The Evening Blues - 3-6-20
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features funk saxophone player and bandleader Maceo Parker. Enjoy!
Maceo Parker - Make it funky
“It is the press, above all, which wages a positively fanatical and slanderous struggle, tearing down everything which can be regarded as a support of national independence, cultural elevation, and the economic independence of the nation.”
-- Adolf Hitler
News and Opinion
New Bill Would Protect Journalists From Being Prosecuted for Publishing Classified Information
Almost a year after the Trump administration unsealed an indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, two progressive members of Congress are trying to prevent a World War I-era secrecy law from being used to investigate and prosecute journalists for publishing classified information.
The legislation to amend the 1917 Espionage Act was introduced by Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden in the Senate and California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna in the House of Representatives. Wyden and Khanna told The Intercept they crafted the legislation to preserve the government’s need for secrecy while strengthening protections for members of the press and expanding legal channels for government whistleblowers.
“When I think about espionage, I’m thinking about somebody like Aldrich Ames,” Wyden said in an interview, referring to the CIA officer who passed secrets to the KGB before his arrest in 1994. “What my bill does is refocus the Espionage Act to the core issue, which is ensuring that the more than four million government employees and contractors with a security clearance don’t violate their oaths by divulging government secrets.” ...
The Wyden-Khanna bill would narrow the scope of the law to primarily target offenders with current or expired security clearances, as well as any agents of a foreign government to whom they may pass information. Members of the press or the public could be prosecuted if they committed a separate crime in the course of obtaining the information, but not for soliciting information or for “speech activity” like publishing.
'Total Win!': Human Rights Groups Welcome ICC Probe of US Torture and War Crimes in Afghanistan
Human rights advocates celebrated Thursday after the International Criminal Court determined that an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by United States forces and others in Afghanistan during the so-called War on Terror can proceed.
The ICC's Appeals Chamber unanimously overturned an April 2019 Pre-Trial Chamber decision that denied a November 2017 request from Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to formally investigate crimes committed by members of the U.S. armed forces, the CIA, the Taliban, affiliated armed groups, and Afghan government forces. The approved scope of the probe also includes crimes committed as part of the U.S. torture program at CIA black sites in Poland, Lithuania, and Romania.
"Today, the International Criminal Court breathed new life into the mantra that 'no one is above the law' and restored some hope that justice can be available—and applied—to all," declared Katherine Gallagher, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights. Her organization represents two men who were tortured in CIA black sites and other facilities, and currently are being held indefinitely at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp in Cuba.
"For more than 15 years, like too many other victims of the U.S. torture program, Sharqawi Al-Hajj and Guled Duran have suffered physically and mentally in unlawful U.S. detention, while former senior U.S.officials have enjoyed impunity," Gallagher said. "In authorizing this critical and much-delayed investigation into crimes in and related to Afghanistan, the court made clear that political interference in judicial proceedings will not be tolerated."
"This decision is welcome news to everyone who believes that the perpetrators of war crimes should not enjoy impunity, no matter how powerful they are," said Preetha Gopalan, head of U.K. litigation for the group Reprieve, which represents other victims before the ICC.
"This is the first time the U.S. will be held to account for its actions, even though it tried to bully the ICC into shutting this investigation down," Gopalan added. "That the ICC did not bow to that pressure, and instead upheld victims' right to accountability, gives us hope that no one is beyond the reach of justice."
The ACLU currently represents Khaled El Masri, Suleiman Salim, and Mohamed Ben Soud—who were detained and tortured in Afghanistan—before the ICC. Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, also welcomed the news Thursday.
"This decision vindicates the rule of law and gives hope to the thousands of victims seeking accountability when domestic courts and authorities have failed them," he said. "While the road ahead is still long and bumpy, this decision is a significant milestone that bolsters the ICC's independence in the face of the Trump administration's bullying tactics." ...
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blasted the Appeals Chamber's decision in a statement Thursday, saying, "This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political institution, masquerading as a legal body." The secretary noted the move came just days after the administration signed a deal with the Taliban and that United State is not party to the ICC, and promised that "we will take all necessary measures to protect our citizens from this renegade, so-called court."
Ceasefire agreed between Putin, Erdogan comes into effect for Syria’s Idlib
Russia and Turkey agree ceasefire in Syria's Idlib province
Russia and Turkey have said they have agreed to a ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib province after clashes left scores of Turkish and Syrian soldiers dead in a dangerous escalation of violence. Speaking at the Kremlin, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that the ceasefire would begin at midnight on Thursday evening and that they hoped it would defuse tensions in the region.
The three-point agreement, read out by the two countries’ foreign ministers, also stipulated the creation of a seven-mile (12km) “safety corridor” along the country’s crucial M4 highway, which Russian and Turkish forces would begin patrolling at the end of next week. The agreement would effectively preserve some of the territorial gains made by Russian-backed Syrian forces during a three-month offensive in Idlib, the country’s last remaining rebel stronghold, while preserving a Turkish foothold in the region.
The deal was hammered out after six hours of talks between Erdogan and Putin. Putin called the talks “tense, difficult but constructive”. ...
However, the ceasefire is likely to be fragile. Speaking to the press, Erdogan said Turkey’s military would have the right to respond if it was attacked by Syrian government forces.
