Evening Blues Preview 4-27-15

This evening's music features r&b and soul singer Otis Clay.

Here are some stories from tonight's post:

Obama Secretly Loosened Standards for Drone Killings in Pakistan

While publicly vaunting drone strike reforms allegedly aimed at minimizing civilian deaths, President Barack Obama secretly loosened the standards for covert attacks in Pakistan, likely paving the way for the killing and wounding of an unknown number of non-combatants, the Wall Street Journal revealed Sunday. ...

The new reporting sheds light on the Presidential Policy Guidelines (pdf), which were announced by Obama in May 2013 and allegedly impose the requirement that "before lethal action may be taken," U.S. forces are required to attain "near certainty that non-combatants will not be injured or killed." Furthermore, the policy states that the U.S. "will use lethal force only against a target that poses a continuing, imminent threat to U.S. persons."

However, according to the Wall Street Journal's reporting, Pakistan was exempted from these alleged reforms. Journalist Adam Entous writes:

Under a classified addendum to the directive approved by Mr. Obama, however, the CIA’s drone program in Pakistan was exempted from the “imminent threat” requirement, at least until U.S. forces completed their pullout from Afghanistan.

The exemption in the case of Pakistan means that the CIA can do signature strikes and more targeted drone attacks on militant leaders who have been identified without collecting specific evidence that the target poses an imminent threat to the U.S. Being part of the al Qaeda core in Pakistan is justification enough in the Obama administration’s eyes.

Robert Naiman, policy director for Just Foreign Policy, told Common Dreams that Pakistan is not the only country exempted from supposed drone reforms. "This is part of a pattern where the administration announces reforms to drone strike policy that never happen or were eviscerated through exemption, or reversed," said Naiman.

White House Pushes to Keep Power to Shut Down Cellphone Networks

Obama Desperate to Avoid Oversight on Secret, Self-Granted Power

In 2005, amid reports that the London subway bombers had used cellphones as detonators, the White House secretly established the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 303, which granted the government the ability to unilaterally shut down all cellphone service in an area of its choosing when it feels it needs to.

The details of the procedure are still not public, and a series of lawsuits aiming to at the very least get the basics of how the law even theoretically works have faced massive official opposition, with the White House and DHS desperate to avoid any oversight. ...

In 2011, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system used the kill switch to shut off all cellphone services in several stations specifically to try to prevent organization of a public protest there.

The administration argues that even letting the public know the basic outline of the policy would itself be a threat to national security.

NSA releases coloring book to save face

U.S. needs to stop fomenting violence in Yemen

Despite reports indicating that Washington has been attempting to quietly persuade the Saudis to curb their bombing, actions speak louder than words. The Obama administration has been supplying intelligence for the campaign, has moved eleven warships to the waters off of Yemen in a show of support for the Saudi-led effort, and has expedited arms shipments to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen. Seemingly without irony, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest then charged that Iran was continuing “to supply arms to one party to that dispute so that the violence can continue.”

In Washington, the civil war in Yemen is being framed as a proxy war between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, with the Houthi rebels supposedly beholden to Iran and the ousted government evidently loyal to the Saudis. This is utterly simplistic. The origins and grievances of the war are many, but Yemen has long been plagued by its own fissures, endemic corruption and abysmal governance. Iran’s influence in Yemen is limited. “It remains our assessment that Iran does not exert command and control over the Houthis in Yemen,” a spokeswoman for the National Security Council recently admitted to The Huffington Post.

The only sensible action for the United States is to change its course entirely. Washington’s assistance to Saudi Arabia will escalate this conflict and further inflame a volatile region.

Same-sex marriage: US supreme court has few choices but to 'end the debate'

The highest court in the United States on Tuesday will hear arguments in one of the last major undecided civil rights struggles in American history – whether same-sex marriage is a constitutional right – but this particular landmark case for equality may already be open and shut.

The US supreme court has a reputation for being contrarian and unpredictable. Its key swing votes are often shrouded in mystery until decisions arrive at the end of each term.

Constitutional lawyers, however, are confident enough in the imminent future of nationwide marriage equality to insist that anything less would require an extraordinarily complex – even unprecedented – reading in stark contrast with the court’s recent history and occasionally overt political leanings.

Between the clever way the cases have been set up and the overwhelming pressure to answer to public demand, the end of state gay marriage bans is not just inevitable, court watchers say – the nine justices may be left with no other choice.

In order to rule against the gay couples and their children bringing the challenge, a majority of the justices would have to conclude that marriage is not a fundamental right with respect to straight couples, according to University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone. The judges would also have to decide that there is no legal animus to state laws that limit who can get married – and that laws disadvantaging LGBT citizens are not suspect under the equal protection clause of the US constitution’s 14th amendment.

