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This evening's music features singer songwriter Van Morrison. Enjoy!

"The US creates poverty and chaos in other countries and then sounds the alarm over a “migrant crisis” as people flee those conditions it created. It’s like flooding the basement and then crying when the people who live there try to come upstairs."

-- Caitlin Johnstone

News and Opinion

Journalism Itself Is Locked Up In Belmarsh

As the 17th anniversary of the creation of WikiLeaks passes us by, it’s probably worth taking a moment to reflect on Julian Assange and what his persecution means for us and our society.

Because in a very real sense, it’s not just a man locked up in Belmarsh Prison for the crime of good journalism — it’s journalism itself. It’s the idea that anyone should be permitted to expose the criminality of the world’s most powerful and tyrannical people. It’s the idea that the public should be allowed to know what abuses the US empire is committing around the world.

Julian Assange is the world’s greatest journalist. By revolutionizing source protection for the digital age with the creation of WikiLeaks 17 years ago and then going on to break some of the biggest stories of the 21st century, Assange set himself head and shoulders above any other living reporter anywhere on earth. And by showing the world that they can lock up the world’s greatest journalist for revealing inconvenient truths, they are showing the world that they can lock up anyone.

That’s what this case has always been about. It’s not about whether Assange crossed some arbitrary procedural line when working with Chelsea Manning to expose US war crimes. It’s not about the US protecting its national security. It’s not about any of the other justifications people have put forward to excuse their sycophantic support for the persecution of a journalist for doing journalism. It’s about setting a legal precedent that will allow the US empire to extradite anyone anywhere in the world who reveals inconvenient facts about it. It’s about showing all journalists everywhere that if they can do it to the greatest among them, they can do it to any of them. And, like so much else in the world today, it’s about narrative control.

To accept the persecution of Julian Assange is to accept the idea that all media everywhere must function as propaganda organs of the US government. It’s to take it as a given that any journalist anywhere in the world who decides to do real journalism and expose inconvenient facts about the powerful in the public interest should be jailed until they can be extradited to the United States for a show trial, and then left to rot in one of the most draconian prison systems on the planet. It’s to accept that we will never live in a truth-based society guided by facts and information, and must forever resign ourselves to living in a society dominated by the whims of the powerful.

Your position on the Assange case is therefore your position on what kind of society we should hope to live in, and what kind of future we should hope to have. In a very real way, it’s your position on humanity itself.

Should humanity try to create a better world, or should we keep plunging into dystopia until we are driven into nuclear war or environmental catastrophe by rulers we are forbidden to question? Do we want to move into the light, or into the darkness? Your position on Assange shows your answer to these questions, and shows which course you want us to take.

Anya Parampil "Uhuru Trial Is A THREAT Against Free Speech"

Anya Parampil does a major public service (this story is getting very little attention and it deserves the full spread of klieg lights). Worth a click and a full read. Here's an excerpt to get you started:

How US gov’t prosecution of Uhuru activists threatens a ‘First Amendment exception’

Defense attorneys representing three US citizens accused of operating a Russia-directed “malign influence campaign” to “sow discord” in the United States urged Federal Magistrate Judge Anthony E. Porcelli to dismiss the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) case against their clients this September 28, arguing their continued prosecution threatens to “blow a hole in the 1st Amendment.”

“This is a very dangerous case. I have not seen anything like it in 25 years of practicing law. The government is trying to put three of its critics in jail for making political speeches, organizing peaceable rallies and publishing political articles,” Leonard Goodman, an attorney representing one of the defendants, commented to The Grayzone outside the US district courthouse in Tampa, Florida.

