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This evening's music features piedmont blues singer and guitarist Pink Anderson. Enjoy!

"The only limit to the oppression of government is the power with which the people show themselves capable of opposing it."

-- Errico Malatesta

News and Opinion

Canada extends emergency powers after trucker blockades ended

Canadian lawmakers have voted to extend the federal government’s emergency powers, granting the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, powerful tools to prevent new blockades by those opposed to Covid-19 restrictions.

Despite opposition from rival Conservatives and legal challenges to the decision from civil rights groups, experts expect the decision will have little lasting damage for Trudeau.

Lawmakers in the country’s House of Commons voted 185 to 151 to affirm the powers on Monday night. Trudeau, said earlier that the powers were still needed despite police ending the occupation of the nation’s capital by truckers over the weekend. Trudeau noted there were some truckers just outside Ottawa who might be planning further blockades or occupations. His public safety minister said there was an attempt to block a border crossing in British Columbia over the weekend. ...

Despite being the first prime minister to invoke the Emergencies Act since it was established in 1988, experts say Trudeau has a good deal of public support. “Most people are on board with it, because most people see an occupied capital city and interrupted trade as threats to the country,” said Lori Turnbull, director of Dalhousie University’s School of Public Administration. She says many were likely surprised that gaps in existing laws fell short which allowed protesters to take control of the streets outside the seat of government.

Canada's Trucker Protest - Workers' Struggle or Far-right Provocation?

Rejecting NATO expansion, Putin recognizes forgotten Donbas civilians

Biden orders more US troops to Eastern Europe amid Russia-Ukraine tensions

President Biden on Tuesday directed additional U.S. troops to NATO’s eastern flank as Russia moved a step closer toward a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. “As Russia contemplates its next move, we have our next move prepared as well,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

“Today, in response to Russia's admission that it will not withdraw its forces from Belarus, I have authorized additional movements of U.S. forces and equipment already stationed in Europe to strengthen our Baltic allies, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.”

Washington has already deployed or repositioned some 6,000 U.S. forces to Germany, Poland and Romania near the countries’ borders with Ukraine as Russia has gathered an estimated 190,000 troops near its border with the former Soviet country and in Belarus. ...

Biden did not say how many troops would be sent to the three Baltic nations or where they would be repositioned from but said it was “totally defensive moves on our part” and the United States has “no intention of fighting Russia.”

Nuclear War Risk Rises as Tension Mounts Between Nuclear Superpowers over Ukraine

Likelihood of war escalates as Putin promises to support proxy Ukraine states

Vladimir Putin has said that Russia will support the territorial claims of its proxy states in east Ukraine, dramatically increasing the likelihood of a larger war in the near future in what Joe Biden denounced as an attempt to carve out “a big chunk” of the country.

“Who in the Lord’s name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries?” Biden said, announcing new sanctions on two Russian banks and sweeping measures to stop Russia raising capital in western markets.

In a dramatic move Germany halted the approval process for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia, while the EU and the UK announced sanctions on Russia in a show of concerted western resolve, with EU foreign ministers banning Russian bond trades in the European market. Boris Johnson revealed a package of asset freezes on five Russian banks and three high net worth individuals but faced criticism from his MPs for not going further. The UK, US and EU could all bring in further sanctions.

On Tuesday evening US secretary of state Antony Blinken said a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that had been scheduled for Thursday would not go ahead. “Now that we see the invasion is beginning and Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy, it does not make sense to go forward with that meeting at this time,” he said.

Shrugging off threats of economic isolation, Putin enlarged the scope of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine. Speaking at a press conference, he said that Russia recognised the borders claimed by the self-proclaimed “people’s republics” which are well beyond the current frontline and include substantial territories, including towns and cities still under Ukrainian government control.

Ukraine demands 'immediate' security guarantees from Russia and the West

Biden, Putin signal bigger confrontation ahead over Ukraine

The East-West faceoff over Ukraine escalated dramatically Tuesday, with Russian lawmakers authorizing President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside his country and U.S. President Joe Biden and European leaders responding by slapping sanctions on Russian oligarchs and banks.

Both leaders signaled that an even bigger confrontation could lie ahead. Putin has yet to unleash the force of the 150,000 troops massed on three sides of Ukraine, while Biden held back on even tougher sanctions that could cause economic turmoil for Russia but said they would go ahead if there is further aggression. ...

