The Evening Blues - 9-10-24
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features Kansas City blues shouter Big Joe Turner. Enjoy!
Joe Turner – Oke-She-Moke-She-Pop
Hat tip to Snoopy for reminding me of this quote:
“More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.”
-- Woody Allen
News and Opinion
The US Empire Can Only Exist In A Continuous State Of Mass Military Violence
I shouldn’t be able to do this for a living. Criticizing the warmongering of a single power structure shouldn’t be anyone’s full-time job. No government should be murdering people so consistently and reliably that people can plan their whole lives around it.
Yet here we are. Not only are people like me able to focus on commentary about the mass military violence of the US and its satellite states as a full-time gig, but we usually find there’s too much to talk about from day to day.
Just today we’re getting reports that at least 40 people have been killed in an IDF massacre on a tented encampment in southern Gaza near Khan Younis, which Israel had previously designated as a humanitarian safe zone. There are videos of families digging frantically in the sand trying to rescue loved ones who were buried by the blast, which was reportedly so forceful that bodies are being found some thirty feet down.
Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp has taken to typing up daily updates on the documented Israeli massacres of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, often with dozens of victims added to the official death toll in a single day.
The Harris platform section on foreign policy, "Keep America Safe, Secure, and Prosperous," shows that the Masters of War that Bob Dylan wrote about so many years ago will remain in control of America no matter who wins in November. Absolutely pathetic. https://t.co/RttxslMUcI
— Tim Shorrock (@TimothyS) September 9, 2024
Kamala Harris has finally announced a foreign policy platform, and it contains nothing but a promise of more of the same. She promises to “ensure that the United States remains the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world,” to “make sure that America, not China, wins the competition for the 21st century,” to “strengthen, not abdicate, our global leadership,” to “stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself,” and to “protect U.S. forces and interests from Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups,” and boasts that she “has worked with our allies to ensure NATO is stronger than ever” in the face of “Vladimir Putin’s brutal aggression.”
In other words, more unrelenting violence and militarism to ensure that the US empire continues dominating the planet. It’s not hard to see why Harris is winning endorsements from some of the worst warmongers on the planet.
Bloodthirsty empire manager Victoria Nuland is now openly admitting that the US sabotaged a peace deal in Ukraine in the early weeks of the war, saying in an interview that Washington pushed Kyiv to reject the deal because it “included limits on the precise kinds of weapons systems that Ukraine could have” if it were agreed to.
This is something people like myself used to get called Russian propagandists for saying happened, despite all the overwhelming evidence that it had.
The horrors in Ukraine are happening because the US-centralized power alliance refused easy off-ramp after easy off-ramp. This whole war could’ve easily been avoided, and it could have easily been ended shortly after it began. But they kept pushing on, because they wanted this war.
Bernie Sanders, the official face of progressivism in mainstream US politics, actually said the words “I applaud the Cheneys” during an appearance on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” in response to the endorsement of Kamala Harris by Dick and Liz Cheney.
There is no valid excuse for those words ever to come out of anyone’s face, much less from someone who people regard as the voice of reason and compassion on Capitol Hill. When your progressive hero starts singing the praises of a monster like Cheney, it’s time to find different heroes.
These are just a few of the things happening right now that I could easily have written entire essays on.
I always run into people who act like my constantly criticizing US foreign policy day after day as a full-time gig is strange and suspicious, and it absolutely is — just not for the reasons they think. They think it’s strange and suspicious because I must be getting paid by some subversive foreign government, since nobody could possibly want to spend their time criticizing the western power structure we live under otherwise. They believe this because they’ve been indoctrinated from birth into supporting the agendas and information interests of the US-centralized empire by the imperial propaganda machine which normalizes and justifies the criminality of our rulers, and trains them to view any information which conflicts with this mainstream worldview as sinister and suspicious.
In reality, it’s strange and suspicious that I can spend my life criticizing the depravity of the empire because the empire is so reliably depraved. It’s a job that shouldn’t exist, whose existence tells you that something freakish is happening that falls far outside of what you’d expect for a normal and healthy society — like if I told you I work as a vampire hunter or something. The very fact that someone can become a crowd-funded writer doing commentary on the mass military violence of one particular power structure tells you that something has gone very wrong with this world.
