Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features blues guitarist Guitar Shorty. Enjoy!

"Coming of age in a fascist police state will not be a barrel of fun for anybody, much less for people like me, who are not inclined to suffer Nazis gladly and feel only contempt for the cowardly flag-suckers who would gladly give up their outdated freedom to live for the mess of pottage they have been conned into believing will be freedom from fear."

-- Hunter S. Thompson

News and Opinion

Heh, they needed an investigation to discover this? I am shocked, shocked I tell you to find racism in a police force!

Louisville police failed to protect Black people, inquiry launched after Breonna Taylor death finds

Louisville police engaged in unlawful practices that violated residents’ civil rights and discriminated against Black people and people with behavioral health deficiencies, the US justice department concluded on Wednesday following an investigation prompted by the killing of Breonna Taylor in a botched police raid in 2020.

The city of Louisville agreed to a consent decree to reform policing practices. ...

The justice department’s civil rights division has now concluded that Louisville police and city government “failed to adequately protect and serve and discriminated against Black people” and deployed “unjustified neck restraints” and “unreasonable use of police dogs and Tasers”.

Announcing the findings, the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said officers had “demonstrated disrespect for the people they were sworn to protect”, some videotaping themselves “throwing drinks at pedestrians from their cars, insulting people with disabilities, and calling Black people, ‘monkeys, animal and boy’.

“This conduct is unacceptable. It’s heartbreaking,” Garland said, in Louisville. “It erodes the community trust necessary for effective policing … it is an affront to the people of Louisville who deserve better.”

Police routinely engaged in “unjustified” no-knock warrants that defied federal law and put “ordinary citizens in harm’s way”, said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights, adding that officers also sought “overly broad” warrants that swept up people with remote connections to suspected criminal activity.

Louisville police disproportionately stopped Black drivers for minor traffic offenses. Black drivers were twice as likely to be cited for having a taillight out as white drivers, four times as likely to be cited for improperly tinted windows and nearly five times as likely to be cited for improper tags. Black drivers were also 50% more likely to be searched when stopped. Louisville police charged Black drivers at higher rates.

"Corrupt": DOJ Report Slams Louisville Police for Abuse, Discrimination After Breonna Taylor Killing

DoJ announces review of Memphis police policies after Tyre Nichols death

The US justice department announced on Wednesday that it will review Memphis police policies on use of force, de-escalation and specialized units in response to the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols during an arrest.

The review was requested by the mayor and police chief, the department said. In a separate effort, it will examine the use of specialized units around the US and produce a guide for police chiefs and mayors on their use.

“In the wake of Tyre Nichols’s tragic death, the justice department has heard from police chiefs across the country who are assessing the use of specialized units and, where used, appropriate management, oversight and accountability for such units,” said Vanita Gupta, the associate attorney general.

The justice department has already opened a civil rights investigation into Nichols’s death.

The city also plans to release about 20 hours of video and audio related to the arrest of the 29-year-old motorist who died on 10 January, three days after his violent arrest. It will add to already public footage from police body cameras and a surveillance camera that gave the world a detailed look at how Nichols was attacked.

Opposition Grows to Atlanta "Cop City" as More Forest Defenders Charged with Domestic Terrorism

Pentagon accused of blocking effort to hand Russia war crimes evidence to ICC

The Pentagon has been accused of blocking the sharing of US intelligence with the international criminal court (ICC) about Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

The Biden White House and state department have been a proponent of cooperation with the Hague-based ICC, as a means of holding Russian forces accountable for widespread war crimes, but the defence department is firmly opposed on the grounds that the precedent could eventually be turned against US soldiers.

The New York Times quoted current and former officials as saying Pentagon resistance was the obstacle. It reported that the national security council (NSC) convened a meeting of senior officials on 3 February to try to resolve the dispute, but that the defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, did not budge. Joe Biden has yet to give a final decision.

The Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who was behind a congressional resolution urging US support for the court over Ukraine, also blamed the Pentagon.

“DoD [Department of Defence] opposed the legislative change – it passed overwhelmingly – and they are now trying to undermine the letter and spirit of the law,” Graham told the New York Times, in remarks confirmed to the Guardian by his office. “It seems to me that DoD is the problem child here, and the sooner we can get the information into the hands of the ICC, the better off the world will be.”

Rashida Tlaib CONFRONTED About Sending $100 Billion To Ukraine

Large antiwar protests rock Europe

Attack Of The “Pro-Ukrainian Group”

The latest New York Times report on the Nord Stream pipeline bombing is something else. According to NYT’s anonymous US government sources, the pipelines were blown up by a “pro-Ukrainian group” who had no known connections to any military or intelligence agency, but somehow had all the information, skills, diving equipment and military explosives necessary to carry out such an attack.

