The Evening Blues - 5-16-23
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features delta bluesman Big Joe Williams. Enjoy!
Big Joe Williams - She Left Me A Mule To Ride
“There's never been a true war that wasn't fought between two sets of people who were certain they were in the right. The really dangerous people believe they are doing whatever they are doing solely and only because it is without question the right thing to do. And that is what makes them dangerous.”
-- Neil Gaiman
News and Opinion
Russia downs British-supplied long-range missile as Zelensky and Sunak declare “jets coalition”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to the UK Monday for a war summit with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and to press for more weapons ahead of an expected spring offensive by Kiev’s NATO-armed troops. Central to NATO’s plans to defeat Russia and force regime change in Moscow is aerial supremacy over the Ukrainian battlefield.
Before announcing his arrival in Britain, Zelensky tweeted, “Today—London. The UK is a leader when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air.” Speaking to reporters after the talks, he said, “Today we spoke about the jets” and “We want to create this jet coalition.” This was a “very important topic for us because we can’t control the sky”. Overcoming this was critical to Kiev’s planned counter offensive, with Zelensky telling reporters, “We really need some more time—not too much. We’ll be ready in some time.”
Zelensky met Sunak and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly for talks at the prime minister’s Chequers country residence after his tour of other European capitals—Rome, Berlin and Paris—to secure further pledges of military aid. That the entire European continent is now a tinderbox was made clear by Russia’s announcement—while Sunak was meeting Zelensky—that it had shot down a UK-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missile. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had also downed shorter-range, US-built HIMARS and HARM missiles.
The Sunak-Zelensky talks took place just 48 hours after Russia’s confirmation that Storm Shadow missiles supplied by Britain struck two industrial sites in the Russian-held city of Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. Britain, in close co-ordination with the Biden administration, became the first country to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles capable of hitting Russian-held Crimea, where Moscow bases its geo-politically critical Black Sea fleet. Moscow declared that it would respond militarily to London’s “hostile” action. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sky News Monday that Russia took an “extremely negative view”.
Russia destroys collective west weapons, as Zelensky tours Europe
Bad Day for Ukraine: Bakhmut Days from Fall, Missiles Pummel Kiev; Patriot Destroyed; RU Oil Exports
Zelensky Privately Plotted Bold Attacks on Russian Territory
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has privately plotted major attacks inside Russia while pledging publicly that his forces won’t use Western-provided arms to target Russian territory, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.
The report cited leaked Pentagon documents that are part of the Discord leaks and said Zelensky has previously suggested attempting to occupy Russian villages, bomb a Russian pipeline to Hungary, and had expressed concern over the lack of long-range weapons that can strike Russian territory.
According to one document, Zelensky suggested during a meeting in January that Ukrainian forces could “conduct strikes in Russia” and move forces into Russian territory to “occupy unspecified Russian border cities.” The idea of the assault would be “to give Kyiv leverage in talks with Moscow.” ...
Zelensky’s most provocative suggestion came during a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Yuliya Svrydenko in February, where he proposed “blowing up” the Druzhba pipeline, which provides oil to Hungary, a NATO member. The document says that Zelensky “highlighted that … Ukraine should just blow up the pipeline and destroy likely Hungarian [Prime Minister] Viktor Orban’s industry, which is based heavily on Russian oil.”
China presents itself as a mediator between West, Russia by sending top envoy to Ukraine
China to send special envoy to seek ‘political settlement’ to Ukraine war
China will send a special envoy to Ukraine, Russia and other countries to discuss a “political settlement to the Ukraine crisis”, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday.
Li Hui, a former Chinese ambassador to Moscow, will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia from Monday, spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced at a press conference. ...
Yu Jie, a senior research fellow on China at Chatham House, said Li’s visit “aims to send a signal that China is keen to play a mediation role rather than putting any substantive proposals on the table”.
Yu said China’s audience was not the west but the “large parts of developing countries who do not see this war eye to eye as the collective west does”.
Massive Ukrainian Ammunition Depot Explodes – Is It Radioactive?
Mystery tremors on Danish Baltic island puzzle scientists
A series of minor tremors recorded on the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm has puzzled scientists, who now say they were caused by “acoustic pressure waves from an unknown source”. At first the tremors on Saturday were thought to have been caused by earthquakes. Then, seismologists theorised they originated from controlled explosions in Poland, more than 90 miles (140km) to the south.
On Monday, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (Geus), an official body that monitors the underground, said the tremors were “not caused by earthquakes, but by pressure waves from an event in the atmosphere”. However, they came from “an unknown source”.
“The seismologists can report that it is unlikely that the tremors originate from a controlled explosion in Poland, which was carried out shortly before the first reports of tremors on Bornholm,” Geus said.
On Saturday, Geus said it had received “more than 60” tips from people on Bornholm that “earthquake-like tremors” – described as a deep rumbling, shaking and rattling, changing pressure in the ear – had been reported in the afternoon on Bornholm.
Inflation drives US household debt to record $17 trillion
US household debt has hit $17 trillion, the most in history, according to a report issued Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The figure reveals the enormous financial stress on working class families. Rapidly rising prices for gasoline, food, rent and other basic necessities have devastated household budgets, forcing working people to borrow on their credit cards or take equity out of refinancing their homes to pay their bills.
