The Evening Blues - 7-19-22
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features blues harmonica player Frank Frost. Enjoy!
Frank Frost - Hey Boss Man
"The biggest lie the hawks ever sold was that their militaristic policies prevent the problems they actually create. Militarizing against Russia caused this war. The war on terror created terror groups. Continuing the encirclement of China will likely lead to a nasty confrontation there. Etc."
-- Caitlin Johnstone
News and Opinion
Behind the purges in the Ukrainian state
The sudden dismissal by Zelensky of the head of Ukraine’s Security Services and the chief prosecutor amid the opening of treason investigations into 651 state officials clearly indicates a major crisis within the regime. Contrary to claims that Ukraine is absolutely united in the continuation of the war, the massive purge—amid allegations of pro-Russian treason at the highest levels of the state—indicates that there is substantial opposition to the war, even within Zelensky’s inner circle.
The NY Times writes: “While Ukraine is largely united in its opposition to Russia’s invasion, its deep cultural and historical ties with Russia have translated, in parts of the country, to pockets of support for Moscow.” The opening of 651 investigations into what Zelensky called “treason and collaboration activities” strongly indicates that the “pockets of support for Moscow” are very deep.
The NYT states that ties to Russia “particularly in the south of Ukraine near the region of Crimea ... and in parts of the east near the Russian border ... have translated into practical support for Russian forces since the invasion.”
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) employs 27,000 people, making it the largest intelligence agency in Europe. This is the apparatus of a police state. The CIA plays a major role in its operations.
The NYT reports: “American officials said the moves reflect Mr. Zelensky’s efforts to put more experienced leaders in key security positions.” It adds: “U.S. intelligence agencies have been providing huge amounts of information to Ukrainian partners.” It is likely that the CIA, supplying names to Zelensky, is overseeing the purge of elements within the Ukrainian state who it views as politically unreliable, i.e., who oppose the continuation of the US-NATO #ProxyWar against Russia regardless of the cost in Ukrainian lives.
Gazprom force majeure. Russia turns up pain dial on EU
Russia’s Gazprom tells European buyers it cannot guarantee gas supplies
Russia’s Gazprom has told customers in Europe it cannot guarantee gas supplies because of “extraordinary” circumstances, according to a letter seen by Reuters, upping the ante in an economic tit-for-tat with the west over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Dated 14 July, the letter from the Russian state gas monopoly said it was declaring force majeure on supplies, starting from 14 June.
Known as an “act of God” clause, a force majeure clause is standard in business contracts and spells out extreme circumstances that excuse a party from their legal obligations.
Uniper, Germany’s biggest importer of Russian gas, was among the customers who said it had received a letter, and that it had formally rejected the claim as unjustified. It did not share the letter, but a trading source, asking not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the force majeure concerned supplies through the Nord Stream 1 (NS1) pipeline, a major supply route to Germany and beyond.
Flows through the pipeline are at zero as the link undergoes annual maintenance that began on 11 July and is meant to conclude on Thursday.
Europe fears Moscow could keep the pipeline mothballed in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, heightening an energy crisis that risks tipping the region in recession.
US Implies Ukraine Can Use HIMARS Against Russian Targets in Crimea
The State Department on Sunday implied that Ukrainian forces are allowed to use US-provided High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) against Russian targets in Crimea, which Russia has controlled since 2014.
When the US first announced it was sending HIMARS to Ukraine, Biden administration officials said they received “assurances” from Ukrainian officials that the rockets won’t be used to target Russian territory.
When asked if the ban on Ukraine using the HIMARS to target Russian territory applies to Crimea, a State Department spokesperson told Antiwar.com, “Crimea is Ukraine.” ...
On Saturday, a Ukrainian intelligence official said that Ukrainian forces should start attacking Russian facilities in Crimea and suggested US-provided HIMARS could be used for such strikes.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy chair of Russia’s security council, warned Sunday that if Ukraine launched attacks on Crimea, it would mean “doomsday” for Ukrainian leadership.
