The Evening Blues - 8-17-22



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Jimmy Lee Robinson

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago blues musician Jimmy Lee Robinson. Enjoy!

Jimmie Lee Robinson - All My Life

"The nation no longer stands for the enlightenment tradition, but rather for military-political hegemony and the total commodification of life."

-- Morris Berman


News and Opinion

Hat tip to moon of alabama for linking to this, which I found interesting. Here are some excerpts:

(Vladimir Putin's) Address to participants and guests of the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security

... The situation in the world is changing dynamically and the outlines of a multipolar world order are taking shape. An increasing number of countries and peoples are choosing a path of free and sovereign development based on their own distinct identity, traditions and values.

These objective processes are being opposed by the Western globalist elites, who provoke chaos, fanning long-standing and new conflicts and pursuing the so-called containment policy, which in fact amounts to the subversion of any alternative, sovereign development options. Thus, they are doing all they can to keep hold onto the hegemony and power that are slipping from their hands; they are attempting to retain countries and peoples in the grip of what is essentially a neocolonial order. Their hegemony means stagnation for the rest of the world and for the entire civilisation; it means obscurantism, cancellation of culture, and neoliberal totalitarianism.

They are using all expedients. The United States and its vassals grossly interfere in the internal affairs of sovereign states by staging provocations, organising coups, or inciting civil wars. By threats, blackmail, and pressure, they are trying to force independent states to submit to their will and follow rules that are alien to them. This is being done with just one aim in view, which is to preserve their domination, the centuries-old model that enables them to sponge on everything in the world. But a model of this sort can only be retained by force.

This is why the collective West – the so-called collective West – is deliberately undermining the European security system and knocking together ever new military alliances. NATO is crawling east and building up its military infrastructure. Among other things, it is deploying missile defence systems and enhancing the strike capabilities of its offensive forces. This is hypocritically attributed to the need to strengthen security in Europe, but in fact quite the opposite is taking place. Moreover, the proposals on mutual security measures, which Russia put forward last December, were once again disregarded.

They need conflicts to retain their hegemony. It is for this reason that they have destined the Ukrainian people to being used as cannon fodder. They have implemented the anti-Russia project and connived at the dissemination of the neo-Nazi ideology. They looked the other way when residents of Donbass were killed in their thousands and continued to pour weapons, including heavy weapons, for use by the Kiev regime, something that they persist in doing now. ...

The situation in Ukraine shows that the United States is attempting to draw out this conflict. It acts in the same way elsewhere, fomenting the conflict potential in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. As is common knowledge, the US has recently made another deliberate attempt to fuel the flames and stir up trouble in the Asia-Pacific. The US escapade towards Taiwan is not just a voyage by an irresponsible politician, but part of the purpose-oriented and deliberate US strategy designed to destabilise the situation and sow chaos in the region and the world. It is a brazen demonstration of disrespect for other countries and their own international commitments. We regard this as a thoroughly planned provocation.

It is clear that by taking these actions the Western globalist elites are attempting, among other things, to divert the attention of their own citizens from pressing socioeconomic problems, such as plummeting living standards, unemployment, poverty, and deindustrialisation. They want to shift the blame for their own failures to other countries, namely Russia and China, which are defending their point of view and designing a sovereign development policy without submitting to the diktat of the supranational elites. ...

I reiterate that the era of the unipolar world is becoming a thing of the past. No matter how strongly the beneficiaries of the current globalist model cling to the familiar state of affairs, it is doomed. The historic geopolitical changes are going in a totally different direction.

Putin BLASTS Pelosi, US For Taiwan Trip As Zelensky Calls For BAN On Russian Travelers In EU

Shoigu, NATO knows we are winning.

Russian-Backed Officials Say Ukraine Launched Strikes on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

A Moscow-installed official in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian Oblast of Zaporizhzhia on Monday accused Ukraine of shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and areas around the plant, the Russian news agency Tass reported.

The official said that Ukraine launched 25 strikes using US-provided M777 howitzers that and that some hit the ZNPP and Energodar, the city where the facility is located. The claim hasn’t been confirmed, but the ZNPP has been the site of frequent shelling over the past few weeks.

Ukraine has accused Russia of shelling the ZNPP, but the plant and the territory around it have been controlled by Russian forces since March, giving Moscow little reason to attack the facility. The ZNPP is located on the southern shore of the Dnieper river, and Ukraine controls territory on the other side of the river. Russia insists Ukraine has been doing the shelling and has been calling for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to send inspectors to the ZNPP.

Russia Confirms Crimea Sabotage, Putin Security Meeting; Economists Warn Inflation Crisis in Ukraine

Russia warns Britain against planned spy plane overflight

Russia’s defence ministry has warned Britain against a planned spy plane flight over Russian territory, saying its air force has been given orders to prevent an intrusion.