It’s actually insulting how stupid it is. It reads like a small child lying about who broke the lamp in the living room; “Uhh, some bad guy came in and broke it, then he left. He was wearing a black cape and had a twirly mustache.” At least respect us enough to make up a better lie than “Yeah it turns out it was just some random people with a boat, man! It’s crazy I know!”

They literally wrote an entire article without ever addressing how bizarre it is to just keep referring to the alleged perpetrators as just a “group”. Like that’s a thing. “Yeah you know, one of those Groups we’ve all been hearing about in the news. You know Groups, they sail around the world destroying international undersea energy infrastructure.”

Remember kids, Sy Hersh's Nord Stream report is untrustworthy because it is unproven and relies on anonymous sources. pic.twitter.com/vu3RjlxgFf

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) March 7, 2023

Imagine having to tell this Scooby Doo-esque tale about a yacht of Ukraine-loving mischief-makers who pranked Europe’s energy supply like it’s a real thing. Like, “Oh come on, who among us has not taken a boatload of military explosives to go blow up international pipelines for fun with their friends?”

https://t.co/LgbfGgCIKt

— Carl Bracken (@BrackenCarl) March 7, 2023

Briahna Joy Gray: Nord Stream COVERUP? NYT BLAMES ‘Pro-Ukraine’ Group, Acquits US-Zelensky

Nord Stream NYT story, McCarthy snubs Zelensky, modified MiGs

An interesting piece worth a click and a full read:

As Bakhmut Falls, US May Turn From Ukraine, Starting With Pipeline Story

On its face, The New York Times article yesterday, “Intelligence Suggests Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Pipelines, U.S. Officials Say,” appears intended to exonerate both the U.S. and Ukrainian governments from any involvement in the destruction last September of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany. The thrust of the Times article is that Ukrainians unaffiliated with the Kiev government were the ones who did it, according to the newspapers often cited, unnamed “U.S. officials.”

But a closer examination of the piece reveals layers of nuance that do not dismiss that the Ukrainian government may have had something to do with the sabotage after all. The story quotes anonymous European officials who say a state had to be involved in the sophisticated underwater operation. The Times goes out of it way to say more than once that that state was not the United States. And while the second paragraph of the story says categorically that the state is not Ukraine either, the article then leaves the door open to possible Ukrainian government involvement:

“U.S. officials declined to disclose the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or any details of the strength of the evidence it contains. They have said that there are no firm conclusions about it, leaving open the possibility that the operation might have been conducted off the books by a proxy force with connections to the Ukrainian government or its security services. [Emphasis mine.]

The Times then makes clear what the consequences would be for the pro-Ukraine “coalition” that Washington has built in the combined West if there was Ukrainian government involvement.

“Officials said there were still enormous gaps in what U.S. spy agencies and their European partners knew about what transpired. But officials said it might constitute the first significant lead to emerge from several closely guarded investigations, the conclusions of which could have profound implications for the coalition supporting Ukraine.

Any suggestion of Ukrainian involvement, whether direct or indirect, could upset the delicate relationship between Ukraine and Germany, souring support among a German public that has swallowed high energy prices in the name of solidarity.”

...

The newspaper here is allowing U.S. officials to begin distancing the U.S. from Ukraine, claiming Washington has limited influence on Kiev, despite years of evidence to the contrary. The piece appears to be preparing the Western public for an abrupt about face in Ukraine because of a litany of Ukrainian operations the U.S. says it opposed. ... In directing attention towards the Ukrainian government’s possible culpability, U.S. intelligence gets a twofer: it deflects blame from the U.S. and prepares the public for the United States to justify abandoning Ukraine after all the U.S. has invested in its adventure to weaken Russia and topple its government through an economic, information, and proxy war, all of which have failed.

A consensus is forming among Western leaders that the war against Russia in Ukraine is lost. Thus Washington would have to save face to pull off such a reversal of policy. Insinuating that Ukraine blew up the pipelines of its ally Germany could help the U.S. climb down from its strident position in support of Ukraine.

China’s New FM Warns of ‘Conflict and Confrontation’ If US Doesn’t Change Course

China’s new foreign minister on Tuesday warned Beijing and Washington are headed for “conflict and confrontation” if the US doesn’t change course on its military buildup in the Asia Pacific and other policies aimed at China.

“If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing, and there surely will be conflict and confrontation,” Foreign Minister Qin Gang told reporters.

