The Evening Blues - 4-8-16



eb1pt12


Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features bluesrocker Stevie Ray Vaughan. Enjoy!

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Pride And Joy

“There has never been a just [war], never an honorable one--on the part of the instigator of the war. I can see a million years ahead, and this rule will never change in so many as half a dozen instances. The loud little handful--as usual--will shout for the war. The pulpit will--warily and cautiously--object--at first; the great, big, dull bulk of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes and try to make out why there should be a war, and will say, earnestly and indignantly, 'It is unjust and dishonorable, and there is no necessity for it.' Then the handful will shout louder. A few fair men on the other side will argue and reason against the war with speech and pen, and at first will have a hearing and be applauded; but it will not last long; those others will outshout them, and presently the anti-war audiences will thin out and lose popularity. Before long you will see this curious thing: the speakers stoned from the platform, and free speech strangled by hordes of furious men who in their secret hearts are still at one with those stoned speakers--as earlier--but do not dare say so. And now the whole nation--pulpit and all--will take up the war-cry, and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently such mouths will cease to open. Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.”

-- Mark Twain


News and Opinion

U.S. Bombs Were Used in Saudi-Led Attack on Market in Yemen, Rights Group Finds

One of the deadliest airstrikes in Yemen since a Saudi Arabia-led coalition began bombing the country used munitions supplied by the United States, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

The March 15 attack targeted a crowded market in the village of Mastaba in northwestern Yemen, killing at least 97 civilians, including 25 children. HRW said it found remnants of a “GBU-31 satellite-guided bomb, which consists of a U.S.-supplied MK-84 2,000-pound bomb mated with a JDAM satellite guidance kit, also U.S.-supplied.” The group said it also reviewed evidence provided by British news channel ITV, which found remnants of an “MK-84 bomb paired with a Paveway laser guidance kit.”

The report provides yet more evidence of U.S. complicity in the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Yemen. The Obama administration has been a key military backer of Saudi Arabia in its yearlong campaign against a rebel movement in Yemen known as the Houthis. In addition to billions of dollars in arms sales, the Pentagon has provided the Saudi-led coalition with logistical and intelligence support. Human Rights Watch said the U.S. role may make it “jointly responsible” for war crimes.

#Deported2Death: Why Did Obama Deport 85 Muslim Asylum Seekers?

I suppose that you wouldn't want to allow Syrians to write their own constitution. I wonder why such a document is needed, since the power to choose their government does not reside in the people, rather it resides with the US empire.

US, Russia Writing New Syrian Constitution

According to diplomats familiar with the situation, US and Russian officials have begun the process of writing the new constitution for Syria, with officials saying they want the framework in place by August.

The plan has always been for the Syrian civil war to be resolved by a new constitution leading to elections, but the absence of any Syrian involvement in the penning of the new document is conspicuous, underscoring how much of the effort is still just the international community imposing a “solution” on Syria.

"We Will Prevail": Three Words, Three American Presidents & An Endless War in Iraq

I can remember back when we used to call what the Pentagon is engaging in here as "lying." I guess now it's called "public relations" or "information operations" and considered normal discourse.

Temporary Marines in Iraq Have No Scheduled End Date

Under a negotiated deal with Iraq, the US is allowed to deploy a maximum of 3,870 ground troops in the nation at any given time. In spite of this, the Pentagon has conceded that they have closer to 5,000 troops inside Iraq. They insist this isn’t technically a violation, because those extra troops are just “temporary.”

But how temporary? That’s not clear. Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren today conceded that the 200 US Marines at Firebase Bell are all “temporary,” but that there is no scheduled end date for their operation, saying they are just going to stay until there is an “enduring solution.”

Way to go Hillary! Your humanitarian bloodletting in Libya is really paying off!

US General: ISIS Fighters in Libya Doubled in Past Year

Outgoing US commander of AFRICOM Gen. David Rodriguez today claims that the ISIS affiliate in Libya has doubled in the past year, revising previous estimates of 1,000 to 3,000 fighters and saying they have between 4,000 and 6,000.

The Pentagon has been hyping the size of Libyan ISIS for months now, with eyes on expanding the ongoing war in Iraq and Syria into Libya as well. Gen. Rodriguez conditioned this on the new “unity government” in Libya getting into power.

Army Chief: US Needs Another 220,000 Troops to Handle ‘Major Operations’

A million troops is not enough to match US imperial ambitions

Speaking to Congress today with an eye on major additional spending hikes, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley warned that the planned force strength of 980,000 was far too small, and that there is a “high military risk” for the US to only have about a million troops.

Gen. Milley says there is “no way we can meet the imminent threats that we have around the world,” and that to handle all the “major operations” (i.e. wars) planned he wants at least another 220,000 troops on top of the planned number.

Milley estimated the cost at $1 billion for every additional 10,000 soldiers added, and warned that America would risk “literally having a hollow Army” if the money wasn’t spent, suggesting domestic military bases might have to be closed, something Congress almost universally opposes.

FBI director says unlocking method won't work on newer iPhones

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's secret method for unlocking the iPhone 5c used by one of the San Bernardino shooters will not work on newer models, FBI Director James Comey said.

"We have a tool that works on a narrow slice of phones," Comey said at a conference on encryption and surveillance at Kenyon College in Ohio late on Wednesday. ...

Comey added that the technique would not work on the iPhone 5s and the later models iPhone 6 and 6s. The iPhone 5c model was introduced in 2013 and has since been discontinued by Apple as newer models have become available.

Police Reform Is Meaningless Without Civilian Oversight, Advocates Say

Former Texas officer who fatally shot unarmed woman found not guilty

Ruling delivered by same judge who chose jurors in Sandra Bland case

A former Texas police deputy on trial for killing an unarmed woman without warning immediately after she opened the front door of a friend’s house was found not guilty on Thursday.

Daniel Willis was cleared of murder by visiting district judge Albert McCaig during a retrial 30 miles east of Austin.

Yvette Smith was seemingly trying to act as a peacemaker during a dispute between two men that involved a gun. She called 911 about half an hour after midnight on 16 February 2014. When Bastrop County police arrived at the house, at least one of the men was in the front yard and the worst of the disturbance appeared over.