Chris Hedges: Rise of the New Black Radicals

The almost daily murders of young black men and women by police in the United States—a crisis undiminished by the protests of groups such as Black Lives Matter and by the empty rhetoric of black political elites—have given birth to a new young black militant.

This militant, rising off the bloody streets of cities such as Ferguson, Mo., understands that the beast is not simply white supremacy, chronic poverty and the many faces of racism but the destructive energy of corporate capitalism. This militant has given up on electoral politics, the courts and legislative reform, loathes the corporate press and rejects established black leaders such as Barack Obama, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and Michael Eric Dyson. This militant believes it is only in the streets and in acts of civil disobedience that change is possible. And given the refusal of the corporate state to address the mounting suffering of the poor and working poor, draconian state repression and indiscriminate use of lethal state violence against unarmed people of color, I think the new black radical is right. It will be a long, hot and violent summer.

The world’s hundreds of millions of disenfranchised youths—in America this group is dominated by the black and brown underclass—come out of the surplus labor created by our system of corporate neofeudalism. These young men and women have been discarded as human refuse and are preyed upon by a legal system that criminalizes poverty. In the United States they constitute the bulk of the 2.3 million human beings locked in jails and prisons. The discontent in Ferguson, Athens, Cairo, Madrid and Ayotzinapa is one discontent. And the emerging revolt, although it comes in many colors, speaks many languages and has many belief systems, is united around a common enemy. Bonds of solidarity and consciousness are swiftly uniting the wretched of the earth against our corporate masters.

Corporate power, which knows what is coming, has put in place sophisticated systems of control that include militarized police, elaborate propaganda campaigns that seek to make us fearful and therefore passive, wholesale surveillance of every citizen and a court system that has stripped legal protection from the poor and any who dissent. The masses are to be kept in bondage. But the masses, especially the young, understand the game. There is a word for what is bubbling up from below—revolution. It can’t begin soon enough.

Also of interest:

Embracing the Saudi War on Yemen

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Big Al's picture

truly believe the only illegal war constituting war crimes was the Iraq war. But you have to wonder how
they would feel about what happened and is happening in Libya, Yemen, Syria and Ukraine if a republican were
President instead of Obama the last six plus years. Although I think many would stick to those same
opinions anyway, since they support Bush's Afghanistan war and War OF Terror. The only reason they believe the
Iraq war was illegal and a war crime is because they got caught lying red handed.

Somebody needs to publish a diary on Daily Kos calling both Obama and Clinton war criminals.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/27/1380608/-War-Criminal-George-Bu...

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joe shikspack's picture

Somebody needs to publish a diary on Daily Kos calling both Obama and Clinton war criminals.

mostly done...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/12/18/1348431/-A-decent-nation-would-...

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Big Al's picture

I'd prefer if it were titled, "Obama is a Fucking War Criminal You Dumb Shits", but that
will do the trick.

One of my more highly rec'd diaries at DK was this one.
"George W. Bush is a War Criminal"

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/03/13/845756/-George-W-Bush-is-a-War-...

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Big Al's picture

Here in Portland it's almost 80 degrees. My vegetable garden is wondering what the hell is going on.

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joe shikspack's picture

over the last few days it's gotten down into the 30's at night a couple of times - my garden is also wondering what the hell is going on.

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shaharazade's picture

and tomorrow it will be 57 degrees high in Portland. yippie!?!? Not only are my veggies and plants confused but so am I. We took a walk at about 2:30 and it confused our bodies. We both went into slow mo till the end of our block. It's hard to adjust for any living organism to these overnight temperature flips. Even my old cat's are weirded, out. Lay like a rug in the front porch scorching sun or park yourself on the pillow near the heat vent?

What's going on is climate change which even here in Portland where we are used to fickle spring weather that runs the gamut, has notched up the extreme. Maybe it's a good thing I haven't gotten out and started my veggie bed as per usual. Although something tells me the former soft wet cool springs of the past are gone and when I finally get my ass outside and start digging it's going to be so hot that I will wilt and freak out and the plants and seeds will just freak out and never really produce. Crazy thing is each year it gets more unpredictable so seasons don't really work for gardeners or plants.

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mimi's picture

"Dreck". That's a big insult in the German language. There are limits. That one (comment) has crossed it for me.

