The Evening Blues - 3-23-22



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Fats Domino

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features New Orleans r&b singer and piano player Antoine "Fats" Domino. Enjoy!

Fats Domino "Jambalaya (On The Bayou) & You Win Again" on The Ed Sullivan Show

“As long as they killed people with conventional rather than nuclear weapons, they were praised as humanitarian statesmen. As long as they did not use nuclear weapons, it appeared, nobody was going to give the right name to all the killing that had been going on since the end of the Second World War, which was surely “World War Three.”

-- Kurt Vonnegut


News and Opinion

Any Use of Tactical Nukes Denounced as 'Bat-Sh*t F**king Insane'

As the war in Ukraine continues to escalate, disarmament advocates and other observers expressed horror Tuesday over growing concerns that Russian or NATO forces would go so far as to deploy so-called "tactical" nuclear weapons—smaller warheads that are supposedly less destructive than the bombs the U.S. dropped on Japan in World War II.

The new flurry of reaction was prompted by a New York Times story examining the potentially catastrophic implications of an exchange of smaller nuclear weapons, which both the U.S. and Russia possess in terrifying quantities.

"The case against these arms is that they undermine the nuclear taboo and make crisis situations even more dangerous," the Times notes. "Their less destructive nature, critics say, can feed the illusion of atomic control when in fact their use can suddenly flare into a full-blown nuclear war."

"A simulation devised by experts at Princeton University," the Times added, "starts with Moscow firing a nuclear warning shot; NATO responds with a small strike, and the ensuing war yields more than 90 million casualties in its first few hours."

In January, the U.S., Russia, China, and other nuclear-armed countries signed a joint statement declaring that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."

But Russia's deadly assault on Ukraine—launched just a few weeks after the statement was released—quickly revived and intensified fears of an all-out nuclear war.

Particularly alarming to non-proliferation campaigners was Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent reference to his country's nuclear arsenal and threat to inflict consequences "never seen" in history on any nation that attempts to impede Russia's invasion of its neighbor.

On February 27, Putin placed Russia's nuclear forces on "special alert," a move that peace advocates characterized as a dangerous escalation.

Francesca Giovannini, director of the Project on Managing the Atom, said in response to the Times story that "only three months ago, discussions over nuclear weapons use in Europe would have been unimaginable."

"Nuclear weapons are back on the top of the policy agenda," Giovannini added. "Let's make this moment count to design a new generation of sensible nuclear risk-reduction strategies." ...

Speculation over whether Putin could decide to use nuclear weapons if conventional Russian forces and arms fail to break Ukrainian resistance has been rife since the invasion began last month.

"If Putin chose to use such weapons, they would not materialize out of thin air," journalist Jordan Michael Smith wrote in The New Republic earlier this month. "Russia is estimated to have somewhere between 1,600 and 2,000 tactical nuclear weapons, which have a shorter range and smaller impact and are designed to be used on battlefields."

"If Putin decided to use nuclear weapons, they would almost surely be tactical weapons, wielded as part of an at least theoretically limited nuclear deployment," Smith added. "Perhaps Russia might detonate a nuclear weapon over the Black Sea, a kind of intermediary step that doesn't kill lots of people but would shock the world."

In recent years, under the direction of both Democratic and Republican presidents, the U.S. has also moved to "modernize" its nuclear arsenal to include smaller warheads—a step critics fear could actually make nuclear conflict more likely. ...

According to the Times, the U.S. currently has around 100 "tactical" nukes positioned in Europe, a number that the newspaper notes is "limited by domestic policy disputes and the political complexities of basing them among NATO allies, whose populations often resist and protest the weapons' presence."

US fighting Russia 'to the last Ukrainian': veteran US diplomat

'We have responsability not to escalate beyond Ukraine' says NATO head

White House plans major escalation of NATO’s proxy war with Russia

One month since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden will begin a tour of the continent this week in an effort to mobilize the NATO powers in a major escalation of the conflict against Russia. The meetings, including those of NATO and the European Council, will seek to galvanize “international efforts to… impose severe and unprecedented costs on Russia,” the White House said.

