The Evening Blues - 3-10-21



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Otis Redding

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features soul singer Otis Redding. Enjoy!

Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

"The [Democratic] party pulled out its kill switch against Bernie [Sanders] and sabotaged him. As we saw from the emails revealed, showing the collusion between the Democratic National Committee, Hillary's campaign, and members of the corporate media."

-- Jill Stein


News and Opinion

An excellent piece by Glenn Greenwald worth a full read.

After recounting the many twists and turns of the corrupt effort to jail former Brazilian president Lula Da Silva, Glenn points out some of the reasons that Americans should pay attention:

Brazil's High Court Invalidates Lula's Convictions, Leaving Him Eligible to Run Against Bolsonaro

This fraud would never have succeeded without the corrupt collusion of the Brazilian press, which treated Moro and his team of prosecutors the way a teenager treats their favorite girl and boy bands. A major aspect of what we were able to reveal is how the Globo media empire — whose billionaire owners, the Marinho boys, owe their wealth to their father’s support for the dictatorship — acted hand-in-hand with the Car Wash prosecutors and Moro all along: to propagandize the country, obfuscate the wrongdoing of the judge and prosecutors, and glorify them as heroes and high priests of ethics, all with the ultimate goal of removing PT from power non-democratically.

As the U.S. witnessed over the last five years, this is increasingly becoming the playbook for neoliberal elites who are angry that the population has defied them by voting for those they oppose. Thwarted by the democratic process, elites now resort instead to subversions of democracy in the name of upholding it. The employ frivolous impeachments to remove the leader whose legitimacy they never accepted, lawfare designed to make governance impossible through endless investigations or even the unjust imprisonment of their political opponents, and a full-scale union with the corporate media which openly and shamelessly ceases to report and instead engages in tawdry political activism to destroy the leaders chosen by the disobedient population. Indeed, the oligarchical Brazilian media so openly and overwhelmingly favored Dilma’s impeachment that the steadfastly apolitical press freedom group Reporters Without Borders dropped Brazil to 104th in its annual press freedom rankings and warned that the Brazilian press’ abandonment of the journalistic function while agitating for Dilma’s removal was so severe that the Brazilian press itself endangered press freedom.

As neoliberalism destroys more and more lives around the world, leaving an endless array of social pathologies in its wake, power centers will seek out tactics to subvert the democratic will. The increasing insistence on censoring the internet and controlling the flow of information is one symptom of elite fear of popular rage and desperation. So, too, is the related attempt by corporate media outlets to regain their monopoly over news and discourse by discrediting anyone or anything which sits in opposition to them. And the playbook that resulted in Dilma’s removal from office less than eighteen months after Brazil elected her, followed by the unjust imprisonment of Lula to ensure he could not run and win again, is reflective of a pattern already emerging in the west: abusing the force of law, propaganda and state processes to destroy those whom the population was not supposed to elect.

The same ruling class fears motivate increasing attacks on anyone who effectively exposes the rot and deceit of their conduct. Just as the U.S. Government has imprisoned Julian Assange and exiled Edward Snowden, the Brazilian government is intent on imprisoning my source, Walter Delgatti, for the crime of exposing the truth (they also tried, unsuccessfully, to criminally prosecute me for the crime of doing the reporting that exposed the fraud of Lula’s prosecution).

The guardians of the ruling neoliberal order know their days are numbered and will become increasingly desperate to cling to power for as long as it can. The playbook used and just exposed in Brazil will be seen with greater frequency as a hated elite seek to weaken that which most threatens their interests: a discourse and a democracy they can no longer manipulate and control.

‘Brazil has no government’: Lula tears into Bolsonaro in comeback speech

Squad Tweets But Won't Force Stimulus $15 Minimum Wage w/Justin Jackson

Pelosi is certain that progressive wimps will not stand up for their alleged principles and exercise their power as "moderates" do.

Nancy Pelosi hails 'historic' Covid relief bill as House prepares to vote

The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has hailed the massive $1.9tn Covid relief bill as “historic” and “transformative” as the House stood poised to give the legislation final approval with a vote on Wednesday morning. Joe Biden, who will mark a year since the pandemic brought shutdowns across the nation with a primetime speech on Thursday, has said he will sign the bill as soon as it lands on his desk.

The House vote on the bill, which includes checks for most American households, comes after the Senate passed a modestly reworked version of the package on Saturday and will clinch Biden’s most significant early legislative achievement.

“It’s a remarkable, historic, transformative piece of legislation, which goes a very long way to crushing the virus and solving our economic crisis,” Pelosi said during a press conference with senior Democrats on Tuesday afternoon, who took turns extolling what they said was the historic nature of the legislation and its impact on reducing poverty in America. “I’m so excited, I just can’t hide it,” she added. ...

Smiling under her mask, Pelosi expressed full confidence that Democrats had the votes to pass the bill.

