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This evening's music features Texas blues guitarist Melvin "Lil' Son" Jackson. Enjoy!

"Never knew before what eternity was made for. It is to give some of us a chance to learn German."

-- Mark Twain

News and Opinion

It’s Not That Trump Is Good, It’s That Biden Was Just That Bad

TikTok is back in the US after a brief shutdown, reportedly because Trump pledged to suspend the Biden administration’s ban. A Gaza ceasefire has also finally emerged due to pressure from Trump after Biden stalled for 15 months, and NBC News is reporting that the Trump administration plans on pressuring the Israeli government throughout negotiations to establish a permanent peace beyond the 42 days scheduled for the first phase of the agreement.

Remember this: it’s not that Trump is good, it’s that Democrats are just that bad. Biden’s completely unconditional facilitation of Israeli atrocities has actually been the exception rather than the norm among US presidents, as Trita Parsi explained in Foreign Policy last April. From what we are seeing so far, Trump is just returning things to their horrible standard baseline.

Trump will go on to do many evil things as president, just as he did during his first term, but none of this will reverse the fact that Biden just spent four years advancing genocide, nuclear brinkmanship and authoritarianism. The Democratic Party plays just as crucial a role in promoting the tyranny and abuse of the US empire as the Republican Party does, and it is nonsensical to think of either of them as a lesser evil. The empire itself must end.

Do yourself a favor and spare yourself the indignity of thinking the ceasefire and suspending the TikTok ban indicate that Trump is going to be a good president. You don’t get to become the US president unless the powers that be trust you to inflict the evils necessary for running the empire.

The system does not work. You cannot vote your way out of the tyranny of the empire, and the president is not going to save you. Trump will do many evil things as president, because that’s what US presidents do.

Don’t believe me? Then watch and pay attention. And learn the lessons you failed to learn last time.

It’s possible that Trump’s term will constitute another swing from Bush-level depravity to Obama-level depravity.

It isn’t normal for the US empire to be as openly depraved as it has been in Gaza. Normally its evils are much more well-disguised, because it is in the empire’s interests to preserve its image in the eyes of the western public. You only see the really in-your-face acts of monstrosity when a coalition of forces within the swamp are able to seize on a rare opportunity to shove them through, as we saw in the wake of 9/11 and again in the wake of October 7.

The rest of the time, the empire likes to be a lot subtler about its abuses, like it was during the Obama administration and the first Trump administration. Starvation sanctions. Staging coups. Secretly arming proxy forces. Drone assassinations. Covert ops. It prefers these means over the Hulk Smash ground invasions like we saw during George W Bush’s first term, and the overt genocidal atrocities like we saw during Biden’s.

The Zionists, war profiteers and empire managers seized on the rare opportunity presented by October 7 combined with a senile lifelong Zionist in the White House to push through agendas in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon that they had wanted to push through for years, but they greatly damaged the empire’s propaganda interests in the process. We can expect the empire to try to move its ugliness out of the spotlight as swiftly as possible in the coming years and attempt to restore its false public image as a force of good in the world, while continuing to advance its psychopathic agendas in sneakier ways.

Gaza Ceasefire: Palestinian Lawyer Says Women, Children Released by Israel Faced Torture, Starvation

Gaza Cease-Fire Takes Effect After Deadly Three-Hour Delay

Israeli forces killed at least 19 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Sunday morning during a three-hour delay in implementing a cease-fire and hostage-release deal that Israel's Cabinet finally approved the previous day.

After over 15 months of a U.S.-backed military assault for which Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strikes on Gaza were set to stop at 8:30 am local time, due to a three-phase agreement negotiated by Egypt, Qatar, and the outgoing Biden and incoming Trump administrations.

They did not, with deadly results. Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza's Civil Defense, said Sunday that at least 19 people were killed and over 36 were injured from 8:30 am to 11:30 am. That's on top of the tens of thousands of people the Israeli assault and restrictions on humanitarian aid have killed since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

As of midnight Saturday, the Gaza Ministry of Health put the official death toll in the besieged Palestinian enclave at 46,913, with another 110,750 people injured and over 10,000 others missing in the rubble of former homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques, though experts warn the number of deaths is likely far higher.