Willis, who is white, saw Smith, a black 47-year-old former caretaker, and ordered her to come outside. As she opened the door he shouted “police!” then fired within about three seconds. She died in the hospital after being shot twice by the deputy, who was using his personal AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

Judge McCaig usually works in Waller County, where the death of Sandra Bland last year in custody drew national attention. He helped choose grand jurors last year to analyze evidence related to Bland’s death. ...

The case raised broad issues about police accountability and localised questions about recruiting standards and the conduct of the sheriff’s department.

Witnesses challenge San Francisco police account of homeless man's killing

The San Francisco police chief’s account of the fatal shooting of a homeless man on Thursday was immediately challenged by two eyewitnesses, who said that the victim was not threatening police officers before he was killed.

The SFPD chief, Greg Suhr, said that police were called to a homeless encampment in the city by members of San Francisco’s homeless outreach team who reported a “suspect waving a large kitchen knife”.

Officers confronted a Latino man who refused their orders to drop his knife, even after he was shot four times with beanbag rounds, Suhr said.

The chief said the man then charged at the officers, and that two of them opened fire. Seven bullet casings were found at the scene. ...

However two witnesses, John Visor, 33, and Stephanie Grant, 31, who told the Guardian that they were less than 10ft away during the shooting, contradicted the police narrative.

“He didn’t charge at the officers. He was going in circles because he didn’t understand what they said,” Visor said. “He had a knife on him but he didn’t have it out. He had it on his hip, and when he hit the ground, that’s when it fell out.”

Americans Named in Panama Papers Leak

New Treasury rule could make it easier to hide money in the US, critics say

The US Treasury is re-examining its policies regarding shell companies, which can serve as tax havens for the rich, in the wake of the leak of 11.5m documents from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca. Experts, however, are worried that instead of limiting the ability to hide wealth, one rule under review could actually enhance it. ...

On Tuesday, two days after the first batch of Panama Papers revelations had been published, Obama took the stage in the White House briefing room and described tax avoidance as a “big global problem” that is “not unique to other countries”.

“A lot of it’s legal but that’s exactly the problem,” he said. “It’s not that they are breaking the law, it’s that the laws are so poorly designed that they allow people – if they’ve got enough lawyers and accountants – to wiggle out of responsibilities that ordinary citizens have to abide by.”

By Wednesday, the Treasury let it be known it would soon release a rule that would require banks to obtain the names of people at the helm of shell companies seeking to open accounts with them.

The problem? Experts say it’s another one of those “poorly designed” laws that Obama spoke of. And this time it’s being implemented by the Obama administration itself.

Cameron admits he profited from father’s offshore fund

David Cameron Faces Calls to Resign After Finally Admitting He Had Shares in Offshore Fund

After a week in which he has been forced into making daily public statements, British Prime Minister David Cameron finally admitted in a TV interview on Thursday that he once had a stake in his late father's offshore trust, which was named in the Panama Papers.

Opposition politicians immediately called on him to resign for being "less than honest" with the British people, and demanded he publish full details of his tax arrangements immediately. The topic #ResignCameron was trending on Twitter on Friday morning.

Cameron told ITV News that he had owned shares in the Panamanian trust, Blairmore Holdings, but had sold them in 2010, before becoming prime minister. ...


He immediately faced accusations of hypocrisy, given his repeated past statements about tax evasion being "morally wrong." There were also calls by the opposition for him to resign after being "less than honest" with the British public. Cameron had spoken "out of both sides of his mouth" in recent days, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Owen Smith told the BBC, arguing there were now "doubts about the prime minister's trustworthiness."

With Iceland’s Pirate Party Surging in the Polls, Its Government Resists New Elections

Thrown into disarray by a Panama Papers scandal, Iceland’s coalition government appointed a new prime minister on Thursday, refusing to call early elections to resolve a crisis in public confidence brought about by the revelation that three senior ministers had secret offshore accounts.

Opinion polls suggest that the government would be trounced in any immediate election, and most likely replaced by Iceland’s branch of the Pirate Party, a pan-European movement founded in Sweden in 2006 to fight for internet freedom and direct democracy. The Icelandic branch currently holds just three seats in the nation’s parliament, the Althing.

Protesters, who have massed outside the Althing in Reykjavik’s Austurvöllur square every day this week, have made it clear that they are not satisfied with just the bizarre resignation of Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, who intends to keep his seat in parliament and remain in charge of his party despite officially ceding power to his deputy, Sigurður Ingi Jóhannesson. ...

After the finance minister, Bjarni Benediktsson spoke to the press on Wednesday night inside parliament, alongside the prime minister’s hand-picked replacement, Jóhannesson, one of the three Pirate representatives, Ásta Helgadóttir, expressed her indignation at the finance minister’s claim that the government had to stay in place because the opposition was “rubbish.” ...

Helgadóttir phoned The Intercept from the Althing a few minutes later to say that the reshuffle was “a farce” and the coalition’s plan to delay elections until an unspecified date in the autumn is “not what the people are asking for.”

Argentine Prosecutor Wants President Macri Investigated Because of the Panama Papers

An Argentine prosecutor has asked a judge to open an investigation into whether President Mauricio Macri committed the crime of "malicious omission" by failing to declare his role in offshore companies.

The move follows Macri's inclusion among 12 heads of state revealed to have links to offshore companies set up by the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. The revelations stem from a massive leak of 11.5 million documents from the firm that is known as the Panama Papers.

The cache showed that Macri was the director of a company called Fleg Trading that was created in 1998 domiciled in the Bahamas, and in operation until 2009. Separate investigations in Argentina also uncovered that the president was director of another offshore company created in 1981 and based in Panama. It is not clear if the company, that was called Kagemusha, is still in operation.

Macri did not include either company in any of the declarations of his assets he has made as an elected official. Particular attention has been paid to the period in which he was mayor of Buenos Aires in 2007 and 2008.