The report puts the lie to the claims of the Biden administration, echoed by the corporate media, that the US economy is sound, inflation is coming down, and the recent bank failures in California are only a blip on the screen, not an indication of deeper problems. The reality is that tens of millions are living on the edge, one unexpected expense away from disaster.
The figures laid out in the New York Fed report are stark. Total household debt rose by $148 billion in the first three months of 2023, an increase of 0.9 percent compared to the previous quarter. Nearly all major categories of consumer debt rose in the first quarter to record levels. Mortgages topped $12 trillion, student loan balances were $1.6 trillion, and auto loans were $1.56 trillion.
Credit card debt remained the same, at a record $986 billion, but this was also a sign of increased financial pressure. It was the first time in 20 years that this debt has not fallen in the first quarter. Credit card debt usually hits a peak with the Christmas shopping season, then falls in the first quarter as people spend less and use income tax refunds to pay down credit card balances. This seasonal effect did not take place.
Overall consumer debt has shot up by nearly $3 trillion since the end of 2019. This represents a marked reversal from the first two years of the pandemic, when most households were forced to cut their spending as they stayed home because of the danger of coronavirus. Consumer debt actually fell during those years, and household savings jumped by $2.1 trillion as many used government stimulus checks to pay off debt. According to a report last week by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, this “excess” saving has been nearly exhausted. Only $500 billion remains, which will be gone by the end of this year, removing that cushion against the twin evils of inflation and recession.
US supreme court pursuing rightwing agenda via ‘shadow docket’, book says
Conservative justices on the US supreme court consciously broke with decades-old congressional rules and norms to shift laws governing religious freedom sharply to the right through a series of shadowy unsigned and unexplained emergency orders, a new book reveals. Five of the six conservatives who now command the majority on the US’s most powerful court have rammed through some of their most contentious and extreme partisan decisions using the so-called “shadow docket” – unsigned orders issued frequently late at night, in literal and metaphorical darkness. The orders do not reveal who voted for them or why, often providing one-line explanations of the legal thinking behind them.
The switch from openly argued cases, aired in public, to the unaccountability of the shadow docket was made purposefully during the pandemic in cases dealing with religious liberty, concludes Stephen Vladeck, an authority on the federal courts at the University of Texas law school. He warns that the trend is merging with the current ethics scandals surrounding the conservative justice Clarence Thomas to damage the legitimacy of the court and threaten a full-blown constitutional crisis.
Vladeck exposes the largely unnoticed shift towards furtive justice in his new book, The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic. He shows how rightwing justices have abused the court’s emergency powers to run roughshod over the longstanding norm that shadow docket orders should be used sparingly and with extreme caution. Rightwing justices are now deploying such orders dozens of times each term. Over three terms alone, from 2019 to 2022, the court granted emergency relief in more than 60 cases: effectively overturning the considered decisions of lower courts through rushed, unexplained rulings.
Among those orders were decisions that have had profound and nationwide impact over some of the most hotly disputed areas of public life, from abortion to immigration, voting rights, the death penalty and religious practices. Many appear to align more closely with Republican political priorities than with legal principles.
SCOTUS LEGALIZES CORRUPTION For Public Officials
‘America is broken’: FBI criticized for mass-shooting survival video
A newly resurfaced FBI video purportedly training Americans to give themselves their best chance of surviving a deadly mass shooting is drawing scorn across the US and abroad. In the video, released in 2020 by the US’s top law enforcement agency, actors portraying everyday Americans explain to viewers ways in which they could at least survive – or, preferably, even stop – a mass shooting once the bullets start flying.
“If European countries want to deter brain drain to the US they should just play this FBI video to their soon-to-be graduates,” the European tech investor Michael Jackson said on his LinkedIn profile, which has more than 134,000 followers.
Jackson, who shared a link to the video, added that the well-documented gun problem in the US – where rates of mass gun violence are much higher than they are in Europe and in many other parts of the world – was hurting its standing with tourists and its companies’ prospects of hiring talented employees from overseas.
Another typical reaction to the video was on Twitter from an Oklahoma scholarship foundation leader who wrote: “America is broken. Instead of addressing the cause of the carnage, we’re talking about how to survive a massacre like it’s a damn tornado.”
OBAMA, HILLARY CAUGHT In Russia-gate Scheme By Durham Report
Durham Report SLAMS Russia Probe: ‘DEVASTATING to FBI, Does Exonerate Donald Trump’
FBI accused of failures but Durham report finds no deep-state plot against Trump
Special counsel John Durham found no evidence that the US justice department and the FBI conspired in a deep-state plot to investigate Donald Trump’s ties to Russia in 2016, though the report released on Monday found that the FBI’s handling of key aspects of the case were deficient. The Durham report was sharply critical of how the FBI decided to open the counterintelligence investigation into Trump, known as “Crossfire Hurricane”, accusing top officials at the bureau of relying on raw and uncorroborated information to continue the inquiry.
Much of the criticism of the FBI in the roughly 300-page report was already known when the justice department inspector general issued its own report, which raised similar concerns but ultimately concluded that the FBI investigation into Trump was justified. The Durham report was more scathing, finding that the FBI moved quickly on a vague tip about potential contacts between a Trump campaign aide and Russian officials in July 2016 based on “raw, unanalyzed and uncorroborated evidence” in a “departure from how it approached” the Clinton campaign.