The ministry said on Tuesday that the UK had sent a notice informing about a planned flight of an RC-135 reconnaissance plane along a route that partly passes over Russian territory.

“We regard this action as a deliberate provocation,” the ministry said, adding that the Russian air force had been “given the task to prevent the violation of the Russian border”.

It said: “All possible consequences of this deliberate provocation will lie entirely with the British side.”

Chinese navy vessel arrives at Sri Lanka port to security concerns from India

A Chinese navy vessel has arrived at a southern Sri Lankan port that Beijing leases from the government, prompting renewed security fears from India.

On Tuesday morning, the Yuan Wang 5 sailed into the Hambantota port, which was built by Beijing, and was welcomed by senior Sri Lankan and Chinese officials in a traditional ceremony that involved red carpet and a massive banner that read: “Hello Sri Lanka, Long Live Sri Lanka-China Friendship.”

Although the ship will only stay for a few days, the development has already sounded the alarm in India, which has viewed China’s rising influence in the Indian Ocean with suspicion. Analysts say the Yuan Wang’s moves will also be closely monitored by the US and western allies as they have long criticised Beijing’s dealings with Sri Lanka.

Officially, Sri Lanka has referred to the Yuan Wang 5 as a “scientific research ship”. “But the suspicion here in India is that despite Chinese commentators’ insistence it is civilian, it may actually have military functions,” said Prof Srikanth Kondapalli, dean of the school of international studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. ...

The China ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, dismissed such concerns. “The marine scientific research conducted by the research ship Yuan Wang 5 conforms to international law and international common practice, and will not affect the security and economic interests of any country,” he told a news briefing on Tuesday.

As Afghan People Boil Grass to Eat, U.S. Refuses to Release $7 Billion of Frozen Afghan Assets

Brazil’s presidential campaign launches amid fears of violence and upheaval

Campaigning in Brazil’s most important election for years formally gets under way this week amid fears of political violence on the campaign trail and possible turmoil before and after the October ballots. Far-right president Jair Bolsonaro is trailing in the polls and has hinted he will not give up power if defeated by the leftist frontrunner and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

A former army captain, Bolsonaro has sharpened his rhetoric in recent weeks, telling foreign diplomats that Brazil’s electronic voting system is not reliable and ordering army officers to monitor the source code used in more than half a million ballot boxes.

His supporters have attacked two Lula rallies in recent weeks, throwing faeces, urine and a crude explosive device at Lula backers, as well as shooting dead one prominent Workers’ party official in the western city of Foz de Iguaçu. Politicians and poll watchers fear that political violence will only escalate ahead of the 2 October elections for president, congress and 27 state governors. ...

On the national stage, Lula’s security details have requested more manpower to deal with the threats and the 76-year-old now wears a bulletproof vest at public events. His campaign kicks off this week with rallies in São Paulo and Belo Horizonte.

Biden’s Press Secretary Condescends To African Reporters

African Politician Lectures U.S. Sec of State Over Ukraine & Imperialism

Amazon Employees Hold First-Ever Work Stoppage in Air Freight Division

After months of working in what they say are unsafe weather conditions for wages that leave them struggling to afford basic necessities, more than 150 workers at Amazon's air freight hub in Southern California walked out mid-shift on Monday to demand fair treatment by the trillion-dollar company.

As The Washington Post reported, the walkout at the San Bernardino facility, KSBD, was the first-ever work stoppage in Amazon's crucial air freight division, which keeps millions of packages moving throughout the U.S. each day. Managers at the warehouse were forced to slow down operations Monday in anticipation of the action.

The employees are demanding a $5-per-hour raise, which would bring their starting wage to $22 per hour and make it easier for them to pay for housing in an area where the average rent is $1,650 per month.

They also want the company to establish effective heat safety measures, as workers have complained of heat-induced nosebleeds while working and air conditioning that doesn't work throughout KSBD.

"We are the people sustaining our nation's supply chain and we deserve safe working conditions, livable wages, and protection from retaliation," said Inland Empire Amazon Workers United, an independent labor rights group established by workers at the hub earlier this year.

About 10% of KSBD workers took part in the action, and the Athena Coalition, a grassroots coalition that fights for workers' rights at Amazon, estimated that the "vast majority" of people working during the shift walked out.

The walkout came less than two weeks after a meeting that managers held in response to a petition signed by more than 800 employees, listing their demands. At the meeting, managers offered raises of up to $2 per hour for certain shifts and suggested workers take public transit and carpool to save money.

