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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Cab Calloway

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features jazz singer and bandleader Cab Calloway. Enjoy!

^{Cab Calloway - Minnie the Moocher}

"The complete irresponsibility of man for his actions and his nature is the bitterest drop which he who understands must swallow."

-- Friedrich Nietzsche

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News and Opinion

After 20 Years, Still No Justice or Compensation for Iraqis Tortured by US Forces

Iraqis tortured by American forces two decades ago during the disastrous U.S. occupation of their country have yet to receive any sort of compensation from the U.S. government as they suffer lasting physical and psychological trauma, according to a report released Monday by Human Rights Watch.

The group interviewed an Iraqi who was detained at Abu Ghraib prison—which U.S. forces used as a detention facility—between November 2003 and March 2005.

Taleb al-Majli, who was released without charge after 16 months, told HRW that he was one of the detainees in the infamous photo of naked, hooded Iraqi prisoners whom U.S. forces piled on top of each other to form a human pyramid. In the photo, two U.S. soldiers are behind the prisoners smiling, and one of them is flashing a thumbs-up.

"This one year and four months changed my entire being for the worse," said al-Majli, who told the human rights group that he started biting his hands and wrists as a coping mechanism while he was imprisoned—something he still does to this day.

"It destroyed me and destroyed my family," al-Majli said of his detention. "It's the reason for my son's health problems and the reasons my daughters dropped out of school. They stole our future from us."

HRW noted that al-Majli has spent the nearly two decades since his release pursuing redress for the abuse he endured at the hands of U.S. soldiers, to no avail. When the group wrote to the Pentagon earlier this year detailing al-Majli's case and asking for any information on plans to compensate Iraqis who were tortured by U.S. forces, it did not get a response.

"Twenty years on, Iraqis who were tortured by U.S. personnel still have no clear path for filing a claim or receiving any kind of redress or recognition from the U.S. government," Sarah Yager, HRW's Washington director, said in a statement. "U.S. officials have indicated that they prefer to leave torture in the past, but the long-term effects of torture are still a daily reality for many Iraqis and their families."

During a 2004 congressional hearing convened days after reporting by veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh and others uncovered the grotesque torture that U.S. forces were perpetrating at Abu Ghraib, then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld—a key architect of the Iraq invasion—said he was "seeking a way to provide appropriate compensation to those detainees who suffered such grievous and brutal abuse and cruelty at the hands of a few members of the U.S. military."

"It's the right thing to do," Rumsfeld added.

But HRW said Monday that it has "found no evidence that the U.S. government has paid any compensation or other redress to victims of detainee abuse in Iraq, nor has the United States issued any individual apologies or other amends."

"Some victims have attempted to apply for compensation using the U.S. Foreign Claims Act (FCA)," the group observed. "Human Rights Watch was unable to find public evidence that payments have been made under this law as compensation for detainee abuse, including torture. In 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union obtained documents detailing 506 claims made under the Foreign Claims Act: 488 in Iraq and 18 in Afghanistan. The majority of claims relate to harm or deaths caused by shootings, convoys, and vehicle accidents."

"The only case of a Foreign Claims Act payment relating to detention in those documents was for a claimant who was paid US$1,000 for being unlawfully detained in Iraq, with no mention of other abuse," HRW added. "Five other claims were for abuse in detention, but they are among eleven claims that do not contain the outcome, including whether payment was made."

Attempts by some Iraqis to pursue redress through the U.S. court system have also failed. According to HRW, "the U.S. Justice Department has repeatedly dismissed such cases using a 1946 law that preserves U.S. forces' immunity for 'any claim arising out of the combatant activities of the military or naval forces, or the Coast Guard, during time of war.'"

Yager argued that the heads of the Pentagon and Justice Department "should investigate allegations of torture and other abuse of people detained by the U.S. abroad during counterinsurgency operations linked to its 'Global War on Terrorism.'"

"U.S. authorities should initiate appropriate prosecutions against anyone implicated, whatever their rank or position," said Yager. "The U.S. should provide compensation, recognition, and official apologies to survivors of abuse and their families."

