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"We must view with profound respect the infinite capacity of the human mind to resist the introduction of useful knowledge."

-- Thomas Raynesford Lounsbury

News and Opinion

Russia Pulls Back from Areas in Kharkiv Region as Ukraine Makes Gains

The Russian Defense Ministry announced Saturday that troops that were stationed in areas around the cities of Balakleya and Izyum were “regrouping” toward Donestk in the Donbas region.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov tried to downplay Ukraine’s success and claimed that the “regrouping” was done to “achieve the declared goals of the special military operation for the liberation of Donbas.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated the battlefield success and said that Ukraine has captured 2,000sq km (770sq miles) of territory since launching the counteroffensive.

Upgrading the Special Military Operation

Here's the useful part of an article at the Guardian propaganda site:

Russian strikes knock out power and water in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region

Russian strikes have knocked out power and water to much of the Kharkiv region, plunging its cities into darkness and cutting power in hospitals in what Ukraine described as an act of “revenge” by Russia for its recent battlefield successes.

Over the last few days, Ukrainian forces have recaptured the majority of Russian-occupied territory in the region in a lightning offensive. ...

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said two cruise missiles hit critical infrastructure in Kharkiv and firefighters are now on the scene and that electricity should soon be back in vital facilities such as hospitals. ...

The Ukrainian air force tweeted that the Russians had launched 11 missiles but most had been destroyed.

Americans: drinkable water please

US government: Sorry did you say send billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine and Taiwan?

Americans: no, drinkable water

US government: Alright, you drive a hard bargain but here’s billions of dollars of weapons for Ukraine and Taiwan.

My water just now in Jackson, MS pic.twitter.com/LFfat03dCv

— Molly Minta (@mintamolly) September 9, 2022

EU to claw back energy firms' profits rather than cap Russian gas price

European Union energy ministers on Friday tasked Brussels with drafting proposals within a few days to cap the revenues of non-gas energy producers and help power firms stay afloat.

But as they sought to protect citizens from soaring energy prices that have driven inflation across the continent to record highs, the ministers backed away from more divisive proposals to cap Russian gas prices.

At an emergency meeting in Brussels, the ministers instead asked the European Commission to propose broader gas price caps, even as the EU executive itself swiftly poured cold water on the feasibility of such an idea. ...

The EU's windfall plan, yet to be fleshed out, would see governments skim off excess revenues from wind, nuclear and coal-fired power plants that can currently sell their power at record prices determined by the cost of gas, and use the money to curb consumer bills. Fossil fuel companies would also have to pay a "solidarity contribution," a summary of the meeting said.

President Vladimir Putin said this week that Moscow would cut all supply to Europe if a price cap was applied on Russian gas. Some countries that still receive Russian gas said they were unwilling to risk losing that supply.

Energy crisis to cast Eiffel Tower into early darkness

The Eiffel Tower, whose twinkling lights define the night-time Paris skyline, is to fall dark earlier because of the energy crisis.

Paris city hall is expected to propose this week that the monument, which is among the most visited in the world, should go dark more than an hour earlier than usual, as Europe faces spiralling energy costs aggravated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Eiffel Tower is currently illuminated after dark until 1am by an elaborate lighting system that gives it a golden glow. In addition, the monument twinkles for five minutes on the hour from nightfall, thanks to 20,000 flashing bulbs.

The city hall is expected to propose that the tower fall dark at 11.45pm when the final visitors leave, meaning it will no longer twinkle at midnight. ...

The move to curtail the lighting is seen as a way to set an example for the reduction of city illumination in general.

White House: Biden Wants ‘Other Options’ for Iran If Nuclear Deal Talks Fail

The White House said Thursday that President Biden wants to have “other available options” against Iran if talks to revive the nuclear deal fail.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that Biden “has conveyed to the rest of the administration that he wants to make sure that we have other available options to us to potentially achieve that solid outcome of the no nuclear weapons capability for Iran.”

