina Haspel, from briefing the Senate on the murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi.

The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, and the defence secretary, James Mattis, are due to give a briefing on US relations with Saudi Arabia to the entire Senate behind closed doors on Wednesday, ahead of a vote that could cut off US support for Riyadh’s military campaign in Yemen.

On a national security issue of such importance, it would be customary for a senior intelligence official to take part, Senate staffers said. On this occasion, the absence of the intelligence community is all the more glaring, as Haspel travelled to Istanbul to hear audio tapes of Khashoggi’s murder provided by Turkish intelligence, and then briefed Donald Trump. ...

Officials said that the decision for Haspel not to appear in front of the committee came from the White House, but the national security adviser, John Bolton, denied it. “Certainly not,” he told reporters, but left it unclear why there would be no intelligence presence.

Hillary Says Russia Controls Most Of The World

Trump threatens to cancel Putin meeting over Ukraine — but Moscow says it’s going ahead

Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to cancel a meeting with Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit this week in response to Russia’s aggression towards three Ukrainian ships. Trump told The Washington Post he was considering calling off the planned sit-down in Buenos Aires, pending a report on the situation from his national security team. ...

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the meeting was still planned to go ahead. “The meeting has been finalized,” he told reporters. “We have no other information from our U.S. counterparts.”

Putin: Russia not ditching dollar, dollar moving away from Russia

Donald Trump warns China he won't back down on trade tariffs

Donald Trump has raised the stakes in the escalating global trade dispute between the US, China and some of America’s traditional allies ahead of a major gathering of world leaders this week. Ahead of the G20 meeting in Argentina, which begins on Friday, the US president used a newspaper interview to warn China that he expects to move ahead on the imposition of higher import tariffs on Chinese goods.

The news sent shares lower in London and New York on Tuesday, after Trump told the Wall Street Journal it was “highly unlikely” that he would heed a call by Beijing to refrain from increasing the tariffs from the start of next year. It paves the way for the existing 10% US import tariff on $200bn (£158bn) of Chinese goods to increase to 25% from 1 January.

Economists at the Dutch lender Rabobank said the world economy could suffer badly over the next decade if the US-China trade war escalates further, with as much as 2% of GDP growth lost by 2030.

Trump, who is due to have dinner with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at the G20 summit, also suggested Apple products such as iPhones and laptops made in China and imported to the US could be hit, despite having so far been exempted from the tariffs. His comments triggered a sell-off in Apple shares.

“It Is Not a Natural Disaster”: Dana Frank on How U.S.-Backed Coup in Honduras Fueled Migrant Crisis

'This Is Abominable': Trump's DHS Using Info Coaxed From 'Scared, Jailed' Children to Locate, Arrest, and Deport Families

In order to entrap families once they come forward to claim minors who have been detained after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, the Trump administration is using information coaxed out of the traumatized children who have been forced to enter government custody, according to more than 100 national groups that denounced the practice on Wednesday.

In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Wednesday, 112 groups—including the ACLU, the Brennan Center for Justice, and the Legal Aid Justice Center—demanded that the administration stop using information obtained during interviews that all 14,000 children currently in U.S. custody undergo upon entering detention centers, to find, arrest, and deport their family members in the United States.

The groups argue the administration is violating children's and immigrants' rights as well as privacy laws by extracting and using the information this way. "Children are being turned into bait to gather unprecedented amounts of information from immigrant communities," Becky Wolozin, an attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center, told the Associated Press.

Thanks to an information-sharing agreement signed by the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services (HHS) just before the administration's family separation policy went into effect last spring, DHS has access to family information gleaned from children which it can cross-reference with fingerprints that all potential family sponsors must turn over to the agency before children can be released into their custody. DHS is using the fingerprints to determine family members' immigration status.

As Common Dreams has reported, the use of the fingerprinting system has caused fewer families to come forward to claim children, leaving their young family members languishing in detention centers for months on end and causing the number of children in U.S. custody to explode. This has prolonged a crisis that human rights groups and child welfare experts have decried as a "moral and medical catastrophe," wrote the groups—one that will "cause irreparable harm," and carry "lifelong consequences for children."

Attacking Monopoly Power Can Be Stunningly Good Politics, Survey Finds

On Monday, the Open Markets Institute released new evidence of increased corporate concentration in 32 different industries, from cellphone providers (where four firms control 98 percent of the market) to peanut butter (four firms control 92 percent). The data, which has gone uncollected by the federal government since President Ronald Reagan’s Federal Trade Commission stopped the practice in 1981, came from a private industry analyst called IBISWorld. Open Markets intended to publicize the data to show the enormity of America’s monopoly problem. But never-before-seen polling obtained by The Intercept suggests that the public already knows about, and is gravely concerned by, the concentration of economic power in fewer and fewer hands.