"Amazon refused" to meet the workers' demands, the independent labor group tweeted Monday, "so today we walked out."

Florida Appeals Court Won't Let Parentless 16-Year-Old Get an Abortion

Reproductive rights advocates were outraged by a Florida appellate court's Monday decision upholding a trial judge's move to block a "parentless" 16-year-old from getting an abortion.

Escambia County Circuit Judge Jennifer J. Frydrychowicz recently rejected the unidentified teen's request for permission to bypass the parental notice and consent requirements under Florida law. A three-judge panel from the state's 1st District Court of Appeal upheld that decision, which critics called "barbaric," "flabbergasting," "outrageous," and "unconscionable."

Judges Harvey Jay and Rachel Nordby—joined in part by Judge Scott Makar—affirmed the decision of the trial court, which they said found that the teen "had not established by clear and convincing evidence that she was sufficiently mature to decide whether to terminate her pregnancy."

Florida law, the judges' opinion notes, "allows for a remand to the trial court with instructions for a further ruling, but no such remand is warranted here." On that point, Makar disagreed.

Makak concurred with affirming Frydrychowicz's decision and praised the judge for displaying "concern for the minor's predicament," asking "difficult questions of the minor on sensitive personal matters in a compassionate manner," and producing "a thoughtful written order in a rapid fashion."

However, he also said that "given the open-ended nature of the order reflecting the trial judge's willingness to hear from the minor again—and the time pressures presented—I would remand the case to the trial court."

As Makar detailed:

The minor is almost 17 years old and parentless. She lives with a relative but has an appointed guardian. She is pursuing a GED with involvement in a program designed to assist young women who have experienced trauma in their lives by providing educational support and counseling. The minor experienced renewed trauma (the death of a friend) shortly before she decided to seek termination of her pregnancy.

Her petition—a standard form that she completed by hand—stated two potential bases for a waiver under the statute. First, the minor states that she is sufficiently mature to make the decision, saying she "is not ready to have a baby," she doesn't have a job, she is "still in school," and the father is unable to assist her... Second, the minor states that her "guardian is fine with what [she] wants to do," which would be a sufficient basis for a waiver of notice if other statutory requisites are met.

Civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill said Makar's opinion "highlights the particular outrage of the majority decision," adding that "it's clear the trial court judge expected that the minor would be able to return to her court to supplement her presentation" and "there is no basis for the appeals [court] to refuse the remand."

"I'm having a hard time with the trial court judge's decision as described in Judge Makar's concurrence/dissent," Ifill continued. "The minor seems to have more than met the standard. A 'close case' [should] err on granting the teen's clearly thought-out request."

Critics highlighted as ridiculous the courts' conclusion that the teen is not mature enough to choose an abortion and thus should be forced to continue a pregnancy that will likely result in the birth of child.

"A Florida court is blocking a 16-year-old from having an abortion because it says she's not 'mature' enough to make that decision. But she's mature enough to raise a child instead?" tweeted Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) "This is outrageous. And it's why we must stop this extreme GOP agenda immediately!"

Writer and Northwestern University professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor similarly said: "Not mature enough to decide to terminate a pregnancy, but mature enough to be forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy. Hell state America."

Florida Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book (D-32) argued that it is "unconscionable" for the state to sentence the girl "to continue an unwanted pregnancy after she stated she was not ready to have a baby, was pursuing her education, didn’t have a job, and the father was unable to assist her."

Just "shy of her 18th birthday and from legally being able to make this decision free from radical Republican overreach," Book added, "I truly cannot fathom the court's justification for finding this brave young woman 'not sufficiently mature' to choose what is best for herself, her body, and her future aside from pure political will or inability to separate church and state."

Briahna Joy Gray: Trump DERANGEMENT SYNDROME Put Leftists On The Side Of The SURVEILLANCE STATE

Eight murder convictions overturned due to Chicago police corruption and torture

Last week, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office in Illinois asked judges to overturn eight murder convictions, in what their attorneys believe to be one of the first mass exonerations in the United States. They were victims of Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara, who has been under investigation for torture, submitting false confessions and manufacturing evidence. Scores of murder convictions involving Guevara, dating from 1989 to 1994, have now been overturned.

Of those who had their sentences vacated, all but one has reportedly been released from prison. These eight follow 24 other exonerations involving Guevara and three more are expected in the coming weeks, according to Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, for a total of 35 convictions thrown out related to the detective.

In a formal statement, Foxx said her office “no longer believes in the validity of these convictions or the credibility of the evidence. We can no longer stand by these convictions.” Foxx said that her office has not actively pursued charges against Guevara yet, and noted that Guevara had repeatedly pleaded the Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, “and then when asked questions, was not truthful.” ...