Turkey Is Sending Special Forces to Help Refugees Enter Europe
Migrants trying to enter Europe are about to be trapped between feuding security forces, after Turkey said Thursday it would send 1,000 police to the border to stop Greece from pushing them back.
Since Turkey opened its border last week, Greek forces have forced back nearly 35,000 migrants who have tried to enter Greece illegally, sparking a fresh migration crisis for the European Union. Now Turkey says it is deploying its own reinforcements to stop Greek forces from pushing the migrants back over the border, in a move that’s likely to inflame an already chaotic and violent situation.
“We are deploying 1,000 special force police to the border system... to prevent the push-back,” Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu told reporters in the northwestern border province of Edirne.
Turkey’s announcement last Thursday that it would no longer block illegal migrants from leaving its territory for Europe has sent tens of thousands of would-be migrants to the country’s border with Greece. Greece has responded by sending military deployments to the border, and repulsing those attempting to cross with tear gas and water cannons.
Lots more at the link:
Inside the World Uyghur Congress: The US-backed right-wing regime change network seeking the ‘fall of China’
In recent years, few stories have generated as much outrage in the West as the condition of Uyghur Muslims in China. Reporting on the issue is typically represented through seemingly spontaneous leaks of information and expressions of resistance by Uyghur human rights activists struggling to be heard against a tyrannical Chinese government. True or not, nearly everything that appears in Western media accounts of China’s Uyghur Muslims is the product of a carefully conceived media campaign generated by an apparatus of right-wing, anti-communist Uyghur separatists funded and trained by the US government. A central gear in Washington’s new Cold War against China, this network has a long history of relationships with the US national security state and far-right ultra-nationalists.
At the heart of this movement is the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), an international Uyghur organization that claims to be engaged in a “peaceful, nonviolent, and democratic” struggle for “human rights.” The WUC considers China’s northwestern Xinjiang region to be East Turkestan, and sees its Uyghur Muslim inhabitants not as Chinese citizens but instead as members of a pan-Turkic nation stretching from Central Asia to Turkey.
The WUC is not a grassroots movement, but a US government-backed umbrella for several Washington-based outfits that also rely heavily on US funding and direction. Today, it is the main face and voice of a separatist operation dedicated to destabilizing the Xinjiang region of China and ultimately toppling the Chinese government. ... Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the WUC is an international umbrella organization with a network of 33 affiliates in 18 countries around the world. The WUC and its affiliates — particularly the Uyghur American Association, Uyghur Human Rights Project, and Campaign for Uyghurs — are cited in nearly every Western media report on China’s Uyghur Muslims.
From its inception, the WUC has been backed by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). With millions in US taxpayer money, the NED and its subsidiaries have backed opposition parties, “civil society” groups, and media organizations in countries targeted by the US for regime change. NED has provided the WUC with millions of dollars in funding, including $1,284,000 since 2016 alone, and millions of dollars in additional funding to WUC-affiliate organizations. The grants are earmarked for training Uyghur activists and youth in media advocacy and lobbying “to raise awareness of and support for Uyghur human rights,” with a particular focus on US Congress, European Parliament, and the United Nations.
Many leading members of the WUC have also worked in senior positions for Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). These US government-run news agencies were created by the CIA during the Cold War to project propaganda into China and the Soviet Union, and to stir up opposition to communism on these countries’ frontiers.
Indonesia's tin miners who slave away for the world's computer and phone giants
Brazilians call for boycotts of major companies that support Bolsonaro
Brazilians appalled by Jair Bolsonaro’s bigotry and authoritarianism are calling for boycotts of major companies whose founders or owners support the far-right president.
Bolsonaro has often attacked LBGT people, indigenous people, and journalists, and expressed admiration for military dictatorship, but the immediate trigger for the boycotts was a planned demonstration against the country’s Democratic institutions, which has been backed by some business leaders – and the president himself. ...
Supporters of the president are planning nationwide protests on 15 March and have flooded social media with memes attacking congress – and even proposing a return to military rule. Several members of [the powerful business organisation] Brasil 200 – including Luciano Hang, the outspokenly pro-Bolsonaro owner of the Havan department store chain – have expressed support for the anti-Democratic demonstrations.
Mueller report: justice department ordered to turn over unredacted copy
The Department of Justice has been ordered to turn over an unredacted copy of the Mueller report in a ruling that accuses the attorney general, William Barr, of misrepresenting the findings of the report before handing it over to Congress. The department has been ordered to hand over the report by 30 March, so a judge can assess what can be further released publicly.
The court decision is the result of a BuzzFeed News lawsuit seeking to remove redactions from the report, which details the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections.
In his opinion explaining the ruling, the federal judge Reggie Walton wrote that Barr’s public comments in April 2019 about the report did not fit with the actual findings and were misleading to the public.
“The inconsistencies between attorney general Barr’s statements, made at a time when the public did not have access to the redacted version of the Mueller report to assess the veracity of his statements, and portions of the redacted version of the Mueller report that conflict with those statements cause the court to seriously question whether attorney general Barr made a calculated attempt to influence public discourse about the Mueller report in favor of President Trump despite certain findings in the redacted version of the Mueller report to the contrary,” Walton said.
“Supreme Inequality”: Author Adam Cohen on the Supreme Court’s 50-Year Battle Against Justice
Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Trump-Aligned Pressure Group Pushes to Stop Medicine Sales to Iran
Despite a massive coronavirus-related public health crisis, an anti-Iran pressure group with close ties to the Trump administration is urging major pharmaceutical companies to “end their Iran business,” focusing on companies with special licenses — most often under a broadly defined “humanitarian exemption” — to conduct trade with Iran.