Now federal prosecutor Federico Delgado is arguing that an investigation is needed to find out whether Macri's failure to mention the company constitutes a crime.



the horse race



Sanders Significantly Narrows Clinton's Leads in California, Pennsylvania

Sanders trails Clinton by a mere six points in upcoming primary state Pennsylvania and delegate-heavy California

As presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders' Wednesday rally in Philadelphia drew a crowd so large the line stretched ten blocks, Quinnipiac released a poll showing Sanders making double-digit gains on Hillary Clinton's once-formidable lead in the state—narrowing it to just a six-point margin.

The Pennsylvania poll showed Sanders behind Clinton among likely Democratic voters 44 percent to 50 percent in the closed-primary state; previous polling had Clinton ahead by a full 17 points. The margin of error was 4.3 percentage points.

Echoing previous polling that shows Sanders' strength as a general election candidate, Quinnipiac's poll also found Clinton tying with Cruz in a general election match-up, while Sanders beat both Trump and Cruz handily.

And in California, which offers the significant prize of 475 delegates to the nominating convention, a poll (pdf) released Friday also showed Sanders slimming Clinton's lead to only six points.

In California, the recent survey "was brimming with red flags for Clinton, who has lost six of the last seven Democratic primary and caucus contests and has raised less money than Sanders the past three months. While Clinton has a large lead in the number of delegates needed to secure the Democratic nomination, Sanders has enough money to continue running a robust campaign through the California primary," writes SFGate.

Military Historian Agrees with Bernie Sanders: Hillary Clinton is an Unreconstructed Hawk

Sanders doubles down on Clinton, blasts media

Bernie Sanders went after the media for “political gossip” Thursday before he doubled down on his sharp comments Wednesday night in which he questioned whether Hillary Clinton was qualified for the presidency.

“Any questions on the needs of the middle class of America before we get to political gossip?” Sanders asked following a brief news conference on trade in Philadelphia. “All right, now where’s your political gossip? OK, what do you got?”

The following question focused on the Vermont senator’s forceful rhetoric against Clinton at a rally on Wednesday. Sanders explained that he took issue with a Washington Post report on Clinton with a headline that said "Clinton questions whether Sanders is qualified to be president."

“That is what was thrown at me,” Sanders said. “Now, the other thing is that I believe the Clinton campaign told CNN, and I quote, that their strategy as we go into New York and to Pennsylvania, I guess, is quote, disqualify him, defeat him and unify the party later.” ...

Sanders stressed that he has tried to run a campaign that focuses on the issues. “It’s hard, as we can see,” he remarked. “The media’s not particularly interested about why the middle class declines, about wage and income disparity. That’s not what you’re interested in.”

Bernie backs down. Sad.

'Of Course' Hillary Clinton is Qualified to Be President, Sanders Clarifies

Bernie Sanders on Friday clarified comments he made earlier this week questioning rival Hillary Clinton's qualifications to be president.

"The Clinton campaign has changed its tone" after losing seven of the past eight presidential nominating contests in the lead-up to the New York primary, Sanders told NBC's Today show.

"I've know Hillary Clinton for 25 years. I respect Hillary Clinton. We were colleagues in the Senate, and on her worst day, she would be an infinitely better president than either of the Republican candidates," he said. Asked directly by host Savannah Guthrie whether Clinton was qualified to be president, Sanders replied, "Of course."

The fresh comments mark a contrast from what Sanders' take has been over the past several days, stemming from what he saw as attacks on his own qualifications from the Clinton campaign.

Off-Script Bill Clinton Triggers Storm of Critics After Touting Welfare, Prison Legacy

Riled by protesters who repeatedly interrupted a speech on behalf of wife and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia on Thursday, Bill Clinton is now under fire (and trending on Twitter) for how he responded to those challenging the political pair's record on criminal justice and welfare reform passed under his presidency in the 1990s.

While several people near the front of the crowd shouted and raised signs—including ones that read "Hillary Clinton is a Murderer" and "Clinton crime bill destroyed our communities" — Clinton defended the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and the welfare reforms he enacted, but apparently went "off script" by defending the idea of so-called young black "superpredators" and claiming that Black Lives Matter activists (who recently forced Hillary Clinton to apologize for her  use of the term) are actually guilty of defending violent drug dealers and murderers.

"I don’t know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on crack and sent them out on the street to murder other African American children," Clinton told the protesters at one point. "Maybe you thought they were good citizens, [but Hillary] didn’t... You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter. Tell the truth. You are defending the people who caused young people to go out and take guns."

In his remarks, Clinton also said that black and other low-income communities should be thankful that the economy did so well under his presidency and dismissed the idea that poverty worsened because of his policies. If the reforms were so bad, Clinton asked his detractors in the crowd, "Then why do we have the largest drop in African-American poverty in history when I was president? The largest in history."

Writing for the New York Magazine, however, Eric Levitz pushed back on Clinton for defendeing his welfare reform by arguing it would have been successful if not for the later behavior of Republican lawmakers.  Writes Levitz:

One problem with Clinton blaming Republicans for "taking away" people's welfare is that, without his law, they wouldn't have been able to. Before the welfare-reform act, the federal government guaranteed assistance to impoverished families with dependent children who met a given set of eligibility requirements. Clinton's law replaced that federal guarantee with block grants to the states. That allowed Republicans (and many Democrats) at the state-level to shift welfare spending away from their poorest, least politically engaged constituents. It was not difficult to predict that Republican governors would use this new authority in the manner Clinton now derides, or that a system of inflexible block grants would drive up the rate of extreme poverty.

How dare Bill Clinton shout over Black Lives Matter protesters?

I am used to Bill Clinton dog-whistling – trying to speak to conservatives in a frequency only they can hear. But like Hillary on Aids, we could all hear exactly what he was saying when he tried, and failed on Thursday, to defend his punitive 1994 crime bill and the 1996 so-called welfare reform bill, both of which were disastrous for black America. And he did so while acting like black people have been controlling the national narrative for 400 years and he couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

“Can I answer?” He asked the screaming crowd. “Here’s the thing, I like protesters. But the ones who won’t let you answer are afraid of the truth.” In the next 10 minutes, he managed to threaten the Clintons’ inexplicable, decades-long lock on black voters. ...

