The Evening Blues - 7-18-24
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features delta blues singer and guitarist Johnny Shines. Enjoy!
Johnny Shines - Sitting On top Of The World
"Like dreams, farces show the disguised fulfillment of repressed wishes."
-- Eric Bentley
News and Opinion
Mission accomplished! (again)
US military to dismantle ill-fated Gaza aid pier, declaring ‘mission complete’
The US military-built pier for carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza will be dismantled and brought home, ending a mission that has been fraught with repeated weather and security problems that limited how much food and other supplies could get to starving Palestinians.
Vice Adm Brad Cooper, deputy commander at US Central Command, told reporters in a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday that the pier had achieved its intended effect in what he called an “unprecedented operation”.
As the US military steps away from the sea route for humanitarian aid, questions swirl about Israel’s new plan to use the port at Ashdod as a substitute. There are few details on how it will work and lingering concerns about whether aid groups will have enough viable land crossings to get assistance into the territory besieged by war between Israel and Hamas. ...
Critics call the pier a $230m boondoggle that failed to bring in the level of aid needed to stem a looming famine. The US military, however, has maintained that it served as the best hope as aid only trickled in during a critical time of near-famine in Gaza and that it got close to 20m lb (9m kg) of desperately needed supplies to Palestinians.
Ali Abunimah - Genocide Update
Biden’s claim he’s done ‘more for Palestinian community than anybody’ prompts backlash
Joe Biden faced withering criticism over his recent claim that he had done “more for the Palestinian community than anybody”, as Israel continues to strike Gaza with some of the fiercest bombardments in months.
The comments were made in an interview with Complex’s Chris “Speedy” Morman that was recorded last week in Detroit and published on Monday. While defending his administration’s response to the conflict in Gaza, Biden said: “By the way, I’m the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody. I’m the guy that opened up all the assets. I’m the guy that made sure that I got the Egyptians to open the border to let goods through, medicine and food.” ...
“Putting aside active US complicity in the war in Gaza, you’d think someone who had 38,000 Palestinians killed under his tenure would have a bit more humility,” Mai El-Sadany, executive director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, wrote on X.
Layla Elabed, leader of the Uncommitted movement, which began in Michigan as a way to pressure the president to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and stop US funding and arms to the Israeli government, also condemned the remark. “Biden claiming he’s done the most for Palestinians is like an arsonist taking credit for tossing a splash of water on the fire he’s still fueling,” she said in a statement on Monday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) called the remark “tone deaf” and a “deeply disturbing boast” that “completely ignores the genocidal campaign of mass slaughter, ethnic cleansing, and forced starvation that the Israeli government has launched against the Palestinian people with US support”.
Netanyahu rejects calls for immediate inquiry into 7 October security failures
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected calls for an immediate independent inquiry into the security failures that allowed the deadliest attack in his country’s history.
Speaking to Israel’s parliament, Netanyahu told lawmakers: “First, I want to beat Hamas.”
A spokesperson for Netanyahu said the Israeli prime minister is not seeking to dodge an inquiry but that “the government is completely focused on winning this war”.
“What people want us to do right now, they don’t want us to go into a dramatic internal investigation while our hostages are still being held, and so many soldiers have abandoned their lives to protect the country,” said the spokesperson. “Of course there will be an investigation, but right now we’re focused on winning this war.” ...
Netanyahu has repeatedly resisted calls for an inquiry into the military and security failures that preceded the Hamas-led attacks, despite a string of resignations and apologies from high-ranking members of the Israeli security establishment.
Surprise! (not) Israel is still adamantly against a two-state solution.
Israeli Lawmakers Vote Against Palestinian Statehood
While Israel's troops wage what has been widely decried as genocide on the Gaza Strip, Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing "the establishment of a Palestinian state" west of the Jordan River.
The measure passed Israel's legislature, the Knesset, 68-9. It was spearheaded by Knesset Member Zeev Elkin of New Hope - The United Right, who shared the key messages from the resolution on social media along with a photo of the final tally.
According to Religious Zionism-affiliated Israel National News:
The proposal says, "The Israeli Knesset firmly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan. The establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the land of Israel will pose an existential threat to the state of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and destabilize the region."
