Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features one of the kings of the blues B.B. King. Enjoy!

"A bully is not reasonable - he is persuaded only by threats."

-- Marie de France

News and Opinion

Trump’s Demented Gaza Threats

In a statement addressed “to the People of Gaza,” President Trump warned on Wednesday that “A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!”

Again, this was explicitly addressed to the entirety of Gaza’s population, not only to Hamas. US presidents kill civilians all the time, but it’s highly unusual for them to explicitly threaten a civilian population with extermination in a statement addressed directly to them; you have to go back to the leaflets President Truman dropped on Japan warning of nuclear annihilation in 1945 to find anything like this.

At the same time, Israel is reportedly preparing a “hell plan” in which it will resume its genocidal onslaught and cut Gaza off from electricity and water if Hamas refuses to accept Israel’s revised terms for the ceasefire deal in the coming days. The plan to cut off water is especially terrifying, as it would lead to mass civilian deaths relatively quickly.

Israel FURIOUS As Trump NEGOTIATES WITH HAMAS

Trump posts fresh ultimatum to Hamas as US enters direct talks with group

Donald Trump has posted a fresh ultimatum to Hamas, telling the group to “release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you”.

“‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye,” he wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, in an apparent reference to the beginning of direct talks with the group. The post came just hours after the White House confirmed that the US had entered direct negotiations with Hamas, potentially to bypass Israel in securing the release of the remaining US hostages.

It also followed a White House meeting between the US president and a group of hostages who had been released recently under the Gaza ceasefire deal. Fifty-nine hostages are still held by Hamas, though Israeli intelligence believes that only 22 are still alive. Five Americans are believed to still be held by Hamas, one of whom, 21-year-old Edan Alexander, is believed to still be alive.

Trump reinforced his support for Israel and referred to a recent decision to provide billions more in support for Israeli arms sales. “I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say,” Trump wrote. “This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance,” he wrote. “Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!”

Trump also made clear there could be repercussions for Gaza as a whole, where virtually the entire population has been displaced by Israel’s relentless offensive response to the Hamas 7 October 2023 attacks. “To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!” Trump’s comments came hours after Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that officials had held “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials amid a shaky ceasefire deal.

A pile of rubble

UK, France and Germany say Gaza aid freeze could breach international law

Britain has joined Germany and France to warn that Israel could be in breach of international law by halting the entry of aid into Gaza, which is facing a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis. The foreign secretary, David Lammy, signed a joint statement with his French and German counterparts to urge Israel and Hamas to engage constructively to get ceasefire talks back on track.

Israel cut off humanitarian supplies to Gaza on Sunday in an effort to push Hamas into accepting a change in the ceasefire agreement to allow the release of hostages without an Israeli troop withdrawal. The six-week-old ceasefire is in limbo with no sign of movement towards a second phase that was scheduled to have started last weekend.

The foreign ministers said in their joint statement that they shared “deep concern” over Israel’s decision to halt all goods and supplies going into Gaza, which they said risked violating international humanitarian law. They urged Israel and Hamas to get back around the negotiating table to agree the next phases of a peace deal, to bring a permanent end to hostilities and a credible pathway to a two-state solution.

Israel’s Shin Bet says Netanyahu policies helped pave way for 7 October

Israel’s internal security agency, Shin Bet, has said Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies were among the underlying causes of the 7 October 2023 attack in which Hamas and other militants killed about 1,200 Israelis.

In its report on the 7 October attack, Shin Bet acknowledged its own responsibility, admitting it was aware of warning signs that Hamas was planning an operation, but the agency, also known as the General Security Service (GSS), did not grasp the scale, timing and location of the planned attack. However, the report also argued that a string of Israeli government policies helped pave the way for the Hamas assault.

Among the main reasons for a Hamas military build-up before the attacks, an eight-page public summary of the report listed an Israeli “policy of quiet” towards the group, apparently referring to a policy of restraint in the use of force to keep Hamas’s military capability in check. It also listed Netanyahu’s acquiescence in the flow of funds from Qatar to Gaza, a policy designed to divide Palestinians by boosting Hamas at the expense of the Palestinian state.