Ahead of Biden’s trip, NATO military officials have been discussing plans, to be announced at the summit, to vastly expand the positioning of NATO forces on Russia’s borders in Europe as part of an effort to put the continent on a war footing, including potentially doubling the US troop presence in Europe. The series of meetings being held this week are councils of war. ... This series of meetings was preceded by clear signals from the White House that, despite statements from Ukraine that it is pursuing negotiations with Russia, the United States has no interest in finding a diplomatic solution to the war.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “From where I sit, diplomacy obviously requires both sides engaging in good faith to de-escalate.” He added, “The actions that we’re seeing Russia take… are in total contrast to any serious diplomatic effort to end the war.” Following these statements, Biden seemed to do everything he could to personally antagonize Russian President Vladimir Putin, referring to him as a “thug,” a “dictator” and a “war criminal.” Under conditions where a war is raging out of control, killing hundreds of people, and nuclear tensions are at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, these statements are a deliberate effort to escalate tensions. The Kremlin will see them as a US declaration of intent to carry out regime-change in Russia or massively escalate US involvement in the war. ...

The greater significance and implications of war generally emerge as it develops. While the US succeeded in goading the Russian government to take the first shot, it is clear that the war in Ukraine is the first stage of a much broader conflict. Having provoked the Russian government into a desperate and disastrous invasion of Ukraine, the United States is using the war to reassert its global hegemony, building a war coalition for what the United States has termed “great power conflict” targeting not only Russia, but China as well. ...

The preparations for world war are being carried out behind the backs of the American population. Biden pledged to end America’s “forever wars,” promising to “close this period of relentless war” and initiate “a new era of relentless diplomacy.” Instead, the Biden administration is carrying out the greatest military escalation since the launching of the “war on terror” in 2001.

Media Whitewashes Ukraine Nazis!

'Unfreeze Afghan Funds' Demanded After 13,000 Newborns Die From Malnutrition

Human rights advocates are demanding that the United States immediately release billions of dollars which it seized from Afghanistan's Central Bank after ending its 20-year military occupation of the country last year, causing a devastating hunger crisis that has already killed thousands of Afghan newborns in 2022.

With 95% of the country unable to access sufficient food due to the currency crisis, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported last week that 13,000 newborn babies have died of malnutrition and hunger-related diseases since January, warning that "time is running out" to address hunger in the impoverished country.

"This suffering is on the U.S. government," said anti-war group CodePink Monday in response to reports that as many as 3.5 million Afghan children need urgent nutrition support.

After spending months sitting on more than $9 billion it seized from the central bank last summer after the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the Biden administration last month announced it would commit $3.5 billion to unspecified humanitarian efforts.

But as HRW reported last week, the U.S. sanctions on the Taliban have left international banks wary of allowing aid groups to transfer funds into the country, while currency shortages are forcing Afghan banks to limit withdrawals.

"The country needs a functioning central bank," said Birgit Schwarz, a communications manager for the organization. "Aid is not enough."

As Ryan Cooper wrote at The American Prospect last month, the seizure of Afghan funds has "caused all the problems one might expect."

"The banking system has ceased to function," he wrote. "Businesses can't find credit and have resorted to mass bankruptcies and layoffs; people can't get enough cash; the country can't afford necessary imports; and the value of the currency is collapsing."

CodePink noted that the Biden administration's decision to split the funds it seized last year, reserving $3.5 billion for families who lost loved ones on September 11—over the objections of many of those family members—"undoubtedly exacerbated this horrific crisis."

According to a report last week by the BBC, hospitals run by charities like Doctors Withour Borders (MSF) have become "completely overwhelmed."

"One in every five children admitted to critical care is dying," wrote Yogita Limaye, "and the situation at the hospital has been made worse in recent weeks by the spread of the highly contagious measles disease that damages the body's immune system, a deadly blow for babies already suffering from malnutrition."

While the director of one humanitarian group told HRW last week that children across the country "are only skin on bones now," Cooper noted that "there is likely enough food in Afghanistan for all Afghans to survive, and in any case more could be imported as needed."

"The main problem is the shattering recession and currency crisis that has crushed the Afghan economy since American troops withdrew," he wrote. "Occupation spending accounted for about 40% of the country's GDP, and three-quarters of its government budget. Most Afghans can't afford food that would otherwise be readily available."

Obnoxious CBS Host Berates Chinese Ambassador Over Ukraine

Forest fires erupt around Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine

Forest fires have erupted in the vicinity of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, with Ukraine claiming that Russian control of the abandoned power plant is hampering efforts to control the flames.

At least seven fires have been spotted within Chernobyl’s exclusion zone via satellite imagery taken by the European Space Agency, according to a statement by Ukraine’s parliament.

