The Evening Blues - 10-2-19
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features Chicago blues piano player, singer and songwriter, Eddie Boyd. Enjoy!
Eddie Boyd - Thank You Baby
“I don't believe that humans can be reduced to homo economicus, but as a group, government officials are remarkably sensitive to financial, political, and reputational costs. Thus, when new technologies appear to reduce the costs of using lethal force, their threshold for deciding to use lethal force correspondingly drops.
If killing a suspected terrorist in Yemen or Somalia or Libya will endanger expensive manned aircraft, the lives of U.S. troops, and/or the lives of many innocent civilians, officials will reserve such killings for situations of extreme urgency and gravity (stopping another 9/11, getting Osama bin Laden). But if all that appears to be at risk is a an easily replaceable drone, officials will be tempted to use lethal force more and more casually.”
-- Rosa Brooks
News and Opinion
Amnesty Investigation Details How US Military Killed Innocent Farmers in Somalia
A new report from Amnesty International released Monday evening charges that the U.S. military killed three Somali farmers in a March 18, 2019 strike that the Pentagon claimed killed al-Shabaab militants. Amnesty also alleges that U.S. African Command (AFRICOM) knew that intelligence about at least one of the three farmers was questionable but did nothing to follow up and investigate with the man's family.
"This is just one of many cases of the U.S. military wantonly tarnishing large parts of the Somali population with the 'terrorist' label," said Amnesty Somalia researcher Abdullahi Hassan. "No thought is given to the civilian victims or the plight of their grieving families left behind."
US military shows appalling disregard for civilians killed in Somalia air strike: Our latest investigations reveal evidence that three men targeted in Abdow Dibile in March were civilian farmers, not “terrorists” as claimed by AFRICOM. https://t.co/kPnRcq1FVh pic.twitter.com/CwxW1IAeFK
— Abdullahi Hassan (@abdullahisom1) October 1, 2019
According to Amnesty, the attack targeted a vehicle the men were driving in. Two of the men, 46-year-old Abdiqadir Nur Ibrahim and 30-year-old Ibrahim Mohamed Hirey were killed instantly. A third man, 46-year-old Mahad Nur Ibrahim, succumbed to burns and other wounds three weeks later.
"Three civilian men died agonizing deaths while their families are left questioning why the U.S. military targeted and killed them," said Amnesty's Security With Human Rights director Daphne Eviatar. "It is also potentially unlawful and raises questions about how seriously AFRICOM takes its obligations under international law."
An investigation by Amnesty into the three men, including interviews, looking into media reports and other documents, and photographs, found none were members of al-Shabaab. Yet, the group said in a statement, AFRICOM remains uninterested in reviewing its actions.
Assange's father & Die Linke deputy leader hold joint press conference
Impeachment inquiry: White House defies Congress as battle lines drawn
Donald Trump’s administration has sought to defy congressional demands to hear depositions from senior officials, in the first major battle of a rapidly growing impeachment inquiry. On Tuesday, the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, dismissed summons from Democratic committee chairmen in the House of Representatives for five current and former state department officials to testify on the president’s attempts to push Ukraine to dig up dirt on his leading political rival.
Pompeo wrote to the House foreign affairs committee, accusing Democrats of “an attempt to intimidate, bully, and treat improperly” the officials. The requested dates were “not feasible”, he said. The speed of the investigation raises “significant legal and procedural concerns”, Pompeo wrote. “I will not tolerate such tactics, and I will use all means at my disposal to prevent and expose any attempts to intimidate the dedicated professionals.”
However, it soon became clear that Pompeo had only limited power to stop the congressional committees from gathering evidence for an impeachment inquiry. One of the five witnesses deposed, Kurt Volker, former special envoy for Ukraine who resigned last week, confirmed he would speak to the committees in closed session on Thursday, according to the Associated Press. House sources were quoted as saying that a second witness, Marie Yovanovitch, former ambassador to Kyiv, would appear on 11 October, nine days later than originally scheduled.
And perhaps most damaging of all, the state department’s inspector general, Steve Linick, who acts as an independent watchdog, informed the House committees that he wanted to brief them on Wednesday on documents concerning relations with Ukraine that had been obtained from the department’s legal adviser. It was unclear whether Pompeo had been warned of Linick’s move.