With a novel strain of coronavirus rapidly spreading around the world, Iran has been hit particularly hard, with 107 deaths and 3,515 infections recorded so far. Yet the pressure group, United Against Nuclear Iran, is carrying on with its campaign targeting medical trade with Iran despite the Trump administration’s special financial channels for humanitarian goods and medicine to reach the beleaguered country.
“U.S. sanctions have had a long-term impact on Iran’s ability to freely import medical supplies,” said Tyler Cullis, an attorney specializing in sanctions law at Ferrari & Associates. He pointed to “outside groups” that seek to bolster the Treasury Department’s investigatory heft and provide information on companies doing trade with Iran. “In tandem with U.S. sanctions,” Cullis said, “these groups have sought to impose reputational costs on companies that engage in lawful and legitimate trade with Iran, including humanitarian trade.”
The medical and humanitarian trade are carved out of crippling sanctions against Iran through special licenses issued by the Treasury Department. But companies must apply for the licenses then carry out the trade — something United Against Nuclear Iran, known as UANI, seeks to discourage. “Their efforts are not insignificant,” Cullis said. “It is, after all, not an altogether lucrative enterprise selling medical supplies to Iran, so the name-and-shame operations of outside groups have a significant impact on the cost-benefit analysis associated with doing business with Iran.” ...
UANI operates an “Iran Business Registry” that provides an online database of companies it believes are conducting business in or with Iran — a name-and-shame strategy to increase Iran’s economic isolation. The pressure campaign has targeted multiple medical companies with Treasury Department licenses to conduct trade with Iran. Nine pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical-device corporations, all with special licenses, are listed on UANI’s business registry. ... The legal channels for humanitarian trade are widely reported to be failing to provide a sufficient flow of medicine and other humanitarian goods.
As CDC Says 'Do Not Go to Work,' Trump Says Thousands With Coronavirus Could Go to Work and Get Better
Running roughshod over the advice of trained medical professionals and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, President Donald Trump Wednesday night suggested to millions of Fox News viewers that people infected with coronavirus could still go to work and recover, comments that were immediately condemned as irresponsible and dangerous.
"A lot of people will have this and it's very mild. They'll get better very rapidly," Trump told Fox's Sean Hannity. "They don't even see a doctor, they don't even call a doctor. You never hear about those people."
"So you can't put them down in the category of the overall population in terms of this corona flu and/or virus," Trump continued. "So you just can't do that. So, if, you know, we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work. Some of them go to work, but they get better."
The CDC has advised that anyone exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus such as a fever, coughing, and/or shortness of breath stay home from work, avoid public areas as much as possible, and seek medical attention.
"You should restrict activities outside your home, except for getting medical care," the CDC's website states. "Do not go to work, school, or public areas. Avoid using public transportation, ride-sharing, or taxis."
Trump also claimed in the interview with Hannity that the World Health Organization's (WHO) estimate of a 3.4% global death rate from coronavirus is a "false number."
"This is just my hunch," the president said.
As Trump Stumbles on Coronavirus, Health Experts Warn Against Border Closures
While he lacks expertise in any relevant field, President Donald Trump has never shied away from making pronouncements about fighting infectious diseases. “KEEP THEM OUT OF HERE!” Trump tweet-bellowed about American health care workers in West Africa who were infected with the Ebola virus in 2015, calling for harsh border controls to bar travelers from any “EBOLA infected countries.”
As the world grapples with the spread of a new coronavirus known as Covid-19, Trump still seems to hold similar beliefs on borders. He flirted in the past week with suggestions for border restrictions that would probably do more harm than good. But experts warn that some draconian public health interventions — such as completely closing borders — can quickly become counterproductive. Once a disease has taken hold inside a country, the best options are domestic interventions by state and local public health authorities with ample support from the federal level.
“I hope President Trump is not thinking about shutting down the borders completely, because then you really do have a situation in which we can’t help other nations and the disease will nonetheless be here,” said Amy Fairchild, an ethicist, public health historian, and dean of the Ohio State University College of Public Health. “We will only end up creating vulnerable, underserved populations in this country, and we’ll exacerbate the challenges of providing aid to African and Asian countries that have more fragile health care systems."
Super Tuesday Review, Sanders’ Strategy Moving Forward, Goodbye to Chris Matthews | Useful Idiots
Sanders vs. Biden Is About to Get Really, Really Ugly
After Super Tuesday, the Democratic nomination has essentially been whittled down to a two-man race between Sanders and former Vice President Joe Biden, and it’s going to get really, really nasty, threatening a return to the conditions that contributed to a Democratic Party meltdown in 2016. “I like Joe. Joe is a decent guy, and I do not want this campaign to degenerate into a Trump-type effort where we’re attacking each other, where it’s personal attacks,” Sanders said Wednesday. “That is the last thing this country wants.”
But that’s exactly what the country is going to get, if not from Sanders himself, then from aggrieved surrogates already going nuclear. It didn’t take long for some of them to start passing around a video of Biden’s many stumbles at debates and on the campaign trail and calling him mentally unfit for the presidency, an attack that will no doubt be re-upped if the two men meet one-on-one on the next debate stage.
