The Evening Blues - 2-22-19



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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Buddy Guy

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago blues musician Buddy Guy. Enjoy!

Buddy Guy - Born to Play Guitar

"Because when you kill 300 people, 400 people, who have nothing to do with the provocations Hezbollah staged, but you do it in effect deliberately by being indifferent to the scale of collateral damage, you're killing hostages in the hope of intimidating those that you want to intimidate. And more likely than not you will not intimidate them. You'll simply outrage them and make them into permanent enemies with the number of such enemies increasing."

-- Zbigniew Brzezinski


News and Opinion

IHCHR: 11,800 Civilians Killed In US-Led Air Strikes in Syria, Iraq

Nearly 12,000 civilians have been killed by U.S.-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria since 2014, according to a statement from the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights. IHCHR spokesman Dr. Ali A. Al-Bayati said on Saturday that “about 11,800 civilians, including 2,300 children and 1,130 women, were killed in addition to 8,000 wounded by the bombing of the coalition in Iraq and Syria.”

There have been more than 30,000 U.S.-led air strikes in Iraq and Syria since former president Barack Obama launched Operation Inherent Resolve, the anti-Islamic State (IS) campaign, in June 2014. The vast majority of these bombings have been carried out by US warplanes. Britain, France, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain and Turkey have also conducted thousands of air strikes. So has Russia, which is fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

While Al-Bayati said IHCHR “appreciates the efforts” of the U.S.-led coalition “in helping Iraq in its fight against terrorism,” he lamented that the 11,800 deaths he reported “are much more than the official numbers published by the international coalition.” The US military estimated in December that “at least 1,139 civilians have been unintentionally killed by coalition strikes since the start of Operation Inherent Resolve.”

Al-Bayati said the high number of civilians killed constituted “clear violations of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention, which oblige all belligerents to abide by safety standards and to protect civilians in wars.”

Although U.S. military and government officials claim to take great care to avoid killing or injuring civilians, the country has been widely criticized for the high number of innocent people killed in Iraq and Syria, as well as for undercounting and failing to adequately investigate incidents in which civilians are harmed. Last week, French Col. Francois-Regis Legrier, who commands artillery strikes supporting Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, blasted allied conduct in the war against IS. “We have massively destroyed the infrastructure and given the population a disgusting image of what may be a Western-style liberation, leaving behind the seeds of an imminent resurgence of a new adversary,” Legrier wrote in the National Defense Review. A French Army spokesman said the colonel could face punishment for his unusual comments.

In the wider U.S.-led “war against terrorism,” at least hundreds of thousands and likely well over a million men, women and children have died since late 2001. The U.S. military has killed more foreign civilians than any other armed force in the world since the nuclear war waged against Japan in August 1945.

CIA gave details of 9/11 suspect's secret torture to film-makers, lawyers say

The makers of the film Zero Dark Thirty were given detailed information about the torture of an inmate at a CIA “black site” that had been denied to the prisoner’s own defence counsel at his trial in Guantánamo Bay, his lawyers claim.

Members of defence team for Ammar al-Baluchi, undergoing pre-trial proceedings for his alleged role in the 9/11 attacks before a military tribunal at the US base, said they were stunned to see the portrayal of his torture, including beatings, suspension from manacles and waterboarding, in the Oscar-winning 2012 film.

The lawyers discovered that in the CIA’s year-long cooperation with the film-makers, the agency shared details of Baluchi’s torture at a secret prison, or black site, which they had been told were too secret to be divulged.

“A movie director gets greater access than a defence counsel,” Lt Colonel Sterling Thomas, managing defence counsel, said. ...

The trial has yet to begin, despite the fact that Baluchi and his four other co-accused in the 9/11 case have been in Guantánamo for 13 years and were first charged in 2008. The process has been mired in delays caused by the uncertainty about the military commissions themselves and how to treat testimony provided by to the FBI by the defendants after they had been subjected to prolonged torture.

Hard to Say Goodbye? US to leave 200 troops in Syria for a ‘period of time’ after withdrawal

White House Says US Will Keep 200 Troops in Syria

The Trump administration, which abruptly announced in December that it was pulling out of Syria, said Thursday that it will keep 200 U.S. troops in the country for now. "A small peace keeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for period of time," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a one-sentence statement.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had harshly criticized Trump's decision to pull U.S. forces out of Syria, applauded the president's decision to leave a few hundred as part of an "international stabilizing force." Graham said it will ensure that Turkey will not get into a conflict with Syrian Democratic Forces, which helped the United States fight Islamic State militants. Turkey views Kurdish members of the SDF as terrorists.

Moreover, Graham said leaving a small force in Syria will serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that IS fighters do not try to return. "A safe zone in Syria made up of international forces is the best way to achieve our national security objectives of continuing to contain Iran, ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS, protecting our Turkish allies, and securing the Turkish border with Syria," Graham said.

It's unclear where the 200 remaining U.S. troops will be stationed.

Civilians leave Isis's final enclave in Syria as 'caliphate' nears end

US-backed fighters have transported civilians from the last speck of Islamic State’s dying “caliphate” in Syria, as they press on with the battle to defeat the jihadist group. More than four years after Isis overran large parts of Syria and neighbouring Iraq to declare a caliphate, it has lost all but a tiny patch in the village of Baghouz near the Iraqi border.

