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This evening's music features Chicago blues guitarist and singer Magic Slim. Enjoy!

“Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it, 'all men are created equal, except negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read, 'all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.' When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty—to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”

-- Abraham Lincoln

News and Opinion

Fearmongering Around Muslim Immigrants Echoes Anti-Asian Hysteria of Past

On May 6, 1882, U.S. President Chester Arthur signed into law the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first in a series of discriminatory legal measures aimed at curbing immigration from Asia. Speaking at the time of its passage, California Sen. John F. Miller, a leading proponent of the law, declared that the Chinese were “an inferior sort of men” and that “Chinese civilization in its pure essence appears as a rival to American civilization. It is a product of a people alien in every characteristic to our people, and it has never yet produced and can never evolve any form of government other than an imperial despotism. Free government is incompatible with it, and both cannot exist together.” ...

“The type of rhetoric we’re seeing today about Muslims is both very similar and also slightly different from that which was used to describe Asian immigrants in the past,” said University of Minnesota professor Erika Lee. A specialist in immigration studies, Lee is also author of the 2015 book The Making of Asian America, which chronicles in part the anti-Asian sentiment that new arrivals often had to contend with. “Like Muslims, Asian immigrants were characterized as a slowly creeping civilizational threat to the security and integrity of the United States, but today, with Muslims, there is also the additional allegation that they have a violent intent to overthrow the existing order.” ...

Japanese-Americans and Muslims in particular share another touchstone experience: a major attack on U.S. soil to which their community was ascribed collective blame. Following the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry of the United States into World War II, Japanese-Americans were subjected to an unprecedented degree of hostility and scrutiny, particularly by mainstream media figures. ... Nationally syndicated newspaper pundits played a key role in the campaign for punitive measures against Japanese-Americans, including internment. In the Washington Post, popular syndicated columnist Westbrook Pegler wrote in favor of mass internment of Japanese-Americans on the West Coast, declaring, “To hell with habeas corpus until the danger is over.” ...

Despite government intelligence reports into the Japanese-American community that concluded there was “no Japanese problem,” and that indeed many were “pathetically eager” to show their loyalty to the United States, on February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, the authorization for mass internment. Right up to the time the order was signed, the media campaign against the Japanese community continued, with the Washington Post publishing a now-infamous editorial by columnist Walter Lippmann describing Japanese-Americans as “The Fifth Column on the Coast.”

Investigation of SEAL Conduct in Afghanistan Is Reopened

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has reopened its investigation into allegations that Navy SEALs and Afghan police militiamen beat several detainees, including one who died, at an isolated outpost in Afghanistan in 2012, agency officials said Thursday.

The agency’s action came after revelations in an article in The New York Times last month about new Afghan witnesses and questions from congressional leaders about how the Navy handled the case.

The case began when four United States Army soldiers stationed at an outpost with the SEAL team told N.C.I.S. investigators that they saw three SEAL team members kicking several detainees, dropping heavy stones on their chests and firing guns near their heads. The Navy investigators also interviewed several Afghans and Navy personnel who described some of the abuses.

A Navy lawyer advising the command recommended in 2012 that three members of the SEALs be charged with assault. But a SEAL commander cleared the team members of any wrongdoing in a closed disciplinary process typically used only for minor infractions. The SEAL team members denied any misconduct.

“The article raised real concerns,” said Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont. “After learning of the testimonies of the U.S. service members who were interviewed by the Navy investigators, I felt that it warranted further inquiry by the Pentagon, and it is proper that the case is being reopened.”

Ten Detainees Transferred, Leaving Fewer Than 100 Prisoners at Guantánamo

Ten Guantanamo prisoners arrived in Oman today, a move that leaves fewer than 100 men held in the island prison. ...

The move means that 14 people have left the prison in 2016. ... Of the 93 men left in the prison, 34 have been cleared for transfer, provided the Obama administration can find countries to take them in. Seven are currently facing charges before the military commission — including the five accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks — and three have been convicted and are serving or awaiting their sentences.

The rest of the men are in limbo waiting on Periodic Review Boards, an interagency process that the Obama administration designed to evaluate the status of Guantánamo’s “forever” prisoners. These were men that the government had originally designated too dangerous to release, but could not charge with a crime. The review boards are meant to determine whether the government believes they still pose a threat to the United States. ...

The Obama administration also still has to present a plan to Congress for how it intends to actually close the prison and deal with any remaining detainees who cannot be transferred to other countries.

“Time is running out, and Obama has made Gitmo central to his legacy,” said Jonathan Hafetz, a law professor at Seton Hall University. “And while Congress is to blame for much of the current situation, Obama will bear considerable responsibility as well. There’s a disconnect with what the president eloquently says in speeches and what actually goes on, on the ground, in the world of Guantánamo.”