“Who will bear the catastrophic consequences? Such competition is a reckless gamble with the stakes being the fundamental interests of the two peoples and even the future of humanity,” he added.

House Votes Down Resolution to Withdraw Troops from Syria

The House on Tuesday voted down a War Powers Resolution introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) that would order President Biden to withdraw all US troops from Syria within 180 days.

The resolution failed in a vote of 103-321, with 56 Democrats and 47 Republicans voting in favor of the bill. Click here for the roll call to see how each representative voted. In a statement after the vote, Gaetz vowed to continue his effort to end US involvement in Syria. ...

The Congressional Progressive Caucus was circulating a message to its 100 members in the House to support the bill. But the vote shows that the majority of Congress still supports the US occupation of eastern Syria, where there are currently about 900 US troops deployed.

FBI Director Admits Agency Purchased Geolocation Data of Americans

Privacy advocates on Wednesday said testimony from FBI Director Christopher Wray at a U.S. Senate Select Intelligence Committee hearing offers the latest evidence that Congress must take action to keep the government from performing mass surveillance on people across the United States, as Wray admitted the bureau has purchased cellphone geolocation data from companies.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked Wray at a hearing about national security threats whether the FBI purchases "U.S. phone geolocation information," showing the location of users.

Wray said the bureau does not currently make such purchases, but acknowledged for the first time that it "previously, as in the past, purchased some such information for a specific national security pilot project," drawing on data "derived from internet advertising."

He said the project has been inactive "for some time" but said he could only provide more information about it and the past purchase of geolocation data in a closed session with senators, adding that the FBI currently accesses "so-called ad tech location data" through "a court-authorized process."

"I think its a very important privacy issue that [geolocation data purchases] not take place," said Wyden, an outspoken advocate for privacy rights.

Grassroots social welfare organization Demand Progress called Wray's admission "both shocking and further proof of the need for Congress to take immediate action to rein in mass surveillance."

"This is a policy decision that affects the privacy of every single person in the United States," said Sean Vitka, the group's policy counsel. "We should have the right to decide when and how our personal information is shared, but instead intelligence agencies continue to obstruct any accountability or transparency around this surveillance."

The revelation came as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is scheduled to expire at the end of the year and as Congress is expected to soon begin debating its reauthorization.

Biden Gov DEMANDS Elon Contacts With Journos

All Hell Breaks Loose After Sylvia Garcia Demands Matt Taibbi Tell Her About His Sourcing

Free Press Advocates Say FTC Has No Business Probing Journalist Interactions With Twitter

Press freedom defenders on Wednesday expressed outrage after it was revealed that the Federal Trade Commission, as part of its investigation into Twitter's data privacy practices, demanded that the social media giant "identify all journalists" given access to company records, including in relation to owner Elon Musk's dissemination of the so-called "Twitter Files" purporting to expose censorship on the platform.

"Anyone who cares about the free press should be concerned by the FTC's demand that Twitter identify journalists who have received information that might embarrass the [Biden] administration, regardless of what they think of Elon Musk or Twitter," Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) advocacy director Seth Stern said in a statement.

According to FPF: "Government-compelled identification of journalists is dangerous on its own and enables further surveillance of those identified. Administrations from both political parties have overreached to spy on journalists—especially journalists investigating those in power."

"The Department of Justice has adopted policies against surveilling journalists," the advocacy group noted, "but other agencies like the FTC have not."

The Wall Street Journalreported Tuesday that in addition to the names of journalists granted access to Twitter records, the FTC also sought internal communications related to Musk as well as information regarding layoffs, which the agency said could undermine the corporation's capacity to protect users, and the launch of the Twitter Blue subscription service.

FTC spokesperson Douglas Farrar told the newspaper that the agency is "conducting a rigorous investigation into Twitter's compliance with a consent order that came into effect long before Mr. Musk purchased the company."

Farrar explained Wednesday on social media that Twitter in 2011 "agreed to a 20-year consent order over its data security practices and how it uses your private information."

"In 2022, the FTC charged Twitter with violating the 2011 order for misusing personal information. The company then paid a $150 million penalty and entered a new consent order," he continued. "Besides the penalty, the FTC added further provisions to protect consumers' sensitive data. This order was issued in May of 2022," several months before Musk's acquisition of the company was finalized.

Farrar added that the 12 demand letters the FTC has sent to Twitter since Musk took over in late October "are nonpublic, but cherry-picked portions of some have recently been made public."

This happened after the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee's Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government published excerpts of the letters in an interim staff report about the FTC's Twitter probe.