1. There is something wrong with @JoeBiden's mental faculties. 2. It's not impolite to point out very obvious facts we can all see with our own eyes. Watch the video. 3. Republicans will shred him on this in general election. 4. If it was Bernie, MSM would play this on a loop. https://t.co/Uv7Rm1lDI1
— Cenk Uygur (@cenkuygur) March 4, 2020
Meanwhile, the Sanders campaign itself is out with ads attacking Biden on policy, including one highlighting Biden’s support for NAFTA. “The banksters that have been robbing us blind and stealing our pensions and destroying our communities, they have something to worry about,” says a union worker in the ad, as an image of Biden flashed across the screen.
During a call with the press on Wednesday, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) and other Biden surrogates railed against the new ads, which will air in states like Michigan that vote on March 10 and states like Arizona and Florida, where voters go to the polls on March 17. “We can't divide this party like we did last time and allow Trump to get reelected,” Richmond said. “And so, as he rails against the establishment, I just did not know that African Americans in the South are considered part of the establishment.”
Sanders expressed a similar grievance about the way his campaign has been treated in the press. “There has not been a campaign, I think, that has been having to deal with the kind of venom we're seeing from some in the corporate media,” he said. “This campaign has been compared to the coronavirus on television. We have been described as the Nazi army marching across France.”
Compilation Of Biden’s Public Lies & Plagiarism
Caitlin's article includes scads of videos in case you feel the need for further evidence of Biden's disqualifying difficulties.
Stop Calling It A "Stutter" : Here Are Dozens of Examples Of Biden's Dementia Symptoms
It’s very bizarre and dissonant how there are currently two separate and non-overlapping lines of criticism going on against the campaign of establishment-anointed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. There are the perfectly accurate criticisms regarding the right-wing, militaristic policy positions of the politician Joe Biden used to be, and then there are the equally accurate criticisms of Biden’s handlers and Democratic Party leadership for wheeling out the dementia-addled husk of a man he currently is to run for the world’s most powerful elected office.
These two debates do not interweave, because they are not relevant to one another. It doesn’t matter what political positions a dementia victim once had; what matters is taking care of him and keeping him away from hazards, like sharp objects and nuclear launch codes. It’s impossible to know what actual political convictions still remain held within a mind that can no longer lucidly string thoughts together anyway.
I hate doing this. I hate repeatedly writing about the obvious and undeniable fact that an old man is exhibiting obvious and undeniable symptoms of incipient dementia. It isn’t fun, and it doesn’t feel good. But the alternative is laying down and allowing the Democratic party and its allied media to gaslight people into believing it’s not a thing, as they are doing currently.
At a certain point there needs to be a serious and empathetic conversation about Biden's relatively frequent, confused, irritable inability to complete coherent thoughts. It's not about a stutter. Watching him speak a mere four years ago makes that clear. Hope this happens soon!
— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) March 5, 2020
If you do a live Twitter search for the word “stutter”, you will as of this writing see that word being tweeted multiple times per minute on the social media platform as Democrats scramble to defend Biden from people who are accurately highlighting the indisputable fact that the former vice president is showing signs of cognitive decline. In my interactions with Biden supporters over the last 24 hours I’ve had this irrelevant word suddenly start getting thrown at me, because narrative managers in the mainstream media and the Biden campaign have been aggressively promoting the talking point that Biden’s increasingly frequent neurological misfirings on the campaign trail are actually the result of a longstanding speech impediment.
This is false. While it is true that Biden has periodically exhibited signs of a stutter, the inability to hold on to his own train of thought, forgetting where he is and who he’s with, grossly incorrect use of language, and inappropriate behavior are not symptoms of a stutter.
Here is the Mayo Clinic’s list of symptoms for a stutter, also known as a stammer:
Difficulty starting a word, phrase or sentence Prolonging a word or sounds within a word Repetition of a sound, syllable or word Brief silence for certain syllables or words, or pauses within a word (broken word) Addition of extra words such as “um” if difficulty moving to the next word is anticipated Excess tension, tightness, or movement of the face or upper body to produce a word Anxiety about talking Limited ability to effectively communicate Here is the Mayo Clinic’s list of dementia symptoms:
Memory loss, which is usually noticed by a spouse or someone else Difficulty communicating or finding words Difficulty with visual and spatial abilities, such as getting lost while driving Difficulty reasoning or problem-solving Difficulty handling complex tasks Difficulty with planning and organizing Difficulty with coordination and motor functions Confusion and disorientation Clearly, the symptoms of the speech impediment are very distinct from the symptoms of a degenerative neurological disorder.
[Click the link for a huge compilation of videos demonstrating both Biden's previous ability to speak articulately and his current symptoms. - js]
Last woman standing | Tulsi Gabbard plays a rigged game
People who call out the rigged Democrat primary process are using "Russian talking points" according to Democrat troll Donna Brazile:
[Fox plays a Ronna McDaniel clip]
Fox anchor: To that you say what, Donna?
Donna Brazile: Ronna, go to hell.
Fox anchor: Whoa. pic.twitter.com/2K9Ld2nfTV
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) March 3, 2020
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Bernie Sanders is the stronger candidate
Krystal and Saagar: Warren still aggrieved about mean Bernie bros
'Give Us an Hour on MSNBC': Sanders Says He Would Love to Debate Medicare for All vs. For-Profit System With Joe Biden
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday night said he would "love to debate Joe Biden on this issue"—the difference between a Medicare for All plan that dozens of studies show would cover all people for less overall cost and the for-profit status quo that leaves an estimated 28 million Americans uninsured and tens of millions more underinsured, vulnerable to bankruptcies, or lacking care due to financial reasons.