"It will only be a matter of a short time until Hamas takes over the Palestinian state and turns it into a base of radical Islamic terrorism, working in coordination with the axis led by Iran, to eliminate the state of Israel."
"The promotion of the idea of the Palestinian state will be a reward for terrorism and will only encourage Hamas and its supporters who will see this as a victory thanks to the massacre of October 7, 2023, and a prelude to the takeover of jihadist Islam in the Middle East," the proposal reads.
In essence, the Israeli Knesset voted to continue to wipe Palestine off the map... https://t.co/yG4ORfuZwr
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) July 17, 2024
...
The Knesset vote against a two-state solution comes as Netanyahu prepares for a trip to the United States—whose government has provided political and weapons support for Israel's war. The prime minister is supposed to meet U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House next Monday before addressing a joint session of Congress, though the American leader is isolating after testing positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday.
"The measure was intended as a way to apply pressure on Netanyahu, since he is likely to face opposite pressure from U.S. officials on a hostage deal that could include future discussions of Palestinian sovereignty," The Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday. "Netanyahu himself was not present at the vote."
As the newspaper detailed:
Notably, National Unity chairman MK Benny Gantz supported the proposal alongside three other members of his party, which is considered centrist. The three were MKs Michael Biton, Pnina Tameno-Shete, and Chili Tropper.
Gantz said after the vote, "National Unity is committed in any future political scenario, as long as it exists, to preserve the Jewish and democratic identity of the state of Israel, and to stand up for its historical right and security interests."
Members of various other parties—Netanyahu's Likud, Otzma Yehudit, Religious Zionism, Shas, United Torah Judaism, and Yisrael Beytenu—also voted in favor of the resolution.
Palestinian Envoy Demands End to 'Most Documented Genocide in History'
Ahead of the International Court of Justice's expected advisory opinion on legal consequences for Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, Palestine's permanent observer at the United Nations reminded other diplomats at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday that the slaughter of more than 38,000 people in Gaza has been broadcast for nine months—while Israel has claimed it is acting in self-defense and is targeting Hamas.
"What is happening in Gaza is going down as the most documented genocide in history," Riyad Mansour said. "When will the world denounce the crimes and stop tolerating their reoccurrence?"
In addition to the daily news of aerial and ground attacks on schools, homes, and places of worship in Gaza, Mansour pointed to Israeli soldiers' filming of their own attacks in the enclave, leaving no doubt that innocent civilians are being targeted.
Members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have "openly, brazenly, and repeatedly" shared its "crimes" on social media, said Mansour.
Since the IDF began its bombardment of Gaza in October with political and material support from the United States and other Western countries, videos taken by Israeli soldiers themselves have shown the controlled detonation of Israa University, a soldier blowing up a mosque, and another IDF fighter giving a thumbs up while driving a bulldozer into a destroyed car, accompanied by the caption, "I stopped counting how many neighborhoods I've erased."
In a segment produced by Al Jazeera in March, Sarah Leah Whitson of Democracy for the Arab World Now said that "there have been a remarkable number of videos posted by Israeli soldiers on social media, depicting themselves pillaging property, mocking the death and destruction that they are causing, and most egregiously, torturing, humiliating, and mocking detained Palestinian prisoners."
Meanwhile, human rights experts and aid groups have amplified images of the results of Israel's use of what Mansour called "the ultimate weapon": a near-total blockade on humanitarian relief. Last month, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights documented the deaths from starvation of five-month-old Fayez Attaya and 13-year-old Abdulqader Al-Serhi—two of more than two dozen children who have perished as U.N. experts have warned famine has taken hold in Gaza.
"Two million people who were subjected to a 17-year-old blockade are now confronted with a hermetic siege, dying of hunger and disease while food and medicine are available only meters away," said Mansour on Wednesday.
Palestinians including Bisan Owda, a journalist who won a Peabody Award for her coverage, have also documented their own forced displacement, the destruction of their homes, and the loss of loved ones.
