The Evening Blues - 9-23-19



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Angela Strehli

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Texas blues singer Angela Strehli. Enjoy!

Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton & Marcia Ball - Something's Got a Hold on Me

"When you become a mercenary, you're just a bully with a gun."

-- Evan Wright


News and Opinion

Saudi Arabia won’t attack Iran. But it may pay someone else to

There is a longstanding joke told in the Middle East about Saudi Arabia’s reluctance to fight its own wars. “Saudi Arabia will fight until the last Pakistani,” the punchline goes, in reference to the fact that Pakistani troops have long supported Saudi’s military endeavours. ... There is always a poorer country ready to send cannon fodder for the right price. ... It is baffling, in the light of last week’s attacks on two Saudi oil facilities, that there is so much speculation about Saudi and Iran going to war. Saudi does not “go to war”: it hires proxies, and depends on US gullibility to continue the lie that it is the regional peacekeeper, and that any threat to the country destabilises the region. ...

The Pentagon has announced that it will be sending hundreds of US troops, in addition to air and missile defence equipment, to Saudi Arabia as a “defensive” move.

Why does a country that was the world’s largest arms importer from 2014 to 2018, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, need so much help? In 2018, the US provided 88% of all weaponry sold to the country. By the end of 2018, Saudi was responsible for 12% of global arms purchases. It is clearly not in need of more military kit from the US to defend it against drone attacks.

What, then, does a country that is involved in one military campaign, in Yemen, and which appears so vulnerable to attack and in need of constant protection, do with so many weapons? Buying the weapons, rather than deploying them, is the point. These multimillion-dollar purchases maintain commercial relations with western allies from whom it imports arms, and who in return turn a blind eye to Saudi’s human rights abuses, assassinations and kidnappings, because there is too much money at stake. Saudi Arabia’s entire foreign policy model is based on using its wealth to buy friends and silence. ...

Bellicose in the extreme, and yet aware that it is highly unlikely to suffer the consequences of its pugnaciousness, Saudi is currently locked in escalating conflicts with Iran, Qatar and Yemen, propping up military regimes in Sudan and Egypt, messily meddling in Lebanon, and continuing to fund random Sunni hardline endeavours all over the world – and generally getting away with it. Saudi will not go to war with Iran, but the US may do so on its behalf. Meanwhile, Saudi looks on – as ever, the indulged and unpunished provocateur of the Middle East.

US troops in Saudi Arabia defend hegemony, not security

US Defends Your Freedom By Using Troops As Saudi Oil Security Guards

If you’ve been lying awake at night terrified that the Pentagon might not send additional troops and armaments to defend oil corporations in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, I’ve got some great news for you.

In response to an attack on Saudi Aramco oil infrastructure for which Houthi rebels in Yemen have taken credit, the US government has responded in the only possible rational way: by blaming Iran and deploying troops to act as security guards for Middle Eastern oil companies.

“In response to the kingdom’s request, the president has approved the deployment of U.S. forces, which will be defensive in nature and primarily focused on air and missile defense,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper informed the press yesterday. “We will also work to accelerate the delivery of military equipment to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to enhance their ability to defend themselves.”

So you can breathe easy, my friend. Freedom and democracy are safe once more.

Fear of war looms as US deploys more troops to Gulf to deter Iran

Iran to release British-flagged tanker seized in strait of Hormuz

Iran says it will soon release a British-flagged tanker that its Revolutionary Guards seized more than two months ago, sparking a crisis in Gulf shipping.

Maritime authorities in the Islamic republic told the semi-official Fars news agency on Sunday that the Swedish-owned Stena Impero would imminently be released, confirming earlier remarks by the chief executive of Stena Bulk, the company that owns the vessel.

“We received information this morning indicating that the ship Stena Impero is going to be released in a few hours,” Erik Hanell, chief executive at Stena Bulk, told Swedish television SVT on Sunday.