But there are plenty of others like me. And for every person there is making a living from opposing US warmongering, there are thousands making a living from facilitating it. In the military. In the arms industry. In think tanks. In the media. In politics. In government agencies. There is much, much more money to be made from war than from peace. That’s one of the main reasons the capitalist empire we live under exists in a constant state of mass military violence. Endless violence and the threat thereof is the glue which holds the empire together.
In a healthy world, none of these jobs would exist — people working for peace or people working for war. Peace would just be the natural order of things.
But until that healthy world has emerged, we fight on. Day after day after day after day, for however long such work is necessary.
"A Horrifying Undercount": Ralph Nader Says True Gaza Death Toll Could Be Many Times Higher
Khan Younis safe zone strike: dozens killed in Israeli attack on Al-Mawasi, Gaza officials say
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on a tent encampment designated as a humanitarian zone in Khan Younis, Gaza officials said early on Tuesday, in what the Israeli military said was an attack on a Hamas command centre.
A Gaza civil defence official told Agence France-Presse that 40 people were killed in the attack inside the Al-Mawasi camp in the southern Gaza Strip. Earlier, the civil emergency service said airstrikes on a tent camp for displaced Palestinians killed and wounded 65 people in the southern part of the strip, but did not break down the number of dead and injured.
Residents and medics said the tent encampment in the al-Mawasi area was struck by at least four missiles. The camp is crowded with displaced Palestinians who have fled from elsewhere in the enclave.
The Gaza civil emergency service said at least 20 tents caught on fire, and missiles caused craters as deep as nine metres (30ft). There was no immediate comment from the Gaza health ministry, which compiles casualty figures.
“Our teams are still moving out martyrs and wounded from the targeted area. It looks like a new Israeli massacre,” a Gaza civil emergency official said.
Israel Strikes HUMANITARIAN Zone In Gaza, 19 KILLED
The report's first key finding notes the stark escalation in Israeli forces targeting Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank with lethal force at an unprecedented rate. pic.twitter.com/1o4QlFP1KM
— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) September 9, 2024
Funeral procession held for US-Turkish peace activist killed in West Bank
The Palestinian Authority has held a funeral procession for an American-Turkish activist who a witness says was shot and killed by Israeli forces last week during a demonstration against settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Dozens of mourners – including several leading officials of the western-backed authority – attended the procession in Nablus for Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old from Seattle who also held Turkish citizenship.
Eygi’s body was draped in a Palestinian flag and her face was covered with a traditional black-and-white keffiyeh as security forces carried her and then placed her into a Palestinian ambulance.
A Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson said the country was working on repatriating Eygi’s remains for burial in the Aegean coastal town of Didim according to her family’s wishes. ...
US officials did not respond to a request for comment.
Shooting of American in West Bank was 'unjustified,' Blinken says
Israel and US Already Know Who Assassinated Aysengur Eygi
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. was working to “gather the facts” about U.S. citizen Aysenur Eygi’s killing by Israel military forces.
They Know
Blinken doesn’t need time to “gather the facts.”
The facts are already known to the Israeli military, the U.S. military, and the U.S. government.
They know exactly who assassinated International Solidarity Movement (ISM) member and U.S. citizen Aysenur Eygi on September 6, 2024.
They know which unit was in Beita village for the peaceful prayer demonstration against the illegal Israeli settlement of Evyatar. They know the names of the snipers who fired the shots.
They also know the names of the Israeli soldiers who killed the 17 Palestinians who have been assassinated in Beita in the past four years since 2020.
The Israeli military has the records of what unit was assigned to Beita every day that a Palestinian was murdered.
They have the names of every person in the unit and they know which persons fired tear gas and which persons fired live ammunition.
After each time live ammunition was fired they interviewed everyone who fired ammunition.
Additionally, and not surprisingly, the soldier who saw his bullet knock someone down would take credit for it each time.
Israels' FORGED Documents Exposed - The Lies Never End
Israel Lobbies US Congress to Pressure South Africa to Drop ICJ Genocide Case
Israeli officials are lobbying U.S. lawmakers to pressure South Africa into dropping its genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, according to a report published Monday.
Axios said it obtained a classified Israeli Foreign Ministry cable sent Monday to the country's embassy in Washington, D.C. and all its U.S. consulates threatening consequences if South Africa proceeds with its case in The Hague—which is backed by dozens of nations and regional blocs, as well as countless legal and genocide experts.