Mansour on Wednesday asked the Security Council—which only voted in favor of a cease-fire in Gaza in June, after U.S. officials had vetoed several resolutions—why it has allowed Israel to violate international laws and norms.
"What is a rule that's not enforced? What do these rules mean anymore when for nine months Israel has bombed the homes, hospitals, schools—including those designated as U.N. shelters—and now people in tents as is the case in al-Mawasi?" he asked.
Mansour emphasized that Israeli soldiers have good reason to think they can film themselves committing potential war crimes.
"Everything in [Israel's] history tells it it will get away with it," said the envoy. "It is betting this time will be no exception. But, this time must be the exception, and change must start right now."
Mansour added that the ICJ's pending ruling on the occupation of Palestine "should serve as basis for our collective action in the days to come."
"As all your nations have refused to forego their rights, the Palestinian people will never accept to relinquish theirs," he said. "Peace will not be achieved at the expense of our rights but by upholding them. The right to life, to liberty, and to dignity. That is the only path to peace. Let us finally collectively embark on it."
Trump's program for America, end of globalism
Trump’s choice of Vance ‘terrible news’ for Ukraine, Europe experts warn
Donald Trump’s choice of JD Vance as his vice-presidential pick has reignited fears in Europe that he would pursue a transactional “America first” foreign policy that could culminate in the US pushing for Ukraine to acquiesce to Vladimir Putin and sue for peace with Russia. “It’s bad for us but it’s terrible news for [Ukraine],” said one senior European diplomat in Washington. “[Vance] is not our ally.”
Foreign diplomats and observers have frequently called Trump’s actual policies a “black box,” saying that was impossible to know for certain what the unpredictable leader would do when in power. Some have soothed themselves by suggesting that names tipped for top positions, such as former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, would maintain a foreign policy status quo while Trump focuses on domestic affairs.
But a prospective Trump administration now has a much more energetic surrogate who will fuel Trump’s skepticism towards Ukraine and Europe, while urging on the party’s aggressive trade and foreign policy elsewhere around the globe.
“Senator Vance was one of the leading opponents of the new assistance package to Ukraine last spring and has expressed indifference to what happens in that war,” said Michael McFaul, director at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and a former ambassador to Russia. “By choosing Vance as his running mate, Trump has clarified a very clear choice for American voters in November on foreign policy.”
Poland Warns NATO-Russia War 'Extremely Close' + Was Kiev Involved in Trump Attack? w/ Mark Sleboda
China suspends nuclear talks with US over arms sales to Taiwan
China has suspended talks over arms control and nuclear proliferation with the US in protest against arms sales to Taiwan, the democratically governed island aligned with Washington that China claims as its own territory. The decision, announced by China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday, halts the early nuclear-arms talks in a period of growing tensions between China and the US, with both US presidential candidates calling for increased trade restrictions and efforts to contain Chinese influence in east Asia.
The US is Taiwan’s main international partner and largest arms supplier. The House of Representatives in June approved $500m in foreign military financing for Taiwan to strengthen military deterrence against China, along with $2bn in loans and loan guarantees. The US also approved $300m in spare and repair parts for Taiwan’s F-16 fighter jets.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that the US had continued to sell arms to Taiwan despite “strong Chinese opposition and repeated negotiations”. He added: “Consequently, the Chinese side has decided to hold off discussion with the US on a new round of consultations on arms control and nonproliferation. The responsibility fully lies with the US.”
Lin said China was willing to maintain communication on international arms control, but that the US “must respect China’s core interests and create necessary conditions for dialogue and exchange”.
Bob Menendez set to resign from Senate after bribery conviction
The Democratic US senator Bob Menendez has reportedly told allies he will resign from Congress after being convicted on corruption charges.
Menendez has represented New Jersey in Congress for more than 30 years, as a representative in the House from 1993 to 2006 and since then in the Senate.
But he is preparing to resign, NBC News reported on Wednesday.
Teamsters social media attacks leader over Republican convention speech
The Teamsters’ social media account attacked its own president on Wednesday, saying “unions gain nothing from endorsing the racist, misogynistic, and anti-trans politics of the far right,” two days after Sean O’Brien addressed the Republican national convention in Milwaukee.