US Looks For Zelensky Ouster, Criticise Tactics; Shoigu Ukr Sept Losses 17K; UK Admits Oil Cap Fail

Bill Kristol’s Refreshingly Honest Ukraine War Ad

The Bill Kristol-led group “Republicans for Ukraine” has released a TV ad to help drum up GOP support for Washington’s proxy war against Russia, and it’s surprisingly honest about what this war is really about: advancing US strategic interests using Ukrainians as sacrificial pawns.

Here’s a transcript:

“When America arms Ukraine, we get a lot for a little. Putin is an enemy of America. We’ve used 5% of our defense budget to arm Ukraine, and with it, they’ve destroyed 50% of Putin’s Army. We’ve done all this by sending weapons from storage, not our troops. The more Ukraine weakens Russia, the more it also weakens Russia’s closest ally, China. America needs to stand strong against our enemies, that’s why Republicans in Congress must continue to support Ukraine.”

“Republicans for Ukraine” was launched last month by “Defending Democracy Together”, another Kristol-led narrative management operation which is funded by oligarchs like Pierre Omidyar. Kristol, who as a neoconservative thought leader played a pivotal role in pushing for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, tweeted on Saturday that the ad “will air on the Sunday shows tomorrow in DC.”

One of the dumbest things the empire asks us to believe is that this war simultaneously (A) was completely unprovoked and (B) just coincidentally happens to massively advance the strategic interests of the government accused of provoking it. From the moment Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 westerners were aggressively hammered over and over and over again by the mass media with the uniform propaganda message that this was an “unprovoked invasion”, but ever since then we’ve also been receiving these peculiar messages from US empire managers and spinmeisters that this war is helping the United States crush its geopolitical enemies and advance its interests abroad.

This bizarre two-step occurs because the US-centralized empire needs to convey two self-evidently contradictory messages to the public at all times:
1. that the US is an innocent little flower who just wants to help its good friends the Ukrainians protect their democracy from the murderous Russians who invaded solely because they are evil and hate freedom, and
2. that it’s in the interest of Americans to continue this war.

The second point is required because the message that the US is merely an innocent passive witness to the violence in Ukraine necessarily causes certain political factions to ask, “Okay, so what are we doing there then? Why are we pouring all this money into something that has nothing to do with us?” So another narrative is required to explain that backing this proxy war also just so happens to be a massive boon to US strategic interests abroad while creating American jobs manufacturing weapons at home.

And of course this war advances US strategic interests. Of course it does. Only an idiot would believe the US is pouring weapons into another country because it loves the people who live there and wants them to be free, and that it is only by pure coincidence that this happens to kill a lot of Russians, bolster NATO, and advance US energy interests in Europe. It doesn’t benefit normal Americans at home, but it absolutely does serve the interests of the globe-spanning empire that’s centralized around Washington. That’s why the empire deliberately provoked it.

Empire managers were openly discussing the ways a war in Ukraine would directly benefit the US empire long before the invasion. In 2019 a Pentagon-funded Rand Corporation paper titled “Extending Russia — Competing from Advantageous Ground” detailed how the empire can use proxy warfare, economic warfare and other Cold War tactics to push its longtime geopolitical foe to the brink without costing American lives or sparking a nuclear conflict. The US Army-commissioned paper mentioned Ukraine hundreds of times, and explicitly discussed how a war there could be used to promote sanctions against Moscow and attack Russia’s energy interests in Europe.

In December of 2021 John Deni of NATO propaganda firm The Atlantic Council authored a piece for The Wall Street Journal titled “The Strategic Case for Risking War in Ukraine,” subtitled “An invasion would be a diplomatic, economic and military mistake for Putin. Let him make it if he must.” Deni argued that “there are good strategic reasons for the West to stake out a hard-line approach” against Moscow and refuse to negotiate or back down over Ukraine, because if doing so provokes Russia to invade it would “forge an even stronger anti-Russian consensus across Europe,” “result in another round of more debilitating economic sanctions that would further weaken Russia’s economy,” and “sap the strength and morale of Russia’s military while undercutting Mr. Putin’s domestic popularity and reducing Russia’s soft power globally.”