"We are asking you to immediately work with lawmakers on the federal and state level, with governors and Jewish organizations to put pressure on South Africa to change its policy towards Israel and to make clear that continuing their current actions like supporting Hamas and pushing anti-Israeli moves in international courts will come with a heavy price," the cable states.
Obviously fearing it will lose the genocide case, "Israel is lobbying members of Congress to press South Africa to drop its legal proceedings in the International Court of Justice over the war in Gaza, according to an Israeli foreign ministry cable." https://t.co/NsoEdYtroz
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) September 9, 2024
As Axios reported:
The Israeli diplomats were instructed to ask members of Congress to issue public statements condemning South Africa's actions against Israel and threaten that it could lead to suspending U.S. trade relations with South Africa. That's unlikely to happen because the U.S. wants to maintain its relationship with South Africa in order to counter the influence of Russia and China.
According to the report, Israeli officials are hoping that South Africa's new coalition government—the country's first to not be led by the leftist African National Congress since the beginning of post-apartheid majority rule—will eschew "boycotts and punishments" and prove more malleable.
This isn't the first time that Israel has been accused of trying to intimidate those who seek to hold it accountable for its obliteration of Gaza. Earlier this year, its government launched a pressure campaign urging world governments to condemn the ICJ trial.
South Africa filed its genocide case against Israel in December, alleging that statements and actions by Israeli government officials and armed forces "are genocidal in character because they are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part" of the Palestinian population in violation of Article II of the Genocide Convention.
A final ICJ ruling is not expected for years. Israel says the case is "baseless" and has accused South Africa of "functioning as the legal arm of Hamas," which led the attacks in which more than 1,100 Israelis and others were killed—at least some by so-called "friendly fire"—last October 7. More than 240 other people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza.
Since October, Israeli forces have killed or maimed at least 145,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, while forcibly displacing almost all of the embattled strip's 2.3 million people. Israel's "complete siege" of Gaza has caused widespread starvation and disease. Eliminationist rhetoric by Israeli politicians, military officials, journalists, entertainers, and others started shortly after the Hamas-led attack of October 7 and continues to this day.
In January, the ICJ ordered Israel to "take all measures within its power" to uphold its obligations under Article II of the Genocide Convention. Israel's far-right government and military have been accused by human rights groups of ignoring the order.
As Israeli forces launched a major ground invasion of Rafah four months later, the ICJ issued another order for Israel to "immediately halt its military offensive" in the city, where around 1.5 million forcibly displaced and local Palestinian residents were sheltering. Instead of heeding the order, Israel ramped up its assault on Rafah.
At the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan is urging the tribunal to promptly act upon his May application for warrants to arrest Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders—at least one of whom, political chief Ismail Haniyeh, was subsequently assassinated by Israel.
Israeli and U.S. officials have threatened ICC members with retaliation if the tribunal issues arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. In June, 42 House Democrats joined Republican lawmakers in passing legislation to sanction ICC jurists in the event they authorize the Israeli leaders' arrest.
The U.S. is by far Israel's biggest benefactor, providing billions of dollars worth of weapons and invaluable diplomatic cover including United Nations Security Council cease-fire resolution vetoes.
Many experts say the U.S. is complicit in Israel's genocide. A group of Palestinians, Palestinian Americans, and rights groups is seeking to hold President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin criminally accountable for supporting Israel's Gaza slaughter at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Tariq Ali on U.S. & U.K. Arming Israel's War on Gaza, Pakistan Protests & Macron's Shift Right
Biden pisses away yet another $30 million:
Houthis claim downing another US MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen
The Houthis have claimed to have shot down a United States military drone over Yemen, in the latest attack by the group, which has disrupted shipping trade through the crucial Bab al-Mandeb Strait, drawing US strikes.
The Yemeni group has carried out dozens of attacks on ships with links to Israel in a show of solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s 11-month-old war on Gaza.
Yahya Saree, the military spokesman of the Houthi group, said in a prerecorded video message released early on Sunday that the MQ-9 Reaper was shot down by air defences over Marib as “it was carrying out hostile activities”.
This is the eighth drone of this type to be shot down since the start of the war on Gaza, he said. The group has not so far released footage of the downed attack and surveillance aircraft that costs about $30m.