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Big Al's picture

"Blödes Arschloch" Smile

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mimi's picture

of his/her pen, that's why I was so confused and angry. But after a while I thought not everybody can understand everything about what other persons went through and what they know and what they don't know. And besides as long as I haven't met and talked to a person in real time and get to know more about him/her, I try to remind myself that mostly we don't understand each other at all. I actually like to have friendly conversations in which I nevertheless feel free to say what I think. Strangely enough that is easier done in real time than online. I always thought it's the opposite.

Online talk is a tricky beast. And BTW "Blödes Arschloch" is not part of my spoken vocabulary. I won't ever say that to a person, even not if I am really angry and mad. I think I am more polite in my words in German than in English. Smile

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shaharazade's picture

but interesting Greek.

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shaharazade's picture

I recced that diary. Interesting to see the long gone driven off or banned lefties that less then a year ago were still an active part of dkos. Now it's down to a few holding down a fort that Markos and his minions burned down years ago.

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shaharazade's picture

according to the diarist these wars are Republican. Never mind that Obama has expanded the war on terra and has how many 8? wars going. I loved how the diary turned into a love fest for Obama and failed to note what was has gone on since and before Bush11. Man oh man this is delusion of the highest order. It is way more depressing then reading the news as these people seem to live in another alternative world where war is peace and everything would be groovy if the Republicans were gone. Didn't they notice that the majority of people in this country came to their collective senses and resoundingly kicked the Repugs ass starting in 2006 through 2008. By 2010 most people had enough sense to know they had been hornswoggled and that all they could do was keep the hardcore loonies slightly at bay. Even then the Dems. still standing rigged it so that nothing was their fault as they we're obstructed by the baddies who they empowered. They breathed new life into the disgraced and vanquished RW hardliners and yet these are Republican wars. Meh!

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Big Al's picture

It's either ignorant thinking or hypocritical or both. But the wars I mentioned above have been much
better disguised than the neocon Iraq war. The methods, tactics, and propaganda have hid the fact that
it's all U.S. imperialism in action.
It never ends. That's the two party system. It's perfect for the ruling class as long as they can keep enough
people playing.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

…is a signature atrocity. Tens of thousand of dead civilians. To this day the people of Afghanistan have no idea why Americans are there killing them, occupying their country, ruining their lives.

They still have no idea what the World Trade Center is or why they must be murdered.

I am always very surprised that the horrendous Afghan war crime is left off the list by the anti-war crowd. Do you know?

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Big Al's picture

I'm happy you're here. Smile

And I totally agree. I don't know the answer. I could be very cynical and say it's because of Obama and the
democrats. I remember when Occupy was supposed to highlight ending the Afghanistan war, not the corruption of
Wall Street. I wrote a diary about it on Daily Kos. Then it changed and it seemed that the Afghanistan war was
just forgotten by the antiwar crowd. I could be cynical and say that was the plan by the co-opters of Occupy, but I won't. Smile

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Pluto's Republic's picture

…for the cowardly behavior of witless Americans after the 9/11 "event" — and their sports-bar braying, their piteous "protect-me" whining, the media-wide chicken-hawk acting-out — which led directly to the horrendous war crime of Afghanistan.

It was always a police action. And a police action ended it.

But, at the time, the cowardly Americans were ripe to be "dominated" by the Defense Contractors, just as the Neocons knew the people would be (as per the "Project for a New American Century" manifesto calling for a new "Pearl Harbor" event that would get people in the mood). So rape of the commonwealth commenced, US troops were slaughtered, having achieved nothing worth their lives.

I have contempt for the way that Americans panicked and leaders were so easily duped by the Neocon toads that had taken root throughout Defense and State. Again, they are tricked into defaulting into US Military murder and mayhem in Ukraine — when it is but a pawn in a proxy war being fought between China, Russia, and the US. (Europe wrings its hands.)

I merely mark in this the profound moral and intellectual failure of a compromised and isolated people: American Colonists.

Good to see you, too, Al. You always remind me that their are souls in this hell-hole with a moral compass.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

this is becoming an important development. Assad's forces appear to be collapsing in northern Syria.

Islamist rebels led by al Qaida’s affiliate, the Nusra Front, widened their hold Monday on Syria’s Idlib province, capturing another government base and pressing an offensive near Ariha, a town of 70,000 that has been primarily in government hands since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began in 2011.

The latest rebel advance came 48 hours after insurgents seized the strategic town of Jisr al Shughour, which controls the main overland supply route to the government’s military bases in Idlib province. A month ago, rebels captured the provincial capital, Idlib city.

The opposition Masar Press agency reported that the rebels had killed 135 government soldiers at the Qarmeed military base, a former brickworks, and captured seven government tanks, a large number of artillery pieces and a sizable quantity of weapons and ammunition.