The fires were probably ignited by the “armed aggression of the Russian federation”, the parliament said, although it’s not clear whether it was shelling, arson or some other factor that caused the outbreak. Fires like these within 10km of the plant are “particularly dangerous”, the statement added, with Ukraine claiming its firefighters are unable to tackle the blazes due to Russia’s presence.

Russian forces captured the Chernobyl plant in the opening days of the invasion of Ukraine in February. The site is known for a 1986 explosion and resulting fire that caused a major nuclear disaster, spreading radioactive contamination across Europe. The plant and surrounding area have largely been sealed off since then.

Justin Trudeau strikes power-sharing deal with leftwing New Democrats

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has struck a deal with a political rival that would keep in him power until 2025. In exchange for support from the New Democratic party on key votes, Trudeau’s Liberals have pledged progress on national pharmaceutical and dental care programs.

“With so much instability around us, Canadians need stability,” said the prime minister as he announced the deal with the NDP on Tuesday morning.

Trudeau said “nobody benefits” when parliament “doesn’t work properly”, and that his Liberals would look for common goals with the NDP and other opposition parties.

Trudeau was elected to a third term in September, but commands only a minority of seats in parliament, meaning he requires the support of other parties to govern. Minority governments have a relatively short lifespan and governing parties attempt to legislate with the ever-present fear of a looming election.

Kyla Scanlon: Ukraine War EXPLODES Commodity Prices

“Aggressive” speech by Fed chair Powell targets wages

US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has again emphasised that the key focus of the central bank’s decision to start lifting interest rates and tighten monetary policy is to push down on wage demands. This was the theme of his press conference last week announcing the shift in the Fed’s monetary policy, and it was further elaborated at an economic conference held on Monday.

In his address to the annual conference of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) in Washington followed by a question-and-answer session, Powell continually returned to the issue of what he called a “hot” and “very tight” labour market. Significantly, not once did he allude to the fact that, while nominal wage increases are higher than they have been in decades, they are still well below the level of inflation in the US, now at almost 8 percent and expected to go even higher in coming weeks.

In other words, while workers are having their real wages cut, daily in some cases as prices climb, the Fed’s stated policy is to deepen this process by reducing the demand for labour through its monetary policy.

In remarks to a Senate committee earlier this month, Powell left no doubt about what he was prepared to do if necessary. The example of former Fed chair Paul Volcker in the 1980s, who pushed interest rates to a record high, creating a deep recession and driving down wage demands amid rampant inflation, was one to be followed.

Ketanji Brown Jackson: I Was Standing Up for the Constitution by Representing Guantánamo Prisoners

Bush War Crimes, Guantánamo in Spotlight at Ketanji Brown Jackson Hearings

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday deflected attacks from Republican senators who questioned her work as a defense attorney for Guantánamo Bay detainees, as well as a false allegation that she called former Bush administration officials "war criminals."

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) implied that Jackson's assigned work defending detainees held indefinitely without charge or trial in the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba imperiled U.S. national security, telling her that "if you tried to do this in World War II, they'd run you out of town." ...

Noting Jackson made clear that "representing Guantánamo detainees was entirely about the limits of executive power, not exoneration of terrorists," Zack Ford of Alliance for Justice tweeted that "it's work she should be applauded for, unless you're, you know, anti-democracy."

During his allotted time for questioning, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) wondered "why in the world" Jackson—who he called "gracious and charming"—would call former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former President George W. Bush "war criminals."

"I don't remember that particular reference," Jackson replied. "I did not intend to disparage the president or the secretary of defense."

MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan wrote: "I get it. She has to say that. But let's be clear: No one should ever have to apologize for disparaging Bush or Rumsfeld."

As Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) subsequently noted, Jackson never called Rumsfeld or Bush war criminals. What she actually did was file a habeas corpus petition on behalf of individuals subjected to torture—a war crime—during the Bush administration.

"For the record," tweeted progressive Ohio congressional candidate Nina Turner, "Donald Rumsfeld is a war criminal."

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Bush administration lawyers drafted memos in an attempt to legalize the torture—officially called "enhanced interrogation"—that was occurring at Guantánamo and at CIA "black sites," U.S. military prisons, and elsewhere. Rumsfeld approved the torture techniques.