Matt Hoh: US Hatred for Iran
Pro-Palestine Students, Faculty Sue UC Santa Cruz Over 'Unconstitutional' Ban
Students and staff at the University of California, Santa Cruz launched a lawsuit against the school on Monday for barring them from campus without due process after they were arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest in the spring.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Northern California, the Center for Protest Law & Litigation, and civil rights attorney Thomas Seabaugh, is demanding that the University "cease summarily banishing" people who exerciser their First Amendment rights as the new academic year beings.
"The bans were incredibly punitive and profoundly unfair," Rachel Lederman, senior counsel with the Center for Protest Law & Litigation, said in a statement. "They went into effect on the spot, instantly cutting students and faculty off from classes, jobs, and other school resources, such as meal plans and healthcare. On-campus residents were rendered homeless. Academic performance suffered." ...
The bans were issued to more than 100 students and faculty members who were arrested on the night of May 30, when the university called in more than 100 police officers to clear the school's Palestine solidarity encampment.
Everyone arrested that night was banned from campus under section 626.4 of California's Penal Code, which allows a university to withdraw its consent for an individual's presence on campus for up to two weeks. However, in order for a university to make use of the code, it must first either hold a hearing or decide that an individual poses "a substantial and material threat." Neither criteria were met in the case of those arrested in May, in violation of both state and federal law.
Chessie Thacher, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, said the bans were "unconstitutional and overbroad, depriving students and faculty of their due process rights."
Israeli strikes in Syria kill at least 25, war monitor says
Israeli jets have launched a substantial strike on targets in Syria, killing at least 25 people, according to an opposition war monitor that said it was one of the most violent such attacks in years.
The main target appeared to be a military research centre in Masyaf associated with Syria’s chemical and ballistic missiles programme, but explosions were also heard in Damascus, Homs and Tartus. Syrian state media had put the death toll at 16 with 40 wounded.
The attack on Sunday night struck targets associated with pro-Iranian militias as well as the “scientific research facility” near Hama, reportedly run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The facility was one of several the International Atomic Energy Agency reportedly asked for access to following the 2007 destruction in airstrikes of Syria’s suspected al-Kibar nuclear reactor on the Euphrates. Israel confirmed in 2018 its forces had been responsible.
The Syrian foreign ministry condemned the attacks as an act of blatant aggression but there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges or discusses the operations. The strikes often target Syrian forces or Iranian-backed groups.
UKRAINE ceasefire and the negotiation trap
Victoria Nuland Admits US Discouraged Ukraine From Signing Peace Deal With Russia in 2022
Former US State Department official Victoria Nuland has acknowledged that the US discouraged Ukraine from signing a peace deal with Russia during the early days of the Russian invasion.
Nuland, who recently resigned from her post as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, made the comments in an interview that was published on YouTube on September 3. ...
“The Ukrainians began asking for advice on where this thing was going, and it became clear to us, clear to us and the Brits, clear to others, that Putin’s main condition was buried in an annex to this document that they were working on. And it included limits on the precise kinds of weapons systems that Ukraine could have after the deal,” Nuland said. She said the deal would make Ukraine “neutered” as a military force and said there were no similar constraints on the Russian military.
Here's a portion of Miss Piggy's interview:
Wow! Nuland basically admits that Ukraine-Russia peace deal, which was close to being finalized in spring 2022, “fell apart” because US, UK & other Western governments “advised” Zelensky government that it was not “good deal” even though even members of Ukrainian delegation… pic.twitter.com/HPsrpOzQNf
— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) September 8, 2024
Prof. Jeffrey Sachs : Neocons and World Dominance
Samuel Alito accepted concert tickets from conservative German aristocrat
Samuel Alito, the US supreme court justice, accepted $900 concert tickets from a Catholic German aristocrat known for her unabashed conservative views and ties to rightwing activists, his latest financial disclosure form reveals.
Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis reportedly gifted the tickets to Alito and his wife to allow them to attend the Regensburg castle festival, an annual summer music extravaganza hosted at her 500-room castle in Bavaria.
The princess, a descendant of princes of the Holy Roman empire, is noted for ties with Steve Bannon, a key supporter and former aide of Donald Trump, and connections to figures in the Catholic hierarchy opposed to Pope Francis.
Her donation to Alito is set out in the justice’s annual financial disclosure report, which he filed late after requesting an extension.
