The Evening Blues - 7-19-19



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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Boozoo Chavis

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features zydeco musician Boozoo Chavis. Enjoy!

Boozoo Chavis - Dance All Night

"The concept of unlimited expansion that alone can fulfill the hope for unlimited accumulation of capital, and brings about the aimless accumulation of power, makes the foundation of new political bodies--which up to the era of imperialism always had been the upshot of conquest--well-nigh impossible. In fact, its logical consequence is the destruction of all living communities, those of the conquered peoples as well as of the people at home."

-- Hannah Arendt


News and Opinion

Iran claims to have seized British oil tanker in strait of Hormuz

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed on Friday evening to have seized a British oil tanker, the Stena Impero, which suddenly veered off course and headed into Iranian waters.

The ship’s owners issued a statement saying that at 3pm GMT (7pm local time), the ship had been “approached by unidentified small crafts and a helicopter during transit of the strait of Hormuz while the vessel was in international waters”.

“We are presently unable to contact the vessel which is now heading north towards Iran,” the owners, Stena Bulk, and the ship’s managers, Northern Marine, said.

The Revolutionary Guards issued a statement saying they had seized the Stena Impero, citing international maritime law for their actions. Iran had been complaining bitterly about the detention by UK forces of an Iranian tanker two weeks ago off Gibraltar.

The seizure of the Stena Impero came on a day when the Gibraltar authorities announced their were extending their custody of the Iranian tanker, the Grace 1, suspected of shipping oil to Syria. Tehran denounced the detention of the Grace 1 as piracy carried out on orders from Washington. Iranian politicians have been calling for reprisals. ...

In London, there were reports that the government’s emergency response committee, Cobra, was being convened. The Ministry of Defence stressed it had ships in the area but could not provide any further details of what had happened.

A US Led Naval Coalition In The Persian Gulf Will Raise The Threat Of War

While Bolton and Pompeo push the region towards maximum tension and Trump makes despicable threats to obliterate Iran, the US military has announced its intention to create and lead an anti-Iranian naval coalition in the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, by Trump's own admission, the United States is engaged in economic war against Iranians, as its armed forces have aggressively violated Iranian airspace and territorial waters, resulting in the humiliating downing of its most sophisticated drone by an Iranian surface to air missile.

A few naval ships from far off nations will not change the balance of power, but they will increase confusion and the chances for major regional conflict. Iranians will also view such an entity as an extension of a belligerent American naval presence.

Since the illegal and tragic US occupation of Iraq, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been constructing a vast network of underground missile defense facilities alongside the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman in anticipation of possible US attacks. Iran and its powerful allies have also developed formidable asymmetrical capabilities across the region. It has both the will and means to decisively engage with a belligerent power.

In order to prevent any appetite for all-out war, Iran will respond to a limited military strike with a massive and disproportionate counterstrike targeting both the aggressor and its enablers. Regional regimes such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia that facilitate aggression in any way or form should expect the swift destruction of their oil assets and critical infrastructure. On the other hand, all-out war would mean the obliteration of all oil and gas installations as well as ships on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz. Under such circumstances, the closure of the Strait would be the least of Bolton's problems.

This U.K. Whistleblower Almost Stopped the Iraq Invasion. A New Film Tells Her Story

Iran makes 'substantial' nuclear offer in return for US lifting sanctions

Iran has offered a deal with the US in which it would formally and permanently accept enhanced inspections of its nuclear programme, in return for the permanent lifting of US sanctions.

The offer was made by the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on a visit to New York. But it is unlikely to be warmly received by the Trump administration, which is currently demanding Iran make a range of sweeping concessions, including cessation of uranium enrichment and support for proxies and allies in the region.

Zarif insisted, however, that his offer was “a substantial move”.

“It’s not about photo ops. We are interested in substance,” he told reporters at the Iranian mission to the UN in New York on Thursday. “There are other substantial moves that can be made.” He said: “If they [the Trump administration] are putting their money where their mouth is, they are going to do it. They don’t need a photo op. They don’t need a two-page document with a big signature.” ...

Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has rebuffed overtures for direct talks with Trump, citing US bad faith over the JCPOA, but Zarif signaled on Thursday that Iran was willing to do a deal that did not necessary involve the US returning to the JCPOA, Tehran’s official position until now.

Trump Says the U.S. Navy Shot Down an Iranian Drone

A U.S. warship shot down an Iranian drone in the Persian Gulf on Thursday, President Donald Trump said.

The drone got within 1,000 yards of the U.S.S. Boxer, a Navy warship, and refused to back off after it was hailed multiple times, Trump told the press on Thursday afternoon. The president said that the drone posed a threat to the ship and its crew.

“This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters,” Trump said. “The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, our facilities and interests, and calls upon all nations to condemn Iran’s attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce.”

Iran's response to Trump: 'All our drones are fine'

Calling Trump Claim 'Delusional,' Iran Says US May Have Shot Down Its Own Drone by Mistake

Iran released drone footage on Friday that it said refutes President Donald Trump's claim that the U.S. Navy downed an Iranian aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz.

As Reuters reported, Iranian state TV said "the drone had captured the footage and timing notations showed the drone was still filming after Washington said it had been downed."

Trump insisted Friday that he has "no doubt" the U.S. Navy downed an Iranian drone.

According to Al Jazeera, a Trump administration official said the Pentagon may release its own video of the incident.