The Bush administration's allegedly pre-meditated 2003 invasion of Iraq under false pretenses—a war that destroyed a nation and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives—was called illegal by then-United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and numerous governments and human rights groups.

Benjamin Ferencz, a chief U.S. prosecutor at the post-World War II Nuremberg trials of leading Nazi officials, declared at the time that "a prima facie case can be made that the United States is guilty of the supreme crime against humanity, that being an illegal war of aggression against a sovereign nation."

Referring to Cornyn's false allegation, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch tweeted: "Two things can be true at the same time... Ketanji Brown Jackson never referred to George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld as 'war criminals.' Also, George W. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld were war criminals."

‘We have failed’: how California’s homelessness catastrophe is worsening

When California shut down in March 2020, advocates for unhoused people thought the state might finally be forced to solve its homelessness crisis. To slow the spread of Covid, they hoped, officials would have to provide people living outside with stable and private shelter and housing. But in the two years since, California’s humanitarian catastrophe has worsened: deaths of people on the streets are rising; college students are living in their cars; more elderly residents are becoming unhoused; encampment communities are growing at beaches, parks, highway underpasses, lots and sidewalks.

California has the fifth largest economy in the world, a budget surplus, the most billionaires in the US and some of the nation’s wealthiest neighborhoods. Yet the riches of the Golden State have not yielded solutions that match the scale of the crisis that’s been raging for decades. Pandemic-era programs have had some success for a slice of the unhoused population, but many measures have fallen short.

Meanwhile, homelessness has become the top issue in political races. Polls in Los Angeles, which is home to 40% of the state’s unhoused population, suggest that a majority of voters want their governments to act faster, and that residents are angered by the immense human suffering caused by a seemingly intractable crisis. ​​

In response, governments across the state are increasingly cracking down on people sleeping outside. Out of the 20 largest cities in California, the majority have either passed or proposed new laws banning camping in certain places or have ramped up encampment sweeps. LA and Oakland passed laws meant to prohibit camping in certain zones; San Francisco’s mayor has pushed for a police crackdown on unhoused people using drugs in the Tenderloin neighborhood; Fresno adopted a law to fine people up to $250 for entering certain restricted areas; and Modesto, Bakersfield and Riverside are pushing to expand the number of park rangers in an effort to enforce anti-camping rules and related restrictions.

Some unhoused people and civil rights activists warn that those escalating efforts to force people off the streets are only further hurting the most vulnerable.



the evening greens


Activists protest tanker as Russian oil imports flow into US ahead of ban

Environmentalists have launched protests against a Russian tanker bringing oil into New York, amid a flurry of oil imports into the US before a ban on oil and gas coming from Russia comes into force.

Activists from Greenpeace set out in two boats to intercept the Minerva Virgo oil tanker on Tuesday morning as it set about unloading its cargo in the port of New York. The green campaign group, which unfurled a banner reading “Oil fuels war” in front of the 50,000-ton tanker, had already confronted the Greek-flagged vessel on Sunday as it made its way to the port.

“The oil and gas companies that are responsible for our skyrocketing gas prices are the same companies that are fueling conflicts and death around the globe,” said Anusha Narayanan, climate campaign director at Greenpeace USA, who was on one of the boats. “A more peaceful, livable, and equal future depends on breaking our addiction to volatile and conflict-driven fossil fuels.”

The protest aimed to highlight how the US is continuing to import oil from Russia after Joe Biden’s decision on 8 March to ban the intake of oil and gas from Russia in what the US president called a “powerful blow to Putin’s war machine”.

The White House allowed a 45-day grace period for oil imports after the announcement, meaning that ships bringing fossil fuels from Russia won’t be able to dock at American ports from 22 April. Some oil companies have decided to “self sanction” by not taking product from Russia, although there have been exceptions, such as Shell buying a heavily discounted consignment of Russian oil, before apologizing for doing so.

Khanna-Warren Bill Would Ban Wall Street Profiteering on Water Scarcity

Rep. Ro Khanna and Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday introduced the Future of Water Act, which would prevent Wall Street from speculating on life-sustaining water resources in an attempt to profit from current and projected scarcity under fossil fuel-intensified drought conditions.

The congressional Democrats' bicameral legislation would amend the Commodity Exchange Act to affirm that water is a human right to be managed for public benefit—not a commodity to be bought and sold by corporations and investment firms. The bill would also prohibit the trading of water rights on futures markets—a recently invented financial scheme widely condemned as "dystopian."