Also contained in the report
- Durham said the FBI was more cautious of allegations of foreign influence when it came to the Clinton campaign, and did not pursue evidence in two cases of foreign governments trying to gain influence with Clinton while providing defensive briefings, unlike with the Trump campaign;
- Durham said the FBI was overly reliant on investigative tips from Trump’s political opponents and did not rigorously analyze the information it received, which extended the investigation and led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Trump;
- Durham said the FBI decided to move ahead with Crossfire Hurricane despite a lack of information from the intelligence community that corroborated the hypothesis on which it was predicated and FBI agents ignored information that exonerated key people in the case;
- Durham suggested that Crossfire Hurricane was “triggered” by the so-called Steele dossier, when it was in fact based on a tip from an Australian diplomat in London that a Trump campaign aide appeared to have advance knowledge about Russia releasing damaging information on Clinton.
Billionaires Spent Over $1 Billion on 2022 Elections—More Than Any Year in US History
Americans for Tax Fairness on Monday released the group's latest report on "the threat posed to American democracy by billionaire political spenders," revealing that last year their collective congressional campaign contributions topped $1 billion for the first time.
"That 'Billionaires' Billion' was almost three-quarters more than the tycoons' total spending on the last midterms, in 2018, and 300 times more than what billionaires spent on congressional races as recently as a dozen years ago," states the ATF report.
"The Billionaires' Billion—contributed by fewer than 500 individuals—represented about one of every nine dollars raised from all sources in the 2022 elections," the analysis continues, noting that 15 of the nation's richest households were responsible for $658 million, or nearly two-thirds, of the contributions.
"Nearly 80% of billionaire cash—$782 million—went to outside campaign groups," the document adds, and in eight key races that decided which party controlled the Senate, "billionaire donations supported Republican candidates over Democratic ones by almost a 5-1 margin."
Democrats initially secured a slim majority in the Senate—including the two Independents who caucus with the party—after Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)
won a runoff against GOP challenger Herschel Walker in December, but that victory was quickly tempered when Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona became an Independent just days later.Although Republicans lost five of the eight key Senate races, the ATF report explains, not only did billionaire spending encourage candidates to focus on positions favored by their wealthy benefactors, but also, in North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin—won by GOP Sens. Ted Budd, J.D. Vance, and Ron Johnson, respectively—the superrich overwhelmingly backed the party and "Republican billionaires outspent the much smaller pool of Democratic billionaires by at least 9-to-1 in each race."
Intensive farming identified as key factor behind Europe's bird decline
Punishing heatwave grips Pacific north-west as wildfires rage in western Canada
A punishing heatwave will continue to cook the Pacific north-west this week, after millions of people endured a weekend of temperatures that pushed past 90F (32C) and broke early spring records in several cities. The hot, dry weather is fuelling dozens of wildfires across western Canada, where thousands have been evacuated and more than a million acres have already burned.
Temperatures are dropping but forecasters with the National Weather Service warned on Monday that they would remain “between 20-30 degrees above average in the Pacific Northwest throughout this week”. Heat advisories remain in effect in areas of Oregon and Washington into Monday evening. ...
The heat also exacerbated conditions where firefighters across Alberta, Canada, continue to battle 88 active wildfires, 23 of which remain listed as “out of control” by officials on Monday morning.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
WaPo Deletes Portion of Zelensky Interview Where He Accuses Paper of Aiding Russia
Ukraine SitRep: Explosion in Khmelnytsky - Bakhmut Evacuation - Longer Range Missiles
Hiroshima survivors urge G7 leaders to unite against atomic weapons
Israel Using Biometric Cameras to Terrorize Palestinians
Turkiye Has Its Own Russiagate as Election Heads to Runoff
Mormon church has $100bn ‘clandestine hedge fund’, says whistleblower
Chris Hedges: Sammy Goes to School
Watchdog Group Launches Counter Attack on 'Dangerous Carbon Capture Hype'
"Deplorable": Former Sen. Doug Jones Slams Tuberville for Defending White Nationalists in Military
Rep. Paul Gosar's Ties to Neo-Nazi Movement Under Scrutiny
Trump VINDICATED By Durham Report: Says America Was SCAMMED; Defund FBI?
IRS DUMPS Hunter Biden Investigation Team; Whistleblower Claims RETALIATION
Should The Pulitzer Prizes REVOKE MSM Awards For Spewing Russiagate NONSENSE?
A Little Night Music
Big Joe Williams - Crawlin' King Snake
Big Joe Williams - Baby Please Don't Go
Big Joe Williams - Sloppy Drunk Blues
"Big" Joe Williams - Stack Of Dollars
Big Joe Williams- Rollin & Tumblin
(Big) Joe Williams - P Vine Blues
Big Joe Williams - Banta Rooster Blues
Big Joe Williams - Peach Orchard Mama
Big Joe Williams - Highway 49
Comments
Are 'political solutions' actually a thing anymore?
So much hype, so little resolution.
Who to blame for the current or next calamity?
Political types like to point fingers.
It's them, not us! they exclaim.
We are all one species.
Tanks for the EB's joe!
evening qms...
i am thinking that "political solution" is an oxymoron as, of course, is "military solution."
have a great evening!
Are we fast approaching crazy time in the Ukraine?
It looks more and more like Russia will crush the Ukrainian military by the end of summer or the beginning of autumn. The NATO/US crazies will have to do something to keep the war going. This is when we might see Poland with the help of small contingents from other NATO countries enter the Ukraine. Then it is highly likely that the US will use nukes as the Russians in all probability will also defeat NATO/US forces. Unless of course Tom Cruise, Hollywood, or Herr Field Marshal von Kos come to the rescue.