....People, their VOTE, their Freedoms, their Second Amendment, Religion, Military, Border Wall, and their God-given rights as a Citizen of The United States of America!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2019
Ukraine investigates prosecutor who gave Giuliani information on Biden
Ukraine has opened an investigation into Yuriy Lutsenko, a former prosecutor who fed information about the Biden family to Rudy Giuliani, shortly after he left the country, apparently for an English language course.
It was not immediately clear if the investigation launched on Tuesday is a form of political retribution for Lutsenko’s role in an international scandal that has led Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
Lutsenko is one of several prosecutors who shared information with Giuliani that claimed to show that Joe Biden scuttled an investigation into his son’s business dealings with a Ukrainian company, Burisma.
William Barr discussed FBI Russia inquiry with UK intelligence
The US attorney general met UK intelligence agencies in the summer to discuss Britain potentially cooperating with Donald Trump’s administration on an inquiry examining the FBI’s investigation into alleged collusion with Russia, according to sources.
William Barr met British intelligence officials in London on 29 July at a meeting attended by intelligence agencies from the Five Eyes group. He was accompanied by the US homeland security department’s acting deputy secretary, David Pekoske.
The meeting was formally about the risks and opportunities of new technologies but Barr also raised his inquiries into the FBI investigation.
A Whitehall official said the issue of UK cooperation was discussed informally and only on the margins of the meeting. US officials have said Barr’s role is confined to ensuring that the official inquiry team members are introduced to the right people. ...
Barr’s critics claim he is seeking to discredit the FBI investigation by constructing a vast conspiracy theory that foreign powers were working to secure Hillary Clinton’s election in 2016.
Ukraine signs key agreement with pro-Russia separatists
The Ukrainian government signed an agreement Tuesday with pro-Russia separatists, Russia and European monitors that will allow a local election to be held in separatist-controlled regions in eastern Ukraine.
The agreement was signed after the parties met in the Belarusian capital of Minsk, and is seen as a major step by the new Ukrainian government under President Volodymyr Zelenskiy toward resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv and pro-Russia separatists.
In preparation for the election, the Ukrainian government and separatist leaders said they would withdraw troops from two locations in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions next week.
President Zelenskiy told reporters in Kyiv that Ukraine agreed to a local election only when Ukraine regains control of its borders with Russia. The president has faced criticism that Ukraine is giving concessions to Moscow and for following a policy of appeasement with Russia.
The government of Ukraine and the separatists agreed that the election will be valid if European observers from Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) determined that they were conducted freely and fairly.
Pro-Russia separatists are seeking a special status allowing for self-governance in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, large parts of which have been under separatist control since April 2014.
Behind the US-backed Venezuelan opposition's massive corruption scandal
The Guardian's ridiculous bias against Venezuela's government is all too evident in this article, but here are some of the facts reported:
Colombia spy chief quits over faulty dossier linking Venezuela to rebels
Colombia’s intelligence chief has resigned over a discredited dossier which supposedly proved that Venezuelan authorities were sheltering Colombian rebels, amid an escalating information war between the two neighbouring countries.
The Colombian president, Iván Duque, brandished the file at the United Nations general assembly in New York last week, claiming that it was “conclusive proof” that Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, was harbouring Colombian guerrillas.
Ample evidence has emerged to support Colombia’s concerns; the presence of fighters from the National Liberation Army (ELN) has been reported hundreds of miles across the border, and the group is believed to be responsible for a string of massacres in rural Venezuela last October.
But it soon emerged that Duque’s dossier included years-old, uncredited press photos, which were actually taken in Colombia – not in Venezuela. Colombian officials dismissed the issue as a simple failure to credit sources, but late on Monday, the armed forces’ intelligence chief, Gen Oswaldo Peña, resigned.
Diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela have grown increasingly strained since Bogotá backed Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan opposition leader who has become the figurehead of opposition to Maduro. ... However, analysts say Colombia is shooting itself in the foot with its repeated blunders, especially after photographs emerged last month of Guaidó posing with rightwing Colombian paramilitaries while crossing the border in February.
