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This evening's music features jazz singer Jimmy Witherspoon. Enjoy!

"I don't give a goddamn, I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way. Stop throwing the Constitution in my face, it's just a goddamn piece of paper!"

-- George W. Bush

News and Opinion

But when will the government change the colors of its uniforms to brown?

Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Government Tracking Journalists and Immigration Advocates Through a Secret Database

Documents obtained by NBC 7 Investigates show the U.S. government created a secret database of activists, journalists, and social media influencers tied to the migrant caravan and in some cases, placed alerts on their passports.

At the end of 2018, roughly 5,000 immigrants from Central America made their way north through Mexico to the United States southern border. The story made international headlines. As the migrant caravan reached the San Ysidro Port of Entry in south San Diego County, so did journalists, attorneys, and advocates who were there to work and witness the events unfolding. But in the months that followed, journalists who covered the caravan, as well as those who offered assistance to caravan members, said they felt they had become targets of intense inspections and scrutiny by border officials. ...

These American photojournalists and attorneys said they suspected the U.S. government was monitoring them closely but until now, they couldn’t prove it. Now, documents leaked to NBC 7 Investigates show their fears weren’t baseless. In fact, their own government had listed their names in a secret database of targets, where agents collected information on them. Some had alerts placed on their passports, keeping at least three photojournalists and an attorney from entering Mexico to work.

The individuals listed include ten journalists, seven of whom are U.S. citizens, a U.S. attorney, and 47 people from the U.S. and other countries, labeled as organizers, instigators or their roles “unknown.” The target list includes advocates from organizations like Border Angels and Pueblo Sin Fronteras. ... In addition to flagging the individuals for secondary screenings, the Homeland Security source told NBC 7 that the agents also created dossiers on each person listed. ...

Evidence of increased scrutiny of journalists at the border was detailed in an October 2018 report prepared by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ.) The report identified 37 journalists who said they found the secondary screenings by border officials “invasive,” and said 20 cases involved border agents “conducting warrantless searches of [the journalists’] electronic devices.”

US court upholds subpoena of whistleblower Chelsea Manning

Chelsea Manning yesterday lost the challenge she launched against a subpoena that requires her to be cross-examined by the Grand Jury in the Eastern District of Virginia which was convened in 2010 to decide whether to file charges against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. ... Judge Claude Hilton dismissed Manning’s motion on undisclosed grounds and also sealed the proceedings, legally proscribing her from speaking about the reasons. Manning, restricted in what she could or could not say, only told journalists outside the court that she now expects to have to answer questions before the Grand Jury multiple times over the coming days.

She condemned grand juries as “terrible tools,” noting that they are effectively run by the prosecutors and “there is no adversarial process.” ...

The subpoena is an escalation of the US government’s efforts to extradite Julian Assange, and a new and vindictive persecution of Manning—a courageous whistleblower who was subjected to years of solitary confinement. It is part of a bipartisan offensive against freedom of speech, aimed at suppressing critical and independent journalism through the threat of imprisonment and prosecution.

Last week, the New York Times, among other publications, noted that the obvious motive behind forcing Manning to once again face questioning in a court is to revisit her testimony that WikiLeaks and Assange played no role in her decision to leak hundreds of thousands of US government documents. ... During her trial, Manning rejected prosecutor attempts to have her testify that WikiLeaks and its editor Julian Assange had actively conspired with her to obtain the leaks. Under questioning about what had occurred after she first anonymously sent data to WikiLeaks, she stated: “No one associated with W.L.O (WikiLeaks) pressured me into sending any more information. I take full responsibility.”

ICE Spied on Anti-Trump Activists in NYC

An explosive report from The Nation magazine Wednesday morning showed the federal government spied on progressive activists in New York City.

Emails from February, July, and August 2018 between agents in the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) wing of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) obtained by reporter Jimmy Tobias show a surveillance operation targeted at protests against President Donald Trump's administration and immigration policies in the city.

On July 31, 2018, for example, ICE's New York office sent out a spreadsheet to an undisclosed number of recipients that listed a dozen upcoming "anti-Trump" protests that were planned in NYC: pic.twitter.com/ns8ajOTdXj

— Jimmy Tobias (@JamesCTobias) March 6, 2019

ICE appears to be highly attuned to left-leaning protests in NYC. Here's an email chain, for example, that shows ICE officers going back and forth (and cracking jokes) about an upcoming protest in front of their office: pic.twitter.com/KssCGXwofY

— Jimmy Tobias (@JamesCTobias) March 6, 2019

ICE also kept tabs on a number of anti-gun groups, including @gaysXgunsNY, when they marched against the NRA: pic.twitter.com/QMlX7R5iju

— Jimmy Tobias (@JamesCTobias) March 6, 2019

Report finds U.S. made bomb was used in airstrike on wedding in Yemen

Thanks, Obama!