Earlier Tuesday, members of Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council, voted unanimously to allow Putin to use military force outside the country — effectively formalizing a Russian military deployment to the rebel regions, where an eight-year conflict has killed nearly 14,000 people. Shortly afterward, Putin laid out three conditions to end the crisis that has threatened to plunge Europe back into war, raising the specter of massive casualties, energy shortages across the continent and global economic chaos.

Putin said the crisis could be resolved if Kyiv recognizes Russia’s sovereignty over Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed after seizing it from Ukraine in 2014, renounces its bid to join NATO and partially demilitarizes. The West has decried the annexation of Crimea as a violation of international law and has previously flatly rejected permanently barring Ukraine from NATO.

Asked whether he has sent any Russian troops into Ukraine and how far they could go, Putin responded: “I haven’t said that the troops will go there right now.” He added that “it’s impossible to forecast a specific pattern of action — it will depend on a concrete situation as it takes shape on the ground.”

Disastrous Foreign Policy Leaves US With Less 'Credibility' to Condemn Russia

MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan argued in a monologue Monday night that the United States would have "more credibility" to condemn the recent actions of Russia in Ukraine if it wasn't currently supporting illegal occupations by its allies around the world—and if it didn't have its own long record of carrying out brazenly unlawful invasions of sovereign countries.

To make his case, Hasan pointed to a number of prominent examples around the world, including Israel's ongoing and brutal occupation of the Palestinian territories, which has been maintained over a period of decades with the crucial military and political backing of the U.S. government.

In 2016, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution deeming Israeli settlement activity in the Palestinian territories a "flagrant violation under international law." The U.S. abstained.

"Israel has occupied the West Bank and Gaza since 1967," Hasan noted in his segment. "According to the United Nations, that was also the same year Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria, effectively annexing it with a 1981 law. During his presidency, Donald Trump controversially recognized the Golan Heights as part of Israel."

"In many of these disputes," Hasan observed, "the occupying nation is an ally of the United States, with the U.S. doing very little if anything to condemn such occupations. And in the cases of the Western Sahara and the Golan Heights, we've even given the occupiers a pass."

"Oh, and let's not forget our own illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq," Hasan continued, pointing to a 2003 U.S.-led war that President Joe Biden—then a senator—vocally supported and voted for.

Addressing potential criticism that he is engaging in "whataboutism" by simply highlighting U.S. foreign policy disasters in the midst of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Hasan said he is "not trying to excuse or justify Russia's behavior."

"On the contrary, it is outrageous and illegal for Russia to try and seize territory from a sovereign neighbor," he added. "I'd just like us to be consistent in our approach to illegal invasions and occupations. Imagine how much more credibility we'd have to condemn and act against Russia in Ukraine if we didn't turn a blind eye to our allies doing the same."

Putin dismisses criticism, says acting in national interest

US Gas Exporters Set to Benefit After Germany Halts Russian Pipeline

The U.S. fossil fuel industry is poised to benefit from an expected expansion of gas exports to Europe after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday suspended approval of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in response to Russian military aggression toward Ukraine.

Completed in September but awaiting certification by Germany and the European Union, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which bypasses Ukraine by running under the Baltic Sea, could double the flow of gas from Russia to Germany.

While the $11 billion pipeline—owned by Nord Stream 2 AG, a subsidiary of Gazprom, the Russian majority state-owned energy company, with Western partners including the United Kingdom's Shell, France's Engie, and Germany's Uniper—has been criticized on ecological and geopolitical grounds, Scholz had been reluctant to connect the permitting process to deescalation efforts in Ukraine, calling it a "private sector project."

Two weeks ago, Sludge journalist David Moore shed light on the potential reason for Scholz's hesitancy to halt the Nord Stream 2 pipeline:

With Russia massing its military presence along the border with Ukraine, the Kremlin could seek to weaken the international blowback by constricting gas supply delivered through pipelines in Ukraine. The result would be to ratchet up already near record-high costs for German businesses and households. Germany is projected to have enough gas in reserve for the cold months ahead and has been investing in renewable energy, and energy industry experts say it's unlikely that Russia would entirely cut off the flow of gas because of the severe economic risks to its export markets. But Russian gas accounts for about a third of German supply and over 15% of its electricity generation, making up Europe's largest gas source, so the pinch could be real.