After Visit, Palestinians Say Biden Presidency Is 'Like the Trump Years With a Smile'
Palestinians offered a dour assessment of U.S. President Joe Biden's policy agenda and track record thus far in the wake of his brief visit to Israeli-occupied territory last week, with one official describing the administration as "like the Trump years with a smile."
Biden's trips to East Jerusalem and Bethlehem on Friday were met with protests from rights groups and ordinary Palestinians who decried the administration's refusal to break substantively from its predecessors and condemn Israel's deadly military aggression and unlawful occupation of Palestinian land.
During his visit, Biden met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas but "did not criticize Israel for expanding settlements, some of which resemble sprawling suburbs, in occupied territory that the Palestinians want for a future state," the Associated Press reports.
While giving lip service to a two-state solution and expressing his commitment to bringing Palestinians and Israelis "closer together," Biden said that "the ground is not ripe at this moment to restart negotiations."
On Sunday, Mohammad Shtayyeh, prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority, responded that "if, as the U.S. president said, the [two-state] solution is currently out of reach, then there must immediately be a settlement freeze, in accordance with international law and resolutions to preserve the right of the Palestinian people to their independent state."
Biden vowed during his Middle East trip to provide $300 million in aid to Palestinians, including millions in funding for hospitals in the besieged territories. However, as The Guardian noted, such pledges "have done little to assuage Palestinian skepticism that the U.S. no longer has an appetite for their cause: Biden said twice this week that he does not think peace is possible 'in the near term.'"
"Nor did he mention his unfulfilled pledge to reopen a U.S. consulate in east Jerusalem, which served as a de facto embassy to the Palestinians before President Donald Trump closed it three years ago," the newspaper added.
The U.S. president also didn't heed human rights groups' calls to cut off the supply of arms to the Israeli military, which has used American-made weaponry to commit atrocities and destroy aid projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In May 2021, as the Israeli military bombarded Gaza, the Biden administration approved the sale of $735 million worth of so-called "precision-guided weapons" to Israel.
"The lack of accountability for the government of Israel's serious violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, is perpetuated by U.S. policy," said Paul O'Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA. "Instead of providing cover for impunity, the U.S. must support independent, thorough, and credible investigations into these crimes, such as that opened by the International Criminal Court."
Libyan PM makes alliance with ex-enemy to cement ceasefire
Libya’s prime minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, has made an unexpected alliance with his former enemy, the eastern warlord Khalifa Haftar, in a bid to cement a fragile ceasefire and end a months-long oil blockade. Less than three years ago, Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) besieged Tripoli in a failed attempt to capture the capital. On Monday, in a highly symbolic gesture, LNA’s chief of staff, Abdulrazek al-Nadoori, was invited to visit the city for talks.
The prospect of Dbeibeh and Haftar burying their differences may be welcomed by the United Nations as it struggles to maintain a ceasefire that ended a six-year civil war in 2020. ...
Western governments will be happy with the return of Libyan oil to a constricted world market, but some will balk at the enhanced role for Haftar. The 78-year-old general is a polarising figure. He is popular in the east for his campaign against anarchic militias, but his enemies accuse him of war crimes during the siege of Tripoli.
London and Washington are also concerned about Haftar’s closeness to Russia, which supports him with mercenaries from the Kremlin-backed Wagner group.
Saudi Prince Throws U.S. War Crimes Back In Biden’s Face
White House seeks to delay decision on Prince Mohammed immunity over Khashoggi murder
The Biden administration asked a US judge for a 60-day extension before it formally weighed in on whether Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, ought to be granted sovereign immunity in a case involving the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
The Department of Justice said in a filing before a US district court that it had initiated a “decision-making process” about whether it would file a statement of interest in the case but that it would not be able to comply with the court’s requested deadline of 1 August.