The Shin Bet report also pointed to the daily Jewish prayers that have been taking place in recent years in the compound around Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. The prayers violate a 58-year-old understanding with Jordan that only Muslims should be allowed to pray at the al-Aqsa and the esplanade around it, but they were championed by the governing coalition’s former national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“The cumulative weight of violations on the Temple Mount, the treatment of [Palestinian] prisoners and the perception that Israeli society had been weakened because of the damage to social cohesion” were all contributory factors to Israel’s vulnerability to attack, the report said.

UN Food Agency Says It Has Under Two Weeks Worth of Food Supplies in Gaza Due to Israeli Blockade

The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) has warned that it only has enough food supplies in Gaza to keep public kitchens and bakeries open for less than two weeks after Israel blocked the entrance of all goods into the Palestinian territory, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

Israel announced it was cutting off the delivery of food, fuel, medicine, and other supplies in Gaza on Sunday with full backing from the US. Israel is in violation of the ceasefire deal agreed to back in January and is attempting to pressure Hamas to agree to a new arrangement that won’t involve a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

What's next for Egypt after Donald Trump rejects Arab Gaza reconstruction plan?

US rejection of an Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip without displacing its people adds yet a new obstacle on the road of implementing it. The plan, unveiled by Egypt and endorsed by Arab states at an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on Tuesday, rolls out specific steps for rebuilding the war-ravaged Palestinian territory in five years. ...

US National Security Council Spokesman Brian Hughes said a few hours after the end of the summit in Egypt that the US president had rejected the plan, because it does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordinance.

This rejection, analysts in Cairo said, was expected, highlighting the need for Arab states to apply diplomatic pressure and use the cards in their hands to convince the US president to change his mind. "The whole thing depends on the pressure Arab states will apply in the coming period," Ambassador Moataz Ahmadin, Egypt's former representative at the United Nations, told The New Arab. ... He called for Arab countries to use the cards they have in their hands, including the economic cards.

President Trump, Ambassador Ahmadin said, wants to attract $1 trillion in investments, especially from Saudi Arabia. "This is an important card in the hands of Arab states," he said. "Trump will change his mind only when he realises that Arab states will be more useful to him than Israel."

US Talks To Zelensky Opponents, EU Backs Zelensky, Plots To Seize Russian Assets; Macron War Speech

Zelensky Comes CRAWLING BACK To The Negotiating Table! w/ Matt Taibbi

US stops sharing intelligence on Russia with Ukraine

The US has stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine after Donald Trump’s suspension of military aid on Monday, in another serious blow to Kyiv in the war with Russia. White House officials indicated that both bans could be lifted if peace talks make progress.

Ukrainian officials suggested the US would no longer provide information about targets inside Russia, hindering Ukraine’s ability to carry out effective long-range drone strikes. This would also leave Ukraine in the dark over the movements of Russian strategic bomber aircraft and the launches of ballistic missiles.

There were conflicting reports about whether the shut-off covered the activities of Russia’s army in occupied areas of Ukraine. One source told the Guardian that the US had “completely stopped” providing intelligence, including to Ukraine’s military and domestic security agencies. They said this would have a “very bad impact” on the fight against Russia.

The White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said Trump would consider restoring aid to Ukraine if peace talks were arranged and confidence-building measures taken. Discussions were ongoing with Ukraine over a date and place for talks, he told Fox News.

Macron takes CHARGE. France will protect Europe from Russia

Jack Daniel’s maker says Canada pulling US alcohol off shelves ‘worse than tariff’

The Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman’s CEO Lawson Whiting said on Wednesday Canadian provinces taking US liquor off store shelves was “worse than a tariff” and a “disproportionate response” to levies imposed by the Trump administration.

Several Canadian provinces have taken US liquor off store shelves as part of retaliatory measures against Donald Trump’s tariffs.

“I mean, that’s worse than a tariff, because it’s literally taking your sales away, [and] completely removing our products from the shelves,” Whiting said on a post-earnings call.

Canada on Tuesday also imposed 25% tariffs on goods imported from the US, including wine, spirits and beer.

