The Evening Blues - 8-22-24
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features folk blues musician Guy Davis. Enjoy!
Guy Davis - That's No Way to Get Along
“Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your own home.”
-- Terry Pratchett
News and Opinion
Democrats Release Insanely Hawkish Middle East Policy Platform
Celebrity progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez falsely claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris “is working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza” at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night. There is literally no evidentiary basis anywhere for this assertion. She made it up.
Kamala Harris is not “working tirelessly” to do anything at this time besides become the next president. Her own staff are saying she is opposed to an arms embargo on Israel and won’t consider cutting or conditioning military aid, which is the only way the Israeli government can be effectively forced to stop sabotaging a peace deal so that the US-backed genocide can finally end. Saying you’ll continue pouring military explosives into a regime that is using those military explosives to conduct regular massacres of civilians is the exact opposite of working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire.
“This is false, it’s propaganda, and it’s making people misunderstand the issue,” Current Affairs’ Nathan Robinson said of AOC’s statement. “The Biden administration could have imposed a ceasefire anytime it wanted to. The only reason there isn’t one is that Biden has made sure Israel has no incentive to agree to one.”
As we deal with this crap, the DNC has approved a 2024 party platform whose section on the middle east is so surprisingly hawkish that it largely reads like it could have been written by some of Washington’s most war-horny Republicans. It repeatedly calls its support for Israel and the continuation of arms shipments thereto “ironclad”. It criticizes Trump as having been too soft on Iran, for god’s sake.
After boasting about the Biden administration’s bombing campaign against the “Iranian-linked Houthi forces” in Yemen, its “precision airstrikes on key Iranian-linked targets,” and its success in neutralizing Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel after Israel assassinated multiple Iranian military officials in Syria, the platform says that this “stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s fecklessness and weakness in the face of Iranian aggression during his presidency.”
Then they literally attack Trump for not going to war with Iran:
“In 2018, when Iranian-backed militias repeatedly attacked the U.S. consulate in Basra, Iraq Trump’s only response was to close our diplomatic facility. In June 2019, when Iran shot down a U.S. surveillance aircraft operating in international airspace above the Straits of Hormuz, Trump responded by tweet and then abruptly called off any actual retaliation, causing confusion and concern among his own national security team. In September 2019, when Iranian-backed groups threatened global energy markets by attacking Saudi oil infrastructure, Trump failed to respond against Iran or its proxies. In January 2020, when Iran, for the first and only time in its history, directly launched ballistic missiles against U.S. troops in western Iraq, Trump mocked the resulting Traumatic Brain Injuries suffered by dozens of American servicemembers as mere ‘headaches’ — and again, took no action.”
The “national security team” who suffered “confusion and concern” when Trump opted not to wade into a middle eastern war of unfathomable horror includes psychopathic war criminal John Bolton, who was reportedly “devastated” when Trump called off a deadly military assault on Iran in retaliation for its shooting down the aforementioned (unmanned) surveillance aircraft.
When you’re siding with John Bolton on whether to bomb Iran, you’re as insanely hawkish as it gets.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris believe a strong, secure, and democratic Israel is vital to the interests of the United States,” the platform reads. “Their commitment to Israel’s security, its qualitative military edge, its right to defend itself, and the 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is ironclad.”
The 2016 Memorandum of Understanding is the agreement by which the United States agrees to continue sending Israel $3.8 billion a year to spend on weapons.
This comes as Kamala Harris’ current and former staff members report that not only will the vice president refuse to cut or condition military support to Israel, she will also refuse to re-enter the Iran deal to ease tensions in the region. The Times of Israel cites congressman Brad Schneider saying he was told by the Harris campaign’s Jewish outreach chief that “the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee would oppose a return to the Iran nuclear deal.”
The Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was one of the only decent foreign policy moves made by the Obama administration, and killing it was one of the nastiest things Trump did as president — along with his other recklessly hawkish actions against Iran like implementing starvation sanctions and assassinating Soleimani. But rather than pledging to re-enter the Obama era of de-escalation and detente with Iran, the Democrats are attacking Trump for not fighting a war with Iran while pledging ironclad support for the nation that’s doing everything it can to get that war started.