A federal grand jury charged Florida residents Omali Yeshitela, Penny Joanne Hess, and Jesse Nevel with acting as unregistered agents of the Russian government in April, accusing them of carrying out “a multi-year foreign malign influence campaign” to “sow discord and spread pro-Russian propaganda” in the United States. The charges stemmed from their political activism as part of the Uhuru Movement, a Pan-Africanist organization that Yeshitela founded in 1972. Their defense lawyers argue that their prosecution represents an unprecedented threat to the First Amendment, with the DOJ seeking to not only criminalize the public speech and political activity of US citizens, but set a legal precedent regarding the government’s definition of “disinformation.” In its opposition to Goodman’s motion to dismiss, the DOJ argues that the term “does not refer to information that is necessarily false.”

The DOJ has attempted to bolster its argument by citing Thomas Rid, a Johns Hopkins academic who gained prominence as a pundit during the Russiagate affair. In a 2020 Washington Post commentary, Rid insisted, “We must treat the Hunter Biden leaks as if they were a foreign intelligence operation — even if they probably aren’t.” The DOJ quotes Rid’s book, Active Measures, to argue that disinformation “refers to Russian intelligence’s long standing employment of ‘active measures'” that “seek to create wedges that reduce trust and confidence in democratic processes, degrade democratization efforts, weaken US partnerships with European allies, undermine Western sanctions, encourage anti-US and anti-Western political views, and counter efforts to bring Ukraine and other former Soviet states into European and international institutions.'”

Lawyers for the Uhuru 3 maintain that the DOJ’s justification for prosecuting their clients sets the stage for the US government to legally harass and prosecute other Americans who criticize US domestic and foreign policy, particularly where designated enemies like Russia or China are concerned. “The government is asking the Court to create a new exception to the First Amendment for what it calls ‘disinformation,’” Goodman asserted. ... Indeed, the indictment accuses Yeshitela of spreading “disinformation and propaganda” during a February 2022 speech to supporters. During that address, the defendant argued that the US and NATO had provoked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by expanding NATO “800 miles towards the border of Russia,” by sponsoring a 2014 coup against the government of Ukraine, and by arming Kiev “to the teeth.”

The Uhuru 3’s defense lawyers pointed out their clients’ views “are nearly identical to the views held by well-renowned public intellectuals such as Professors Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago.”

“In response, the government now seeks authority to label anything you say ‘disinformation’ if it is favorable to Russia, or whatever country the government wants to have a war with,” Goodman explained.

Love this cartoon showing Bernie having police arrest @codepink founder and peace activist extraordinaire @MsJodieEvans pic.twitter.com/8g2qwXfasJ

— Medea Benjamin (@medeabenjamin) October 5, 2023

Why Is Bernie Sanders Having Peace Activists ARRESTED???

Onboard grenade blast caused plane crash that killed Wagner boss, claims Putin

Vladimir Putin has claimed that the plane crash that killed Yevgeny Prigozhin was caused by hand grenades detonating inside the aircraft, and suggested the Wagner boss may have been on drugs. ... Making his first comments on the cause of the crash, Putin claimed the plane was blown up from inside, saying that the head of Russia’s investigative committee had reported to him a few days ago.

“Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the crash,” Putin told a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club thinktank in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. “There was no external impact on the plane – this is already an established fact,” Putin said, contradicting reports by western intelligence services that said a bomb was the likely reason behind the crash. ...

“Unfortunately, no examination was carried out to determine the presence of alcohol or drugs in the blood of the victims,” Putin said. “Although we know … that the FSB discovered not only 10bn roubles in cash, but also 5kg of cocaine,” he said, referring to the stacks of cash and drugs that the security services allegedly discovered during a search of Prigozhin’s mansion after his failed rebellion.

Putin at Valdai, civilizational world order is here to stay

Vladimir Putin escalates nuclear rhetoric with threat to resume testing

Vladimir Putin has ramped up his nuclear rhetoric, saying his country had successfully tested the nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable Burevestnik strategic cruise missile, as he suggested Russia could resume nuclear testing for the first time in more than three decades.

The Russian president said in a speech on Thursday at the annual Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi that Russia had also almost completed work on its nuclear-capable Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile system, which is capable of carrying at least 10 nuclear warheads on each missile.