As part of its investigation, the FTC on December 13 "asked about Twitter's decision to give journalists access to internal company communications, a project Mr. Musk has dubbed the 'Twitter Files' and that he says sheds light on controversial decisions by previous management," the Journal reported.

According to the newspaper: "The agency asked Twitter to describe the 'nature of access granted each person' and how allowing that access 'is consistent with your privacy and information security obligations under the order.' It asked if Twitter conducted background checks on the journalists, and whether the journalists could access Twitter users' personal messages."

Journalist Matt Taibbi—whose December 2 thread on Twitter's 2020 decision to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story and subsequent reporting have put him at the center of the "Twitter Files" saga—tweeted Tuesday: "Which journalists a company or its executives talks to is not remotely the government's business. This is an insane overreach."

In response, Matt Stoller of the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly think tank, wrote that "the FTC is seeing whether Twitter is violating its consent decree on privacy."

Farrar doubled down on that claim Wednesday, writing: "FTC investigations are straightforward and nonpolitical. They are to ensure that companies are following the law, including protecting people's privacy. The consent order the FTC has with Twitter isn't about Musk's acquisition of the company or their content moderation policies. This isn't about free speech, it's about the FTC doing its job to protect Americans' privacy."

Stern, for his part, was unconvinced by Farrar and Stoller's attempts to justify the FTC's actions as an exercise in protecting consumers' data.

"The FTC," said Stern, "should not have to violate the privacy of journalists to protect the privacy of Twitter users."

"It's especially disturbing," he continued, "that the demand could enable future efforts to obtain the journalists' newsgathering materials."

The FTC's actions underscore why Americans of all political persuasions "should support passing the PRESS Act," Stern added. "It's the only way to ensure that all administrations, and all government agencies, are prohibited from surveilling or retaliating against journalists."

Budget STANDOFF As Debt Default LOOMS

Arkansas leads charge to weaken child labor protections

The governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, on Tuesday signed a bill that significantly rolls back protections against child labor, eliminating state requirements to verify that children are at least 16 before they receive a job. A spokesperson for Sanders, who before becoming governor was White House press secretary under Donald Trump, told the Washington Post state law had been “burdensome and obsolete”.

The new law weakens official oversight of child labor practices across the state. The bill’s sponsor, Rebecca Burkes, told KNWA the previous regulation was “one small burden on businesses, and also steps in front of parents’ decision-making process about whether their child under 16 years of age can get a job”.

Passage of the Youth Hiring Act of 2023 represents the latest attempt in mostly Republican-led states to loosen child labor laws, despite federal officials seeking to crack down on offenses.

Oklahoma voters reject legalized recreational marijuana

Oklahoma voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana use by people over the age of 21, a setback for advocates who have seen the conservative state embrace access to the drug for medicinal purposes.

Across Oklahoma, 2,890 licenses have been approved for medical marijuana businesses. Oklahoma City, the state capital, is home to more than 400 dispensaries.

But as of Tuesday night, in a state where 10% of residents own a medical marijuana card and with 90% of ballots counted, 63% of Oklahoma voters rejected the proposal to legalize recreational use.

Despite growing support among younger Republicans, voters in a number of conservative-dominated states have recently blocked efforts to expand legalization beyond the 21 states that currently allow recreational use. Across the US, 37 states approve medicinal use.

Diabolical liberty: after-school Satanists club threatens to sue district over ban

An after-school Satanists club in Pennsylvania is threatening to raise hell after local district leaders denied them the ability to convene on their school grounds.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), together with its Pennsylvania chapter, sent a letter to the Saucon Valley school district demanding that they allow the After School Satan Club, or ASSC, access to school facilities in accordance with the US constitution’s first amendment right to practice religion freely.

The ACLU alleges that the Satanist club was initially approved to use district facilities, but that approval was rescinded after district officials received pushback from community members. The club’s requested meeting dates were subsequently denied.

The After School Satan Club says it is a secular organization and its members do not actually believe in or worship the devil. According to their website, the club “does not believe in introducing religion into public schools and will only open a club if other religious groups are operating on campus”.

By contrast, the Good News Club, an organization sponsored by a local evangelical church devoted to spreading the word about the Bible, is allowed to host meetings on public school property.

Capitol Police's NONSENSE Defense After Jan 6 Footage

Larry Hogan doesn’t rule out third-party 2024 campaign in bid to stop Trump

Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Maryland, has ruled out a run for his party’s presidential nomination in 2024 – but not ruled out running as a third-party candidate in an attempt to stop Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Hogan told ABC: “I haven’t ruled that out. But it’s not something I’m really working toward or thinking about” even though “the question keeps popping up more and more”.