So yeah, that’s the Democratic Party for you. Vote for them and you get a nicer-looking mask on the blood-spattered face of the US war machine. It’ll kill just as many middle eastern kids as the Republicans will, but it will kill them under the presidency of a woman of color with “she/her” in her Twitter bio.
The Rise and Coming Demise of the Israel Lobby w/ Ilan Pappé | The Chris Hedges Report
Israel continues Gaza genocide as Washington pushes “ceasefire” deal to pave way for region-wide war
The far-right Israeli regime continued its genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday by bombing a school, a market and a mobile phone charging point, killing at least 25 people. Amid the ongoing slaughter, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken toured the region in order to finalise a deal that gives Israel everything it wants in Gaza, and paves the way for war in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East.
The Mustafa Hafez school building in the west of Gaza City was “flattened to the ground,” according to one civil defence worker, killing 12 people and injuring dozens. He explained that many of the bodies may never be recovered due to a lack of rescue equipment, suggesting that the real death toll could be higher. Like many schools across the enclave, the building had served as a place of refuge for displaced people until the Israel Defence Forces struck it without warning. The massacre follows by just over a week the bloody slaughter at the Tabeen school in the same city that killed over 100 people. ...
American imperialism and its Zionist attack dog in the Middle East, the same forces responsible for the unending death and destruction across Gaza, are attempting to dictate the terms on which the more than 10-month barbaric onslaught could temporarily end. To call the arrangement Blinken was endeavouring to conclude during meetings with Egyptian and Qatari leaders Tuesday a “ceasefire agreement” would be a distortion of reality. Just three weeks ago, Israel assassinated with tacit US approval Hamas’ political leader and lead negotiator in the talks Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. Should a deal be reached, it is increasingly clear that it will be entirely on Israel’s terms, enabling them to restart the slaughter with bombs at a moment’s notice, and continue to inflict starvation and disease on the Palestinians through its stranglehold over aid supplies into the devastated enclave. Moreover, a pause in the fighting in Gaza would be aimed, above all, at allowing Israel to pivot to a war on its northern front with Lebanon, and, with the support of the US and its NATO allies, lay the groundwork for a region-wide conflict with Iran. As Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant put it Tuesday, Israel’s “centre of gravity” is moving from “south to north.”
Washington responded to Israel’s assassination of Haniyeh and the killing of Hezbollah commander Fuad Shokr in Beirut by deploying an additional aircraft carrier strike group to the region. For the American ruling class, Israel’s “final solution” of the Palestinian question is a component part of US preparations to open up the Middle East front in a rapidly emerging third world war to secure its unchallenged hegemony against its rivals. This was underscored by the decision to sell Israel $20 billion worth of weaponry, including dozens of fighter jets to be supplied over the coming five years. While Iran represents a major regional obstacle to US ambitions for dominance over the energy-rich region, Washington’s main targets in its push to redivide the world in its interests are Russia and China.
After delivering a speech Monday at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, to endorse fellow war criminal Kamala Harris as his successor in the White House, US President Joe Biden denounced Hamas for “backing away” from a ceasefire agreement that Israel was ready to accept. In truth, the Biden administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have repeatedly shifted the goalposts in talks that have dragged on for many months to provide a cover for their blood-soaked regimes continued slaughter of Palestinians. When Hamas accepted a ceasefire proposal in early May that would have prevented the IDF’s invasion of Rafah, Israel flagrantly disregarded the offer, launching an offensive that drove a million people from Gaza’s southernmost city and brought aid to a virtual standstill.
AMB Charles Freeman : Will Zionists Destroy Israel?
People in Gaza forced to stay in areas at risk of Israeli attack as ‘safe zone’ full
Thousands of people facing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have been forced to abandon plans to comply with Israeli evacuation orders telling them to move to a designated “safe humanitarian zone” because there is no space for them there.