More than 40 trucks carrying men, women and children left the enclave on Friday, according to AFP reporters at a position of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) outside the village. Most were women and children, their clothes caked in dust, but the passengers also included men with their faces wrapped in chequered scarves. Women clung to the railings of the trucks as they departed in the second such large-scale evacuation in three days.

An SDF spokesman, Adnan Afrin, said more than 2,000 people were estimated to still be inside the pocket of territory, and more trucks were expected to bring them out. Once the evacuations have ended, the SDF would expel the last jihadists from the less than half a square kilometre (a fifth of a square mile) they still hold, he said. “When the civilians leave, we will see how many civilians and IS fighters remain inside and what they want to do,” he said. “They will be faced with a choice: war or surrender.”

Worth a full read:

Telling Only Part of the Story of Jihad

A recent CNN report about U.S. military materiel finding its way into Al Qaeda hands in Yemen might have been a valuable addition to Americans’ knowledge of terrorism. Entitled “Sold to an ally, lost to an enemy,” the 10-minute segment, broadcast on Feb. 4, featured rising CNN star Nima Elbagir cruising past sand-colored “Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected” armored vehicles, or MRAPs, lining a Yemeni highway. “It’s absolutely incredible,” she says. “And this is not under the control of [Saudi-led] coalition forces. This is in the command of militias, which is expressly forbidden by the arms sales agreements with the U.S.”

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” she adds. “CNN was told by coalition sources that a deadlier U.S. weapons system, the TOW missile, was airdropped in 2015 by Saudi Arabia to Yemeni fighters, an air drop that was proudly proclaimed across Saudi backed media channels.” The TOWs were dropped into Al Qaeda-controlled territory, according to CNN. But when Elbagir tries to find out more, the local coalition-backed government chases her and her crew out of town.

U.S.-made TOWs in the hands of Al Qaeda? Elbagir is an effective on-screen presence. But this is an old story, which the cable network has long soft-pedaled. In the early days of the Syrian War, Western media was reluctant to acknowledge that the forces arrayed against the Assad regime included Al Qaeda. In those days, the opposition was widely portrayed as a belated ripple effect of the Arab Spring pro-democracy uprisings elsewhere in the region. However, in April-May 2015, right around the time that the Saudis were air-dropping TOWs into Yemen, they were also supplying the same optically-guided, high-tech missiles to pro-Al Qaeda forces in Syria’s northern Idlib province.  Rebel leaders were exultant as they drove back Syrian government troops. TOWs “flipped the balance,” one said, while another declared: “I would put the advances down to one word – TOW.”

CNN reported that story very differently. From rebel-held territory, CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh described the missiles as a “possible game-changer … that may finally be wearing down the less popular side of the Shia-Sunni divide.” He conceded it wasn’t all good news: “A major downside for Washington at least, is that the often-victorious rebels, the Nusra Front, are Al Qaeda. But while the winners for now are America’s enemies, the fast-changing ground in Syria may cause to happen what the Obama administration has long sought and preached, and that’s changing the calculus of the Assad regime.”

Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and The New York Times all reacted the same way, furrowing their brows at the news that Al Qaeda was gaining, but expressing measured relief that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was at last on the ropes.

But now that Elbagir is sounding the alarm about TOWs in Yemen, CNN would do well to acknowledge that it has been distinctly more blasé in the past about TOWs in the hands of al Qaeda.

This Is Not Humanitarian Aid: A Maduro Critic in Venezuela Slams U.S. Plan to Push Regime Change

The U.S.-Venezuela Aid Convoy Story Is Clearly Bogus, but No One Wants to Say It

No one reading this, whether they be right, left, center, libertarian or communist, actually buys the prevailing narrative that the U.S. is sending “aid” to Venezuela as a humanitarian gesture. So why is everyone pretending otherwise?

First, the crisis in Venezuela is very real and very daunting. Without litigating who’s responsible for what, whether U.S.-led sanctions and economic sabotage are more to blame or the economic policies of Nicolás Maduro, one simple fact is true: The status quo is untenable. Perhaps, then, the instinct to “do something” is understandable. But as with previous crises, both organic and contrived, what that “something” is remains unclear. Liberals—as they did in the build-up to the invasions of Iraq and Libya—are easily pressured into this “do something” posture. The way these things work, however, is that this vague moral directive often involves a combination of CIA and U.S. military intervention. ... What’s never considered is a reduction or cessation of U.S. involvement, be it CIA weapons running, wide-scale bombing campaigns, or the imposition of sanctions—all of which prolong a given conflict or simply make it more violent. ...

A second matter to consider is how our government has weaponized the public’s sense of morality. Since the Spanish-American War, the U.S. has used humanitarian concerns as a shield against criticism or skepticism, and it has more or less worked every time. It’s why “aid” organizations like Air America used food transports to ship guns to anti-Communists in Indochina in the 1960s and ’70s. (Weapons were code-named “hard rice.”) And it’s why Elliott Abrams—the current quarterback of this latest affair in Venezuela—used humanitarian aid shipments to smuggle weapons to the Nicaragua’s Contras in the ’80s. Ultimately, these shipments allow for massive military buildups, without anyone in the media or Congress asking too many questions. After all, what kind of monster is opposed to helping starving people?