According to the survey, conducted in September by Public Policy Polling, 76 percent of respondents were either somewhat or very concerned that “big corporations have too much power over your family and your community.” The figure grew when asked whether big corporations have too much power over politicians: a stunning 88 percent were at least somewhat concerned, with 71 percent very concerned. The poll finds more concern with the power and influence of major corporations than annual Gallup polls on the subject, which over the past few years have registered between 58 and 64 percent dissatisfaction.

The Gallup polls suggest a desire for mildly more regulation of American business. But by a 65-19 figure, those surveyed in the PPP poll believed that the government “should do more to break up corporate monopolies.” And by a 55-24 count, respondents said they were more likely to support a candidate who vowed to “work to break up monopolies and reduce corporate power.” After citing recent research suggesting that increased corporate concentration can reduce wages or make it more difficult to start a business, support for anti-monopoly candidates jumps to 60-15.

Even Trump voters pronounced themselves wary of corporate power by a 61-38 split and concerned about the political power of corporations by 83-12. Fifty-four percent of Trump voters said that the government should bust monopolies, with only 28 percent opposed. Anti-monopoly sentiment was relatively consistent among men and women, whites and nonwhites, young and old, even Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

Progressives Outraged as House Democrats Elect 'Big Money' Centrist Hakeem Jeffries Over Barbara Lee for Caucus Chair

In a bid to move the party's leadership in a more bold direction, progressive groups and activists mobilized urgently in recent weeks to pressure House Democrats to elect Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) as the party's next Caucus Chair. But, ultimately, their campaign was not enough to overcome the party establishment's support for the more "moderate" Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who was elected on Wednesday by a vote of 123-113. Because the election was conducted by secret ballot, there is no roll call.

Jeffries' victory over Lee was met with dismay by progressives, who viewed the anti-war congresswoman's defeat at the hands of her House Democratic colleagues as yet another sign that the party badly needs a new direction.

what is there to say anymore? the democratic party establishment needs to be primaried into oblivion https://t.co/soDo5slIGb

— marge (mags for friends) (@peg_mclaugh) November 28, 2018

"What is there to say anymore? The Democratic Party establishment needs to be primaried into oblivion," Margaret McLaughlin, a member of the Metro D.C. branch of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), wrote on Twitter. ...

"Jeffries is a big money Democrat and a member in good standing of [Gov.] Andrew Cuomo's New York machine," noted Huffington Post reporter Zach Carter. "There is no way to spin his victory over Barbara Lee as a sign the party is moving in a progressive direction."

Colorado Democrats Already Betraying Workers Who Elected Them

In Open Letter, Scholars and Activists Call on Bernie Sanders to Embrace Foreign Policy That Rejects US Militarism, Bloated Pentagon Budget

Offering their "advice in a spirit of friendship" in an open letter issued on Wednesday, over 100 noted intellectuals, left-wing academics, and progressive activists have urged Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to lay out clear proposals for a foreign policy that rejects U.S. militarism, overseas misadventures, and the outrageous Pentagon budget that continues to cripple funding for many of the progressive programs and policy solutions the senator advocates.

Given the $1 trillion annually in so-called "national security spending" as well as the military industrial complex's impact on the environment and "the erosion of liberties," Sanders's public comments and policy proposals should address head-on the military and its spending, the group writes in the open letter.

They write that they have "great respect for [his] domestic policies," but in terms of foreign policy, Sanders has come up quite short. His recently laid-out "bold agenda" for Democrats, for example, has no mention of foreign policy, the group notes. And while the progressive lawmaker has pushed for a Senate vote on ending U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition's war on Yemen, the letter urges Sanders to go further by being laser-focused on "the existence of the military and its price tag" to show how easily the nation could fund his proposals like Medicare-for-All and tuition-free public colleges.

Climate-warming El Niño very likely in 2019, says UN agency

There is a 75-80% chance of a climate-warming El Niño event by February, according to the latest analysis from the UN’s World Meteorological Organization.

The last El Niño event ended in 2016 and helped make that year the hottest ever recorded by adding to the heating caused by humanity’s carbon emissions. The 2019 event is not currently forecast to be as strong as in 2016.