“Impunity & Corruption”: Haiti Protesters Demand President Moïse’s Resignation Amid Failing Economy
North Korea Nuke Talks Are Restarting This Week. Experts Are Not Hopeful of a Breakthrough
North Korea says it will restart nuclear talks with the U.S. this week in a surprise announcement after months of stalled negotiations between the two countries. ... First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui said that Washington and Pyongyang had agreed to hold “preliminary contact on Oct. 4 and hold working-level negotiations on Oct. 5,” though he didn't mention who'd be meeting or where the talks would take place.
The State Department confirmed that a meeting between the two sides would happen in the next week but offered no other details.
Talks to advance denuclearization on the Korean peninsula have been at a standstill since the February summit in Hanoi where U.S. President Donald Trump walked away from the negotiating table because North Korea demanded that sanctions were lifted prior to getting rid of their nuclear weapons. ...
“With Bolton gone, we may have some intermediate agreements that see North Korea freezing its current nuclear capabilities in exchange for the partial lift of economic sanctions,” Baohui Zhang, director of the Centre for Asian Pacific Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong, told VICE News
But in the end, most experts agree that North Korea is unlikely to give up its hard-earned nuclear weapons and that will once again be a sticking point to get substantive progress at these talks.
UK publishes Brexit proposals replacing 'bridge to nowhere' Irish backstop
PM strikes secret deal with DUP as he draws up 'final Brexit offer'
Boris Johnson has struck a secret deal with the Democratic Unionist party involving radical proposals for a Belfast-Dublin “bilateral lock” on post-Brexit arrangements on the island of Ireland. Details have emerged of the prime minister’s final Brexit offer that he will lay out on Wednesday, with Northern Ireland staying under EU single market regulations for agri-food and manufactured goods until at least 2025, at which point its assembly in Stormont will decide whether to continue alignment with EU or UK standards.
Johnson set up a high-stakes fortnight of talks with a threat that he will press ahead with a no-deal exit if the EU27 fails to engage with his plans.
No 10 is hoping the proposals will be enough to entice the EU back into negotiations ahead of the crunch EU summit on 17 October, with Johnson telling a reception at the Conservative party conference on Tuesday that the next 48 hours would be crucial.
The proposal that Ireland would have “two borders for four years” once the transition period ends after 2020 is likely to receive a frosty welcome in EU capitals. The broadcaster RTÉ quoted an Irish government source saying Johnson’s deal, as reported on Tuesday evening, would not be acceptable to Dublin. However, DUP sources have confirmed that the party is largely “content” with the proposals, which are believed to still include a lot of elements of the backstop – a major concession for the party.
Mark Zuckerberg Thinks an Elizabeth Warren Presidency Could 'Suck for Us'
Mark Zuckerberg sees how antitrust enforcement might look under an Elizabeth Warren presidency, and he’s ready for a legal battle if she wants to break up his company. “I mean, if she gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge, and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge,” the Facebook CEO told employees in July meetings, ofwhich transcripts were just published by The Verge. “And does that still suck for us? Yeah.” ...
But the executive’s comments on a leading 2020 Democratic candidate stand out at a time when Washington has dialed up the heat. As Congress ramped up a web of inquiries into Big Tech in recent months, Warren has surged in the polls in part by arguing for new checks on corporate power. That includes a plan to break up Silicon Valley giants like Facebook. ...
Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, and Apple have already spent more than $26 million this year to shape potential regulations, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Zuckerberg himself went to Washington last month to add his personal touch to this lobbying push. And for all the talk of antitrust enforcement by Warren and other lawmakers, Facebook may have a larger warchest for any legal battle than federal agencies. Zuckerberg doesn’t appear afraid to use it.
Snakes, spikes, bullets: Trump reportedly floated 'extreme' measures to stop migrants
Donald Trump discussed shooting migrants in the legs to slow them down, after ordering advisers to shut down the entire US-Mexico border, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. The president also suggested electrifying the border wall and fortifying it with spikes, and deterring migrants with a moat stocked with snakes or alligators, according to the Times, which excerpted the upcoming book Border Wars: Inside Trump’s Assault on Immigration
Based on interviews with dozens of officials within the White House and the administration, Times reporters Michael D Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis recount “a frenzied week of presidential rages” in March, during which Trump’s “zeal to stop immigration had sent him lurching for solutions, one more extreme than the next”.