He was also happy to throw black people from the 1990s under the bus: “I don’t know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on crack and sent them out into the street to murder other African American children. Maybe you thought they were good citizens – she didn’t.” This goes to the heart of the concerns of the Black Lives Matter movement, which ignited with the death of Mike Brown – “no angel” to the New York Times, but beloved by a new generation who see beyond the racist spin.

Bill Clinton doesn’t get this. He is still living in a world of 1990s respectability politics, trying to separate the “good” blacks he thinks will vote from “unworthy” blacks who’ve been marginalized. But Black Lives Matter is not interested in a world where black children must be made “to heel” and where fear-mongering is achieved by mentioning the racist trope of “13-year-old kids hopped up on crack”.

Clinton: Republicans Hoping to See Me in Handcuffs Are Living in a 'World of Fantasy'

The Democratic frontrunner laughed off [Republican suggestions that she will be indicted for her actions in the email scandal] in an interview on NBC's Today Show that aired Friday morning, saying that Republicans who believe that she will be indicted over her email scandal "live in that world of fantasy and hope because they have a mess on their hands" in the Republican presidential primary.

Clinton explicitly dismissed the idea that the federal government will indict her, calling Republican hopes to the contrary both "false" and "ridiculous."

"That's not going to happen. There is not even the remotest chance that's going to happen," she said.

Clinton downplayed the significance of the FBI's investigation into her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state, calling it merely "a security review."

Super PAC Backer Says Big Money Entitles Donors to Campaign “Oversight”

Al Hoffman, a Florida real estate developer and ambassador to Portugal during the George W. Bush administration, gave over a million dollars in 2015 to Right to Rise, the Super PAC supporting Jeb Bush’s Titanic-like presidential campaign. ...

In a USA Today op-ed headlined “Big Donors Can Save Democracy From Donald Trump,” Hoffman tries to make the case that Trump has gone off the rails because he doesn’t have people like Hoffman telling him what to do.

Here’s how Hoffman puts it: “Large donors … often serve as an executive board of sorts, challenging campaigns to act worthy of their investment.”

Hoffman writes, “Trump brags that he is without big donors. That may be true. But it also means he is without restraint. … In business and politics alike, oversight is a good thing.”

If you’re not paying close attention, that makes the whole process sound public-spirited and inspiring. If you are, however, you realize Hoffman is telling us that he and his cohort see their money as buying them seats on the board of a corporation they ultimately control.



the evening greens


Humans an Invasive Species Heading for a 'Crash'

Human population growth has followed the trajectory of a typical invasive species, says a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, and that suggests there may be a looming global population "crash."

"The question is: Have we overshot Earth’s carrying capacity today?" said Elizabeth Hadly, a professor in environmental biology at Stanford University and senior author of the paper, in a press statement.

"Because humans respond as any other invasive species," Hadly continued, "the implication is that we are headed for a crash before we stabilize our global population size."

The study examined 1,147 archaeological sites via radiocarbon dating to understand the patterns of human population growth in South America. As a successfully invasive species, upon arrival "humans spread rapidly throughout the continent," the study authors note.

Once humans reached the continent's carrying capacity—meaning its resources couldn't support further population growth—"consistent with over-exploitation of their resources," the study found that humans' population growth halted and the species "remained at low population sizes for 8,000 years."

"This coincided with the last pulses of an extinction of big animals," the study discovered.

However, about 5,000 years ago humans in South America did something unprecedented: they became sedentary, meaning that humans began creating villages, towns, and cities, rather than living in nomadic family groups. As a result, the invasive species' population boomed a second time.

"Practices such as intensive agriculture and inter-regional trade led to sedentism, which allowed for faster and more sustained population growth. Profound environmental impacts followed," the study found.

This is what makes humans perhaps the most successful invasive species yet: unlike animals whose population growth is limited by their natural environment, humans are capable of exponentially growing their population several times over, through the invention of new resource-exploiting technologies and cultural shifts such as the establishment of trade.

The death of US coal: industry on a steep decline as cheap natural gas rises

With Massey Energy boss Don Blankenship headed to prison and some of the industry’s biggest companies bankrupt, a historic transformation may be ahead

Don Blankenship, the former chief executive of Massey Energy and the coal industry he championed are both on the ropes. Blankenship is headed to prison and some of the biggest coalmining companies in the world are in bankruptcy or possibly headed that way –knocked out of electricity markets by cheap natural gas and the environmental regulations Blankenship so vehemently opposed.

Next week Peabody Energy, the world’s largest publicly traded coal company, will come to the end of a 30-day grace period to repay its crushing debts or fall into bankruptcy. ...

Three other coal giants have declared bankruptcy within the last six months, Arch Coal, Patriot and Alpha Natural Resources. Alpha bought out Blankenship’s old firm nine months after the Big Branch Disaster.

The US energy information administration last month released estimates showing coal production declining across the country by 29% in the first 10 weeks of 2016 compared with the same period last year.

The agency said it anticipates natural gas will overtake coal as the country’s biggest source of electricity this year – a projection that is expected to result in hundreds more layoffs in the coming months. ...

Until Blankenship’s sentencing this week, however, no coalmining executive had ever been sent to jail for putting coalminers’ lives in jeopardy by placing profit over safety.

"No Safe Pipelines": TransCanada Admits Keystone Spill Bigger than First Claimed

The oil spill that shut down a portion of the Keystone 1 pipeline in South Dakota last weekend is much bigger than initially estimated, TransCanada admitted on Thursday—almost 100 times bigger, in fact.

The fossil fuel company said the "potential volume" of the spill in Freeman, discovered by a passerby on Saturday, was about 18,600 gallons, or 400 barrels.

That estimate comes just days after TransCanada initially claimed the spill totaled about 187 gallons, or approximately 4.5 barrels.

"The fact that the damage is even bigger than first reported proves: there is no such thing as a safe pipeline," Lindsay Meiman, communications coordinator for the climate group 350.org, told Common Dreams. "The only safe place for fossil fuels is in the ground."

Rampaging Radioactive wild boars causing havoc near Fukushima nuclear plant and 'breeding like rabbits'

Radioactive wild boars which are 'breeding like rabbits' are overwhelming the Fukushima Nuclear disaster zone.

