The Evening Blues - 10-8-25
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features Chicago blues mandolin player and guitarist Johnny Young. Enjoy!
Johnny Young & Big Walter Horton ~ Ring Around My Heart & On The Road Again
“Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule.”
-- Charles Dickens
News and Opinion
Everything Before AND After October 7 Explains Why October 7 Happened
Everything before October 7 explains why October 7 happened, and so does everything that’s happened since.
Look at what happened before October 7 and you’ll see year after year of murder, oppression and abuse.
Look at everything that’s happened since October 7 and you’ll understand the kind of sadistic, psychopathic regime the Palestinians have been living under this entire time.
Israel supporters don’t want you looking at what happened before October 7, and they don’t want you looking at anything that’s happened since. They just want you to pretend history began and ended with a bunch of Hitlerite savages attacking innocent Jews for no reason.
Never forget October 7th 2023, that fateful day when Israelis were brutally massacred by Israeli tanks and Israeli helicopters and Israeli drones and Israeli soldiers and Israeli bullets, and also by Hamas a bit. pic.twitter.com/bwjdARVQ0p
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) October 7, 2025
And they don’t even want you looking at the day of October 7 too closely, either. Looking too closely at the events of that day bring up inconvenient questions about the Hannibal Directive and what percentage of the death toll was actually caused by the IDF firing on their own people. Inconvenient questions about the suspicious stock trading in the lead-up to the attack and the mountains upon mountains upon mountains of evidence that high-level Israeli officials allowed the attack to proceed undefended in order to advance the genocidal land grab we’re seeing advanced now.
They only want you looking at the parts of October 7 that make Israel look like an innocent little lamb who was attacked completely out of the blue and had no choice but to reluctantly respond with military force.
Forget the scorched earth incineration of the Gaza Strip.
Forget the bombed-out hospitals and methodically dismantled healthcare system.
Forget the hundreds upon hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza who’ve been deliberately starved to death.
Forget the fact that every relevant human rights institution on earth has determined that Israel is committing genocide, and that zero comparable humanitarian institutions have said it isn’t.
Forget the fact that human rights experts had been describing Gaza as a giant concentration camp or open-air prison for years prior to October 7.
Forget the fact that Israel had been routinely murdering Palestinian children and other civilians in the months prior to the Hamas attack.
Don’t look at any of that stuff. Just look at the stuff that makes Israel look like the victim.
That’s the story, anyway. Luckily, fewer and fewer people are buying into it.
The longer this genocide goes on for, the more the world has come to view October 7 as Israel reaping what it had long been sowing.
Aaron Maté Trump Wants Palestinian Surrender
A Treacherous Israel Toys With a Deal on Gaza
Hamas and Israeli officials began indirect negotiations at the luxury Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday on the details of a cease-fire plan that Donald Trumps says will end the killing in Gaza. But there is very little reason for optimism. Trump laid out the plan last Monday in the presence of Benjamin Netanyahu, after the Israeli prime minister had a chance to make last minute edits. It seemed like it was a deal designed to fail in order to pin the blame on Hamas.
Israel is desperately losing the public relations war, which Trump has openly acknowledged. Israel has acknowledged it too, given the amount of money it is spending on U.S. social media “influencers” and the Zionist deals to purchase TikTok and CBS News. Israel has to make a show of wanting peace. Blame for the continuing carnage has to be shifted to Hamas. So the Trump-Netanyahu deal was presented as take-it-or-leave it. It is essentially an offer to surrender: give up your weapons, give up the hostages and give up political power to a “technocratic” Arab body that will be put under a governing board run by Trump himself (and Tony Blair of all people.)
In exchange, Hamas would get back more than 1,000 Palestinian hostages being held by Israel. And the occupying IDF would withdraw from parts of Gaza but not completely from the Strip. That’s it. ...
Chris Hedges, a former New York Times Middle East bureau chief, during earlier negotiations in January wrote in the piece “The Ceasefire Charade:
“Israel, going back decades, has played a duplicitous game.