At the weekend the Israeli military told residents of multiple neighbourhoods in and around the central Gaza town of Deir al-Balah to leave their homes before planned attacks and go to the narrow strip of coast around the small town of al-Mawasi that was designated earlier in the war to receive displaced people. ...
Humanitarian officials confirmed the overcrowding in the humanitarian zone was dissuading those given evacuation orders by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from leaving, despite the dangers of remaining.
“There’s just no space and people know that, so they stay where they are. You can’t get hold of tents, so even if you found somewhere, it would be difficult to get any shelter, and conditions there are terrible,” said a UN official based in Gaza. “Some people refuse to move [to al-Mawasi] because they just don’t want to leave their homes but most because they’ll have nowhere to live if they go there.”
The vast majority of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, and 86% of the territory has been put under evacuation orders by the Israeli military, according to the UN. Israeli officials say the orders are aimed at reducing civilian casualties and blame Hamas for using people as human shields. Several hundred thousand people have packed into al-Mawasi since the beginning of the conflict despite minimal provision there of even basic services.
'Uncommitted' Backs Israeli-American Speakers at DNC, Says Palestinians Must Have Voice Too
While welcoming a scheduled Democratic National Convention speech by the Israeli-American parents of a young man kidnapped in Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, the co-founders of the Uncommitted National Movement on Wednesday implored the DNC to ensure that Palestinian voices are also heard on the event's main stage.
Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin, whose 23-year-old son Hersh was abducted from the Nova rave near the Gaza border, are set to speak Wednesday night in what Forward, a progressive Jewish news site, described as "a counterpoint to the powerful appearance at last month's Republican convention by Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of hostage Omar Neutra, who led the crowd in Milwaukee in chants of 'Bring them home!'"
In a Wednesday statement, Uncommitted National Movement co-founders Abbas Alawieh and Layla Elabed said the 30 Uncommitted delegates attending the DNC "urge the Democratic Party to reject a hierarchy of human value by ensuring Palestinian voices are heard on the main stage."
"We are learning that Israeli hostages' families will be speaking from the main stage. We strongly support that decision and also strongly hope that we will also be hearing from Palestinians who've endured the largest civilian death toll since 1948," the pair continued, referring to the year in which the modern state of Israel was established amid the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs from Palestine, an event known among Palestinians as the Nakba, or "catastrophe."
Time is running out. As of right now, there are zero Palestinian Americans speaking from the DNC stage. The Democratic Party must live up to its own stated values of inclusion and fighting for everyone. https://t.co/MLSA4EUuKq
— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) August 21, 2024
UK Ministers at Risk of Liability for Supporting Israeli War Crimes
Amid reports that government officials have expressed doubt that the United Kingdom can continue supporting Israel's assault on Gaza without breaking international law, a legal expert commissioned by a rights group warned the Labour Party on Wednesday that government ministers could be liable for possible war crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces.
Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden wrote to Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday, advising him that the organization has commissioned a leading lawyer, Sam Fowles of Cornerstone Barristers, to provide a legal analysis of the U.K.'s potential breach of international law via its support for Israel.
Fowles determined that "the U.K. and individuals, including government ministers and senior civil servants, may be liable for crimes committed by the Israeli state or Israeli personnel during the country's ongoing military operation in Gaza and through the country's unlawful occupation of Gaza and the West Bank," wrote Dearden, with the potential liability arising from the U.K.'s continued "aid and assistance provided to Israel."
The legal opinion, said Tim Bierley, campaigner for Global Justice Now, should send "alarm bells... sounding across Whitehall."
"The U.K. government is putting its own ministers and civil servants at risk of prosecution by its continued failure to withhold support for Israel," he said.
In a 28-page report, Fowles pointed to the U.K.'s involvement with Israel since October 2023, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began its bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.
U.K. surveillance aircraft have reportedly flown more than 200 missions over Gaza to assist Israel since October, and about 100 Royal Marines were sent to the Eastern Mediterranean shortly after the Hamas attack. The U.K. has also sent military aid to Israel and granted at least 42 new weapons licenses since Israel began its operations in Gaza, where Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the IDF to release "all the restraints" that would protect civilian lives. ...
