The Evening Blues - 10-13-21



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Peg Leg Sam

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features blues harmonica player Peg Leg Sam. Enjoy!

Peg Leg Sam & Henry Rufe Johnson - Who Do You Love

“It is the considered belief of the writer of this book that wars are fought by the finest people that there are, or just say people, although, the closer you are to where they are fighting, the finer people you meet; but they are made, provoked and initiated by straight economic rivalries and by swine that stand to profit from them. I believe that all the people who stand to profit by a war and who help provoke it should be shot on the first day it starts by accredited representatives of the loyal citizens of their country who will fight it.”

-- Ernest Hemingway


News and Opinion

'Profiteers of Armageddon': Report Reveals Who Benefits From US 'Nuclear Modernization' Plan

A short list of contractors that pour large sums of money into campaign contributions, lobbying, and industry-friendly think tanks benefits from the U.S. government's ongoing, decadeslong "nuclear modernization" plan worth up to $2 trillion, according to a report out Tuesday.

The issue brief—entitled Profiteers of Armageddon: Producers of the next generation of nuclear weapons—was authored by William Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Program at the Center for International Policy, who also outlined his report in Inkstick.

Hartung details how the U.S. departments of Defense (DOD) and Energy (DOE) are ramping up a plan to build the next generation of nuclear-armed bombers, missiles, and submarines as well as warheads, and the beneficiaries are major contractors along with operators of the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) nuclear weapons complex.

The brief notes the U.S. nuclear weapons budget has climbed in recent years to over $43 billion in the Biden administration's proposed budget for fiscal year 2022, and warns that "this figure will grow dramatically," pointing to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate that parts of the Pentagon's plan "will cost tens of billions each over the next decade, including $145 billion for ballistic missile submarines, $82 billion for the new Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), and $53 billion for the new nuclear-armed bomber."

"And the costs will not end there," the report continues, noting that "the estimated lifetime cost of building and operating the new ICBM is $264 billion."

While "a handful of prime contractors" are the initial recipients and main beneficiaries of public money spent on bombers, missiles, and submarines, "the funds trickle down to subcontractors" that often include other prominent companies. The report names firms such as Bechtel, General Dynamics, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon.

Hartung directs attention to the millions of dollars in political activities by key contractors, writing that "while not all of this spending is devoted to lobbying on nuclear weapons programs, these expenditures are indicative of the political clout they can bring to bear on Congress as needed to sustain and expand the budgets for their nuclear weapons-related programs."

From 2012 to 2020, campaign contributions from contractors mentioned in the brief topped $119 million, more than a quarter of which was in the 2020 cycle alone. They also spent $57.9 million on lobbying last year, employing 380 lobbyists, over two-thirds of whom "passed through the 'revolving door' from top positions in Congress, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy to work for nuclear weapons contractors as executives or board members."

"And it should be noted that the revolving door swings both ways," the report adds, noting that "three of the past five secretaries of defense worked as lobbyists or board members of major nuclear weapons contractors before taking up their positions in the Pentagon: James Mattis (General Dynamics); Mark Esper (Raytheon); and Lloyd Austin (Raytheon)."

The brief also pushes back against "routinely exaggerated" claims about job creation that both companies and lawmakers use to promote nuclear weapons programs, and points out that contractors pump millions into supporting think tanks that opine on relevant policy.

Continued lobbying for the modernization plan "ignores the fact that building a new generation of nuclear weapons at this time will make the world a more dangerous place and increase the risk of nuclear war while fueling the new arms race," Hartung argues. "It's long past time that we stopped allowing special interest lobbying and corporate profits stand in the way of a more sensible nuclear policy."

While asserting that "the only way to be truly safe from nuclear weapons is to eliminate them altogether," in line with a global treaty that states with such weapons continue to oppose, Hartung also highlights that "the organization Global Zero has outlined an alternative nuclear posture that would eliminate ICBMs, reduce the numbers of bombers and ballistic missile submarines, and implement a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons as part of a 'deterrence-only' strategy that would reduce the danger of a nuclear conflict."