It signs a deal with the Palestinians that is to be implemented in phases. The first phase gives Israel what it wants — in this case the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza — but Israel habitually fails to implement subsequent phases that would lead to a just and equitable peace.
It eventually provokes the Palestinians with indiscriminate armed assaults to retaliate, defines a Palestinian response as a provocation and abrogates the ceasefire deal to reignite the slaughter.”
There is every reason to believe this will happen again this time.
What does Israel and Netanyahu have to gain with this charade? First, the potential PR win to blunt the extraordinary, worldwide condemnation Israel is facing, most importantly in the United States. Without U.S. weapons, money and diplomatic cover, the Greater Israel project would ground to a halt. Netanyahu is keenly aware of the importance of social media to win over Americans who are abandoning a genocidal Israel in droves.
The second thing to gain is to an end to continued anti-Netanyahu protests in Israel regarding the hostages. Given the plethora of official statements of intent by Israeli officials since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s real war aims are clearly not to free the hostages or defeat Hamas, but to commit genocide and ethnically cleansing Gaza of Palestinians so that Israel can make Gaza part of Greater Israel once and for all.
Human Rights Defenders Decry 'Unspeakable Suffering' in Gaza as Genocide Enters Third Year
As Israel's genocide in Gaza enters its third year, human rights defenders around the world on Tuesday condemned what one United Nations official called the "unspeakable suffering" of the Palestinian people and the complicity of the United States and other countries, while urging an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages held by both sides.
"Today marks two years since the deadly Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel, during which at least 1,200 Israelis and other nationals—mostly civilians—were killed and 251 people were taken hostage, 20 are still alive and held in Gaza," Amnesty International said on social media.
"Today marks two years since Israel began its brutal onslaught against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip," Amnesty continued. "Over 67,000 Palestinians—mostly civilians—have been killed. 90% of homes have been destroyed or damaged. Most of the population has been forcibly displaced, starved and subjected deliberately to conditions of life calculated to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. This is genocide."
"This horror has been made possible with the support of the US and other allies and the tightening of Israel’s 18-year-long illegal blockade that has inflicted unimaginable suffering," the group added. "This must end now. Humanity cannot bear this any more."
Numerous United Nations agencies and officials also marked the second anniversary of the start of the Gaza genocide with calls for less cruelty and more relief.
2yrs after the Oct 7 crimes against Israeli civilians, Israel's most lethal aggression against the Palestinians continues, causing unspeakable suffering.
Violence won’t end if States facilitate illegal occupation, apartheid, and now genocide, as they have done for the past 58yrs.— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) October 7, 2025
"In Gaza, for two long years people have known nothing but destruction, displacement, bombardment, fear, death, and hunger," Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, said on social media. At least 370 UNRWA personnel have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023.
Lazzarini called for the "release of all hostages and Palestinian detainees," an "immediate ceasefire," as well as "the unfettered delivery of basic humanitarian supplies at scale to Gaza" and "accountability and justice to hold all those accountable for atrocities committed on and after October 7."
"There is no other way out of this abyss and mayhem," he added.
Ricardo Pires, the communications manager and deputy spokesperson for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), asserted that Israel’s “disproportionate response” to the Hamas attack has left children suffering “in their bodies and minds for way too long."
Pires lamented that at least 61,000 Palestinian children have been killed or maimed in Gaza, which UNICEF has called "the world's most dangerous place to be a child," condemning that toll as an "unacceptable, staggering figure."
UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said in a statement: "Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Hundreds of thousands endure starvation and displacement. So we renew the call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, for all civilians to be protected, and for humanitarian aid to flow freely at the scale needed."
Fletcher also said that he's "seen and heard from... the survivors and the families" of Israelis and others abducted by Hamas-led resistance fighters on October 7, 2023.
"The pain is indescribable," he said. "Today, I renew my call for the unconditional, immediate release of all the hostages—and until then, they must be treated humanely."