According to Fowles' legal analysis, said Dearden, the U.K. government "could be liable for Israel's alleged breaches of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity during its military operation in Gaza since October 2023."
Fowles also found potential liability for "Israel's breaches of the right to self-determination and the prohibition of obtaining territory by aggression in its illegal and ongoing occupation of the West Bank and Gaza."
The barrister pointed out that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled on July 19 that Israel's occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza is unlawful and that it breached international law by obtaining control of the territories by force. The ICJ also ruled in January that it was plausible that Israel has violated Gaza residents' rights under the Genocide Convention since October 2023.
Fowles' finding that the U.K. and its high-level government officials could be liable for war crimes was also bolstered, he said, by a report presented in May by the U.N.'s Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which found Israel "had committed multiple war crimes and crimes against humanity."
Dearden wrote that Global Justice Now is hopeful that the findings will lead to "the swift and decisive action needed to end U.K. complicity in Israel's war crimes," particularly following the decision of Foreign Office official Mark Smith to resign from the government this week, saying there is "no justification" for continued arms sales to Israel.
The government is reportedly considering an arms embargo on Israel, but Dearden noted that on July 29, officials announced they were "seeking to develop a new trade deal with Israel."
"We seek to highlight the legal advice which states that 'it seems likely that the U.K., through its trade relationship with Israel, has helped facilitate the unlawful occupation,'" wrote Dearden.
Earlier this year, lawyers for the Conservative government that was voted out in July advised officials that Israel, with U.K. support, has breached international humanitarian law.
"What on Earth is [the government] waiting for?" asked Bierley. "It is long overdue for the U.K. to match words with actions by immediately suspending arms sales, trade talks, and other aid and assistance to Israel."
Members of Israel’s Negotiating Team Say Netanyahu Is Purposely Sabotaging Deal
Members of Israel’s negotiating team believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is purposely trying to sabotage the chances of a deal with Hamas, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported on Tuesday.
A source speaking to Kan referred to Netanyahu saying on Tuesday that he would not give up Israeli control of the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, or the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land that separates northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip.
“Netanyahu’s statement is intended to blow up the negotiations, there’s no other way about it. The prime minister knows that we are in a critical period during which we’re working on solutions for the Philadelphi Corridor and Netzarim ahead of the next summit,” the source told Kan.
“He knows there is progress — and then he puts out statements that are the opposite of what was agreed upon with the mediators,” the source added.
IRGC Says Iran’s Retaliation Against Israel for Haniyeh Killing May Take ‘Long’ Time
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Tuesday that it could be a “long” time before Iran launches its reprisal attack against Israel for the killing of Hamas’s political chief in Tehran.
“Time is on our side, and the waiting period may be long,” said IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naeini. He added that for now, the “Zionists must remain in a state of imbalance.”
A major Iranian attack on Israel appeared imminent in the wake of the Israeli killing of Ismail Haniyeh, but it never came. According to recent media reports, Iran is believed to be waiting to see how the hostage deal and ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas play out before retaliating.
Scotland halts meetings with ‘Israel’ until ‘real progress’ in talks
The Scottish government has said that until "real progress" is made in peace negotiations over the Gaza war, it will not meet with Israeli ambassadors again.
Following Angus Robertson's meeting with Daniela Grudsky, "Israel's" deputy ambassador to the UK, the SNP administration has come under fire.
Robertson expressed regret that the meeting was not "strictly limited" to talks about a ceasefire. declaring that unless "Israel" made "real progress" toward peace and humanitarian relief and until it "cooperates fully with its international obligations on the investigation of genocide and war crimes," the administration would not accept invitations from "Israel". The meeting prompted a backlash from numerous SNP members who have been sharply critical of "Israel's" policies. ...