I used to think that the Europeans would stop any continental war, but I was mistaken.
evening mr w...
i think we are in the crazy "quiet time" in ukraine.
russia rightly sees this conflict as an existential contest with the west and the western elites apparently see this as an existential contest for their ideology and political stability. if this shitshow somehow fails to escalate into a world war, it will be a miracle.
They're coming to send us away
https://www.theautomaticearth.com/2023/05/debt-rattle-may-16-2023/
And this is reason enough to buy Gold, food, more Gold and more food
https://goldswitzerland.com/a-disorderly-reset-with-gold-revalued-by-mul...
EDIT: Adding this UFB
https://nationalfile.com/fbi-asks-judge-to-delay-seth-rich-laptop-releas...
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
67 years to protect someone's privacy
on Seth Rich's documents? All Clintons will be dead by then, of course. A coincidence.
I wish his family could get involved. They have always kept quiet and maintained distance from all things surrounding his death.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
My wildly speculative guess as to why the
family has remained silent is that they've been
given the "Kennedy ultimatum", let it go, or.
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Karma can't arrive any sooner?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERWREcPIoPA
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
WTH could be on Seth Rich's laptop
that could warrant keeping the files sealed for 66 years? This request is enough to keep the conspiracy speculators busy for a long time.
When the truth is hidden,
all we got is speculation. The delay request just brings it all back to the forefront of speculation.
I just feel badly for Seth's family and friends, wish they could get a step closer to accepting his loss.
I hope we get the truth, Marie.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
This constitutes
a tacit admission of deep and malignant corruption, IMNSHO. If there was evidence that was exculpatory or supported their narrative, they’d be shouting it from the rooftops 24/7 via every stenographer they could lay hands on. On the other hand, if the evidence shows the opposite, they’ll go to any lengths whatsoever to suppress it, for however long they possibly can. By their actions shall we know them.
Oh, well. Our tax dollars at work.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
FBI
denied for years that they even *had* the laptop...
The family did sue Fox news
for reporting that Seth was connected to Wikileaks. Fox somewhat quickly took the story down, but it was repeated on rightwing blogs, etc. Just over two years ago the family and Fox settled. So, that will have helped the family to move on.
The truth hasn't been showing up much for the past few decades, but we can hope.
Snoopydawg knew this subject better than I
but the speculation is that the only way the info
could've been gathered is that Rich downloaded the info,
therefore a hack as the DNC says it was is not feasible.
If it wasn't hacked then the DNC/Clinton cabal is guilty
as hell
Best comment from the article is
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
'If it wasn't hacked then the DNC/Clinton cabal is guilty as.'
Remember that the crowdstrike CEO admitted behind closed doors that he saw no evidence that the information even left the server. Schiff kept that hidden for 2-3 and it only came out just before Trump left office. One thing that the corporate media is leaving out is that Brennan told Obama that Hillary was going to tie Trump to Russia and they all knew that it was false. They did it to take the media from discussing how Hillary and the DNC rigged the primary. And to keep other damning information away from the voters. That Durham proved that it was done on false information should have heads rolling for election interference. A lot of people were afraid of what Trump would do if he won, but he either dropped the ball or people ignored what he told them to do. The NSA could have shown much earlier that no information had been hacked if Trump had told them to.
That they kept it going after Trump became president is an attempted coup, but of course nothing will come from it. The FBI’s job is to protect the elite and they were very upset that Trump took away Hillary’s coronation. One other thing that people are talking about is how the FBI fudged the investigation into the Clinton’s foundation and pay for play for weapons, investigation relief and other favors from Hillary.
Mueller sat on his investigation for well over a year and so did Durham. Lots of us knew years ago what he just released. But hey it’s not like it’s Fitzmas again…oh wait.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
That report is from last October --
any update on the judge's order?
iirc, the DC police confiscated his electronic devices to check for any information related to his murder and it's common for the DC police to request forensic assistance from the FBI. If there was nothing there, his personal property should have been returned to his family -- and it may have been. Except it appears that the FBI retained a copy of his laptop files. Which presents a problem for the FBI - can't destroy records and can't release strictly personal records.
After consideration, I have long doubted that Rich leaked the DNC files. Two primary reasons. He didn't seem to possess the requisite tech skills to download the files without leaving a link back to himself. (iirc Snowden only had a short window from the time he downloaded files and when would have been identified as having done so.) Plus, Crowdstrike was in there from early May 2016 checking for IT weaknesses. And yet, files as late as May 25, 2016 were snatched. Second, nothing in his public profile suggests renegade or rogue (and I don't buy what Kim dot com has been trying to sell).
Assange/Wikileaks and Craig Murray have been coy about the receipt of DNC and Podesta files. All we have to go on is that on June 11 or 12, 2016 Assange said that they were looking at files related to Clinton (I accept this as true). Two to three days later Crowdstrike/DNC announced that the DNC had been hacked and within another day or two Guccifer 2.0 popped up. That's where things started to become very messy and near impossible to sort out. Yeah, Mueller etal. alleged that G-2.0 was Russian intelligence. Russia denied and Assange denies receipt of files from any state actor. G-2.0 always claimed to have obtained the DNC files (and others later on) by hacking. Much later, Crowdstrike admitted that they couldn't confirm that the DNC had been hacked. Assange/Wikileaks has always maintained that they only publish leaked files and never hacked files.