But after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday formally recognized the independence of two separatist territories in eastern Ukraine and deployed troops to the Donbas region—a move that U.S. President Joe Biden said last month would spell death for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline—Scholz took steps to shut down the project.

"We have been in close consultations with Germany overnight and welcome their announcement," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted Tuesday. "We will be following up with our own measures today."

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been the subject of increased lobbying and fierce congressional debate on Capitol Hill, including last month's failed attempt, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), to hit the project with sanctions.

Now that Germany has officially pulled the plug on the Russian pipeline, U.S. fossil fuel corporations—along with Cruz and other members of Congress who are heavily invested in oil and gas companies such as Houston-based Enterprise Products—stand to profit further from increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe, an ongoing trend that is likely to intensify amid the conflict in Ukraine.

In an opinion piece published on Monday, Oil Change International's Andy Rowell wrote that "there are always those who will want to profit from war or the threat of war, as unscrupulous as it may seem. And for the American oil and gas industry there is no exception." ...

Emphasizing that Russia and the U.S. "have a decades-long history of competing over the European energy market," Guy Laron, a senior lecturer in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, argued two weeks ago that "the crisis plays right into the hands of American shale gas companies, which are reaping a windfall."

"American liquefied natural gas exports to Europe increased by 40% in the last quarter of 2021 and are expected to be much higher during the first quarter of 2022," he added. "American energy executives have declared in recent weeks that they were eager to replace Russian pipeline gas with American liquefied gas."

Although U.S. exports, Moore noted, "would not be enough to make up for the vast Russian supply, they would serve to develop trade channels for future shipments of fracked fossil gas to Germany."

Despite numerous scientific warnings about the need to block new fossil fuel projects to have a chance of avoiding the most catastrophic consequences of the climate crisis, extraction is on the rise in the U.S., which is projected to become the world's top LNG exporter in 2022.

Israel said worried US sanctions on Russia could affect Syria operations

Israeli officials are worried that the imposition of US sanctions against Russia in response to a possible invasion of Ukraine could harm Israel’s security interests in Syria, according to a report Monday. Citing unnamed security officials, the Walla news site said Israel’s close ties with the US could jeopardize its coordination with Moscow vis-a-vis its operations in Syria.

The officials said such cooperation is vital in preventing Iran and its proxies from further entrenching themselves in Syria. “US sanctions against Russia put Israel in a very embarrassing position,” an official was quoted as saying. “The United States is a long-standing stable ally, but Israel needs Russia given the circumstances in the Middle East.”

Asked on the prospect of Israel joining US sanctions on Russia in an interview with Channel 12 news on Sunday, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid replied that Jerusalem “will consider what course to take.” ...

Earlier this month, Russia expressed “deep concern” over Israel’s ongoing strikes in Syrian territory, saying they could escalate tensions in the area and endanger commercial flights. “Israel’s continuing strikes against targets inside Syria cause deep concern,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday, according to the TASS news agency. “They are a crude violation of Syria’s sovereignty and may trigger a sharp escalation of tensions. Also, such actions pose serious risks to international passenger flights.”

On Anniv. of Ahmaud Arbery's Murder, Family Welcomes Historic Hate Crime Guilty Verdict for Killers

Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers found guilty of federal hate crimes

The three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery were found guilty of federal hate crimes on Tuesday, for violating Arbery’s civil rights and targeting him because he was Black.

A jury of eight white people, three Black people and one Hispanic person, reached its decision after several hours of deliberation on the charges against father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan. The jury also found the three men guilty of attempted kidnapping. The McMichaels were found guilty of the use of a firearm in the commission of a crime.

The US district judge, Lisa Wood, told the men they have two weeks to file any appeal. She also said she would schedule sentencing once pre-sentencing reports were filed.

Wood praised attorneys from both sides, saying prosecutors had the “difficult task” of proving the “racial motivation of hate crimes”, which they did in a “skillful [and] professional manner”. The defense attorneys, she said, represented their clients “zealously” but “did not volunteer” to represent them, having been appointed. “No one need wonder whether they got a fair trial – they did,” Wood said.

Outside court on Monday, Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said: “I think the DoJ [Department of Justice] presented its case well.”