O’Brien spoke at the convention on Monday night in Milwaukee, becoming the first leader of the union to appear at the convention in the union’s history.
O’Brien’s meeting with Donald Trump and his convention appearance have angered some Teamsters and others in the labor movement. Joe Biden has touted himself as the most pro-labor president in American history; Trump, in contrast, has been heavily criticized by unions for his administration’s anti-labor record. Anti-union groups have also criticized O’Brien’s appearance at the convention.
The union is facing a backlash from members and progressive groups over O’Brien’s appearance and the union’s consideration of abstaining from making an endorsement in the 2024 presidential election, including from the union’s social media manager.
“He’s a Fake”: Robert Kuttner on How J.D. Vance Disguises His Anti-Worker Views as Economic Populism
Special counsel Jack Smith appeals dismissal of Trump classified files case
US prosecutors on Wednesday formally appealed a federal judge’s decision just two days ago to throw out the criminal case accusing Donald Trump of illegally stashing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence and elsewhere after leaving the White House in 2021.
The office of special counsel Jack Smith filed a notice in court in Florida indicating it would ask the 11th US circuit court of appeals, based in Atlanta, to revive the case and reverse the 15 July ruling by the Florida-based US district judge Aileen Cannon, who unexpectedly decided that Smith had been unlawfully appointed in the first place by the US attorney general, Merrick Garland.
Cannon, who was appointed to the bench by the former president in 2020 during his one-term presidency, ruled that Smith’s 2022 appointment by the Department of Justice violated the US constitution. She argued the violation was because the US Congress did not authorize Garland to name a special counsel with the degree of power and independence wielded by Smith.
Biden COULD DROP OUT This Weekend, Nancy Pelosi TURNS On POTUS
Democratic rift over Biden candidacy deepens even as party says he will be nominee
Pressure for Joe Biden to step aside as the Democrats’ presidential pick to face Donald Trump had eased since the Republican survived an assassination attempt last weekend, but began to rise again on Wednesday.
Adam Schiff, the influential California representative, said publicly that Biden should quit, becoming the most well-known lawmaker so far to do so openly.
Then ABC News reported that Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader and the most senior Democrat in Congress, had told Biden in a meeting on Saturday it would be better for the country and the Democratic party if the president ended his re-election campaign.
Also on Wednesday afternoon, David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to Barack Obama as president, increased his persistent pressure campaign on Biden as he warned that the president had not done enough to relieve voters’ concern about his age since last month’s hapless debate performance.
On Wednesday morning, as a new ABC-Norc poll found nearly two-thirds of Democrats saying Biden should withdraw, the blogger and podcaster Nate Silver linked to video of moments in a speech in Las Vegas the night before, in which the 81-year-old president seemed to struggle. Silver said: “It’s just so weird living through this real-life Emperor Has No Clothes Moment. He obviously shouldn’t be president for four more years. Everyone knows this.”
US government urged to declare wildfire smoke and extreme heat major disasters
Fourteen state attorneys general are urging the federal government to declare extreme heat and wildfire smoke major disasters. The petition comes as millions of people in the south and north-east face excessive heat advisories, and large swaths of the western US and Canada battle ongoing wildfires.
“The likelihood of high-severity extreme heat and wildfire smoke events is increasing due in part to climate change,” wrote the Arizona attorney general, Kris Mayes, in a letter submitted to the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday. “We urge Fema to update its regulations to prepare for this hotter, smokier future.”
Extreme heat and wildfire smoke are not recognized by Fema as major disasters. In June, a coalition of environmental, labor and health groups petitioned the federal agency to grant that recognition under the Stafford Act which oversees disaster relief.
“Across the country people are suffering and dying from extreme heat,” Jean Su, energy justice director and senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “Fema can bring a mass mobilization of resources to deploy life-saving cooling centers, air conditioning and community solar. But so far Fema’s only shown these communities piecemeal efforts and lackluster leadership.”
Shell quietly backs away from pledge to increase ‘advanced recycling’ of plastics
The energy giant Shell has quietly backed away from a pledge to rapidly increase its use of “advanced recycling”, a practice oil and petrochemical producers have promoted as a solution to the plastics pollution crisis.