The Brexit Dumpster Fire Has Killed Every Major EU Secessionist Movement

Boris Johnson, the man tipped to become Britain’s next prime minister, caused alarm Monday when he boldly pledged to leave the European Union in October, deal or no deal. Not so long ago, leaders of Europe’s populist right-wing movements would have publicly applauded the sentiment, viewing Britain’s departure as the first domino that would trigger an inevitable mass exodus from the 28-member bloc. Now, virtually no one thinks that’s a good idea.

For three years, Europeans have watched their British neighbors limp through an unending political crisis that has already claimed two prime ministers, bitterly divided the public, and left the country on the brink of an economically disastrous “no-deal” exit. Watching that horror show has inspired a sense of appreciation for the oft-maligned EU. Across the continent, public support for the EU has surged, while the populist euroskeptic parties that once called for their own national exit from the bloc have quietly changed their tune.

“This idea that a country could easily do better outside the EU has been discredited by Brexit,” Larissa Brunner, a policy analyst at the European Policy Centre, told VICE News. “Straight after the Brexit referendum, there was a lot of talk about a domino effect, of similar referenda in other member states. But Brexit has had completely the opposite effect. It’s not difficult to see why.”

Brexit has been such a debacle that it has effectively killed the rising EU secessionist movements that, just a few years ago, appeared poised to take hold across Western Europe. Its impact can be seen from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, where virtually every influential populist, euroskeptic party that had previously called for their own version of Brexit has changed course. The message now is: remain, and reform from within.

A California Bill Could Transform the Lives of Gig Workers. Silicon Valley Wants Labor’s Help To Stop It.

A bill with potentially huge implications for the so-called gig economy is making its way through the California state legislature this summer, laying bare cleavages within the labor movement. Companies like Uber and Lyft are seeking a workaround to the legislation, which would classify their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors, opening the door to a host of employment benefits. Some prominent labor unions, meanwhile, have been in talks with Silicon Valley, even as they voice their commitment to securing workers’ rights.

Sponsored by Lorena Gonzalez, a Democratic assemblywoman from San Diego, the bill, known as AB 5, seeks to codify and expand Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles. The landmark 2018 California Supreme Court decision made it much more difficult for companies to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees, who have access to workplace protection laws like minimum wage, overtime, unemployment insurance, and the right to join a union. At the center of the debate over AB 5 is its impact on “gig economy” companies like Uber and Lyft, though it would also affect older, more established industries like retail and trucking. There’s a practical reason for California to enact the legislation: The state estimates it loses $7 billion in payroll tax annually due to companies misclassifying employees as independent contractors. ...

Gig economy workers who support the legislation view it as a necessary step toward their ability to collectively organize. Both the Service Employees International Union and the Teamsters union have played leading roles in advocating for the legislation. They have publicly said they will fight a watered-down AB 5, but a series of private meetings between labor leaders and tech companies have raised suspicion that the unions are more open to leaving gig workers as independent contractors than they’ve formally let on. Opponents of AB 5 recognize its proposed classification standard could extend well beyond the Golden State and have been lobbying hard —both in California and Washington, D.C. — to stop it. Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate after Dynamex came down to narrow the definition of independent contractors, legislation that is backed by other leading presidential candidates Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren.

The Philly Police Department May Actually Fire Some Racist Cops

Weeks after hundreds of police officers’ racist, homophobic, and violent Facebook posts were uncovered, the Philadelphia Police Department will begin firing a number of the officers involved, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. ...

Philadelphia Police Department Commissioner Richard Ross announced in mid-June that the department would take 72 officers off street duty, the largest number of officers placed on desk duty simultaneously in recent history. But at the time, the department had no public plans to terminate anyone. ...

The police department will now begin suspending 13 officers, with the intent to dismiss them, beginning Friday, according to the Inquirer. It’s not immediately clear who the officers are or what exactly they posted.

Those 13 people are a mere fraction of the Philadelphia-based officers who were implicated in the report: The Plain View Project found 500 Philadelphia officers who posted offensive material, 330 of whom were still on the force when its database launched.

The Plain View Project’s database of offensive Facebook posts includes material from police officers in eight cities, including Dallas, St. Louis, and Phoenix. Users can search the database by officers’ jurisdiction, name, badge number, salary, and rank.

Laquan McDonald: four fired for alleged cover up of white officer's role in killing

The Chicago Police Board on Thursday fired four police officers for allegedly covering up a white officer’s 2014 fatal shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald.

The nine-member board found the officers exaggerated the threat posed by the 17-year-old McDonald to justify his shooting by Jason Van Dyke and voted unanimously for the dismissal of Sgt Stephen Franko and officers Janet Mondragon, Daphne Sebastian and Ricardo Viramontes.

The police superintendent Eddie Johnson in 2016 accused the officers of either giving or approving knowingly false statements. None of the four were charged criminally, however they were stripped of police powers and assigned to desk duty as their case proceeded. A Cook county judge acquitted three other officers in January of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and official misconduct charges in the case.

Finally! The "F" word at last.


Ilhan Omar and AOC Are Punching Back at Trump’s “Fascist Rhetoric”

President Trump is now trying to distance himself from the resounding chant of “Send her back! Send her back!”, but for the four progressive Democrats who’ve dubbed themselves “the squad,” the chant that began at a Trump rally Wednesday night is still ringing in their ears. And they say it’s changed everything.