Clear Differences Remain Between France and U.S., French Minister Says

As global finance leaders gather this week in Washington for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund, Bruno Le Maire, the finance minister of France, made clear that effective French-American cooperation on an overhaul of the international tax system could not mask stark differences on China and other issues.

“The United States wants to confront China. The European Union wants to engage China,” Mr. Le Maire, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron of France, said in a wide-ranging interview ahead of the meetings. This was natural, he added, because the United States is the world’s leading power and does not “want China to become in a few years or in a few decades the first superpower in the world.”

Europe’s strategic priority, by contrast, is independence, “which means to be able to build more capacities on defense, to defend its own view on the fight against climate change, to defend its own economic interest, to have access to key technologies and not be too dependent on American technologies,” he said. ...

The key question now for the European Union, he said, is to become “independent from the United States, able to defend its own interests, whether economic or strategic interests.” Still, he added, the United States remains “our closest partner” in terms of values, economic model, respect for the rule of law, and embrace of freedom.

Bolsonaro Accused of Crimes Against Humanity at ICC Over Amazon Destruction

An Austrian environmental law group on Tuesday filed an official complaint at the International Criminal Court accusing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro of crimes against humanity for his administration's role in pushing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

The complaint by the organization, AllRise, highlights Bolsonaro's alleged actions since taking office in 2019 and their direct link to the heating of the planet, affecting not just Indigenous environmental defenders in the Amazon, but the global population as well.

"Crimes against nature are crimes against humanity," Johannes Wesemann, the founder of AllRise and its new project titled The Planet vs. Bolsonaro, said in a statement. "Jair Bolsonaro is fueling the mass destruction of the Amazon with eyes wide open and in full knowledge of the consequences. The ICC has a clear duty to investigate environmental crimes of such global gravity." ...

Since Bolsonaro took office, the rate of deforestation in the Amazon has risen by as much as 88% as the extreme right-wing president has attempted to open up the forest to more economic development.

In July 2019, the number of fires set in the Amazon—a frequent occurrence driven by ranching, agricultural, and mining interests—jumped 28% compared to the year prior, with the country's National Institute for Space Research recording 6,803 blazes in a month.

In the first year of Bolsonaro's presidency, more than 3,700 square miles of the Amazon were burned—a portion of the jungle equal to the size of Lebanon.

The president has also gutted regulations protecting the Amazon, with his administration reducing fines for illegal logging by 42%.

Environmental defenders, including many members of Indigenous tribes, have come under attack for trying to defend the forest, which serves as a crucial carbon sink for the planet as well as a habitat for more than three million species including 2,500 tree species.

As Common Dreams reported last month, 20 environmental defenders in Brazil were killed in 2020, with several of the murders linked to the logging sector.

"We're saying as a result of the state policy that they are pursuing they are knowingly aiding and abetting the perpetrators on the ground committing crimes such as murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts," lawyer Nigel Povoas, who has prosecuted international crimes, told AFP.

Previously, Indigenous leaders in Brazil have issued formal complaints regarding Bolsonaro's alleged crimes against humanity at the ICC; in January, Chief Raoni Metuktire of the Kayapo people and Chief Almir Narayamoga Surui of the Paiter Surui tribe accused the president fueling the "the assassination of Indigenous leaders," which was at an 11-year high, as well as deforestation.

AllRise said the complaint filed on Tuesday was the first to underscore the effects that Bolsonaro's attacks on the Amazon are having on the planet as a whole.

According to the organization, the emissions caused by Bolsonaro's policies will cause over 180,000 deaths related to excess heat this century.

"What's happening in Brazil—mass deforestation—we want to understand the causal link to the global climate," Wesemann told AFP Tuesday. "It is exactly what the Rome Statute defines as a crime against humanity: the intentional destruction of the environment and environmental defenders."

We are Google and Amazon workers. We condemn Project Nimbus

We are writing as Google and Amazon employees of conscience from diverse backgrounds. We believe that the technology we build should work to serve and uplift people everywhere, including all of our users. As workers who keep these companies running, we are morally obligated to speak out against violations of these core values. For this reason, we are compelled to call on the leaders of Amazon and Google to pull out of Project Nimbus and cut all ties with the Israeli military. So far, more than 90 workers at Google and more than 300 at Amazon have signed this letter internally. We are anonymous because we fear retaliation.