Asked about possible defections from progressive members disappointed that the Senate had narrowed a version of the bill, initially proposed by Biden and passed by the House, Pelosi shook her head and said “no” repeatedly. The bill would head to Biden’s desk after the vote on Wednesday, she said.

Bernie & Bezos Gaslight Public Over Stimulus Bill w/Justin Jackson

Cornel West on Failed Fight for Tenure, Biden's First 50 Days & More

Vitamin D supplements may offer no Covid benefits, data suggests

The idea that vitamin D supplements can reduce susceptibility to, and the severity of, Covid-19 is seductive – it offers a simple, elegant solution to a very complex and lethal problem. But analyses encompassing large European datasets suggest the enthusiasm for the sunshine vitamin may be misplaced.

Two still to be peer-reviewed papers looked at the link between vitamin D levels and Covid-19 and both reached the same conclusion: evidence for a direct link between vitamin D deficiency and Covid outcomes is lacking. ...

Those that traditionally exhibit vitamin D deficiency – older adults and minority ethnic populations – are the same groups that have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19. Protracted lockdowns and subsets of the population shielding has also enhanced time spent indoors away from sunlight. And in general, vitamin D has been implicated in helping the immune response to respiratory infections – so supplements feels like the intuitive answer.

But the evidence on Covid so far – although some of it is positive – is circumstantial. Some researchers argue it is not robust enough to favour a policy of giving the whole population supplements, particularly given the impact that might have on individual behaviour and possible negative physical side-effects from taking too much.

BuzzFeed lays off 47 HuffPost workers less than a month after acquisition

The news website BuzzFeed has laid off 47 HuffPost workers in the US, the majority of them journalists, and closed down HuffPost’s Canadian operation, reportedly without warning to staff, less than a month after purchasing the rival company.

Jonah Peretti, BuzzFeed’s chief executive, announced the move in a virtual staff meeting on Tuesday, as the company also warned it could trim operations in the UK and Australia.

The job cuts amount to nearly 30% of HuffPost’s US-based journalists, at a time when most news outlets across the country are shrinking or facing closure. ...

BuzzFeed, which slashed its own news division when it laid off 43 journalists in 2019, announced its plan to buy HuffPost from Verizon Media in November 2020, and the deal was finalized in February.

In Tuesday’s meeting Peretti told HuffPost staff that while BuzzFeed remains profitable, “we don’t have the resources to support another two years of losses”.

Arkansas bans nearly all abortions in sweeping measure

Arkansas has passed a new law banning nearly all abortions in the state, a sweeping measure that supporters hope will force the US supreme court to revisit Roe v Wade but opponents vow to block before it takes effect later this year.

The state’s Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, said he was signing the bill because of its “overwhelming legislative support and my sincere and long-held pro-life convictions”.

Hutchinson has signed several major abortion restrictions into law since taking office in 2015, but he had voiced concerns about the bill, which only allows the procedure to save the life of the mother and does not provide exceptions for those impregnated in an act of rape or incest. He repeated those concerns as he announced his decision.

“(The ban) is in contradiction of binding precedents of the US supreme court, but it is the intent of the legislation to set the stage for the supreme court overturning current case law,“ he said in a statement released by his office. “I would have preferred the legislation to include the exceptions for rape and incest, which has been my consistent view, and such exceptions would increase the chances for a review by the US supreme court.”

Arkansas is one of at least 14 states where legislators have proposed outright abortion bans this year.

Schumer Vows to Push Through 'Republican Obstruction' and Confirm Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary

As Republican U.S. senators continued attempts to obstruct Rep. Deb Haaland's appointment as interior secretary, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday moved to bring the New Mexico congresswoman's confirmation to a final vote.

Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor that the upper chamber will begin Haaland's confirmation process this week, with a final vote on the matter likely to happen the following week, and that he would "file cloture on her nomination" following his remarks.

On Tuesday, GOP Sens. Steve Daines (Mont.) and Cynthia Lummis (Wyo.) placed holds on Haaland's nomination, with Daines citing her opposition to "pipelines [and] fossil fuels" as a leading reason why he's trying to stall her confirmation.

Undaunted, Schumer said that "despite Republican obstruction, Rep. Haaland will be confirmed," adding that "she would be the first Native American Cabinet member of any agency and the first Indigenous secretary of the Department of Interior, a profoundly historic moment given the troubled relationship between the federal government and tribal nations."

Schumer's confidence is rooted in the knowledge that with Democrats effectively controlling the Senate, Haaland has enough votes to be confirmed. In addition to Haaland having the support of every member of the Democratic caucus, Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) have said they will vote to approve her appointment.

Daines' opposition to Haaland has been blasted as hypocritical, as critics have noted a 2017 interview with Explore Big Sky in which he said that "historically the Senate has given the president the Cabinet that he or she chooses."

"I think whether it's a Republican or a Democrat, generally we should be getting behind the president after an election," Daines asserted at the time.

The Guardian reported last week that Republicans who oppose Haaland's nomination "have received significant campaign contributions from oil and gas political action committees and employees, and some are personally invested in the industry."