It’s impossible to know if the current shipments to Venezuela are being used to transport weapons, although Venezuelan authorities say they have intercepted American arms shipments. But given the history of the U.S. (to say nothing of Abrams’), and the fact that the Trump administration is openly calling for Maduro’s ouster while amassing forces along the Colombian border, it’s not exactly a long shot. Still, our political press dismisses the possibility as tin-foil hat stuff, at least in part because mocking wacky Latin American “conspiracy theories” is a mark of one’s seriousness in foreign policy circles. ...

Despite all the evidence before them, MSNBC, CNN and countless other networks and publications across the ideological spectrum refuse to frame this humanitarian gambit as an act of hostility. Instead, knowing what they know and who they are covering, they have largely portrayed Trump, Bolton and Abrams as champions of the Venezuelan people. It goes without saying that hundreds of thousands are suffering in Venezuela, and the instinct to alleviate that suffering is a healthy one. But a craven marketing stunt by far-right Cold Warriors—without any buy-in from actual aid organizations—cannot be taken at face value.

Maduro orders closure of Venezuelan border with Brazil

Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has ordered the vast border with Brazil to be closed, just days before opposition leaders plan to bring in foreign humanitarian aid he has refused to accept. Maduro said he’s also weighing up shutting the border with Colombia. He made the announcement on state TV on Thursday, surrounded by military commanders.

Opposition leaders led by Juan Guaidó are vowing to bring in US supplies of emergency food and medicine to highlight the country’s hardships under Maduro, who has said the country doesn’t need such help. ...

Under Maduro’s orders, Venezuela this week blocked air and sea travel between Venezuela and the nearby Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, another point where aid was being stockpiled. A caravan of vehicles carrying Guaidó left the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, early on Thursday, heading toward the border with Colombia as part of the effort to bring in aid stored in the city of Cúcuta starting on Saturday.

Putin says he can play the brinksmanship game, too.

Putin to U.S. - I'm ready for another Cuban Missile-style crisis if you want one

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is militarily ready for a Cuban Missile-style crisis if the United States wanted one and threatened to place hypersonic nuclear missiles on ships or submarines near U.S. territorial waters. ...

Putin’s comments, made to Russian media late on Wednesday, follow his warning that Moscow will match any U.S. move to deploy new missiles closer to Russia by stationing its own missiles closer to the United States or by deploying faster missiles or both. ...

“(We’re talking about) naval delivery vehicles: submarines or surface ships. And we can put them, given the speed and range (of our missiles)... in neutral waters. Plus they are not stationary, they move and they will have to find them,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript.

“You work it out: Mach nine (the speed of the missiles) and over 1,000 km (their range). ...

Putin said his naval response to such a move would mean Russia could strike the United States faster than U.S. missiles deployed in Europe could hit Moscow because the flight time would be shorter.

Emmanuel Macron is a big old pander bear.

French President’s Promise to Crack Down on Anti-Semitism Could Threaten Critics of Israel

The French government will instruct police officers and magistrates to investigate critics of Israel who question its right to exist as a Jewish nation-state for possible violations of the law against anti-Semitic hate speech, President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday night. “Anti-Semitism hides more and more behind the mask of anti-Zionism,” Macron said in an address to the Council of Jewish Institutions in France. “Anti-Zionism is one of the modern forms of anti-Semitism.”

The French president added that France would adopt a definition of anti-Semitism proposed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. That definition has been condemned by supporters of Palestinian rights for including as an example of anti-Semitism: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”

While Macron also said that not all criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, that distinction was quickly blurred by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who released a statement welcoming the news that France had adopted a “definition which determines that anti-Zionism is a form of anti-Semitism.” ...

Although the president’s words were greeted with applause by leaders of France’s Jewish community, some were reportedly disappointed by Macron’s statement that there was no need to change the French penal code to define anti-Zionism as a crime. Instead, Macron said, police officers and magistrates would be encouraged to take complaints about anti-Zionist remarks seriously as possible hate crimes.

Major Jewish Groups Mum On Netanyahu’s Deal With Extremist Party

As liberal and progressive Jewish groups assailed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s deal to return supporters of the racist rabbi Meir Kahane to the Israeli Knesset, most leading American Jewish groups are keeping silent.

Nine major Jewish groups, including the American Jewish Committee and the Jewish Federations of North America, did not respond to questions from the Forward about Netanyahu’s successful efforts to merge the national-religious Jewish Home party with Otzma Yehudit, or “Jewish Power,” a small party led by disciples of Kahane. The merger all but guarantees the Kahanist party a seat in the Knesset.

Only the Anti-Defamation League, the Reform Jewish movement and a handful of smaller progressive groups, including the New Israel Fund and J Street, condemned the political maneuver.

“There should be no room for racism & no accommodation for intolerance in Israel or any democracy,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted on Wednesday. “ADL previously has spoken out on hate-filled rhetoric of leaders of the Otzma Yehudit Party. It is troubling that they are being legitimized by this union.”

Netanyahu was reportedly instrumental in the merger, promising Jewish Home party that he would let them control two top government ministries and seats in the security cabinet if they merged with Otzma Yehudit.

Another far-right DOJ plot to manage the news.