We have watched Google and Amazon aggressively pursue contracts with institutions like the US Department of Defense, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), and state and local police departments. These contracts are part of a disturbing pattern of militarization, lack of transparency and avoidance of oversight.

Continuing this pattern, our employers signed a contract called Project Nimbus to sell dangerous technology to the Israeli military and government. This contract was signed the same week that the Israeli military attacked Palestinians in the Gaza Strip – killing nearly 250 people, including more than 60 children. The technology our companies have contracted to build will make the systematic discrimination and displacement carried out by the Israeli military and government even crueler and deadlier for Palestinians.

Project Nimbus is a $1.2bn contract to provide cloud services for the Israeli military and government. This technology allows for further surveillance of and unlawful data collection on Palestinians, and facilitates expansion of Israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

Amid serious EU-Polish clash, is 'Polexit' more than just smoke and mirrors?

House passes bill to raise US debt ceiling through early December

The US House of Representatives gave final approval on Tuesday to a Senate-passed bill temporarily raising the government’s borrowing limit to $28.9tn, putting off the risk of default at least until early December.

Democrats, who narrowly control the House, maintained party discipline to pass the hard-fought, $480bn debt limit increase. The vote was along party lines, with every yes from Democrats and every no from Republicans.

Joe Biden is expected to sign the measure into law this week, before 18 October, when the treasury department has estimated it would no longer be able to pay the nation’s debts without congressional action.

Ryan Grim: 4.3 Million Workers Just Told Their Bosses To Shove It

Serious financial problems afflict 40% of US households in recent months

Nearly 40% of US households have faced serious financial problems, including struggling to afford medical care and food, in the last few months, according to a survey published on Tuesday.

The survey by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health also showed that in those last few months, as the US struggled to contain the infectious Delta coronavirus variant, the percentage of households reporting serious financial problems rose to 59% when they had an income under $50,000 a year.

Among those lower-income households, 30% said they had lost all their savings during the coronavirus pandemic.

Reports of serious financial problems were not equal across racial and ethnic groups: 57% of Latinos, 56% of Black people and 50% of Native Americans said they had experienced serious financial problems in the past few months, compared with 29% of white people.

Sanders, Jayapal Say Medicare Expansion in Reconciliation Package 'Not Negotiable'

As congressional progressives push back against right-wing Democrats seeking to shrink the size and scope of the Build Back Better Act, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal on Tuesday insisted that expanded Medicare benefits must remain part of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package.

In a call with journalists reported by The Hill, Sanders (I-Vt.), who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, adamantly declared that dental, hearing, and vision benefits must be added to Medicare as part of the Democrats' flagship package.

"This to me is not negotiable," he said. "This is what the American people want."

Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, backed Sanders—the group's only Senate member—saying his stance is also "the position of the House Progressive Caucus."

Sanders, in recent tweets, has pointed to polling showing that expanding Medicare to cover dental, hearing, and vision is overwhelmingly popular, with 84% of U.S. voters supporting the proposal. A new survey published Tuesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation also found that 83% of respondents favor empowering Medicare to leverage its prodigious purchasing power to secure lower prescription drug prices.

Sanders noted industry opposition to Medicare expansion during Tuesday's call.

"I do understand that the healthcare industry does not like this idea, but maybe, just maybe, we stand with the American people," he said.

“Missing in Brooks County”: Thousands of Migrants Denied Due Process at Border Have Died in Desert

Kamala Harris: European colonizers ‘ushered in wave of devastation for tribal nations’

Promising to speak the truth about American history, Kamala Harris told the National Congress of American Indians the Biden administration would not shy from a history since the first arrival of European explorers that she said was “shameful”. The US vice-president also highlighted an “epidemic” of murders of Native American women and girls, which she said “must end”.

Harris delivered a virtual address the day after a federal holiday originally named for Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer who arrived in the Americas in 1492. ...

“Since 1934, every October, the United States has recognized the voyage of the European explorers who first landed on the shores of the Americas. But that is not the whole story. That has never been the whole story.