The Stena Impero was dramatically seized on 19 July as it passed through the strait of Hormuz after Iranian officials claimed it had infringed maritime regulations. Footage released by Iran showed Revolutionary Guards descending from a helicopter to take control of the ship and detain its 23 crew members.

About two weeks earlier, British Royal Marines seized an Iranian supertanker off the coast of Gibraltar carrying 2.1m barrels of crude oil that UK authorities alleged was to be sold to Syria in breach of EU sanctions against Bashar al-Assad’s government. Iran has denied the Stena Impero’s impoundment was a tit-for-tat move.

'How Could They Do This to Us?' Ask Afghan Farmers After Reporting Reveals Officials Knew Civilians Were in Area of Lethal US Drone Strike

Afghan officials knew for over a week that civilians were in the area bombed by a U.S. drone strike on Wednesday, raising more questions about the attack that killed 30 farmers and wounded 40 more.

"My son and his friends were killed by the Americans," village chief Malak Khaiyali Khan told Reuters. "How could they do this to us?" ...

According to Reuters, village elders from the Wazir Tangi area of Nangarhar province on September 7 sent a letter to the region's governor alerting him to the fact they planned to have as many as 200 laborers picking pine nuts.

The letter, seen by Reuters and dated Sept. 7, was sent in an effort to help protect laborers from getting caught in clashes between U.S.-backed Afghan forces and Islamic State fighters in the mountainous terrain largely controlled by the jihadists.

Twelve days later, a drone strike hit a camp of workers.

US Defends Attacking Afghan Farm Laborers, Says ISIS Was Pretending to Harvest

Provincial officials remain deeply critical over Thursday’s US attack on the camp of a group of farm laborers in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, killing at least 32 civilian farm workers and wounding 40 others, many of them children.

US officials, however, continue to maintain that what everyone in the region knew were hired hands for a pine nut harvest were actually ISIS fighters, claiming that the ISIS fighters were just pretending to work as harvesters.

There is no evidence for that, and a lot of evidence to the contrary, particularly that the village in question had written to top officials weeks ago to inform them of the upcoming harvest, the temporary camp, and asking them not to attack the economically vital harvest of the forest.

Wikileaks Editor-in-Chief: Assange US extradition case a matter of Life and Death

Trump Says Hell Yes Biden Should Be Investigated for the Ukraine Stuff

President Trump said damn straight someone should investigate Joe Biden, in remarks likely to inflame the “whistleblower” scandal that’s already engulfing Washington and the 2020 campaign.

Trump said “it doesn’t matter” whether he directly asked Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden during a phone call on July 25, brushing aside questions about whether his administration sought to withhold millions in foreign military aid while pushing the country to launch politically helpful investigations.

In the next breath, Trump said Biden should be investigated over conduct that, at least in Trump’s description, dovetails perfectly with what Trump’s team has reportedly pressed Ukrainian officials to look into.

“Somebody ought to look into Joe Biden’s statement, because it was disgraceful, where he talked about billions of dollars he’s not giving to a certain country, unless a certain prosecutor is taken off the case,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday. “Somebody ought to look into that.” ...

House Democrats are now investigating whether Trump attempted to slow-walk millions of dollars worth of foreign aid to Ukraine while pressing for investigations.

Saagar Enjeti: Ignore media, investigate Bidens

Ukraine furore confirms Giuliani as Trump's most off-kilter advocate

On Thursday night, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and troubleshooter-in-chief, went on CNN to defend his boss against the latest scandal swirling round him. ... A few minutes into the interview, pugnacious anchor Chris Cuomo got to the point.

Cuomo: “Did you ask the Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden?”

Giuliani: “No. Actually I didn’t.”

Crystal clear. Except that 83 words and about 30 seconds later, Cuomo asked the question again.

Cuomo: “So, you did ask Ukraine to look into Joe Biden?”

Giuliani: “Of course I did.”

That Giuliani was prepared so blatantly to contradict himself on live TV in the service of the president perfectly encapsulates his transformation. “America’s mayor”, the hero of 9/11, has metamorphosed into what the New Yorker dubbed “Trump’s clown”. ...