As US President Donald Trump leads efforts to end the war by forcing both Israel and Hamas into major concessions, Human Rights Watch Israel and Palestine director Omar Shakir said Tuesday that "the two years since October 7, 2023 have brought a seemingly endless stream of atrocities against civilians."
"Governments should not wait for the adoption of Trump's 20-part plan or any other peace plan to take action to prevent further harm," he added.
Although Trump told Israel to "immediately stop" bombing Gaza after Hamas conditionally agreed last week to his plan, Israeli forces have continued bombing and invading the strip with the goal of conquering, occupying, and ethnically cleansing the Palestinian exclave. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in over 130 Israeli strikes since Trump's Friday exhortation, according to Gaza officials.
"The killing in Gaza continues," the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said ahead of Tuesday's anniversary, slamming Israel's use of the October 2023 attack as a "trigger for genocide" and "an escalation rooted in decades of apartheid and occupation."
B'Tselem had a simple message as the Gaza slaughter entered its third year: "Stop the genocide. Now."
Greta Gives FIERY, DEFIANT Speech After RELEASE From IDF Custody
US delegation led by Steve Witkoff due to arrive in Egypt for Gaza talks
A US delegation led by envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to join talks in Egypt on Wednesday to reinforce President Donald Trump’s involvement in the newly restarted negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at ending the war in Gaza. ... Badr Abdelatty, the Egyptian foreign minister, said the main current focus of the talks was establishing a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages and a number of Palestinian prisoners.
He said the parties were also discussing maps showing areas from where Israeli forces would withdraw in the first phase, which also includes “full and unconditional” delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza through the UN.
In his message marking the anniversary, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to achieve all the goals of the war, including crushing Hamas. “We are in fateful, decisive days,” the Israeli prime minister said on Tuesday evening. “We will continue to act to achieve all the war’s objectives: the return of all abductees, the elimination of Hamas’s rule and ensuring that Gaza will never again pose a threat to Israel.” ...
Netanyahu said talks would be “confined to a few days maximum” and Trump has said that Hamas must move quickly, “or else all bets will be off”. Many uncertainties remain, however, including over the demand that Hamas disarm, the extent of the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the future governance of Gaza.
COL. Douglas Macgregor : Can Iran Neutralize Israel’s Defenses?
U.S. Paves Road for WAR On Venezuela + Iran + Russia ALL AT ONCE | Mark Sleboda
The US Spent Over $31 Billion Aiding Israel in the Past Two Years
The Cost of War Project at Brown University calculated that total US military support to Israel over the past two years has cost US taxpayers over $30 billion. Israel has received over $21 billion in military aid from the US and Washington has bombed Iran and Yemen for Tel Aviv.
According to the study, the US has provided Israel with tens of thousands of bombs and other weaponry following the Hamas attack in southern Israel two years ago. The American arms have fueled Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The mass killing in Gaza with US weapons has pushed a growing number of Americans to oppose military aid and weapon sales to Israel. However, the growing opposition to the special relationship Washington has with Tel Aviv did not lead President Joe Biden or Donald Trump to curtail the flow of arms to Israel. ...
President Trump also joined Tel Aviv’s aggressive war against Iran and intercepted missiles targeting Israel. Overall, the US has spent between $10 and $13 billion helping Israel wage wars across the Middle East over the past two years.
Max Blumenthal: Charlie Kirk UPDATE | Israel-Iran War to ERUPT
Macron under pressure to call snap parliamentary elections or resign
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, is under intense pressure to call snap parliamentary elections or resign as former allies join his opponents in demanding he act to end a spiralling political crisis in the EU’s second biggest economy. Macron’s first prime minister on Tuesday urged the president to step down amid mounting frustration even within the president’s own camp over one of the worst spells of political chaos in France since the foundation of its Fifth Republic in 1958.
Édouard Philippe, prime minister from 2017 to 2020 and now leader of a Macron-allied party, said he should announce an early presidential election once a budget for next year was adopted. Macron was re-elected in April 2022 for a five-year term, but since snap legislative elections in 2024 his appointees as prime minister have been unable to summon a parliamentary majority to pass a budget.