Biden Picks 'Antitrust Trailblazer' Lina Khan for FTC Spot

Opponents of the decades-long trend of corporate consolidation applauded President Joe Biden's reported decision to nominate Columbia Law School professor and "antitrust trailblazer" Lina Khan to a seat on the five-member Federal Trade Commission, a key regulatory agency tasked with protecting consumers from business abuses.

First reported by Politico Tuesday morning, Biden's selection of Khan for the FTC slot comes days after the president named Tim Wu—another leading monopoly critic who coined the term "net neutrality"—to a spot on the National Economic Council, a position that does not require Senate confirmation.

"Lina Khan going to the FTC and Tim Wu going to the White House are two extraordinary, powerful choices by Biden," said Zephyr Teachout, an associate professor of law at Fordham University. "Lina is brilliant, kind, careful, and original, with nerves of steel. I am so happy for our country."

"One last thing to highlight: antitrust is not just about Big Tech," Teachout added. "It's ag[riculture] and hospitals. It's about democratic/economic policy broadly. About how private power is dispersed or centralized. Khan and Wu are not 'tech critics,' they are visionary anti-monopolists across the board."

Prior to serving as counsel to the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law during its year and a half-long investigation of the digital marketplace, Khan rose to prominence as a critic of corporate concentration following the 2017 publication of her paper titled "Amazon's Antitrust Paradox," which criticized the failure of current antitrust law to restrain the tech behemoth's anti-competitive practices.

In a 2018 profile, the New York Times characterized Khan's article—published when she was a student at Yale University—as a challenge to "decades of monopoly law."

"We applaud President Biden for recognizing that Lina Khan is a once-in-a-generation legal mind," Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, said in a statement Tuesday.

Politico noted Tuesday morning that Biden's decision to elevate Khan and Wu to prominent government positions "represents a massive shift in philosophy away from the era of Barack Obama, who proudly forged an alliance between the Democratic Party and Big Tech."

Lawmaker Demands SEC Probe of Huge Stock Buy Just Before DeJoy Announced USPS Vehicle Contract

A Democratic congressman is demanding that the Securities and Exchange Commission investigate a shady $54 million purchase of Oshkosh Corporation stock just hours before scandal-ridden Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced the decision to award that company with a lucrative 10-year contract to produce a new, largely gasoline-powered fleet of U.S. Postal Service delivery trucks.

"This contract was awarded to Oshkosh Corporation and is worth up to $6 billion," Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) wrote in a letter to Acting SEC Chair Allison Herren Lee on Monday. "I write to pass along reports of what might be unusual trading of Oshkosh stock that took place less than 24 hours before Postmaster General Louis DeJoy publicly announced the contract decision in front of a House panel on February 23rd."

"Specifically, an over $54 million purchase of OSK, made 20 hours before Mr. DeJoy's announcement, was brought to my attention on social media and in news reports," Ryan continued. "Additionally, it is my understanding that the OSK stock rose significantly prior to the announcement. Given the gravity and serious implications of this contract, I am writing to request that the Securities and Exchange Commission look into this issue as soon as possible."

Ryan's letter comes after he joined two fellow Ohio Democrats—Rep. Marcy Kaptur and Sen. Sherrod Brown—in urging President Joe Biden to halt the Oshkosh contract over concerns about "inappropriate political influence in the process."

The USPS, under the leadership of DeJoy and Trump-appointed postal governors, selected Oshkosh for the contract over Workhorse, a truck-maker that had bid to replace the Postal Service's current delivery vehicles with an all-electric fleet.

As Bloomberg reported, Workhorse had initially "been viewed as the favorite" to win the contract, "especially after President Joe Biden ordered the government to utilize emissions-free vehicles. But Oshkosh won the bid last month with a fleet that will be mostly gasoline-powered." ...

In a letter last week, Kaptur, Brown, and Ryan said they were "troubled" that the Postal Service "awarded an initial contract to provide up to 165,000 new postal vehicles over the next decade without any commitment to making these vehicles either hybrid or 100% electric."

"This contract is not only an investment in America workers and our domestic manufacturing sector, but it is an opportunity for our nation to regain its role as a leader in clean technology manufacturing," the lawmakers wrote. "This contract will have consequences for decades to come and, as such, we have serious concerns it could be a wasted opportunity to address the climate crisis and the reindustrialization of our manufacturing sector."

"Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's tenure has been a disaster for the American people and the USPS's dedicated workforce," the lawmakers continued. "From ill-advised policies that have delayed the mail and life-saving medicines to seniors and veterans, to an utter disregard for the agency he leads. This week's announcement further calls into question his judgment, his ability to effectively run the USPS, and his short-sightedness at this agency that plays a critical role in our nation."



the horse race



Krystal Ball: Inside The Establishment Plot To DESTROY The Left

WALLS CLOSING IN On Cuomo With New Accuser And Calls To RESIGN



the evening greens


"A Big Deal": Bill McKibben on Rutgers Fossil Fuel Divestment & the Future of Climate Justice

Climate Activists Applaud Rutgers University's Fossil Fuel Divestment Plan

Climate campaigners on Tuesday welcomed the announcement that Rutgers University will become the latest U.S. academic institution to commit to divesting from fossil fuels in a bid to combat the climate crisis.