The minds on the inside of the empire were talking about how this war would benefit the US before the invasion, and they’ve been talking about how much it benefits the US ever since. As the Washington Post’s David Ignatius put it this past July: “these 18 months of war have been a strategic windfall, at relatively low cost (other than for the Ukrainians). The West’s most reckless antagonist has been rocked. NATO has grown much stronger with the additions of Sweden and Finland. Germany has weaned itself from dependence on Russian energy and, in many ways, rediscovered its sense of values. NATO squabbles make headlines, but overall, this has been a triumphal summer for the alliance.”

The managers of the empire are getting everything they want out of this war. In public they rend their garments and cry crocodile tears and call it a terrible criminal atrocity, but every now and then they look at the camera and flash it a quick Fleabag-style grin.

They knew exactly what they were doing when they provoked this war, and they know exactly what they’re doing by keeping it going.

And they’re loving every minute of it.

Canada’s house speaker apologises after praising Ukrainian veteran of Nazi unit

Anthony Rota issued a statement apologising for what occurred. “In my remarks following the address of the president of Ukraine, I recognised an individual in the gallery. I have subsequently become aware of more information which causes me to regret my decision to do so,” he said.

He added that his fellow parliament members and the Ukraine delegation were not aware of his plan to recognise Hunka. Rota said Hunka was from his district. “I particularly want to extend my deepest apologies to Jewish communities in Canada and around the world. I accept full responsibility for my action,” Rota said. ...

Canada’s opposition Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, also called on Trudeau to apologise.

Trudeau’s office said Rota had apologised and accepted full responsibility for issuing the invitation to Hunka and for the recognition in parliament.

“This was the right thing to do,” it said. “No advance notice was provided to the prime minister’s office, nor the Ukrainian delegation, about the invitation or the recognition.”

First Batch of US-Made Abrams Tanks Arrive in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that the first batch of US-made Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine, which are armed with toxic depleted uranium (DU) ammunition.

“Abrams are already in Ukraine and are preparing to reinforce our brigades. I am grateful to our allies for fulfilling the agreements!” Zelensky wrote on X. “We are looking for new contracts and expanding the geography of supply.” ...

The provision of US-made tanks marks a significant escalation of US support for the war, especially since they are armed with DU, which is linked to cancer and birth defects where it is used. The Pentagon announced it was shipping 120mm DU rounds to Ukraine as part of a weapons package announced on September 6.

Seymour Hersh Accuses Biden Admin Of LYING About Nord Stream One Year After Explosion

US Announces $2 Billion Loan for Poland to Spend on Military

The Biden administration on Monday announced a $2 billion loan for Poland that will go toward modernizing Warsaw’s military.

“Today, the United States is proud to announce the signing of a milestone $2 billion Foreign Military Financing (FMF) direct loan agreement to support Poland’s defense modernization,” the State Department said in a press release.

The State Department said the US would also provide $60 million in FMF funds to cover the cost of the loan. The press release described Warsaw as a “stalwart US ally” as Poland has become a major hub for arms shipments to Ukraine and spends more on its military than most European NATO members.

Lessee, $5 Billion to rebuild everybody's home in Lahaina Maui, $20 Billion to end homelessness in the entire U.S. ... no our government will only do that sort of thing for Ukraine. The U.S. government prefers nazis to its own citizens.

US Taxpayer Dollars are Subsidizing Small Businesses in Ukraine

A report from 60 Minutes that aired Sunday detailed how US taxpayer dollars are not only funding weapons in Ukraine but are also subsidizing small businesses and paying first responders salaries, among other things.

While the bulk of US support for Ukraine has gone toward military aid, the US has also provided tens of billions of dollars in a form of assistance known as direct budgetary aid. According to the 60 Minutes report, the US aid pays for the salaries of all 57,000 of Ukraine’s first responders.

US officials working for USAID helped Abramova’s business find new customers overseas. Other examples of non-military aid include the US purchasing seeds and fertilizers for Ukrainian farmers. The 60 Minutes report said the US has pumped $25 billion in non-military aid into Ukraine.