Robertson attempted to clarify that the purpose of the meeting was not to justify Israeli government policies in Gaza. "The Scottish government has been consistent in our unequivocal condemnation of the atrocities we have witnessed in Gaza," he told the BBC, adding, “The reality, however, is that this meeting has been taken by many to represent a normalisation of relations between the Israeli and Scottish governments."
“As such, it is clear that it would have been better to ensure that the meeting was strictly limited to the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the appalling loss of life in the region. I apologise for the fact that this did not happen."
Scott Ritter : Will Russia Attack NATO?
Zelensky Doubles Down, 1/3rd Ukr Combat Battalions Kursk, Visits Sumy; Donbass Defences Break
Ukraine war briefing: Long-range strikes a must against Russian aggression, says EU’s Borrell
Western suppliers should let Ukraine fire their powerful long-range weapons at targets in Russia, Josep Borrell said on Wednesday. Borrell – who, as the EU’s foreign policy chief, counts as its top diplomat – argued for “lifting restrictions on the use of capabilities vs the Russian military involved in aggression against Ukraine, in accordance with international law”. It would “strengthen Ukrainian self defence by ending Russia’s sanctuary for its attacks” as well as saving lives and advancing peace efforts.
Borrell said the matter would be on the agenda for discussions during back-to-back meetings of EU foreign and defence ministers taking place on 29-30 August in Brussels, involving Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister. After speaking with Kuleba, Borrell also said Ukraine’s Kursk counteroffensive had dealt a “severe blow” to Vladimir Putin’s war narrative.
Dr. Gilbert Doctorow : NATO Invades Russia
US military announces $20m grant to build cobalt refinery in Canada
The US military has made its largest investment in Canada’s mining sector in decades, spending millions amid a looming battle among nations to control the supply of cobalt. On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced a $20m grant to help build a cobalt refinery in the province of Ontario, saying the investment will “create a more robust industrial base capable of meeting growing demand across both the defense and commercial sectors”.
In recent years, cobalt has emerged as a “key precursor material” in the race to build the batteries that power electric vehicles, electronics and military hardware batteries. With China controlling nearly 80% of the global cobalt market, the United States has looked for novel ways to diversify its supply chain among allied nations.
The multi-million dollar grant was made by the US Department of Defense through the Defense Production Act, a statute meant to expand domestic production capability, and will aid in the construction of the facility in northern Ontario. The Canadian government is contributing an additional USD$3.6m to the project.
Electra Battery Materials says when the operation, located between the town of Cobalt and Temiskaming Shores, is up and running, it will be North America’s only cobalt sulfate refinery, capable of producing battery-grade materials. The company has been vocal about its aims reducing China’s market share in critical minerals processing.
Electra currently has an agreement with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, to deliver 80% of Electra’s cobalt sulfate production for the first five years in operation. But the company says there are “no strings” attached to the Pentagon money, and no requirement to send any production to the US.
New US job market numbers weaker than expected as Fed eyes interest rate cut
The US job market appears weaker than first thought, according to official figures released on Wednesday. The US created 818,000 fewer jobs than first calculated in the 12 months to the end of March, a 0.5% decrease, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ quarterly census of employment and wages.
The revision was in line with economists’ predictions but it still suggests that hiring has not been as robust as the official figures first showed. The figures indicate that employers have been adding about 174,000 jobs per month, a solid pace but 28% lower than the previously reported rate of about 242,000 jobs.
The news comes as the Federal Reserve weighs a cut in its benchmark interest rate, the first since March 2020. The chair of the Fed, Jerome Powell, has signaled that the central bank is leaning towards cutting rates after raising them to tamp down inflation.
Minutes from the Fed’s meeting in July were released on Wednesday. “The vast majority” of participants “observed that, if the data continued to come in about as expected, it would likely be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting”, the summary stated.
PBS & CNN Call Out Biden’s Lies In DNC Speech!
Robert F Kennedy Jr to drop out of presidential race by end of week – report
Robert F Kennedy Jr is set to drop his maverick campaign for president, it has been reported, amid speculation the independent and environmental lawyer will throw his support behind Donald Trump.