Dr. Jill Stein on AOC's Instagram Attack, Green Party Challenges and Victories, and More
Harris campaign lists policies on eve of debate after criticism of vagueness
Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign has posted a list of her policy positions on its website, less than 48 hours before her debate against Donald Trump on Tuesday, after critics have called her vague and thin on proposed policies since the Democratic nominee launched her run for the White House in July.
The Harris campaign’s move came as she and the Republican former president enter the final weeks of the 5 November election – and as new polling published on Sunday showed the candidates are locked in a tight race. The vice-president had initially gained significant momentum over Trump after she replaced Joe Biden at the top of her party’s presidential ticket.
A national poll conducted by the New York Times and Siena College released on Sunday found that Trump was up one percentage point over Harris, noting that many voters wanted to know more about the vice-president’s policies.
Glenn Greenwald On Rising: Dick Cheney BELONGS In the Democratic Party
Most US voters say plastics industry should be held responsible for recycling claims
Concern about the fossil fuel and plastics industries’ alleged deception about recycling is growing, with new polling showing a majority of American voters, including 54% of Republicans, support legal efforts to hold the sectors accountable.
The industries have faced increasing scrutiny for their role in the global plastics pollution crisis, including an ongoing California investigation and dozens of suits filed over the last decade against consumer brands that sell plastics.
Research published earlier this year found that plastic producers have known for decades that plastic recycling is too cumbersome and expensive to ever become a feasible waste management solution, but promoted it to the public anyway.
The revelations from fossil fuel accountability advocacy group Center for Climate Integrity (CCI) sparked calls for legal action from advocates and officials. But no lawsuits have yet been filed about this alleged disinformation campaign.
Now, new polling data shared with the Guardian shows that 70% of American voters would support such litigation, including a majority of Republicans. The results show that “regardless of your politics, no one is really OK with a corporation lying to consumers”, said CCI investigative researcher Davis Allen, who led the organization’s report.
Pacific islands submit court proposal for recognition of ecocide as a crime
Three developing countries have taken the first steps towards transforming the world’s response to climate breakdown and environmental destruction by making ecocide a punishable criminal offence. In a submission to the international criminal court on Monday, they propose a change in the rules to recognise “ecocide” as a crime alongside genocide and war crimes.
If successful, the change could allow for the prosecution of individuals who have brought about environmental destruction, such as the heads of large polluting companies, or heads of state.
Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa have proposed a formal recognition by the court of the crime of ecocide, defined as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”.
The proposal was tabled before the ICC in New York on Monday afternoon, and will have to be discussed in full at a later date. Holding full discussions on the proposal is a process likely to take some years, and will face fierce opposition, though much of it will be behind the scenes as most countries will not wish to openly speak out against it.
US Gulf coast braces for storm impact as hurricane season intensifies
A relatively quiet respite for Americans in terms of hurricane activity appears as if it is coming to an end, with a storm forming in the Gulf of Mexico that is set to become a hurricane when it reaches the US coast on Wednesday.
The storm, called tropical storm Francine, was located about 300 miles south of the mouth of the Rio Grande and is expected to move north, hitting the gulf coastline of Louisiana, as a category one or even two hurricane. Such storms have wind speeds of at least 74mph (119km/h) or 110mph (177km/h), depending on the category.
The storm is expected to unleash heavy rain and therefore flooding in north-east Mexico, southern Texas, southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi until Thursday, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned.
It is still unclear where the exact impacts of the storm will be. But the NHC said that the potential for life-threatening storm surges and damaging winds were increasing for portions of the Louisiana and upper Texas coastlines beginning Tuesday night.
Oil and gas producers such as Exxon and Shell have started to evacuate staff from facilities along the Gulf coast and are cutting back on certain drilling operations in preparation for the storm. Restrictions upon vessels navigating certain ports, such as Corpus Christi in Texas, have also been imposed by the US Coast Guard.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Israeli Torture Chambers Aren’t New
Zionists Are Calling For More War And May Well Get It
UN Rights Chief: Hold Israel Accountable
German fighter jet carrying nuclear bomb training device under fuselage spotted over US
Polish Foreign Minister Volunteers Country to Fight Russia
The “China Cycle” Is Mostly A Thing Of the Past
Native Boarding Schools Were Genocidal — Healing Starts With Telling the Truth
Max Blumenthal on how Bibi, Biden and Blinken got the hostages killed
A Little Night Music
Joe Turner – Corrine
Big Joe Turner - My Gal's A Jockey
Big Joe Turner - Hide & Seek
Joe Turner With Fats Domino – Lucille
Big Joe Turner - Boogie Woogie Country Girl
Big Joe Turner - The Chicken and the Hawk
Pete Johnson and Joe Turner - Roll 'Em Pete
Elmore James with Big Joe Turner - TV Mama
Joe Turner – Honey Hush / Yakety Yak
Comments
Dylans 'Master of Wars'
.