“I think it was a great unveiling,” Rep Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) told a pack of reporters and camera crews trailing her at the Capitol on Thursday. “There are so many people who cannot and were not willing to accept the kind of fascist rhetoric that was coming from this president and his base, and I think there is now a clear picture.” ...

“We’re dealing with dynamics that we already believed were there, so it’s not as though it’s a shocking turn of events.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told VICE News just off the House floor. “Really we are talking about fascistic government, and this is no longer about political debate.”

“There are ways in which everyday people can organize against authoritarian governments, and that I think is part of where we’re at,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “But it takes a lot of different segments, right? Because some folks may not think we’re there. Other folks strongly believe we are.”

Heh, well, backing away from those comments didn't last long.

Reversing his reversal, Trump has now totally abandoned his disavowal of a racist “send her back” chant about Representative Ilhan Omar at his North Carolina rally. He previously said he was “unhappy” about the chant, but he told reporters in the Oval Office just now that he is actually “unhappy” about many other things.

“I’m unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country. I’m unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can say anti-Semitic things,” Trump said during an event with Apollo astronauts to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. “She’s lucky to be where she is, let me tell you. And the things that she has said are a disgrace to our country.”


Trump Praises Supporters Who Want to Deport Ilhan Omar as “People That Love Our Country”

Less than two hours after Donald Trump claimed that he was “not happy” with supporters who chanted “Send her back” during his scripted rant against Rep. Ilhan Omar on Wednesday night, the president praised the same baying mob. “These are people that love our country,” Trump said, echoing his defense of the white supremacists in Charlottesville who chanted “Jews will not replace us” as “very fine people.”


Earlier on Thursday, Trump blatantly lied about what happened during the televised rally in North Carolina the night before, offering the preposterous claim that he had stopped the chanting against the Somali-American congresswoman by “quickly” speaking over the din.

In fact, when the shouts of “send her back” erupted from the crowd near the end of Trump’s three-minute diatribe, filled with distortions and lies about the Minnesota Democrat, Trump paused for 13 seconds, as the call to deport a congresswoman was repeated eight more times.

Anti-Racist Historian: Attacks on Rep. Omar Rooted in Belief “America is for White People”

Trump officials pressing to slash refugee admissions to zero next year

The Trump administration is considering a virtual shutdown of refugee admissions next year — cutting the number to nearly zero — according to three people familiar with the plan.

During a key meeting of security officials on refugee admissions last week, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services representative who is closely aligned with White House immigration adviser Stephen Miller suggested setting a cap at zero, the people said. Homeland Security Department officials at the meeting later floated making the level anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000, according to one of the people.

The proposal for a near-shutdown of the refugee program is alarming officials at the Department of Defense, who don’t want to see a halt in admissions of Iraqis who risked their lives assisting U.S. forces in that country. The possible move comes after the Trump administration cut refugee admissions by a third this year, to 30,000.

If the administration shuts down refugee admissions, it would give President Donald Trump a powerful talking point as he makes immigration restrictions a centerpiece of his reelection campaign. At the same time, it would strand thousands of people already far along in the process and damage the ability of resettlement agencies to process refugees in future years, according to advocates tracking the issue.

'Absolutely Disastrous': Progressives Furious as Fellow Democrats Push Funding Cut for Health Clinics That Serve 30 Million Americans

Progressive members of Congress are raising alarm and publicly calling out Democratic colleagues who are pushing legislation that would significantly cut funding to community health centers, which currently provide essential care to around 30 million primarily poor and rural Americans. As the Washington Post's Jeff Stein reported Wednesday, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) is advancing a bipartisan measure that "would provide flat levels of federal funding for hundreds of community health centers nationwide, at about $4 billion for the next four years."

Pallone denied that his bill calls for cuts, but progressives warned that because "flat" funding would not keep up with inflation, Pallone's bill would lead to lower budgets for health clinics across the nation. "The plan backed by Pallone, while better than letting the funding expire altogether, would amount to a nearly 20 percent funding reduction over four years for the clinics, almost certainly cutting the amount of medical, vision, dental, and mental healthcare they can provide primarily low-income Americans," Stein reported, citing Sara Rosenbaum, a health expert at George Washington University.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has played a major role in securing and expanding funding for community health centers over the past decade, expressed outrage that Democrats would pursue legislation that could jeopardize healthcare for millions of low-income Americans.


As Stein reported, "Lawmakers face a September deadline for the community health centers, after which their funding would begin to expire, likely leading to steep cuts."

Instead of Pallone's legislation, Gunnels said House Democrats should line up behind a bill introduced in March by Sanders and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), which would expand funding for community health centers and provide care to over five million more Americans.

Why, my heavens, that Mistuh McConnell is just so powerful, he gives a gal the vapuhs! Why, we have no powuh to resist his take-it-or-leave-it demands!

Chuck Schumer, in Meeting With Progressive Caucus, Said He Was Surprised House Democrats Waved Through the Senate Border Bill

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., ventured across the Capitol complex on Tuesday afternoon to meet privately with House members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. Schumer’s attendance at a House meeting was unusual, and a handful of CPC members, including Reps. Jared Huffman and Barbara Lee of California, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, took the opportunity to press Schumer on the Senate’s performance during the fight late last month over an emergency spending bill related to the border crisis.