The Department of Justice Loves Publicizing Arrests of Alleged Terrorists — but Not the White Nationalist Coast Guard Officer

The Justice Department is not usually shy about publicizing alleged terrorism plots that it uncovers in the United States. This week, however, news broke of a violent extremist plot in the United States that court documents chillingly noted would have led to the “murder of innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.” Outside of the court filings, however, the Justice Department did not say a word. ... Normally, when an alleged terrorist plot is uncovered in the U.S., the Justice Department issues a press release to let the public know about their successful investigation — even in cases that at first glance appear to be much less serious than an extremist who had already put together their own hit list and weapons cache. In this case, however, there was no such release.

Instead, the news broke to the public through the Twitter feed of Seamus Hughes, a deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, a D.C.-based counterterrorism think tank. Hughes shared the documents with the allegations against Hasson, which had apparently been posted to the court’s online docket. Without the sort of press release that tends to accompany major terrorism arrests, Hughes found Hassan’s case because he habitually checks court filings.

The administration’s silence fits a pattern. A study published last year by the Washington-based Institute for Social Policy and Understanding showed that the Justice Department was six times more likely to issue press releases in alleged plots that involved Muslims than non-Muslims. The press releases are particularly important since they tend to trigger news coverage and public awareness of cases. ...

While the allegations against him have yet to be tested in court, at first glance Hasson’s case seems to add to concerns about the growth of far-right violence in the United States. Gauging the true scale and scope of this phenomenon is a difficult task. In future, though — and to dispel accusations of bias — it’d be helpful if the Justice Department would at least let the public know about it.

Neo-Nazi coast guard officer accused of domestic terror plot denied bail

A federal judge on Thursday denied bail for lieutenant Christopher Hasson, a neo-Nazi member of the US coast guard who the government says was plotting “to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country”. ... Law enforcement officers seized 15 guns and 1,000 rounds of ammunition from Hasson’s Silver Spring, Maryland, home earlier this week.

Public defender Julie Stelzig accused prosecutors of making inflammatory accusations against her client without providing the evidence to back them up. “It is not a crime to think negative thoughts about people,” she said. Defense lawyers said his weapons stash was “modest at best” and denied that the list of names kept by Hasson was a hitlist.

Stelzig said Hasson doesn’t have a criminal record and has served 28 years in the coast guard. She described him as a “committed public servant” and a loving husband and father.

The judge called the evidence “concerning” and gave prosecutors two weeks to file additional charges tied to the terror plot allegations.

Arizona prosecutors to review fatal shooting of boy, 14, by police officer

Prosecutors in Arizona will review whether to bring charges in the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy by a Tempe police officer. Antonio Arce, 14, was holding a replica gun when he was shot to death last month by a police officer who responded to a call about a suspicious vehicle.

The officer, Joseph Jaen, found Antonio burglarizing a truck, police have said. The teen fled holding the non-lethal airsoft gun, and was running away when the officer shot him, body camera footage shows.

The police department has sent its investigation of the 15 January shooting to the Maricopa county attorney’s office for review, officials said Wednesday night. “As with all officer involved shootings, the Maricopa county attorney’s office will review the facts of this case and ultimately make a charging decision,” the Tempe police department said in a statement.

The case has sparked outrage and protests in the Arizona city.

ICE facility in the middle of chicken pox outbreak has one doctor to treat 1,500 detainees, congressman says

An immigration detention facility in Aurora, Colorado, has just one in-house physician treating its 1,500-plus detainees amid a chicken pox outbreak and a confirmed case of mumps, according to a U.S. congressman. And when the legislator tried to visit the facility Wednesday, he was turned away.

Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a freshman Democrat, said the Denver Contract Detention Facility is in the midst of its fourth chicken pox outbreak since October and has experienced a new case of mumps. The illnesses often lead to quarantine, which bars some detainees from meeting with their lawyers or attending hearings. Both viruses are highly contagious but preventable with vaccines. ...

“There’s an urgency to this, a public health urgency,” Crow said during a press conference outside the facility, where he announced he had delivered a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asking why the facility had so few in-house doctors, considering the frequent disease outbreaks. He also inquired why the facility added 432 beds to the facility’s annex in January without talking to local authorities first, according to the Denver Post.



the horse race



Heh. Bernie's not crazy and bloodthirsty enough for Florida.

‘He is not going to be the nominee’: Dems slam Sanders over Maduro stance

Florida Democrats are denouncing Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for refusing to call Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro a dictator — a politically explosive issue in the nation’s biggest swing state. Sanders also would not say whether he considered Venezuela’s assembly leader, Juan Guaidó, as the nation’s interim president, which is the position of the United States and a majority of Latin American countries European countries. ...

Democrats, already alarmed that Trump’s inroads with Venezuelans could help him peel off an otherwise-reliable Democratic voting bloc in a toss-up state, were quick to denounce Sanders’ comments.

“He is not going to be the nominee of the Democratic Party. He has demonstrated again that he does not understand this situation,” Rep. Donna Shalala, a Miami Democrat who represents Venezuelan exiles and, told POLITICO. “I absolutely disagree with his imprecision in not saying Maduro must go.” Shalala has filed legislation aimed at helping Venezuelan immigrants. ...