On their release, some of the exonerated spoke not only to Guevara’s criminal role as an individual, but to the role of the corruption and violence of the Chicago Police Department as a whole and, by implication, the State’s Attorney’s office. “I’m asking Kim Foxx to press charges, to pursue the prosecution of not only of Guevara, but the CPD agents that helped him,” said Nelson Gonzalez, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years, according to CBS Chicago. “They created chaos within many families. We aren’t going to stop. We’re going to keep pushing.” ...

The city of Chicago has paid about $37 million in settlements related to Guevara’s misconduct, according to CBS. Guevara, who retired in 2005, is collecting two public pensions and living in Texas, and, to date, no charges have been filed against him. According to Foxx’s office, the city of Chicago has spent $500 million on police misconduct settlements in recent years.



the horse race



Liz Cheney CLOBBERED As She Floats 2024 Run

Senior Dem Rep INSISTS Biden Not Running Again



the evening greens


US issues western water cuts as drought leaves Colorado River near ‘tipping point’

After western US states failed to reach agreements to reduce water use from the beleaguered Colorado River, the federal government stepped in on Tuesday, issuing cuts that will affect two states and Mexico. Officials with the Bureau of Reclamation declared a “tier 2” shortage in the river basin as the drought continues to pummel the American west, pushing its largest reservoirs to new lows. The waning water levels, which have left dramatic bathtub rings in reservoirs and unearthed buried bodies and other artifacts, continue to threaten hydroelectric power production, drinking water, and agricultural production.

“The system is approaching a tipping point,” the Bureau of Reclamation commissioner, M Camille Calimlim Touton, said during a news conference on Tuesday, adding that urgent action was required. “Protecting the system means protecting the people of the American West.”

The new cuts will reduce Arizona’s water share by 21%, Nevada’s by 8% and Mexico’s by 7%, but officials are concerned more reductions will be needed. The cuts will place officials in those states under extraordinary pressure to plan for a hotter, drier future and a growing population. ...

The rights to these waters have been debated for decades after agreements carved out a century ago failed to accurately account for the water in the system and created a maze of junior and senior water rights that left out Indigenous nations. But the most contentious period is likely to lie ahead. The climate crisis is expected to continue to intensify conditions, prompting the need for deeper cuts and conservation.

Cities and farms across the region are already anxiously awaiting official hydrology projections – estimates of future water levels in the river – that will determine the extent and scope of cuts to their water supply. Hundreds of thousands of acres of US farmland is expected to be left fallow across the country’s breadbasket, putting a crunch on food produced domestically. “The states collectively have not identified and adopted specific actions of sufficient magnitude that would stabilize the system,” Touton said.

Ants can beat pesticides at helping farmers grow healthy crops, study finds

Ants can be more effective than pesticides at helping farmers produce food, according to new research. They are better at killing pests, reducing plant damage and increasing crop yields, according to the first systematic review of ants’ contributions to crop production. Ants are generalist predators and hunt pests that damage fruits, seeds and leaves, leading to a drop in crop yields. A greater diversity of ants generally provides more protection against a wider range of pests, the study found.

The analysis looked at 17 crops, including citrus, mango, apple and soya bean in countries including the US, Australia, the UK and Brazil. “In general, with proper management, ants can be useful pest controls and increase crop yield over time. Some ant species have similar or higher efficacy than pesticides, at lower costs,” researchers wrote in the paper published in Proceedings of Royal Society B.

The Brazilian team looked at 26 species, most of them tree ants, which nest on plants or the ground but often climb plants. They found ants do best in diversified farming systems such as agroforestry (where trees and crops are grown on the same land) and shade-grown crops because there are more nesting sites and food resources for them. Lead researcher Dr Diego Anjos, from the Federal University of Uberlândia, said: “Our study encourages farmers to use more sustainable practices such as biological control provided by ants and practices of shaded crops as a way to naturally promote ants in crop systems.”

The role of ants in agriculture is not yet completely clear because they can also be a problem. Pests such as mealybugs, aphids and whiteflies, which produce a sugary water called honeydew, are generally more common when ants are around. This is because the ants feed on honeydew, and so essentially “farm” aphids like livestock, protecting them from predators in return. Researchers say nature-friendly management practices such as providing an alternative source of sugars (on the ground, near a tree’s trunk or on its branches) can interrupt this relationship. The ants are distracted and can continue to reduce the number of other pests such as caterpillars and beetles, which do not produce honeydew.

America needs some politicians with longer legs if this is the biggest step forward that they can take.