Enduring Bases, Enduring War in the Middle East

Amid the distractions of the holiday season, the New York Times revealed that the Obama administration is considering a Pentagon proposal to create a “new” and “enduring” system of military bases around the Middle East. Though this is being presented as a response to the rise of the Islamic State and other militant groups, there’s remarkably little that’s new about the Pentagon plan. For more than 36 years, the U.S. military has been building an unprecedented constellation of bases that stretches from Southern Europe and the Middle East to Africa and Southwest Asia.

The record of these bases is disastrous. They have cost tens of billions of dollars and provided support for a long list of undemocratic host regimes, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and Djibouti. They have enabled a series of U.S. wars
and military interventions, including the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which have
helped make the Greater Middle East a cauldron of sectarian-tinged power struggles, failed states, and humanitarian catastrophe. And the bases have fueled radicalism, anti-Americanism, and the growth of the very terrorist organizations now targeted by the supposedly new strategy.

If there is much of anything new about the plan, it’s the public acknowledgement of what some (including TomDispatch) have long suspected: despite years of denials about the existence of any “permanent bases” in the Greater Middle East or desire for the same, the military intends to maintain a collection of bases in the region for decades, if not generations, to come. ...

Far from new, however, this strategy predates both the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. In fact, it goes back to 1980 and the Carter
Doctrine. That was the moment when President Jimmy Carter first asserted that the United States would secure Middle Eastern oil and natural gas by “any means necessary, including military force.” ...

Above all, the base structure the Pentagon has built since 1980 has enabled military interventions and wars of choice in 13 countries in the Greater Middle East. In the absence of a superpower competitor, these bases made each military action – worst of all the disastrous invasion of Iraq – all too easy to contemplate, launch, and carry out. Today, it seems beyond irony that the target of the Pentagon’s “new” base strategy is the Islamic State, whose very existence and growth we owe to the Iraq War and the chaos it created. If the White House and Congress approve the Pentagon’s plan and the military succeeds in further entrenching and expanding its bases in the region, we need only ask: What violence will this next round of base expansion bring?

Pentagon Chief: US Sailors Made ‘Navigational Error’ Entering Iranian Waters

The Pentagon continues to change its official excuse for this week’s incident in which a pair of US boats crossed into Iranian territorial waters, and by some accounts one even ran aground into an Iranian island, now denying that their “mechanical failures” even happened.

Instead, Defense Secretary Ash Carter claimed today that the sailors made a “navigational error” and didn’t tell anybody about it until after they got caught in Iranian waters. He appeared to be setting the stage for more revision, saying the military still doesn’t “fully know” what happened.

Al-Qaeda Chief Calls for Attacks Over Saudi Executions

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has issued an audio recording this week calling for attacks against Saudi Arabia and its allies in retaliation for the recent execution of 43 members of al-Qaeda who had been held in prison, urging his supporters to overthrow the ruling dynasty.

Saudi Arabia carried out the executions on January 3, killing the al-Qaeda members and also a handful of Shi’ite protesters, including top Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. At the time, it was believed killing the Shi’ites was an effort by the Saudis to placate Islamist groups over the killing of the al-Qaeda members.

Turkey 'kills 200 Isis militants' in wave of revenge attacks for Istanbul bombing

Turkey claims to have killed nearly 200 Isis fighters in a series of retaliatory attacks after the deadly suicide bombing in Istanbul. ...

On Thursday, the Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the military had used tanks and artillery fire to target 500 Isis positions along the border with Turkey and near a Turkish camp in Syria and Iraq.

He said close to 200 extremists were "rendered ineffective" - the phrase used by the Turkish government to mean killed - in the 48 hours since the terror attack.

Turkey detains academics for petition against anti-Kurdish military campaign

Turkey Detains 21 'Academics for Peace' for Anti-Violence Petition

Turkish security forces detained at least 21 academics accused of signing a declaration calling for renewed efforts to end violence between government forces and Kurdish separatists, Turkish media reported on Friday.

The declaration criticized the Turkish government's handling of recent violence in the predominantly Kurdish southeast and called for the end of curfews. It also called on the government to "prepare the conditions for negotiations and create a road map that would lead to a lasting peace which includes the demands of the Kurdish political movement."

The online declaration — which has been hacked and blocked in Turkey — was signed by more than 1,000 people, including the American philosopher Noam Chomsky.  A cached version can be seen here. 

Prosecutors had launched an investigation into the declaration on Thursday after its signatories were heavily criticized by both President Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu for supporting what they call terrorism.