Hungary PM criticizes Ukraine, says no rush to ratify Sweden's NATO bid

Hungary will not support Ukraine in any issue in international affairs until the language rights of ethnic Hungarians there are restored, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament on Monday.

Orban also said Hungary was in no rush to ratify Sweden's NATO accession, flagging a further delay in a process that has been stranded in parliament since last year. Sweden's membership bid is on hold pending approval from Hungary and Turkey.

Hungary clashed with Ukraine over what it says are curbs on the rights of roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians to use their native tongue, especially in education, after Kyiv passed a law in 2017 restricting the use of minority languages in schools.

"They want to transform (Hungarian schools) into Ukrainian schools and if that does not work they want to close them," nationalist premier Orban said in his speech, adding that his government would fight for the rights of ethnic Hungarians in western Ukraine.

"We do not support Ukraine in any issue in the international scene until it restores the laws that guarantee the rights of Hungarians."

Germany ONCE AGAIN Buying Russian Natural Gas!

The trade in sanctioned oil is booming as the US turns a blind eye

Hidden within the bone dry ledgers of China’s international trade reports, an apparent anomaly revealed itself in late 2022. Analysts examining the movement of oil around the world located an extraordinary imbalance in the country’s accounts; a bland aberration that helped to reveal the risky game being played by the US and its allies to maintain a high supply of oil around the world.

It was November 2022 and Chinese imports of Malaysian oil had reached a record high of more than one million barrels a day. The problem? Malaysia’s total national oil production was just 521,000 barrels a day, almost half of the amount China claimed it was importing. Earlier this week, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that somehow, this phantom production of oil has only increased in 2023. The federal agency noted that “during this period, [China’s] import volume from Malaysia exceeded total production in Malaysia.”

According to the EIA the truth is both shockingly brazen and increasingly common; oil originating in countries currently sanctioned by the US and its allies is being systematically relabelled as coming from third-party countries like Malaysia, Oman and the UAE, in order to skirt international embargos.

Under this now well recognised process, oil is taken from Russia, Iran or Venezuela to meeting points in South-east Asia and transferred from tanker to tanker, where it is then relabelled as coming from a nearby oil producer, before it is shipped on to China. These ship-to-ship transfers of oil are highly risky, threatening both the environment and the safety of the crews involved. They occur with little oversight and often in dangerous conditions on the high seas. Despite this, such transfers are being performed daily while local officials and western governments turn a blind eye. ...

Maritime security expert Jan Stockbruegger believes that the US might have more immediate reasons not to clamp down on the trade. “Sanctioned oil helps reduce oil prices. Without Russian or Iranian oil, our oil price would be higher. Elections are usually decided through the price of gas … [Biden] has an incentive to make sure oil prices are low.”

Armenia says 13,350 refugees have arrived from Nagorno-Karabakh

Use of antiviral may be fuelling evolution of Covid, scientists say

An antiviral drug used to treat patients with Covid-19 may be causing mutations in the virus and fuelling the evolution of new variants, scientists have said.

Molnupiravir, which is also sold under the brand name Lagevrio, is designed to mutate coronavirus to destruction, but researchers found evidence that the virus can sometimes survive the treatment, leading to mutated versions that occasionally spread to other people.

There is no evidence molnupiravir has produced more dangerous variants of Covid, but scientists said the mutations increased the genetic diversity of the virus in the wild and provided more options for future evolution.

“People have some concerns about molnupiravir and to some sense this makes those more concrete,” said Dr Theo Sanderson, the lead author on the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Francis Crick Institute in London. “We know these viruses can still be alive following a significant number of mutations and they can still be transmissible in some cases.”

The findings are important for continuing assessments of the risks and benefits of molnupiravir and other drugs in development that work in a similar way, the researchers say.