“Those explorers ushered in a wave of devastation for tribal nations, perpetrating violence, stealing land and spreading disease. We must not shy away from this shameful past. We must shed light on it and do everything we can to address the impact of the past on Native communities today.” ...

Native Americans, she said, “serve at the highest levels of our nation’s government … serve in our nation’s military at the highest rates of any group [and] do the work that we know is essential to make our nation work, and still Native Americans are more likely to live in poverty, to be unemployed and often struggle to get quality healthcare and to find affordable housing.

“This persistent inequity, this persistent injustice is not right. And the pandemic has only made it worse.”

Paddy Moloney, leader of Irish band the Chieftains, dies aged 83

Paddy Moloney, the Irish musician who co-founded and led the globally successful folk music group the Chieftains, has died aged 83.

The Irish Traditional Music Archive announced the news, saying he “made an enormous contribution to Irish traditional music, song and dance … Few people can lay claim to having the level of impact Paddy Moloney had on the vibrancy of traditional music throughout the world. What a wonderful musical legacy he has left us.”

Formed in 1962 with Sean Potts and Michael Tubridy, Moloney played Irish instruments including the uilleann pipes and bodhrán. Signed to Island Records who connected them with a US audience, the group helped to re-popularise their country’s traditional music, collaborating with everyone from Mick Jagger to Luciano Pavarotti, and winning six Grammy awards from 18 nominations.

Moloney remained the only original member, touring and recording for nearly six decades with the group.



the horse race



Briahna Joy Gray: Biden's SINKING Approval With Black Voters Could BREAK Dem Majority In Midterms



the evening greens


Michigan tells majority-Black city not to drink tap water amid lead crisis

Residents of a majority-Black city in Michigan have been advised by the state not to use tap water for drinking, bathing, or cooking “out of an abundance of caution” owing to lead contamination. For at least three years, residents of Benton Harbor, Michigan, have been suffering from lead-contaminated water with what experts describe as insufficient intervention from state and local officials.

This month, the state promised to expand free water distribution in the city and reaffirmed its commitment to comply with federal lead regulations. Activists, who say Benton Harbor’s poor water quality is a sign of environmental injustice and have been calling on the state to take action for years, say these are steps in the right direction, but more remains to be done.

In 2018, Benton Harbor was found to have lead contamination of 22 parts per billion (ppb) in its tap water – far higher than the federal action level of 15 ppb and higher, even, than nearby Flint at the height of its water crisis. No level of lead exposure is considered safe; the federal action level is a national standard set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine which water systems must take action to lower its lead levels. ...

The federal involvement has triggered a more assertive response from the state, according to Cyndi Roper, Michigan senior policy advocate for the NRDC. “It is clear that EPA’s involvement is driving this forward,” Roper said. “The state has not responded to this for three years in a way that protected residents. It wasn’t until EPA headquarters got involved that we have begun to see an urgent response.”

China’s plan to build more coal-fired plants deals blow to UK’s Cop26 ambitions

China plans to build more coal-fired power plants and has hinted that it will rethink its timetable to slash emissions, in a significant blow to the UK’s ambitions for securing a global agreement on phasing out coal at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow. In a statement after a meeting of Beijing’s National Energy Commission, the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, stressed the importance of regular energy supply, after swathes of the country were plunged into darkness by rolling blackouts that hit factories and homes.

While China has published plans to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030, the statement hinted that the energy crisis had led the Communist party to rethink the timing of this ambition, with a new “phased timetable and roadmap for peaking carbon emissions”.

China has previously set out plans to be carbon neutral by 2060, with emissions peaking by 2030, a goal analysts say would involve shutting 600 coal-fired power plants. President Xi Jinping has also pledged to stop building coal plants abroad.

“Energy security should be the premise on which a modern energy system is built and and the capacity for energy self-supply should be enhanced,” the statement said. “Given the predominant place of coal in the country’s energy and resource endowment, it is important to optimise the layout for the coal production capacity, build advanced coal-fired power plants as appropriate in line with development needs, and continue to phase out outdated coal plants in an orderly fashion. Domestic oil and gas exploration will be intensified.”