“The United States is diligently considering the Court’s inquiry but the process for doing so requires consultation among multiple entities within the Executive Branch with respect to complex issues of international and domestic law,” the filing said.
The judge in the case granted the US government its request and gave it until 3 October to submit a statement of interest.
New Sign Housing Market On Verge Of COLLAPSE
Bulletproof steel shelters sold as solution to school shootings
A company in Fort Pierce, Florida – not far from Parkland, site of the 2018 school shooting that killed 17 – is stirring controversy with its plan to protect children from school shootings by hiding them in bullet-resistant steel enclosures.
To many, the idea of directing children into stark metal boxes serves as an alarming symbol of a country that fails time and again to address the causes of its gun violence crisis.
But with Congress stymied, decade after decade, on gun control, and mass shootings only growing deadlier and more common, do the pods represent a disturbing – but inevitable – safety measure?
Children, the company says, can enter the shelters in the event of an attack “within a minute or less”. The pods, intended to accommodate a classroom’s worth of people, are built from “military-grade steel specially heat-treated to resist not only all handguns and shotguns, but even semi-automatic weapons like AK-47 and AR-15 rifles”, according to the company. The idea is that each classroom would have its own shelter, which locks from the inside with three bolts and a locking pin.
West Virginia judge blocks enforcement of 150-year-old abortion ban
A judge in West Virginia blocked enforcement of the state’s 150-year-old abortion ban on Monday, opening the door for abortions to resume in the state.
The Kanawha county circuit court judge, Tera L Salango, granted the Women’s Health Center of West Virginia a preliminary injunction against the ban, saying that in the absence of action by the court, the state’s sole abortion clinic and its patients, “especially those who are impregnated as a result of a rape or incest, are suffering irreparable harm”.
The Republican attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, lamented “a dark day for West Virginia”. He said his office will appeal to the state supreme court.
West Virginia has a state law dating back to the 1800s making performing or obtaining an abortion a felony punishable by up to a decade in prison. It provides an exception for cases in which a pregnant person’s life is at risk.
Lawyers for the Women’s Health Center – the state’s only abortion clinic – argued that the old law was void because it has not been enforced in more than 50 years and has been superseded by modern laws regulating abortion that acknowledge a woman’s right to the procedure. One example is West Virginia’s 2015 law, which allows abortions until 20 weeks.
Peter Beinart: The Israel Lobby Is Spending Millions to Defeat Progressive Democrats
Just 27 Billionaires Have Spent $90 Million to Buy GOP Congress
A few dozen billionaires are spending tens of millions of dollars on the 2022 midterm elections—mostly to support Republican candidates, including many who have parroted the dangerous lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen—in a bid to ensure that Congress is full of lawmakers willing "to make their wealthy benefactors even richer," according to a fresh analysis.
Titled Billionaires Buying Elections, the report from Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) details how "billionaires are increasingly using their personal fortunes and the profits of connected corporations to drown out regular voters' voices and elect hand-picked candidates who further rig the nation's economy—especially the tax system."
A pair of super PACs tasked with securing Republican majorities in the House and Senate—the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) and the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF)—raised a combined $188.3 million through the first 16 months of the 2022 campaign cycle, according to ATF. Nearly half—$89.4 million, or 48%—came from just 27 billionaires. A whopping 86% of the GOP's billionaire money came from "Wall Street tycoons" who are arguably the biggest beneficiaries of glaring loopholes in the tax code.
The Democratic counterparts of those two super PACs—the House Majority PAC and the Senate Majority PAC—raised a combined $154 million over the same time period. A smaller share—$25.8 million, or 17%—came from 19 billionaires. A majority of billionaire contributions to Democratic candidates also came from the finance and investment sector (35%), but other industries were also well-represented, including cryptocurrency (26%), and tech (18%).
"Unlike candidates and party committees, super PACs can raise unlimited donations from individuals and corporations," ATF explained. "In return they are not supposed to coordinate activities with the campaigns they support but instead act independently, though that rule is often flouted."