The boar population, which has increased by 330 per cent in the four years since the disaster, has been devastating the crops of farms in the area.

Around 13,000 of the boars are in the exclusion zone, which stretches in a 12-mile radius from the plant. ...

Scientists from the Fukushima University Environmental Radioactivity Institute, who have been researching the spread of radioactive materials in the disaster area, said the boars have been raising their litters in abandoned houses. ...

There is no evidence so far that the health of the boars has been affected by exposure to radiation, although smaller animals and plants have been damaged.


Also of Interest

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

The Problem With Hillary Clinton Isn’t Just Her Corporate Cash. It’s Her Corporate Worldview.

Surveillance Debate Gets a Needed Dose of Racial Perspective

Cameron 'got cold feet' on tax avoidance crackdown

The Wars in Our Schools

Robert Fisk: The 'One for One' Refugee Policy Means We're Picking and Choosing Among Desperate People

Canada’s Blackwater

CIA’s Venture Capital Arm Is Funding Skin Care Products That Collect DNA

Hillary Clinton broke the rules on the NYC subway.

Seth Abramson: Media Support May Have Set Clinton Up to Fail

Hillary Clinton Using Sandy Hook Victims as Political Props Just Backfired Completely

Bill Clinton Says Black Lives Matter Protesters Defend Gang Leaders, Crack Dealers


A Little Night Music

Stevie Ray Vaughan w/Johnny Copeland - Tin Pan Alley

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Little Wing

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Look at Little Sister

Buddy Guy and Stevie Ray Vaughan - Champagne and Reefer

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand The Weather

A.C.Reed with Stevie Ray Vaughan - These Blues Is Killing Me

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Nashville 1987



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FreakFlagFly's picture

and in honor of The Boss' stand in NC.

David Sancious (born November 30, 1953 in Asbury Park, New Jersey) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on the 1992 album Human Touch. Sancious is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known as a keyboard player and guitarist.

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joe shikspack's picture

glad to see that bruce is standing up for what's right. i hope that the decent people of north carolina are able to sort out their government and get back on the path.

thanks for the tune!

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OLinda's picture

He is trending on Twitter which is how I learned about it. A good use for "social media."

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burnt out's picture

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

divineorder's picture

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bruce+springsteen/born+in+the+u+s+a_2002496...

Bruce Springsteen – Born In The U. S. A. Lyrics
Born down in a dead mans town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.

Got in a little hometown cream
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "son, don't you understand"

I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone

He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

everyone, including you, are part of it

Hillary Clinton is good at imagining partisan plots, and to listen to her team, no less than several inspectors general, the intelligence community, and the entire Republican ecosphere are colluding to turn her home-brew email system into a fake scandal. To this conspiracy, she must now add the federal judiciary.

In recent weeks, not one, but two, esteemed federal judges have granted an outside group—Judicial Watch—the right to conduct discovery into the origins and handling of her private email system. It’s a reminder that Mrs. Clinton’s biggest problem this election isn’t Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump. Her problem is a 1966 statute known as the Freedom of Information Act, and the judges who enforce it....
In this case—as we all know—the problem is that the State Department doesn’t have the documents. Or rather, it can’t confirm that it has them all, because State left it to Mrs. Clinton and her aides to possess them, and then to unilaterally decide what to hand over. To Judge Royce Lamberth, this is cut and dry “evidence of government wrong-doing and bad faith,” and the law demands a full accounting of how this situation came to be, what records exist, and where they are now.

Speaking of the judge’s words, they too are a testament to Mrs. Clinton’s mess. Judge Lamberth was unplugged in his order, calling the former secretary of state’s email set up “extraordinary,” and slamming “constantly shifting admissions by the government and former government officials” about the setup. Judge Emmet Sullivan, the first to allow discovery, referred in his own hearing to Mrs. Clinton’s “totally atypical system” and noted that it “boggles the mind that the State Department allowed this circumstance to arise in the first place. It’s just very, very, very troubling.”

Fueling the judges’ suspicions has been new evidence that Mrs. Clinton didn’t turn everything over.

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joe shikspack's picture

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snoopydawg's picture

She has been vetted because she and Bill have survived over 24 years of investigations in to their business dealings and other shenanigans that they've been doing.
Just because they survived it doesn't mean that there weren't wrong doings. It's just either no one could make a good case against them or some people were bought off. JMHO.

But they keep doing the same things over and over again.
I'm not as concerned about the emails as I am about their foundation. There has been hints that it's a money laundering scheme, people who donated to it gets special favors and in Haiti, any corporation that wanted in on the reconstruction had to go through their foundation first. Plus the state department had some type of business with Haiti and the foundation was in the middle of that too.

Then there's the weapons sales to foreign countries that would then give millions to the foundation. That has stink written all over it. Especially after Obama told her that she was to keep the foundation separate from her duties as SOS.
I'm pretty sure that if a republican SOS had done those things, her supporters would have a problem with it.

Then there's all the special favors that they did for the banks and were well paid for it
http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/03/16/the-clintons-93-million-romance-w...

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

Raggedy Ann's picture

I loves me some Stevie Ray Vaughn! My heart broke at his untimely (to us) death. Glad to hear his music, today!

That Mark Twain - he is sorely missed in these times. He'd be having a field day with the goings on of today.

This morning's BNR showed Bernie having breakfast in the Brooklyn Diner in Manhattan. I've eaten there several times, myself. Took my grandkids there once, too. We really need New York, so I hope they come out for Bernie. Too bad Bernie is walking back his comment on HRC. I understand it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. To me, she is unqualified to hold that level of power. Period.

Have a beautiful weekend, my friends!

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

joe shikspack's picture

happy listening and reading - and have a great weekend to boot!

personally, i think mark twain would be suffering from extreme overload in today's media environment. there's just too much of the sort of stuff that he lampooned and deplored.

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Lookout's picture

I'm off to my little music session in the woods. I'll look forward to doing more than skim through tomorrow. Feels like things are moving in a positive way.
MSM seems to be covering Bernie better. I saw a 19 min Morning Joe interview with Bernie on youtube that let him answer the Daily news article. Thought he did well. Have a good evening!