"Every American should agree: Clean, drinkable water is one of our most basic human rights," Khanna (Calif.) said in a statement. "Large companies and investors should not be allowed to use an essential public resource for their own gain. We have to stand together to protect our water."

Warren (Mass.) added that "Wall Street shouldn't be allowed to use this vital resource to make profits at the expense of hardworking Americans." The newly unveiled bill, she said, would "protect water from Wall Street speculation and ensure one of our most essential resources isn't auctioned off to the highest bidder." ...

In December 2020, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) launched the world's first water futures market, allowing hedge funds and other participants to claim quarterly contracts and bet on the price of 10 acre-feet of water in California—where more than 37 million people are currently facing drought conditions after enduring the driest year in more than a century—through 2022.

Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Water, warned in response that treating water "as gold, oil, and other commodities that are traded on Wall Street futures markets" rather than as a public good belonging to everyone demonstrates how "the value of water, as a basic human right, is now under threat."

Arctic sea ice could hit maximum extent ‘much earlier’ than usual

An extreme heat event in the Arctic could cause it to reach the maximum of the extent of its ice for this year “considerably earlier” than usual, a scientist has warned. Temperature records were broken in Norway last week, with rain falling at Svalbard airport, and unusually warm temperatures recorded in Greenland and the Russian archipelago of Franz Josef Land.

Some stations reportedly reached 30C warmer than usual for the Arctic winter. The situation was echoed at the south pole, with Concordia station, on the Antarctic Plateau, hitting a record -11.8C on Friday, more than 40C warmer than usual for this time of year.

“It is unusual to have such large departures from average occur at the same time at both poles, and in the Arctic it may have led to the maximum sea ice extent reached considerably earlier than average,” said Prof Julienne Stroeve, professor of polar observation and modelling at University College London (UCL).

Arctic sea ice extent was tracking well below the 1981 to 2010 median, according to data published by the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. On 21 March, it spread across 14.5m sq km (5.6m sq miles) compared with a 15.5m sq km historical average.


Also of Interest

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

Whataboutism, Justice And What To Do When We’re As Guilty As Russia

Before US Enters New Cold War, Let's Remember the Costs of the Last One

The New Age of Faith

US Signals It’s Discouraging Zelensky from Making Concessions to Russia That Could End the Fighting

Ukraine Latest: More Shortages; Misunderstanding Russian Strategy?

Lavrov's History Lesson - Germany's Downfall - Russian Forces Develop Routine

Will Biden Turn the Sanctions Weapon on China?

House Democrats urge Blinken to stop 'destruction' of Palestinian Village

Watchdog Finds Postal Service Could Serve 99% of Routes With Electric Fleet

The farmers facing ruin in America’s ‘forever chemicals’ crisis

Ukrainian President Bans 11 Opposition Parties!

Gov't Could NATIONALIZE Gas & Stop PRICE GOUGING Instead Of Subsidizing Big Oil: Briahna Joy Gray

Hillary Clinton Gets REVENGE On Putin Through ‘BLEED HIM DRY’ Strategy In Ukraine: Kim Iversen


A Little Night Music

Fats Domino - The Big Beat

Fats Domino - Country Boy

Fats Domino - I Want To Walk You Home

Fats Domino - Three Nights A Week

Fats Domino - I Hear You Knocking

Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill

Fats Domino - The Fat Man (version 1)

Fats Domino - Careless Love

Fats Domino - I'm Ready


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6 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@gjohnsit

i'm sure that they'll hit their world war groove now that they've identified the right sort of enemy.

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4 users have voted.
mimi's picture

may be they can't bear their own bullshit anymore and want it to be over with.
I can't blame those who have suicidal death wishes.

Thanks for darling chubby fat domino. I listened a lot to his singing in the late sixties and early seventies. Some darn damn second wife threw the records away, we (I) guarded like our eyeballs after my foremer husband died.

She better doesn't cross my way. yeah, at least I have some good reasons to rant my heart out.

Thanks for the disgustig news and the beautiful attempt to make us forget them. I always liked Fat Dominos play and singing.

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12 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@mimi

when i was a kid (and still) i really liked fats domino's music. he just seemed to radiate good vibes.

have a great evening!

eta:

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4 users have voted.
janis b's picture

@mimi

Check out Azazello's rendition of Putin karaokicking 'Blueberry Hill'.