The comments come as Israel has been pushing the US to establish a credible military threat against Iran to force Tehran to make concessions. Back in July, Biden said he was willing to use force as a “last resort” against Iran to prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

While the US and Israel hype up the idea that Iran seeks a nuclear bomb, there’s no indication Tehran has made that decision or will in the near future. Iran is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and Iranian officials recently said that the religious edict, known as a fatwa, against developing weapons of mass destruction is still the government’s policy.

Election results play out in Sweden with stunning results

Rightwing bloc heading to victory in Swedish election, 90% of vote count suggests

The far right appears close to causing an earthquake in Swedish politics, the Sweden Democrats becoming the country’s second-largest party while the wider rightwing bloc edged towards a slim victory over the incumbent centre-left.

Exit polls on Sunday night at first suggested a narrow victory for the Social Democrats and their centre-left allies. But as the votes were counted the tally swung towards the right. With 90% of the vote counted, the right bloc of four parties had a share of the vote corresponding to a majority of three in the 349-seat parliament. A conclusive result may not be known until votes from Swedes living abroad are counted in the middle of the week, while the closeness of the race may yet complicate the formation of a working government.

The leader of Sweden’s anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) early on Monday said the rightwing bloc of political parties was likely headed for victory following Sunday’s election for parliament. “Right now it looks like there will be a change of power,” Jimmie Åkesson said in a speech to party members.

But the prospect that the far-right Sweden Democrats, who appeared to take more than 20% of the poll, may for the first time achieve direct influence over government policy marks a seismic shift in a country far better known for its liberal traditions.

The SD emerged from Sweden’s neo-Nazi movement in the mid-1990s and still struggles to shake off accusations of extremism. It was treated as a pariah by other parties but three years ago, the centre-right Moderate party embraced cooperation with the far right.

Fed's Own Economist WARNS Of Severe Recession

72 House Democrats Tell Pelosi to Keep Manchin's Dirty Deal Out of Must-Pass Legislation

More than 70 House Democrats told their party's leadership on Friday that they oppose efforts to attach federal permitting reforms backed by Sen. Joe Manchin to must-pass government funding legislation, arguing the proposed changes would endanger the climate and frontline communities.

In a new letter signed by an ideologically diverse array of House Democrats—including members of both the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) and the New Democrat Coalition—lawmakers warn that the "destructive provisions" negotiated behind closed doors by Manchin and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) "will allow polluting manufacturing and energy development projects to be rushed through before the families who are forced to live near them are even aware of the plans."

"The proposed legislation would restrict public access to the courts to seek remedies against illegal project development; place arbitrary limits on the amount of time the public is given to comment on polluting projects; and curtail public input, environmental review, and government accountability," the letter notes, emphasizing that a recently circulated legislative draft appears to bear the watermark of the American Petroleum Institute (API)—an indication of the fossil fuel industry's influence over the permitting plan.

"The API plan would require a certain number of harmful fossil fuel projects to be designated as 'projects of strategic national importance' to receive priority federal support, assistance, and expedited environmental review," warns the letter, which was led by Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chair emeritus of the CPC. "These permitting 'reforms' would weaken other important public health protections, including the Clean Water Act and more."

The letter's 72 signatories call on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to "ensure that these provisions are kept out of a continuing resolution or any other must-pass legislation this year."

"Two Years Is Too Long": Family of Carl Dorsey, Black Man Killed by NJ Police, Sues

Judge Blocks Arizona Law Limiting Filming of Police

Civil libertarians on Friday applauded as a federal judge blocked enforcement of an Arizona law restricting how people can film police officers after agreeing that the legislation is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge John Tuchi granted a preliminary injunction sought by the ACLU of Arizona and media outlets on the grounds that H.B. 2319 violates their First Amendment rights.

The law—which was passed by Arizona's Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey in July—outlaws recording police at a distance of closer than eight feet if the officer verbally objects. It also empowers police officers to order people to stop filming them on private property, even if the property owner consents to the recording. ...

H.B. 2319 comes at a time when citizens are increasingly empowered by the ability to record and broadcast footage of officer misconduct that is sometimes used to bring perpetrators to justice.