June 22, 2016 tweet from Wikileaks to Guccifer 2.0 to get in touch with them. (Guccifer continued posting junk throughout the election cycle.) July 10, 2016 Seth Rich murdered. July 14, G-2.0 claims to have sent files to Wikileaks and Wikileaks (allegedly?) confirms receipt. DNC files published July 22, 2018.
None of that reveals what Assange was looking at in early June. G-2.0 never claimed to have submitted anything to Wikileaks before July 14. Also, G-2.0 never claimed to have anything to do with the Podesta files. Wikileaks has also claimed that they published all DNC and Podesta files they received except those that had previously been published by others. (I take that to mean that they excluded the innocuous files that G-2.0 posted in June and early July.) Wikileaks could have had both the DNC and Podesta files by then. Or neither. Murray claimed to have met a leaker in mid-late September and suggested that he was given a thumb-drive or disc. If that was the Podesta file phishing hacker, why had he/she sat on this five months? Why would Assange publish material acquired through phishing. Or was this another leak and unrelated to the phishing effort by persons unknown?
What actually tripped Crowdstrike and DNC to publicly claim that they had been hacked? Then so conveniently G-2.0 immediately popped up. Was this all a ruse to preempt any Wikileak publication or if published by Wikileaks to charge them with hacking?
Can't say that I was satisfied with the investigation of Rich's murder. It could have been planned and he could have been targeted. However, the timeline doesn't support that his murder was related to the DNC leak.
I can't say that I actually followed this story
in any detail.
What I do remember is their was speculation all around
that Rich survived the initial murder attempt and was doing
ok in the hospital, then boom he's gone. Also nothing was
stolen from him at the original shooting scene as the DC/FBI
called it a boggled robbery attempt. Everything stems from
there and spreads like a mushroom cloud to where we are today.
no answers just more CT's, sound familiar?
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
Can't recall how soon
after Seth Rich's murder that it became a focus of rampant speculation and misleading and fake anecdotal reports. There was no shortage of stuff to focus on in the summer of 2016; so, while noted in real time, Rich's murder became more curious as other subsequent events evolved. Wikileaks 8/9/16 offer of a reward for information on Rich's murder ramped up the attention and speculation (and as I suspect Assange intended as misdirection.) Situational exploitation isn't rare among a plethora of individuals and entities. However, it can be cruel to those actually impacted by an event and harmful to the cognitive abilities of those that buy the exploitation bs. (Alex Jones and Sandy Hook is one of the worst examples of this.)
evening ggersh...
heh, those central bankers really took those european goldsmith's ideas and ran with them.
only 66 years? i'll leave a note for my grandkid to check up on it.
America Is An Out-Of-Touch Gerontocracy
.
Then there’s this nut job.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
The onion article was hilarious!
Then I watched the Harris stuff, wanted to throw something at the screen.
Jokes aside, Feinstein looks so frail and decrepit, it seems cruel to to put her in clothes, make up, and seat her in a wheel chair.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
The elected government is a location
..that is loaded with incidents of Elder Abuse. Maxine Waters, another case in point.
The Congressional aids. who do all the work for them, have every reason to prop them up and cover for their handicaps and loss of cognitive awareness.
Because this is the United States of America, and that's how we roll.
Nonsense attempt to blame a demographic for a deliberate failur
of our society.
Feinstein governs nothing. Hasn't governed or driven any direction in 40 years.
She is Bernie in weekend at bernie's. Propped up by a vast array of operatives who used her to further their ends. Just like joe, kamala, and every other idol at the helm... bullhocky.
To continue the metaphor (analogy, whatever)... when the monkey at the end of the organ grinder's chain steals your wallet, he isn't doing it for himself, he doesn't give a crap about the wallet, he cares about getting a banana.
And it doesn't matter what age or generation is in play.
She serves a purpose. Blame her staff and "journalists" who should have stood up to the elites.
Schumer is a tool. Pay no attention to the fool who would blame a generation.
evening snoopy...
that onion piece is pretty much perfect, thanks!
i pay almost no attention to kamala harris these days, but i keep wondering if she's said anything that gives her the appearance of lucidity in the last few years.
have a great evening!
Oh My! And this isn't from The Onion.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4007624-feinstein-i-havent-been-gone...
Case in point. n/t
Aside from feeling sorry for her,
what in hell has she done to us? She could vote to do all kinds of harm to us, and likely has already!
How is she not under a legal guardianship due to her incompetency?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening humphrey...
wow. somebody get the net.
Does the news we read here...
...news of the evidentiary factual kind... have any resistive effect, whatsoever, on the Neocon-controlled government's continuous drive to plunge the US population into the chaos of a World War? Specifically into a War of Aggression against China?
(Remember the constant US Proxy War news that Russia was about out of ammunition and missiles? How dumb was that? I would be ashamed if I had believed that, even for a moment.)
In the beginning, I thought the demonstrable truth would shock minds back into sanity, critical thinking, and sound judgement. We got better and better at ferreting out the truth and exposing the psychopathic manipulation of US leaders and Federally-controlled media. It's not that this was a colossal waste of time and effort. But to think it meant anything is naive. The US cannot be saved by the truth. The US has made it clear that transparency and truth are its enemies. Truth-tellers are severely punished.