The revelations in the Times report are in line with the president’s public attitude toward migrants arriving at the southern border. Last year, he publicly suggested that soldiers shoot migrants who throw rocks at them. Although Trump eventually backed away from his most extreme suggestions, he also reportedly fired aides and advisers who pushed back against his ideas. ...
Although Trump’s border wall, the construction of which has now begun after the Pentagon allowed the shifting of $3.6bn in military funds to finance it, still doesn’t feature moats filled with reptiles or spikes, his administration has found other ways to keep migrants and refugees away.
Botham Jean Family’s Lawyer Hails White Cop’s Murder Conviction as “Precedent-Setting Case”
Shaun King sums it up well:
Guilty Verdict Against Amber Guyger Gives the Family of Botham Jean the Justice They Deserve
Since the Black Lives Matter movement began in 2014, I’ve stood with hundreds of families impacted by police violence. With few exceptions, justice for them has been a fleeting mystery. The law is working against them. District attorneys are working against them. Bigotry and the undeserved esteem of law enforcement over everyday citizens is working against them. And yet, each new family whose loved one is mowed down in a hail of bullets hopes against hope that they will be different: that they will be the exception to the rule, and that they will be ones who finally get some tiny measure of justice.
Moments ago, that hope was just realized when Amber Guyger was found guilty for the murder of Botham Jean, who was killed by Guyger, a Dallas police officer at the time, when she entered his apartment and shot him dead. They were neighbors, and Guyger claimed she thought she had gone into her own apartment and that Jean was an intruder. No verdict balances the scales of what Jean’s family has suffered and lost, but this semblance of justice is both rare and necessary. It took not only a skilled team of organizers and activists, but a world-class legal team, a committed district attorney, a fair judge, and a racially diverse jury to get what so few families impacted by such violence ever do. ...
I feel foolish sometimes for ever believing that this fragile democracy that we call the United States of America can improve and get better, that it can right its wrongs, but here we are. Today, a family who deserved justice received it.
Bernie Sanders cancels events after undergoing heart procedure
Bernie Sanders has undergone a heart procedure for an artery blockage and is canceling events until further notice, according to his campaign office. Sanders, 78, a Vermont senator and a leading contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, was hospitalized in Nevada on Tuesday night.
“During a campaign event yesterday evening, Senator Sanders experienced some chest discomfort,” Sanders’ senior adviser Jeff Weaver said in a statement on Wednesday. “Following medical evaluation and testing he was found to have a blockage in one artery and two stents were successfully inserted.”
“Senator Sanders is conversing and in good spirits. He will be resting up over the next few days,” Weaver added. “We are canceling his events and appearances until further notice, and we will continue to provide appropriate updates.”
His wife, Jane O’Meara Sanders, was on her way to Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, and according to the Associated Press, said her husband was “doing really well”.
'Most Important Climate Leader in the Senate': Green Groups Back Sen. Ed Markey in Primary Fight With Joe Kennedy
A Democratic Senate primary battle in Massachusetts is raising the hackles of climate activists, who feel that Rep. Joe Kennedy's challenge to Sen. Edward Markey is putting a target on one of the lawmakers most in touch with the danger of the climate crisis. "Running against Ed Markey is running against the climate change movement," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told The Boston Globe in a story on the contest published Monday evening. "I like Joe Kennedy," said Khanna. "I just don't know why he would choose to run against the climate change movement."
The Sierra Club also expressed admiration for Kennedy to The Hill, but stressed the group is sticking with Markey for the primary. "Joe Kennedy is a climate fighter, Joe Kennedy already co-sponsored the Green New Deal, so Joe Kennedy is someone we very much believe in and have endorsed in the past," the group's Massachusetts branch director Deb Pasternak said. But, Pasternak said, Markey's leadership on the climate crisis "makes him such an important leader to the climate movement at this time" and thus the group's pick. ...
Markey is the lead Senate sponsor on the Green New Deal, the legislation he developed alongside Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) that has changed the national conversation on the climate crisis. That work, Ocasio-Cortez told reporters after endorsing Markey, is indispensable for the planet's future. "We do not have time to go through the learning curve," said Ocasio-Cortez. Sunrise Movement is also backing Markey. ...