Whiting, however, said that Canada accounted for only 1% of their total sales and that the company could withstand the hit. He added the company would watch out for what happens in Mexico, which according to its annual report, made up 7% of its 2024 sales.

Trump temporarily spares carmakers from US tariffs on Canada and Mexico

Donald Trump has temporarily spared carmakers from sweeping US tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, one day after an economic strike on the US’s two biggest trading partners sparked warnings of widespread price increases and disruption.

The US president extended his aggressive trade strategy at midnight on Tuesday by targeting the country’s two closest neighbors with duties of 25%.

US retail giants predicted that prices were “highly likely” to start rising on store shelves almost immediately, raising questions about Trump’s promises to “make America affordable again” after years of heightened inflation.

After a call with top executives at General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, however, Trump approved a one-month exemption from tariffs on “any autos coming through” the US, Mexico and Canada, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, announced on Wednesday. The exemption has been granted “at the request of the companies”, Leavitt told reporters, “so they are not at an economic disadvantage”.

While Trump has claimed tariffs will embolden US industry by forcing global firms to build factories in the US, Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, publicly cautioned last month that imposing steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico could “blow a hole” in the country’s auto industry.

Fed Predicts RECESSION, Jobs Numbers Fall

Hopes of US golden age fade as investors start to worry about ‘Trumpcession’ risk

No sooner had historic 25% tariffs on imports to the US from Canada and Mexico come into force on Tuesday than the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, suggested the policy might be softened. Hours later, Donald Trump told Congress that the tariffs were “protecting the soul of our country” ...

The president is promising a new “golden age”, but more sceptical analysts are starting to warn instead about the risks of a “Trumpcession”. Not only has the president embarked on an extraordinary trade clash with neighbours, prompting retaliatory tariffs from Canada and warnings of sharp price rises from US retailers on everything from avocados to cars, but this confrontation is taking place against a background of corrosive instability.

The tariffs have been on, off and on again – with measures against the EU still in the works – at the same time that Trump’s right-hand man Elon Musk has been working to dismantle the federal bureaucracy. The direct impact of the layoffs made so far by Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) appear to be relatively small, but its move-fast-and-break-things approach, which appears to include tearing up contracts and pushing the boundaries of employment law, underlines a sense of chaos.

As the US journalist Mike Masnick, who has followed the use of similar tactics in the tech industry, put it in his Techdirt blog on Wednesday, investors who hoped Trump policies would be pro-business are “learning a very expensive lesson about the difference between creative destruction and just plain destruction”.

Tesla stock continues to plummet

Turns out pissing off a good deal of the global population isn't good for business

Who would've thought?#TeslaTakedown #BoycottTesla pic.twitter.com/booVQxZb30

— General Strike US (@GeneralStrikeU) March 3, 2025

Trump ordered to reinstate thousands of agriculture department employees

An independent federal board has ordered the US Department of Agriculture to temporarily reinstate nearly 6,000 employees who were fired as part of Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal workforce.

The decision, issued on Wednesday by Cathy Harris, chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board – responsible for reviewing federal employee firings – orders the USDA to reinstate the roughly 5,600 terminated probationary employees for a period of 45 days while it continues to investigate the firings.

The order applies to probationary workers who received identical termination letters, which stated that based on their performance, they had not demonstrated that their further employment “would be in the public interest”.

Harris wrote in the order that during the 45-day period, the recently fired workers will be “placed in the positions that they held prior to the probationary terminations”.

Harris indicated that she had found reasonable grounds to believe that the agency terminated the employees in violation of federal laws and procedures.

Is it possible Trump and Elon are intentionally crashing the economy? pic.twitter.com/Ux3EuIfBv8

— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) March 4, 2025

Democratic Party’s newly elected Chair, Ken Martin: “There are a lot of good billionaires out there that have been with Democrats, who share our values, and we will take their money. But we’re not taking money from those bad billionaires.”pic.twitter.com/oNdCet0NNB

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) February 1, 2025

Elephants and rhinos at increased risk of poaching due to Trump funding cuts

Environmentalists have urged the Trump administration to reverse its decision to cut off funding for key conservation work aimed at saving iconic at-risk species, including anti-poaching patrols for vulnerable rhinos and elephants. International conservation grants administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) have been frozen by Trump, throwing conservation non-profits around the world into disarray. These grants, amounting to tens of millions of dollars, help protect imperiled species in countries that lack the US’s financial muscle to combat threats such as poaching.