Sanders did not embrace Maduro in his Tuesday interview with Univision’s Jorge Ramos, who quickly touched on Guaidó being declared the interim president of Venezuela by the nation’s National Assembly following Maduro’s questionable election. But when he was asked whether he recognized Guaidó as the legitimate leader of the country, Sanders answered, “No.”

"There are serious questions about the recent election. There are many people who feel it was a fraudulent election," Sanders added. In a follow-up question, Ramos asked Sanders if he thought Maduro is a dictator who should step down. Sanders refused to say yes or no. "I think clearly he has been very, very abusive,” Sanders replied. “That is a decision of the Venezuelan people, so I think, Jorge, there's got to be a free and fair election. But what must not happen is that the United States must not use military force and intervene again as it has done in the past in Latin America, as you recall, whether it was Chile or Brazil or the Dominican Republic or Guatemala.”

WaPo Smearing Bernie AGAIN! Here’s Why

North Carolina board orders new election in disputed congressional race

North Carolina’s elections board has ordered a new election in the last undecided congressional race from the 2018 midterms after reviewing evidence that the contest was tainted by absentee ballot fraud. ... The move came after the Republican candidate Mark Harris abruptly dropped his bid to be declared the winner and instead called for a new election, after investigators found evidence of ballot fraud by political operatives working for him. ...

Harris led Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes out of about 280,000 cast in a mostly rural district along the southern edge of the state. But the state refused to certify the election as allegations surfaced that Harris political operative Leslie McCrae Dowless may have tampered with mail-in ballots. ...

North Carolina’s elections director said this week that Dowless conducted an illegal “ballot-harvesting” operation while working for Harris. Dowless’s workers in rural Bladen county testified they were directed to forge signatures, collect blank or incomplete ballots from voters, and even fill in votes for local candidates. It is against the law for anyone to handle someone’s ballot but the voter or a family member.

Ojibwe Author David Treuer on Retelling the History of “Indian Life Rather Than Indian Death”



the evening greens


Money, happiness and eternal life - Greed

World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity

The world’s capacity to produce food is being undermined by humanity’s failure to protect biodiversity, according to the first UN study of the plants, animals and micro-organisms that help to put meals on our plates. The stark warning was issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation after scientists found evidence the natural support systems that underpin the human diet are deteriorating around the world as farms, cities and factories gobble up land and pump out chemicals.

Over the last two decades, approximately 20% of the earth’s vegetated surface has become less productive, said the report, launched on Friday. It noted a “debilitating” loss of soil biodiversity, forests, grasslands, coral reefs, mangroves, seagrass beds and genetic diversity in crop and livestock species. In the oceans, a third of fishing areas are being overharvested.

Many species that are indirectly involved in food production, such as birds that eat crop pests and mangrove trees that help to purify water, are less abundant than in the past, noted the study, which collated global data, academic papers and reports by the governments of 91 countries. It found 63% of plants, 11% of birds, and 5% of fish and fungi were in decline. Pollinators, which provide essential services to three-quarters of the world’s crops, are under threat. As well as the well-documented decline of bees and other insects, the report noted that 17% of vertebrate pollinators, such as bats and birds, were threatened with extinction. ...

Agriculture was often to blame, Graziano da Silva, the director general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation said, due to land-use changes and unsustainable management practices, such as over-exploitation of the soil and a reliance on pesticides, herbicides and other agro-chemicals. Most countries said the main driver for biodiversity loss was land conversion, as forests were cut down for farm fields, and meadows covered in concrete for cities, factories and roads. Other causes include overexploitation of water supplies, pollution, over-harvesting, the spread of invasive species and climate change. The trend is towards uniformity. Although the world is producing more food than in the past, it is relying on ever-expanding monocultures.

These indigenous Peruvians are fighting deforestation with drones and satellites

'Moment of reckoning': US cities burn recyclables after China bans imports

The conscientious citizens of Philadelphia continue to put their pizza boxes, plastic bottles, yoghurt containers and other items into recycling bins. But in the past three months, half of these recyclables have been loaded on to trucks, taken to a hulking incineration facility and burned, according to the city’s government. It’s a situation being replicated across the US as cities struggle to adapt to a recent ban by China on the import of items intended for reuse.

The loss of this overseas dumping ground means that plastics, paper and glass set aside for recycling by Americans is being stuffed into domestic landfills or is simply burned in vast volumes. This new reality risks an increase of plumes of toxic pollution that threaten the largely black and Latino communities who live near heavy industry and dumping sites in the US.

About 200 tons of recycling material is sent to the huge Covanta incinerator in Chester City, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, every day since China’s import ban came into practice last year, the company says. “People want to do the right thing by recycling but they have no idea where it goes and who it impacts,” said Zulene Mayfield, who was born and raised in Chester and now spearheads a community group against the incinerator, called Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living.

“People in Chester feel hopeless – all they want is for their kids to get out, escape. Why should we be expendable? Why should this place have to be burdened by people’s trash and shit?”

The dilemma with what to do with items earmarked for recycling is playing out across the US. The country generates more than 250m tons of waste a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with about a third of this recycled and composted. Until recently, China had been taking about 40% of US paper, plastics and other recyclables but this trans-Pacific waste route has now ground to a halt. In July 2017, China told the World Trade Organization it no longer wanted to be the end point for yang laji, or foreign garbage, with the country keen to grapple with its own mountains of waste.