Rutgers Today reports the move by New Jersey's largest state university follows a recommendation by the school's Ad Hoc Committee on Divestment and approval by its board of governors and board of trustees. The committee—which is composed of students, faculty, and staff—was acting on a request from the student-led Endowment Justice Collective.

Rutgers' divestment plan consists of:

  • Ceasing all new investments in fossil fuels;
  • Divesting from passive index funds with fossil fuel investments within one year and reinvesting in more environmentally friendly versions of those indices;
  • Actively seeking new investment opportunities in renewable energy and energy efficiency categories that deliver competitive rates of return; and
  • Exiting all currently held private fossil fuel investments within 10 years.

According to Rutgers Today, around 5% of the university's $1.6 billion endowment is currently invested in fossil fuels.

US urged to cut 50% of emissions by 2030 to spur other countries to action

The US needs to commit to slashing its planet-heating emissions by at least half by the end of the decade to address the climate crisis and spur other countries to greater action, a coalition of American environmental groups has urged.

Joe Biden’s administration is set to unveil a new national emissions reduction target at a climate meeting it has convened with other major economic powers on Earth Day, 22 April, which it hopes will galvanize countries that are currently dangerously lagging in efforts to stave off disastrous climate change.

A motley selection of environmental groups and leaders have said the US goal must be no lower than a 50% cut in its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, based on 2005 levels. This will, the groups argue, put America on track to meet Biden’s aspiration of net zero emissions by 2050, as well as provide a major push to countries and businesses that were bereft of American climate leadership during Donald Trump’s presidency. ...

The US first set an emissions reduction target, known in diplomatic jargon as a nationally determined contribution (or NDC), in 2014 during Barack Obama’s administration, vowing to cut emissions by up to 28% by 2025, on 2005 levels. The target by itself does not lower emissions but helps set federal government policy and provides a framework for businesses, cities and states to work towards.

A 50% reduction by 2030 would “be a challenge”, according to Nathan Hultman, director at Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland, who helped design the Obama-era goal, but would be achievable with a “whole of society approach”.


Also of Interest

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

Report: US Preparing Cyberattack Against Russia Over SolarWinds Hack

Will the Democrats Renew Their Membership in the War Party?

Saagar Enjeti REVEALS Pentagon Plot To Manufacture Consent For NEVER Leaving Afghanistan

Capitol needs a permanent Guard team in case of security emergencies, report says

Krystal and Saagar: Congress Normalizes DC POLICE STATE With 2300 Troop Deployment 'Til MAY

Jim Crow Rises: Desperate Georgia Republicans Scurry to Pass Voting Restrictions Law

H.R.1 (the “For the People Act”) Legitimizes WaPo’s McCarthy-ite PropOrNot “Reporting,” Institutionalizes Ballot Marking Devices, and Cripples Minor Parties

In Support Of Regime Change - The New York Times Continues To Disinform Its Readers

Has NYT Heard of China’s or Russia’s Covid Vaccines?

70% of US Supports Removing Vaccine Patents, Sharing Recipes Globally to 'Bring This Pandemic to an End'

Right-wing Central American leaders praise neoliberal ‘Biden Plan’ to strengthen US ‘sphere of influence’

Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Tollbooth, dies aged 91

Democracy Now: Democrats Push Forward Landmark $1.9 Trillion Relief Package

Briahna Joy Gray: Why The Left NEEDS To Act More Like Kyrsten Sinema

Krystal and Saagar: Arizona Voters REJECT Sinema's Filibuster Stance


A Little Night Music

Otis Redding - Satisfaction

Otis Redding-Pain in My Heart

Otis Redding - Love Man

Otis Redding - Stand by Me

Otis Redding- That's how strong my love is

Otis Redding - Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)

Otis Redding - Hard To Handle

The Shooters Featuring Otis Redding - She's All Right

Otis Redding - Ole Man Trouble

Otis Redding - Nobody's fault but mine

Otis Redding - I Can't Turn You Loose


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Comments

Lookout's picture

Just happened by early and caught your excellent round up.

The guardian piece on Vitamin D rings lots of bells....just like the ivermectin slant

My story is not unique. Physicians across the country are fighting a pernicious campaign to denigrate all potential treatments not first championed by the authorities, and others have faced retaliation for speaking up. Sadly, too many of our institutions are using the pandemic as a pretext to centralize control over the practice of medicine, persecuting and canceling doctors who follow their clinical judgment and expertise.

Actually “following the science” means listening to practitioners and considering the entirety and diversity of clinical studies. That’s exactly what my colleagues and I have done. We won’t be cowed. We will speak up for our patients and do what’s right.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/03/10/censorship_kills_t...
...not to mention melatonin, zinc and other cheap supplements. Health isn't the goal, profit is.