Top Biden SCOTUS Pick Jailed Man 12 YEARS For Weed Sale

Ryan Grim: Democratic War Playing Out In Texas House Race— With The Squad Winning

Dakota Access pipeline suffers U.S. Supreme Court setback

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a bid led by Dakota Access oil pipeline operator Energy Transfer LP to avoid additional environmental review of a section that runs under an artificial lake and is opposed by nearby Native American tribes, leaving the pipeline vulnerable to being shut down.

The justices left in place a lower court's decision that ordered the federal government to undertake a more intensive environmental study of the pipeline's route underneath Lake Oahe, which straddles the border of North Dakota and South Dakota. The pipeline, known as DAPL and open since 2017, will continue to operate as the review is carried out.

"We call on the administration to close the pipeline until a full safety and environmental review is complete. DAPL never should have been authorized in the first place, and this administration is failing to address the persistent illegality of this pipeline," said Jan Hasselman, a lawyer for the environmental group Earthjustice who represents the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. ...

Whether the project should be shut down was not at issue in Energy Transfer's Supreme Court appeal. But Energy Transfer said in court papers that the pipeline remains "vulnerable to a shutdown" with the new environmental review pending. The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Global Gas Pipeline Boom Poses Climate, Financial Disaster

As campaigners and scientists continue to demand keeping fossil fuels in the ground, an analysis on Tuesday revealed the incredible amount of gas development humanity has planned, despite the climate and financial risks.

The new report—entitled Pipe Dreams 2022: Stranded assets and magical thinking in the proposed global gas pipeline build-out—was authored by a trio of experts at the San Francisco-based Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

"A slowdown in gas pipeline development in 2021 was, unfortunately, more about Covid than a recognition that gas is contributing to the climate crisis," said report co-author Baird Langenbrunner, a research analyst at GEM, in a statement.

"Looking ahead, the fact that nearly half-a-trillion dollars of gas pipelines are in development makes no sense economically," he warned, "as many of these projects will become stranded assets as the world transitions to renewable."

Stranded assets, as Carbon Tracker explains, are "assets that turn out to be worth less than expected as a result of changes associated with the energy transition."

The GEM report states that "after a Covid-19-related drop in pipeline commissionings in 2021, the gas industry and gas-positive countries led by China, India, Russia, Australia, the United States, and Brazil are pushing ahead with plans to commission tens of thousands of kilometers of gas pipelines in 2022."

The analysis projects that the planned expansion of the global gas pipeline network—70,889 kilometers (km) or 44,048 miles in construction and another 122,477 km or 76,104 miles in pre-construction development—creates a $485.8 billion stranded asset risk, in addition to jeopardizing the chances of meeting the Paris climate agreement's goals.

Also of Interest

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

When Boring People Turn Dangerous: Canada's Insane Power Grab

“What Would Russian Recognition of Separatist Territories in Ukraine Mean?”

Condemnation at UN for Russia’s Moves on Donbass

What Accounts for Putin’s Assertiveness on Ukraine?

Some Additional Bits On Ukraine

US Rejects Israeli PM’s Criticism of Iran Nuclear Talks

Britain & Australia’s Grab for Resources in Afghanistan

Craig Murray: Appealing Imprisonment for Journalism

Money unites: Republicans and Democrats find rare bipartisanship over trading stocks

The Fed Just Added Short-Selling and Margin Loans to Its List of Trading Restrictions for Fed Officials – Opening a Big Can of Worms

‘The Scheme’: a senator’s plan to highlight rightwing influence on the supreme court

Carl Icahn pressuring McDonald’s to improve welfare of pigs raised for meat

Remains of ‘world’s largest Jurassic pterosaur’ recovered in Scotland

"Pick Up the Pen, Joe": Biden Faces Pressure to Cancel Student Debt to Fulfill Campaign Promise

Kim Iversen: GREAT RESET Has INFILTRATED Cabinets Around The World With Young Leaders Like Trudeau

A Little Night Music

Pink Anderson - I Got Mine

Pink Anderson - Greasy Greens

Pink Anderson - Ain't Nobody Home But Me

Pink Anderson - You don't know my mind

Pink Anderson - In The Jailhouse Now

Pink Anderson - Baby Please Don't Go

Pink Anderson - In The Evening

Pink Anderson - Travelin' Man

Pink Anderson - Chicken