John Roberts defends supreme court as Kamala Harris lashes out at Roe ruling

US supreme court chief justice John Roberts has defended his conservative-leaning bench from attacks over its decision in June to overturn federal abortion rights, as US vice-president Kamala Harris launched a fierce attack on what she called today’s “activist court”.

Roberts, in his first public appearance since the bombshell ruling to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision, warned against linking contentious decisions with court legitimacy, saying at an event on Friday night: “The court has always decided controversial cases and decisions have always been subject to intense criticism, and that is entirely appropriate.”

But in her first sit-down interview with a TV network since becoming vice-president, Harris told NBC News that she now believes the supreme court is an “activist court” after the institution took away nationwide abortion rights. ... The vice-president also remarked that she has “great concern about the integrity of the court overall”. ...

Roberts defended the court. “He added, at the Friday event: “I don’t understand the connection between the opinions people disagree with and the legitimacy of the supreme court,” he said, while being interviewed by two judges from the Denver-based 10th US circuit court of appeals at its conference in Colorado Springs, the Gazette newspaper reported.

“If the court doesn’t retain its legitimate function of interpreting the constitution, I’m not sure who would take up that mantle. You don’t want the political branches telling you what the law is, and you don’t want public opinion to be the guide about what the appropriate decision is,” Roberts said.

DNC B*tch Slaps Progressives & Continues Raking In Dark Money

What if the 2024 ‘Whispers’ Are Right?

On March 8, U.S. News & World Report ran a story titled “Hillary Clinton Says No to 2024 Presidential Bid..” But do not be misled by the “No.” The article was simply a shot across the public’s bow — a wake-up call intended to insert the idea into everyone’s mind of Hillary running. Her “No” seems nothing more than the classic — and expected — response that politicians always make to the media when they are testing the waters. Certainly it was not the kind of definitive cement wall “No” delivered by Civil War hero General William Tecumseh Sherman during the election campaign of 1884. When his name was floated as a possible candidate, he famously told the press, “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.”

Hillary’s “No” was nowhere near that emphatic, and became less and less so each time she repeated it to the media. For example, on June 19, Hillary told Business Insider (and Financial Times, Parade and others) that a 2024 presidential campaign was “out of the question…[because it] would be ‘very disruptive’ to challenge [Biden].”

And there it was — her escape hatch. ...

Which is exactly why the Hillary propaganda campaign has started planting stories suggesting that a popular groundswell for Hillary was starting to build. A June 28 story from CNN reported that “The whispers of Hillary Clinton 2024 have started.” Are the “whispers” real? It doesn’t matter. Saying they are is good enough. It doesn’t matter that the whispers may be only craftily constructed floaters leaked to compliant corporate media by well-placed political operatives and PR consultants. Their purpose is to take the public temperature and position the candidate for the next step, which is to escalate the mythical “groundswell of support.”

Accordingly, in July, stories began abandoning the coy suggestion that there were only “whispers” of interest in a Hillary candidacy. Instead, they trumpeted confident predictions that Hillary could definitely win in 2024. For example, Newsweek upped the ante on July 6, with an article titled “Hillary Clinton Is Best Bet for Democrats in 2024.” The Hill topped that with a piece titled, “Now more than ever, Democrats need Hillary Clinton.” We might dismiss the above attempts to promote a Hillary candidacy in 2024 as a delusion taken seriously only by segments of the Democratic Party elite (and their captive media echo chambers) who listen only to themselves and are disconnected from reality.

What if Hillary does win the Democratic Party nomination in 2024, and then goes on to become president of the United States?

[If you are interested in an analysis of what a Hillary presidency might be like, click the link. I think that they should have saved this piece for Halloween, though. -js]

U.S. Election Integrity Is A Joke And Here’s Why

Jackson's Water Crisis Comes After $90M Siemens Contract to Overhaul System "Ended Up a Disaster"

FEDS Investigate Jackson Water Crisis

Tourism is sucking Utah dry. Now it faces a choice - growth or survival?