At 9:17 am on Sunday, the IDF said that it was "continuing to operate and strike terrorist targets in Gaza," adding: "A short while ago, IDF artillery and aircraft struck a number of terrorist targets in northern and central Gaza. The IDF remains ready in offense and defense and will not allow any harm to the citizens of Israel."

Muhammad Shehada, a Gazan writer, called the delay a "last-minute trick" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and explained on social media that it was "under the pretext that Hamas hasn't submitted the list of three captives it'll release today."

As Shehada detailed:

Israel also reneged on the arrangement needed for Hamas to be able to submit such list; suspending surveillance drones and bombardment in the hours preceding the cease-fire so that it becomes logistically possible for Hamas' members on the ground and abroad to contact each other and figure out which hostages are alive and where without compromising their whereabouts and risking being bombed or raided by the IDF.

Hamas was forced to submit the list under fire and spy drones, which meant Israel exploited this to try to locate and snatch some captives last minute. Israel now succeeded in reaching the body of the soldier Oron Shaul, whom Hamas had been holding captive since 2014.

Ultimately, Hamas submitted the list and the pause in fighting took effect—at least for now—enabling displaced Palestinians to start returning to what is left of their communities and the process of releasing captives to begin with three Israelis and 90 Palestinians. During the deal's first 42-day phase, there are plans to free 33 Israelis taken hostage by Palestinian militants, 737 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and 1,167 Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Antony Blinken Used His Judaism To PUSH GENOCIDE! w/ Max Blumenthal

Gaza ceasefire has come into effect but will the Israel-Hamas agreement hold?

While it is a truism that all negotiations to end conflicts rely on cautious trust building and are highly vulnerable to spoilers, the deal to end 15 months of fighting in Gaza that followed Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023 is more obviously fraught than most. Analysts and observers have pointed out that the design of the agreement, constructed over three phases that require new negotiations to take place as the ceasefire goes forward, appears structured to invite multiple crises as it edges towards ever more difficult terrain. Trust on both sides has been negligible at best.

Hamas, unsurprisingly given the public statements of senior Israeli figures (most recently by the foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar), is concerned Israel will seek to secure the return of the most vulnerable hostages, women, children and the ill and elderly, and then commence fighting again, perhaps at the time of the second phase. That was reinforced on Sunday after Israel’s far right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, claimed Benjamin Netanyahu had assured him the war would continue. Against that, critics would point out, the Israeli prime minister has made and broken many promises over his career in pursuit of what is politically expedient. ...

Marc Lynch, the director of the Middle East Studies programme at George Washington University, interviewed in Foreign Affairs last week, is among those who do not believe the prospects for going beyond phase one of the deal are good. “It’s going to be very difficult. My sense, unfortunately, is that it is very unlikely we move past phase one and toward a permanent peace. There are endless openings for spoilers on both sides, and serious disagreements remain about the details of the agreement’s next steps. In Israel, there are many people who would like to see this war prosecuted indefinitely.

“On the Palestinian side, there are plenty of opportunities for spoiler violence by hardliners, by militant factions who don’t like the way things are going, and by people who just want revenge for all the horrible things that have been done to them.”

Three hostages released by Hamas reunited with mothers after ceasefire deal

Three women held hostage by Hamas in tunnels beneath Gaza during 15 months of devastating conflict, including the joint British national Emily Damari, have been released and reunited with their mothers in the first act of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the conflict. Damari, 28, Romi Gonen, 24 and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were handed over to the International Committee for the Red Cross in Gaza on Sunday afternoon, ending a protracted ordeal that began with their violent abduction by Hamas on 7 October 2023.

On Sunday evening the Israeli military said the three had been reunited with their mothers at a meeting point inside Israel, close to the kibbutz and nearby music festival where they had been abducted from. In pictures released by the Damari family of Emily’s reunion with her mother, Mandy, Damari can be seen embracing her mother as she talks to her brother on the phone. In a second image she can be seen gesturing happily to a crying family member with a bandaged hand, with two fingers missing from the hand in which she was shot during her abduction.

Earlier, live television footage of the handover broadcast from the scene by Al Jazeera showed a white minivan arriving in a square in the Rimal district of Gaza City with the three women inside. A few moments later the women exited the vehicles accompanied by Hamas fighters in green headbands and balaclavas and closely pressed by crowds who took pictures with cellphones and chanted support for Hamas.