TPTB are not interested in inexpensive, open sourced treatments. And another 2000 or so die in the US today...?

Off for our second Moderna shot tomorrow.
Have medicare? Will vaccine!

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12 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout I've been taking Vitamin D for well over a decade and have not had so much as a cough or sniffle.

It's not a healthcare model, obviously, it's a sickness for profit system.

Rich get everything they need, including sound Vitamin D advice from their doctors---I am anything-but-rich, so I'm grateful that between my doctor and my own general medical know how I manged to get this message. How many messages am I missing? IDK.

What I can tell you is that when I watch too many of the mass market food ads on TV my stomach turns in revulsion. All the dripping fats and portions suited for a linebacker.

Just as rotten as the tobacco ads were a long time ago.

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10 users have voted.

NYCVG

ggersh's picture

@Lookout along w/Zinc, whether or not it works, I'm a believer. I would also ask for Ivermectin at first chance if I caught Covid.

I'm also waiting on the J&J/AZ vaccine as I don't trust either Pfizer or Moderna since they have Bill Gates written all over them.....ymmv

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8 users have voted.

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

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

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

mimi's picture

@Lookout
I have. I learned it here. I also take Vitamin D, because my German doctor told me so. I don't think it helps and I don't think this doctor is a good one. He treats his patients like pieces on a factory conveyor belt. I need more Calcium and more Vitamin B, so I add that at times too. And Magnesium. What the heck I still get tired more and more and wonder why.

Can't wait for spring time coming. And it will come for sure. A greenhouse for the garden is my next project. :-). So, no problems.

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6 users have voted.

@mimi

what the heck
cain't be worse than nuttin'

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2 users have voted.

@mimi @mimi
So you are probably not lactose intolerant. Drink Vitamin D enhanced milk. Regular, 2%. 1%. skim as your fat tolerance/needs require. Orthodox or organic, no difference. Just make sure it's vitamin D enhanced. take 2000 IU, the published RDA. I do this (plus yogurt and ice cream). My father of "pure" Italian extraction had lactose intolerance (common among Mediterranean peoples). My south German mother was not intolerant, nor am I. Nor my Scandinavian/North German wife. But I think the supplement is important too if you do not eat a heavy fish diet.
My blood vitamin D is at the top of the "normal range" per the medical lab.
My wife , who has osteoporosis, was taking 5000 IU and her blood level was 50% higher than the top of the normal range. Her bone doctor told her to stop all supplements containing vitamin D as she was in danger of brittle bones. Her levels dropped to the bottom of the normal range. So I've advised her to take 2000 IU like me. If you don't supplement, drink enriched milk, or eat fatty fish, you are in danger of insufficient vitamin D which is a problem independent of of covid.

EDIT, Addendum:
The web has references that say the published normal range is too conservative. I'm not disputing Lookout. I'm jus5t saying "at least take the RDA to get your levels to the top of the 'standard' range."
At least.

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6 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

joe shikspack's picture

@Lookout

heh, circumstantial evidence is good enough for me in the case of vitamin d. i've been taking it for a long time (before covid, even) and i found that my body runs better with it than without it. i hope that it also improves my immunity to covid.

have a great evening!

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8 users have voted.

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/542587-texas-rangers-t...

The Texas Rangers plan to allow 100 percent attendance for the team’s April 5 home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays, the team announced on Wednesday.

The Rangers became the first major professional team to declare plans to fully open its stadium to fans since the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted sports. The baseball team plans to have up to 40,518 fans, who will be required to wear masks, in the stadium for the April 5 game.

The club cited Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) order permitting the state to fully reopen in its announcement.

No one eats or drinks at a ball game. They also want to inflict covid on frontline workers.

Health protocols released Wednesday indicate that fans have to wear masks except when “actively” eating or drinking at their ticketed seat, and tailgating is banned.

The Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation plans to reach out to organizations to give free tickets to frontline workers, such as hospital workers, first responders, teachers, grocery store workers, military service members and workers for the Federal Emergency Management Agency who staffed vaccination sites.

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11 users have voted.

@humphrey that's all I've got.

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8 users have voted.

NYCVG

@humphrey

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6 users have voted.
Shahryar's picture

@humphrey

this is the guy who sued Pennsylvania because he didn't like the results.

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6 users have voted.
Lily O Lady's picture

@humphrey

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms months ago. Texas is late to the party.

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1 user has voted.

"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"

joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

heh, it's texas we're talking about. they could have a freak weather event or something, too. Smile

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The Liberal Moonbat's picture

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/q/schedule-for-monday-june-16-1.2925243/why-the...

All I knew about O.J. at the time was that he was Nordberg in the Naked Gun movies - so in addition to being ill-disposed toward the trials to begin with due to their habit of interrupting my Saturday-morning cartoons, I was like, "How could NORDBERG possibly be guilty?!? Leslie Nielsen spent a whole movie working to clear his name, for Chrissakes! I'm sure Ricardo Montalban was the REAL murderer...!"