House Democrats broadly considered the Senate bill to be far too weak, handing President Donald Trump billions of dollars with no real requirements that the federal government improve conditions at the camps where migrants are concentrated. Many House Democrats worried that, under the Senate bill, Trump would be able to siphon money away from humanitarian relief toward policing migrants. The House, in response, passed an alternative bill that mandated that contractors improve conditions or lose contracts. The Senate took up a vote on the House bill and rejected it, instead sending its own version over to the House. ...

Schumer, in response to questions, told the Progressive Caucus members that the Senate had always expected the House to pass a stronger bill, after which the two chambers would negotiate a compromise — either informally or through a conference committee. Instead, House leaders simply waved through the Senate bill without letting him know they planned to cave. Schumer “truly didn’t expect the House to pass the Senate bill unamended,” said one person in the room — a recollection that was confirmed by multiple others. “He said he was surprised the House didn’t ask for a conference committee. It could have,” said another member in the room. “But he also gave a somewhat lame answer on Senate Dems actions.”

The House still had the opportunity to move to conference, but elected not to do so. Schumer’s analysis maps with that of Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., who made a similar point at the Netroots Nation conference last week. “The complete assumption on the Senate side was that Speaker Pelosi would take it to conference, and she didn’t,” said Merkley. Drew Hammill, deputy chief of staff to Pelosi, said that the way Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused negotiations cut off the possibility of a conference. “We were just as hopeful as Senate Democrats that McConnell would honor our wishes to hold a conference to get a stronger bill for the children,” Hammill said. “Leader McConnell’s actions have changed how the House and Senate will be relating to each other in the future.”



the horse race



Democratic debates: Biden and Harris will face off again in second round

Joe Biden faces a rematch against his tormentor Kamala Harris while Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will go head to head in a battle of the left in the second Democratic primary debates at the end of the month. The lineups for Detroit were decided by a draw held live on CNN on Thursday. As in the first debates in Miami, the field will be crowded with 20 candidates spread over two nights. ...

Biden will be under huge pressure to perform better next time and will find Harris directly standing next to him on Wednesday 31 July. The media is likely to hype it as a grudge match and opportunity for revenge. ... Adding to the intrigue, another African American candidate, Senator Cory Booker, who was also critical of Biden’s comments, will be on the former vice-president’s other side.

Before that, on Tuesday 30 July there is the intriguing prospect of senators Sanders of Vermont and Warren of Massachusetts taking centre stage together. The progressive pair, who are friends, have been chasing many of the same voters, with Sanders making the stronger start in the campaign but Warren surging in recent weeks.

[T]he Tuesday lineup is all white: Steve Bullock, Pete Buttigieg, John Delaney, John Hickenlooper, Amy Klobuchar, O’Rourke, Tim Ryan, Sanders, Warren and Marianne Williamson. The Wednesday debate will be more racially diverse: Michael Bennet, Biden, de Blasio, Booker, Castro, Tulsi Gabbard, Gillibrand, Harris, Jay Inslee and Andrew Yang.

Everything Wrong With MSNBC In One Clip



the evening greens


Trump administration won't ban pesticide tied to childhood brain damage

The US government has rejected a proposed ban on a toxic pesticide linked to brain damage in children, dismissing a growing body of research on the health hazards of a widely used agricultural chemical.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in a ruling Thursday that it supported farmers’ continued use of chlorpyrifos, a pesticide that growers have long sprayed on almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes, walnuts and other major crops in America. The decision, outlined in a response to a petition from environmental and public health groups, said “critical questions remained regarding the significance of the data” on neurological impacts on children.

The Trump administration’s endorsement of the pesticide comes years after the EPA under Obama moved to restrict use of the chemical, as scientists raised alarms. Trump’s EPA denied the conclusions of the agency’s own experts, and earlier this year, California defied the White House and announced its own state-level ban on the chemical.

“By allowing chlorpyrifos to stay in our fruits and vegetables, Trump’s EPA is breaking the law and neglecting the overwhelming scientific evidence that this pesticide harms children’s brains,” Patti Goldman, an attorney with Earthjustice, said in a statement, adding it was a “tragedy that this administration sides with corporations instead of children’s health”.

Did Obama's Trade Legacy Just Hammer the Green New Deal?

One of core elements of the proposed Green New Deal is a just transition—the creation of fair wage jobs that benefit communities, particularly those currently or formerly dependent on high polluting industries. In early July, a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel ruled that renewable energy policies that supported local green jobs in eight U.S. states violate international trade rules. The case is a direct legacy of the Obama administration’s aggressive free trade agenda, which routinely ran roughshod over environmental and climate concerns.

The WTO case was brought by India against policies in Washington, California, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, Massachusetts, Michigan and Delaware. Each state’s policies, whether for renewable energy or fuel, included some type of preference or incentives for “local content,” meaning that some aspect of the energy or fuel must be produced in that state to gain the preference. These preferences are designed to reward local businesses and ensure that new green markets for say, renewable energy, also benefit businesses in that state.

These types of programs are common throughout the U.S. and in other countries and are viewed as models to be scaled up as part of the more ambitious Green New Deal—which emphasizes both carbon reductions and the creation of fair wage jobs as part of a just transition.