“Time is of the essence,” Philippe said. “We are not going to prolong what we have been experiencing for the past six months. Another 18 months is far too long and it is damaging France. The political game we are playing today is distressing.” ...
In a scathing editorial, Le Monde said the crisis was a “tragic farce” and “yet another demonstration of the unravelling” of Macron’s second mandate since his re-election in 2022. “The president finds himself in a major crisis,” it said. The newspaper castigated France’s “entire political class”, which it said was “incapable of rising to the challenge”, preferring to posture in the run-up to the presidential ballot due in 2027 rather than “build a compromise essential for the months to come”. ...
The political crisis is being played out against the backdrop of France’s deepening financial woes: its debt-to-GDP ratio is the EU’s third-highest and almost twice the ceiling permitted under EU rules, as is its projected budget deficit of nearly 6%.
John Mearsheimer: West Destroying Itself in Ukraine & Gaza
Trump says there is ‘natural conflict’ with Canada during Carney visit
Donald Trump said there is “mutual love” but “natural conflict” between the US and Canada as he hailed progress towards a trade deal but offered few concrete concessions on steep US tariffs during a visit by the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney.
Carney’s second visit to the US comes as one of the world’s most durable and amicable alliances has been fractured by Trump’s trade war and annexation threats. Among the topics up for discussion are trade and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which is critical to Canada’s economy and is up for review next year.
Trump said he was willing to revisit the free trade agreement, which was enacted during his first term, or seek “different deals”. ...
There is fear in Canada over what will happen to the free trade agreement. Carney is looking to get some relief on some sector-specific tariffs, but expectations are low.
“Improving relations with the White House ahead of the USMCA review is certainly an objective of the trip, but opposition parties and part of the Canadian public will criticise Prime Minister Carney if he doesn’t achieve some progress on the tariff front at this stage,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.
Marjorie Taylor Greene open to healthcare deal with Democrats amid shutdown
Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has indicated she is willing to negotiate with Democrats over healthcare insurance costs – the central political issue that has kept the US government shut down since 1 October. Indicating that she is willing to stand against her party on the issue, Greene said Monday night in a post on the social platform X that she’s “absolutely disgusted” insurance premiums could double if a system of tax credits dating back to Barack Obama’s presidency is allowed to expire at the end of the year. ...
Greene, an adherent to the “Make America great again” (Maga) movement that has resulted in two presidencies for Donald Trump, said she was prepared to stand against her party on the issue. Republicans maintain that Democrats must allow the government to re-open before they will discuss healthcare concessions.
Greene made it a point to say that she has not changed her mind about opposing free healthcare to immigrants in the US without legal status – although, as Democratic House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said recently in an interview with ABC News, “federal law prohibits the use of Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Affordable Care Act to provide health insurance in any way, shape or form to undocumented immigrants”. ...
Greene also criticized members of her party for failing to find a solution or prioritize that issue over funding for the Ukraine-Russia war as well as Israel’s war in Gaza. “All our country does is fund foreign countries and foreign wars, and never does anything to help the American people!!!” she added. “It is absolutely shameful, disgusting, and traitorous, that our laws and policies screw the American people so much that the government is shut down right now fighting over basic issues like this.”
"Scary Precedent": GOP Blocks Rep.-Elect Adelita Grijalva from Taking Seat Amid Epstein Files Fight
Johnson Denies He's Delayed Swearing In Grijalva Due to Epstein Files
Since Democrat Adelita Grijalva won an Arizona special election for her late father's seat in the US House of Representatives two weeks ago, Speaker Mike Johnson has faced mounting accusations that he has intentionally delayed swearing her in—and on Tuesday, the Louisiana Republican attempted to quash those allegations.
Critics have highlighted that GOP Congressman Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine, both of Florida, were sworn in during a pro forma session right after winning special elections in April, and suggested that the delay for Grijalva stems from her support for a forcing a vote on a measure requiring the US Department of Justice to release its files on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who was friends with Republican President Donald Trump.