“In the event of an attack on Russia, no one has any chance of survival,” he said, adding that he was “not sure if we need to carry out nuclear tests or not”. ...

The speech came after hardline political scientists and commentators in Russia said a return to nuclear testing could send a powerful message to Moscow’s enemies in the west. “I hear calls to start testing nuclear weapons, to return to testing,” Putin said.

Some in Russia have called for Putin to detonate a nuclear bomb to show the west that Moscow’s patience over its support for Ukraine and apparent unwillingness to negotiate is wearing thin.

Putin Valdai; Odessa, NS2, Prigozhin. Politico, Ukraine freaking out. Orban, EU is 1984.

US shoots down Turkish drone flying near its troops in Syria

The US has shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near its troops in Syria, the first time Washington has brought down an aircraft of its Nato ally. A Turkish defence ministry official said the drone did not belong to the Turkish armed forces, but did not say whose property it was.

The incident on Thursday came days after Turkey’s national intelligence agency carried out strikes in Syria against Kurdish militant targets after a bomb attack in Ankara last weekend.

The Pentagon spokesperson, Brig Gen Patrick Ryder, said Turkish drones had been seen carrying out airstrikes in Hasakah, Syria on Thursday morning about 1km (0.6 miles) away from US troops. A few hours later a Turkish drone came within less than half a kilometre of US troops. It was deemed a threat and was shot down by F-16 aircraft.

“We have no indication that Turkey was intentionally targeting US forces,” Ryder told reporters.

Gaetz TAKES ON Lobbyists, Ousting McCarthy JUST THE START? Proposes REFORM Deal With RO KHANNA

Menendez’s alleged sharing of information with Egypt risked lives of US embassy staff, ex-US official says

The lives of staff at the US embassy in Cairo may have been put in jeopardy by the indicted Democratic senator Bob Menendez’s alleged sharing of sensitive personnel information with the Egyptian government, according to former senior US officials who said the charges represented a grave betrayal of trust.

The New Jersey senator temporarily stepped down from his powerful position as chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee in September after he was indicted by federal prosecutors in New York on corruption charges, including allegations that he accepted cash bribes and gold bars in exchange for breaching his duties “in ways that benefited the government of Egypt”. ...

Among former senior US officials and some Egyptian dissidents, one accusation included in the indictment against the senator stands out: that in May 2018, Menendez procured details from the state department about the number and nationalities of people working at the US embassy in Cairo, one of the largest US missions in the Middle East.

Menendez is accused of passing this information to Egyptian officials, via his partner, Nadine Menendez, and a New Jersey businessman, Wael Hanna, who recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he bribed the senator. Menendez, Nadine Menendez and Hanna have all denied wrongdoing. The indictment states that “although this information was not classified, it was deemed highly sensitive because it could pose significant operational security concerns if disclosed to a foreign government or if made public”. ...

“If the allegation is true, this is reprehensible. One of the worst aspects of this is that it’s not only selling influence, it’s really putting people’s lives in jeopardy,” said a former high-ranking state department official who worked across the Middle East, including Egypt.

As Migrants Surge Into Blue Cities, Dems Suddenly Embrace a Border Wall. PLUS: Matt Stoller on Gaetz’s Revolt, the Google Trial, & More

Elon Musk under investigation by US agency for $44bn takeover of Twitter

Elon Musk is under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission over his $44bn takeover of social media giant Twitter, it was revealed on Thursday.

The investigation concerns whether Musk broke federal securities laws in 2022 when he bought stock in Twitter, which he later renamed X, as well as statements and SEC filings he made about the deal.

In March 2022, Musk bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter and became the company’s majority shareholder. The purchase was not disclosed in an SEC filing until the next month. Twitter shareholders sued over the late filing shortly after, though their suit was dismissed. Faced with a trial that sought to compel him to complete the deal, Musk purchased Twitter’s remaining stock in a $44bn deal and took over the company in October 2022.