India brought the case in response to an Obama administration WTO challenge to India’s solar program in 2013, which was decided in favor of the U.S. in 2016. India’s solar program gave preferences to Indian solar panel companies and was touted as a green jobs program and a critical part of the country’s Paris climate commitment. The Obama administration argued that India’s policy discriminated against U.S. solar panel manufacturers. In its defense, India pointed out that several U.S. states also have local content rules. Following the 2016 WTO ruling against India, former Citigroup executive and then-U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman issued a warning  to other governments attempting to support local, green businesses: “This is an important outcome, not just as it applies to this case, but for the message it sends to other countries considering discriminatory `localization’ policies.”

The new WTO ruling illustrates how disconnected trade rules are from national and local efforts to address climate change—and the urgent need to reform those rules. This wasn’t the first time the WTO had ruled against renewable energy, green jobs programs; it made a similar ruling in 2013 against an Ontario, Canada program. There are talks at the WTO about possible changes, including a moratorium on renewable energy related cases but those reforms are a long way off. At the same time, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) deliberately chose not to address conflicts with trade rules as part of the Paris Climate Agreement—a decision that will have to be reconciled in the near future as trade and climate goals clash.

'Unprecedented' Decline of Plants and Animals as Global 'Red List' Reveals Nearly One-Third of Assessed Species Under Threat

Calling on global policymakers to act immediately to preserve biodiversity and save tens of thousands of species from extinction, the group behind the world's most definitive list of endangered animals and plants has added more than 2,600 threatened species to its annual report.

The Red List, published Thursday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), revealed that one third of all species the group has assessed are now under threat due to overfishing, pollution, illegal logging and trafficking, threats to water sources and habitats due to the climate crisis, and other factors, including many human activities.

Of the approximately 9,000 species the IUCN assessed over the past year, the group determined about 2,600 to be endangered, critically endangered, or threatened, bringing the total number of vulnerable species to about 28,000 of the more than 100,000 that have now been studied.

"Nature is declining at rates unprecedented in human history," said Jane Smart, global director of the IUCN Biodiversity Conservation Group. "Decisive action is needed at scale to halt this decline; the timing of this assessment is critical as governments are starting to negotiate a new global biodiversity framework for such action."

A quarter of all mammals are threatened with possible extinction, while 40 percent of the world's amphibians and a third of reefs and corals—which in addition to providing thousands of species with habitats, also protect humans' habitats by halting the erosion of coastlines—are now endangered.

Bolsonaro declares 'the Amazon is ours' and calls deforestation data 'lies'

The Amazon belongs to Brazil and European countries can mind their own business because they have already destroyed their own environment, said Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro, who also described his own government’s satellite data showing an alarming rise in deforestation as “lies”.

“You have to understand that the Amazon is Brazil’s, not yours,” Bolsonaro said on Friday. “If all this devastation you accuse us of doing was done in the past the Amazon would have stopped existing, it would be a big desert.”

But Brazil is opening to partnerships exploiting biodiversity and mining – even in Amazon areas, said Bolsonaro, during a wide-ranging, one-hour conversation with foreign journalists.

He also said he was “fulfilling a mission from God”, defended his decision to name his own son as Brazil’s ambassador to the US and described Brexit as “the will of the people” – although he admitted he had never heard of the UK’s likely next prime minister, Boris Johnson. ...

He even questioned recent satellite data from the government’s National Space Research Institute (INPE) that indicated a dramatic rise in deforestation in May and June. “I am convinced the data is a lie. We are going to call the president of INPE here to talk about this and that’s the end of that issue,” he said.

Dozens arrested as Hawaiians protest $1.4bn telescope on sacred mountain

Dozens of people have been arrested on Hawaii’s Big Island this week after hundreds of protesters stood, lay and even chained themselves to structures in an effort to stop the construction of a billion-dollar space observatory at the summit of Hawaii’s tallest mountain. The protests are the culmination of longstanding controversy over the site of the proposed observatory atop Mauna Kea, the highest point in the Hawaiian islands.

Astronomers say the site will offer an unparalleled view into deep space. But many Native Hawaiians consider the mountain sacred, and fear the construction of a telescope as tall as an 18-story building would desecrate it.

At 13,796ft above sea level, Mauna Kea is higher than the clouds and so cold it sometimes snows. Protesters have been blocking the only road that leads to the construction site atop the mountain, where about a dozen large telescopes have already been built. The new proposed observatory, known as the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), would be among the largest in the world. ...

Mauna Kea is associated with Wakea, the sky father, who partnered with Papa, the earth mother, to birth Native Hawaiians. The mountain is home to the endemic weiku bug and Lake Waiau, an alpine lake that some Hawaiians visit to offer a newborn’s umbilical cord. Kahookahi Kanuha, an organizer from the Hawaii Unity and Liberation Institute (Huli), mentions that Mauna Kea is on “crown lands”, which belonged to the Hawaiian kingdom before it was overthrown in 1893. Many Native Hawaiian organizations argue that these lands were stolen by the United States and still belong to the Hawaiian people. “These lands were taken from us, so we have rights to them,” he says “We have a spiritual connection to them. We have a genealogical connection to them.”


Also of Interest

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

John Paul Stevens Was Right: Citizens United Opened the Door to Foreign Money in U.S. Elections

Why Are Billionaires Like Jeff Bezos So Interested in Space?

Twitter Restores Assange Activism Account In Response To Backlash

Trump’s Threats Towards Iran Aren’t Working. Here’s Why.