The handover was confirmed by Israeli, Hamas and Red Cross officials to media not long after 5pm local time (1500 GMT), with the women described as “in good health” by the Red Cross to an Israeli official. ...

The three hostages, two of whom were injured during their abduction, are the first of 33 hostages – in the so-called humanitarian category including women, children, the ill and elderly people – listed for release during the first part of a complex three-phase hostage deal. Others from the 33 will be released in small groups on subsequent Sundays as the ceasefire progresses.

Max Blumenthal : Blinken and Rubio: Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum?

Israel says it has released 90 Palestinian prisoners as part of ceasefire deal

Israel’s prison service said early on Monday that 90 Palestinian prisoners have been released as part of the hostages for prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

The key development comes seven hours after three Israeli women held hostage by Hamas were released. ...

Those freed from Israeli prisons included 69 women and 21 teenage boys from the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to Hamas. ...

Arabiya TV showed footage of several buses with tinted windows leaving the Israeli Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank in the early hours of Monday that were believed to be carrying the prisoners.

In the belly of the beast

LA Fire Cuts … Billions for Israel & Ukraine

As Los Angeles battles historic wildfires, residents are demanding accountability for why the city’s fire department faced budget cuts while greater disaster preparedness measures were overlooked. These frustrations have fueled questions about the prioritization of aid to Israel and Ukraine. Just months before the wildfires ravaged the city, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass approved the budget for the next fiscal year, which included a $17.5 million reduction to the fire department’s funding. The department’s budget slashed to $819.64 million, prompted warnings from Fire Chief Kristin Crowley, who cautioned that the cuts were already impeding emergency response capabilities.

All of this comes amid a revelation that the people of California send approximately $610 million in federal taxpayer funds per year to Israel, making it the most significant state contributor to regular Israeli aid in the U.S.

This disparity gained attention online after Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson suggested imposing conditions on federal disaster relief for Los Angeles. Johnson has been a staunch advocate of unconditional aid for Israel, notably championing a $74 billion aid package in April 2024 that included $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel, despite mounting public and congressional pressure to curtail such transfers.

Specifically, the Leahy Law, named after its author, former Senator Patrick Leahy, prohibits the transfer of military aid to nations credibly accused of committing human rights abuses. In a recent op-ed, Leahy urged that the law be applied to Israel, arguing that ongoing rights violations demand accountability and adherence to U.S. legal standards.

Johnson wants to put conditions on aid to those affected by the fires in California – but didn’t allow one condition on the more than $100 billion in aid the U.S. gave to Ukraine or the more than $20 billion we gave to Israel. In October 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden drafted a $100 billion aid package for Ukraine and Israel — a striking coincidence, as this is the same amount now proposed to confront the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

Mike Johnson wants to put conditions on aid to those affected by the fires in California - but didn't allow one condition on the more than $100 billion in aid we gave to Ukraine or the more than $20 billion we gave to Israel.

Once again, the American ppl come last. https://t.co/5vqKhNa8GV

— Prof Zenkus (@anthonyzenkus) January 13, 2025

Alastair Crook : Is the US Trying to Escape Reality?

Nato flotilla assembles off Estonia to protect undersea cables in Baltic Sea

A Nato flotilla likened to “the security camera of the Baltic” has assembled off the coast of Estonia as the military alliance seeks to protect European undersea cables and pipelines from sabotage. In a move that ratchets up a struggle with Russia over the seabed that has remained largely covert until now, a Dutch frigate and naval research ship, as well as a German minesweeper have all arrived in Tallinn under a thick January sea fog. A French minesweeper is expected and more Nato vessels are on the way in support of a joint effort, called Baltic Sentry, that was agreed in Helsinki last week.

“The group will grow in the near future, with other ships joining us, so in the end, we will be about six, seven ships,” said Cmdr Erik Kockx, the Belgian head of a mine countermeasures taskforce that has been drawn into Baltic Sentry. “We will in the first case function as the security cameras of the Baltic Sea, which means that nobody can undertake any actions against critical underwater infrastructure without us having seen them and being able to react in a proper way.”