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

Gerrit's picture

evening.

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Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.

joe shikspack's picture

thanks for the clip!

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Joe and crew treated Bernie fairly re: the Daily news interview.The atmosphere was actually warm and friendly.

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Solidarity

Nothing about this on cable TV news.

A Million People Are About to Lose Food Stamps Because of Kasich-Clinton Welfare Reform

The problem is the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996, aka the "welfare reform" bill. More than 1 million low-income residents in 21 states could soon lose their government SNAP benefits (aka food stamps) if they fail to meet work requirements that began kicking in this month because waivers given out during the post-2008 recession are expiring.

The bill was introduced in Congress by then-Rep. Kasich and signed by President Bill Clinton; Hillary Clinton has long described it as a significant achievement.

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"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

joe shikspack's picture

that's why more people should read the evening blues. Smile

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Nothing Bill Clinton Said To Defend His Welfare Reform Is True

Welfare reform was an intentional effort to curb financial assistance to poor people, on the grounds that many were simply too lazy to get a job. Clinton turned over a federal program to states, who were effectively allowed to slash welfare funding and impose new work requirements on people who received assistance. Even Republican co-architects of welfare reform concede that the program ended up hurting the poor.

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"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

Unabashed Liberal's picture

I plan to post on this topic--including the transcript to WJC's Georgetown U speech on "ending welfare as we know it."

Ran across this transcript just this year, as I was searching for material on a related policy. I remembered that WJC made 'welfare reform' one of his policy planks, but I had no idea how explicit he was.

My question is: "How did he win the Dem Party nomination in the first place?"

Wink

Hey, thanks for tonight's fine News & Blues roundup, Joe.

Have a nice weekend, Everyone!

Mollie
elinkarlsson@WordPress


"I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive."
----Gilda Radner, Comedienne

Thumbnail of 'Lily' for Signature Line.png

National Mill Dog Rescue

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Shahryar's picture

Hillary did say 'superpredator" and that was wrong and yes, Hillary did vote for the AUMF and her team did push a picture of Obama in native African dress, implying he might be a Muslim, and she pretty much said he might be with her "he says he's a Christian" comment and yeah, she cackled about Khadafi's death but, well, she's not Bill and all that other stuff was so long ago and now she's evolved to where there's never been a candidate in history!!! who is so qualified to be President. Even people who were in state government, had been in the Cabinet and maybe even been a Governor were not as qualified.

Her 8 years in the Senate place her among the longest-serving Senators, behind only ....hmmm...this list only has 25 people and stops at 35 years so Hillary is probably 26th, right? And none of those were First Lady, I rest my case, your Honor.

Anyway, now she's perfect. You see, Bernie's problem is that he imagines a world where things are better, a world that he won't be able to bring about. Hillary, on the other hand, knows that nothing is possible and that's just what she promises, a whole lot of nothing. Therefore her vision is real world. She's a fighter. She's not afraid to lie, to cheat, to get out the knives so that her nothing will continue to prevail. I really "admire" that.

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Gerrit's picture

Asterix and Obelix when you need them, eh?
asterixandfriends.png
Rampaging, radioactive boars. From the You can't make this shit up department. Apparently, the Chernobyl surroundings are something special too. Eish.

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Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.

joe shikspack's picture

they could get to be quite a problem. they are quite formidable animals.

i say we get the tepco executives and their government lackeys to come in and deal with them personally.

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Every dang day I see you overwhelming my mind (the human mind can only stand so much - Dylan) with info I find extremely interesting. Do you ever sleep?
Anyway, I believe a little blues may be in order. From one of my all time favorite albums Johnny Winter-Second Winter

BTW, Johnny does the best 'Johnny B. Goode' EVER (imo).
And his Highway 61 is my favorite version.
The album was 2 discs but only 3 sides of music, the last side was blank.
Johnny said it was supposed to be a 1 disc album but he liked everything they did there so he put it all out.
Thanks Johnny.
Smile

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With their hearts they turned to each others heart for refuge
In troubled years that came before the deluge
*Jackson Browne, 1974, Before the Deluge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SX-HFcSIoU

joe shikspack's picture

glad you enjoy the results of my news-junkie habit. Smile

i do get some sleep now and again, but now is the time for barbecue. i'm off to dinner.

see you guys a little later on in the evening.

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Jazzenterprises's picture

Wow, what a week... I've been hardly around, just handed in my personal and business taxes, I feel like the semester just ended!!! Woot as the kids say!

Always thankful for this thread with but a small contribution from myself:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-fSZRYeBWk]

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Progressive to the bone.

joe shikspack's picture

glad you got that stuff out of the way. here's another round:

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OLinda's picture

Bernie backs down. Sad.

Yes, joe, very sad. I saw a few minutes of him with Charlie Rose this morning on CBS's morning show. Charlie said roughly, 'Don't you owe it to your campaign and your supporters to read past the headlines?" This was regarding his seeing the accusation that he wasn't qualified in a headline. Charlie was very aggressive and challenging and frankly, Bernie looked rattled by it.

He said to Charlie that of course Hillary is qualified and that he would support her if she got the nom. Slightly different from what he said to Cenk on TNT, eh?

Well, I don't expect any tips on this comment. It's the most disappointed I've been in him since he said we're tired of hearing about her damn emails. Fine, he doesn't need to mention them if he doesn't want to, but he doesn't need to speak up to voluntarily take them off the table.

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hester's picture

He had to walk that back about her being unqualified. Imho it's the only mistake he's made this season. Her comments got under his skin and he took the bait. It was foolish and he should've just waved her insinuations and 1/2 statements off as if not worth even talking about. So i think he was smart to walk that back. It allows him to move on.

He's said from the git go he won't run as and indie and would support the nominee.

Hillary will vote for Kasich if he runs against Bernie... why ask her. She lies like a rug

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Don't believe everything you think.

petral's picture

I'm sure she was getting ready to "disqualify" him and now she can't, at least in any full-bore sort of way. All she gets is one news cycle since now we're on to Vatican and Bill's big mouth (again).