‘Biggest step forward on climate ever’: Biden signs Democrats’ landmark bill

Joe Biden signed Democrats’ healthcare, climate and tax package on Tuesday, putting the final seal of approval on a landmark bill that party leaders hope will boost their prospects in the midterm elections this November. During a bill-signing ceremony at the White House, the US president celebrated the bill as a historic piece of legislation that would reduce healthcare costs for millions of Americans and help address the climate crisis.

“With this law, the American people won and the special interests lost,” Biden said. “Today offers further proof that the soul of America is vibrant, the future of America is bright and the promise of America is real and just beginning.”

The signing came four days after the House passed the bill, formally known as the Inflation Reduction Act, in a party-line vote of 220 to 207. The bill had previously passed the Senate in a party-line vote of 51 to 50, with Vice-President Kamala Harris breaking the tie in the evenly divided chamber. ...

The law directs $369bn toward investing in renewable energy and reducing America’s planet-heating emissions, marking the country’s most significant effort yet to combat the climate crisis. Experts have estimated the bill could reduce US emissions by about 40% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels, close to Biden’s goal of cutting emissions in half by the end of the decade.


Also of Interest

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

The Understated Effects of Nuclear War on the World

Patrick Lawrence: All Disquiet on the Eastern Front

How Does Asia Feel About Nancy Pelosi?

Leaked audio reveals Liz Truss said British workers needed ‘more graft’

80% of US Voters Across Party Lines Support Expanding Social Security

McDonald’s workers say sexual harassment and retaliation persist

Collapse Of Water Supply For Countries Around Tibet

Medea Benjamin on U.S. Cuban Sanctions & Biden's Embrace of Saudi Arabia

Gen Z CHEERS As Housing Prices Crash

German leader condemns Abbas' '50 Holocausts' remark

Andrew Yang Collapses Under Questioning From Mediocre CNN Host

Gen Z ABANDONS College, Education NOT WORTH Tuition Costs Anymore

Recession hits US and China


A Little Night Music

Jimmie Lee Robinson - Lonely Traveller

Jimmie Lee Robinson - Rosa Lee

Jimmie Lee Robinson - Times is Hard

Lonesome Jimmie Lee Robinson - Mean Mistreater

Jimmie Lee Robinson - Got To Have Some

Jimmie Lee Robinson - Drifting Blues

Jimmie Lee Robinson - Ah'w baby

Jimmie Lee Robinson - Confession' the blues

Jimmie Lee Robinson - Remember Me

Jimmie Lee Robinson - Chicago Jump


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Comments

Another sterling line-up.

See you all later after I've had time to read/listen to the most alluring selections.

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6 users have voted.

NYCVG

joe shikspack's picture

@NYCVG

happy reading! have a great evening.

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5 users have voted.
dystopian's picture

Hi all, Hey Joe! Hope all are well!

Great player as always Joe... Always amazing how so many were away from making music for so long, and came back to do great, often their greatest work.

The Colorado River reached a tipping point some time ago. Denial has kept that from being admitted, as it might slow a development permit.

So one step forward and three back now constitutes the biggest step ever for climate? Then we are doomed.

Thanks for the great sounds Joe!

y'all enjoy the Kabuki of that being a climate and healthcare bill...

be well all!

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13 users have voted.

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

snoopydawg's picture

@dystopian

built. Would they have helped with the droughts or just move the line back a few years? One thing I do know is that no one did anything while the drought kept getting worse. I’ve watched the great salt lake diminish year after year, but suddenly our leaders have decided that they should do something about it. Romney wants to study it. A full lake is so important for our snow and ski resorts and now they are making snow with very yucky water. Ewe…

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10 users have voted.

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

usefewersyllables's picture

@snoopydawg

done here in CO is the Rueter-Hess reservoir just south of where we live in Parker- it is responsible for the great geese shows we've had the last couple of years. It was started in 1981, and finally became usable in 2012. There's nothing else happening around here.

It is pumped storage- there's very little free-stream water to fill it, except for the occasional monsoon deluge like we had last week down Newlin Gulch. They pull the water out of Cherry Creek at the rate of 20 acre-ft per day (at least when there's anything to pump!), and its capacity is 75,000 acre-ft. So that is a reserve of a couple of years for the south suburban Denver area, once the Dawson and Denver aquifers run dry here in a few years.

And that's it. There doesn't seem to be any will to do much more out here in the parched West. I'm not aware of any projects of any heft at all. Works of these magnitudes cost money, and there's no instant-gratification ROI into which the MBAs can sink their teeth.

Building a reservoir is truly planting a tree in whose shade the builder will never sit: it requires a very long, and a very populist, worldview. When this project was started, the population of Parker was 285 (27,420 for Douglas County as a whole), and Mainstreet was dirt after you got past the first 6 blocks either side of Highway 83. It is now 55,460, with 360,102 for the county as a whole.... This is the operational definition of taking the long view. I don't see any politicians thinking beyond the next election anymore. And that is unfortunate.