El Niño events occur naturally every few years and stem from abnormally high ocean temperatures in the western Pacific. They have a major influence on weather around the globe, bringing droughts to normally damp places, such as parts of Australia, and floods to normally drier regions, such as in South America. The high temperatures also cause major bleaching on coral reefs.

“The forecast El Niño is not expected to be as powerful as the event in 2015-2016,” said Maxx Dilley, the director of WMO’s climate prediction and adaptation branch. “Even so, it can still significantly affect rainfall and temperature patterns in many regions, with important consequences to agriculture and food security, and for management of water resources and public health. It may also combine with long-term climate change to boost 2019 global temperatures.”

Forecasters in the US have already warned of an imminent El Niño. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said in October that a dry, hot summer was very likely, with increased risk of heatwaves and bushfires and no relief for already drought-stricken farmers. There is evidence that climate change is making the effects of El Niño more severe.

Scientists Warn Brazil's New President May Smother Rainforest

Scientists warn that Brazil’s president-elect could push the Amazon rainforest past its tipping point — with severe consequences for global climate and rainfall. Jair Bolsonaro, who takes office Jan. 1, claims a mandate to convert land for cattle pastures and soybean farms, calling Brazil’s rainforest protections an economic obstacle. ... New Brazilian government data show the rate of deforestation — a major factor in global warming — has already increased over the past year.

Brazil contains about 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest, and scientists are worried. It’s nearly impossible to overstate the importance of the Amazon rainforest to the planet’s living systems, said Carlos Nobre, a climate scientist at the University of Sao Paulo. Each tree stores carbon absorbed from the atmosphere. The Amazon takes in as much as 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year and releases 20 percent of the planet’s oxygen, earning it the nickname “the lungs of the planet.”

It’s also a global weather-maker. Stretching 10 times the size of Texas, the Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest. Billions of trees suck up water through deep roots and bring it up to their leaves, which release water vapor that forms a thick mist over the rainforest canopy. This mist ascends into clouds and eventually becomes rainfall — a cycle that shapes seasons in South America and far beyond. By one estimate, the Amazon creates 30 to 50 percent of its own rainfall. ... “If Bolsonaro keeps his campaign promises, deforestation of the Amazon will probably increase quickly — and the effects will be felt everywhere on the planet,” said Paulo Artaxo, a professor of environmental physics at the University of Sao Paulo.

Aside from the oceans, tropical forests are the most important regions on the planet for putting water vapor in the air, which eventually becomes rainfall. “It’s why we have rain in the American Midwest and other inland areas — it’s not just the Amazon, but it’s the largest tropical rainforest,” said Bill Laurance, a tropical ecologist at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia.

Carlos Nobre and Thomas Lovejoy, an environmental scientist at George Mason University, have estimated that the “tipping point for the Amazon system” is 20 to 25 percent deforestation. Without enough trees to sustain the rainfall, the longer and more pronounced dry season could turn more than half the rainforest into a tropical savannah, they wrote in February in the journal Science Advances. If the rainfall cycle collapses, winter droughts in parts of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina could devastate agriculture, they wrote. The impacts may even be felt as far away as the American Midwest, said Laurance.

Trump officials accused of using deadly wildfires to boost logging

The Trump administration has been accused of using the deadly wildfires in California to push for weakened environmental rules in forests, opening them up for more logging. Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary, said that he hoped new legislation would allow for the “thinning” of forests to help prevent wildfires. He said he was confident Congress would soon pass a new farm bill that would remove environmental reviews for the removal of trees and brush, as well as the building of roads through federal forests.

“We have to manage our forests,” said Zinke on a visit to the charred remains of Paradise, a town in northern California that has been razed by the so-called Camp fire. The death toll from the fire stands at 88, making it the deadliest in California’s history.

“It shouldn’t be as hard; sometimes it is,” Zinke said of forest management. “I think our practices over the period have ended up to where we are today. Maybe this is the time to take a horrendous experience like this, and move things along to where we don’t have to do this year after year. It’s unacceptable.” Zinke was joined on the Paradise tour by Sonny Perdue, the agriculture secretary, who also backs greater intervention in forests. “People say they want pristine forests – well, this doesn’t look pristine to me,” Perdue said, referencing the ashy remains of Paradise. “Pristine is well-managed, groomed forests.” ...