Johnson refused Democrats' requests to swear in Grijalva during a pro forma session early last week. She told The Hill at the time: "There's no reason why I couldn't have been sworn in, and it's very problematic, because we're facing a government shutdown. We're going to have constituents who have questions, and there is nobody there to answer questions."
On Tuesday, Johnson took questions from the press alongside other congressional leaders amid the government shutdown that began last Wednesday. CNN's Manu Raju noted the discrepancy between Johnson's treatment of the Republican congressman and Grijalva, as well as arguments that the speaker has pushed off swearing her in because she would sign the discharge petition for the Epstein files legislation.
"No, it has nothing to do with that at all," Johnson claimed. "We will swear her in when everybody gets back. It's a ceremonial duty."
He then added, "Look, we'll schedule it, I guess, as soon as she wants."
Johnson swore in GOP Reps. Patronis and Fine during April pro forma session.
The House has been holding regular pro formas (gavel in, gavel out sessions) and not conducting legislative business to pressure Senate Dems to approve the House’s stopgap to reopen the govt. https://t.co/cHXDfPMXJA
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 7, 2025
However, according to Raju, Johnson then said that he would swear in Grijalva "as soon as the House returns to session" and when Senate Majority Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Arizona's two Democratic senators, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, "decide to open up the government."
Republicans want to stick with their government spending plans, while Democrats are fighting to reverse the Medicaid cuts in the GOP's July budget package and extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, warning that absent urgent action by Congress, the health insurance of millions is at risk.
Earlier Tuesday, Johnson had walked away from a similar question about Grijalva, sparking a fresh wave of criticism, including from multiple Democrats in Congress.
"Adelita Grijalva is the duly elected representative for Arizona’s 7th congressional district," Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said on social media. "Speaker Johnson: Stop delaying her swearing in. Stop hiding the Epstein files. And start doing your job."
.@HouseGOP is keeping the government shut down to protect pedophiles. https://t.co/eIGSu6L62C
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) October 7, 2025
Responding to Johnson's new remarks, the Democratic National Committee's Kendall Witmer said in a Tuesday statement that "after countless excuses and delays, Mike Johnson finally committed to swearing in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva 'as soon as she wants'—so do it, Speaker Johnson."
"The American people are done with the stalling, delaying, and lying that has come out of Trump's White House and his Republican loyalists in Congress as they try to cover up the truth about Jeffrey Epstein's heinous crimes," Witmer added. "The public deserves answers—not excuses. Swear her in. Release the files."
Soybean Farmers SUFFER As Milei DANCES With US BAILOUT
White House says furloughed federal workers not entitled to back pay amid shutdown
The White House’s office of management and budget (OMB) is arguing that federal workers who are furloughed amid the ongoing government shutdown are not entitled to back pay. In a draft memo first obtained by Axios, OMB argued that an amendment to the Government Employee Fair Treatment Act (GEFTA) of 2019 would not guarantee furloughed workers back pay and that said funds must be set aside by Congress.
“The legislation that ends the current lapse in appropriations must include express language appropriating funds for back pay for furloughed employees, or such payments cannot be made,” said Mark Paoletta, OMB’s general counsel, in a draft addressed to White House budget director Russell Vought, the Washington Post reported.
The OMB previously revised a shutdown guidance document on Friday to remove reference to the GEFTA Act, reported Government Executive, a media site reporting on the US executive branch. Donald Trump previously signed GEFTA into law after the 2019 government shutdown, which lasted for 35 days. While many understood the law to automatically guarantee pay for federal workers, the White House’s OMB is arguing against that interpretation, suggesting that the law only created the conditions for back pay.
Trump and other Republicans have not confirmed if workers would be paid when the government reopens. When asked about the White House’s stance on back payment for federal workers, Trump said “it depends who we’re talking about” during comments in the Oval Office on Tuesday. Trump also added that he planned to announce additional government programs that will be permanently eliminated as the shutdown continues as well as possible layoffs, CNN reported.