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4 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

@The Liberal Moonbat
Boring was what it was.

Twenty years have elapsed since the dramatic O.J. Simpson Ford Bronco car chase,

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7 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

joe shikspack's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat

heh, at the time i thought, you can take the movie star out of the movies, but without the hollywood magic, he's pretty boring.

the acting didn't get any better on anybody's part once the trial got going, either.

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3 users have voted.

thanks for the Otis man

Why does Pelosi only know no ?

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8 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@QMS

heh, the pleasure is all mine. i always enjoy putting together an otis redding set.

thanks for the tune!

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4 users have voted.
mimi's picture

and for the always excellent collection of news articles. I hope to read some of them tomorrow my time.

Now just a short question, when did Otis Redding sang the song "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" for the first time?

I thought it was around 1968 or so to have heard him the first time. Have to check if I have the record still. I remember that my ex gave the record to me and I loved it. But it seems so long ago.

I am even too tired to go through all the records which I have now de-cluttered and put in order.

So many good memories listening to Otis. Thanks for that.

PS. Checked what I thought I still had, the old Otis record, but now I remember it was in a box and my ex husband and wife number two threw all boxes away, after he had died. So eine dumme Kuh. Oh well.

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3 users have voted.

@mimi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(Sittin%27_On)_The_Dock_of_the_Bay

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just days before his death in a plane crash. The song was released on Stax Records' Volt label in 1968,[2] becoming the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US.[3] It reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

Redding started writing the lyrics to the song in August 1967, while sitting on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California. He completed the song in Memphis with the help of Cropper, who was a Stax producer and the guitarist for Booker T. & the M.G.'s. The song features whistling and sounds of waves crashing on a shore.

Released January 8, 1968

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mimi's picture

@humphrey
that fits exactly in my life story's time line. I listened to the first release of his record.
Smile
Did not know anything about his life beyond his songs. What would I be without you people?
Thank You. If I were not that tired all the time, may be I would search more for myself. Thank You again.

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5 users have voted.
lotlizard's picture

@humphrey  
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%28Sittin%27_On%29_The_Dock_of_the_Bay

Our website’s software doesn’t accept parentheses as part of a link, so they have to be manually replaced by %28 and %29. That’s also why the apostrophe in Sittin' was automatically replaced by %27.

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5 users have voted.

@lotlizard I guess that I was a bit careless.

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2 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@mimi

i guess you got your question answered.

sorry to hear that you lost your original copy of otis' record, that's a great record.

have a good evening!

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3 users have voted.
ggersh's picture

Glenn tells us how ameriKKKa helped bring Bolsanaro to power
Biden sticks w/dictators of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador
Krystal on how it was ABB(anyone but Bernie) in 2020
2,500 troops to stay in DC(Green Zone) til May
Joementia unable to take questions

ameriKKKa make what you want about it, but democracy it ain't

Thanks for the news and Blues Joe

stay safe everyone!

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10 users have voted.

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

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

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

joe shikspack's picture

@ggersh

yep, we live in what i call a demockery.

have a great evening!

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5 users have voted.

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6 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

i suppose that average people might be able to fix this by intentionally mislabeling photos all over the net. if enough people did it, the surveillance goons would have a harder go of it.

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3 users have voted.

old man trouble was a mainstay on the raidideo
Holdin' back the black blues.
Soul food.

Thanks joesixpk!

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2 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@QMS

i'm old enough to remember when there were "race" radio stations whose programming was aimed at black audiences. there were a couple in baltimore that i listened to a lot as a kid because the music was really good. one of them, webb, was owned by james brown for a while.

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4 users have voted.

@joe shikspack @joe shikspack

EDIT:
Reminds me of my father telling me about the Jazz Age and Cab Calloway. His father was incensed that "That;s not music!" Grandpa only listened to Italian Opera.

In turn he sniffed at Rock n Roll saying it couldn't hold a candle to Jazz. I guess my old age came when I refused to listen to Hip-hop. On SiriusXM I just ignore the 1990 and up channels. Listening to 50's on 5 (sometimes), 60s on 6, and 70s on 7.

One of my daughter's favorites Teach Your Children Well - Crosby, stills & Nash
Yeah. I like it too.

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5 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

enhydra lutris's picture

Thanks for the Otis too, I had forgotten that he co-wrote and was firts to record Hard to Handle - quite recently I must've listened to about 6 or 8 versions by Pig Pen for Pig Pen's birthday selection.

Really got a kick out of the NevDems not merely quitting, but essentially stealing tons of party funds, some for personal gain too. True colors anybody. The Dems are the real Green party, green as in the color of money.

be well and have a good one

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11 users have voted.

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 --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

yep, pigpen had a way of making a song his own. he did a great job with lovelight, next time you see me and katie mae, too.

heh, it's going to be interesting to watch the moderate faction try to steal the nevada party back from the bernie faction. if the bernie faction has any sense, they'll declare war on the moderates, because the moderates are going to go to war against them.