An environmental group, the Center for Biological Diversity, said it would sue the FWS if the funding isn’t restored. It said the money is vital for patrols safeguarding rhinos in Africa, which have suffered a 94% population decline over the past century, as well as efforts to reduce human-elephant conflict and help conserve species such as freshwater turtles and monarch butterflies. ...

In a letter to the FWS, the center said that the funding halt violated the US Endangered Species Act, which requires the government to consider at-risk species in its decisions, and flouted proper agency procedure in rescinding funding. “This insanity has to stop or some of the world’s most endangered animals will die,” said Uhlemann.

Los Angeles sues power utility, alleging equipment sparked deadly wildfire

Los Angeles county is suing Southern California Edison, alleging the utility’s equipment sparked January’s deadly Eaton fire.

The fire was one of several major blazes that tore through the region starting on 7 January. It killed at least 17 people in the Altadena area of Los Angeles, and destroyed more than 9,400 structures.

The lawsuit seeks to recover costs and damages sustained from the blaze, including the devastation to community infrastructure, the region’s environment and public health. ...

The fire’s cause is still under investigation.

The complaint alleges that witnesses, photos and videos indicate the fire started directly under Edison transmission lines in Eaton Canyon.

Rodent for dinner? California officials urge residents to eat invasive nutria

Wildlife officials are encouraging California residents to add a rodent to their daily diet as part of efforts to control the invasive species’ population. The nutria, a large, semi-aquatic rodent native to South America, is threatening the state’s ecosystems by destroying habitats and outcompeting native wildlife. The nutria’s harmful impacts have prompted wildlife officials to promote hunting and consumption as possible solutions.

“Eating invasive species can help protect native wildlife by reducing their numbers and limiting the damage they cause to ecosystems,” reads a statement released in late February by Erin Huggins, a spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service. “However, it’s not a complete solution and should be combined with other conservation efforts to effectively control these species.”

According to the California department of fish and wildlife (CDFW), nutria were originally introduced to the US for the fur trade but have since established themselves in as many as 18 states. The rodents can grow up to 40in (102cm), which is nearly as large as a beaver or a small dog. ...

Nutria are highly destructive to marsh environments. The rodents eat up to a quarter of their body weight in vegetation daily. Their feeding habits not only destroy native plant life but also destabilize soil structures, which can result in heavy erosion and habitat loss for threatened and endangered species.

Also of Interest

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

Liberals Want War in Ukraine, Trump Wants Peace in Ukraine, But All Agree on Death in Gaza

Slow Motion Ethnic Cleansing in Hebron

Israel’s War Decimated Gaza’s Farmlands and Killed Most of its Livestock

Israel Fires at Ambulances Transporting Evacuating Patients from Gaza

Yemen’s Houthis Shoot Down Another US MQ-9 Reaper Drone

Europe’s Face-Saving Theater on Ukraine

Judge Orders Defendants in CN v NewsGuard & USG to Respond to Trump Executive Order on Censorship

“Might the US Be About to Fall Off an Economic Cliff?

Trudeau not willing to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs if Trump leaves some tariffs on Canada

‘The relationship is broken’: Canadians respond to Trump’s tariffs

US READY For WAR With China, Hegseth Says. TSMC, Apple INVEST Billions In America Amid Trump Tariffs

Will DOGE Slash the Pentagon Budget?

Professor John Mearsheimer: Lavrov & Russia

A Little Night Music

B.B. King – Breaking Up Somebody's Home

B.B. King – Don't Waste My Time

B.B. King – The Jungle

B.B. King – Raining In My Heart

B.B. King – Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Anymore

B.B. King – Summer In The City

B.B. King – Did You Ever Love A Woman

B.B. King - You Put It On Me

B.B. King – Why I Sing The Blues

B.B. King – Hummingbird

B.B. King – Shake Yours

B.B. King – Never Make A Move Too Soon