Texas national guard troops arrive in Chicago amid Trump’s crackdown
Texas national guard troops have arrived in the Chicago area, marking an escalation of Donald Trump’s crackdown on the city. Chicago has already seen a ramping up of immigration enforcement in the past few weeks, as well as increasingly violent altercations in the suburb of Broadview, where law enforcement has been filmed deploying tear gas and pepper gas against protestors.
The latest military presence comes after April Perry, a US district judge, declined to immediately block troops from entering the city amid a pending lawsuit from the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago against the Trump administration’s actions.
Kwame Raoul, the Illinois attorney general, had filed the lawsuit on Monday in order to stop Trump from enlisting the state’s national guard or sending in troops from other states such as Texas “immediately and permanently”. But after Perry’s ruling, the troops were mobilized on Monday, and multiple outlets, including the Chicago Tribune and New York Times confirmed they were remaining in the Chicago area on Tuesday.
Brandon Johnson, Chicago’s mayor, also signed an executive order banning Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents from operating on city-owned properties, the third executive order attempting to limit the power of Ice agents in the city since Trump first signaled the deployment. “City property and unwilling private businesses will no longer serve as staging grounds for these raids,” said Johnson during the order’s signing on Monday. “The fact is, we cannot allow them to rampage throughout our city with no checks or balances. Nobody is above the law … if Congress will not check this administration, then Chicago will.”
The White House accused the mayor of “aiding and abetting criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, traffickers, and gang bangers”, Newsweek reported.
SCOTUS DENIES Ghislaine Maxwell's Appeal: Will Trump PARDON HER?
Mamdani attends Israelis for Peace vigil after his 7 October statement draws ire from Israel
The New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday evening attended a vigil in Manhattan convened by Israelis for Peace, an anti-occupation group of Israelis in New York who have rallied weekly since 2023 to call for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages.
Sitting in Union Square alongside New York City comptroller Brad Lander, his one-time rival for the Democratic nomination who has been campaigning for him, Mamdani listened as speakers at the event – which marked the two-year anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel – called for an end to the killing and to Israel’s occupation, and for equal rights for Palestinians.
Earlier in the day, Mamdani drew ire from Israel over his statement on the anniversary in which he commemorated both the Israeli victims from that day and Palestinian victims from Israel’s ensuing war on Gaza. “Two years ago today, Hamas carried out a horrific war crime, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and kidnapping 250 more. I mourn these lives and pray for the safe return of every hostage still held and for every family whose lives were torn apart by these atrocities,” Mamdani said in the statement on Tuesday.
He denounced Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his government for launching a “genocidal war” in Gaza as well. He also accused the US government of being “complicit”.
“A death toll that now far exceeds 67,000; with the Israeli military bombing homes, hospitals, and schools into rubble,” Mamdani wrote. “Every day in Gaza has become a place where grief itself has run out of language. I mourn these lives and pray for the families that have been shattered.” He said the last two years had “demonstrated the very worst of humanity” and called for an end to Israeli “occupation and apartheid”.
Glacier melt will lead to ice-free peaks in California for first time in human history
Deep in California’s Sierra Nevada, massive glaciers are disappearing and projected to melt away completely by the beginning of the next century, leaving ice-free peaks for the first time in human history, new research has found. The mountain range’s glaciers are older than previously known, dating back tens of thousands of years, with some as old as the last ice age, according to an article published last week in Science Advances.
“Our reconstructed glacial history indicates that a future glacier-free Sierra Nevada is unprecedented in human history since known peopling of the Americas ~20,000 years ago,” the article states.
Glaciers around the world are under threat amid the climate crisis. A study published in May of this year found that nearly 40% of glaciers are doomed to melt because of global heating. If such heating increases by 2.7C, which the world is currently on track for, as many as 75% will disappear, causing sea level rise and mass displacement.