"Medicare for All is wildly popular with working class and lower income people who understand that we have a dysfunctional health care system," Sanders said in an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.
"We are spending twice as much—and by the way—I would love to debate Joe Biden on this issue, give us an hour on MSNBC," Sanders said, "where we can talk about how anyone can defend this system in which we're spending twice as much per capita on healthcare as the people of any other country and yet 27 million are uninsured, 30,000 people die, half a million people go bankrupt every year because of medical-related debt, and we spend far and away the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. You want to defend that system? Let's do it."
"Medicare for All is wildly popular with working class and lower income people who understand that we have a dysfunctional health care system...I would love to debate Joe Biden on this issue, give us an hour on MSNBC... You want to defend that system? Let's do it." #Maddow pic.twitter.com/uvju5mdKDB
— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) March 5, 2020
While Sanders won the biggest-delegate state of California on Super Tuesday—along with victories in Colorado, Utah, and Vermont—Biden swept the other ten states leaving him with a slight lead in the national count for Democratic delegates in the party's primary. Strikingly, in every single one of the primary races held so far that had entrance or exit polls on the question, Medicare for All has shown to be more popular with Democratic primary voters compared to those defending the for-profit system.
Krystal Ball: Why MSNBC is to blame for Joe Biden
As climate fight intensifies, U.S. states seek to block local natural-gas bans
Lawmakers in at least five U.S. states have proposed bills since mid-February to prevent cities from banning natural gas as an energy source in new buildings, marking an escalation in the national battle over the fuel’s role in fighting climate change.
The new bills, backed by business and utility interests, come as a growing number of cities in California and the Northeast vote to electrify their building sectors to avoid gas, a fossil fuel that contributes to global warming but which the drilling industry says is cleaner than alternatives like coal.
The stakes for the gas industry are huge: Direct gas consumption by residential and commercial buildings amounted to about 8.45 trillion cubic feet in 2018, rivaling the 10.63 tcf used by utilities to power the grid, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The recent bills prohibiting such bans on gas use by buildings were introduced by lawmakers in Missouri, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Mississippi, many of them using near-identical language. Arizona last month became the first state in the country to pass such legislation. ...
The natural gas bills, meanwhile, come amid an intensifying debate over whether natural gas has a role in a climate-friendly energy future. Research is mounting that natural gas contributes significantly to global warming by leaking from drilling, piping, compressing, and distribution infrastructure. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is many times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
A Warming Climate is Implicated in Australian Wildfires
Global warming played a big role in generating long-lasting heat waves that fueled Australia's deadly 2019-2020 wildfire season, a new study by an international team of scientists has concluded.
Human-caused warming increased the chances by at least 30 percent for the extreme fire weather that dried out soil, grass, brush and trees, the research found. The heat buildup caused by greenhouse gases probably played an even bigger role than the researchers were able to demonstrate, said University of Oxford climate scientist Friederike Otto, one of the authors of the new study, released Wednesday.
"We found that it was at least 30 percent, but it's likely much higher because the models underestimate extreme heat trends, one of the very important parts of the equation," Otto said.
In context with World Weather Attribution's other recent studies, the big takeaway for Otto is the renewed finding of how global warming is driving heat waves, which contribute to other extremes like droughts and fires.
"That is a real game-changer in most parts of the world and it's quite different from most other impacts," she said. "Climate change makes the weather completely different. We need to get better at predicting heat waves so we can prepare better. Many parts of the world don't even record heat waves, so there is a lack of awareness that these events are happening."
This winter in Europe was hottest on record by far, say scientists
This winter has been by far the hottest recorded in Europe, scientists have announced, with the climate crisis likely to have supercharged the heat.
The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) data dates back to 1855. It said the average temperature for December, January and February was 1.4C above the previous winter record, which was set in 2015-16. New regional climate records are usually passed by only a fraction of a degree. Europe’s winter was 3.4C hotter than the average from 1981-2010.
The unseasonal heat has led to the failure of the ice-wine harvest in Germany and snow having to be imported for sporting events in Sweden and Russia. In Helsinki, Finland, the average temperature for January and February was more than 6C higher than the 1981-2010 average. In the UK, serious flooding is likely to have been made worse by higher temperatures, as in 2015. ...
Across the globe as a whole, 2019 was the second hottest on record for the planet’s surface and both the past five years and the past decade were the hottest in 150 years. The previous hottest year was in 2016, but temperatures were boosted that year by a natural El Niño event. The heat in the world’s oceans reached a new record level in 2019, showing “irrefutable and accelerating” heating of the planet, according to scientists.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Elizabeth Warren’s Campaign Fell Apart in the Fall, and It Never Recovered
WaPo Prints Study That Found Paper Backed an Undemocratic Bolivia Coup
The Cultural Problem of Cheating & Lying
New MH17 Leak – John Kerry is a Big Fat Fucking Liar
CrossTalk | Taking down Bernie
Jimmy Dore: Biden’s Latest Word Salad Indicates Dementia
Jimmy Dore: Hannity Directly Attacks Biden’s Mental Health Hard
Jimmy Dore: War Criminal Paints Bernie Supporters Are Deadbeats On BBC
Saagar Enjeti: Joe Biden's presidency would be a dire threat to workers
Economist: Why the establishment won't admit workers are getting screwed
Journalist Zaid Jilani: Bernie, Warren and the failure of woke politics
Kyle Kulinski: What Bernie should do now
Rising: Is Biden vs. Trump a disaster for Dems?