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6 users have voted.
lotlizard's picture

@joe shikspack  
the Tony Blair Labour neoliberals commenced an unprecedented campaign of sabotage to undermine Corbyn using every trick in the book.

Let’s hope the DSA people in Nevada are on their toes and won’t be caught flat-footed if and when they find themselves facing similar moves on the part of the U.S. Dem establishment.

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8 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

Abbot has lifted all restrictions on Covid in and the attorney general is saying something, but after reading I’ve forgotten..

Give me an F-ing break. How many people died yesterday?

Counting my blessings...

Utah is opening the state for vaccinations April 1 for every person above 16. They are strengthening vote by mail and are stopping parties being able to cross over and vote for the other side. We still have the Kock dickwads still interfering with identity politics and being anti trans, but we get to move our watches forward some and that’s good.

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9 users have voted.

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

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

texas is already a demonstration project on bad government. i wouldn't be surprised if their powers-that-be figure out a new way to legally kill off more of their constituents.

i guess they'll roll out the white house cat on a day when they really need to cover something up.

wow, utah must be doing pretty well at distributing vaccine. my state hasn't finished vaccinating essential workers yet. i keep checking the state website, but it seems to be taking forever for them to roll the vaccines out.

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6 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

The media is getting restless about the kids in cages at the border. Psaki won’t admit that the numbers have tripled since Biden reversed the stay in Mexico policy. I don’t know why it couldn’t have been handled better instead of everyone rushing the border. It’s giving the republicans lots to talk about. Not that they wouldn’t be talking.

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7 users have voted.

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

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5 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@irishking

thanks! that's one of my favorites.

have a great evening!

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5 users have voted.

@joe shikspack

really liked the horns, etc.
of course Redding was great.

picked up some background info which was new to me-

“Mr. Pitiful” was recorded in December 1964 at the Stax Records studios. The song was written by guitarist Steve Cropper and singer Otis Redding, his first collaboration with Cropper, as a response to a statement made by radio disc jockey Moohah Williams, when he nicknamed Redding as “Mr. Pitiful”, because of sounding pitiful when singing ballads. Cropper heard this and had the idea to write a song with that name when taking a shower. Cropper then asked Redding in a car how he felt about this idea, and soon after they recorded the song in about 10 minutes. It was finally cut two or three times and then released with the B-side “That’s How Strong My Love Is” as a single.

thank you for putting the Evening Blues together.

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3 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

Democrats got to Jane too.

He should never have gotten close to the White House. Every one with a mind could have seen this coming.

I think the speech writer set Biden up. No woman who is pregnant would be allowed to fly a jet. Not ones that go super fast. Biden didn’t even blink. Just said, eventually and moved on.

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7 users have voted.

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

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

i guess "progressives" are always delighted with less than half a loaf.

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3 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

at it again, already have eggs laid and started incubating atop the Campanile at Cal. That means that there will be a nest cam activated soonly, but it won't show much for a bit.

be well and have a good one

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6 users have voted.

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 --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

glad that there will be a webcam to follow their peregrinations.

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5 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@joe shikspack

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4 users have voted.

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 --

enhydra lutris's picture

@enhydra lutris

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7 users have voted.

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 --

snoopydawg's picture

I haven’t seen anything about it till now. The last tweet video is incredible. Lots of water pouring down cliffs and hills. Or Hillary as iPad thinks is next. I only peek at where it goes while I’m writing. I am positive that apple is making it more dumb every democrats, no, damn, nope not that either, dammit...
DAY. I texted someone today and couldn’t believe how well android can speak, no speech, no spell. Actually speaker was next. It’s like it takes everything I’ve written and thrown it at me.
Pet peeve.

https://www.zerohedge.com/weather/hawaii-declares-emergency-wake-damagin...

This too is excellent. It’s about buzzfeed firing journalists and goes into detail on who got fired. Buzzfeed also laid off 70% of its staff. Lots of journalists lost their jobs last year. I just skimmed what you posted so maybe it’s a dupe.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/was-bloodbath-liberal-journalists-o...

This is serious. The PTB have been buying up media and firing good journalists who write outside the main stream media that only 6 companies own. Getting rid of them is a step to getting rid of the truth.
Now journalism is paid by us and not companies that paid benefits and got its money from advertising. Gig journalists now have to pay for everything themselves and companies save on fica taxes, worker’s compensation and medical insurance.

I’ve been reading lots of articles on robots coming for jobs and just like congress has turned their backs on people who lost their jobs and health insurance they will turn their backs on people unemployed by robots. Dystopian country is just around the corner. Ugh and shudder.

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8 users have voted.

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

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

Dystopian country is just around the corner.

rich people recognize that the need for labor is coming to an end. with the rise of ai and robotics, a human mass labor force will largely become obsolete. what then? how do the rich dispose of all of the useless eaters? or are we seeing that play out now?