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7 users have voted.

Twice bitten, permanently shy.

joe shikspack's picture

@dystopian

robinson was a talented musician and a really interesting blues guitarist. he's another one of those folks who i guess just had unlucky career timing and deserve a lot more attention.

yeah, i've been thinking for a while that much of the west is likely to be uninhabitable in another decade or two with water and heat being serious problems. and it's going to have a cascading effect on the rest of the country since much of the east turned its good farmland into ticky-tacky developments and urban sprawl, relying on people growing food in the desert (which sounds like a pretty silly proposition in the first place) to be their meal ticket.

the more i read about the climate, er, healthcare, er, inflation (really?) bill the more i can't believe all of the positive noises that supposedly sensible people are making about it.

have a great evening!

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10 users have voted.

clips on Africa win my votes for News we will not get elsewhere very easily, if at all.

South Africa left the NATO/West Enchantment Zone some time ago. They are a founding member of BRICS.

When Putin visited Africa a few weeks ago after Biden's uncomfortable visit to the same continent, the reviews from Africa were glowing.

Lots about how Vladimir Putin has always approached each sovereign African nation as the equals they are.

Chickens coming home to roost.....

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16 users have voted.

NYCVG

joe shikspack's picture

@NYCVG

yep, after centuries of colonization and vicious subjugation by the west, blinken attempting to lecture africans about why they should support their longstanding oppressors rather than chart their own course has got to be either the greatest display of idiocy by an alleged statesman ever or evidence that his nether regions are made of enormous quantities of brass.

sheesh!

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CB's picture

Welcoming speech of the Russian Minister of Defence at the opening of 10th Moscow Conference on International Security

The opening of the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security took place at Avangard Centre for Military and Patriotic Education of Youth within the framework of ARMY 2022 IMTF. The Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, General of the Army Sergei Shoigu, addressed the participants of the event:

Ladies and gentlemen!

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security.

This conference comes at a time of radical change in global and regional security. The unconditional dominance of the US and its allies is a thing of the past. On February 24, 2022, the start of the special military operation in Ukraine marked the end of the unipolar world.

Multipolarity has become a reality. The poles of this world are clearly defined. The main difference between them is that some respect the interests of sovereign states and take into account the cultural and historical particularities of countries and peoples, while others disregard them. There have been numerous discussions on this topic during previous sessions of the Moscow conference.

In Europe, the security situation is worse than at the peak of the Cold War. The alliance’s military activities have become as aggressive and anti-Russian as possible. Significant US forces have been redeployed to the continent, and the number of coalition troops in Eastern and Central Europe has increased manifold.

It is important to note that the deployment of additional NATO Joint Force formations on the bloc’s “eastern flank” had already started before the start of the special military operation in Ukraine.

NATO has dropped its masks. The aggressive nature of the bloc was no longer concealed by the wording of the coalition’s purely defensive orientation. Today, the alliance’s strategic planning documents enshrine claims to global dominance. Alliance’s interests include Africa, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim.
...
The reinforcement of the NATO military grouping on the “eastern flank” completes the degradation of the trust and arms control mechanisms that emerged in Europe during the Cold War. A few years ago, experts proposed that the European experience should be used to build confidence-building measures, in particular in the Pacific Rim. Now, of all the “baggage” of the Euro-dialogue, only the idea of bloc confrontation is exported to Asia, which has not brought anything positive to security in Europe.

Today, no one remembers the US destruction of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Limitation Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty. Although previously these agreements were crucial for disarmament and confidence-building.

Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which was conceived as a platform for dialogue and consideration of different views, has become a generator of anti-Russian narratives.
...
The Tenth Moscow Conference on International Security has a special importance for the Russian Ministry of Defence as organiser of the forum for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the conference is taking place during the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine. Despite attempts of the US and NATO to isolate Russia once again, your participation in the forum is a visible confirmation that these plans have collapsed. We appreciate your support.

Secondly, a multipolar world is the reality of today. The transition from dominance by a single global leader to several centres of gravity is not an easy one. However, this creates real conditions for the development of sovereign states.

Thirdly, the role of military agencies is changing in the new realities. The military not only guarantees a secure environment for economic development, but through military cooperation it builds predictability and trust between countries.

Finally, this is the tenth anniversary conference, which allows for a kind of review of what has been achieved over the years. It is important to observe how the priorities of the discussions have changed, and which conclusions and recommendations from the forum have been put into practice over the years. A short historical overview, prepared by Russian experts, can be viewed on the monitors between plenary sessions.