'Shameful': Trump Ends Rule Requiring US to Disclose Number of Civilians Killed by Drone Strikes

In his latest attack on transparency, President Donald Trump on Wednesday rescinded a rule requiring U.S. intelligence officials to publicly disclose the number of civilians killed by drone strikes. ... Trump used an executive order to scrap the three-year-old rule, which instructed the Director of National Intelligence to produce an annual report on all civilians killed by U.S. drone strikes outside of official war zones. ...

Now that the rule has been canceled, critics feared that the Trump administration will be able to continue expanding the use of drone strikes overseas with even less oversight.

The executive order comes as reports show that Trump has escalated the drone wars he inherited from his predecessor Barack Obama, who was widely criticized for expanding the use of drone strikes.

War Crimes in Yemen? U.S. & U.K. Arms Killed & Injured Nearly 1,000 Civilians in Saudi-Led Attack

Well, well. It looks like Colombia got cold feet and stopped the U.S. flunkies from shooting their way into Venezuela. Bloomberg reports (so expect some mainstream media artifacts):

Heavily Armed Soldiers Aborted a Plan to Enter Venezuela by Force

Late last month, as U.S. officials joined Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido near a bridge in Colombia to send desperately needed aid to the masses and challenge the rule of Nicolas Maduro, some 200 exiled soldiers were checking their weapons and planning to clear the way for the convoy. Led by retired General Cliver Alcala, who has been living in Colombia, they were going to drive back the Venezuelan national guardsmen blocking the aid on the other side. The plan was stopped by the Colombian government, which learned of it late and feared violent clashes at a highly public event it promised would be peaceful.

Almost no provisions got in that day and hopes that military commanders would abandon Maduro have so far been dashed. Even though Guaido is back in Caracas, recognized by 50 nations as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, the impromptu taking up of arms shows that the push to remove Maduro -- hailed by the U.S. as inevitable -- is growing increasingly chaotic and risky. ...

The U.S. officials who have driven the Venezuela policy -- Rubio, National Security Adviser John Bolton and special envoy Elliott Abrams -- continue to put on a brave face, increasing economic and diplomatic pressure and tweeting daily about Maduro’s certain departure. Behind the scenes, however, there is concern and dismay. At a United Nations Security Council session last week, Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution calling for free and fair new elections and restoration of democracy. Moreover, when Guaido was in Colombia, its president, Ivan Duque, expressed frustration to him. Witnesses said Duque complained about the failure of Guaido’s promise to bring tens of thousands of Venezuelans to the border to receive the humanitarian aid. ...

European and Latin American diplomats say they are preparing for a long and messy process in which Maduro stays in power despite an economy in tailspin. One Latin American diplomat said Maduro has learned from his patrons, the Cubans, about how to be resilient. Sanctions and international pressure may wind up strengthening his regime, at least in the short term.

French teevee discovers widespread opposition to Gauido...

Former Chavista stronghold remains loyal to Maduro

Netanyahu: Israeli Navy Could Target Iranian Oil Tankers in International Waters

Since dishonoring the P5+1 nuclear deal, the Trump Administration has made clear their goal is to bring Iranian oil exports to zero through sanctions. That’s wholly impractical, with many nations, including P5+1 deal signatories, saying they intend to keep buying from Iran despite US sanctions.

But Israel does have a navy and a burning desire to pick fights with
Iran. In comments Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s Navy could soon be ordered to target Iranian oil tankers to prevent them selling oil abroad.

Netanyahu is trying to present Iran selling oil to nations like China without American permission as “smuggling,” and potential military attacks on oil tankers in international waters as enforcement of US sanctions.

Bacevich: Questioning U.S.-Israel Ties Has Long Been Impermissible in Congress, But That’s Changing

Mark Zuckerberg Is Trying to Play You — Again

“As I think about the future of the internet, I believe a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than today’s open platforms,” Zuckerberg writes in his road-to-Damascus revelation about personal privacy. The roughly 3,000-word manifesto reads as though Facebook is fundamentally realigning itself as a privacy champion — a company that will no longer track what you read, buy, see, watch, and hear in order to sell companies the opportunity to intervene in your future acts. But, it turns out, the new “privacy-focused” Facebook involves only one change: the enabling of end-to-end encryption across the company’s instant messaging services. Such a tech shift would prevent anyone, even Facebook, outside of chat participants from reading your messages.