Vandana Shiva: We Must Fight Back Against the 1 Percent to Stop the Sixth Mass Extinction

'Kicking Ass for Her Generation': Applause for 16-Year-Old Greta Thunberg as EU Chief Pledges $1 Trillion to Curb Climate Threat

Sixteen-year-old climate action leader Greta Thunberg stood alongside European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker Thursday in Brussels as he indicated — after weeks of climate strikes around the world inspired by the Swedish teenager—that the European Union has heard the demands of young people and pledged more than $1 trillion over the next seven years to address the crisis of a rapidly heating planet. In the financial period beginning in 2021, Juncker said, the EU will devote a quarter of its budget to solving the crisis.

"Every fourth euro spent within the EU budget will go towards action to mitigate climate change," Juncker said. The plan will amount to about €1 trillion (or $1.13 trillion) spent over seven years, according to Reuters. Juncker's comments came at the Civil Society for rEUnaissance event in Brussels, where Thunberg doubled down on her consistent message that politicians must take serious strides to stop the climate crisis and protect the Earth for future generations—and that the EU must double its target of cutting greenhouse gases by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2030.

"This target is not sufficient to protect the future for children growing up today. If the EU is to make its fair contribution to stay within the carbon budget for the 2C limit then it needs a minimum of 80 percent reduction by 2030, and that includes aviation and shipping," Thunberg told political and business leaders. "There is simply not enough time to wait for us to grow up and become the ones in charge."

Juncker was among those who praised the tireless advocacy of Thunberg and others of her generation, hundreds of thousands of whom have captured the attention of the world—and their governments—by staging weekly climate strikes since December.


Also of Interest

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

Bernie Tries to Steal the Rich Man’s Party

U.S. Efforts To Block Huawei Gives China An Advantage

Jair Bolsonaro’s First 53 Days as President of Brazil Have Been a Resounding, Scandalous Failure

UAE signs deals to buy $5.4bn of arms amid global outrage over Yemen war

'Little Sparta': The US-UAE Alliance and the War in Yemen

Theresa May must go in three months, cabinet ministers say

Kamala Harris: The Fix is In


A Little Night Music

Buddy Guy w/Jack Bruce and Buddy Miles - Mary Had A Little Lamb, My Time After A While

Buddy Guy - Feels Like Rain

Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan - Champagne and Reefer/19 Years Old

Buddy and Junior - Mystery Train

Buddy Guy - Hoochie Coochie Man

Buddy Guy - Out of Sight

B.B. King & Buddy Guy - I Can't Quit You Baby

Buddy Guy - Red House

Buddy Guy & Junior Wells - A Man of Many Words

Buddy Guy Baloise Session 2018


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Raggedy Ann's picture

Hooray! It's Friday! Love those Buddy Guy blues! Great tunes for a Friday afternoon!

Lots of shenanigans going on with our illustrious gubmit - doing crap in our name. I hope Venezuela can keep us out. If not, I'm sure the Rooskies will ride in - through Cuba - to the rescue! Look out murika - you're getting a little big for your britches (or didn't you notice how you were shunned in Warsaw and Munich?). Keeps us on our toes.

Expecting rain/snow this evening. Hope it materializes!

Have a lovely evening and weekend, everyone! Pleasantry

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"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

OLinda's picture

@Raggedy Ann

Happy Friday, Raggedy (and all Bluesters!)

Snow just started here. Still a bit on the ground from last night. Probably will add just another inch or two.

Saw today that it snowed in Malibu and surrounding areas today! Keep thinking how just about right that would be if I finally won the lottery, moved to southern California to get out of this Colorado snow country, and then climate change brings snow to California!

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Raggedy Ann's picture

@OLinda
I left work a bit early to beat the storm. We’re supposed to get rain turning to snow this evening. I see it on the mountains 20 miles west of me. If it pushes off the mountain, we’ll get it. Fingers crossed.

I’d love to move to a better climate, myself, but I agree with you - the climate is shifting. Guess I’ll stay put!

Have a good evening! Pleasantry

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"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

joe shikspack's picture

@OLinda

i hope that knucklehead is okay. Smile

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@OLinda Saw your Gov. Polis on MTP, asked the socialism question, he said that he is a capitalist and that capitalism had given us things like schools.

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It's simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves that we've been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back. Carl Sagan

joe shikspack's picture

@Raggedy Ann

maybe putin will give venezuela a big, beautiful wall. Smile

enjoy the snow!

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You'll simply outrage them and make them into permanent enemies with the number of such enemies increasing.

On the bright side, at least now I know how I'm likely to die.

Knowing that does not enable me to forestall anything, but it does sate my curiosity some.

I'm trying to remember which Democrats voted for war in Syria.

Ah, now I remember. None. No Republicans or Indies, either.

Oh, well, the Constitution was never intended to be taken seriously, anyway.

Not nauseated today, but I bet my blood pressure went up.

Maybe I should make "I get all the news I need from the weather report" my tag line?

(Not Joe's fault. Just the rest of the world's.)

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joe shikspack's picture

@HenryAWallace

that is indeed some guitar. Smile

I'm trying to remember which Democrats voted for war in Syria.