Across the American west, glaciers have shrunk significantly since they were first documented in the late 19th century, according to the article. The new research focuses on four Sierra Nevada glaciers – the Conness, Maclure, Lyell and Palisade glaciers – that are among the largest and likely oldest in the range. Their longevity amid climate warming makes them “bellwethers” for examining glacier disappearance in the west, the article states.
New Zealand oceans warming 34% faster than global average, putting homes and industry at risk
New Zealand’s oceans are warming 34% faster than the global average, with NZ$180bn (US$104bn) worth of housing at risk of flooding, a new report about the nation’s marine environment has revealed.
The ministry of the environment and Stats NZ’s three-yearly update, Our Environment 2025, collates statistics, data and research across five domains – air, atmosphere and climate, freshwater, land, and marine – to paint a picture of the state of New Zealand’s marine environment.
The latest in the series, Our Marine Environment 2025, painted a sobering picture for the country’s oceans and coasts – one defined by warming and rising seas, intensifying marine heatwaves and ocean acidification, brought about by global heating.
“Climate change isn’t just something far and distant … it has impacts on our ocean and on our coast,” Dr Alison Collins, the ministry’s chief science adviser, told the Guardian. “The coastal zone is under a real squeeze … and the importance of that coastal environment is absolutely critical – it’s what we rely on in terms of our homes, our communities, our livelihoods and ultimately our connection to place.”
The report presented a wide array of risks associated with the marine changes, including threats to indigenous marine species, coastal inundation and flooding of homes, as well as stronger and more devastating storms, and risks to communities and the economy.
Brexit has done nothing to stem sharp decline of UK fish populations, shows study
The UK’s populations of fish such as cod, herring and mackerel are still being “grossly mismanaged” by politicians and overfished, despite hitting unhealthy levels, a study has found. British fish stocks have been under growing pressure for decades, but during the Brexit campaign some politicians promised that leaving the EU would allow the UK to take control.
The reality, say ocean experts, is that in the five years since leaving the EU, rather than protecting British fish, politicians have set catch limits too high, allowing international trawlers to plunder stocks. Of 105 stocks assessed, the report by Oceana UK found that only 41% were considered to be healthy, meaning they were not being fished so much that they were unable to repopulate.
Hugo Tagholm, the executive director of Oceana UK, said: “Five years after becoming an independent coastal state, the UK seems to have accepted a state of relentless decline. We urgently need a plan to end overfishing, one that follows the science and puts our seas on a long-term path to recovery – ensuring a new generation of coastal prosperity. But this requires leadership. Ministers must act now to redefine the future of fishing, so that those that fish in harmony with nature are prioritised over those that devastate our seabed and empty our seas.”
North Sea cod is at critically low levels, yet continues to be overfished. The same is true for Celtic sea cod, Irish sea whiting, Irish sea herring and North Sea and east English Channel horse mackerel.
Callum Roberts, a professor of marine conservation at the University of Exeter, said: “These results highlight the gross mismanagement of the UK’s greatest natural asset – its seas. The government has the best fisheries science at its fingertips, and even when data are scarce, the course to restoration is clear. Our seas are already at risk from oil, sewage and agri-chemical pollution; habitat destruction; and the climate crisis. We need to move away from brute extraction, regardless of collateral damage and set a new course to make fishing fair, evidence-based and above all sustainable, so that it works within nature’s limits.”
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
The ruin of Gaza: how Israel’s two-year assault has devastated the territory
Emmanuel Todd – ‘The Defeat Of The West’ In Its Current Phase
Rutgers professor moving to Europe after threats over antifa accusations
Netanyahu, Ben Shapiro SALIVATE Over US WAR With Iran
US/NATO test Putin's restraint
Prof. Glenn Diesen : Are Ukraine Troops Retreating?