China, with five plus millennia of continuous civilization under its belt, has considerable experience in these matters. China does not believe that exposure to reality and truth will promote independent rational thinking in those captured by insane narratives. Instead, they buy time with impeccable diplomacy. But they fully understand they will be yanked into an all out war for their survival. Sometime before 2026. For example....
.
Still, I do appreciate the EB news. Thanks, Joe.
evening pluto...
like you, i sometimes wonder at the point of knowing what's going on if you can't change it. especially as we are at sea on a ship of fools with a demented, heavily armed and violent captain and there is no getting up to the wheel or commanding the sails.
perhaps it will only make my meat tough, but i feel compelled to know what's going on. it's just how i am. so, i spend a lot of time listening to music and enjoying nature while it lasts. it's the best i can do.
so there you go. perhaps you have your own reasons for wanting to know what's going on.
We also read a great deal of opinion, here
Much of the opinion served here is delivered by experts, investigative journalists, and academics.
We see very little of the opinion here that is consumed in mass quantities by most USians; conforming opinions that are produced by news writers, columnists, political operatives, US intelligence agencies, and government stenographers.
China news publishes very few formal opinion columns, and it is also rare to see reader's comments in the Chinese news media. Political discussions between Readers takes place on China's Internet. NED and USIAD probably find very little to work with there. While the Chinese do like to complain, they appear to be fundamentally happy.
In the past year, however, I've started seeing more opinion (and opinion sections) included in the Chinese news media. These opinions are generally more subjective and are tightly focused on local issues. I do keep an eye out for opinions and observations about the United States, which are always unique and revealing. For as long as I can remember, until quite recently, the Chinese people have been somewhat enthralled with Americans — with the things they did, and with the American Dream. I was amazed how easily they shrugged off or ignored the insults directed at them. But lately, not so much.
Although the American Dream was revoked during Ronald Reagan's presidency, when it began the slow journey toward its death — the idea of the American Dream has lived on in many foreign places, including China. Most of the world is now aware that the American Dream is dead, although the reason for its death is still under discussion. Today I saw an opinion piece related to this topic in the Chinese news. Excerpts follow:
.
The column then turns to the rapidly expanding US domestic gun-killing spree that is taking place right now. Just about anyone could see this one coming.
—
What are the chances
of an opinion piece contending that people have an inherent right to keep and bear arms ever appearing in any official PRC media?
I figure zero, if not less.
Certainly irresponsible use of guns occurs - although mostly among those already criminally inclined. But a bedrock principle of the American system is that those who act criminally are the ones that should be held responsible for their actions, not those who are acting responsibly.
It's not like all uses of guns (or other weapons) are illegal or illegitimate - it can be a matter of survival, exercising the fundamental human right of self-defense. Retail level gun violence is a danger, but compared to the dangers of a disarmed populace and authoritarian government it barely registers.
It's hard to quantify the deterrent effect an armed populace has against tyrannical government (as the founders intended it to have) but it's notable that the world's champions when it comes to democide (killing their own subjects/populace) all prioritized disarming their populations first.
Say what you will about the US, it has never managed to approach the record of wholesale slaughter of its own people compared to (#3) Nazi Germany, (#2) Soviet Union or (#1 - far and away the world's record holder) People's Republic of China.
“The Constitution of most of our states (and of the United States) assert that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.”
― Thomas Jefferson
You’re right
To this day shitlibs still think that Trump colluded with Russia. That the Durham report shows that the FBI hadn’t done anything wrong and that the massive explosion in Ukraine was an old Russia storage full of fuel. And that as soon as Ukraine gets a little more equipment that they will push Russia out of Ukraine and especially Crimea. Today I read how Ukraine should bomb the Kerch bridge and the railways in Crimea and stop the water supply again and to hell with what it will do to the people living there. They could have left the city long ago and since they didn’t they deserve what happens to them. Of course they still say that they are anti war but for those damn orcs…. Imagine them calling Israelis names like that or other minorities.
But I think we do a great job separating facts from fiction and not believing the propaganda we are subjected to. It might not change anything, but I’m glad that we see through the propaganda instead of believing in falsehoods. But there still are a lot of things I believe that aren’t true and hopefully I will find out what they are.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
The saga of my hacked computer continues
and it is much scarier than first thought. Much scarier.
Some introduction to set the stage... over the last few months I started seeing some conditions in my PC online stuff which was very troublesome. 3 or 4 events had come together at about the same time. For example we were changing apts and our financial situation started looking attractive to the thief crowd. We had applied for housing, reported some income, credit history, etc. Some of these were investment apt management and so on.
As I've mentioned, we cashed in our housing chips a few years ago as we were in estate planning. Pooled the money into high yield savings, trusts, etc. Hmm, each of the parties I might describe could be considered thieves. Some for money, some for reputation, some for political reasons. Ok, first group... in for the cash.
Second group are the google/corporate people who would love to get me buying their various subscriptions and sell my identity to those who value marketing targets as "marks" in their circus sideshow. They steal and sell identity.
The third group are our most wonderful neolibcons who want to make sure I don't fall in with the wrong crowd and wander off the reservation. I used to call him Agent Mike. He hated me.
I don't know who the party is who done it, maybe all of them.