Kennedy, who has been a Congressman from southeastern Massachusetts since 2013, said in a campaign announcement video that he would fight for "a collective will to tackle the climate crisis so that we will have a planet that will survive for our kids and grandkids." Reporting on Kennedy's investments, however, has led to skepticism about the challenger's commitment to solving the climate crisis. Finance watchdog Sludge on September 16 revealed Kennedy's stock portfolio has $1.75 million in fossil fuel investments. ...
"It just confounds explanation to me, if he actually cares about the future of this planet, that he feels like it would be a good idea to launch a primary challenge against the guy who's leading on this issue," 350 Mass Action executive director Craig S. Altemose told the Globe.
Despite 'Enormous Potential' as Carbon Sink, Australia's Damaged Coastal Ecosystems Spewing Millions of Tons of CO2
Australia's seagrass meadows, mangroves, and salt marshes absorb and lock away about 20 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, but damage to these vegetated coastal ecosystems is releasing three million tons of CO2 back into the atmosphere and limiting their potential to prevent more planetary heating, according to a new study. The "world-first research" on blue carbon—or carbon captured by the ocean and coastal ecosystems—was published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications. The study, entitled Australian vegetated coastal ecosystems as global hotspots for climate change mitigation, makes a case for restoring these areas across the globe to help combat the human-caused climate emergency.
The research brought together dozens of scientists from 33 institutions worldwide—including lead author Oscar Serrano, a fellow at the Center for Marine Ecosystems Research at Edith Cowan University's (ECU) School of Science in Australia. "Australia is home to around 10 percent of the world's blue carbon ecosystems, so there's enormous potential for us to take a lead role in this space," Serrano said in a statement from ECU. "Australia is in a position to take a leading role in developing policies to offset greenhouse gas emissions which can then be implemented around the world."
The researchers found that Australia's coastal zones capture about the same amount of carbon each year as the annual emissions of more than four million vehicles. However, Serrano said, "when these ecosystems are damaged by storms, heatwaves, dredging, or other human development, the carbon dioxide stored in their biomass and soils beneath them can make its way back into the environment, contributing to climate change."
Highlighting the importance of blue carbon ecosystems, the ECU statement noted:
- Vegetated coastal ecosystems absorb carbon dioxide at rates up to 40 times faster than terrestrial forests mainly due to their enormous capacity to store carbon in soils.
- In Australia it's estimated there is four times more carbon sequestered in soil beneath marine ecosystems over a given area than in terrestrial environments.
- Vegetated coastal ecosystems account for 50 percent of carbon dioxide sequestered by the oceans, despite covering just 0.2 percent of its total area.
Serrano pointed out that "globally, vegetated coastal ecosystems are being lost twice as fast as tropical rainforests despite covering a fraction of the area." He added that "these ecosystems are also important as habitats and nurseries for fish and other marine life, helping prevent coastal erosion and improving water clarity."
World's largest wind turbines to be built off Yorkshire coast
The largest offshore wind turbines ever built will begin powering millions of British homes using blades more than 100 metres long by the early 2020s. Each of the new mega-turbines planned for the world’s biggest offshore windfarm at Dogger Bank in the North Sea will reach 220 metres high and generate enough electricity for 16,000 homes.
The turbines are almost a third more powerful than typical turbines used today, each dwarfing the size of the London Eye, and will help to reduce the cost of generating wind power.
Together, the new generation turbines – built by GE Renewable Energy – will make up a windfarm capable of generating enough renewable electricity to power 4.5m homes from 130km (80 miles) off the Yorkshire coast, or 5% of the UK’s total power supply.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Yemen: Aden's changing alliances erupt into four-year conflict's newest front
Trump Attacked the Women of Color Who Led the Push for Impeachment. Then CNN Erased Them.
One Year After Khashoggi's Brutal Murder: Business as Usual?
A successful climate plan must also tackle the housing crisis
Greta Thunberg & the Consolation of Doubt
House Democrats, Dodging Party Policy, Are Privately Supporting Marie Newman
A Little Night Music
Eddie Boyd - That's When I Miss You So
Eddie Boyd - The Blues Is Here To Stay
Eddie Boyd - Tortured Soul
Eddie Boyd - You Got To Reap!
Eddie Boyd - Where You Belong
Eddie Boyd - Operator
Eddie Boyd - Come Home
Eddie Boyd - All The Way
Eddie Boyd - Blue Monday Blues
Eddie Boyd - Hard time gettin' started
Comments
Just wanted to say again how sad to hear that OPOL is gone
from this warm, warm world.