The SEC’s investigation was revealed on Thursday when the US agency sued to compel Musk to testify in their investigation, which he previously agreed to do and then reneged on. ...

Among his objections was that the SEC was trying to “harass” him and that his counsel needed time to review potentially relevant material contained in a biography of Musk published last month, the SEC said. “The SEC has already taken Mr Musk’s testimony multiple times in this misguided investigation – enough is enough,” said a statement from Alex Spiro, an attorney for Musk.

WTO slashes growth forecast for global goods trade by more than 50%

The World Trade Organization has halved its forecast for global trade growth this year in response to rising interest rates that have dented consumer spending power in the US, Europe and Asia.

The 164-member trade body slashed its estimate from April that predicted the global trade in goods would grow by 1.7% in 2023, saying it needed to be scaled back to 0.8%.

Persistent inflation had kept interest rates higher for longer than expected in most trading nations, the WTO said, while a strained Chinese property market and the war in Ukraine also cast a shadow over its outlook.

The Geneva-based body said the slowdown was broad-based, involving a wide spectrum of goods, though particularly iron and steel, office and telecoms equipment, textiles and clothing.

Cars were a notable exception, with surging sales this year compensating for chronic shortages that had limited shipments during the pandemic.

Tlaib Asks USPS IG to Probe Impacts of Postmaster General DeJoy's Overhaul

Citing the concerns of postal employees in her district, U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Thursday asked the head of the United States Postal Service's accountability unit to launch an investigation into the impacts of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's 10-year plan, an austerity overhaul critics warn could eviscerate one of the federal government's most venerable—and popular—agencies.

"DeJoy's 10-year plan appears to put the USPS on a fast track towards privatization, job cuts, negatively impacted service operations, and a culture of general dysfunction at one of our country's bedrock institutions," Tlaib (D-Mich.) wrote in a letter to U.S. Postal Service Inspector General Tammy Hull.

DeJoy, a major donor to then-President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee, was installed as postmaster general in May 2020 by Trump-appointed members of the USPS Board of Governors. His appointment came after Trump's Office of Management and Budget recommended that the USPS—a constitutionally sanctioned agency with more than 600,000 employees—be privatized.

The following March, DeJoy unveiled a 58-page 10-year-plan, Delivering for America, that contained austerity measures like reduced hours at some post offices, longer delivery times, consolidation of mail processing operations, and elimination of extra delivery trips. DeJoy said the plan would save the agency $160 billion over 10 years while making the postal service more efficient in the face of stiff competition from private-sector delivery services.

Critics, however, contended that the plan was part of a scheme whose ultimate objective was privatizing the postal service. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who at the time chaired the House Subcommittee on Government Operations, warned that the "draconian" proposal "guarantees the death spiral" of the USPS.

#ForceTheVote VINDICATED By Ousting Of Speaker McCarthy!

Alabama’s new congressional map increases power of Black voters

Alabama officially has a new congressional map that will increase the power of Black voters in the state, giving them the chance to elect their preferred candidate in at least two of the state’s seven congressional districts in 2024. The decision could help Democrats secure a majority in the US House next year.

After the US supreme court twice rebuffed Alabama’s request to block drawing an additional district, a three-judge panel chose the new map on Thursday from three proposals offered by Richard Allen, a court-appointed special master. Black voters make up about a quarter of the population in the state, but comprised a majority in just one of the state’s seven congressional districts under the map Republicans adopted.

The new plan maintains a majority in one of the state’s districts and creates a second district where Black voters make up 48.7% of the population. That percentage is enough to allow Black voters in the district a chance to elect the candidate of their choosing, the special master’s analysis showed.

MAGA 'CULT' Needs 'FORMAL DEPROGRAMMING,' Hillary Clinton Suggests. DEPLORABLES 2.0?!