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3 users have voted.
mimi's picture

@janis b
i just had a big bad gout attack and couldn't even walk with crutches from bed to bathroom. Every rant has its reason. I don't give a shit about it when I shit in my bed. Wink
A bit like putinchen, he doesnt give a shit about the shit he is doing.

Shit is as shit does.

That too shall pass.

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2 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

and good old Antoine.

The article onThe New Age of Faith slightly surprised me by focusing on dark ages behaviors like professing belief and group think. Clearly those behaviors are quite common and the parallel is obvious to me, but I took Age of Faith somewhat more literally and see the beginning as no further back than the start of RussiaGate, when in fact, everything was taken on faith, where we clearly, blatantly, crossed over into an evidence free age and an afactual reality. I see the group think and public avowal of faith in the true gospel as but symptoms of the disconnect from empirical reality.

be well and have a good one

PS: I don't recall Country Boy at all. Perhaps not so big on the Left Coast?

edit: cleaned up my usual hamfisted typing and such

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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 --

Pluto's Republic's picture

@enhydra lutris

...during the 2016 Ukraine election meddling and CrowdStrike.

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic

campaign HQ. Crowdstrike played a big role; so, initially, did Steele and assorted other actors, but it was pretty clearly a team Hillary project.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

Pluto's Republic's picture

@enhydra lutris

...came through Ukraine. Of course, many US political operatives were feeding at the trough of corruption and money laundering in Ukraine during the Obama years. Paul Manafort was as close as Ukraine could come when they dug up those ledgers from years earlier, and slipped them to the US Embassy in Kyiv. And, really, that was the only thing that the Mueller circus could come up with that actually stuck. Naturally, Manafort's influence pedaling occurred years earlier and was completely unrelated to Trump, but the media did their very best to blur the facts and tie them together in a collusion bundle. CrowdStrike's founder is closely tied to Ukraine and is an enemy of Russia and a saboteur of Russia's interests. Hillary's and Obama's people were working out of the US Embassy in 2016. Hillary raked in $15 million from Ukraine officials and oligarchs in the run up to the 2016 election. It was the staff of the US Embassy in Ukraine that set up the sting of the Trump telephone call with Zelanski, and then all of them as a group were the witnesses who testified at Trump's impeachment, including the former US Ambassador to Ukraine.

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____________________

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

@enhydra lutris

heh, if i could make up my own names for things, rather than "age of faith," i would call this "the age of customizable facts."

people these days just believe what they want to and either cherry pick or make up out of whole cloth facts to support their chosen belief. what makes this age more interesting perhaps than prior ages is that having chosen their belief and their customized facts, modern communication technologies can (and are) employed by vast numbers of people to promote their chosen beliefs and customized facts.

i looked up country boy and it made a small splash on the charts back in 1960, staying on for 10 weeks and peaking at #25. it seems like it would have been easy to miss, especially in the age of regional radio.

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Azazello's picture

Biggest news of the day, by far.
Russia will only accept rubles for gas deliveries to Europe
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-FItg7uqmk width:600 height:360]
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bIufpKlCpk width:600 height:360]

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11 users have voted.

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

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

seems like a pretty good move on putin's part. he gets to rub the west's nose in their impotence, force them to hold reserves of rubles, undermine the dollar and prop up the value of the ruble by creating foreign demand for it.

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8 users have voted.
janis b's picture

@Azazello

What next in line for absurdity in a time of war?

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3 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

Just trust us…

I wish people were told why Russia did this.

On February 27, Putin placed Russia's nuclear forces on "special alert," a move that peace advocates characterized as a dangerous escalation.

NATO has been war gaming in countries close to Russia’s borders and they are flying lots of planes that could be armed to attack Russia. Russia’s defense would be sorely tested. I’m sure that if this crap was happening in Mexico by Russia and its allies we wouldn’t just be sitting back and watching to see what happens.

Sigh!

“From where I sit, diplomacy obviously requires both sides engaging in good faith to de-escalate.” He added, “The actions that we’re seeing Russia take… are in total contrast to any serious diplomatic effort to end the war.

Yeah flooding Ukraine with lethal weapons sure helps end the war huh Blinky?