Beijing’s ambitions for carbon dioxide output are seen as critical in the push to achieve global net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and fulfil the 2015 Paris agreement to limit average temperature rises to 1.5C. But Li said Beijing wanted to gather new evidence on when its peak emissions would be reached. The statement said he had commissioned “in-depth studies and calculations in light of the recent handling of electricity and coal supply strains, to put forward a phased timetable and roadmap for peaking carbon emissions”.

Biden Can Block Fossil Fuel Projects With Pollution Equal to Over 400 Coal Plants: Report

Two dozen fossil fuel infrastructure projects that President Joe Biden can block via executive action would produce as much annual greenhouse gas pollution as 404 coal-fired power plants—or the equivalent of roughly 20% of all 2019 U.S. emissions—according to a report published Tuesday.

The Oil Change International briefing found that the combined greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the analyzed projects—which include the Line 3, Dakota Access, and Mountain Valley pipelines and 20 liquified gas terminals—"would be larger than all current U.S. coal power plants combined, moving the United States away from Paris agreement commitments."

The total estimated emissions of the two dozen projects are far greater than those of the 294 coal-fired power plants currently operating in the continental United States, the report found.

The Biden administration "will make decisions on these and additional projects in the next three years," the paper notes. "Stopping these fossil fuel infrastructure projects would prevent a drastic increase in GHG pollution at a time when it is imperative to decrease GHG emissions to adhere to domestic and international climate goals and commitments, including the Paris agreement that President Biden rejoined."

Wildfire in southern California shuts down major highway and forces evacuations

Evacuation orders were expanded Tuesday for a growing wildfire driven by intense winds that has shut down a key southern California highway for more than a day. At least 200 firefighters battled the Alisal fire, which had scorched 8,000 acres (12.5 sq miles) along coastal Santa Barbara county and remained completely uncontained.

The fire erupted Monday on a ridge and blasted toward the ocean, forcing closure of US 101, the only major highway on that section of the coast.

“There’s a lot of dead, decadent, receptive fuel beds in the area where this fire started,” said Andrew Madsen, a public information officer with Los Padres national forest, who noted the area where the fire started hadn’t burned in decades. Evacuation orders have been issued for residents in Refugio Canyon and the El Capitan state park and El Capitan campground are closed, while hundreds of homes, ranches, and other structures remain under threat.

Strong winds, with gusts reaching up to 70 mph, drove the fire down to the ocean and prevented aircraft from battling the blaze from above, officials said.


Also of Interest

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

Oh Great They’re Putting Guns On Robodogs Now

Native American Protesters Hit by Sonic Weapons in DC

Israel’s Bennet Warns There are Non-Peaceful Ways to Deal With Iran

Our father’s death on 9/11 was used to justify US torture and other illegal acts

Behind NATO’s ‘cognitive warfare’: ‘Battle for your brain’ waged by Western militaries

Chicago Boys’ 100% Private Pension System in Chile Is in Big Trouble

The Dallas Fed Board Is Now Complicit in the Robert Kaplan Saga

GE urged to invest in green US jobs

What sea level rise will do to famous American sites, visualized

Comedian’s ‘subversive’ billboards attacking Australia’s climate policy to feature in New York’s Times Square


A Little Night Music

Peg Leg Sam - Fast Freight Train

Peg Leg Sam w/ Louisiana Red - Navaho Trail

Peg Leg Sam - Ain't But One Thing Give a Man the Blues

Peg Leg Sam - Walking Cane

Peg Leg Sam - Lost John (Live)

Peg Leg Sam w/Louisiana Red - Joshua Fit The Battle Of Jericho

Peg Leg Sam - Reuben

Peg Leg Sam - "Peg's Fox Chase"

Baby Tate - See What You Done Done (with Peg Leg Sam, hca)

Peg Leg Sam with Baby Tate - Who's That Left Here 'While Ago


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22 users have voted.

Comments

is congress really arguing against this?
Why not just replace the congress critters with industry insiders?
One less step in the legislative process.
Instead of having elected representatives from each state
appoint representatives for each corporation. Wink
Same same.

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17 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@QMS

cover dental, hearing, and vision is congress really arguing against this?

they're not really arguing against it. they're saying that the american people aren't worth the cost of it to their masters.