Ah, now I remember. None.

on the other hand, those democrats have had the power to do something about it all along and haven't had the gumption to do it. frankly, most of them were quite pleased to allow obama, then trump to commit war crimes in our names.

another reason why there needs to be a serious purge in washington.

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Now you're tawkin
Tanks Joe

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@QMS

Now you're tawkin

I believe that's

Now yer tawkin'.

Sorry, just being silly. On to that champagne!

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@HenryAWallace
get mixed up with the 'postrophy stuff. Cool tunes man.
btw - f'ck the news
stickin' to the blues
uninformed may be more healthy mentally
than being exposed and try to absorb that 'human conditioned' state
thanks again. you're the best!

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@QMS @QMS

What I did (consciously) was change "you're" to "yer." Not a very good joke, but I was just trying to be funny, not pedantic.

I don't seriously correct anyone's grammar, usage, spelling, etc. on a board for all to see unless they've been mean to me or someone I like. (Revenge is a dish best served publicly.)

If I have a reason to offer a correction at all, I offer it by pm.

An example of reason is that the poster indicated that the content of the post was going to be sent to someone else, such as a politician or a newspaper. Another reason would be that I strongly believe that the poster would want the opportunity to correct a post before too many people see it.

For the record, I would always want to know if I erred about anything.

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joe shikspack's picture

@QMS

always happy to help. Smile

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detroitmechworks's picture

That sometime tomorrow we will hear about a Venezualan "Atrocity" committed against US citizens. Dust off your copies of the Hearst newspapers for the style guide for the reporting.

Not because of any planning. Just because of the knowledge that having armed forces of two different countries not friendly to each other in close proximity is a BAD idea if you want to prevent a war.

Ugh... Sorry, but I need some metal right now.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvRZxn7e3hc]

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

joe shikspack's picture

@detroitmechworks

with elliot abrams on the scene, just about any sort of bloodshed is possible likely.

i certainly hope that neither side escalates the situation to an outbreak of violence, but there is no doubt that more provocations will be offered by the u.s.

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OLinda's picture

(Again, Glenn's way with words makes me smile through disturbing reading.)

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joe shikspack's picture

@OLinda

glenn pretty much nails it. we are a nation that expresses our humanitarian concerns by killing large numbers of people. such "benevolence" is not uncommon in human history, but the level of hypocrisy is unmatched.

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Shahryar's picture

on that Coast Guard nut...continuing the sad, sad story of how Russia is behind the anti-vax movement, I saw someone describe that guy as "a Russia-loving white supremacist". Eh, what? When people are that far gone it's not even worth it to ask why they'd say that.

Ok, next...I had to look it up. Sept. 30th, 1968, Central Park, NYC: Apparently Jefferson Airplane and Country Joe & the Fish played at this free concert but I don't remember their sets. What I do remember is that Ten Years After played and Alvin Lee was pretty flashy. Then Buddy Guy came on and wow! The difference was very enlightening. Guy needed a lot fewer notes to say a lot more. It was very educational in an artistic way and I've never forgotten that lesson.

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joe shikspack's picture

@Shahryar

heh, that lesson is similar to one that i've seen a bunch of times when some young rock star type gets up on stage to jam with a serious blues player. the kid will be playing furiously, churning out a gazillion notes a minute and the blues guy will just stand off to the side, playing these double-stop or triple-stop slow bends, with really interesting tones - and pretty soon everybody is looking around to see where those cool tones are coming from.

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travelerxxx's picture

@joe shikspack

... the kid will be playing furiously, churning out a gazillion notes a minute and the blues guy will just stand off to the side, playing these double-stop or triple-stop slow bends, with really interesting tones ...

If I remember correctly, it was BB King who said words to the effect that if you’re playing for people, your mama ought to be able to close her eyes and know that it’s you.

Pretty sure Buddy Guy’s mama would know that was her son when she heard him.

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OLinda's picture

I thought this was a pretty interesting read. About how our Democratic candidates can promise all kinds of good stuff and policies to get our votes, but then they don't want to abolish the filibuster, so it will all just be too bad we don't actually get anything again even if the Democrat wins.

THE DEMOCRATS’ GRAND DELUSION

It's by Brian Beutler, Crooked Media, which is owned by a group of former Obama aides. I'd say they're pretty establishment. Beutler has a paragraph about Russia, but overall, the article is pretty good.

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detroitmechworks's picture

@OLinda this scene comes to mind. Because I have a sick sense of humor.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F27eA5iRGNs]

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

joe shikspack's picture

@OLinda

you know, if our political system allowed us to install into high office people who were truly representative of the people's will (see gilens and page) the filibuster might have a legitimacy of sorts. currently it has none.

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dystopian's picture

I don't know how we are not war criminals, a million dead in a couple decades. I guess collateral damage sounds so much better than murder.

The troops being left in Syria are some of them, sacrificial lambs, which will be used to bring more back sooner rather than later is my guess.

I am surprised the U.S. aid to Venezuela is not being delivered in a big wooden horse with wheels, pretended to be a gift.

Great to see Greta Thunberg getting traction. Go Greta Go! Bout time someone listened to a little girl/young lady.

That Buddy Guy with Buddy Miles and Jack Bruce is awesome... Buddy Guy is good as any ever was. And something about Miles drumming always grabbed me, so fast on the fills. Jack Bruce is also good as any ever was, the playin' the voice... the three are something.