As the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in that election reached its climax, Giuliani threw lawyerly restraint to the winds and repeatedly denounced the inquiry as a witch-hunt. Last August, he uttered words that will forever haunt him: “Truth isn’t truth.” But of all the scraps in which Giuliani has engaged in recent months, of all the obfuscations and verbal sleights of hand, this week’s performance could prove the most damaging, both for him and for his White House buddy.

Spain's supreme court to rule on Franco exhumation

Spain’s supreme court is expected to announce on Tuesday whether General Franco’s remains can be exhumed from the vast mausoleum outside Madrid where they have lain since the dictator’s death in 1975. Removing Franco’s body from its tomb in the Valley of the Fallen has been one of the key priorities of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) since it came to power in June last year.

PSOE argues the basilica and its 150-metre-high cross are a monument to the Franco regime that glorifies the winners of the civil war rather than commemorating its victims. “The wounds have been open for many years,” Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, told parliament 14 months ago. “Too many years. The time has come to close them.”

But the move has been bitterly opposed by the dictator’s family and admirers. In June this year, just days before Franco’s body was due to be dug up, the supreme court ordered the exhumation to be suspended while it considered an appeal from his family and other groups. Three months on, the court is due to reveal its ruling on whether the government can proceed with the removal of the valley’s most famous occupant.

The Brutality of Hong Kong Police Is Putting Pro-Democracy Protesters in the Hospital

Police brutality has been a core grievance for Hong Kong’s protesters, whose fury has been sustained by a regular barrage of social media clips showing officers carrying out violent arrests. Now a new investigation by Amnesty International claims the situation could be even uglier behind closed doors, accusing police of committing assaults in custody that amount to torture.

The report, based on interviews with 21 people arrested during the three months of pro-democracy protests, as well as corroborating interviews with lawyers and medical workers, found that Hong Kong police have been committing reckless and indiscriminate violence against pro-democracy protesters. Eighteen of the 21 were admitted to hospital, with injuries ranging from head wounds to fractured arms.

The alleged violence, before and after arrest, has been meted out in apparent retaliation against protesters, and has escalated in severity as the demonstrations have continued, according to Nicholas Bequelin, the group’s east Asia director. ...

Most of those interviewed were beaten before or during their arrests, but for some, the violence continued in custody, with several of protesters enduring torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, according to Amnesty.

Mairead McGuinness: 'Boris Johnson has a growing understanding of the need for a backstop'

Corbyn on collision course with Labour members over Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn is on a collision course with Labour’s membership after he attempted to stop the party campaigning to remain in the EU at a general election. Before a crucial vote on Monday on whether the party should explicitly back remain in any election, Labour’s autumn conference descended into factional rows over its Brexit policy, with rebellious MPs privately threatening another leadership challenge.

Corbyn moved to stamp his authority on Labour’s Brexit position by proposing a delay to deciding how the party should campaign at a second referendum. His proposal to put off the decision until after an election was endorsed by the national executive committee, by 16 votes to 10, after members were asked to send their agreement by email and without a meeting.

“The NEC believes it is right that the party shall only decide how to campaign in such a referendum – through a one-day special conference, following the election of a Labour government,” the statement said. However, pro-EU activists fought during a lengthy meeting on Sunday night to ensure there would be a vote on the conference floor on Monday on whether Labour should immediately adopt an unequivocally remain position.

More than 50 local parties swung behind a pro-remain motion, while eight backed a more neutral motion closer to the leadership’s position. Both options will now be voted on by delegates, along with the official national executive position, leaving open the possibility that competing motions could pass and cause further confusion over the party’s Brexit policy.

Corbyn explained he was in favour of negotiating a Labour Brexit deal before letting the party decide how it would campaign in a second referendum in an interview on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. When asked if it was in Britain’s long-term interests to remain in the EU, the Labour leader suggested a Labour Brexit deal could be preferable in some circumstances: “It depends on the agreement you have with the European Union outside.”