Why not just replace the congress critters with industry insiders?

what, replace a bunch of totally useless morons with people that might arguably have some (probably ill-used) viable skills?

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8 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

The day finished nicely here. Foggy and wet this morning, but burned off into a nice day.

I caught this interview yesterday and thought y'all might enjoy Gerald's description of the US economic crime syndicate. It thought it was a fun rant, YMMV.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGTzNXPcaes]

The banking system is functioning as a, "crime syndicate," says Gerald Celente, Trends Journal Founder. Celente tells our Daniela Cambone that he does not use that term lightly, and there are many present red flags clouding the global outlook. He says that the purchasing of corporate bonds is not a capitalism, but merely the merger of state and corporate powers.

Hope you all had a nice day. I'm amazed at my almost 60 YO tractor. I used the back scoop today (poor mans front end loader) to move a pile of dirt. I had the box scrape on, which is the poor man's bulldozer, and now have hooked up to the bush hog to mow tomorrow. These machines were designed to last a lifetime. What happened to us? Now everything is throw away, no repairs. We took a wrong turn somewhere.

Well hope you're all headed in the right direction! Thanks for the music and news!

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13 users have voted.

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

joe shikspack's picture

@Lookout

heh, gerald celente certainly isn't wrong about the crime syndicate bit. his solution to the problem (guns, gold and a getaway plan) doesn't seem like one that has much utility for the average guy.

heh, yeah, i remember when they used to build things to last. i still have my grandmother's fridge (made by gm) in the basement. it's somewhere between 70 and 80 years old and it still works just fine. i have my grandfather's and some of my great-grandfather's hand tools. they are all in good shape.

have a great evening!

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9 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

@joe shikspack

but I liked his analysis that it is a crime syndicate.

Hope your scene is good and you and yours are doing well.

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6 users have voted.

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

deal with allegations of police brutality.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/576640-louisiana-trooper-who-sp...

After a Black Louisiana state trooper went public with allegations of police brutality and racism within the department, he received notice that he was being fired.

Carl Cavalier got a letter this week from State Police Superintendent Lamar Davis saying that he violated department policy by speaking out about the death of Ronald Greene, according to WWL-TV, a local CBS affiliate.

Greene was a Black man who died after he was beaten and dragged in a struggle with troopers. Police had initially reported Greene died in a car crash, but body camera footage that was leaked to the media showed otherwise.

Cavalier gave interviews to local television stations in Louisiana indicating that he was disappointed it required leaked body camera footage to get the department to discipline the officers involved in Greene's death, WWL-TV reported.

“There are killers,” Cavalier said in an interview with the station. “And there are people who are OK with the killers being on the job. And that's the people who are a part of the cover up.”

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14 users have voted.
orlbucfan's picture

@humphrey humphrey: when are you going to pay a visit to the TPW Nest? Why did you get so po'ed off to begin with?

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2 users have voted.

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

while it doesn't sound like the best way to handle allegations of police brutality, it is entirely in line with what i'd expect of an american police organization.

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7 users have voted.
ggersh's picture

tptb are coming for it all, all the natural resources of the world will belong to them.

It has to be part of "The Great Reset" or Bill Gates eugenics program or some combo thereof
or am I making all this up?

https://nitter.ir/_whitneywebb/status/1448283381385596931

NEW - A project led by the Rockefeller Foundation and the New York Stock Exchange has created a new asset class that will put, not just the natural world, but the processes underpinning all life, up for sale under the guise of promoting “sustainability.”

unlimitedhangout.com/2021/10…

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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

heh, it's funny how the billionaire class can fuck up and then pretend to fix the mess it created by doubling down on the means by which they created the mess.

impressive article, thanks!

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8 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@ggersh

A New Way to Loot

The ultimate goal of NACs is not sustainability or conservation – it is the financialization of nature, i.e. turning nature into a commodity that can be used to keep the current, corrupt Wall Street economy booming under the guise of protecting the environment and preventing its further degradation. Indeed, IEG makes this clear when they note that “the opportunity” of NACs lies not in their potential to improve environmental well-being or sustainability, but in the size of this new asset class, which they term “Nature’s Economy.”