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9 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

Mike Padgham, the chairman of the Independent Care Group, which represents some providers, said: “Today’s awful figures show us that Covid-19 is still taking a terrible toll in our care and nursing homes. Each statistic is the death of a loved one – a parent, a wife, a husband, an aunt, uncle or friend and our thoughts go out to everyone who has lost someone to Covid-19.

“We have to keep up the pressure – keep the momentum on the vaccination programme and, as a society, keep observing the rules.”

Meanwhile, the government has acted to help care homes accept Covid-positive patients from crowded hospitals by underwriting the risk posed by them spreading the virus.

Insurers were refusing to cover care homes offering to become “designated settings” for discharged Covid patients – also known as “hot homes” – which have been set up in some areas to try to keep infection out of other care settings.

First he laments about how horrible it is that so many elderly have died, but then goes on to say that the government is still pressuring nursing homes to take sick people so that other health settings aren’t taxed? They knowingly put people in them by lying about the risk. If so then my gawd and if it’s real then help us.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/19/covid-related-deaths-in-ca...

ETA link.

how do the rich dispose of all of the useless eaters? or are we seeing that play out now?

Yes we are. So what happens when more people figure this out? Ah never mind. This is why the troops are staying in Washington for just another 2 more months. Which got extended really quick. Hey what if democrats are trying to nix Fox News so that they can’t talk to their viewers? Ugh, but yeah I’m THAT cynical.

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8 users have voted.

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

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

he says that the pressure is for the vaccination program.

he says that the government is stepping in to insure care homes that private insurers won't because they are accepting discharged covid patients. apparently, there is risk in taking in these patients and he is implying that the government is offering the insurance in order to keep the risk out of other healthcare facilities.

there is not an indication that the government is exercising any force upon the care homes in order to get them to take in discharged covid patients; i.e. the government is offering carrots rather than sticks.

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5 users have voted.

Editorial: Sausalito leaders should address homeless camp ruling

Sausalito City Hall’s attempt to uproot the homeless camp at Dunphy Park and move it to Marinship Park hit a legal roadblock, one that should require some answers from the City Council.

U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen ruled in favor of the campers, the Sausalito/Marin Chapter of the California Homeless Union, that the city’s plans to relocate them could increase their risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus and that the city had shown no proof that the Dunphy Park encampment was causing any harm.

In fact, Chen ruled that the Dunphy Park camp was safer than the one the city set up for them at Marinship Park, which was not equipped with COVID-19 hygiene measures. The same goes for the city’s hurriedly adopted rules banning day camping, which the court ruled would force campers from leaving the coronavirus-safety measures available at the camp, where the campers had brought in portable toilets and washing stations.

Camping on the camp of the camp camp. So progressive. 50+ years ago wat.

My cousin is still rich and so he is allowed to exist on a sailboat in the bay. The other junkers can rot in hell until death, so sayeth the city county state and federal. Save The Environment! Evict the homeless! Marin County so progressive.

Meanwhile, up north in McKinsey Koch Sonoma County...

Santa Rosa headline yesterday said some shit about being voted the happiest city on earth, I guess the pandemic has ended. Only 20% vaccinated in California but who cares? Open for business! Play ball! Kill the poor!

Santa Rosa plans sweep of park encampment as campers grieve apparent overdose death

Rain, snow, hail to give way to warmer weather in Sonoma County

Torture the poor! Kill them dead! Die granny die! Sonoma County so progressive. Thus ends my over-identification with poor people, especially the homeless ones. Maybe a bottle of excedrin will kill my empathy. Or a noose. Or a bullet. Anything is more effective than the grifting plutocrats screwing the Bay Area to death. Anything! FUCK

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5 users have voted.

@eyo
Or be killed by a stray bullet.

I do have to agree with Republicans on this. "Why is Chicago a shooting gallery when Illinois has the strictest gun laws in the USA?" Also have to agree with the NRA on the answer. "Gangsters who kill for nothing or for the wrong jacket and don't care about innocent bystanders, don't bother applying for FOID cards."

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3 users have voted.

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

travelerxxx's picture

"Please listen carefully as our options have changed,..." What's changed is my daily schedule and I've been having a devil of a time finding space for plopping down in front of the old laptop. However, mine ears are still sharp enough to pick up distant Stax sounds ...and that's what evidently brought me here - late as I am.

And, of "bringing people to things," it was primarily The Big O who brought me to R&B, and it was Cropper who led me to pick up a guitar. But, before guitar, there was a large-bore Getzen Eterna trumpet...

Possibly I've told the tale here of how I worked my butt off with my trumpet in order to be good enough to go to Memphis and beg for a job at Stax. That was my official goal and I fully intended to do it. But, things happened. The only survivor of the December 10 disaster was the Bar-Kays' Ben Cauley - the trumpet player. I gave up on my Stax dreams.

Luckily, we've got dreams to remember with Otis. I still can't listen without getting goosebumps and a lump in my throat.

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3 users have voted.