Meanwhile homelessness is exploding everywhere in the great US of A because weapon manufacturers are more worthy of getting the $$$$ and what is Jerome Powell gonna do about it? Make things much worse than they are. Too bad that all those men and women who signed up to protect their country don’t take a look at it and see that there is less to protect every day. Maybe if they did they would understand that they are just cannon fodder for the oligarchs. Sure would love to know who’s pockets all those billions spent on the problem went into. Cuz it never seems to get to the people it’s intended to…oh wait.

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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

yep, some days i look at the news and i think that there are powerful morons that really do want to break everything - and then break the little pieces into smaller pieces.

i still think the best approach, if my fellow planetary little people are persuadable is to send all of the powerful morons to an island somewhere so that we can fix things while there's a chance remaining.

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6 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

On pushing Russia and China together.

Ross [00:03:31] Don’t people who apply these sanctions think this through? Are they so short-sighted they don’t understand that these sanctions are going to build further capacity within Russia, push Russia further towards China, make that economic alliance concrete and, ultimately, you’re not going to be able to keep the lights on in in Europe? All the while underestimating the fact that from a food security point of view – take the U.K., for instance, a net importer of food – not appreciating the fact that, for instance, Russia/Ukraine, they create twenty five percent, a quarter, of all wheat annually. The estimation this year is one hundred and two million tons Russia and Ukraine, wheat. Don’t people realize that there’s going to be a massive knock on effect?

Michael Hudson [00:04:23]Yes, they do realize it. Yes, they’ve thought it all through. I worked with these people for more than 50 years.

Ross [00:04:31] Who are these people?

Michael Hudson [00:04:32]The neocons, basically, the people who are in charge of U.S. foreign policy? Victoria Nuland and her husband, Robert Kagan, the people that President Biden has appointed all around him, from Blinken to Sullivan and right down the line. They are basically urging people around the New American Century. They’re the people who said America can run the whole world and create its own reality.

And yes, they know that this is going to cause enormous problems for Germany. They know that not only will it block the energy that Germany and Italy and other countries in Europe need through their oil and gas, but also it’ll block the use of gas for fertilizer, upping their fertilizer production and decreasing their food production. They look at this and they say, How can America gain from all of this? There’s always a way of gaining what something looks to be bad. Well, one way they’ll gain is oil prices are going way up. And that benefits the United States whose foreign policy is based very largely on oil and gas. The oil industry controls most of the world’s oil trade, and that explains a lot of the US diplomacy. This is a fight to lock the world energy trade into control by U.S. companies, excluding not only Iran and Venezuela, but also excluding Russia.

Ross [00:06:16] So as Europe pushes towards more and more green and renewable energy and this for the Americans they must think it’s a dreadful scenario insofar as they can’t sell the oil as Europe becomes or wants to become more self-sufficient. So ultimately, and Britain net zero, whatever that means. But but going down the renewables path, going down the solar path takes America’s dependency or dependency on America out the game, doesn’t it?

Michael Hudson [00:06:49]This is exactly the point that the European public has not realized. While most of the European public wants to prevent global warming and prevent carbon into the atmosphere, U.S. foreign policy is based on increasing, and even accelerating, global warming, accelerating carbon emissions because that’s the oil trade. Suppose that Europe got its way. Suppose if the Greens got what they wanted and Germany and Europe were completely dependent on solar energy panels, on wind energy and to some extent, on nuclear power, perhaps? Well, if they were completely self-sufficient in energy without oil or gas or coal, America would lose the primary lever. It has over the ability to turn off the power and electricity and oil of any country that didn’t follow U.S. diplomatic direction.

One reality that they can’t create is that America is self reliant and doesn’t need to import anything from any country. That’s what I’m questioning. Don’t they understand that China itself can bring us a lot of pain because we buy so many things from them? And if Americans don’t have money they won’t be able to buy any extra stuff or maybe no gas. Lots of people have to commute hundreds of miles a day. They don’t have the option to work from home. Good luck buying groceries when there is no one to stock the shelves.

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joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

the more that i look at what these morons are doing, the more it appears that they have no plans to see to it that the existential needs of most of us are met. frankly, i think that the professional managerial class has decided that vast numbers of americans are superfluous (as well as icky).

i think that the elites plan to use the opportunity created by significantly greater scarcity to allocate resources to those that they would like to keep around.

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snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

for gas with the ruble will change the neocons plans or hurt it in any way? That is going to affect the dollar big time isn’t it?