The psychopaths haven’t stolen enough money from us yet and they aren’t rich enough either so let’s charge people for the very air they breathe and water they drink. I still think that Nestles has held on to gazzilon gallons of water they stole from us just in case their rich friends run out. Eva Bartlet had a great essay on what the dystopian future is going to look like. It doesn’t seem very pleasant at all.

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13 users have voted.

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

ggersh's picture

@snoopydawg followed by The Great Reset, it's all just so tptb can buy everything, stop the supply chain, and start saying goodbye to humanity.

If it's not the case can anyone explain why hasn't Clowngress and the D's given the people a living wage, M4A, housing, etc.etc.etc. during a "pandemic".

Maybe I'm just a half empty guy to the end ;-(

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11 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

snoopydawg's picture

On the democrats 1/6 investigation of private citizens that reeks of the McCarthy era witch hunts.

Apparently the SC court has ruled that democrats can’t investigate private citizens because that’s the job of the justice department. Boy I know a lot of shitlibs that are going to be upset if they don’t. They want anyone who doesn’t show up punished big time. "Strip their assets!" Da hell with having a trial first.

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13 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

that's an excellent thread. greenwald does a great job of highlighting the legal reasons why congress is barking up an illegal tree.

i hope that sam is still feeling well tonight. please deliver a scritch for me.

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10 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

Slept like a rock last night and has had a good appetite today. Slept most of the day too, but that’s normal. I sleep when I’m sick too. She thinks this chicken for every meal is pretty rad. Not so sure about the pumpkin or the rice tho. My goodness the pill schedule is something else. 9 pills throughout the day and 2 need to be squirted in her mouth. She’s wising up to the mom hid pills in the chicken act, but still taking them. 3 more tonight.

Scritch delivered and she says thanks! I washed her toys and she got them out again to check on them and then she crashed.

21D70577-C418-4217-8858-5AC4FDD5E6DD.jpeg

Yes that’s a lot of toys and she doesn’t destroy them by taking out the stuffing.

57F18F11-D6FD-4137-8E5C-12AE2415B606.jpeg

I'yam.

A2E20FE4-4116-422F-AC93-8A01E4176474.jpeg

It will be interesting to see what comes when Bannon and others ignore the subpoenas. Maybe democrats are just bluffing? I’d think they must know the rules. Schiff is acting all tuff and stuff, but we’ll see. Stay tuned…

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13 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

every dog that i've ever had loves butternut squash mixed into their food, and whatever initial hesitancy they might have had was overcome with a pat of butter. Smile

glad sam's well and happy! take care!

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9 users have voted.

The Hemingway quote bookends Caity's remarks about Taiwan, quoted at the end of Ggersh's comment. You want a war with China? You go to the front lines and your money can pay for it.

Seems whatever Koolaid France and the EU and even Israel have imbibed concerning the USA is wearing off.

As the world withdraws (recoils from) support for the USA, Israel has granted a seaport to China. France and the EU are looking to expand their own trade and leave the dangerous and greedy bully behind.

Meanwhile, supply chain and rising shortages and costs are getting some coverage. Not to mention striking quitting workers. Change is in the air. We will see it unwind. Not future generations. Us here now and tuned in.

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NYCVG

joe shikspack's picture

@NYCVG

france seems to be in the forefront of europe in pushing something of a military breakup, but certainly others (e.g. germany after the nord stream brewhaha) in western europe are chafing in various ways against u.s. dominance.

like most other countries, israel seems to be able to see that a change is coming and is making preparations for a potential new global hegemon.

yeah, pretty soon it's going to be hard to hide the inflation that's happening and pretend that it is pandemic related. when that pretense disappears from the daily messaging, things will start to change rapidly i would imagine.

have a great evening!

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@joe shikspack I was at a memorial with my friends and neighbors to honor our neighbor who died suddenly of heart failure.

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NYCVG

snoopydawg's picture

Awe animals and their curiosity. What’s not to love?

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Azazello's picture

This is not propaganda, it's just stupidity. Story on my local news: 60s TeeVee personality rides with Bozo on his pecker rocket, US Sen. Mark Kelly offers remarks on the occasion.
Dore was LIVE this afternoon, talked about this study.