Rising: New polls show why you can't count Bernie out
Anger on Easter Island after truck crashes into sacred stone statue
The invisible city: how a homeless man built a life underground
A Little Night Music
Maceo Parker - Chicken
Maceo Parker - Uptown Up
Maceo Parker - There Was A Time
Maceo Parker - Gimme Some More
Maceo Parker - Rock Steady
Maceo Parker - Keep On Marching (I Need Somebody)
Maceo Parker - Cold Sweat / Ride the Pony
Maceo Parker - Basic Funk 101
Maceo Parker - Shake everything you've got
Comments
Ahhhhgh! Donald Trump is on the local news up at the
CDC right now. What a buffoon in his MAGA hat! Senator Perdue is isn the background so that all the idiots that voted for him can see him. Same for Gov. Kemp, the vote supressing bastard!
Edit: It’s not a MAGA hat. It’s a Keep America Great hat. Great! And he’s still at it, with Gov. Kemp taking a turn.
"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...
it's almost surprising that the cdc would allow trump near its offices.
have a great weekend!
The best write-up I could find so far
(refuse to click on the WaPo link) and surprisingly its at the Daily Mail: Trump brags about science knowledge
There's more Trump inanity or insanity in the article. Also includes scathing twitter responses.
I'm guessing that none of those doctors, much less all of them, said what DT claimed they did.
Related:
Congress warned possible coronavirus exposure that may have occurred at the AIPAC conference More an advisory than a warning as they assured the recipients of the notice that the risk to them was very low. (Didn't include that the risk of contracting Zionism at an AIPAC conference is 99.99%.)
Doing the right thing means that Sanders avoided this possible contact with the coronavirus. Liz and Pete should thank Bernie for being shamed into not attending as well.
I am sure that someone will put a post about this later.
Tulsi has all but been eliminated from further debates by the DNC's new requirements.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/486348-new-standards-eliminate-tul...
Not to mention
they've unpersoned her with regards to speaking of women who ran and are still running! I've seen several examples where Gabbard isn't mentioned at all.
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
evening humphrey...
heh, they don't dare allow her on a stage with joedementia. there's a lot more ammunition for tulsi to unload on biden than there was on harris.
So here's an article that makes me feel much better
‘Life After Bernie’: The Young Left Braces for Disappointment in 2020
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/06/life-after-bernie-youn...
The headline is much more down than the article. I can pick issues with this or that but for the most part, I'm quite impressed by the outlook shown. It's good to see young people looking forward and beyond with such positivity. I really recommend anyone getting down by what's going on to give it a look.
Also, how long until we see the Hillary Clinton/Elizabeth Warren "Bernie Sanders Made Us Lose" tour?
Idolizing a politician is like believing the stripper really likes you.
" When I was a kid, it wasn’t, ‘Finish your meal...
....there are starving kids in Africa. ’ It was, ‘Finish your meal, your cousins in Cambodia are starving,’”
Wow. Does this millenial get it or what?
Thank you for sharing this article. Succint. On-Point. And exactly what I'm hearing from at least half of the twenty-somethings I work with. They get it because they're inheriting it.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Pok is not wrong about being the only brown kid
in Utah. There were two black kids in my class and I could go to places where there were none. Things have changed a lot since then, but I realized that I grew up very sheltered. My first trip to the south was an eye opener to say the least. Alabama and New Orleans were quite the cultural shock. And even though I wasn't raised Mormon when I moved to California I realized I had picked up their values through osmosis or something. I worked hard to get over that.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
Thanks for the article, Dr.J ~
I'm glad to see they are embracing and internalizing the movement. That's the only way lasting change will come.
"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 dr jc...
thanks for the article. it's good to see kids who get it.
it's also nice that they are planning a few steps ahead, working to take offices from the ground up. the only down side is that time is not on our side given the habitat emergency.
Good evening, joe and bluzerz!
I don't think Herr Drumpf is being a dumbass about corona virus. I have two theories: 1) He thinks it's a hoax (he's said this), and 2) it's okay if his base infects people and we have a mass die-off of Americans. Probably the poor, so less of them, people of color, so less of them, immigrants, so less of them; he thinks like that. He's no dummy.
So happy it's Friday. So sad daylight savings time starts this weekend. We need to leave the time alone.
Have an enjoyable evening and weekend, everyone!
Edited to spell 'joe' correctly, sigh.
"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...
heh, well, i've always had the sneaking suspicion that the oligarchy would like a die off of the "useless eaters." given their actions, it's not an implausible theory.
cheery thought, eh?
have a great weekend!
Evening all ...
Bernie was in Phoenix last night, no word on attendance numbers, some asshole had a Nazi flag. Local coverage here and here, USA Today here.