Thanks for the blues JS!

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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

joe shikspack's picture

@dystopian

"collateral damage" is certainly one of the most successful products to roll off the line of our military euphemism factory. some jackass must have gotten a raise for that one.

The troops being left in Syria are some of them, sacrificial lambs, which will be used to bring more back sooner rather than later is my guess.

with john bolton and elliot abrams lurking in places where the strings can be pulled for all sorts of nasty covert actions, anything is possible.

heh, here's one of buddy's tunes for you and a famous cover:

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Azazello's picture

It must have been incredibly difficult to write an article entitled World's food supply under 'severe threat' from loss of biodiversity without using the word "Monsanto" even once.

It snowed most of the day in Tucson today, first snowfall in five years and more snow than anyone can remember. Kids of all ages were making snowmen and throwing snowballs in the park.
The younger ones may never have seen snow in their lives. Cool for one day, but I wouldn't want to make a regular thing of it.

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

heh, that's the sort of achievement that the guardian excels at. i peek at off guardian from time to time to see what they've picked up.

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WindDancer13's picture

Have a good one!

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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

joe shikspack's picture

@WindDancer13

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WindDancer13's picture

Stay until 3:20 at least (although there are some interesting bits after).

Who said MSNBC is worthless? They can provide a chuckle now and again.

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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

Unabashed Liberal's picture

(so to speak) another day due to flooding. Looks like we'll get a break by either Monday or Tuesday of next week--maybe. Fingers crossed!

Got nothing tonight except a word from my desk calendar. However, thought I'd mention that I'm sorta leery of the DSA Dude (can't remember his name, except for Timothy) whose piece was posted here recently. Suppose I could be wrong, but he certainly doesn't sound like he'd qualify as a healthcare expert (to me). Other than being a grad student, he makes reference to having been an ACA navigator, I believe, in Florida (by description--he didn't use the word). Heck, I've spoken to and written about the navigators at Corrente--they don't (or didn't) even have to even have an insurance license, when the ACA Exchanges first kicked off. Basically, they read from a script.

And, listening to one of his podcasts, sounds like a Dem Party shill, and not a very convincing one, at that. Especially, regarding his cheering of the ACA, and, of all things, O's steps to transition Traditional Medicare into a managed care program. Yikes!

Here's tonight's word:

manqué - (mahn-KAY) - adjective

Origin: This word went from Latin to Italian to French.

Definition: Short of or frustrated in the fulfillment of one's aspirations; unsuccessful.

Used In A Sentence: Penny is an actress manqué who now has a successful career in sales.

[Attribution: Word Of The Day, 2019 Daily Desktop Calendar, National Spelling Bee]

To personalize this word - Mollie is an American expat manqué who is running out of patience in achieving her goal!

Biggrin

Hey, thanks for another excellent edition of News & Blues, Joe.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend. Hope your weather is better than ours!

Bye

Blue Onyx

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”
~~Will Rogers, Actor & Social Commentator

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.”
~~Gilda Radner, Comedienne

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

joe shikspack's picture

@Unabashed Liberal

heh, i went looking for a healthcare article posted here recently, but my efforts left me a searching expert manqué.

these two articles were posted in the eb this week, is either one what you are referring to?

I Don't Give A Shit How You Bend The Cost Curve

Want to Pass Medicare For All? Make Voters Happy By Making Them Happy

have a great weekend!

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

@joe shikspack

may be a few minutes--gotta take Pup out, first.

Wink

Mollie

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

joe shikspack's picture

@Unabashed Liberal

give the pup a scritch for me!

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

@joe shikspack

locating the piece. Thought the fastest route would be locating it on DSA Twitter feed, but didn't see it.

(Took forever outside, Joe--my apologies. Between the 'rivers' that we have to negotiate, and the puppy mentality that I'm dealing with, taking care of business is not always a quick or easy proposition. Smile )

Anyhoo, if I can't locate the article this evening, I'll find it, and post it here over the weekend, or, if it looks like I can drop by Monday, I'll give you the link and info, then.

Have a nice weekend--you deserve the rest!

Pleasantry

Blue Onyx

“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”
~~Will Rogers, Actor & Social Commentator

“I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.”
~~Gilda Radner, Comedienne

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Unabashed Liberal's picture

@joe shikspack

in Splinter by Timothy Faust.

(Maybe someone other than you posted it--that's possible. Let's just say that I read it within the past week, and 'thought' I saw it at EB.)

Here you go,

The Only Guide to 'Medicare for All' That You Will Ever Need
Timothy Faust - 2/14/19 10:01am

One thing Mr Faust is right about - calling the various single-payer/public option proposals "Medicare For All" is a misnomer.

Wink

Blue Onyx

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

enhydra lutris's picture

(and everybody else) have a great weekend.

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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 --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

thanks for reading, have a great weekend!

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The Aspie Corner's picture

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Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

joe shikspack's picture

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And I do mean all, news and blues, you're the best.

Not mentioned above that I'd like to note: I really enjoyed the interview with David Treuer on Democracy Now. Really good stuff in my opinion. Level headed analysis of our history is so rare. He really seems to grok the flaws we all have without forgiving bad actors. I'll add his book to the pile soon.

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