Phil Giraldi : Trump and His Generals
A Little Night Music
Johnny Young And His Chicago Blues Band – I'm Having A Ball
Johnny Young's South Side Blues Band – Kid Man Blues
Johnny Young And His Chicago Blues Band – Come Early In The Morning
Johnny Young's South Side Blues Band – Tighten Up On It
Johnny Young and Big Walter - Strange Girl
Johnny Young - Stealin'
Johnny Young - Keep On Drinking
Johnny Young & Big Walter Horton ~ Drinking Straight Whiskey & Sleeping With The Devil
Johnny Young And His Chicago Blues Band – Cross Cut Saw
Comments
As always...
thanks for the news and blues joe!
One of my favorite sayings is "Always forward. Never straight".
Once again I find myself moving to hopefully better surroundings.
I'll soon be leaving the home I thought I would die in to a whole new, hopefully exciting place. Although I've put much thought into leaving the country, I realized that I've seen almost nothing of my home of Michigan. I can't run away from that which I don't know, to that I know even less of.
Besides, I wish to see how much turmoil I can cause to such a destructive system without running like a moth into the fire.
Thanks again.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Let us know where you wind up. friend.
If it turns out to be Paradise, we will be your neighbors soon!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening pricknick...
good luck in your new surroundings! i hope everything turns out well and america gets over the hump of its current explosion of stupidity.
have a good one!
Would you be going to the Irish Hills by chance?
.
It really is a lovely area.
An almost magical aura.
Hadn't realized you had left.
Wish you the best of luck.
Zionism is a social disease
I am leaving
with a bit of wonder. There is magic in the hills.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Hi Pricknick
I too want to wish you well on your adventures. You must feel quite excited with anticipation, and comfortably confident to leave the home that you thought was forever. Maybe you could once in a while share your experience and images of new places. I would enjoy hearing from you, and I miss seeing photos of your environment, that you sometimes shared in Friday Photography.
All the very best, Pricknick
Good evening Joe, thanks for the EBs. Two of the articles of
interest, both by the Gurdian, gave me a chuckle. The one on MR, Bray bas a teaser head in the sidebar
-- that's easy, it is a fictional organization and he is a charlatan, showman and bullshit artist.
The other attempts to imply that part of the promise of Brexit was improved management and conservation of Englands fishery stocks. As I recall, it was well understood by the fisherfolk that they would no longer be subject to to the kind of quotas they were facing at the time.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
evening el...
that was a great short answer.
if i recall correctly, brexit was supposed to keep those smelly europeans from fishing in britain's waters and rapidly depleting its fish stocks. i guess it turns out that greedy british corporations just wanted all of the fish stocks for themselves and well, the hell with the management thing.
have a great evening!
Hey, joe!
I have read a theory a couple of times this week. The Israelis use hostages as an excuse to bomb the Palestinians and have support from people around the world for that.
If the hostages were returned...what would the Israeli imperative be to continue the genocide, and would world opinion turn against them?
Treading the antisemitism trail is damn tricky.
Great ebs, joe!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening otc...
heh, does israel really need an excuse? well, if it does, it will just say that hamas still exists, therefore israel is in constant peril of another al-aqsa flood style attack - therefore they must erase all arabs from greater israel and anybody that opposes that is an anti-semite.
there you go. have a great evening!
Well, feeding the live hostages
could be food to their people, just sayin'...
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
A lullaby for tonight's sleep
"The Trump Administration is a white-collar crime cartel" -- Max Blumenthal
evening cass...
well, that was a curiosity, thanks!
Evening joe and bluesters
What a waste of time to devote oneself to vengeance or retribution. It seems like a dead end with no benefit along the way. You could though, enjoyably spend time listening to Johnny Young.
A view from NZ, regarding youth unemployment and its treatment by the current government, Greta Thunberg and the flotilla, and Trump’s National Security Memorandum.
Greta
Trump
Be well all
evening janis...
heh, vengeance seems to be the national pastime of a certain middle eastern state, i wish they would spend more time listening to johnny young and others of his ilk.
it looks like at least in new zealand they have the ability in their popular media to discuss their imperial/capital miseries. hopefully your media won't get bought off by a single interested party with an agenda.
Hi joe
Thankfully there is still some independent public media, but over the years I have also seen much of it become more conservative and agenderised.