PERFECT STORM Could CRASH Economy Immediately

CEO Pay Has Surged 1,209% Since 1978. Worker Pay Has Risen Just 15%

A new analysis by the Economic Policy Institute shows that top U.S. CEOs saw their total compensation rise by 1,209% between 1978 and 2022 while typical worker pay rose just 15%—a chasm that is fueling the United Auto Workers strike and other labor actions across the country.

EPI's Josh Bivens and Jori Kandra found that the CEOs of the 350 largest publicly traded companies in the U.S. made 344 times more than a typical worker last year. In 1965, by contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker pay gap was 21 to 1.

"Top CEO compensation grew roughly 28.1% faster than stock market growth during this period and far eclipsed the slow 15.3% growth in a typical worker’s annual compensation," Bivens and Kandra noted in their report, which was released late last week.

The analysis came as the UAW expanded its strikes against General Motors and Stellantis, accusing the auto giants of refusing to engage seriously with the union in contract negotiations.

'Corruption Is Corruption': Summer Lee Joins Call for Menendez's Resignation

Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee has become the latest prominent Democrat to call on New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez to resign following his indictment on bribery charges Friday.

Menendez was accused along with his wife Nadine and three businessmen over a "corrupt relationship" that saw Menendez exchange political favors—including aiding the Egyptian government—for kickbacks such as cash, gold, and help with a mortgage payment.

"Senator Menendez must resign," Lee said in a statement released Monday. "Corruption is corruption. Bribery is bribery. We can't talk about holding Thomas and Alito accountable for selling out our freedoms for luxury vacations and private jet flights if we fail to hold a senator accountable for selling out his chairmanship to a dictator gifting gold bars and cash to keep military aid flowing to Egypt as its government violates human rights."

Lee has been outspoken in calling out corruption in the Supreme Court. Her statement Monday comes the day after she spoke on MSNBC about a ProPublica article, also released Friday, revealing that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had attended at least two political fundraisers organized by the Koch network.

During Sunday night's interview, host Mehdi Hasan also asked Lee about the fact that only one other senator—John Fetterman of Pennsylvania—had called on Menendez to resign.

At the time, Lee stopped short of calling for his resignation herself, saying that the people who knew him in the Senate needed to speak out. However, she also said it was important that public servants hold themselves to higher standards, especially as the Republican Party continues the descent into extremism that escalated on January 6, 2021.

"We need to be clear about the types of people who should represent us, about the standards by which we should hold them, about what they are allowed to do, their conduct. We need a code of conduct for the Supreme Court, and we also need to adhere to our own conduct, whether we're in the Senate, or the House, or anywhere else," she said.

Menendez Corruption Excuse: I'M CUBAN

Bob Menendez refuses to quit and says $480,000 in cash was for personal use

Insisting he would not resign after being indicted on corruption charges, the embattled New Jersey Democratic senator Bob Menendez told reporters that $480,000 in cash found in a safe, clothing and closets at his home was kept there for emergency personal use.

“For 30 years,” Menendez said, “I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings accounts, which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba.”

The senator’s parents are from Cuba though he was born in New York. Last week, he said: “It is not lost on me how quickly some are rushing to judge a Latino and push him out of his seat.” In Union City, New Jersey, on Monday, Menendez spoke in English and in Spanish. A group of people he said were “everyday people and constituents who know me” stood behind him as he spoke.

The senator continued: “Now this may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal savings accounts based on the income that I have lawfully derived over those 30 years. I look forward to addressing other issues in trial.”

We have an extra flashlight for our home emergencies https://t.co/pZ0kDmIcXI

— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 25, 2023

Assassination on U.S. Soil: Orlando Letelier's Son Seeks Justice for 1976 Bombing by Pinochet Regime

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BIDEN FAMILY CHAOS? First IMPEACHMENT Hearing Against Prez Set For Thursday; Hunter SUES Giuliani

Heh, it's a bare knuckle brawl and everybody wants to get in on it, even Occupy Democrats...

‘Full fascist’ Trump condemned after ‘treason’ rant against NBC and MSNBC

Donald Trump said Comcast, the owner of NBC and MSNBC, “should be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason’” and promised to do so should he be re-elected president next year.