Mother of assassinated activist Berta Cáceres speaks out against US-backed Honduran dictatorship

DHS Just Finally Recognized White Nationalism as a Major Terror Threat

Department of Homeland Security is finally, officially recognizing white supremacist terror as a major national security threat in the U.S. — a threat that’s coming from the inside. Acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan on Friday unveiled the department’s new counterterrorism strategy, which for the first time places major emphasis on countering the threat of white nationalism coming from inside the U.S. ...

Many of the priorities listed in the 41-page document align with what extremism and counterterrorism experts have suggested during various recent hearings on domestic terrorism before congress. For example, the report notes that national-level statistics on terorrism and targeted violence are inadequate, and so the department will work closely with state and local agencies, plus academic and non-governmental organizations, to improve their data collection and analysis.

Other measures include using fusion centers — intelligence hubs for federal, state and local law enforcement — to share information about terror threats. They also plan to spearhead initiatives to raise awareness about disinformation, and “halt the spread of information operations intended to promote radicalization to violent extremism or mobilization to violence.”

Secret F.B.I. Subpoenas Scoop Up Personal Data From Scores of Companies

The F.B.I. has used secret subpoenas to obtain personal data from far more companies than previously disclosed, newly released documents show.

The requests, which the F.B.I. says are critical to its counterterrorism efforts, have raised privacy concerns for years but have been associated mainly with tech companies. Now, records show how far beyond Silicon Valley the practice extends — encompassing scores of banks, credit agencies, cellphone carriers and even universities.

The demands can scoop up a variety of information, including usernames, locations, IP addresses and records of purchases. They don’t require a judge’s approval and usually come with a gag order, leaving them shrouded in secrecy. Fewer than 20 entities, most of them tech companies, have ever revealed that they’ve received the subpoenas, known as national security letters.

The documents, obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and shared with The New York Times, shed light on the scope of the demands — more than 120 companies and other entities were included in the filing — and raise questions about the effectiveness of a 2015 law that was intended to increase transparency around them.

“This is a pretty potent authority for the government,” said Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas who specializes in national security. “The question is: Do we have a right to know when the government is collecting information on us?” The documents provide information on about 750 of the subpoenas — representing a small but telling fraction of the half-million issued since 2001, when the Patriot Act expanded their powers.

U.S. Orders 2 Universities to Recast Tone on Israel

The Education Department has ordered Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to remake the Middle East studies program run jointly by the two schools after concluding that it was offering students a biased curriculum that, among other complaints, did not present enough “positive” imagery of Judaism and Christianity in the region.

In a rare instance of federal intervention in college course content, the department asserted that the universities’ Middle East program violated the standards of a federal program that awards funding to international studies and foreign language programs. The inquiry was part of a far-reaching investigation into the program by the department, which under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has become increasingly aggressive in going after perceived anti-Israel bias in higher education.

That focus appears to reflect the views of an agency leadership that includes a civil rights chief, Kenneth L. Marcus, who has made a career of pro-Israel advocacy and has waged a yearslong campaign to delegitimize and defund Middle East studies programs that he has criticized as rife with anti-Israel bias.

In this case, the department homed in on what officials saw as a program that focused on the region’s Muslim population at the expense of its religious minorities. In the North Carolina program’s outreach to elementary and secondary school students, the department said, there was “a considerable emphasis placed on the understanding the positive aspects of Islam, while there is an absolute absence of any similar focus on the positive aspects of Christianity, Judaism or any other religion or belief system in the Middle East.”