I find it all so sad.
He was true blue loddie oddie.
Peace out, Randy.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
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evening dm...
randy's passing is a sad loss for the peaceful, decent side of humanity trying to make the world a better place.
i'm going to miss his voice as will lots of other people.
A cheer you up for this sad day
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
evening snoopy...
thanks!
have a great evening.
More humor
Yep it does. What's next? DWS going on CNN and talking about election fraud? Oh wait...
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
heh...
yeah, make sure that the "republicans" don't purge voter rolls in brooklyn again.
Zuckerberg plays rotating villian.
Funny how all these stories about how corporate America hates Liz Warren are suddenly popping up just as the quarterly donation reports are due.
Almost like they're worried voters aren't buying Liz's 'woman of the people' schtick.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
Funny, isn't it?
And they want to make sure we know how concerned they are too.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
evening nhk...
either it signals that she's their candidate or that they are pretty sure that sanders, who might be an actual threat, will be eliminated by their flunkies in the dnc apparatus. or perhaps both.
Guess it's bad timing for Silicon Valley
to come out in support of Warbama. Who is next to support her? The insurance industry?
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
Good evening, joe and bluzerz!
Hope all are breathing during this sad time. I'm attending a funeral tomorrow for a young 40 year old woman who got breast cancer, fought it off three times, and succumbed this weekend. She leaves a 5 year old, a 17 year old and a husband.
Losing OPOL is tough. Although he didn't post here much, he changed my life in many ways. I know I'm not alone saying that - he changed many lives, including his own. He no longer has to witness the fall of the empire. I probably won't be as lucky. I honor his memory.
The saddest part of all this is that the world keeps spinning and so does the actual spin. We are never free of it because no life is that important, unless it is one of the oligarchs. Those were my thoughts when my husband died. He died just like OPOL, which was the better way to go. Think of it - Randy doesn't have to lose any quality of life and become a burden to his family. Those were my thoughts about Tom - a man who loved to play tennis. Laying in a bed the rest of his life would have been horrific. Same, I suspect, for Randy. RIP my friend.
Well, this turned into a testimonial so I'll sign off for today.
Have a lovely evening, folks.
"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
evening ra...
thanks for the kind words about randy.
have a good evening!
This
My brother died after suffering for years and in his last week he lost his mind to the disease. But when Reagan died after losing his mind the world came to a stop for a week.
McCain's death was treated like this world lost something significant as it did when Bush I died while their many victims never even got named.
This is a good motto to live by.
"Let me live for when I die people will mourn my passing."
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
Biden's slide begins; Warren passes him
evening gj...
i am probably repeating myself, but somehow the polling results that i see don't square with the small donor fundraising picture. maybe i'm off, but something smells funny to me.
I may have dodged a bullet today, literally.
Barely been at this job a month. We were dismissed early today due to a "security concern" at the business next door. No one said any more than that, but there were plenty of cops around and, well, who knows? Told us to be prepared to work from home tomorrow too.
Crazy times. Be safe out there.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
evening dr jc...
i'm glad that they took preventative measures and i hope that everybody is ok.
this seems to be an increasingly unhinged world we're living in, stay safe!
Amber Guyger was sentenced for 10 years
It's sad to see so many blacks saying that they are happy that she got at least that long. Many didn't think she would be found guilty and then they thought she might get community service instead of a prison term.
Of course Kurt Volker is willingly going to testify. His job was to make sure that the trains of our exploitation of Ukraine ran on time. This is why he quit right after the phone call hit the news.
As I perused the headlines today I kept seeing article after article saying that Barr's investigation into the origins of Russia Gate is chasing a conspiracy theory that has been debunked already. lol...some people getting nervous about this information coming out? Good!
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
only 10 years?
for murder? that's a travesty!
i realize saying that, that the guilty verdict itself is virtually a miracle in our present "justice" system, but still.