In response, one progressive group said the former US president and current overwhelming frontrunner in the Republican 2024 presidential nomination race had “gone full fascist”.

The Biden White House said Trump threatened “an outrageous attack on our democracy and the rule of law”.

The US media was “almost all dishonest and corrupt”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, “but Comcast, with its one-side and vicious coverage by NBC News, and in particular MSNBC … should be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason’.” ...

Sounding a louder alarm, Occupy Democrats, a progressive advocacy group, said Trump had gone “full fascist” with an “unhinged Sunday-night rant”.

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Macron launches ‘ecological plan’ to end France’s use of fossil fuels by 2030

Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a national “ecological plan” to reduce France’s greenhouse gas emissions by 55% and end the use of fossil fuels by 2030. Speaking after a special ministerial council at the Elysée, the French president said an extra €10bn (£8.7bn) would be put towards the 50-point programme, which he described as “ecology à la Française”.

The plan was aimed at addressing the climate crisis while ensuring that France remained competitive in agriculture and industry, said Macron. It was essential, he said, that “France reduces our dependence on so-called fossil fuels, coal, petrol and gas, which we don’t produce any more but on which we depend”. The aim, he added, was to reduce this dependence from 60% to 40% by 2030.

“The priority that we have set is that by January 2027 we will have totally ended the use of coal for our electricity production,” he said.

Other measures in the plan include the acceleration of electric car production, with brakes on gas boilers, though the president stopped short of a total ban. It also includes new projects for offshore windfarms, the opening of several electric battery factories in northern France, a map to establish where natural resources can be found in France, including hydrogen gas and essential elements for lithium batteries, and €700m state investment in the regional train network. ...

Macron said the state would be taking back control of electricity prices next month. He said people would be encouraged to look at alternatives such as heat pumps, promising to triple pump production in the next three years and train 30,000 new installers.

‘In total shock’: birdwatchers amazed as ‘uber-rare’ American birds land in UK

A record-breaking number of “uber-rare” North American songbirds have arrived in the UK this week, blown over the Atlantic in the aftermath of Hurricane Lee.

More than a dozen species of small songbirds – one of which has never been seen in the UK before – were sent veering off their usual migration routes by the high winds.

It was “the largest such arrival ever recorded in the British Isles”, said Dr Alexander Lees, a reader at Manchester Metropolitan University and the chair of the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee. “One species hasn’t been seen before, and several have only been recorded once or twice.” ...

So far, 15 species have been spotted, with 49 individual birds. Included is the Canada warbler, which has never been seen before in the UK. Meanwhile, the bay-breasted warbler had only its second-ever UK sighting, and the magnolia warbler its third. All were spotted in Pembrokeshire, which got the lion’s share of activity. ...

It is unlikely these songbirds will be able to fly back across the Atlantic. If they find sufficient food in the UK, it is possible they will continue their migration south, and try to find somewhere warmer to overwinter. Most of them, however, are unlikely to survive.

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Also of Interest

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

Ukraine SitRep: Battlefield Reports Show Lack Of Armor And Certain Munitions

Justin Trudeau's Nazi Hot Take Flexibility

Taxpayers Stuck Paying the Bills for Oligarchs’ Seized Yachts and Mansions

Russia Tells Armenian PM: You Are Making a Big Mistake by Flirting With West

‘I will never go back’: death stalks the exodus from Nagorno-Karabakh

The Perfect Storm Hits Big Banks: Tumbling Deposits, Rising Unrealized Losses, and Higher-for-Longer Interest Rates

Trudeau Blames Nazi Ovation On RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA

Thunderous applause and a fist pump

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A Little Night Music

Cab Calloway - The Reefer Man

Cab Calloway - Kickin' The Gong Around

Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers - Jumpin Jive

Cab Calloway - Zaz Zuh Zaz

Cab Calloway - Blues In The Night

Cab Calloway - A Chicken Ain't Nothin' but a Bird

Cab Calloway & his Band - Geechy Joe

Cab Calloway - The Ghost of Smokey Joe

Cab Calloway - Everybody Eats When They Come to My House

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