That’s it.

Although the move is laudable — and will be a boon for dissident Facebook chatters in countries where government surveillance is a real, perpetual risk — promising to someday soon forfeit to your ability to eavesdrop on over 2 billion people doesn’t exactly make you eligible for sainthood in 2019. It doesn’t help that Zuckerberg’s post is completely absent of details beyond a plan to implement these encryption changes “over the next few years” — which is particularly silly considering Facebook has yet to implement privacy features promised in the wake of its previous mega-scandals. ...

What’s more, this is a dramatic 3,000-word opus, but only about one new privacy feature, to be released at some unknown future point. On the other hand, Facebook has a long history to consider: It’s a company whose business model relies entirely on worldwide data mining. Facebook may someday offer end-to-end chats between WhatsApp and Messenger users — which would be great! — but there’s no sign the company would ever expand such encryption beyond instant messages, because it would destroy the company. For everything Facebook protects with end-to-end encryption, that’s one less thing Facebook can comb for behavioral data, consumer preferences, and so forth.

Italy rolls out 'citizens' income' for the poor amid criticisms

Italy’s populist government has rolled out its “citizens’ income” for the poor scheme, amid criticism that the part of the initiative meant to help claimants find a job is not ready to be implemented. Citizens’ income is the ambitious flagship policy of the Five Star Movement (M5S), which the party – in government with the far-right League – is counting on to alleviate poverty, boost consumer spending and spur economic growth. Those eligible must prove their household income is less than the poverty line figure of €780 (£640) a month. The amount that can be claimed ranges from up to €780 for single people and €1,300 for a family with two children.

The initiative is costing the Italian government €7.1bn in its first year, an expenditure that contributed to clashes with the European commission over Italy’s budget for 2019 and almost led to the country being sanctioned. But with 5 million people who live beneath the poverty line expected to apply for the scheme, it has been lauded as “revolutionary” by the M5S leader and labour minister, Luigi Di Maio.

Claimants will start receiving the benefit via pre-paid debit cards from mid-April. But it comes with restrictions on how they can spend the money: initially, they will only be able to use the cards for food shopping or to buy medication. If there is money left on the card by the end of the month, it is debited rather than carried over to the next month. Recipients must also enroll in job training, and will lose the benefit if they turn down more than three job offers. Di Maio advised potential beneficiaries that it was better to accept the first job they were offered, otherwise they risk being forced to take a job anywhere in Italy.

The benefit will last for 18 months, but claimants will then be able to reapply if still eligible.

Trump's tariff war pushes US trade deficit to 10-year high

The US trade deficit hit a 10-year high in December, dealing a blow to Donald Trump’s efforts to restrict imports, especially from China, with protectionist trade tariffs.

The gap between the goods US companies sell to China and Chinese imports ballooned to a record $419bn (£318bn), while the total deficit in goods with all countries jumped to $891bn. A surplus in services trade was unable to prevent the overall deficit for 2018 from rising nearly 19% in December to a decade-long high of $621bn, the commerce department said.

With US consumers continuing to demand imported phones, laptops and computer accessories, mostly from China, analysts said the trade gap was likely to widen further and forecast that the US president could now redouble his efforts to impose tariffs. Exports, which fell for a third month in a row, also weakened in response to slowing global demand and a strong dollar, which is making US-made goods less competitive on the international market.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at the spread-betting firm IG, said Trump’s $1tn of tax cuts and higher government spending had boosted domestic consumption and increased imports. At the same time, the high value of the dollar had discouraged foreign buyers from purchasing US-made goods, “making a mockery of the White House’s push to reduce the trade deficit”.

DCCC Chair Accused of Echoing Right-Wing Talking Points After Calling Medicare for All Costs 'Scary'

A member of the House Democratic leadership was accused of echoing insurance industry talking points after she raised concerns about the price tag of Medicare for All—without mentioning the significantly higher cost of the current for-profit healthcare system.

"I think the $33 trillion price tag for Medicare for All is a little scary," Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), the chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), said in an interview with The Hill on Tuesday.

Bustos was apparently referring to a study published last year by the Koch-funded Mercatus Center, which found that Medicare for All could cost $32.6 trillion over a ten-year period. But the study also found that Medicare for All could save the U.S. $2 trillion compared to the status quo—while insuring every American.

You know what's more than a little scary?

