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This evening's music features Chicago blues piano player Sunnyland Slim. Enjoy!

"The mark of a mature, psychologically healthy mind is indeed the ability to live with uncertainty and ambiguity, but only as much as there really is. Uncertainty is no virtue when the facts are clear, and ambiguity is mere obfuscation when more precise terms are applicable."

-- Julian Baggini

News and Opinion

UN Security Council on Nord Stream Attack With Ray McGovern and Jeffrey Sachs

Ray McGovern and Jeffery Sachs addressed the U.N. Security Council Tuesday on the Nord Stream pipelines sabotage in light of Sy Hersh’s reporting.

[Transcript at link. -js]

Biden condemns Putin’s withdrawal from nuclear treaty

Joe Biden on Wednesday night condemned as a “big mistake” Russian president Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend his country’s participation in the last remaining US-Russia nuclear arms control treaty.

The comment came as the US president closed out his wartime visit to Europe, working to shore up partnerships with allies on Nato’s perilous eastern flank – even as Putin was drawing closer to China for help as his invasion of Ukraine neared the year mark. ...

Biden has now called that departure “a big mistake”. The exit is expected to have an immediate impact on US awareness of Russian nuclear activities. However, the pact – known as New Start – was already on life support following Moscow’s cancellation late last year of talks that had been intended to salvage an agreement that each side has accused the other of violating.

Rising INTERVIEWS SEYMOUR HERSH: Journalist DEFENDS Reporting on US DESTRUCTION of Nord Stream

China and Russia deepen ties as top diplomat tells Putin crisis is ‘opportunity’

China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, has met Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as China and Russia reaffirm their close bilateral relationship just days before the first anniversary of the start of the Ukraine war.

In brief televised remarks Wang said China and Russia were ready to deepen their strategic cooperation. Earlier on Wednesday, Wang met Sergei Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, where he said he expected to reach a “new consensus” on advancing the relationship between the two allies.

Putin said that “Russian-Chinese relations were proceeding as planned” and talked of reaching “new milestones” in areas such as bilateral trade. Putin said the two countries had “ongoing cooperation” in international affairs and expressed Russia’s gratitude to China.

Putin described the international situation as “quite complicated” and said Sino-Russian cooperation was “important for stabilising the international situation”.

Wang said “a crisis is always an opportunity” and that the Sino-Russian relationship was “never dictated by any third parties”. Both leaders emphasised the importance of “multipolar” approaches to international affairs – a worldview that rejects what China describes as the US’s “unipolar” approach to dominating global leadership.

Trump ADMITS U.S. Was Behind 2014 Coup In Ukraine

Donald Trump recently released a video in which he not only admits that the United States was behind the 2014 coup in Ukraine but also pledging that, if elected, he will “clean house” at the CIA, State Department and FBI. Trump claims to be the “peace candidate” and that everyone agrees he was the best foreign policy president while even Joe Biden’s advisors admit the current administration is incompetent.

The western narrative controllers propaganda spin response to Putin's speech, courtesy of The Guardian's propaganda catapult:

Putin aiming to divide US public opinion with nuclear treaty pullout, experts say

Vladimir Putin’s threat to suspend Russian participation in New Start, the last remaining nuclear arms treaty with the US, represents a blatant attempt to divide American opinion over the war on Ukraine by raising the specter of nuclear armageddon, experts and policymakers warned on Tuesday.

Putin announced his intention to halt participation in the agreement towards the end of a belligerent 100-minute speech in which he charged the US and western powers with trying to inflict “strategic defeat” on Russia. His fiery rhetoric prompted instant reaction across the political spectrum in Washington.

Fiona Hill, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, who was a Russian specialist at the White House National Security Council from 2017 to 2019, told the Guardian that Putin was “playing to the rifts in the United States”. The strategy was to increase political discord in an attempt to embolden calls for an end to US support for Ukraine.

“It’s playing to all those people who want Ukraine to surrender and capitulate to avoid a massive nuclear exchange and world war three, a kind of nuclear armageddon,” she said.

Thomas Graham, Russia director within George W Bush’s National Security Council, agreed that part of Putin’s calculation was to provoke “certain circles in the US to wonder whether the risks of supporting Ukraine are worth it”. Graham, a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that given how politicized Washington has become, “there will be elements in the Republican party who will play this up as a way of casting aspersions on Biden’s foreign policy”.

Moldova tensions rise, new Prime Minister wants Transnistria demilitarized

Biden’s “Surprise” Visit To Kiev, Ukraine Is All Lies

By Caving to Israel, Biden Opens the Door to War With Iran

As all eyes were on Ukraine and Chinese balloons in the sky, the Biden administration seemingly shifted America’s longstanding opposition to Israel starting a disastrous war with Iran.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Sunday that “Israel can and should do whatever they need to deal with [in regards to Iran] and we’ve got their back” — a thinly veiled reference to military action.