.
Is prescient.
Thanks for the stuff joe.
Do not plan to watch 'the debate'
If the script doesn't kill you ..
the details certainly will.
evening qms...
yeah, i plan to skip the debate tonight, too. i don't have a dog in the fight.
I gotta go get ready for dinner,
and the Great Debate, but joe, the Matt Hoh with the Judge was just excellent.
Thanks, friend! Enjoy (puke) the Great Debate!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
If anyone is going to watch the debate
Taibbi has set the ‘take a drink' rules for it.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/taibbi-official-donald-trump-kamala-...
I’m waiting for the highlights on the Twit. Might check shitlib central just to see what they’re saying.
“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 otc...
heh, thanks for watching the debacle so that i don't have to.
have a good one!
Goes for
me too. Many thanks for taking one for the team!
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Dinner and debate?
Isn't that a conflict of interests?
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Oh no…..!!
I’m not sure what off guard looks like, but I don’t think this is it.
Kamala says that Trump left the country with a high unemployment rate and stuck Biden with a very bad pandemic.
Businesses laid off people right and left during Covid so that’s a no brainer. But Biden says he’s added the most jobs in history, but companies just hired people back after Biden ended the pandemic while it was still in full swing. More people died from the Rona during Biden’s 1st year than during Trump’s last year. Biden told people to take off their masks because the jabs were effective…then omicron hit and most people got infected. Very effective…huh?
“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...
and so the spinning begins ...
Yep…
Kamala: access to health care is a human right.
Jimmy is covering the debate and I watched 10 minutes of it and felt like my head was gonna explode. They seem to only get 10 seconds to answer questions and when a new one is asked they go back and fight about the previous one.
It’s ridiculous that they don’t get enough time to answer questions, but that’s part of the circus isn’t it?
Kamala said that she will do lots of things when she’s president, but not once when she was a senator did she even talk about them. Reminds me of Pelosi sending McConnell 400 bills knowing he wouldn’t bring them to vote, but once Obama had the house and senate nary a word about them.
I’ll just wait for twitter to catch up and post the silliest ones.
Jill Stein should be on the stage.
Oh and the prophecy came true. Before Kennedy dropped out dems were trying to keep him off the ballot, now they trying to keep him on 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
heh...
ms shikspack is watching sabby sabs' coverage of the debate in the next room. from what i'm hearing, kamala is mostly ducking answering any questions directly.
Good evenng Joe, thanks for the gnus & blues.
I can't shake the feeling that The Chicken and the Hawkreminds me of something, it just rattles around my mind but it won't roll off of my tongue.
Interesting about German fighter jet carrying nuclear bomb under fuselage spotted over US I Can't understand why they do it here and not there, it's an open sekret that many NATO partners have been given nukes, in violation of the non-proliferation treaty; nobody buys the idea that they're really under our control and won't be instantly handed over to those allies any time we wish.
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 --
we just got bombed by the local skunk population
.
.
sniffing nature, have to say they are not happy about deep fake debates?
turned on all the lights and am making threatening R/D noises
the fans are running full speed toward the exits (open windows).
maybe that will stir-up some shite?
BE GONE YOU SMELLY CRITTERS!
ah, now I can taste it. yucky poo doo.
evening el...
perhaps they are worried about the optics of german planes flying around with nukes in europe. seems like the sort of thing that would make both friends and foes alike quite nervous. as i understand it, there are already nukes in germany, but perhaps no training nukes?
have a great evening!
I watched the debate.
No meltdown, either side.
It seemed oddly scripted, neither candidate caught off guard. Given Harris' eyes and facial expressions, it is at least questionable and/or that she might have been working with some microphone in her ear. Trump seemed prepared, but didn't emphasize his points well.