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Mark from Queens's picture

Of mainstream media personalities treating full of shit RW blusterers with kid gloves but going after libruls with all they've got to "show 'em," and by that I mean the boys back at the country club they don't want to fall into persona non grata with if they feel their interests aren't being protected by the media puppets they own.

And Charlie Rose is one of the top offenders as far as I've seen.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

joe shikspack's picture

i'm sure that his strategists told him that backing down was the right thing to do, but i find it really disappointing that he finally got round to telling the truth and then he backed away from it.

this just gives hillary license to hit him with an even bigger bucket of sleaze - and you know it's coming.

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Can anyone point out an equivalent show of support for Bernie from Hillary? Anyone?

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OLinda's picture

It is always assumed to go the other way. Only Bernie is marginalized by being asked.

Speaking of that, Bernie always says how they're friends, how he respects her. Does Hillary ever say anything like that about him? I don't know, but I doubt it. Bernie needs to stop volunteering these remarks. How can he respect her and also say she is bought by the 1%, and has poor judgment re Iraq, and Kissinger, and elsewhere?

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joe shikspack's picture

i can't remember hearing her being asked that directly. i have heard her say that bernie is far superior to any of the rethugs, but then again, that's damning bernie with faint praise.

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OLinda's picture

for the news and blues. Want to drop in and say thanks and happy Friday to all before this thread gets so big I can't open it. Wink Not anyone's fault but mine and the old 10.6.8 Mac. I can't download newer browser versions due to the oldness of my OS.

All is well here, other than that. My little town is doing the annual Spring cleanup event in a few weeks. You can take trash, electronics, papers that need shredding, furniture, all kinds of stuff, and get rid of it free. I'm enjoying putting and old keyboard, surge protector, bunch of papers, etc. in boxes, getting ready. Unfortunately, they don't take paint.

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hester's picture

I gave up on Safari a long time ago.

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Don't believe everything you think.

joe shikspack's picture

i hope that one of these days a zippier machine comes into your life. Smile

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jamess's picture

Even allowed enough time for Bernie to answer.

Full Interview: Bernie Sanders at Morning Joe -- Apr 8, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odnqgsVwQvo&feature=youtu.be

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joe shikspack's picture

i was kind of surprised that joe gave him a decent forum. kind of unusual in the media these days.

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One of the deadliest airstrikes in Yemen since a Saudi Arabia-led coalition began bombing the country used munitions supplied by the United States, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

I don't know if these bombs were bought after Saudi Arabia made a "contribution" to the "Clinton Foundation" but certainly there were large arms sales that took place after Bill and Hillary and Chelsea were given a very large donation. I don't know about you, but I consider that "blood money".

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Capitalism has always been the rule of the people by the oligarchs. You only have two choices, eliminate them or restrict their power.

snoopydawg's picture

And Hillary a sociopath. The way she laughed after watching that video of Gaddafi being brutally murdered is a sure sign of it.

I want to know what are the 'many' threats that the general is saying we are facing and who is making them. IMO, the only real threats to people in the world comes from the United States and its military defense apparatus. And the people who are willingly joining the military to go and invade countries that haven't threatened us.

Of course ISIS is continuing to grow. What with the number of countries that are funding them including the UK, Saudi Arabia and our other allies. Oh, and the United States.
We first started Al Quada and they were our friends, until they attacked us because of all the foreign interventions that had killed between 20-40 million people since 1945. So they were our enemies during the Iraq war, but now our troops are fighting besides them in Syria and God knows where else.

The Clinton's are the gift that keeps giving. The welfare reform bill had rules in it that states are using to kick off thousands of people off food stamps. POC are still being locked up because of their crime bills. People are still losing their jobs and houses because of both nafta and the deregulation of the banks and financial institutions.
Just imagine how much more damage they will be able to do if they get back in the White House.
If Obama can't get the TPP passed, Hillary will.
Yes I'm angry because there isn't a damned thing we can do to stop the insanity. Except to try to stop the Clintons from getting back in the WH, but the people who used to be against everything that the Clintons stand for are now okay with them and will vote her back in office.
Remember the article that asks " Can you survive two terms if Hillary is president "?
I m one person who probably won't survive it.

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

divineorder's picture

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

clinton is just part of team establishment and the establishment is corrupt as hell.

hillary is part of the establishment's plan to allow you to choose between tweedledee and tweedledum and call it democracy.

the cool thing this time around is it looks like the people are messing with the establishment's little plan.

we'll see how it turns out.

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joe shikspack's picture

it appears to me that the clinton foundation has been a vehicle for corruption. i hope that it is thoroughly investigated by a hungry team of the best forensic accountants in the business.

frankly though, even if the investigation finds nothing legally wrong, the appearance of corruption is enough to disqualify hillary clinton as a candidate for the presidency in my view.

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GreyWolf's picture

6 Responses To Bernie Sanders Skeptics

[video:https://youtu.be/VfIhonVoFSg]

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joe shikspack's picture

thanks for the vid. have a great weekend.

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Wyoming Caucus Unlikely to Slow Down Bernie Sanders’ Unstoppable Momentum*

People out West just love being told we live in the middle of nowhere and have no relevance in national politics.

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"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."

divineorder's picture

OT but Wyoming is so amazingly beautiful.

 photo 20150606_085952_zpspw9z9tsu.jpg

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

are those the wyoming offshore tax havens that i keep hearing about?

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley suggests domestic military bases might have to be closed.
Maybe we should think about closing some overseas bases.

The United States Probably Has More Foreign Military Bases Than Any Other People, Nation, or Empire in History And it’s doing us more harm than good. By David Vine September 14, 2015

"While there are no freestanding foreign bases permanently located in the United States, there are now around 800
US bases in foreign countries. Seventy years after World War II and 62 years after the Korean War, there are still
174 US “base sites” in Germany, 113 in Japan, and 83 in South Korea, according to the Pentagon. Hundreds more dot
the planet in around 80 countries, including Aruba and Australia, Bahrain and Bulgaria, Colombia, Kenya, and Qatar,
among many other places. Although few Americans realize it, the United States likely has more bases in foreign lands
than any other people, nation, or empire in history.
...
Although there are about half as many bases as there were in 1989, the number of countries with US bases has roughly
doubled from 40 to 80.
...
We may think such bases have made us safer. In reality, they’ve helped lock us inside a permanently militarized society
that has made all of us—everyone on this planet—less secure,damaging lives at home and abroad."