Sam chased a butterfly today and boy was it cute to watch her act like a puppy again. I wish I could post the video of her playing in the muddy water. She kept jumping into it and running off and jumping back in and then rolling her body till she was covered with it. Of course then she came over to me to shake it off. My legs were drenched! Might try to upload it to YouTube if it’s not too hard?

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joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

Do you think that Russia making countries pay for gas with the ruble will change the neocons plans or hurt it in any way?

i doubt that the neocons basic plan (which is to find a way to replace putin's government with a u.s. friendly regime) will change, though strategies and tactics might.

the ruble requirement for oil will not affect the u.s. since it has sworn off russian energy, though there may be other russian products that the u.s. does still import that putin might decide to trade in rubles. the petroruble will mostly affect europe and no doubt it will piss off their neocons, but there really isn't much they can do about it. their choice is binary, either buy russian oil and gas or don't.

my guess is that europe can't at this point quit russian energy without deeply hurting itself.

putin's plan forces europe not only to pay putin, but to strengthen his economy and this hurts the neocon's tactic of undermining the russian economy through sanctions.

my feeling is that, especially since putin and xi are coordinating in the economic realm, the tactic of undermining the russian economy was a weak tactic. sanctions around the world have held back societies for a time, but as with for example, iran, sanctions have led to adversaries developing work arounds and promoting hard-line opponents of the u.s.' electoral prospects.

i think that it is likely that if the neocons push too far with economic weaponry, sooner or later there will be a return volley and it is likely to be deeply unpleasant and likely to upset the neocons ability to prosecute further hostilities save for the resort to nuclear weapons.

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janis b's picture

@joe shikspack

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snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

my guess is that europe can't at this point quit russian energy without deeply hurting itself.

putin's plan forces europe not only to pay putin, but to strengthen his economy and this hurts the neocon's tactic of undermining the russian economy through sanctions.

It does seem like Europe and especially Germany are shooting their economies in the buttocks on America’s orders. But then that’s what NATO was designed to do wasn’t it? Keep Germany down, Russia contained and America the top dawg. And we know what happens when dawgs get backed into a corner. MoA is covering this and there are lots of smart people who comment there.

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destroying ISIS:

I just want to express this because mainstream news declares Russia is doing this to Mariupol.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-really-bombing-shit-out-isis-just-he-prom...

... Along with the Trump administration's new strategy to defeat ISIS, the battle for the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was in play for more than half of the year.

... Trump's Defense Secretary James Mattis said during the operation that the military had changed its strategy and was beginning to use "annihilation tactics," instead of attrition, to defeat the group.

"Our intention is that the foreign fighters do not survive the fight to return home to North Africa, to Europe, to America, to Asia, to Africa, we are not going to allow them to do so," Mattis said in May. "We are going to stop them there and take apart the caliphate."

Increased strikes have brought increased casualties. Rights groups have condemned the U.S. coalition's bombing raids for creating greater collateral damage... 

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joe shikspack's picture

@Linda Wood

i think that you're correct. if you look at all of the things that u.s. officialdom accuses russia of and points fingers at in mock horror, they are all things that the u.s. has done far more often with far higher casualty counts.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@Linda Wood

of Mariupol, because they cut off the water supply to all of Crimea. For Russia, that is a "must do." That is the water supply for their only warm water naval base. Which has been their naval base for the past 250 years. Mariupol is critical to Russia's national security.

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____________________

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

@Pluto's Republic

Mariupol is the headquarters of the Azov Nazis who have killed thousands of Donbas civilians during this 8 year war, Russia has stated they will bring these murderers to justice.

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Lookout's picture

..but it's our world.

I'm constantly amazed at the brainless acceptance of these wars. The Ukraine is plain to anyone who looks.

Long but excellent analysis (2+ hours)

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate talk live with ex-UN weapons inspector and military expert Scott Ritter about the Russia-Ukraine war. Ritter provides a detailed analysis of the battlefield that stands in stark contrast to the rose-colored perspective of most Western analysts, and offers his perspective on the political follies that drove the conflict.

We'll see what we see, but my bet is with China and Russia. The US is reflected by it's demented administration. Sad, but it is what it is.

Thanks for the news and blues!

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

joe shikspack's picture

@Lookout

yep, it's a mean old world.

thanks for the video, i've got it set to post in tomorrow's eb so it'll get more eyeballs.

i think that you're right about russia and china. if they work in concert to turnabout the things that the u.s. is attempting to do to them, the u.s. is in deep trouble.

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