These comments do not appear to be outliers. After Israel struck a defense compound in Iran on January 29, the Biden administration uncharacteristically hinted to reporters that the Israeli operation was part of a new joint effort by the U.S. and Israel to contain Tehran’s nuclear and military ambitions. When Secretary of State Tony Blinken was asked about it a day later, he offered no criticism and no concern for the destabilizing potential of the strikes, let alone a condemnation. Instead, he offered what amounts to a defense and justification of the Israeli strike: “[It is] very important that we continue to deal with and work against as necessary the various actions that Iran has engaged in throughout the region and beyond that threaten peace and security.”

A senior Biden administration official tells me that this does not signify a major shift in policy, but, without a public walk-back, such assurances leave much to be desired. From George W. Bush to Barack Obama to even Donald Trump, the U.S. government has sought to prevent Israel from bombing Iran since Washington risked getting sucked into that war — and the end result would most likely be a severely destabilized Middle East and an Iran with a nuclear weapon. ...

War with Iran will be disastrous for the region, for the United States — and for the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and dignity.

Yet, this appears to be the direction in which the Biden team is going — perhaps inadvertently — by caving to Israel’s longstanding position to deal with Iran’s nuclear program militarily rather than diplomatically.

The Tragic Tale Of Julian Assange’s Father’s Journey

Lee, Pocan Revive Bill to Cut Military Budget by $100 Billion

U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan on Wednesday reintroduced their People Over Pentagon Act, which would slash $100 billion from the nation's military budget and reallocate that money to urgent needs, from investments in education and healthcare to combating the climate emergency.

Lee (D-Calif.) and Pocan (D-Wis.), who co-chair the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, promoted the bill last year and unsuccessfully tried to attach it as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023.

Lee—who on Tuesday confirmed her 2024 run for the seat that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) plans to vacate—encouraged her congressional colleagues "on both sides of the aisle to ask themselves what would truly provide more benefit to the people of this country: another outdated weapons system, or greater access to basic needs in our communities."

"Year after year, this country pours billions into our already-astronomical defense budget without stopping to question whether the additional funding is actually making us safer," the congresswoman said. "We know that a large portion of these taxpayer dollars are used to pad the pockets of the military-industrial complex, fund outdated technology, or are simply mismanaged."

"Our national priorities are reflected in our spending," she stressed. "Cutting just $100 billion could do so much good: It could power every household in the U.S. with solar energy; hire 1 million elementary school teachers amid a worsening teacher shortage; provide free tuition for 2 out of 3 public college students; or cover medical care for 7 million veterans."

'Victory for the Afghan People' as US Judge Blocks 9/11 Families From Seizing Frozen Assets

A coalition of Afghan-American community organizations on Wednesday welcomed a U.S. federal judge's ruling rejecting a bid by relatives of 9/11 victims to seize billions of dollars in assets belonging to the people of Afghanistan.

In a 30-page opinion issued Tuesday, Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York denied an effort by family members of people killed during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States to gain access to $3.5 billion in frozen funds from Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), the country's central bank.

"The judgment creditors are entitled to collect on their default judgments and be made whole for the worst terrorist attack in our nation's history, but they cannot do so with the funds of the central bank of Afghanistan," Daniels wrote. "The Taliban—not the former Islamic Republic of Afghanistan or the Afghan people—must pay for the Taliban's liability in the 9/11 attacks."

The frozen assets are currently being held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in the wake of the Taliban's reconquest of the nation that, under the militant group's previous rule, hosted al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and other figures involved in planning and executing the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. The 9/11 attacks resulted in a U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Afghanistan that lasted nearly two decades, the longest war in American history.

"We are pleased to see that Judge Daniels shares the same assessment we laid out in our amicus brief to the court: That this money belongs to the Afghan people, and no one else," the coalition—Afghans for a Better Tomorrow (AFBT)—said in a statement.

Democrats spin machine set on full speed:

Trump’s environmental rollbacks in focus on visit to Ohio toxic train site

Donald Trump’s record of rolling back environmental protections was highlighted by critics on Wednesday as the ex-president visited the town of East Palestine, Ohio, and called the federal response to the toxic train derailment there earlier this month a “betrayal” .

Trump’s administration, which rolled back more than 100 environmental rules in total, watered down several regulations at the behest of the rail industry. He withdrew an Obama-era plan to require faster brakes on trains carrying highly flammable materials, shelved a rule that demanded at least two crew members on freight trains and dropped a ban on transporting liquified natural gas by rail, despite fears this could cause explosions.