Top billionaire donors to congressional super PACs include hedge fund magnate Ken Griffin, who has given more than $28.5 million to CLF and SLF, and private equity mogul Stephen Schwarzman, who has pumped $20 million into the GOP's two super PACs.
"Anti-democratic vote-buying," ATF wrote, "has been facilitated by—and is facilitating—the accelerating wealth growth of the billionaire class and the record profits of the corporations they own."
Biden To Declare CLIMATE EMERGENCY In HAIL MARY To Pass Energy Agenda
How a conservative US network undermined Indigenous energy rights in Canada
A US-based libertarian coalition has spent years pressuring the Canadian government to limit how much Indigenous communities can push back on energy development on their own land, newly reviewed strategy documents reveal. The Atlas Network partnered with an Ottawa-based thinktank – the Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI) – which enlisted pro-industry Indigenous representatives in its campaign to provide “a shield against opponents”.
Atlas, which has deep ties to conservative politicians and oil and gas producers, claimed success in reports in 2018 and 2020, arguing its partner was able to discourage the Canadian government from supporting a United Nations declaration that would ensure greater involvement by Indigenous communities.
The Canadian parliament did eventually pass the legislation to begin implementing the declaration in 2021, but observers say the government has made little progress to move it forward. Meanwhile, Indigenous groups linked to MLI’s campaign – including the Indian Resource Council – continue to appear at conferences, testify to federal committees and get quoted in major media outlets to push the view that Indigenous prosperity is virtually impossible without oil and gas.
Hayden King, executive director of a Toronto-based Indigenous public policy thinktank called the Yellowhead Institute, called the campaign “a contemporary expression of the type of imperialism that Indigenous peoples have been dealing with here for many, many years”.
The Atlas Network calls itself a “worldwide freedom movement” and has nearly 500 partners, including thinktanks like the Manhattan Institute. Other powerful partners include the Cato Institute, a thinktank co-founded by Charles Koch in 1977, as well as the Heritage Foundation, which hosted a keynote speech by Donald Trump in April. Their influence on US politics includes leading campaigns to make Americans doubt if human-caused climate change is real.
Climate change: Europe heat sparks harmful ozone pollution, 'extreme' fire risk
‘Heat apocalypse’ warning in western France as thousands flee wildfire
Meteorologists have warned of a “heat apocalypse” in western France as more than 8,500 further people fled their homes to escape a large wildfire sparked by a searing southern European heatwave that has already caused hundreds of deaths.
Nearly 25,000 people have been forced to abandon homes, holiday rentals and campsites for emergency shelters in the Gironde département west of Bordeaux, while blazes in Spain, Portugal and Greece have forced thousands more to flee.
Temperatures across southern Europe showed some sign of abating on Monday as the heatwave, during which temperatures have surpassed 40C (104F) across much of the region, moved north, including towards Britain, which was set for its hottest day on record.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
The Biggest Lie The Hawks Ever Sold: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix
The House Military Spending Bill Is a Massive Giveaway to the Weapons Industry
Palestinians Face Forced Expulsions as Biden Pledges Allegiance to Israel
Russia’s Campaign in Ukraine: Nearing an Inflection Point?
Three Other Writers With Thoughts On Ukraine
Russia Turns Up The Pressure (And off the Gas) on Germany and the EU
Governments Are Ignoring An Easy Climate Fix
This heatwave has eviscerated the idea that small changes can tackle extreme weather
Disinfo Czar DENIES Disinfo To CNN's Brian Stelter
Actual Journalists Slam Corporate Media To Their Faces
Max Blumenthal & Aaron Mate slam corporate media disinfo at Collision Toronto
A Little Night Music
Frank Frost - My Back Scratcher
Frank Frost - Ride With Your Daddy Tonight
Frank Frost - Janie On My Mind
Frank Frost - Feel Good Babe
The Jelly Roll Kings - Frank Frost Blues
Frank Frost - Pocket Full of Money
Frank Frost - Harpin' On It
Frank Frost - Things You Do
Frank Frost - Feel Good Babe
Comments
No love for the media
Not that they deserve any.