Too few of the Duke-UNC programs focused on “the historic discrimination faced by, and current circumstances of, religious minorities in the Middle East, including Christians, Jews, Baha’is, Yazidis, Kurds, Druze and others,” the department said.



the horse race



Ilhan Omar: Biden not right candidate for 'progress we all want to see'

At the Iowa People’s Presidential Forum on Saturday, organisers hoped to serve up an antidote to the Polk County Steak Fry, an event a few miles down the road that drew 17 Democratic presidential candidates to deliver stump speeches and pose for selfies with 12,000 attendees. The people’s forum, organized by a collective of grassroots groups, aimed to push progressive policy initiatives. It hosted four candidates, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, frontrunners in the state that will hold the first nomination ballot on 3 February next year.

Perhaps the most notable absence was that of Joe Biden, the former vice-president who Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action, the forum organiser, declined to invite after his campaign failed to respond to a questionnaire. Biden, a centrist in a field increasingly dominated by progressive ideas, has dropped behind Warren in the polls in Iowa for the first time. To a number of speakers at the forum, his absence spoke volumes.

The Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, one of four new members of the House of Representatives racially abused by Donald Trump, gave the keynote speech. She demanded “a president who realises we are not just fighting for one election, we are fighting for the very soul of our democracy and what society we want to become”.

Asked by the Guardian if Biden could be that candidate, Omar was less than optimistic. “There are few people who fit into the kind of progress that we all want to see in this country,” Omar said. “And I would say he is not one of them.

“I think it has been very clear to many of the people who have been creating the kind of movement that is exciting generations, that we want somebody who really has a plan that is going to tackle a lot of the systematic challenges that we have, and he doesn’t.”

CNN News Erases Bernie From Primary Contenders

Elizabeth Warren overtakes Joe Biden in new Iowa poll

Elizabeth Warren leads Joe Biden in Iowa for the first time, according to a new poll in the early voting state. The survey carried out by the Des Moines Register, Mediacom and CNN puts the Massachusetts senator at 22% with likely caucus-goers, to the former vice-president’s 20%.

They are well clear of the sprawling Democratic field. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders placed third, with 11%, ahead of South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg on 9% and California senator Kamala Harris on 6%. New Jersey senator Cory Booker, who said on Saturday he would drop out of the race if a fundraising target is not met, was next with 3%, tied with the Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar.

Harris said this week that she will go all-in on Iowa, aiming for a top-three finish.

Biden still leads the realclearpolitics.com national polling average, on 30% to Warren on 19% and Sanders on 16%. Buttigieg and Harris, on 6%, are the only other candidates with more than 3% support.

Progressive Comedian Running For Congress In NY-12

Sanders Unveils Plan to Wipe Out All Medical Debt in US, Declaring, 'The Very Concept Should Not Exist'

Pledging to end the "immoral and unconscionable" practice of collecting debt from families who have endured an illness or hospital stay, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday unveiled his plan to wipe out all medical debt in the United States. ...

Under Sanders's plan, in addition to eliminating all existing medical debt, the senator would establish a public registry to replace the three major credit report agencies, including Equifax, whose security breach left the personal and financial information of 140 million people exposed in 2017. The registry would "remove the profit motive from assessing the creditworthiness of American consumers."

The senator would also bar medical debts from being included on credit reports and end the practice of credit checks for housing, job applications, and other non-lending practices.

"It is immoral and unconscionable that families across the country are finding themselves nearly broke or bankrupt because of crippling medical debt while the healthcare industry made more than $100 billion in profits last year," Sanders said in a statement. "My administration will take on the greed of the healthcare industry."



the evening greens


Countries must triple climate emissions targets to limit global heating to 2C

An assessment backed by the world’s major climate science bodies has found commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions must be at least tripled and increased by up to fivefold if the world is to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The report, launched as leaders gather at a UN climate action summit in New York on Monday, says current plans would lead to a rise in average global temperatures of between 2.9C and 3.4C by 2100, a shift likely to bring catastrophic change across the globe.

Coordinated by the World Meteorological Organisation, the United in Science report says it is still possible to reduce the gap and keep global heating to a safe level, but it would require an urgent shift in commitments and action. ...

The report says many of the changes linked to the temperature rise, including long-lasting heatwaves, record-breaking wildfires, declining sea ice and glaciers, cyclones, floods and drought, have hit sooner and harder than predicted a decade ago.