“Advanced” or “chemical” recycling involves breaking down plastic polymers into tiny molecules that can be made into synthetic fuels or new plastics. The most common form, pyrolysis, does so using heat.
Shell has invested in pyrolysis since 2019, touting it as a way to slash waste. That year, the company used oil made via pyrolysis in one of its Louisiana chemical plants for the first time. And it began publicizing a new goal for the technology: “Our ambition is to use 1m tonnes of plastic waste a year in our global chemicals plants by 2025.”
But recently, the company rolled back that promise with little fanfare: “[I]n 2023 we concluded that the scale of our ambition to turn 1m tonnes of plastic waste a year into pyrolysis oil by 2025 is unfeasible,” it said in its 2023 sustainability report, published in March. ...
The company has not called attention to this retraction, but it is a “significant” change, said Davis Allen, investigative researcher at the Center for Climate Integrity, which shared the finding with the Guardian. “It’s an acknowledgment that advanced recycling is not developing in the way that companies have promised it will, and are counting on it to,” he said. “That’s pretty meaningful.”
UK first European country to approve lab-grown meat, starting with pet food
Lab-grown pet food is to hit UK shelves as Britain becomes the first country in Europe to approve cultivated meat. The Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have approved the product from the company Meatly.
It is thought there will be demand for cultivated pet food, as animal lovers face a dilemma about feeding their pets meat from slaughtered livestock.
Research suggests the pet food industry has a climate impact similar to that of the Philippines, the 13th most populous country in the world. A study by the University of Winchester found that 50% of surveyed pet owners would feed their pets cultivated meat, while 32% would eat it themselves.
The Meatly product is cultivated chicken. It is made by taking a small sample from a chicken egg, cultivating it with vitamins and amino acids in a lab, then growing cells in a container similar to those in which beer is fermented. The result is a paté-like paste.
Meatly’s production facility has been approved by the government to handle its cultivated chicken, and it plans to launch the first samples of its commercially available pet food this year. The company says it will then focus on cost reduction and starting to scale production to reach industrial volumes within the next three years. The cost reductions could be done by mixing the meat with vegetables, as is done with other pet foods containing costly animal products.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Patrick Lawrence: ‘Brain Dead’ and Dangerous, NATO Proceeds
Peace Group Faces Death Threats After 'False Accusations' by Lawmaker at RNC
New Zealand as US ‘Force Multiplier’ in Asia Pacific
Kremlin Wants Clarification From Zelensky on ‘Peace Summit’
This Time There Were Multiple ‘Zapruder’ Films
Yes, Joe Biden’s mind is a problem. So is his cold heart towards Palestinians
North Atlantic right whale seen off Ireland for first time in 114 years
Signs of two gases in clouds of Venus could indicate life, scientists say
Winning images of the 2024 BigPicture natural world photography competition
"White Trash" Historian Nancy Isenberg on J.D. Vance, "Hillbilly Elegy" & Class in America
Joy Reid Wants Proof Of Bullet; Joe Rogan CALLS OUT BS Trump Assassination Narrative
Trump Shooter BIZARRE Search History REVEALED
Someone Shorted Trump’s Stock Just Before The Assassination Attempt!
Michael Tracey, Matt Taibbi, Walter Kirn on the RNC, Trump, and More
A Little Night Music
Johnny Shines – Evening Sun
The Johnny Shines Blues Band – Layin' Down My Shoes And Clothes
Johnny Shines - Ramblin'
Johnny Shines – Cool Driver
Johnny Shines & Robert Lockwood, Jr. ~ They Call Me The Little Wolf
Johnny Shines - Peace In Hell
The Johnny Shines Blues Band – Dynaflow Blues
Johnny Shines - Sweet Home Chicago
The Johnny Shines Blues Band – Hey, Hey
Johnny Shines - Ride, Ride Mama
Comments
Could they not auction off the candidacy?
Since there's supposedly a donor revolt going on, maybe the candidacy could be auctioned off to the donors, with the highest bidder getting to choose who the Dems run.
It would be as democratic as anything else they've done to "save democracy," which is to say, not at all.