1) Tens of millions of Americans without health insurance right now.
2) People dying and going bankrupt because our health care system is broken.
3) Democratic officials using GOP talking points to argue against popular policy ideas. https://t.co/ZRF3c8soa2

— CREDO Mobile (@CREDOMobile) March 6, 2019

Bustos also told The Hill that Medicare for All would be disruptive for the millions of Americans who receive insurance through their employers, a misleading line of attack that has featured prominently in the insurance industry's campaign against single-payer.

Not exactly surprising:

Trump’s Justice Department is investigating 60% fewer civil rights cases than Obama’s

The Trump administration is pursuing far fewer civil rights cases — including hate crimes, police bias, and disability rights cases — than the Obama or Bush administration did, an exclusive VICE News analysis of Department of Justice data shows.

The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division — which has enforced nearly every pivotal moment of rights reform since its creation in 1957 — has started 60 percent fewer cases against potential violations during the first two years of the Trump administration than during the Obama years and 50 percent fewer than under George W. Bush.

The decreased caseload marks a dramatic change in approach for the primary DOJ division devoted to investigating accusations of racial, ethnic, and other forms of bias. Trump and his first attorney general, Jeff Sessions, have been clear about their opposition to some of the division’s work, including investigations of police departments and the enforcement of disabled people’s rights, two areas where the division’s work has slowed to a near standstill.

Census Bureau quietly seeks personal data about immigrants' legal status

As the US supreme court weighs whether the Trump administration can ask people if they are citizens on the 2020 census, the Census Bureau is quietly seeking comprehensive information about the legal status of millions of immigrants.

Under a proposed plan, the Department of Homeland Security would provide the bureau with a broad swath of personal data about noncitizens, including their immigration status, the Associated Press has learned. A pending agreement between the agencies has been in the works since at least January, the same month a federal judge in New York blocked the administration from adding the citizenship question to the 10-year survey.

On Wednesday, a federal judge in California also declared that adding the citizenship question to the census was unconstitutional, saying the move “threatens the very foundation of our democratic system”.

The data that homeland security would share with Census officials would include noncitizens’ full names and addresses, birth dates and places, as well as social security numbers and highly sensitive alien registration numbers, according to a document signed by the Census Bureau and obtained by the AP.

Such a data dump would be apparently unprecedented and give the Census Bureau a view of immigrants’ citizenship status that is even more precise than what can be gathered in door-to-door canvassing, according to bureau research. ...

The move raises questions as to what the Trump administration seeks to do with the data and concerns among privacy and civil rights activists that it could be misused.

Wow, Kirstjen Nielsen may win the prestigious "liar of the week award" despite considerable competition.

DHS Secretary Nielsen says what Border Patrol puts kids in aren’t really “cages”

DHS Secretary Nielsen says migrant kids aren't really put in "cages." pic.twitter.com/J0OmJM8q8L

— VICE News (@vicenews) March 6, 2019

The U.S. government doesn’t put migrant children in cages, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Congress — at least not ones with a top, a bottom, and walls.

“We don’t use cages for children,” Nielsen told the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, during her testimony Wednesday. When pressed, she stood by her answer that Border Patrol has never put a child in “a cage like this” — and then outlined the shape of a square with her hands.

“I’ve seen the cages,” Thompson countered. “I just want you to admit the cages exist.”

“Sir, they’re not cages,” Nielsen responded and explained that as children are processed into detention facilities, they’re held in “sub parts” for their protection. “If we have two gangs, we separate them into separate areas of that facility,” she continued. ...

When the Associated Press visited one of those facilities in Texas last June, reporters described “cages created by metal fencing” to house children. Various politicians — including some who participated in Wednesday’s hearing — have also visited these facilities and described seeing children in “cages.”

Democrats bar Fox News from 2020 debates over 'inappropriate' Trump ties

The Democratic party’s governing body has announced it will not ask Fox News to host any of its televised primary debates during the 2020 US presidential race, citing a recent report detailing the conservative network’s close rapport with Donald Trump.

Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez said a New Yorker exposé on the depth of the Trump administration’s ties to Fox News cast doubt on the network’s capacity to hold a “fair and neutral” debate on the Democratic primaries. The decision was first reported by the Washington Post. ...

The presidential debates are typically televised by networks who secure exclusive rights to do so. There are 12 Democratic primary debates currently scheduled and set to begin in June. Fox was among the networks to send proposals to the DNC to air one of the debates. The network had partnered with the DNC on a primary debate in 2016 that was later canceled.

Responding to the DNC’s decision, Trump threatened to “do the same thing with the Fake News Networks and the Radical Left Democrats” in the presidential debates next year.