That reminds me
evening gj...
it's not surprising that democrats appear to be the most credulous.
have a great evening!
Polling Accuracy Is Questionable
Although polling techniques in the post-landline era are inherently questionable, that does not mean the results are utterly useless.
That caveat out of the way, these polls confirm what I think so they must be absolutely correct. OK. Not necessarily.
Let's leave it at this: these polls strongly if not necessarily conclusively support the view that the overwhelming majority of Americans are NOT buying The Narrative.
The loudest number on either chart shows that as of this sampling, only 20% of self identified Democrats have "quite a lot" or "a great deal" of confidence in the media. This contradicts the view of people I respect like Caitlin Johnstone and several very astute posters here to the effect that Propaganda Works.
Not necessarily.
The second loudest number is that Independents and Republicans have the same tiny percentage who have quite a lot or more confidence in the media. As I have personally thought since the Trump years, the media ostentatiously blew off even pretending to be objective about Trump and became overt cheerleaders for the Democrats. It has been so obvious that the only people who don't notice this dramatic shift in journalistic "standards" are died in the wool Democrats. They imagine that the media finally started telling the truth about the GOP.
I used to be one of those Dem die-hards and I do not think hostility to them makes much sense, no matter how frustrating their obvious groupthink can be.
Like much of the rest of this very good open thread shows, all around the world, resistance to this insanity is fitfully cranking up. It will happen here as the shit continues to pile up in ever bigger piles. Where I live in Los Angeles, there are two tent rows within four blocks of where I live. Just this morning I saw the first of what will be many signs like this: "Contributions Welcome." They are not huge encampments, with about a dozen "residences" on each strip.
Rents in this neighborhood range from $1800 a month for a studio to $3,000 for a two bedroom apartment -- and on up from there if you want things like a parking place or air conditioning. That is a reality sandwich that hundreds of us West Hollywood citizens get to take a bite of every day.
Organizer's wisdom -- you can never tell anybody to change their mind successfully. People have to gag on that crap sandwich before they change their way of thinking. These polls suggest that 80% of Dems and 92% of everybody else already have palpable doubts about main stream news.
.
The revolution will not be online.
Apology to Gil-Scot Heron.
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
You forgot a ’t’
but I’m sure Gil-Scott-Heron would be very forgiving. I think, as you’ve referenced, he had a deep and generous sense of resistance and revolution that needs no apology.
I would be interested to know how your local tent rows evolve or revolve.
I saw Gil and the Midnight Band live in 1981
.
"Mandate, my ass." Ironic, huh?
Regarding the tent rows in LA: Very early during the restrictions in 2020, on Sunset Blvd, between Fairfax and La Brea, just down the street from where I used to work, an elaborate tent line formed and grew. The City would every few months move them out for a day to clean up the sidewalk. About six months or so in, the City (or somebody) parked a Porta Potty around the corner from the tents. About a month ago, that little colony disappeared.
I do not know if any of the same individuals are in this new installation at two adjacent Melrose Avenue intersections.
I am debating an idea that came to me way back when I first saw the tents on Sunset -- to offer pay individuals $10 to allow me to photograph them. I think that is fair, but this is uncharted territory. My thought is to make a video more or less called Meet Your Homeless Neighbors.
I can think of lots of ways that this could piss people off, but the material could be heart rending.
Anybody have any thoughts on this concept?