She surprised me with only one or two giggles. My brother was getting fb posts that she was presidential, kicking ass. I am in a very red county. He was surprised by Trumpers saying he got his ass handed to him.. The anticipated Kamala meltdown didn't occur. To his fb friends' minds, she kicked his ass.
Trump made some very strong and factual points, evidence that cannot be disproved, but in his typical crude way. She did not. She was pretty articulate and vague. He didn't appear to wipe her out like he easily did with Biden in their debate.
Not sure his harping on the last 3 1/2 years matters to folks who are just blindly voting for their party, or voting for some looks, changes anything.
I was never going to vote for either of them, but if I had been tempted and totally unaware of the propaganda, she would be my choice.
Trump sort of blew it tonight.
Maybe I am giving her way too much credit for handling the pressure of the debate. For all I know, she was under no pressure at all.
Other reactions, please!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
heh...
well, i didn't watch it, but there was some good commentary coming from the next room where ms shikspack was watching this:
Thank you for letting us know.
This is a slow motion nightmare.
In the garden: we have an abundance of tomatoes but thunder storms have dumped heavy rain and cool temperatures. Many of the almost ripe fruit are splitting so I'm taking what I can to the house.
My first ever sweet corn patch has been late but really doing well. We staked every stalk (maybe 30) after a wind laid many down and they have flourished.
We needed two more weeks of warm weather but the season has abruptly turned. We picked and ate a young ear which was surprisingly good. Not sure how to handle the corn.
Cleaning stoves and chimneys for cool weather coming right up.
Looking forward to reactions to the show tonight. Can't bear to watch.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Please, you and any corn growers,
familiarize yourself with the three sisters of corn, beans, and squash. Nutrient depletion of one is off set by another, then enriched by the other. Plant them together. If that is not practical, fertilize accordingly. This method is ancient, Incan, Native American, and on and on.
Grow it sweet, sweet as you are, chica!
Now, how to preserve what you do not cook on the spot? A diary later, upon request.
Meanwhile, how to cook an ear of corn? Put it in a pot of water, set it to boil. When it boils, cut off the heat. Let it set in the hot water, take out when it is not too hot to the touch.. What you get from that is a corn cob sort of al dente', sweet, moist, just coat with some butter and sea salt, enjoy. Or, grill, that's another story, for perfect weather days only.
If a neighbor has horses or cattle or goats, give them the corn shucks.
Hugs!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Hiya OTC, I did I did plant the
three sisters. Beans still blooming and I added Sweet peas and sugar snaps too. All for nitrogen fixing. My permaculture raised beds are very rich with forest humus.
There are three nice Butternut and several pumkins. The Bnut are almost ready, pumpkins probably won't make it.
Any advice on young corn? Should I leave it or pick it or some of each?
Thanks for the advice and greetings.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Here ya go, friend:
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2013/09/...
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening dm...
great to see you!
our tomatoes were a pretty low yield this year and a lot of them split due to heavy rains, but the peppers and cucumbers did really well. it looks like we are getting an early fall this year so our garden will probably only produce for another couple of weeks at best.
have a good one!
If Kamala is deemed the winner
I’m betting that it was scripted just like sports are. A team that has been kicking ass in the run up to the playoffs and wins the 1st 3 games suddenly goes cold and gets blown out making the playoffs go down to the wire. 97,000 points the game before and then suddenly they can’t even hit the backboard the next game?
Remember we call political enemies the Washington Generals and the Harlem Globetrotters.
I saw Kamala promise voters the moon, but so did Obama and Biden and we only got green cheese.
Blehh…no matter who wins the oligarchs are still going to be in charge.
“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
Agreed, chica!
It was like watching a movie, not a live event.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
agreed.
They can script the debates. They can rig the elections.
We are always duped, and we are always, always screwed.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Gotta watch that!
Thanks, msjoe!
To my mind, it was almost like watching a movie with one actor being better than the other.
Maybe sabi's head wasn't swimming like mine.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Of course I didn't watch the debate but I found this interesting
Can't argue with
Lee Fang's assessment.
At all.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Thanx 4 the EBs Joe!
Found the naked capitalism piece on the general state of European affairs, and Poland's eastern European constellation pressing the agenda interesting. Also, Bremmer's article on the China cycle and some of the quite informative comments on it. Matt Hoh, is always good.