The ABC network, citing “sources familiar with the decision”, reported that Kennedy would formally leave the race on Friday. The report followed an announcement on his campaign website that he would make a statement that day “about the present historical moment and his path forward” in Phoenix that would be live-streamed on X and other social media.
Speculation that Kennedy could abandon his presidential bid intensified after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, revealed on a podcast on Tuesday he was considering that option – and considering endorsing Trump, the Republican nominee. Shanahan suggested Kennedy’s continued candidacy risked diverting support away from Trump, thereby helping to elect Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee.
Uncommitted Delegates Launch Sit-In After DNC Rejects Request for a Palestinian Speaker
Rubbish and disease could disrupt Antarctic ecosystems as ice buffers melt
Antarctic ecosystems could be disrupted by animals, diseases and rubbish floating from Africa and Australia as rising temperatures melt sea ice buffers, new research suggests.
The study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, used a simulation of ocean currents to track the paths of virtual objects released from different locations.
Simulations showed objects from Australia, South Africa, South America and New Zealand reached Antarctica every year, while objects from islands in the Southern Ocean made landfall even more frequently.
“Things can drift to Antarctica from much further north than we previously thought,” said Dr Hannah Dawson, the study’s lead author. While foreign species have not yet settled on Antarctic coasts, the study suggests that waves and currents have carried objects from around the southern hemisphere to Antarctica’s coasts for thousands of years.
“If things are getting there frequently, it must be the cold waters and the icy conditions that are preventing them from actually establishing,” Dawson said. “But these conditions are changing.”
Microplastics are infiltrating brain tissue, studies show: ‘There’s nowhere left untouched’
A growing body of scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, leading researchers to call for more urgent actions to rein in plastic pollution. Studies have detected tiny shards and specks of plastics in human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow.
Given the research findings, “it is now imperative to declare a global emergency” to deal with plastic pollution, said Sedat Gundogdu, who studies microplastics at Cukurova University in Turkey.
Humans are exposed to microplastics – defined as fragments smaller than 5mm in diameter – and the chemicals used to make plastics from widespread plastic pollution in air, water and even food. The health hazards of microplastics within the human body are not yet well-known. Recent studies are just beginning to suggest they could increase the risk of various conditions such as oxidative stress, which can lead to cell damage and inflammation, as well as cardiovascular disease.
Animal studies have also linked microplastics to fertility issues, various cancers, a disrupted endocrine and immune system, and impaired learning and memory.
There are currently no governmental standards for plastic particles in food or water in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency is working on crafting guidelines for measuring them, and has been giving out grants since 2018 to develop new ways to quickly detect and quantify them.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Craig Murray: Medhurst & the Right to Armed Resistance
Hamas accuses US of ‘buying time for Israel’ in Gaza ceasefire talks
America’s Responsibility For The Gaza Genocide
KHive Snitches, Right Wing Liberals, and Palestine
Ukraine SitRep: Western Media Dismiss Ukraine's Kursk Offensive
Kamala’s National Security Adviser Points to Continuation of Biden’s Russia Policy
Pine Gap Readies for US Nuclear War
How the Pentagon built Silicon Valley
“Stop Sending Bombs”: Rep. Ilhan Omar Visits Uncommitted Sit-In & Demands Israeli Arms Embargo
Uncommitted Delegates Speak Out After Sleeping Outside DNC to Protest Silencing of Palestinians
Media BACKTRACKS On FALSE Claim That Trump Told Netanyahu NO CEASE-FIRE Deal
A Little Night Music
Guy Davis - Walk On
Guy Davis - Raining In My Soul
Guy Davis - Little Red Rooster
Guy Davis - Loneliest Road That I Know
Guy Davis - Waiting On The Cards To Fall
Guy Davis - Ain't No Bluesman
Guy Davis - Pay Day
Guy Davis - Kokomo Kid
Guy Davis - Can't Be Satisfied
Guy Davis - Rolling In My Sweet Baby's Arms
Comments
Repeating what I said yesterday about RFKII
Or, for my own convenience, just re-linking it here:
https://caucus99percent.com/comment/621835#comment-621835
I think The Guardian is merely spreading gossip there (possibly trying to create a self-fulfilling prophecy, a la FOX News in 2000).