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
What a visionary he was
[video:https://youtu.be/6JvpNY1QHzs]
My thoughts regarding the video -
As much as I’d be interested in seeing a respectfully and sensitively done documentary of the homeless you observe, I have difficulty imagining how an outsider such as yourself could do it justice, especially if consent was based on the offer of money. On the other hand, I think if you are truly motivated to record the unfolding debacle, then what you would need to do is make personal, heartfelt connections, and earn the respect necessary for representing something so utterly full of vulnerability. For me, relating your observations and putting them into context of your understanding and experience would be of merit.
The idea is half baked at this point
.
I do not want to shoot a documentary film -- it is a much more modest project. I just want to make a compilation of photographs. No comment from me.
It could grow into something more ambitious, but I would not go any further than adding sound from the people being photographed to let them say what if anything they want to say.
The interpersonal premise is simply to address the request for donations with a proposition -- call it work. That is the ticklish part, but I consider it the most respectful way to ask for someone to show other people what has happened in their lives.
.
I am sincere in soliciting opinions about this. It is one of the keys to fighting back against the madness -- allying with people who have been tossed to the street as part of the alleged efforts to "save lives" and to "weaken Russia."
Honestly, I am not very likely to go through with this notion. Still cogitating on it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
Hi fire with fire
Thank you for addressing this subject. I think your half baked ideas are meaningful. However you choose or are able to, I would appreciate any reporting of your observations and thoughts. It’s a subject that deserves more attention.
Deal
No text
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
Thanks, and no money was involved ; ) n/t
CNN/SSRS poll shows the majority of Americans
opposing Biden's Ukraine policy. With out of control inflation and a lurking economic catastrophe, blaming everything on "Putin's price hike" is backfiring on the Administration. Also today: A new Gallup poll shows historic lows in Americans' confidence in media. And: Mexico's president calls Assange the best journalist of our time.
evening cb...
i guess after a certain amount of time people look deeply into their own wallets and say, no, things are not good. biden cannot pass the wallet test.
Zelensky purge; scapegoat search, or retirement planning?
Perhaps it is both. Two of his most trusted people are among the purged/accused, head of SBU and the Attorney General, are long time personal confidants. Perhaps Zelensky has sensed that it’s time to get out of
DodgeKiev. He is rumored to have overseas properties and a sizable fortune put away for retirement. If he waits too long to depart, he might not be able to enjoy his properties and nest egg. He does not strike me as someone who will willingly go down with his ship of state.“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024
evening ovals...
heh, i would imagine that with the war going badly and perhaps public opinion about his handling of it declining, zelensky is probably worried about coups. i would imagine that he'd like to put some distance between himself and people like the head of the secret police about now.
I know..pick me…
Because they don’t give a rat’s ass about anyone who isn’t in their club. The guy who created insulin sold it for $1, but of course big pharma jiggered with the formula just enough to change it and then sell it for a higher price.
It’s not big pharma that decides how much drugs should be sold for, but the FDA that makes the decision. It’s why they are letting a drug company sell their Alzheimer’s drug for $56,000 a year even though it doesn’t work and they lied about it during the trial.
Heh Rachel is back to make sure that people are still outraged at Trump and Barr.
Because Adam we know that when the president does it it’s not illegal. Gee just imagine if people got upset about presidents lying us into war, and authorizing torture and letting the military get away with blowing civilians to death and calling it collateral damage.
Heh…shitlibs have swallowed this hook, line and sinker and actually believe that Russia’s equipment barely works as do the troops that they conscript into service. Russia is gonna be walking out of Ukraine in August. Oh yeah and their naval fleet is fleeing the Black Sea out of cowardice. Boy lots of people are going to be surprised when Russia meets their objectives and Ukraine has to come to the table and agree to their demands. CB reposted the article last night on the trap that Russia might have set for us if you missed it. It’s an interesting idea.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Oops…here’s the essay
Logistics Collapse
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Also too…
Here’s the link I mentioned. Worth a read.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
evening snoopy...
you've got to kind of wonder if there isn't some democrat strategist that told them to leave insulin off the list so that democrat congressworms can run and fundraise on the issue. too cynical? i don't think so.
heh, i would imagine that the shitlibs will believe anything that maddow tells them.
have a great evening!