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Solidarity

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Solidarity

divineorder's picture

With you 100%, let's close those foreign bases, transform our economy.

As it turns out the evil empire r us.

The imperial masters are everywhere!

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

heh, milley is not talking about shutting down any of the empire's foreign bases, he's only interested in threatening congressmen that the pentagon will maybe shut down the base in their district if they don't vote for a 22 billion dollar upgrade to the military budget for 220k more troops.

it's the pentagon's version of blackmail.

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"If you don't give us the money we'll close the base in your district and kill the local economy"
It's a racket to make the mob proud.

Per the article overseas bases cost over 150 billion per year,that we know of.The Generals can cut 15% of the fat off that sacred cow.

If I was king of the forest I'd close all bases on foreign soil and reduce military spending to pre WW 2 levels.We suck at Empire.

This quote from your link was telling:
"Rather than kicking down front doors and barging into ancient and complex societies with simple nostrums of 'freedom and democracy,' we need tactics of cunning and subtlety, based on a profound understanding of the people and cultures we are dealing with -- an understanding up till now entirely lacking in the top-level policy-makers in Washington, especially in the Pentagon."

There's nothing cunning or subtle about US foreign policy and 220k more troops won't fix it.

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Solidarity

pfiore8's picture

one of my favorites of all time.

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“There are moments which are not calculable, and cannot be assessed in words; they live on in the solution of memory… ”
― Lawrence Durrell, "Justine"

joe shikspack's picture

heh...

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divineorder's picture

How's it going?

Nice work as always, cannot thank you enough for filtering out the fluff and collecting the important news for our edification and hopefully future action.

We are pretty damn happy tonight, having finished painting our old shack alongside a helper today. Great to get 'er done between expeditions. Hopefully it will be another 8 years before it needs repainting. At 66, the years become ever more precious.....

I get grief from fans of my photography for not sharing more people pictures.

Here's one from the 'secret' [little known outside climbing circles] village area in the Pacific mountains of Costa Rica. We usually spend the last days of CR trips here to enjoy the cool climate and drink some beer and wine with interesting locals/international travelers.

IMG_4628 (1024x683).jpg Jakkalbessie gives way to the work crew coming down from Parque Nacional Vulcan Chirripo. March, 2016

The summit of the Chirripo Volcano is the highest elevation in Central America. We stay at the Hotel Roca Dura in the tiny village of San Gerardo de Rivas. We have never hiked to the top, preferring to sit in the bar and enjoy the view, take day hikes to see waterfalls in the lower elevation Reserva Cloudbridge.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

glad to hear that you got your work done so that you can get back to enjoying your travels.

heh, i haven't been there in years, but when i was younger, there was a mountain in maine that had a schnapps bar near the summit that made for a nice reward for climbing all the way up. my pictures from that day were a little fuzzy. Smile

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burnt out's picture

Quite a "mistake" there TransCanada , you were only off by a little over 18,000 gallons.
But hey, give them credit, it only took them a week to realize that their bogus story wasn't gonna float in all that oil.

Thanks for your continued efforts to keep us informed Joe. Have a great weekend.

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All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth. John Lennon

joe shikspack's picture

it's funny how the spill estimates of oil and gas companies always seem to be low and get revised upwards. you'd think it was an industry pr strategy or something.

you have a great weekend, too!

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divineorder's picture

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

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As usual, there is a lot to think about from your post but can step back for a moment and enjoy Stevie Ray, Double Volume as we sometimes jokingly called him in the very tiny music venues we heard him play back in the day. Man really needed this music tonight! Thanks!!!!

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Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

joe shikspack's picture

double volume sounds about right. a lot of guitar amps don't start giving the sweet, thick tone that stevie liked until you crank them up pretty loud. it's also a plus in small venues so that you can hear it over the noise of the bottles clanking and the glasses clinking.

a friend of mine brought his nifty new dat recorder with him when we went to see james cotton do an acoustic show (with luther tucker and dave torkanowsky) and we got him set up on a balcony right over the sound board. unfortunately the sound board was located at the end of the bar and the tape he made was full of the sound of bottles going into the trash can. boy, that was a drinking crowd. Smile

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divineorder's picture

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0 users have voted.

A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

As usual, there is a lot to think about from your post but can step back for a moment and enjoy Stevie Ray, Double Volume as we sometimes jokingly called him in the very tiny music venues we heard him play back in the day. Man really needed this music tonight! Thanks!!!!

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Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

divineorder's picture

Yay, Stevie Ray!

Boo, that @sshat judge.

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

Bisbonian's picture

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

joe shikspack's picture

one of my favorite songs...

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Bisbonian's picture

I thought it would fit. He plays a lot of banjo, too, but it's probably too intense for this thread.

Here we go! "Railroad Bill" is (I think) the same basic tune. Etta Baker and Cora Phillips:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNFUgaKf8uM]

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

GreyWolf's picture

Which makes me think of a two South Carolina bluesmen:

Pink Anderson, The Pink in Pink Floyd, born in Laurens, South Carolina

[video:https://youtu.be/2k4ktUzupqQ]

Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, born in Laurens, South Carolina

[video:https://youtu.be/PXPh7EbB1Tw]

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all the kids are doing it

Machine guns, grenade launchers and anti-tank missiles are being traded via Facebook in Libya, research has revealed. The arms come from raids by militants on the arsenals of former leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, but also include some supplied by the US allies to their Libyan proxies.

The findings were revealed by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, which released a report entitled ‘The Online Trade of Light Weapons in Libya’ on Thursday.

The paper gives an astonishing set of cases telling how small arms and sophisticated weapons systems have come to be advertised and traded on Facebook by Libyan militants.

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Martha Pearce-Smith's picture

It wasn't about bathrooms.jpg

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Please help the Resilience Resource Library grow by adding your links.

First Nations News

Miep's picture

Because what this country needs is more excuses for the police to be able to control people.

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Stay on track. Stay in lane. Don't throw rocks.