The United in Science report, which is also backed by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, estimates global emissions are not likely to peak before 2030 on the current trajectory. It says policies to reduce emissions must triple to meet the 2C target and increase fivefold to keep heating to within 1.5C.

“This Is Our Time. This Is Our Future.” Voices from the Historic Youth Climate Strike in NYC

Lots more at the link:

Brazil’s Army Wanted to “Occupy” the Amazon Before. Leaked Audio Reveals Their Plan to Try Again.

Today, the Amazon is on fire, the result of moves attributed to Bolsonaro’s allies among the agribusiness interests trying to open up the forest for their economic gain. And the army, empowered by Bolsonaro’s presidency, is simultaneously beginning another push of its own: the largest-scale plan to occupy and settle the Amazon since the dictatorship. Previously unpublished documents obtained exclusively by The Intercept flesh out the military’s plan for a push into the interior of the Amazon. Known as the Baron of Rio Branco Project, the plan envisions large-scale development projects, eventually raising the Amazon region’s contribution to the Brazilian economy. Amid today’s conflagration in the Amazon, Bolsonaro went on television to pledge to protect the delicate — and globally vital — ecosystem. Yet the Rio Branco Project would exploit resources; build large-scale bridges, dams, and highways; and attract non-Indigenous citizens to settle the northern region, the sparsely populated Brazilian hinterlands. Each project would inevitably create ripple waves of secondary deforestation and disrupt local communities.

The project takes up the old military dream to colonize the Amazon, under the stated goal of developing the region and protecting Brazil’s northern border. The document obtained by The Intercept shows that the government envisions sources of “riches” in potential mining, a hydroelectric dam, and farming projects in the Guiana Shield — a geographic region that covers the Brazilian states of Amapá, Roraima, and the northern segments of Pará and Amazonas, as well as the nations of French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana, much of Venezuela, and a sliver of Colombia. “It’s all virtually unexplored,” the slides say of these portions of Brazil. “It’s right there alongside the riches of the North.” ...

While the purported economic benefits are offered as justifications for the Rio Branco Project, what is not mentioned — but referenced in the materials obtained by The Intercept — is another reason for the Amazon push: a revived version of the military dictatorship’s paranoid fears of an invasion of Brazil through the sparsely populated northern border. ...

Whether or not the Rio Branco Project is successful in accomplishing its aims of bringing economic growth and national security to the northern region, the attempt to develop, industrialize, and securitize the region are likely to have a similar effect as previous Brazilian governments’ forays into the Amazon: catastrophic environmental degradation and calamity for the communities who have long since called the Amazon home.


Also of Interest

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

If the Facts Come Out, it Could Spell the End for Joe Biden

Media Omit Context Behind Latest North Korean Missile Tests

Novelty Joke PM From Fake Country Meets With Trump, Silent On Assange

How the White Nationalists Who Love Trump Found Inspiration in the Group That Gave Us Narendra Modi

'Howdy Modi': thousands of Indian Americans attend Trump rally

Immigrants as a Weapon: Global Nationalism and American Power

The Fed’s “Emergency” Actions this Week Were Dated 48 Days Earlier

Documents Shed New Light on Critical Moment in Pete Buttigieg’s South Bend Political Career

Twitter’s ‘Hide Replies’ Function Serves To Appease The Elitists Of The Political/Media Class

The Environmental Left Is Softening on Carbon-Capture Technology.

GOP Leadership Huddles With Fossil Fuel Industry During Climate Week

'No Wealth on a Dead Planet': The Most Memorable Signs From the Global Climate Strike

Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Billy Pilgrim’ Turns 50


A Little Night Music

Angela Strehli - What It Takes

Angela Strehli - Go On

Angela Strehli - Wang Dang Doodle

Stevie Ray Vaughan & Angela Strehli - Don't Fall For Me Baby

Angela Strehli - It Hurts Me Too

Angela Strehli & Friends - Big Town Playboy

Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan and Angela Strehli - You Were Wrong

Angela Strehli, Mighty Mike & Paul Lamb - Boogie Like You Wanna

Angela Strehli - That Two Bit Texas Town


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A fixture on Texas blues scene for many years. Antoine'e club also.