From The Nation: ‘This Was a Grift’: Bloomberg Staffers Explain Campaign’s Demise
Defense news, from The American Conservative: Joint Chiefs Chair Retires, Immediately Becomes Paid F-35 Cheerleader
Finally, Mehdi Hasan at The Intercept: On Afghanistan, Three Words I Never Thought I’d Write: Bravo, Donald Trump
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
evening azazello...
thanks for the links!
ms. shikspack told me that she had heard on facebook that somebody had a nazi flag at a sanders rally, but i hadn't tracked down where it was. i'm glad that there were no people hurt.
i would imagine that arizona (like florida) is a place where sanders could make some real inroads with an ad buy featuring biden's lifetime of hostility to social security.
Yeah, you'd think so, what with all the retirees here.
Thanks for the link about the World Uyghur Congress.
I have been thinking for a while now that the MSM coverage of this issue, the received view, smells a little fishy.
Spring is springing here in the desert, 80 degrees today for the second day in a row.
Yes I know. I'll be bitching about the heat in a couple of months, Hell couldn't be any hotter and all that, but that evening sun sure feels good.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=the7gV99YRI width:400 height:240]
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
heh...
when i was reading that article about the uygurs, an hl mencken quote that i am fond of came to mind:
it seems to me that a realist is a man who, when he hears about an uprising in a country that is an adversary of the u.s., looks around for ned.
This is spot on
Something for us to look forward to.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
I have BCBS, too.
I'll need to remember this.
"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 snoopy...
that's a good point about donations through bcbs. i would imagine that most big health insurance corporations are donating to biden either directly or through industry organizations and pacs.
Fire Cuomo! Fire Rosen!
This is getting really big (I'm assuming folks know what it's about):
Click on the tweet and look at the replies.
Can you summarize it?
for those like myself who don't know what this is about, or why it's getting big?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Here's the video of Rosen whitewomansplainin' MLK to Nina
And Cuomo being additionally insulting.
Oh yea and this:
And this article:
https://www.essence.com/op-ed/joe-biden-james-o-eastland-mississippi/
Ok, now, I'm sorry I asked
the condescension of Biden surrogate was nauseating.
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
She previously worked for Bloomberg
And has a rather sordid past, too.
She's awful
But then who on Biden's team isn't. I mean, Jesus Fucking Christ, how much rationalizing does one have to do to foist a candidate on the public who is clearly showing signs of dementia?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Dr. King Quote
after watching this fiasco on National TV, I decided to do some fact-checking on my own. Here's exactly what Dr. King said, and there's nothing in there about "silence of the white moderates," so Biden surrogate Rosen was wrong:
"I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice [...] "
Fifty-seven years later
as much or more true than ever.
(Letter from a Birmingham Jail was included in college freshman English class readers within a couple of years. Doubt that educators today have the same high standards as their predecessors.)
Biden demanded Bernie condemn unknown tweeters
Now he must condemn his surrogate. If he wakes up and gets woke. Shoe's on the other foot now. Of course, it will be largely ignored by the MSM.
Bernie's response to Joe
I can't confirm this yet though. And here's a great reason to vote blue no matter who.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
evening wally...
i guess they figured out that an ornery white woman attempting to weaponize an opportunistically sanitized exegesis of rev. mlk's letter from the birmingham jail against a black activist is not a good look.
i'm glad that it is blowing up - and i hope that sanders drags biden through the mud about it during the upcoming debate if biden doesn't get out there and apologize.
it appears to me that next to the dictionary entry for unmitigated gall, there should be a picture of hilary rosen.
My policy is never to demand an apology
not worth the effort to extract a nopology. Just call the miscreant for what they are and move on. If a miscreant spontaneously offers an apology, don't accept it and instead say that you're open to the person demonstrating true contrition.
ICYMI the Nazi flag at Bernie's event last night
.
Not sure why people are surprised that happened. Not after Todd called his supporters brown shirts and others have alluded to Nazis. But still.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
pretty ugly...
it's pretty sad. we know that there are neonazis out there, it's a sad fact of life. it seems even sadder, though that there are people who support other candidates that seem to get a sort of cheap thrill out of seeing bernie sanders get confronted with hate symbols.
warren ought to get busy apologizing and getting her followers in line.
wow! he said this out loud ...
without the slightest hint of irony:
He figured it was okay because
he said, "everybody," but that not what he really thinks. Eugenicists have always favored selective culling of the herd; as long as they are the ones doing the selections. People like this should be banned from appearing on TV/cable.
But then who would mow his lawn
And clean his toilets?
There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier
Robots. n/t
evening marie...
sometimes you just wonder at which 5 and dime these people purchase their ideas.
Amazon remainders -
supplies unlimited - one cent, shipping included.
Evening joe and bluesers
Thanks lots for the Maceo Parker. Here's my favourite ...
[video:https://youtu.be/CIVOjgM4dQ8]
I had to do a double-take reading that quote from Hitler.
evening janis...
thanks for the tune!
heh, i thought adolph did a great job of summarizing the feelings of the bastards that want to destroy julian assange.
have a great weekend!
You too joe, enjoy
[Edited] Hola, Joe! Quick drive-by, before
get back to hooking up a replacement XM Radio (a radio power connection's been on the brink for several weeks--now, finally died).
No political 'news' this evening, since we've had a hectic day, with more than a few distractions.
Also, haven't had a chance to watch the CNN video (above), which I'm 'guessing' is of the 'knock-down, drag-out' I heard last night, while I was posting. (but, couldn't make out the actual discussion, due to overtalking) About the time it caught my attention, Cuomo was attempting to cut it off.