Florida teens battle city over plan to loosen wetland protections

Dozens of teenage environmental activists in Florida are battling a city commission over its plan to loosen protections for ecologically fragile wetlands and hasten the pace of development.

The group has banded together in person and on social media to oppose the proposal by politicians in Manatee county. They say the proposal places greed for construction dollars above the need to protect native flora and fauna for future generations.

Many of the teenagers will be present in the commission chamber in Bradenton on Thursday morning, making a last-ditch plea for members to reject in a final vote the move to “amend” the minimum required buffer distance between wetlands and development from 50ft to just 15ft.

“I’ve been watching all the things that I love about our nature slowly disappearing, even just over the past five years,” said Brice Claypoole, 15, founder of the group Kids for Clean Water, and author with his 13-year-old sister Coco of a letter to the commission, signed by more than 100 tweens and teens, protesting the proposal.

“If I want to have these things around for my future in this county, if we want them for future generations, then we need to protect them now or there’s not going to be anything left.”

Biden criticized for waiving 26 laws in Texas to allow border wall construction

Joe Biden faced intense criticism from environmental advocates, political opponents and his fellow Democrats after the president’s administration waived 26 federal laws to allow border wall construction in south Texas, its first use of a sweeping executive power that was often employed under Donald Trump.

“A border wall is a 14th-century solution to a 21st-century problem,” the Democratic Texas congressman Henry Cuellar said. “It will not bolster border security in Starr county. “I continue to stand against the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars on an ineffective border wall.”

Environmental advocates said the new wall would run through public lands, habitats of endangered plants and species such as the ocelot, a spotted wild cat. “A plan to build a wall will bulldoze an impermeable barrier straight through the heart of that habitat,” said Laiken Jordahl, a south-west conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity. “It will stop wildlife migrations dead in their tracks. It will destroy a huge amount of wildlife refuge land. And it’s a horrific step backwards for the borderlands.”

During the Trump presidency, about 450 miles of barriers were built along the south-west border. The Biden administration halted such efforts, though the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, resumed them. ...

Referring to a famous (and much-mocked) Trump campaign promise, Matt Stoller, research director at the American Economic Liberties Project, said: “Well Mexico didn’t pay for the wall, but Biden did.” Pointing to a campaign promise by Biden – “There will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration” – Jason Miller, a senior Trump adviser, said: “Biden’s flip-flop here is not only a validation of President Trump’s border and immigration policies, but also a validation of President Trump’s entire 2024 America First campaign!”

Saudi Farms CANCELED After Stealing Arizona Water

Also of Interest

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

Patrick Lawrence: Depleted Ukrainium

If You Buy Into The Anti-China Propaganda You’re Just A Stupid Asshole

More on Ukraine’s Desperate Economy

Political v.s Physical Tipping Points

German Banker & British Lord Who Wrote ‘Capitalist Magna Carta’

US in Neoliberal Death Spiral

Texas Abortion Rights Advocates Vow to Fight 'Unconstitutional' Local Travel Bans

Payday Lenders PULVERIZED By Trump Justices At SCOTUS

Rivian, Big 3 LOSING BILLIONS On EVs

Jimmy Dore To Moderate Presidential Debate!

Joe Rogan's SCATHING Take On Trump NY Fraud Case; Michael Cohen Lawsuit DROPPED

'FLIP-FLOP': Dems TURN On Biden Amidst Border FIASCO, Mayorkas RETRACTS 'Immediate Need' For Wall

Judge DELAYS Trump Espionage Trial INDEFINITELY; Fmr Prez Accused Of Telling MORE NUKE SECRETS

A Little Night Music

Van Morrison – The Great Deception

Them Featuring Van Morrison - Turn On Your Lovelight

Van Morrison – Beside You

Them Featuring Van Morrison - Gloria

Them Featuring Van Morrison - Route 66

Van Morrison – Ain't Nothin' You Can Do

Van Morrison – I Believe To My Soul

Van Morrison – Madame George

Van Morrison – Here Comes The Night