The latest incident which triggered the Nato response took place on Christmas Day when the Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia, and four data cables were damaged, according to Finnish authorities, by an oil tanker, the Eagle S, dragging its anchor along the seabed for 60 miles (100km) until it snagged on the cables.

The Eagle S embodies the grey, amorphous nature of the tense situation in this corner of the Baltic, where it is hard to distinguish between careless accidents and deliberate acts of hybrid warfare. The 74,000-tonne Chinese-built tanker has had three previous names, and is now sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands, owned by a corporation in Dubai but managed by an Indian company, with a Georgian captain and a Georgian-Indian crew.

The ship was reportedly on its way from the Russian port of Ust-Luga with 35,000 tonnes of petrol bound for Turkey. Nato and the Finnish authorities believe it is part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” of vessels from around the world quietly commissioned by Moscow to transport Russian oil in defiance of sanctions imposed after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The working theory of the Finnish police is that ships and crews that can be commissioned to bust sanctions can also be hired to carry out sabotage.

Trump agenda. Russia and China ready for talks

Trump Says He Had ‘Very Good’ Phone Call With China’s Xi

Incoming President Donald Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The call comes as tensions between Washington and Beijing have escalated since Trump was last in the White House.

On Friday, Trump posted on his Truth Social account, “I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately.” It continued, “We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”

According to the Chinese readout of the call, “Xi congratulated Trump on his reelection as President of the United States. President Xi noted that they both attach great importance to their interactions, and both hope for a good start of the China-US relationship during the new US presidency.” It added, “President Xi expressed his readiness to secure greater progress in China-U.S. relations from a new starting point.”

During Trump’s first term in office, he was a vocal China-hawk. He increased sanctions and tariffs on Beijing, while working to arm and build alliances with other countries in the region eyeing future confrontations with China.

Chrystia Freeland warns of Trump’s ‘existential risk’ to Canada in campaign launch

Chrystia Freeland has warned of the “existential risk” to Canada posed by Donald Trump, casting herself as a “battle tested leader with the scars to prove it” during the formal launch of her bid to be the country’s next prime minister.

Freeland, who has presented herself as the figure most capable of negotiating with a protectionist and unpredictable White House, held her formal campaign launch the day before the incoming president’s inauguration and pledged “dollar to dollar” retaliation for any tariffs that would amount to the “largest trade blow the US has ever endured”.

Speaking at her campaign launch in Toronto on Sunday, she warned prospective voters that “the stakes are just too damn high”, boasting that Trump disliked her because she had been “fierce, resolute and have been effective in defending Canada”.

As part of a raft of protectionist trade measures, Trump has threatened to hit Canada with 25% tariffs on all goods.

“I have a message for Trump: We are your neighbour and most important trading partner,” said Freeland. “But if the fight comes to our door, just remember we love our country as much as you love yours…. Canada will not escalate. But if I’m prime minister, Canada will never back down.”

Trump Will Issue 200 EXECUTIVE ORDERS To Secure Border, Abolish DEI, Undo Biden's Eos

Trump promises ‘historic’ day one with barrage of executive orders

An exultant Donald Trump has promised to act with “historic speed and strength” when he returns to the White House on Monday, teeing up a barrage of executive orders targeting illegal immigration, transgender rights and other rightwing priorities. ... “Starting tomorrow, I will act with historic speed of strength and fix every single crisis facing our country,” he said. ...

Just as on the campaign trail, Trump put illegal immigration front and centre, painting a lurid picture of the US as land of open borders under siege by violent thugs released from foreign jails as far away as Congo. He played a video showing crimes allegedly committed by undocumented people. “By the time the sun sets tomorrow, the invasion of our country will have come to a halt,” he said. “The border security measures I will outline in my inaugural address tomorrow will be the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders that the world has ever seen.” ...

He shared plans to travel to Los Angeles on Friday to survey the damage of wildfires that killed at least 27 people and scorched the largest urban area of California in at least 40 years.