Unlike the capture of Jisr al Shughour, where U.S.-equipped moderate fighters affiliated with the Free Syrian Army played a major role in the fighting, the force at Qarmeed was led by Nusra and included Ajnad al Sham, an Islamist group based in Hama province, the Rahman Brigade, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Haqq Brigade, local Islamist group from Idlib province.

Daesh has done nothing for the past 6 months except gets its butt kicked at Kobani.
But al-Nusra is getting supplied by Turkey and Qatar and is gaining momentum.

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joe shikspack's picture

when al qaida takes over syria and possibly that model of american intervention, yemen.

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al-Qaeda was the group we had to destroy at all costs.
Now we are at war with their enemies while they gain in strength and no one seems to notice.

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shaharazade's picture

but so what. This is an open thread no? So today I finally fished my untouched 4 year old tiny ipod out and figured out how to load this tiny sucker up. I'm so excited. I've been doing brain deadening work compiling lists and charts on Excel and this will work to speed me on. My husband is a musician and we me and my husband share the upstairs of our old house as a work space. It's an upside down mom and pop shop . His room is both a music studio and business office. Mine is both an art studio and my end of the business office space. It's not an anyway sound proof we can hear each other sigh. which we do often.

I have an extensive CD collection but I don't want to invade his audio space as we have divergent taste's and musical loves. So this is a big thing. I like to work to music when doing art or business. Now I can plug myself in and yet not feel inhibited about wrecking his songwriting brain train of creativity. Next up I'm going to figure out how to garden with wires and buds instead of 30.00$ boom boxes that just don't last for a season. . Need new buds as one side keeps falling out. Sorry to interrupt the discussion with my latest old new tech break though but I'm just so happy to have removed a Luddite self imposed block to joy.

So Sparks anyone? lol. Not the blues but I'm shocked at how well they have held up.

If Sparks is not to your taste how about some Laurie Anderson?

Whatever you listen to, music is the a balm for the soul. Last night we lay down together on the couch my husband and i and listened to his Pandora Doo Wop station. It was dreamy, literally...

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Shahryar's picture

I like the Flamingos more than shaharazade does. This is beautiful.

[video:http://youtu.be/e55HficIfvQ]

and this uptempo number from Dion and the Belmonts

[video:http://youtu.be/pAPEfdjvTqE]

didn't hear this last night but another goodie

[video:http://youtu.be/OR62R3loNgA]

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mimi's picture

it's uplifting. I think you should be very happy to have each other and in whatever art and garden work you engage in. I feel like a dinosaur when it comes to work in the garden with music. Never came to my mind doing it. My mind is on a block-out mode, blank, silent. It's so bad I walk out of any store or restaurant that plays background music which to my ears is never in the background. I imagine I would have to work in a store that constantly plays music. I would go nuts, wouldn't work in there and I don't buy nothin' there either. It's in the EB where I started to listen a bit to music again. Over the last couple of month I realized that the only music I can stand and like to listen to is old blues, slow blues and sometimes something I can't identify, which NCTim posts often. I am really glad I slowly get back into enjoying something musical. My son is very upset with me that I allow "the news" to get at me. (Of course it gets at him too and I have no idea how he gets his news, but somehow he ends up "getting the points"). I still don't get to the point where music is playing in the background while I am reading. May be one day ...

So much for trivial posts... I has them...

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Pluto's Republic's picture

…is a particularly pithy war crime. Setting up a Nazi puppet government is the jewel in the crown.

Ukraine crisis has created more than 2 million refugees, UN reports

More than 800,000 people have fled Ukraine as the conflict made towns and villages uninhabitable and destroyed vital infrastructure, according to UN statistics.

The total number of refugees created by the crisis is almost certainly over 2 million with the authorities in Kyiv recording 1.2 million residents who have left their homes to stay with friends and relatives or in government facilities in other parts of the country.

Russia has seen 659,143 Ukrainians claiming asylum or another form of permission to stay in the country. This number excludes anyone who has chosen to cross the border without contacting the authorities or those with Russian citizenship who have left eastern Ukraine.

An additional 81,100 Ukrainians have applied to stay in Belarus, with thousands more seeking refuge in other neighbouring countries, the UN refugee agency reports.

Destruction of hospitals and damage to water supplies is contributing to the exodus from areas where Ukrainian soldiers are battling fighters from the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic, the UN report said.

Displaced people are at risk from discrimination and children particularly suffer psycological trauma as a result of things they have seen and the conditions they have lived in, the report adds.

Your US Neocons at work.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
lotlizard's picture

Robert Parry / Consortium News has a second post on Syria up in addition to the one linked in the diary:

Syria's Nightmarish Narrative

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