IIRC, Rosen was a cohort/shill for the Clintons, for years. So, there's that.
As promised (last night), here's a link to the CNN transcript of the program.
All I could hear was MLK's name being invoked, repeatedly. Looking forward to reading the transcript, and watching the video, if I have enough Gigs left to spare.
Hoping to quickly locate a photo to post at the Photography Thread. Haven't had an opportunity to transfer/upload photos to this laptop, except for a handful, so, may have to wait until next Friday.
Earlier today, saw a photo of three of the people killed by the tornado--a young couple with an adorable toddler. What a tragic turn of events. Obviously, they never would have woken up that morning, with an inkling that they'd be gone--and their baby--shortly after midnight.
Photos and personal mementos are showing up a far as 15 miles from the worst damage. Thought it was a wonderful project--there's now a 'collection center' so that townspeople can take items to a central location, hoping that the folks affected will able to recoup some of their most precious personal items.
Oh, yeah--I've made so many online purchases lately, a 'fraud' alert was thrown out, and I had to talk to my debit card operations center (to have it cleared).
Actually, we've come to enjoy the many services/accommodations that we never took advantage of in the past. Quite a time saver, too. (And free!)
Everyone have a nice and safe weekend. And stay well.
[Edited: Added Rosen sentence; deleted repetitious sentence.]
Mollie
“This above all: to thine own self be true
And it must follow, as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man . . ."
~~William Shakespeare
“Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then, I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving.”
~~Author Unknown
“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”
~~George Bernard Shaw
Irish Dramatist & Socialist (1856-1950)
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Thanks for the transcript Mollie.
I will save it to read later.
I hope the distractions and hectic-ness will be well resolved. All the best, to you three.
You're welcome, Janis. Heading your way
now.
Although with a different type of photo, than I would have preferred.
(Meaning, not a photo of Kaity aka Rambo!)
Mollie
“Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then, I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving.”
~~Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
good luck with the radio installation.
when you posted about the rosen-turner dust up last night, i had no idea of how revelatory it would be of the deeply racist attitudes of the elite class. hilary rosen's "performance" was just breathtaking (in the sense that one doesn't expect to see someone speak so despicably on national teevee).
of course, i expect rosen to be back on the air in no time and will breezily tell anyone who challenges her that she's apologized on twitter, so it's all ok.
have a great weekend!
Joe, I expect you're correct
when you said,
BTW, just heard the tail end of a convo with Cuomo and one of CNN's more liberal commentators (A Brit, I think--don't know his name)--Cuomo was scolding both Rosen and Turner for giving 'fodder' to DT to use against the Dem Party. It's probably true that it delighted DT, and, that he'll exploit it (with his supporters), if he can. Still . . .
Bottom line, don't think Cuomo has any intention of resigning over that segment. If anything, he'll use it to 'lecture' that this is proof of 'why' there should be a more moderate, or centrist nominee--the out-of-control Bernie Bros, you know. Ugh! (He drives me crazy!)
Have a good one.
Mollie
“This above all: to thine own self be true
And it must follow, as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man . . ."
~~William Shakespeare
“Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then, I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving.”
~~Author Unknown
“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”
~~George Bernard Shaw
Irish Dramatist & Socialist (1856-1950)
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Good evening Joe. A stutter, huh, with any luck we'll soon hear
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 --
Looney Tunes!
Thanks for the laugh.
My pleasure, glad you liked it.
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 --
evening el...
heh, i bet joe could say that, you know, the thing.
have a great weekend!
have a great weekend yourself.
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 --
Not being able to read all excerpts in one day til tomorrow's EB
and being so tired of reading 'the stuff', I just like to say that in French 'the thing' was called 'les choses' by my pitch black African niece. And back in the days, I was amused about her way to express herself. Biden's 'thing' is a 'thing of its own' though that isn't inviting to think about.
Anyhow to refer to a sentence in one of your comments:
It helps to understand those attitudes, if one of your loved ones ... ack, I am not going into it. Let's say ... understanding it, doesn't help either. Having a clue how to change those attitudes would be 'cool' and 'MAGA' and 'Make the world great again' and a better place for people to more hope and less anger. Sigh. Those awful dreams of greatness ... can make you sicko.
Just like to say that among 'the stuff' (I think 'stuff' is a great word, almost as good as the word 'thing')
As far as I was able to read the other stuff today, it is the piece/video by France 24 about the tin miners and their slave work for the mobile phone and computer companies. I thought it was excellent and in that detail not part of my current awareness. Now it is. Tin and Lithium are my most despised and banned chemical elements. Kudos for posting and finding that video.
Thank God, it's Friday and I won't have to read throguh two more days of new EBs.
/s
Thanks for your work, also to your wife, which obviously is a great help at your side.
So, to both of you:
Have a good EB-free weekend !
PS. I heard what you were saying ... about doing myself for what I am looking for ...
Now I wonder why the saying In German is "Selbst ist der Mann" and not "Selbst ist die Frau" and has no good translation into English. There is also no worthwhile translation about the women saying "We can do it". (My suggestion would be 'Do-it-yourself man' and 'Do-it-yourself woman', but heh, they are hard to find...) (What does that say about the Germans and the Americans? Nosy minds want to know.)
https://www.euronews.com/live
That you're all ...
selbständig ; ). ?