Trump further promised to reverse the “over-classification” of government documents, a seeming reference to his federal indictment for retaining classified papers after leaving office. He pledged to release classified documents relating to the assassinations of John F Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Chinese SHOCK Americans on RedNote, TikTok Ban BACKFIRES w/ Jimmy Dore

TikTok says it is restoring service in US after Trump vowed to delay ban

TikTok said on Sunday that it was restoring services in the US after Donald Trump pledged earlier in the day to give the video app a reprieve on its US ban.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that after taking office on Monday he would sign an executive order allowing the Chinese-owned video app additional time to find a buyer before facing a total shutdown, and proposing that the US or an American firm take a 50% ownership stake.

“By doing this, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to say (sic) up,” Trump said. “Without US approval, there is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions.”

TikTok stopped working in the US for 170 million users late on Saturday.

Wildfires drive record leap in global level of climate-heating CO2

Wildfires that blazed around the world in 2024 helped to drive a record annual leap in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, surprising scientists. The data shows humanity is moving yet deeper into a dangerous world of supercharged extreme weather.

The CO₂ level at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii jumped by 3.6 parts per million (ppm) to 427ppm, far above the 280ppm level before the large-scale burning of fossil fuels sparked the climate crisis. The Mauna Loa observations, known as the Keeling curve, began in 1958 and are the longest running direct measurements of CO₂.

The sharp rise resulted from burning forests adding to continued emissions from coal, oil and gas, which also set a record in 2024. The natural El Niño climate cycle also contributed, by delivering hotter and drier conditions in the tropics. A record rise would probably have occurred even without El Niño though, the scientists said.

The global average temperature also set a new record in 2024, worsening the extreme heatwaves, storms and floods that affected billions of people. This meant the planet passed the 1.5C (2.7F) level agreed as a target by the Paris climate agreement for the first time. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, blamed the fossil fuel industry for pocketing profits while their products “wreak havoc”.

Wealth of US ‘oil-garchs’ went up 15% in nine months as industry figures plan Trump inauguration party

As Joe Biden warns in his farewell address as president that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America”, a new report reveals that US fossil fuel billionaires’ wealth increased by 15% over the past nine months. Some of those wealthy figures will be at parties in DC celebrating Trump’s inauguration on Monday and expecting further rewards for his “drill, baby, drill” energy agenda.

The report from the research group Climate Accountability Research Project (Carp) comes just days ahead of climate denier Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration, which oil and gas representatives and Trump donors plan to celebrate at a swanky industry party in Washington DC. “The ‘oil-garchs’ are already reaping the rewards of their political donations and activities in support of Trump – and they know there is more to come,” said Chuck Collins, co-founder of Carp and one of the report’s authors.

The oil and gas industry has donated more than $75m to Trump’s campaign. The energy giant Chevron, as well as fossil fuel funders like Citibank, also donated to Trump’s inauguration fund. The sector is expecting to benefit handsomely from Trump’s second term, during which he has promised to undo Biden’s climate policies, roll back decades-old environmental protections, exit the 2015 Paris climate accord, and scrap green funding programs.

Also of Interest

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

Netanyahu’s Likud Party Says Ceasefire Deal Allows a ‘Return to Fighting Under American Guarantee’

Starmer’s Support for Gaza Ceasefire Riddled With Lies

The Gaza ceasefire likely won't last

Yemen’s Houthis To Stop Attacks on Israel If Gaza Ceasefire Is Implemented

Ending the War in Ukraine

Voters who backed Trump identify new swamp to drain: corporate power

New York Judge Loretta Preska Just Declared Open Season on Argentina’s Gold Reserves

How climate-friendly waterwheels are coming around again

Hamas SHOCKS THE WORLD! | The “GIFT BAGS” To Released Israelis, WHAT’S INSIDE?!

Americans Are Getting RED PILLED on Chinese TikTok-Style App

Vivek Ramaswamy QUITS DOGE; Efficiency Agency SUED By Outside Legal Group

A Little Night Music

Lil' Son Jackson - Homeless Blues

Lil' Son Jackson - Blues Come To Texas

Melvin Lil' Son Jackson - Freedom Train Blues

Lil Son Jackson - Messin' Up

Lil Son Jackson - Bad Whiskey And Bad Women

Lil Son Jackson - Cairo Blues

Lil Son Jackson - Get High Everybody

Lil Son Jackson - Gamblin Blues

Lil Son Jackson - Confessin'