Next is to how it was done. I don't know if you've seen some of the warnings in the blogosphere but it appears that bad guys have gotten extremely adept at forging of emails and web pages. They can insert an email into a stream which looks valid but is a forgery. One of my other events involved the switch over from pop3 to imap. I was trying to make the imap work like a pop3. Smart client, dumb server. Big mistake cause I ran afoul of the android crowd that I'll explain later (foreshadowing here). I found out that Thunderbird had established sessions on the imap server then didn't bother to EVER(!) close out the session. Hel, even if I turned off that imap server in my profile, the bird reestablished a session at his discretion.
I know that you've seen evidence that the current crop of "apps" is full of total security holes big enough to drive a truck thru... As an analogy, a needed function might require that we leave the back door open for deliveries or whatever. Guy in the alley sees it and it's, Yay!, let's go get us some stuff.
At this point it doesn't matter which of the thieves above is the player. The result is the same. Indy's wallet with his money, ID, and passport is on the table.
Turns out in my case that hole was in the internet interface in chromium based browsers. I haven't found any browser that doesn't use the chrome subfunction. Install MSFT Edge and you will get Chrome in the backpack. BTW, Chrome cannot be uninstalled because it was never installed. Gotcha. As an aside, I had done some kludging and had installed Edge without Chrome (purely by accident, I couldn't repeat it if my life depended on it). Anyway, my wife stopped at my desk and asked if I could put a book on her kindle. Next thing I know a driver (MediaTek something) was installed and sure enough, here came Chrome in all its glory.
They Live was a documentary. So was Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Okeydoke, here's the infection: I picked up my cootie from a video, likely an anti-estab one on a reddit thread (WOTB?) or one of the other ones I might follow out of the east. Then again it might have been from one of the old movies I looked at on Archive.org, like Children of the Damned. There are some of our rentier class who don't like the idea that we aren't paying to go across the bridge we built and are suing archive. They would much rather we use amazon or some other pay the ransom investment corp. Or it might have been that group who would love to drain my bank account.
And here comes the symptoms: all of a sudden my PC seemed to be possessed. It didn't respond right. Some icons changed. My desktop cleared and repainted. Even after I uninstalled, got rid of chrome, got rid of thunderbird, etc. I would find them running on a later boot. They were never reinstalled, just appeared. Any site that had a password screen was compromised and sent somewhere. That included my router management.
It's called screen scraping and keyboard logging. I believe that there are some bosses who pay to have these things on their employees (slaves) PC's so they can be monitored.
This infection...It's there. I know it's there. They know I know it's there.
As I've done my research I think this is a very pervasive security hole in our whole system. I've seen anecdotal evidence of lots of people exploited by this security hole. I talked with a friend earlier today who said his daughter had been targeted and had her identity stolen. And there ain't nobody who gives a shit. Of course google is thrilled to crap because all they care about is the profits and human misery at our level is a small price to pay.
Fun times. And it ain't the chinese. We have met the enemy and they live in our basement.
Watch your 6.
Addendum: From my friend: It's all one big nightmare and will only get worse with the AI BS ramping up. We're all probably hacked and we just don't know it yet.
I blame the hippies from the 60's & 70's. ???
Hey! Now we're getting personal.
evening exindy...
sorry to hear about your computer troubles. sometimes i wonder if one day the internet might become so infested that like-minded people just decide to withdraw from the internet and gather in meatspace.
Good evening Joe, thanks for the EBs.
Yesterday I scrolled to the opening You Tube and quote, recognized Sugarpie, said "cool" or somesuch to myself and proceeded to enjoy the EBs without actually noticing the heading. So when I went back to it today to finish some of the political stuff I saw that you had headlined
And I stopped, thinking that it sure sounds weird, but it's true and then free associated to how Johnny O scoured S.F. clubs for talents like Sugarpie and Jamesetta Hawkins and then, when the time was ripe, packed up the whole shebang and went down and set up shop in LA. Heh. Gotta hand it to the man.
So the Durham report contains all of these great revelations, and how much of that will be trumpeted loudly as much as even once, let along daily for a week or so by the MSM? It doesn't make a difference to pull back the curtain if the stage is hid behind a movie screen showing war movies, sitcoms, and game shows.
Thanks for 9 string Joe and all the news items
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
evening el...
otis was both an incredible musician and an excellent talent scout and developer. i have a bunch of compilation albums of him/his band backing many of his early talent finds and there's some pretty impressive material there. one day i'll get around to cleaning them up, digitizing them and putting them online.
if the congressional republicans want to take it and run with it, the durham report appears to have some pretty damning material in it. on the other hand, the feebs have a pretty long record of deep sixing anything likely to impair their position as the political police.
have a good one!
Larry Johnson interview. He talks about Wapo being a CIA asset.
Hi bluesters
Hey Joe, Hope all are well!
What a great player Big Joe Williams was. So creative and innovative. Necessity and all... Nine strings?!? Really!!? But the pairing was a great idea as you lose sound so fast with a slide on an acoustic. There is no sustain. That gave it punch on those thinner notes. Brilliant. From the views I can gather, I am fairly confident saying that some of those guitars were not UL listed.
I can only guess OSHA never caught a show. 
I would love to see a pic of his pie tin/beer can rig! Sounds another great idea for the time. He was really somethin'... thanks for the continuing edumacation! And thanks for the great soundscapes!
Have good ones all!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
evening dystopian...
yep, volume was a major consideration and the extra strings really helped. i think a lot of his guitar creations were modified acoustic 12 strings and later on he started fitting them with a de armond accessory pickup either in the soundhole or affixed to the bridge.
while his guitar playing was unique, it was his voice that i have always found really riveting.
have a great evening!