“His trip serves as a reminder that Trump and his administration made gutting transportation and environmental safety regulations a key priority of their Maga agenda,” the Democratic National Committee said in an email to reporters.

Linking to a number of media reports of his transportation policies, it said, “Trump and his administration rolled back … transportation safety and environmental rules, including toxic chemical regulations,” and “Trump’s budget proposals slashed funding for investigating accidents, enforcing environmental rules, and prosecuting environmental crimes”.

“I don’t know exactly what he’s planning to do there, especially since his administration was anti-regulation and pro-industry every step of the way,” Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, told CBS the day before Trump’s visit.

School Kids Exposed To UNTESTED WATER In Ohio

Flint, Michigan workers warn East Palestine residents: “You can’t trust the government!”

At a town hall meeting February 16, hundreds of East Palestine, Ohio, residents demanded answers for the health threat to their community due to the intentional burning and release of toxic chemicals by Norfolk Southern railroad following the derailment of its 100-car train in their town. Residents described inhaling toxic smoke, finding dead fish in local streams, pets getting sick and dying, the persistence of chemical smells and sickness. After a state EPA official dodged their questions and again claimed the water and soil was safe, someone from the crowd was heard shouting, “Flint, Michigan!”—referring to the residents of that city whose health concerns were ignored for eighteen months before the state government acknowledged in late 2015 that the city’s water system had been poisoned by lead.

In both cases, entire populations in largely working class communities were poisoned in the pursuit of profit. And once again both Democrats and Republicans at every level of government are working to conceal their complicity in these social crimes as they grandstand about how much they care. But reality is forcing the victims to draw parallels between East Palestine, Flint, Love Canal, New York; Newark, New Jersey; Martin County, Kentucky…and the list goes on. ...

Flint resident, Florlisa Fowler one of the water activists who helped make the voices of residents heard told the WSWS, “Like Flint, East Palestine was a man-made disaster.” While residents who were living with the effects of lead and other contaminants in the water, the State of Michigan and the Environmental Protection Agency were telling the population that the water was safe to drink. Fowler explained, “Obama came here with a crew to do a PR cleanup job. He came in 2016. By that time the whole world knew about how our water in Flint was poisoned. His job was to shut us up and tell us everything was okay with the water as he took a sip. Let them drink lead was the message!”

'GET OVER HERE': Trump TAUNTS Biden From East Palestine

US could face default as soon as June if debt ceiling isn’t lifted, says thinktank

The US could face an unprecedented default on its obligations as soon as early June if Congress does not act to lift the debt limit, a Washington thinktank said on Wednesday.

The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), which forecasts the approximate “X-date” when the government will no longer be able to meet its financial obligations on time, said the US will reach its statutory debt limit as soon as the summer or early fall of 2023.

That inches up from the center’s previous prediction, in June 2022, that the “extraordinary measures” the US Treasury uses to pay the government’s bills would not be exhausted before the third quarter of 2023.

Previewing the data for reporters, Shai Akabas, BPC director of economic policy, said the new projections reflect “considerable uncertainty in our nation’s current economic outlook”.

“Policymakers have an opportunity now to inject certainty into the US and global economy by beginning, in earnest, bipartisan negotiations around our nation’s fiscal health and taking action to uphold the full faith and credit of the United States well before the X-date,” he said.

Dems PANIC: Biden MAY NOT Run In 2024

Former attorney general in key state withheld evidence debunking 2020 election fraud

The former attorney general of Arizona, Mark Brnovich, failed to release documents that showed his office’s investigation into the 2020 election did not find evidence of widespread fraud in the state’s most populous county.

The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Brnovich would not turn over public records that detailed his investigators’ findings. His successor, the Democratic attorney general Kris Mayes, released the records, which showed several reports that debunked rampant claims of election problems in Maricopa county.

Brnovich, a Republican, was running for US Senate in 2022 while his office oversaw an investigation into the 2020 election. He released two reports related to the work – one that showed just one example of a dead person voting and one “interim report” that made nebulous, unfounded criticisms of the county’s elections.

But the unreleased reports show Brnovich’s investigators did not agree with some assertions he made publicly, such as that the county did not follow proper signature verification procedures or that the county had not been responsive to his requests for information.

US energy firms use Ukraine war to lock in long-term gas contracts, report says

US oil and gas companies are pushing to solve the short-term problem of a tight European gas supply, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts, a new report shows. The US fossil fuel industry has locked in 45 long-term contracts and contract expansions since the start of the war, according to research by Friends of the Earth, Public Citizen and BailoutWatch. That’s a major increase from the 14 such contracts signed in 2021.

While price volatility for gas in Europe is already easing, most of the new contracts won’t deliver gas until 2026 or later, after which they will lock in purchases for 20 years or more.