Interesting shift in 4th verse lyrics-

"Why don't you quit her, please put that woman down.."

James original says-

"He'd better leave you or you better put him down
No, I won't stand to see you pushed around"

James is making a threat.

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joe shikspack's picture

@irishking

i've always thought that angela strehli was the best of her generation of women texas blues singers, her inflection, phrasing and husky vocal tone are just first rate.

tampa red (hudson whittaker) was the first to record "it hurts me too," (in 1940) though elmore james' version is the one that most people think of when the title comes up.

tampa red's lyrics have a slightly different spin on things. here are a few of his verses:

That man you love, darlin'
He don't want you 'round
Why didn't ya make love with Tampa, darling
And let's jump the town?

That man don't love ya, darling
Told Tampa, so
He said it was only jivin' you, darlin'
He said he was lovin' a gal next do'

That man'll keep on doggin' you
'Til he goin' make Tampa, mad
An then Tampa goin' get somethin' from him, darlin'
Yo' man didn't know he had

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@joe shikspack

always thought it was James' song

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joe shikspack's picture

@irishking

well, it's sometimes difficult to say who owns what with the blues. for example, tampa red clearly recycles the melody from "sittin on top of the world." not that it was an unusual thing, lots of songs recycled that melody. different blues songs tend to recycle lyrics from other works, too.

i think that elmore james is listed as the songwriter of his version of the song as hudson whittaker is listed as the songwriter of his version.

heh, there's been a whole lotta borrowin' going on.

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ggersh's picture

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

snoopydawg's picture

@ggersh

should cover themselves in oil and then the world would pay attention to their plight.

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

joe shikspack's picture

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snoopydawg's picture

One thing Rudy is looking into is Ukraine's role in helping Hillary get dirt on Trump's campaign. And there is much more to ByeDone's and his son in not only Ukraine, but in China. Think this is just coming up now? Robert Parry wrote about it at the time it was happening just after Obama overthrew the government. This is really good. I miss Robert.

Phony corruption excuse for Ukraine coup

Oh yeah.. Obama knew what Manafort was doing in Ukraine, but withheld charging him s he could use the information during the election. Hillary, the DNC, the FBI and Hillary's friends were all in Ukraine doing things that skirt election laws. Just like her using Correct the Record did.

As Russia collusion fades, Ukrainian plot to help Clinton emerges

We know the FBI set up shop in the U.S. embassy in Kiev to assist its Ukraine–Manafort inquiry — a common practice on foreign-based probes — while using Steele as an informant at the start of its Russia probe. And we know Clinton’s campaign was using a law firm to pay an opposition research firm for Steele’s work in an effort to stop Trump from winning the presidency, at the same time Steele was aiding the FBI.

Imagine ISIS killing lots of Christians who were at a wedding in Iowa?

At least 40 civilians at wedding party killed during nearby U.S.-backed Afghan army raid

How many weddings have we bombed over 18 years? And hospitals?

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

ggersh's picture

@snoopydawg that's quite a feat

https://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=32339079

Trump today, being embarrassing at the UN:

Here is the President of the United States smearing a CNN anchor as "Fredo" at the United Nations pic.twitter.com/qTTYA0EA4s
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 23, 2019

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg

heh, the democrats must be pretty sure that they control the mighty wurlitzer such that they can make accusations about their opponents and drown out any public discussion of their own, virtually identical crimes and misdemeanors.

Imagine ISIS killing lots of Christians who were at a wedding in Iowa?

you mean they would be in direct competition with white supremacists?

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live in Texas.

Funny that.

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@QMS it's a big place...lot of x's here.