Good evening, joe!
I can't remember a good supreme ct. ruling in the last 20 years or so. I didn't know what we think is bribery is not bribery. So, we are all dumb asses.
I also think ruling in the dark is creepy, and does not exactly comport with my legal education.
Sammy going to school jerked a tear, like Hedges intended.
4 of my carpenters who have worked for me for decades, and 2 handymen who have done yard work, are all former convicts. They paid their dues. They are my great neighbors, friends, want to be a good part of society. People do learn, do succeed when encouraged and are given a helping hand.
Thanks so much for the great music and informative news, friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening otc...
i guess the court is working on not criminalizing politics, since bribery is the language of politics and money is it's mother's milk. it's all part of a two-tiered justice system.
have a great evening!
The justices wouldn't be where they are
without it. Thomas and his wife should be just fine and dandy after those rulings.
Nothing to see here.
We are gonna get in a 3 hour set of zydeco music at a bar/restaurant close by. Our Sunday adventure.
I will get a chance to feed the gators in the bayou. They hear the bands tuning up, come swimming up, waiting for French fries.
There is some bribery in that for the restaurant owners, now that I think about it. Buy fries, see gators?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
wow...
an alligator eradication program, using freedom fries to clog their arteries.
Laissez
les bon temps roulez!
Good one!
The cowboy culture where I live, and the Cajun culture an hour and a half away is astonishing in its' difference. It is like world travel for us.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Nice to have
those regional cultures & differences.
Much to be preferred to one big homogenized lowest-common-denominator crap culture blob...
Always liked Gatemouth Brown - he seemed to be (to borrow an expression) on the cusp of the cowboy/Cajun/zydeco thing...
He is the type
to scrape cow shit off his cowboy boots, then go in a cajun restaurant and order boudin with rice, and swing some Mardi Gras beads.
Great song, and Roy Clark was obviously getting into it, wasn't he?
Another good one!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
'The Senator Demento Show'
Not quite the 'J'Accuse...! Moment' that some of their recent pieces have been, but I'm thinking you can see it from there:
https://www.theonion.com/dianne-feinstein-america-is-out-of-touch-geront...
https://www.theonion.com/the-onion-s-exclusive-interview-with-dianne-fei...
https://www.theonion.com/dementia-senators-in-office-defend-1850373120
In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.
Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!
Evening joe and bluesters
Thank you joe, for your curated news and blues. They aways serve to inform and entertain.
Regarding the Neil Gaiman quote ...
I’m not convinced that waring sides believe they are justified in their actions based on what is right or wrong. Rather, I think they just want to dominate, regardless. Choosing between what is right or wrong takes a lot more consideration and sympathy than those who make these world-changing decisions are capable of.
I hope we can continue sharing this space with the support of the existing community. I am a bit perplexed by the lack of response to el and JtC's call for support. I'm hoping that there is more support behind the scenes.
Japanese and South Korean PR
Tokyo raps Time for misleading headline after Kishida scoop
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 13, 2023
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14907157
Plan to send Korean team to inspect Fukushima plant prompts fears of dog and pony show
Posted on : May.15,2023
Hankyoreh
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1091860.html
Curbing Academic Freedom in Japan
Asia Pacific Journal-Japan Focus
Jeff Kingston Feb 15, 2023
https://apjjf.org/2023/2/Kingston.html
Japan quietly tries to pressure other countries who allow South Korean civic groups to erect so called "comfort women" statues, and statues of Korean slave labor victims or other such memorabilia in public spaces or museums, so as to remove them.
No one has the right to question the right wing's call for a military buildup in Japan, nor it's call for dispensing with Article 9 of its "peace constitution."
Nor does anyone who can't be controlled by Japan's far right LDP government have the right to question anything Japan does. So why does Yoon bother to send an inspection group to Japan. Simple, just for the optics.
He isn't fooling anyone. South Koreans disapprove Yoon's policies by almost a two to one margin. Worse, a poll of professionals in South Korea, showed that 75 percent disapprove of Yoon's performance during his first year in office. Only 19 percent approve.
What do Yoon and Kishida have in common besides a love of Japan? Both are far right hawks on foreign policy. Kishida tries to hide it behind his family and political ties to Hiroshima. Yoon doesn't hide anything. He's a dupe, clueless politically as even the Financial Times pointed out last August.
More political ineptitude-
Nurses vow collective action after Yoon veto
By Shin Ji-hye
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20230517000600
I saw a video of hundreds if not thousands of nurses demonstrating several days ago in Seoul before Yoon vetoed the bill. Of course, he promised to support it during his campaign. Even, if conservatives wanted to remove certain specific items in the bill because the right wing medical association demands that, if the President and his party never negotiates with the opposition majority in the National Assembly how can that be accomplished? The South Korean medical association also fights any government attempt to increase the number of doctors in South Korea.
Yoon is variously described as dictator, king, emperor, and so on, by the political opposition and independent media. To stave off his declining support, political prosecutions are being threatened against various opposition politicians. "Investigations" are under way. The confidential allegations are routinely and unlawfully released by prosecutors to the conservative media in South Korea to distract the public whether true or not in order to dominate the headline narratives.
I don't eat seafood or kim from northeast Asia.
Thanks for the news roundup and tunes JS, much appreciated.
(edited for typos)
語必忠信 行必正直