It was a typically hot summer day in Utah’s Zion national park, where early-afternoon heat hovered near 100F, even in the shadows of the red peaks soaring overhead. But the extreme conditions did little to dissuade the throngs of tourists who trudged into the chalky brown waters of the Virgin River. The parking lot at Zion – one of the United States’s busiest national parks – had been full since 8am. Many of the visitors were there to scramble into the shallows of the Virgin River for the ever-popular and Instagrammable Narrows hike.

Thousands of tourists descend on this waterway year after year, even as this region and others across the American west fall deeper into drought. Fueled by the climate crisis and the overuse of dwindling water resources, the drought threatens the safety and sustainability of the spectacular sights; at the same time, tourists and the industries that cater to them contribute to an unfolding crisis in the cherished lands that brought them there.

“The point is not just how out of touch tourists are when they come and visit,” says Martha Ham, an environmental advocate with non-profit Conserve Southwest Utah, noting the lush lawns in surrounding residential developments. “We are not facing [the fact] that we live in a desert or dealing with what our natural limits are,” she said. “It is a historic problem and it catches up with you. It is catching up with us here.”

Just beyond the park, the once-sleepy city of St George is rapidly expanding. Tucked into one of the hottest and driest corners, in south-west Utah, the gateway community is the fastest growing city in the US. Tourism has fueled new residential growth and businesses in an area that could soon see water shortages – and it’s only expected to get worse. Though there have been recent moves to try to curb consumption, Utah already has the highest per-capita water usage in the country. In Washington county – home to Zion and St George – usage was an alarming 285 gallons a person a day in 2020, more than double what those in Las Vegas, just hours to the south, use.

While western states grapple over how to ration the rapidly declining water resources and how to secure a future in which the climate crisis is driving aridification and severe storms, in this part of Utah, the churn of new construction hasn’t slowed. As new homes and resorts march deeper into the desert, officials are searching for new sources of water as it grows more scarce in the drought-stricken American west.

‘Transformational’: could America’s new green bank be a climate gamechanger?

Buried on page 667 of the Inflation Reduction Act is a climate policy that has been in the making for more than a decade.

The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund provides $27bn in funding for projects aimed at lowering America’s planet-heating emissions. Some of those funds, roughly $7bn, will be dedicated to clean energy deployment in low-income communities – but the vast majority of the funds will be used to create America’s first national green bank, an initiative long championed by climate activists. Those activists hope that the national green bank, which will provide ongoing financial assistance to expand the use of clean energy across the country, will accelerate America’s transition away from fossil fuels.

With the green bank’s assistance, communities looking to bolster their nascent renewable energy industries will have increased access to funding that could bring them closer to meeting their climate goals. ...

The creation of the national green bank reflects years of work from climate experts and their allies on Capitol Hill. A green bank proposal was included in the Waxman-Markey climate bill of 2009, which never made it through the Senate. The idea has been tossed around ever since but never realized – until last month, when Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the Democrats’ huge spending package, into law.

“The climate test is simple: jobs, justice and climate. The National Climate Bank does all three,” Edward Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, said of the new initiative. “Through this bank, local climate and clean energy entrepreneurs will leverage funding to advance green initiatives and infrastructure in their communities while creating good, local jobs.”

'Hidden Killer': Experts Urge Action After Study Shows How Air Pollution Causes Lung Cancer

Experts emphasized the importance of more ambitiously addressing air pollution from fossil fuels after the presentation of a new breakthrough on lung cancer in Paris on Saturday.

Scientists at the Francis Crick Institute and University College London (UCL) shared their findings—part of the TRACERx lung study funded by Cancer Research U.K.—at the annual conference of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).

"Our study has fundamentally changed how we view lung cancer in people who have never smoked," said Cancer Research U.K. chief clinician Charles Swanton, who led and presented the research.

The way air pollution causes cancer differs from cigarettes and sunlight. Tobacco smoke and ultraviolet light damage the structure of DNA, creating mutations that cause cancer. Air pollution causes inflammation in the lungs, affecting cells that carry mutations.