I was/am disappointed
with only 10 years too. But the thought crossed my mind that the jury may have been trying to insure the sentence wouldn't be set aside on appeal as being too harsh. They may have felt 10 years is better than having a longer sentence overturned and way shortened. It is Texas, after all.
evening granma...
my guess is that she will serve far less than 10 years. on the cusp could probably tell us how things go in texas, but in my state, she could be eligible for parole only a few years into her sentence.
i am not a big fan of prisons, i don't think that time there will cure the cop's racism or make her a better person. on the other hand, there are probably people in texas that have served more time for drug possession than she will serve for murder.
if part of the rationale for prison sentences is that they act as a deterrent to killing people, i'm not sure that this sentence does that.
She will do five, day for day, then
be eligible for parole. if she hasn't committed infractions.
She will be assigned to ad seg, Administrative Segregation, will be in constant isolation. That is where they assign cops who could be killed by gangs, etc...
She will be subject to getting her ass beaten to death 24/7.
All it will take is one security guard bending over to tie his or her shoes.
All her meals will contain spit from the cooks. All her trips to the shower will be dangerous.
Although it should have been longer, this racist fucking bitch is about to learn that she will be targeted to get that orange suit at laundry that has a huge hole in the crotch.
And she knows all of this. She is a cop. She knows EXACTLY what is coming.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Thanks for the news wrap-up, js. Not a good day
for good news for me. First I learned that my husband has prostate cancer. Then I heard that Bernie had a heart procedure. Then I found out about OPOL. I hope tomorrow is better.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
evening lily...
i hope that they found your husband's cancer early and treatment is quick and effective for him.
i hope that the days to come are much, much better for you.
Sorry to hear it Lily.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I am so sorry.
That seems to be a treatable/curable thing, so I hope your husband's oncologist can get on it, get it gone asap.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Thank you, js, el and otc. We are hopeful, but mortality
seems to be so very present.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Sending positive karma in Mr Lily's direction. Hope
he's able to get comprehensive and effective treatment. At least, it's one of the types of cancer that has a pretty favorable success rate (of curing) if caught early on. Please update us on his progress.
Yes, it's been a very sad day all around.
Both of you take good care of yourselves.
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Thank you, Mollie. We have the pups and our
son to watch over us. We have Medicare and Tricare too. Sow we’re luckier than many. I wish everyone could have TRULY affordable medical care. How can fragile humans keep from be ground up in the gears of an “industry”? Sorry. My brain is too busy.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Hola, Joe & Gang! Quick drive-by
to say 'hi.' Got several pressing business matters to address this evening (including paying a couple bills), but, plan to join you Guys later, if I can cut loose by 10 or 11 pm.
Thanks for tonight's EB. It's still hot and humid, although, I believe that we'll be getting a bit of a break in a couple of days. I hope so. October is normally one of my favorite months, for several reasons.
Have a nice evening, Everyone!
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
yeah, today was about as hot an october day as i can remember around here. it hit 95 out on my back porch when i checked after lunch. fortunately, there was a breeze and it was a little bit less humid than it has been lately. the weatherman says that it is going to drop into the 60's tonight and the next few days will be cooler. yay!
have a great evening!
95 in Baltimore ? In October ?
It barely broke 90 here in Tucson.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
heh...
my thermometer is pretty accurate. it's actually cooler on my back porch than in baltimore city proper. (i live a bit outside the city in a place with a lot less asphalt heat sink.)
here's what the baltimore sun had to say:
"It's 110 in Gila Bend, in Buckeye it's 102 ...
Welcome to the desert my friend.
These guys are turning 50: Dusty Chaps at 50: Tucson rolls out the welcome mat to legendary country band
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir2erMO2pYc width:400 height:240]
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
great band...
thanks!
Weird
Posted twice at different times
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
De Piffle's latest Brexit 'jolly good idea' is just daft.
Stormont (the seat of the NI Assembly) having a vote every four years is just asking for trouble. Plus, the assembly is dormant at the moment, due to irreconcilable differences.
Nuts.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
evening bollox...
well, it seems that all of bojo's ideas are bad ideas, so it's no surprise that he has had yet another and worse, is flacking it.
i just wonder if he's going to manage to somehow convince the eu to toss the uk out without a deal as he seems to be attempting by taunting them with awful ideas.
Good evening amigos ...