“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon
evening cass...
an auction sounds just about right, actually. though it is pretty much what is going to happen anyway.
have a good one!
Can’t be this stupid….
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
evening snoopy...
was he there to whitewash or to take notes? learn a little about shower room construction, perhaps?
This was hilarious
Here's this Dem pundit on YouTube: "Democrats are very risk-averse..."
Actually, the Democrats decided a year ago to risk everything on Joe Biden's running for a second term when it was obvious THEN that there was a problem. That's NOT risk-averse. In real life, what characterizes their position is a total disconnect from the real world. This can either be good for them, in that they become a vast cult worshiping at the feet of Heather Cox Richardson and cowering in terror at Project 2025, or it can be bad, if they get themselves hence to deprogrammers and decide to form another party. Let's give it a name: the Reality Principle Party.
“When there's no fight over programme, the election becomes a casting exercise. Trump's win is the unstoppable consequence of this situation.” - Jean-Luc Melanchon
This one cracked me up
.
.
Cult members cosplaying
as gunshot victims at the
Republican National Convention.
IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"
Dem media is ramping up the outrage
One of the Parkland shooting victim’s father is very upset that they are making light of a shooting. Gotta keep the daily 2 minutes of hate going towards Trump..
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
evening pluto...
what, they were too cheap to spring for some ketchup?
The RNC is probably their first Comic-Con.
IMAGINE if you woke up the day after a US Presidential Election and headlines around the the world blared, "The Majority of Americans Refused to Vote in US Presidential Election! What Does this Mean?"
Thanks for the laugh! n/t
Was it necessary?
Biden was basking in the glory just like the guy to his left. I think it Obama did it deliberately just to make Biden seeming to need help, but also for the setup to his debate performance. I think they withheld his drug cocktail that they give him before imposing events. SOTU and his Hitler like speech and the event the next day.
Remember that the media had been saying that Biden needed to come out strong at the debate…or….
And now all the bigwigs are coming out against him and telling him he must step down. Pelosi, Schumer, Obama, Schiff and Jefferies.
Anyway….
Trump is out of the headlines.
3rd picture
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
heh...
but imagine the indignity of being told that you're too old and too demented to serve by nancy pelosi and not being able to remember the one about the pot and the kettle.
I know right?
I haven’t heard Pelosi speak like she wasn’t drunk and mumbling and mixing up her words for many years. Pot index.
Does anyone know what Pavlov's dawg's name was? Sam keeps calling me Pavlov and I want to return the favor.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
heh...
i found this over at quora:
Wow
Thanks. I’m torn between Arleekin (Clown) and Diana.
I’ll let you know how she responds.
Her new thing is to come wake me at 8:15 when I tell her I’m sleeping she snuggles up. Then I ask her to go find my socks. This game starts out our day with smiles and giggles. She hasn’t gotten tired of it yet.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
I think Nikko
is a bit like Sam. He loves to snuggle, just loves it. I've never had a dog act like a cat so much before. It's fun
I won't let him get socks though, not yet. He'll just destroy them!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
It looked to me
as if Obama might guide his elderly parent out, and graciously pat him on the back like a child. Yuk.
Good evening Joe, thanks for the EBs. The way I figure it,
there are 110 more days of outright silliness before we descend back into everyday lunacy. Not sure if I can take it that long. I guess there's always beisbol or futbol.
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...
yeah, and i don't think that the lunacy is anywhere near its peak yet. so far, a small exposure to it leaves me amused and a greater exposure just pisses me off. i'm trying to limit my exposure to the madness to keep it in the amusement department.
Speaker John said that if Biden isn’t up
to re-election how can we be sure he’s up to being president? I think that’s a good question. But all the bigwig democrats knew Biden had mental issues for years. They made the Biden bed…they should have to lie in it.
Edit typos that made me sound stoopid.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
heh...
there's no mystery about whether biden is capable of fulfilling the role of president. the mystery is, who is president now?
Blinken and Sullivan for sure
and maybe Hines, but they just taking orders from the real owners of the country.