"Cells with cancer-causing mutations accumulate naturally as we age, but they are normally inactive," Swanton explained. "We've demonstrated that air pollution wakes these cells up in the lungs, encouraging them to grow and potentially form tumors."

The team analyzed 463,679 individuals from England, South Korea, and Taiwan, and examined lung tissue samples from humans and mice following exposure to particulate matter, or PM2.5—air particles that are no larger than 2.5 micrometers in diameter.

They found higher rates of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutant lung cancer—and other types of cancers—in people who lived in areas with higher levels of PM2.5 pollution. They also found that, at least in mice, blocking a molecule which causes inflammation and is released in response to PM2.5 exposure prevents cancers from forming.

"According to our analysis, increasing air pollution levels increases the risk of lung cancer, mesothelioma, and cancers of the mouth and throat," noted Emilia Lim, co-first author and postdoctoral researcher at the Francis Crick Institute and UCL. "This finding suggests a broader role for cancers caused by inflammation triggered by a carcinogen like air pollution."

"Even small changes in air pollution levels can affect human health," she said, adding that 99% of the global population lives in areas that exceed annual World Health Organization (WHO) limits for PM2.5, "underlining the public health challenges posed by air pollution across the globe."

The WHO—when updating guidelines on air quality last September for the first time in over 15 years—warned that "the burden of disease attributable to air pollution is now estimated to be on a par with other major global health risks such as unhealthy diet and tobacco smoking, and air pollution is now recognized as the single biggest environmental threat to human health."

While most of the human population is exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution—which is tied to other health issues including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), dementia, and heart disease—research has repeatedly shown it's often worse in the poorest communities.

One 2021 study found that air pollution reduces the average global citizen's life by over two years. Citing an estimate that it is tied to more than eight million deaths worldwide per year, Swanton called air pollution a "hidden killer," according to Agence France-Presse.

Swanton stressed in a statement that "the same particles in the air that derive from the combustion of fossil fuels, exacerbating climate change, are directly impacting human health via an important and previously overlooked cancer-causing mechanism in lung cells."

"The risk of lung cancer from air pollution is lower than from smoking, but we have no control over what we all breathe," the scientist said. "Globally, more people are exposed to unsafe levels of air pollution than to toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke, and these new data link the importance of addressing climate health to improving human health."

"It's a wake-up call on the impact of pollution on human health," he told The Guardian. "You cannot ignore climate health. If you want to address human health, you have to address climate health first."

Also of Interest

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

The Izium Withdrawal - A Catalyst For 'Starting In Earnest'

Ukraine cracks down on ‘traitors’ helping Russian troops

Chain of corruption: how the White Helmets compromised OPCW investigations in Syria

Cruelties of the Queen’s Reign

Having a Queen Was Stupid; Having A King Is TOO Stupid  —  Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix

Spoiler! Israel may get its fondest wish to see the JCPOA die

In This Disaster We Are All, Ultimately, Innocent

Crime, Incarceration, and "Reform" Prosecutors: Debate Continued

Aretha Franklin's 'Every Move' Monitored by FBI, Declassified Files Reveal

Locals Celebrate 'Tremendous Victory' Against South Louisiana Methanol Petrochemical Complex

The Mennonites being accused of deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon

China BEATS US in Life Expectancy

Armenians forced to evacuate Nagorno-Karabakh face uncertain future

Biden Screws Newsom Over Farm Workers Bill

GAS PRICE HIKE INCOMING? US Will See European Energy Crisis This Winter: Janet Yellen

A Little Night Music

Bob & Earl - Dancin' Everywhere

Bob & Earl - Don't Ever Leave Me

Bob & Earl - Fancy Free

Bob & Earl - Baby, it's over

Bob & Earl - Everybody Jerk

Bob & Earl - Baby Your Time Is My Time

Bob & Earl - Oh Baby Doll

Bob & Earl - I Can't Get Away

Bob & Earl - Oh Yea (Have You Ever Been Lonely)

Bob & Earl - Would You Believe