Biden Asks “Executives” Help Reaching Young Voters

Wolves airdropped into US to tackle moose problem

A quartet of Canadian wolves was transported by helicopter from their home in Ontario to Isle Royale national park, covering an 894 sq mile island in the US Great Lakes, to deal with the burgeoning moose population. Scientists also hope to bolster a dwindling population of wolves that already exists on the island.

Historically, ice bridges have connected Isle Royale to the mainland for more than 50 days a year, allowing wolves ample time to migrate. But over the last two decades, these bridges have been far less common and consistent, in effect stranding the two last wolves at Isle Royale and preventing newcomers. The four new ones will join two others introduced in 2018. The National Park Service is planning to introduce 20 to 30 wolves to the park over the next five years. ...

The biggest challenge to wolf reintroduction is people. Once wolves were among the most widely distributed wild mammals, but by the early 1990s, only a few hundred remained in the lower 48 states. Today, there are more than 6,000 wolves in the mainland US, and up to 12,000 in Alaska. “People’s attitudes have changed a ton,” says Vucetich. “Our attitudes have changed enough to decide definitively that we want to live with wolves. But we haven’t decided how to live with wolves.”

Well, some of us haven't changed attitudes towards wolves...

Issuing 'Death Sentence' to Gray Wolves, Trump Admin Moves to Gut Federal Protections

Conservation groups were up in arms Wednesday after the Trump administration moved to strip federal protections from gray wolves.

"This disgusting proposal would be a death sentence for gray wolves across the country," said Collette Adkins, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. "The Trump administration is dead set on appeasing special interests that want to kill wolves."

BAD MOVE: The Trump administration has proposed stripping Endangered Species Act protections from #wolves across nearly the entire lower 48 states, reversing gray wolf recovery in the United States. #StopExtinction https://t.co/I9pFR474SS

— WildEarth Guardians (@wildearthguard) March 6, 2019

The Fish and Wildlife Service argues that the population has bounced back well enough to warrant lifting Endangered Species Act protections for the animals in the lower 48, but groups including the Endangered Species Coalition says that's just not true. The animals now roam less than 10 percent of their historic range, and with a population of roughly 5,000, they are at a fraction of their historic numbers, the groups note.

Perhaps Florida's sinking beneath the tides has an upside...

Florida bill would ban plastic straw bans until 2024

In the growing war against the environmental impact of plastic, Florida seems to be taking a giant step backwards by pushing legislation that would stop local authorities from banning plastic straws, a move that has, not surprisingly, angered many environmentalists.

The bill, under consideration by lawmakers, would place a five-year suspension on municipalities’ banning of plastic straws, pending a study from the Florida department of environmental protection. Calling the banning of plastic straws “government overreach”, the Florida state senator Travis Hutson also amended the bill to create a $25,000 fine for local governments that regulate the material and another ban on municipal regulation of sunscreens that harm coral reefs, the Miami Herald reported.

The move goes against previous efforts by the state to mitigate the damage caused by straws. The state department of environmental protection encourages Florida residents to “skip the straw” and reduce their plastic use. In a statement to the Guardian, the agency declared: “Plastic straws are one of the many single-use plastics that litter beaches, pollute oceans, and harm wildlife.”

Also of Interest

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

A Lakota Historian on What Climate Organizers Can Learn From Two Centuries of Indigenous Resistance

Anti-Semitism vs. Anti-Zionism in France

Why Napalm Is a Cautionary Tale for Tech Giants Pursuing Military Contracts

Russiagate Grand Wizard Deceives Audience About Assange

‘The Violence Elliott Abrams Supported Is Unspeakable’

Brexit: Britain has cut itself adrift from Europe

Melania Trump Visited Oklahoma School Linked to Exiled Turkish Cleric — but Why?

NYT’s ‘Desire for Control’ Over Political Perceptions

Two NYPD Cops Coerced Sex With a Teen in Their Custody — and Prosecutors Just Dropped Rape Charges

These Stock Market Charts Should Give You Pause

A Little Night Music

Jimmy Witherspoon - When The Lights Go Out

Jimmy Witherspoon - Waiting For Your Return

Jimmy Witherspoon - Two Little Girls

Jimmy Witherspoon - Gone With the Blues

Jimmy Witherspoon - Danger

Jimmy Witherspoon - Skidrow Blues

Jimmy Witherspoon - Money's Getting Cheaper

Jimmy Witherspoon - Love Me Right

Jimmy Witherspoon - Daddy Pinocchio

Jimmy Witherspoon - Evenin'