Apparently, we'll see shortly.
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 moonbat...
yep, i guess we'll see. i certainly wouldn't put it past the democrat dirty tricks machine to spin up a storm of steaming bs about kennedy.
Tomorrow afternoon RFK jr. to announce….
something. Millions anxiously await clarification. There will be a HUGE audience. Not as good as a seat at what passes for a ‘debate’ these days.
The old show business adage that suggests that even bad press is preferable to NO press. Shannahan’s explosive short clip (a small part of a long form interview) was BOTH a trial balloon and a way to bring MSM attention to Kennedy’s candidacy and his platform issues, both of which much of the general population remains largely ignorant or unaware of.
With ongoing denial of his access to the coming presidential debates, this might be the next best option for grabbing a national megaphone. It sure has the Democrats freaked out about a possible Trump/Kennedy collaboration of ANY sort.
Don’t forget the popcorn!
“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024
Unemployment B.S. comes home to roost
"A new estimate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that employers added 818,000 fewer jobs between April 2023 and March 2024 than what was originally reported. The new data, released on Wednesday, marks the largest downward revision in more than 15 years."
“He may not have gotten the words out but the thoughts were great.”
evening bondibox...
i am shocked, shocked i tell you, to find out that the biden administration was playing fast and loose with the employment numbers.
if i am remembering correctly, this is just one of a number of downward revisions of overly optimistic employment numbers going back for quite a while - though this is the largest one that i remember hearing.
Howdy Joe
Some people will say anything to support their worldview.
“He may not have gotten the words out but the thoughts were great.”
heh...
i can't imagine why anyone would seriously believe government unemployment numbers except as a kind of relative measure, knowing that the government intentionally undercounts unemployment. (look at their criteria for who counts as unemployed and for how long.)
if i am interested in getting a real sense of unemployment, i look at the workforce participation number series that the bls puts out, it gives a better picture.
Exactly
“He may not have gotten the words out but the thoughts were great.”
Say it with me….
.
and Antony…
"It’s Hamas who needs to accept the ceasefire that Netanyahu has accepted."
I hope I live longer enough to see Tony in the dock at The Hague as well as Biden, Smirkula, Sullivan all the other spoxpersons and every government leader who is still arming Israel.
Murray makes a great point:
Seems like obeying international law would be a good defense for anyone arrested for supporting Palestinians even if that includes supporting Hamas.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
evening snoopy...
more accurately, blinkiman should have said, "it's up to hamas to capitulate and commit mass suicide so as to stop inconveniencing israelis."
heh, i'm not sure if following international law would be a successful defense in the uk.
This has always gotten my goat
I can’t understand why people vote for the people who haven’t ever supported the,. Biden put hundreds of thousands black people in prison for minor drug possession and Kamala didn’t do them any favors.
But then I never understood why poor white people voted for him after Hugo’s tenure of screwing them.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
heh...
there's a blackagendareport link up there in blog posts of interest (khive snitches, right wing liberals and palestine) that comments on what's in those tweets. it's a great article.
That’s where I got the tweets from
No idea what Hugo has to do with anything. It’s funny what auto corrupt comes up with when I screw up spelling. Ahh well I expect you’ll see more of it.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
Evening joe and bluesters
Thank you joe, I always enjoy your curation of the news and blues.
Guy Davis is Good. He’s very talented musically as well as narratively. Is there a name for his genre of blues?
Chris Hedges sure has a way with words. I’m looking forward to listening to the rest of his report.
The BAR report is also an interesting short read ...
Enjoy the weekend all
evening janis...
well, i call it folk blues, some people might call it country blues. i dunno. his repertoire is pretty broad and encompasses popular music styles that might not fit a purists view of what the blues are.
anyway, he's got a lot of albums to his credit and i haven't run across one that i didn't like.
Thanks joe
This music rocks!
Late to say it, but thanks for the blues!
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