Why is this fund raiser for Dems impossible?
"We got you affordable insulin! We did that! Remember that when you vote!" (Applies as well to codification of Roe v. Wade, ending wars, etc...)
Take care, joe!
Love the blues, as always.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening otc...
that's the way it's supposed to work (see we did a good thing, vote for us so we can do more good things) but the fake competition between two parties that want the same thing (which is a good thing for nobody) causes them to feel like they can string along voters that want things forever based upon a promise that if they get the size of a vote that they want, then they will do good things.
The world has awoken and is now fighting back
amerikan/UK hegemony. China is calling for the UK/US war criminals to face the music
for perpetuating their many war crimes.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/07/in-the-multipolar-world-iran-will-...
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
evening ggersh...
i certainly wish them luck in getting some sort of accountability for war crimes. fsm knows that the u.s. won't do the honorable thing and transparently investigate and prosecute their own.
Essay Title Contest
They both faked being arrested and are now fundraising off it. I guess that’s better than pretending that you are going to withhold your vote for everything until Pelosi brings it up for a vote. Pathetic!
Here are the safes for kids during the next school shooting.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
wow...
is this a generational thing where getting fake arrested is considered activism? i guess it's the thought that counts.
Yup….
More yup…
Nailed it!
Good grief that we are even having this conversation about who can get pregnant or not is bizarre. I watched Humphrey's video until they started talking about the woke military. I’m getting tired of this woke crap and I think it’s getting out of hand. Lloyd Austin is a mystery to me too. As is Miley. Blinken I can understand but won’t say why.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Perfect description!
The Smollet sisters:
Lmao
Perfect description of those two. Omar just got up, put her hands behind her back and walked off pretending that she had been arrested. AOC did the same thing, but then spoiled it by pumping her fist to the crowd. But the shitlibs have eaten it up in spades. Oh well I guess that’s easier than withholding ones vote till they get what they say they really want.
I remember when I got excited that the house passed a bill I wanted. Then understood that Pelosi only does that because she knows McConnell will never let it pass. She usually does it when republicans are in charge of the senate, but now she knows that Schumer has her back. Such kabuki.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
I observed an arrest
today when I went to get groceries.
These staged "arrests" are bull shit.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
heh...
apparently the guardian (and hence anybody that reads it) doesn't know what a real arrest looks like.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and House colleagues arrested during pro-choice protest
About Getting Arrested
.
In the year 2000 I was a union representative for SEIU Local 790, based in Oakland, CA. Most of the SEIU locals would participate in some kind of demonstration or another at least once a week. Occasionally, we would have some of our folks get arrested.
I watched it play out in real time at a demo held at Jack London Square. Our supervisor with the title of Staff Director was our delegated person to get arrested. Each of the other unions participating also pre-selected one person to get arrested.
Where I came from in Texas, we did not fuck around with the police and we did not try to get jailed. Ever. Back in my old territory including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, we knew that local TV and newspapers would "cover" anything we did pretty much the way the Dems today portray the January 6 riots.
So my jaw dropped as I watched our Staff Director and two other Labor Federation staff people hold a a meeting with the Oakland Police presence about an hour before our demonstration -- and before our rank and file members showed up for our challenge to power. They literally rehearsed who would get arrested, when and where it would happen and what the charges would be. After being put in police cars, they traveled to police headquarters where they would be released without being booked into the jail. They all got tickets for the misdemeanor they each committed by blocking traffic, just like our brave Congressional Squad members.
There is nothing new about Fake Arrests. It was very obvious that the cops and the union "leaders" who rehearsed this scene were going through a familiar and well rehearsed routine.