I feel like Germans doing the low levels with the shape is normal. I guess what is somewhat worrisome is what they are actually training for. I have no idea how often they practice this and whether it is an indicator or not. With a normal rotation of pilots one needs to do this. The discussion I read concerning the Tornado conflates the missions of air superiority and strike. One does one or the other not both. You might carry a couple of IR missiles for self defense after dropping a load. But if your loaded maneuverability for air combat or evasive maneuvers is limited. If you have to just drop the load to save yourself the mission failed. One does not conduct air intercepts while carrying external heavy stores.
As far as a US attack on Iran scenario, good luck with that. I think people don't understand the distances involved and the size of Iran. I suppose the two carrier strike groups in the area could inflict damage. They can do a blockade. While doing it, trying to block the straits etc., they will subject themselves to asymmetric responses, much like the Houthi operations in the Red Sea. Stand off attacks with cruise missiles would probably be best, tactically speaking, with a view toward avoiding aircrew captures or losses. I generally think the idea of war with Iran is totally unjustified from our national interest. How much longer can those carriers and other ships stay on station? That's a rhetorical question. I think we generally kept 3 carriers off the coast of Vietnam during that conflict, and lost the war anyway. I don't think that tempo of operations can be sustained for long periods now. Anyway, war with Iran is a terrible idea.
Israel's nuclear weapons are the elephant in the room, as others here have pointed out. My opinion on the use of so called tactical nukes is that once they start going off, all bets are off. I don't believe in this "escalate to de-escalate" nonsense. This is think tanker war game bs. Once the precedent is established no matter where it takes place, Europe, Iran, China, North Korea, sooner or later, probably sooner, maybe immediately, more nukes will start going off. The trick is not having any use of nuclear weapons, no matter how "small" the blast. It's better to take a military defeat in the field than use a nuke. I recall several months back, maybe more than a year, a squadron of F-35s supposedly nuclear capable flew to some RAF base in England believed to have nuclear weapons storage facilities. So there was speculation that nukes were being delivered or moved around Europe. At the time, I thought, this is insanity. Did I hear Blinken talking as if he was some kind of grand military strategist? This after the pathetic "messaging" of the intelligence chiefs in the US and UK?
Caitlin's commentary really hits home on these war mongering fools. They're going to destroy us all. These "leaders" probably sit at home and watch old Winston Churchill clips. It isn't going to be like WWII. Do the Eastern Europeans including Poland, and the Baltic states, even study their own history? Remember the Sitzkrieg (phony war)? Here's your alliance, what are you going to do with it? Eat it? Burn it in the fireplace? Bury your dead?
I watched some Chinese historical drama (only the second time) with English subs on youtube. It was quite entertaining. Skipped the debates. While listening to the Chinese, I try to see what expressions in the really short sentences, I could recognize. I also found a South Korean channel that covers short classical Chinese poems, which is much easier for me to follow in Korean rather than Dr. Gao's English translations. I can understand Korean readings better than Dr. Gao's English pronunciation. I have the benefit of being able to stop the videos at any point which helps immensely. Dr. Gao doesn't use pinyin which is part of the problem. Korean is a phonetic language so that makes it much easier to interpret and understand aurally. Anyway I'm just fooling around distracting myself from the continuing non stop stream of tragic news. Appreciate C99 for keeping me informed.
語必忠信 行必正直
evening soryang...
yep, i suppose that training germans to deliver nuclear payloads is probably normal considering we have already stationed nukes there. if you can give her the bullets you can give her the gun, i guess.
i couldn't agree more with you on the idiocy of an attack on iran. we have never really tried good faith diplomacy with them (not that the u.s. is capable of that) so we have no right to make attacks on them.
israel needs to be disarmed urgently. there is no situation where their use of nukes will make any situation better and if they do "need" to use them it will be because they provoked and stoked the conflict that escalated to that level.
have a great evening!
It seems as if Blinken is doing his best to start WW3 before
the November election.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/international/2024/09/10/blinken-sa...
evening humphrey...
i think the russians are pretty much expecting the u.s. to allow ukraine to attack their interior.
if i was putin, i would hold a press conference and unveil a giant spinning dartboard with the names of a couple hundred u.s. cities on it. i'd walk up to the podium, put three darts down and tell the press that it behooves the u.s. not to allow its weapons to be used on russian territory. i would at no point explain what the dart board is for.
The one measurable effect from the debate
DJT