Pepe has a great article on the dueling blobs (globalists) that run both parties.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/escobar-iwo-jima-20-what-story-pictu...
He says that before the wars bankrupted the country both parties took turns running the country, but now that we’re $31 trillion in debt….sorry I forgot what he said.
It witll be interesting to see if Trump fills his swamp again with people like Bolton and Pompeo or if he’s learned enough cahones to stand up to the neocons. I’m betting with his choice of Vance he will turn full neocon. Thiel has backed Vance his entire career. Musk is donating $45 million a month to Trump. $180 million! I wonder what he expects in return?
Haim Sabin is the democrats highest Jewish donor and Miriam Adelson is the republicans. AIPAC donates to members of both parties. Boy ain’t it grand to live in country run by the highest donors? Blehh…
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
I left a few things out
Trump,promises to protect our rights. Guess he forgot about the FISA and CARES acts that took away more of our rights. MAGA say they vote for republicans because they care about our rights. Guess they’ve forgotten who signed the patriot act.
There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?
Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.
New US legislation on Tibet
Well relatively new, signed by the president July 12.
China's Tibet policy under brighter spotlikght after US law, UN review
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/138/text
S.138 - Promoting a Resolution to the Tibet-China Dispute Act
This president of the government in exile doesn't have a prayer.
So the US defines what the internal boundaries of China are? This so reminds me of the unequal treaties period during the century of humiliation. Catapult the propaganda.
"New Zealand as a US force multiplier" was a great article, Joe, thanks! Their prime minister is a dupe. It's fitting that he sits there next to Yoon at the NATO summit. FT is a Nikkei media owned. So you know what you are going to get from them.
I liked this Alan song Heaven's Road, about a new railway through Tibet. I guess it was new at the time. The video was posted ten years ago. She does the song in Chinese and Tibetan, but this is the Chinese version. I studied the lyrics but haven't got them formatted yet. I think she was in the PLA back then. So one could say it's propaganda, too. Don't know much about her. Her voice is incredible.
阿兰 (Alan) - 天路 (Tian Lu) Heaven's Road
語必忠信 行必正直
evening soryang...
interesting how the u.s. feels that it can poke its nose in and resolve the problems between china and tibet. over the years i have casually read a bunch of different reports about the conflict and i've often wondered what the truth of the matters are as most material seems to be propaganda for one side or another.
heh, i thought you would be interested in the nz article. i guess it's unsurprising that five-eyes new zealand would "democratically" elect themselves an american flunky, horny for war.
have a good one!
Luxon's other name is 'the clown'
He actually looks a little like clown, don't you think? Formerly he was CEO of Air NZ. My guess is if he goes anywhere near signing an AUKUS agreement, which includes introducing nuclear powered ships to its waters, the staunch kiwi nature will revolt. Whether that spirit stands a chance with this government in power for another half term, time will tell.
Tibet was a medieval hellhole
...before the communist party recovered it. Corrupt landlords, serfs, corporal punishment, dismemberment, etc. The life expectancy there doubled under communist rule. The independence movement by and large was reactionary and US sponsored. The CIA is just using these people.
語必忠信 行必正直
heh...
that's a good shorthand of some of what i've read. i can't vouch for the accuracy of this but, i've also read that when the communists took over they started settling han chinese in tibet which has created some tensions among the people there. i've always figured that there are elements of truth in the narratives of both sides. i dunno.
Evening joe and bluesters
I had to read your top quote by Bentley a few times before I could get a picture. I think it is very true and perceptive. It’s so defeating to think about the people in control of life on earth being so devoid of humanity that they themselves are not real.
...
maybe robots are better, if at least we can design them ; ).
evening janis...
heh, if i get to progam them, no problem.
have a great evening!
heh...
when i chose that quote, i was thinking about the horrible farce playing out in gaza, where one side (the genocide) holds all the cards but pretends that it has no control at all, is the victim and may actually believe that. in that sense it's like a dream and a wish fulfillment (for the side perpetrating the genocide). perhaps its only a religious delusion. people's perceptions of god make them do awful things.
I understand now the association
with the news that followed. The choice to adopt a role as victim never turns out in ones favour, and can be very destructive all around.