Hogan flirted with a run for the Republican nomination as a moderate but pulled back last Sunday, saying: “To once again be a successful governing party, we must move on from Trump.

“There are several competent Republican leaders who have the potential to step up and lead. But the stakes are too high for me to risk being part of another multi-car pile-up that could potentially help Mr Trump recapture the nomination.” ...

Polling has shown the potential for opponents to Trump, including the former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and most likely the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, to divide the vote and give him the nomination without a majority, as happened in 2016. Polling has also shown vanishingly small interest in Hogan among voters in a Republican party dominated by Trump and DeSantis.

More than 170tn plastic particles afloat in oceans, say scientists

An unprecedented rise in plastic pollution has been uncovered by scientists, who have calculated that more than 170tn plastic particles are afloat in the oceans.

They have called for a reduction in the production of plastics, warning that “cleanup is futile” if they continue to be pumped into the environment at the current rate.

The research, by the 5 Gyres Institute and published in the journal Plos One, evaluates trends of ocean plastic from 1979 to 2019. The authors noted a rapid increase of marine plastic pollution and blamed the plastics industry for failing to recycle or design for recyclability.

Dr Marcus Eriksen, the co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute, said: “The exponential increase in microplastics across the world’s oceans is a stark warning that we must act now at a global scale, stop focusing on cleanup and recycling, and usher in an age of corporate responsibility for the entire life of the things they make.

“Cleanup is futile if we continue to produce plastic at the current rate, and we have heard about recycling for too long while the plastic industry simultaneously rejects any commitments to buy recycled material or design for recyclability. It’s time to address the plastic problem at the source.”

Atmospheric river comes for California as experts warn it ‘could get really ugly’

A fresh atmospheric river is expected to bring more weather chaos to California even as the state is still digging itself out from massive amounts of snow that left mountain communities buried for weeks. Northern and central California are set to receive most of the rain this weekend, which forecasters have warned could cause flash flooding as warm rain hits the state’s almost record snowpack. The state will see moderate to heavy rain, flooding, gusty winds and heavy snow in high elevations through the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

“It could get really ugly,” David Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told SFGate. “Probably most of the melt will be in the foothills. The snowpack is so deep in the higher elevations, even though we’re expecting a lot of rain it will probably soak right in at the higher elevations.” ...

This week’s weather could have major impacts, forecasters warned. In Fresno county, officials issued evacuation warnings in some communities in anticipation of the weather that is expected to flood roads. The local National Weather Service office told the Fresno Bee that the area would see “unprecedented” amounts of rain unlike any this season with six to eight inches forecast over the next week.

Also of Interest

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

“How Stupid Do They Think We Are?” Nord Stream Pipelines Bombing Edition

Nord Stream Attack - 'Officials' Throw More Chaff To Hide The Real Perpetrators

Ukraine Using Guided Artillery With Greater Range Than HIMARS Rockets

A Feminist Demand on International Women's Day: Fire Victoria Nuland

How Comrades Revealed the Existence of COINTELPRO

‘It’s legal, there’s just no precedent’: the first US town to demand a rent decrease

Revealed: the 10 worst places to live in US for air pollution

Scientists create mice with two fathers after making eggs from male cells

"Plantation Politics": How White Mississippi Lawmakers Want to Seize Power in Majority-Black Jackson

SHOCK Study: CEO Greed DESTROYED Our Economy

January 6 Committee Lied About Cop’s Death! – Tucker Carlson Proves

Capitol Cops Abandoned Their Own On January 6! – Tucker Reveals!

Chuck Schumer DEMANDS Fox News Silence Tucker Carlson

Germany prosecutes citizen for condemning aid to Ukrainian Nazis

Neocon fanatic Anne Applebaum confronted on Ukraine

Bernie rolls over for the war state... again

The CIA co-opts SXSW

Dems SMEAR Matt Taibbi, Michael Shellenberger As ‘SO-CALLED JOURNALISTS’

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw Gives CRINGE Testimony In Senate After East Palestine Rail DISASTER

A Little Night Music

Guitar Shorty - Hard Life

Guitar Shorty - Ways Of A Man

Guitar Shorty with Bob Tate`s Band - How Long Will It Last

Guitar Shorty - Old Time Sake

Guitar Shorty - The Blues Done Got Me

Guitar Shorty - It All Went Down The Drain

Guitar Shorty - The Porkchop Song

Guitar Shorty - She's Built, She's Built To Kill

Guitar Shorty - We The People

Guitar Shorty - Hey Joe