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

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

heh, i guess shatner makes good publicity for bozo's pecker project. i am not following it too closely, but i saw this article today:

Bezos’ Blue Origin is at odds with everything Star Trek represents

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snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

The entire premise of Star Trek was utopian: it pushed the limits of diversity, progressivism and inclusion on television and the science fiction genre. That Shatner would be affiliated with Bezos feels like a contradiction. And yet, colonialism and capitalism are too embedded within the culture of the United States for even sacred projects like space travel or Star Trek to remain unsullied.

Blue Origin, created by Bezos in September 2000, aims to make space flight more available to individuals who can afford it. It started small and in the shadows, first secretly buying land in Texas. It has gradually grown to employ 3,500 employees. The Washington Post, also owned by Bezos, has published a large exposé, revealing the toxic behavior that drives the company’s ability to compete with its rival, Elon Musk’s SpaceX. One employee described Blue Origin, saying, “It’s very dysfunctional. It’s condescending. It’s demoralizing, and what happens is we can’t make progress and end up with huge delays.”

The space company is funded by wealth obtained by crushing smaller companies and exploiting workers.

I’m glad that Shatner got to go into space though. For better or worse he was the one who starred in Star Trek which filled a lot of kids dreams of going to the stars and seeing the old USA living up to its supposed values. I was and still am a huge ST fan of all the series and I think he deserved it. Maybe it’s just me tho and holding on to the idea that humanity will one day pull its head out of its collective ass and work for all of humanity. Hey I can dream can’t I? But to ride in Bezos' pecker rocket kinda takes something away from it because of how he made his riches.

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snoopydawg's picture

@snoopydawg

2nd tweet

Pretty funny…

Can you imagine watching earth flying by and then looking out at the stars from orbit? I’m in awe when I’m looking at the stars from earth and knowing that some are millions of light years away from my eyes. Yep I’d go. Then I’d go skydiving and fulfill my bucket list.

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joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

sounds like a great thrill ride, but then again, i'm just as happy finding a nice place to stare up at all the stars in the sky and exploring the earth from a close-up perspective. Smile

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joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

pretty funny. the u.s. breaks the treaty and breaches the trust of iran and the other parties to the treaty, then not-too-subtly threatens military action if iran doesn't come back to the table and "negotiate" when u.s. and israeli bullies snap their fingers.

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@humphrey is rarely accurate.

Reading it tells you exactly what the Empire wishes you to know. Truth has nothing to do with their program.

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NYCVG

to pay their fair share of taxes.

BTW what about your and some Fed members inside trading?

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joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

makes you wonder how they came up with the amount $600. as the threshold of suspicion.

sounds like they are going to make their computers work awful hard.

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snoopydawg's picture

@humphrey

This is just beyond unbelievable. This B$#@h has the Gaul to monitor our measly transactions WITHOUT a warrant whilst she makes stock trades while overseeing where the money from congress is going?

Queen of Investing: Just how did Nancy Pelosi build a $120mn fortune on a $223,000 annual salary?

The Democrat House speaker has become the latest member of Congress to show the rest of us how to make money on Wall Street. But please don’t put it down to insider trading, because that’s illegal.

In case you missed it, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) is being panned by the Twitterverse, if not by regulators and ethicists, for a series of stock transactions conducted by her husband Paul.

“The week before the House Judiciary Committee voted on reigning in big tech,” reported Fortune in July, “Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband exercised a bullish bet on Google-parent Alphabet, in a timely transaction that netted him $5.3 million.”

See? It’s really easy.

All you have to do is become a party leader in Congress with access to information that no one else has, and bingo, you too can become a dot-com, or Big Tech, or biotech millionaire, by trading on that insider information.

Of course, that’s not really how it happened in this case. According to a spokesperson for Pelosi: “The speaker has no involvement or prior knowledge of these transactions.” That hasn’t stopped some voters expressing, well, some skepticism.

Did I mention #$@$&$#??? I mean it. Hey Nancy if you want to look at my bank transactions get a Gawd Damn warrant! Or let us look at what you and Paul have been doing for almost 40 years! Go stuff your face with ice cream. I’ll stop here..

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