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joe shikspack's picture

@QMS

i hope that they are good swimmers.

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smiley7's picture

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own. ~ Vonnegut

"keep-on-keeping on ..."

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joe shikspack's picture

@smiley7

i hope all is well. i'm still truckin' along.

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I have not verified.but really.

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@MrWebster if you saw this Keiser Report from Paris. It was all about the Yellow Vest protest that has been going on since October of 2018 and how the French have militarized their police just as we have. Apparently the police are using military-type weapons against their own civilians....just as our police are. They are using a particular type of weapon made in Switzerland (the land of neutrality) that uses laser type accuracy to take out eyeballs. It also takes out part of your face in the process. They have been using it in the Yellow-Vest protests and have removed 24 eyeballs (along with parts of faces). Apparently they don't target random people, but specific ones that are more irritating.

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@randtntx Holy shit that level of violence is not seen in any major media. I wonder if Amerizcan polizce will start using those weapons and tactizcs if they haven't already.

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joe shikspack's picture

@MrWebster

for years. they use them on particular types of protesters - occupy, black lives matter and pipeline protesters among them.

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@MrWebster our politzei just have our leftover weapons from Iraq etc. We don't seem to have the fancy Swiss eyeball gun yet. Is on order maybe?

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snoopydawg's picture

@randtntx

"The attacks on civilians used to be against the Geneva conventions." Yeah those quaint laws that have been thrown into the same dustbin as the constitution and the bill of rights. I like how she talks about how the PTB have run out of places to rob and now they are robbing their own citizen's pensions.

Remember the brutality at the DAPL protests where one woman got her arm almost blown off and when it was below freezing the goons sprayed water on the protesters. Sure don't remember any congress critters speaking out about that. I don't know why people are surprised by how citizens are being treated. They did that to people across the pond. But if the peons fight back.... BOOM.

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

@snoopydawg if people would be surprised about how protesters are treated. A little outrage would be comforting as well. Perhaps we will see both those reactions when the robbery at home gets too blatant for the citizens.

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snoopydawg's picture

@randtntx

others deserve what they get from not only cops who are killing us at will, but from the ones who fight against protesters. "If only they had done what they were told" to "did those oil pipelines protesters drive their cars to the event " That same thing happens with the military too. "If you won't stand behind the troops then stand in front of them" is still what I see people saying. And most comments on Iran are in favor of a war with them. "Iranians have been saying death to America for far too long and it's time to wipe them off the map!"

But for some reason they never connect our belligerence and drone strikes on innocent civilians as a just cause for them to feel that way. And I'm not seeing much sympathy for the Afghanis we have recently killed. "If they don't want to live in harm's way then they should overthrow their government. Sure. The governments that we have armed to the teeth.

It's going to take people like them to be on the receiving end of the brutality for them to change their minds.

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

@snoopydawg some people will never change their minds. There will always be people who behave like monsters and there will be people who support those monsters. Just a few nights ago Chris Hedges' latest piece was referenced in the EB. In that piece Hedges shows us a picture of monstrosity that is nauseating. The challenge to every society is not to allow that sort of behavior. Our society has failed on that count.

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joe shikspack's picture

@MrWebster

yep, it would be a shame if the disgusting brutality of the french gendarmes went viral. not that the french government would exhibit any shame or pay any attention to the relevant human rights rapporteurs of the un. but it would be good for the world to rub macron's neoliberal thugs noses in it.

pretty much every week rt posts video of the yellow vest protests, the videos are generally pretty much raw footage and are hours long without narration added.

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When Macron went to Moscow about a month of so back, Macron did the obligatory thing and criztized the handling of protesters in Moszccow. Putin anwsered yah but that France is killing its protesters.

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interview with the mother of Berta Caceres. Very worth the time it took to watch. Some people are just amazing.
Thanks for posting it.

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joe shikspack's picture

@randtntx

yeah, it's kind of heartbreaking to see the evil unleashed by the u.s.' degenerate foreign policy.

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