I wish you all good health and interesting contacts and discussions during your stay in Moscow.

Thank you for your attention.

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11 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@CB

thanks for posting shoigu's speech, there's a lot of good stuff in it.

in relation to the ongoing conflict in ukraine, i thought this was interesting:

In Ukraine, the Russian military is being confronted by combined Western forces that run the leadership of that country in a hybrid war against Russia.

The supply of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine is being stepped up, and training of the Ukrainian army is being carried out. Huge financial resources are transferred to maintain the viability of the nationalist regime.

The actions of Ukraine’s armed forces are planned and coordinated by foreign military advisers. Reconnaissance data is supplied from all available NATO sources. The use of armaments is supervised by Western specialists. ...

The supply of NATO weapons to Kiev means that Western countries are responsible for their inhumane use and for the deaths of civilians in Donbass and in the liberated territories. Ukrainian armed forces operations are planned in Washington and London. Not only are the coordinates of the targets to be attacked provided by Western intelligence, but the input of this data into weapons systems is conducted under the full control of Western specialists.

Kiev’s role in the West’s combat approach has been reduced to supplying manpower, which is seen as expendable. This explains the huge loss of personnel in Ukraine’s armed forces and territorial defence formations.

So far, the real figures of dead soldiers and mobilised so-called territorial defence forces have been concealed by the Kiev leadership.

In time, however, this information will become public. The testimonies of POWs of AFU allow us to form a realistic picture of what is happening on the other side of the front. The dismissive attitude towards the loss of foreign soldiers reinforces the thesis that NATO has purely selfish interests in Ukraine. Clearly, Britain’s colonial experience as the main sponsor of the Kiev regime has come in very handy for London in dealing with the current leadership in Kiev.

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snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

Ukrainian armed forces operations are planned in Washington and London

When was the last time America won a war? Ran out of Vietnam, ran out of Iraq, ran out of Afghanistan in such a spectacular way and is losing in Ukraine. This after training, arming and bunker building in Ukraine for the last 8 years and had the biggest army in Europe. Plus a lot of NATO country’s military equipment keeps breaking down. Lots of Ukrainians have died and for what?

Yes America has been responsible for the deaths of people in the Donbas and were behind the plan to kill lots more of them just before Russia went in. I wonder whose bright idea it was to use cluster bombs there? Gawd no wonder Americans love to kill each other with guns after watching what their leaders have been doing for decades to other countries. We are a very sick society.

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snoopydawg's picture

@CB

bozos yap when talking to their so called friends. I’m remembering how rude and in your face Blinken was during the first talk with China. As NYCVG said Putin and Xi treat people like their equals.

Yep the NATO mask has been removed and everyone can see how it was just a bully underneath.

China thanked Putin for what he said about our drunken speaker of the house.

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karl pearson's picture

Liz Truss, President of Oxford University Liberal Democrats, joined the Conservative Party upon graduation. Huh? It's scary to think Liz might occupy the same role of past British Prime Ministers such as David Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, and Clement Atlee. Lately Truss has been advocating for NATO expansion in the Pacific. In fact, she wants a global NATO. One wonders if she knows what NATO stands for.

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joe shikspack's picture

@karl pearson

truss sounds like a logical step in the downward trend line of competency in uk leaders, a significant step down from boris. her desire to expand the atlantic ocean to cover the earth is in line with her refusal to respect parts of russia as sovereign territory.

have a great evening!

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CB's picture

@karl pearson
Maria Zakharova (Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation) has her pegged:

Truss, who is due to travel to Moscow once she recovers from coronavirus, told the BBC’s Sunday Morning show that “we are supplying and offering extra support into our Baltic allies across the Black Sea”.

Zakharova noted that the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania lie off the Baltic Sea, not the Black Sea, which is hundreds of miles to the south.

“The Baltic countries are called so because they are located precisely off the coast of this [Baltic] sea. Not the Black [Sea],” the Russian official wrote on Facebook. “If anyone needs to be saved from anything, then it is the world from the stupidity and ignorance of Anglo-Saxon politicians.”

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@CB is a requirement for London and DC.

Geography not taught much in schools in the US as far as i can tell either.

Which accounts, at least in part, for the astonishing ignorance regarding the changing world.

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NYCVG

snoopydawg's picture

@karl pearson

I don’t remember the details, but I heard about it growing up. I guess he was a POS politician?

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karl pearson's picture

@snoopydawg Prime Minister George was a liberal and proposed equality for laborers and tenant farmers and wanted land reform. I cited whom I thought were exceptional British Prime Ministers. To think Truss may occupy this position, given her warmongering and condescension of working people, is disturbing.