Israeli spraying of herbicide near Gaza harming Palestinian crops

Guatemala court upholds request to suspend work at huge nickel mine

Jacob Zuma refuses to testify before major corruption inquiry

After House Passes $15 Minimum Wage Bill, Bernie Sanders Demands McConnell Let Senate Vote

How Trump's businesses are booming with lobbyists, donors and governments

Richard D. Wolff on Real Time with Bill Maher


A Little Night Music

Boozoo Chavis - Paper In My Shoe

Boozoo Chavis - Johnny Billy Goat

Boozoo Chavis - Lucille

Boozoo Chavis - You're Gonna Look Like a Monkey

Boozoo Chavis - Brand New Mojo

Boozoo Chavis - Lula Lula Don't You Go To Bingo

Boozoo Chavis - Motor Dude Special

Boozoo Chavis - I'm Ready Me

Boozoo Chavis - Dog Hill

Boozoo Chavis - Comma Lemma Chapo Sha

Boozoo Chavis - Cultural Center, Charleston, W.V. 1996


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hecate's picture

continues to get his Klan on.

 klan man00_n.jpg

Shitlord uber alles!

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@hecate

him that way anyway.

Fun read: The wiki of the paternal grandfather of our "Irrefutable Proof That America Has Jumped the Shark" President. It's been edited since I last read it so that the stuff about brothels has been relegated to a footnote of an allegation by Panetta and the draft dodging is not as prominent. I hope it's still enjoyable though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Trump

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hecate's picture

@HenryAWallace
to the troll farm of wiki cannot obscure the fact that the paternal grandfather of The Shitlord arrived in the US a draft-dodging “unaccompanied minor”; he then made his fortune as a whoremaster; and when he attempted to return to his “country of origin,” they would not have him, because there are some people not even ur-Nazis can stomach.

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@hecate

Just kidding, of course.

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joe shikspack's picture

@hecate

good to see you! i hope all is going well in paradise.

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hecate's picture

@joe shikspack
is Lucy. She lived on Angel Drive. No one lives on Angel Drive now. It burned. All of it. Angel Drive is off Pearson, on that stretch lucy.jpgbetween Pentz and Clark; it was really beautiful there, a lush little canyon, but the fire came in there and galloped through faster than a person could run, faster than a horse, faster even than a bear. A bear tried to run out of that. The bear was on fire. People died there in their homes, in their cars, running from their cars. The morning after the fire, that was the first place in town a local radio reporter reached. It’s his PTSD place. It was hard for him to navigate, that first morning, through all the burned, abandoned cars; the burned, felled trees; the burned, sagging, downed power poles; some of it still smoking; the whole town, still smoking. Eventually he was blocked. He could go no farther. He sat and he listened. Birds. Poo-tee-weet? Dresden. Today, every time he comes back to town, that’s the place he goes first. He can’t not. He can’t leave it. He never will. I’ve been there with him a couple times. He can’t grasp that the cars are gone now, the road cleared, the burned trees felled and logged, the power poles back up, the rubble of the burned on its way out. He sees it still, as he saw it first. He always will.

No one knows what Lucy saw. She was a little over a year old, when came the fire; a little wild, liked to spend time outdoors. That’s where she was on the morning of the fire. As on any morning. She lived with a man named Marvin. Marvin is 92 years old. Marvin got out. That Lucy liked to be outdoors in the mornings, was out on her usual wander, that’s why Marvin couldn’t bring her out. There wasn’t the time.

Marvin doesn’t do tubes. That’s not his world. So he was for many months unaware of the dozens of diffused groups, all round the tubes, posting thousands of photos, of thousands of fire cats. Missing. Found. Marvin did not, as have thousands of others, devote the endless hours to making the stations of the cross, seeking out, scrolling through, the innumerable, frustratingly dispersed—there is no central directory—collections of fire cats; hoping, maybe, hoping, is this? her? is this? maybe? please? Lucy?

Then yesterday evening a friend of Marvin’s, a man who does do tubes, posted to one of the fire cat sites, one of the smaller ones, photos of Lucy, with a message reading: “Marvin needs closure. If Lucy is alive or dead, he needs to know. If she is in a shelter or has been taken in, either way, if you have seen her please give me a PM. Anything that you guys can tell me would be helpful. Marvin told me that if she did get adopted, that's fine, but he needs to know one way or another. He needs to have closure, even if it's not good news.”

And then, all through the night, the post spread through the fire tubes, as the burned, they sought among themselves, whether anyone had seen, among the many thousands, the fire cat that is Lucy. This went on all night. Because the burned never sleep. Fire burns sleep. All these burned, almost always, technically strangers to one another; but not strangers, really, because there are no strangers, not among the burned, not any more. All the burned: are all the burned. And so: are all the animals.

And you needn’t have been in the fire, to be among the burned. Like this one young woman, she did not live in Paradise, but her mother did, and her mother’s home burned. And the woman then went up to her mother’s home, to see if she could find her mother’s cats. And in this she was successful. In part. But she found she couldn’t stop there. Because there were so many other cats up here. Alone. Hurting. Burning. So this woman became: for them. During the week she worked as a radiation therapist, healing people; on the weekends she came up here, and searched for fire cats, to heal them. She put food and water out for them. This was in the very earliest days. She did that until from out of the chaos formed efforts to not only feed the animals, but bring them in. She became part of that effort. She learned to coax; she learned to be so patient; and finally she learned the art of the humane trap. She co-founded one of the countless fire cat tubes. She learned all this, as she went along. Making it up, as she goes. As are we all. She spent every weekend up here for more than seven months, all day, and all of the nights. She slept in her car. In her job, she healed people. In the job she gave herself, she healed animals. She’s a healer. Fire cat bodhisattva.