A year later, and having moved to another SEIU Local, based in San Jose, we had a strike against the City of East Palo Alto. We packed a City Council meeting, and about four minutes into the proceeding a designated staff rep stood up and yelled, "Shut it down!" My staff colleagues who were used to this drill jumped up and started yelling "Shut it down!" along with him. Our members and their supporters were not advised that we were going to do this and it was pathetic to see the rank and file people sheepishly look at each other and slowly, one by one, get up and join the chant.
I was used to actual strikes and corporate campaigns and boycotts, and I was truly shocked at this kind of pointless posturing for press coverage. I was literally embarrassed. But it got worse shortly.
The mayor pounded on the gavel until our group took a collective breath. He quite legitimately said that if we would not respect decorum, they would have the police clear the Council Chamber.
"Shut it down! Shut it down! Shut it down!"
The mayor nodded to the cop in charge of the detail and they cleared the chamber. We obeyed their direction and reassembled in the parking lot. And what happened next turned my stomach. Our staff director got out his cell phone and called the mayor. In a 45 second negotiation, SEIU Local 790 promised to respect decorum if they let us back in.
Fake militancy for the media to make oneself look like a courageous revolutionary while doing absolutely nothing of significance.
I quit both of those jobs and eventually got work in Los Angeles, where the leftiness is just as thin, but not nearly so phony about its own strength and willingness to fight for justice.
The Bullshit Left gets on TV. End of story.
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
"The Bullshit Left gets on TV. End of story."
Any chance or way of getting recognition in another way?
Some interesting developments today from Tehran
The Troika Summit involving Iran, Russia and Turkey made declarations involving the
peaceful resolution of the Syrian situation...
~
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/07/in-the-multipolar-world-iran-will-...
question everything
evening qms...
perhaps after putin wraps up in ukraine, he can move some s-400's down to syria and put some teeth into those demands by shooting down israeli fighter jets and missiles and arming the syrians to push the american troops out of their country. putin will have a lot of leftover nato armaments after ukraine is wrapped up to arm syria with.
I wonder if NATO's head will explode?
Now if Erdogan vetoes Finland and Sweden getting in to NATO it will get interesting.
I thought he already traded away that card
for some permissions for his own regime.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
The state department is saying that it shows how isolated
Putin is because he can only go to a few countries. No mention of the huge deal Gazprom made with Iran that will help them squirt US sanctions or how Biden/Blinken and Nuland have pushed Russia, China and Iran together. This is what is called putting lipstick on a pig. Huffpoo has the story.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.
~Hannah Arendt
Ain't on the MSM
All the protests that is...
2-3 mi each
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy1KlZSRKL8]
Pushing Dutch farmers to other side, Dutch Gov make BIG mistake | No farmers, no food
The Dutch government and police do NOT respect their farmers
And that’s a BIG mistake
Because Dutch farmers are the second food exporters in the world after American farmers
Unfortunately, here are what the Dutch government and police have done to their farmers in the last 8 weeks
1. The Dutch police took farmers out of their tractors and placing them under arrest
2. Undercover Dutch police picked up farmers on street and took them away in front of the crowd..
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I64g8bGYs3Y]
Some are pushing back. That seems hopeful to me.
Thanks for the EB!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
evening lookout...
it will be interesting to see how this shakes out. if the dutch people face a winter without food and energy due to the idiocy of their ruling elites, i would hope that they would replace their ruling elites.
A good interview and you won't see it on CNN or MSNBC.
evening humphrey...
i've seen a bunch of interviews with douglas macgregor and they have all been good. i'm not generally a big fan of napolitano, but the information was good.
eta:
well, i just got to the point where they started discussing woke politics in the military, where the little nagging thought that came up when macgregor mentioned in passing the "immigration problem" in europe (and the attendant crime spree) came up.
There are protests spreading everywhere.
This time it is getting closer to home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama#Foreign_relations
Hi joe and bluesters
Thanks as always for the news and blues.
Frank is the frosting on the cake ; ).
afternoon janis...
heh, glad you liked the news and the frosting.