“LNG terminals are massively expensive, multi-decade investments,” said Lukas Ross, a co-author of the report and program manager for Friends of the Earth. “In order for a bank or other investor to feel comfortable writing a check for something like this, they need market certainty. And the way that certainty is delivered is through long-term contracts. But a short-term supply crunch should not be solved with long-term infrastructure.”

And then there’s the climate question. Taken together, the 2022 LNG contracts total 58.1m metric tons of LNG every year – that’s more than half the gas burned for cooking and heating in US homes in 2021. These contracts represent 351m metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, equivalent to the yearly emissions of 94 coal plants or one-third of all US households. “How many of these projects are built – and how many years of extraction and emissions are locked in – is perhaps the most urgent climate policy question in the US today,” Ross said.

Alarming toxic ‘forever chemicals’ found in animals’ blood

Hundreds of animal species across the globe from ticks to whales have blood contaminated with toxic PFAS, a new analysis of previous peer-reviewed research shows. Though the analysis does not aim to reveal how the exposure to PFAS affects wildlife, anecdotal evidence in some of the previous studies show the chemicals are likely sickening animals.

The analysis was compiled by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit that tracks PFAS contamination and developed an interactive map that shows which animal species were studied, where they were analyzed, and the levels and types of PFAS found in their bodies.

Researchers have found the chemicals in a range of species such as scorpions, pandas, Siberian tigers, turtles, horses, dogs, plankton, sea lions, wild boar, otters and oysters. The breadth of the contamination is “sobering”, said David Andrews, a senior scientist with the EWG.

“It has taken six decades of research on humans to really understand how these chemicals impact our biology in so many different ways … and there’s no reason to believe those same impacts are not also occurring in wildlife,” Andrews said.

PFAS are a class of about 12,000 chemicals often used to make thousands of consumer products resistant to water, stains and heat. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, and they are linked to cancer, liver disease, kidney stress, fetal complications and other serious health problems.

Brazil floods: death toll rises to 48 as landslides and looters prevent aid reaching survivors

Search and rescue teams raced to find dozens of people that remained missing after heavy rains devastated coastal areas of Brazil’s south-eastern São Paulo state, as the official death toll rose to 48. “We are currently working with a tally of at least 38 missing people,” the São Paulo governor, Tarcísio de Freitas, told reporters on Wednesday, as weather forecasters cautioned more rain was on its way.

Massive downpours have caused landslides and flooding in coastal towns of Brazil’s richest state, which has so far been hit by more than 600mm (23.6 inches) of rain, the highest cumulative figure ever in the country. ...

The state government said more rain was expected on Wednesday as a new cold front favours the formation of heavy clouds over the region, with “moderate to heavy showers” forecast to fall until early evening, after a cloudy morning. ...

Government and private aid groups were scrambling to provide necessities, but the logistics of reaching the isolated towns was creating difficulties. The homeless are being sheltered in schools, kindergartens and churches in São Sebastiao. About 7.5 tonnes of aid items including food, water and hygiene kits have already been distributed to the victims, according to the state government of São Paulo. But not all aid has reached its intended destination, with criminals taking advantage of the chaos and looting trucks carrying donations, De Freitas told the G1 news outlet.

Also of Interest

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

Scott Ritter: Arms Control or Ukraine?

Russia Taking Berkhova, Tightens Bakhmut; Wang Yi Meets Putin, Lavrov, China Slams US Foreign Policy

How The U.S. (And UK) Sabotaged Peace In Ukraine

Free Speech Is For Fighting The Empire: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix

Who’s Winning and Losing the Economic War Over Ukraine?

The Buildup To War In Ukraine - Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Türkiye After the Earthquake: Why Not to Expect a Change in Russia Relationship

Biden DOJ Backing Norfolk Southern in High Court Case

James Webb telescope detects evidence of ancient ‘universe breaker’ galaxies

US, Global Support For Ukraine Aid PLUMMETS

War-Pig Rachel Maddow SMEARS Peace Rallygoers

Trump Visits East Palestine BEFORE Pete Buttigieg!

A Little Night Music

Sunnyland Slim - It's You Baby

Little Hubert Sumlin with Sunnyland Slim - Come On Home Baby

Sunnyland Slim - The Devil Is A Busy Man

Sunnyland Slim & King Curtis - Baby How Long

Sunnyland Slim w/ Muddy Waters' Combo - My Baby, My Baby

Sunnyland Slim - Going Back To Memphis

Sunnyland Slim - Highway 61

Sunnyland Slim - Slim's Shout

Sunnyland Slim - You Put That Thang On Me

Sunnyland Slim - Be Careful How You Vote