This woman’s mother, meanwhile, was growing weary. “She was getting sad,” her daughter says, “that people here had nearly forgotten the fire, while her daily life was still so affected.” But a new house had been found for her mother. And it was when her mother was driving to see that new house, that she was killed in a car accident. She’s cremated now. Ashes. As the fire claims another. Because the fire. is. not. over. And yesterday her daughter went to the tubes, the tubes of the burned, to say she would like to have a service for her mother, here in Paradise, but this fire cat bodhisattva woman, she is so humble, she says she doesn’t really know Paradise, though in truth she now is Paradise, and so she asked people where would be a good place for the service, because she doesn’t know. “We are not a religious family,” she wrote, “and my mom would be opposed to having it at a church. She did not want a funeral and I will give her that but we need to be together with people who loved her and remember the way she lived for a day and not the way she died. I think she believed she didn’t know enough people to spend the money but I don’t believe she knew how many people she touched during her 66 years. It will be an emotionally light ceremony, she didn’t want people 'blubbering.' I need an indoor space, preferably beautiful outside. I can make it what we want inside. Any ideas?” And the burned, the strangers, who are not strangers any more, they are in there, in that fire tube, with her, as we speak, offering ideas.

All of these stories are out there every hour of every day and all through all of the night in all of the lives of all the burned. A burned woman bought a meatloaf pan: “Baby steps,” she says. Because when you burn, you have to replace: everything. “Oh mercy, I forgot that,” says another burned. “I did get a casserole dish, though.” A woman not burned, but feeling the burned, says she has a casserole dish and some mixing bowls that she would like to give, to someone burned. A burned woman says she would like those; she is in a FEMA trailer in Corning. Another says: “I would love some mixing bowls they r too expensive for me to pick up right now.” Another burned says: “I just want to go home and sit on my couch.” Though there is no home. And there is no couch. “Me too,” comes the response. And then:

—“Me too.”

—“Me too also.”

—“I need my porch.”

—“I want my deck.”

—“I want to lay in my bed.”

—“I want to sit on the grass in the backyard in my chair out under the sequoia tree, watch the sunset through the pines.”

—“I miss all my neighbors.”

—“I want to go home and sit on my balcony with my sister and some Snapple.”

—“I want to sit out on my back deck with my morning coffee and listen to birds and squirrels.”

I go out on the front porch to replenish the food on the railing for the birds and the squirrels. Across the street, Frank’s is burning. It’s hard to see through all the thick black dark everywhere darkness at noon smoke, but Frank's is definitely flaming now. Then I snap back into present time and there are men in the rubble of Frank’s in Andromeda Strain suits; when I first saw such, back in the maroonment, such people in such suits, they were always looking for bodies. So that is my imprint. When I see these suits still, still I think they are there to sift through the ashes, sniffing for bodies, searching for the ashes of the burned. The burned of Frank’s, it is vast, and so today they have brought the really big Cats, the oversized Mike Mulligan steam shovels: one lifts an entire scorched flatbed truck into the air; looks like a burned metal dinosaur, suspended. I am supposed to be working on a legal brief. But the embers keep arcing in from out of the black over the lube shop and the flames are racing across the grass and the car next door in the lube-man lot is burning and burning and burning and I have no water. And the burned they are always everywhere in me: “Twenty years ago today my first baby was stillborn. Every year on this day I would take out her baby box smell her baby blanket (that I swear still had her scent), I'd look through her photo album and touch her soft lock of hair. It's gonna be hard this year. I've gotten ‘use to’ the things we've lost but some of those ‘things’ aren't just things. Some things can't be replaced.”

In the night some of the burned thought they might have come across Lucy. Coloration and markings seemed to be the same, and the cat was found on Newhall, cat-close to Angel Drive. This cat was treated at Sage in Dublin. Burned. Some of the fire cats who went to Sage didn’t make it; this one did. In the first photos that went up, November 28, this cat didn’t look so good. Face. Paws. Burned. Do you want to see those pictures? You don’t want to see those pictures. But this cat, she’s better now. Her name at Sage was not Lucy, but Cat 2, 39238 (VCA). No one coming forth to claim her, she was adopted out. A cat nearing two years old, they say; a little wild. As we speak, a chain of strangers, who are not strangers, are seeking to connect that cat to Marvin. To see if she might not be: Lucy. So maybe the story has a happy ending. Or maybe it doesn’t. I don’t know. I don’t know anything. All I know is that Marvin is just a guy, and Lucy just a cat, but they were together, and they were happy in that. And then the fire, burned them apart. And they would just like to be together, again. There are a lot of people like that. Animals like that. Thousands of them. As the fire still burns.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWPEBn-PUHk]

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mimi's picture

Anti-Racist Historian: Attacks on Rep. Omar Rooted in Belief “America is for White People”

Some youngsters disapprove ...
[video:https://youtu.be/WeIGeULV9DA]
I wished I had the lyrics. Couldn't find it.
It's all I got. More tomorrow. Good Night and thanks for the work.

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joe shikspack's picture

@mimi

thanks for the tune! have a great evening!

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snoopydawg's picture

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

hecate's picture

@snoopydawg
words: no discernible higher brain functioning. Dumb as a stump. Id on a stick.