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CB's picture

@snoopydawg
It appears that he consorted with a classmate of his daughter! It gives "principal private secretary" who "was serving under him" and an entirely new significance.

Top 10 Interesting Facts about David Lloyd George
4. His secretary was his mistress

Frances Stevenson

Frances Lloyd George, Countess Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, CBE (née Stevenson; 7 October 1888 – 5 December 1972) was British Prime Minister David Lloyd George’s mistress, personal secretary, confidante, and second wife.

Stevenson, Frances Louise, was born in London. Her father was a Lowland Scotsman, and her mother was of mixed French and Italian ancestry. She attended Clapham High School, where she met Mair, Lloyd George’s oldest daughter, in the fifth form, and then Royal Holloway College, where she studied Classics.

Stevenson was employed as a governess for Lloyd George’s youngest daughter Megan in July 1911, when he was the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lloyd George and Stevenson were attracted to each other almost immediately. Although Stevenson was hesitant to become the mistress of a married man because she desired a traditional marriage and many children, she consented to become Lloyd George’s personal secretary on his terms, which included a sexual relationship, in 1913.

Despite the displeasure of Lloyd George’s children from his first marriage, Stevenson married Lloyd George on October 23, 1943, two years after his wife Margaret died.

Sigh! The days of having a dutiful wife with a mistress on the side are long gone. The Women’s Liberation Movement ensured that two can tango. /s

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snoopydawg's picture

@karl pearson

@CB

My grandparents mentioned him during our family reunions but I was very young and didn’t pay much attention. It’s kinda strange tho since they were welsh and Irish. My great grandparents only spoke Welsh when they migrated to Montana and I used to speak some. Maybe from some Welsh woman who had an affair with him? My brother does genealogy and maybe he knows.

Not sure of the spelling:

Hogan pi-utie? Whose girl are you?

Hogan ta da. I’m daddy’s girl.

I used to get a kick out of answering that but then I was 5.

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enhydra lutris's picture

So, is Sri Lanka Taiwan, and is either one Cyprus, or Cuba? Just Asking.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

heh, if twain is correct and god gives us wars to teach americans geography, then perhaps, since all of those islands look alike, we will have to have a war in order to sort this thing out.

have a great evening!

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snoopydawg's picture

Except that she would be jumping 3 feet in the air telling everyone how happy she was to see them.

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@snoopydawg I can't watch it all night. Work, ya know.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

The JD clips, and Brianna joy Gray clip were so great!
We have a 90% chance of rain tomorrow, which will only keep the strongest plants and trees alive. The grass crunches underfoot here.
Thanks for scouring the net for the cool stuff, since so many of us have no time to do it on our own.
I might check around, in my spare time, for some medal for you. It will be fake gold, say something like, "Read it and weep".
Take good care!

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9 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp She lives about 10 miles north of Paris in Maxey and all over the yard there's big cracks in the ground. One day last week it was looking good when it was thundering and lightning nearby and headed our way but we got only about a 15 minute light rain, that's it.
The creeks around there are dried up and that leaves a nearby farm's cattle and horses without water so, like my cousin, he's having to haul in their water.
There are some people, including a few kin, that are not hooked up to a the County water supply line, and have wells that are not looking good right now.
Half my family live in west Texas around Vernon (where I was born) and from what I've heard it's been worse for a longer time.
Back up here in the northwest corner of Washington it's pretty dry and there'
s an understandable fear that'll we'll get another season of huge fires breaking out everywhere like a couple of years ago.

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@on the cusp in acknowledgement that, on occasion, a talented sax or other "reeded" musician can help turn a regular melancholy blues tune into a weeping in your whiskey masterpiece.
It might be rare, but it happens.. Wink

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CB's picture

by both Putin and Shoigu. This report is lengthy but the first 45 minutes are extremely informative.

The WEF globalists led by the US/UK and EU are being shown to be failing and are now being soundly rejected by the Global South. We are now on the cusp of a multi-polar New World Order. Alex and Alexander also discuss the war in Ukraine and show NATO is foundering.

Picture a BRICS with their own reserve currency with Russia, China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, plus the majority of the Global South comprising of well over 3/4 world's population. This report is worth a diary on it's own!

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snoopydawg's picture

@CB

Last time America wanted to sanction NK both Russia and China vetoed it. Yes indeed a new world is being born. Let’s hope that the American psychopaths can let it be born without taking down the world. It’s coming…

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Creosote.'s picture

@CB
I've been following them for months. Yet have not yet found one person among my admittedy short list of close acquantances and family who appears to have the slightest interest in this material.
Although, in addition to hearing the concerted silences of most, I've also been dismissed as paranoid. Or "Well, there's nothing we can do about it."

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