“Donald Trump and Ryan Zinke are being dangerously dishonest,” said Chad Hanson, a forest ecologist who was involved in a major 2016 study that found that logged areas with lower environmental protections have the most intense, fast-moving fires. “They are trying to use this tragedy to help logging interests, which is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen in my career. They are trying to eliminate half a century of environmental protections and turn over forests to the logging industry.”

End of an era as Ireland closes its peat bogs 'to fight climate change'

When the semi-state company that harvests Ireland’s peatlands recently announced the closure of 17 bogs, the news was greeted as the end of an era. Turning the soggy landscape that covers much of Ireland’s midlands into a fuel source had been a great national project, an ambitious undertaking launched by the republic’s founding fathers in the 1930s. Draining and cutting hundreds of thousands of hectares of turf on an industrial scale generated desperately needed jobs and reduced dependence on oil imports for almost a century. So there was some nostalgia last month when Bord na Móna, the peat-harvesting company, announced it was closing 17 of its “active bogs” and would close the remaining 45 within seven years. ...

Peatlands, formed by the accumulation of decayed vegetation, help regulate the climate by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing carbon within the peat. As fuel, it is more damaging than coal, generating less energy when burned while producing higher carbon emissions. Depending on how it is calculated, the peat industry contributes between 3m and 6m of the 62m tonnes of greenhouse gases that Ireland emits each year.

But environmental experts are unimpressed. “It’s a bit of a smokescreen. It’s all revenue-driven,” said Florence Renou-Wilson, a research scientist and peatland expert at University College Dublin. Bord na Móna was closing bogs that were exhausted and no longer profitable, she said. “They’re all done and dusted.” The company was seeking new markets for peat in horticulture, she said, and, worse, it seldom “re-wet” used bogs, so the ravaged land continued to emit greenhouse gases. “They’ve just been leaving them abandoned.” Harvested peatlands – Bord na Móna’s as well as those developed by private operators – produce about 2.6m tonnes of “fugitive” emissions a year. Rehabilitation could make many of the bogs carbon neutral or even carbon sinks. Catherine O’Connell, the head of the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, said Bord na Móna’s decarbonisation talk was spin. “It’s genius what they’ve done. They’ve come out of this looking green. But they’re miners – they remove the living surface of the bog and dig down. Death by a thousand cuts.”

Supreme court rules against endangered dusky gopher frog

The US supreme court on Tuesday decided against the interests of a warty amphibian and handed a victory to a timber company and other landowners in the first major move on the environment from the bench this term. The court ruled in favor of the commercial interests seeking to limit the federal government’s power to designate private land as protected habitat for endangered species, in a property rights case involving the dusky gopher frog.

The court, in a 8-0 decision written by Chief Justice John Roberts, threw out a 2016 appeals court ruling that had favored the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

In 2012, the agency decided to include private land where the frog does not currently live as critical habitat, potentially putting restrictions on future development opportunities under the Endangered Species Act. Weyerhaeuser, a company which harvests timber on the area of Louisiana land in question, was backed in the case by fellow landowners and business groups. The frog, found only in southern Mississippi, also previously inhabited Louisiana and Alabama.

Honduras: As Berta Cáceres Murder Trial Nears End, Will True Perpetrators Be Brought to Justice?

Also of Interest

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

Intercepted: Killing Asylum: How Decades of U.S. Policy Ravaged Central America

U.K. and Ecuador Conspire to Deliver Julian Assange to U.S. Authorities

Barbara Lee’s Race for Joe Crowley’s Old Leadership Post Is a Test of Progressive Strength in the House

Rule Number One in Warfare: Know Your Enemy

MSM Is Like Big Pharma: The Rewards Of Malpractice Outweigh The Penalties

When Chimamanda met Hillary: a tale of how liberals cosy up to power

White House Doubles Down On Coal Despite New Climate Report

California Gov. Jerry Brown Was a Climate Leader, but His Vision Had a Fatal Flaw

A Little Night Music

Jaybird Coleman - Man Trouble Blues

Jaybird Coleman - Mistreatin' Mama

Jaybird Coleman + Birmingham Jug Band - Giving it away

Jaybird Coleman - I'm Gonna Cross The River O'Jordan, Some O' These Days

Jaybird Coleman + Birmingham Jug Band - Birmingham Blues

Jaybird Coleman + Birmingham Jug Band - German Blues

Jaybird Coleman + Birmingham Jug Band - Kickin' Mule Blues

Jaybird Coleman + Birmingham Jug Band - The Wild Cat Squawl

Jaybird Coleman - Ah`m Sick And Tired Of Tellin`You To Wiggle That Thing