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snoopydawg's picture

@hecate

The other thing that he did was to sit with his back to them instead of either standing or sitting in a setting where they could all face each other. What a total ignoramus doofus he is.

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hecate's picture

@snoopydawg
doesn’t like to look at melanin. It’s just too icky.

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joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

he forgot to pretend to have human emotions. it'll probably play well with his base, though.

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Calling Trump Claim 'Delusional,' Iran Says US May Have Shot Down Its Own Drone by Mistake

Another week of mostly disheartening and/or scary headlines. Luckily, Caucusers know better than to blame the messenger.

Happy Friday, y'all and have a good weekend.

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joe shikspack's picture

@HenryAWallace

well, at least the iranians get to laugh at our insane clown president.

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snoopydawg's picture

Will no one admit that it was the blue dawgs that torpedoed the bill? People had to make their flights out of town..

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joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

he's not so much throwing nancy under the bus as he is dodging the blame and trying to keep progressives in the fold.

if he really wanted to find a scapegoat, josh gottheimer fills the bill quite well.

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snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat and co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, told House leaders he had the votes to scuttle a House version that mandated improved conditions for detained migrant children.

They discussed doing that during their congressional softball game. "Hey guys, here's an idea. Let's screw Nancy over on the bill that we're voting for tomorrow."

Wasn't that little worm part of the group that wanted to keep the gavel out of her hands? But instead she blames the squad.

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joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

Wasn't that little worm part of the group that wanted to keep the gavel out of her hands?

yep. he's a ringleader of the worm circus.

so far he's paid no price for his insolence and probably won't. hell, he could wind up being the next speaker if he can raise enough money.

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

@joe shikspack

it's gotten so late before I could get back--and you and SD are discussing No Labels at some length--think I'll post the piece next week, much earlier in the day.

It's about the founding of the organization in June 2010 in Houston, Texas. It's too important and informational to post at close to midnight. These folks are toxic. BTW, the piece was written by a local reporter.

Think I remembered the member's name who hosted Debate Threads--Alphalop (?) or something like that. He was a nice Dude. Maybe he'll find his way back here, eventually.

Goodnight . . .

Pleasantry Bye Mollie

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

Raggedy Ann's picture

I’m very concerned about Iran and the situation. We’ll see how it plays out.

Happy Friday! Weekend will be busy with details being tied up in preparation of my excursion.

Enjoy the 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

joe shikspack's picture

@Raggedy Ann

yep, the situation looks like it has all the ingredients needed for escalation into a hot war. congratulations president bolton, you're almost over the line.

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Raggedy Ann's picture

@joe shikspack
So true, it stings!

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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

Azazello's picture

I keep telling these RussiaRussia fools that.
There is a sizable constituency for his shit in this country.
We all know people like these.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcLtXOG7FSw width:500 height:300]

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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

sorry, i couldn't get too far into that video. as the kids say, the stupid - it burns.

sadly, i don't think that cnn had to try very hard to assemble a room full of trump supporters with a collective iq lower than the number of participants.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Azazello

I'm serious. CNN has had those women on their shows at least 3-4 times if not more. Darn it I can't remember what group they belong to, but they aren't just some women that they asked off the streets to come to talk. I've seen the screen shots of them in different settings and attire. Lmao...

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

@snoopydawg

on XM Radio (CNN Channel). I 'think' it's by design--they're a 'focus group.'

IOW, CNN is 'tracking' their opinion(s) of DT. Guess you could say they're attempting to decipher what turns on--and off--his most 'ardent' voters/supporters.

(Which is the reason for the repetitive interviews.)

Have a good weekend!

Mollie

“Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.
~~Roger Caras

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Azazello's picture

@snoopydawg
Hundreds of Pa., N.J. women tout Trump’s presidency, vow to support him in 2020
Same faces ? Is this an astroturf thing ?

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

Unabashed Liberal's picture

If this looks familiar, it's the moniker that I gave 'No Labels' when I first started writing about them in 2010.

Earlier this week, saw an essay about them, after I saw DK's essay about the organization.

Think it will demonstrate that Ryan Grim was 'spinning' in the interview when he attempted to brand 'No Labels' as a Republican outfit. It's just not grounded in fact, which the article will demonstrate.

One reason I was concerned about losing my Corrente writings, was the stuff I had written about these folks. Using the 'Way Back Machine,' I couldn't retrieve any of my NL essays. If it is possible, it would take more time than I'm willing to spend. But, I finally managed to bring the piece up that talks about its founding (by browser search).

So, will catch up with you Guys, again. For now, gotta get out and back, before T-storms get here. It makes it more humid, but, suppose it lowers temps by a few degrees.

Phew!

Mollie

“Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.
~~Roger Caras

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joe shikspack's picture

@Unabashed Liberal

sorry the wayback machine didn't work out for you. i hope that things cool down for you soon. it's pretty nasty hot here, too.

have a good weekend!

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

@joe shikspack

and, it's possible that if I wanted to do a lot of very tedious work--I could get to it.

Actually, one day when we're sitting on a Uruguayan beach ( Biggrin ) with nothing else to do, I may try again.

For now, I just settled for something that I could retrieve by searching 'the internets.' Hopefully, it'll work.

You have a nice weekend, too.

Now, I'm taking the Pup out--before it's dark, and, raining!

I'll be back.

Pleasantry

Mollie

“Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made.
~~Roger Caras

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