Here's a little piece that just reinforces my opinion that Bill Clinton was the worst president of my lifetime:
How Bill Clinton and American Financiers Armed China
Here's The Duran on Adam Schiff:
Exposing Adam Schiff's deep ties to Ukraine Oligarch weapons dealer
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxu73Tj0d3c&t=1214s width:500 height:300]
Just a reminder, tonight is Chicano music night on KXCI. Stream it live at the link, starts in about 15 min.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
evening azazello...
thanks, that stoller article is excellent, though i guess "nobody" wants to hear about the evil crap that bill clinton did anymore.
heh, it would be quite interesting to see what adam schiff has been getting up to with his ukrainian pals. perhaps the senate will investigate after the house does its business.
have a great evening!
"Schiff can't have oversight in a report that he helped write"
Darn right. Wow if this is true then it shouldn't take long for the wheels to come off the impeachment bus. I've read that he knew about the complaint for a month before it hit the news. But I'm still flabbergasted that people don't have a problem with the CIA being involved in it. Oh man...wouldn't you love to see what OPOL thought about this? I read his diaries on the torture debacle, OWS being broken up and the banks being bailed out. He sure hit some homers!
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
Hard evening for me tonight
Heard the news about OPOL and it saddened me greatly. Two passionate souls gone to soon. RIP OPOL and healing thoughts to his son and other family.
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
evening jb...
it has been a tough year for our odd sort of loosely-connected virtual family, having lost well-loved members.
thanks for your kind and healing thoughts!
Hugs
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
@Anja Geitz Thanks I needed that.
Thanks I needed that. Loss is something that affects people differently. OPOL'S passing brought back such bittersweet memories. I will take the virtual hug and bask in the memories.
Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.
This ain't no dress rehearsal!
Good evening Joe, a sad day for all of us, so thanks for the
wry humor: --
It is to laugh, it is to cry
(My emphasis)
Meanwhile, we continue, as ever to hunt down and kill civilians, or to slaughter them as collateral damage, regardless regardless of any necessity to do so.
US military shows appalling disregard for civilians killed in Somalia air strike:
and yesterday - US says drone attack intended to hit ISIL hideout killed at least 30 in what it fears may be 'collateral damage'.
And every damn day in the Iraq war and now in Afghanistan. Our intelligence is beyond unreliable and our concern is non-existent resulting in such gross negligence that allsuch events must be deemed murders and war crimes.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
'Collateral damage'
This word should never be used for when we drop a bomb on civilians. "When we removed Saddam from power we caused hundreds of thousands of collateral deaths." No. we killed them with no second thoughts. But hey..they have been liberated right? Grr!
To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.
- Kevin Alfred Strom
evening el...
i think that it became unavoidably apparent to me that civilian casualties were not a bug but a feature of our foreign policy the day that i was watching teevee and madelaine albright said that it was "worth it" to starve half a million iraqi children to death in order to reach u.s. policy goals.
and to be clear, by a feature rather than a bug, i believe that civilian deaths are intentional.
I just got invited to an NAACP banquet
to award a deserving student a $500 scholarship.
I notified them that I would donate a $500 scholarship to that second deserving student.
One can't take it with one...
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening otc...
heh, here's a virtual yay for you. thanks for all you do.
I hope it shames some
people into doing the right thing.
I meant to go to DC, work for the DOJ. I meant to live in my favorite state, Virginia.
And an African-American hired me to do a post-divorce lawsuit.
Well, I did it, won, next thing I knew, dozens of people were calling. I didn't have an office, a residence, I was staying at my parents' home to transition!
I had so much business, I never left.
What I have accomplished is before MLK was officially official, no judge would ever call a jury on that day again. I didn't win on the murder appeal, but I got that.
I won the first case in my county's history of a black man in a divorce seeking and GETTING custody of his children.
On a sad note, my very first client has cancer. I saw him yesterday.
I know (and have worked for) about 7 or 8 of his family members.
I will likely be asked to do the eulogy in the future, which I could riff, and will, if asked. No notes.
This life is fascinating, infuriating, and it is what it is.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hey, Joe--this'll be short and sweet, but, almost
missed the news that DT will be signing an EO pertaining to expanding/improving (cough, cough) Medicare--meaning, Medicare Advantage, of course. (At The Villages in Florida, tomorrow.)
Here you go,
Swell. /s
Hey, will try to follow up on this, tomorrow, or Friday.
Have a good one!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.