The Widow of a Man Killed in Islamic State Attack Is Suing Twitter

Twitter is being sued by the widow of an American killed in Jordan who accuses the social media company of giving a voice to Islamic State (IS), adding to the pressure to crack down on online propaganda linked to terrorism.

Tamara Fields, a Florida woman whose husband Lloyd died in the November 9 attack on the police training center in Amman, said Twitter knowingly let the militant Islamist group use its network to spread propaganda, raise money, and attract recruits.

Lawyers specializing in terrorism said Fields faces an uphill battle, though the case could lead to more calls for social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook Inc to take down posts associated with terrorist groups.

From Comic to President Under Pressure — Jimmy Morales Takes Office in Guatemala

Former TV comedian Jimmy Morales was inaugurated as Guatemala's new president on Thursday with questions hanging over his ability to deliver on pledges to clean up corruption, as well as about his links to former military officers accused of human rights atrocities. ...

Morales is taking office under the shadow of a major new judicial effort to bring war criminals to justice. The case has highlighted allegations that, rather than representing citizen power, the new president is backed by former military officers tied to some of the worst episodes of the country's bloody history. ...

Guatemala's chief prosecutor Thelma Aldana announced arrest warrants for 18 high-ranking former members of the military for crimes allegedly committed during the conflict that lasted until peace accords were signed in 1996. A UN-sponsored truth commission concluded that the army carries most of the blame for the estimated 245,000 people killed or disappeared during its war with left wing guerrilla groups.

But the most uncomfortable problem for the new president is related to additional efforts by prosecutor Aldana to strip retired colonel and newly-elected deputy Edgar Justino Ovalle Maldonado of his immunity from prosecution as a member of the legislature. Ovalle Maldonado is a member of President Morales' inner circle.

The announcement of the arrests, and the potential charges against Ovalle Maldonado, was seen by many observers as a warning to the new president.

"These charges represent a direct message from the judicial system that the military will not govern again in Guatemala," said Jesús Hernández, a political science professor at the Rafael Landívar University in Quetzaltenango. "The old guard of the military surrounds Jimmy, but this sends the message that this is a new era and the judicial system will fight impunity; we are not returning to the past."

Ecuador to Cooperate with Sweden to Question Julian Assange

The Ecuadorean government agreed on Wednesday to cooperate with Swedish prosecutors to question WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Ecuador’s embassy in London, where he has sought refuge for over three years.

"We will cooperate with the Swedish justice system so they can take statements. We have said that from the beginning," Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño told media. ...

Patiño questioned why Swedish authorities have taken so long to act on the option of questioning Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy and added that the process will be subject to Ecuadorean law.

“We keep our word and they too will have to uphold Ecuadorean law and the human rights that are practiced and defended in this country,” said Patiño.

Emergency for Democracy: Unelected Manager Who Caused Flint Water Crisis Now Runs Detroit Schools

Amash bill would repeal new cybersecurity law

Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) on Wednesday introduced a bill to repeal a major cybersecurity bill signed into law just weeks ago.

In a statement, the libertarian lawmaker called it “the worst anti-privacy law since the USA Patriot Act.”

Passed in December as part of the $1.1 trillion government spending bill, the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 gives businesses legal protections to encourage them to share more data on hacking threats with the government.

Proponents — including the White House — argue the measure is needed to better understand and thwart the cyberattacks plaguing the public and private sectors. But privacy advocates and many tech companies say the bill will merely shuttle more private data on Americans to intelligence agencies.

Judge orders city to release Cedrick Chatman shooting video

Footage of 2013 police shooting of Chicago teenager released

Chicago has released footage of the police shooting of black teenager Cedrick Chatman, hours after a federal judge ordered the city hand over three videos on Thursday.

Two videos, from traffic surveillance cameras, show Cedrick exit a car and take flight on foot. Despite the grainy quality of the footage, two officers can be seen chasing him, one following close into a building’s shadow and the other clearly holding a gun. As Cedrick reaches the corner, and the edge of the image’s frame, the camera swivels, during which time Cedrick appears to have been struck by a bullet. ...

According to police, Cedrick eventually stopped running, turned and pointed an object toward the two officers chasing him. One of the officers, Kevin Fry, fired four shots. Fry later said he feared for his and his partner’s life. The object recovered at the scene was a black iPhone box.

A Chatman family lawyer said the video would show he never turned and posed no threat. ...

Aislinn Sol, chapter leader of activist group Black Lives Matters Chicago, said: “Once again, we have a release of a video disproving official police accounts of a death of a young black man that the City of Chicago fought tooth and nail to keep hidden.

“This is the third video release in as little as two months that reflect years of criminal obstruction committed by City government to cover up a murder of a civilian committed by a police officer.

“The videos of Laquan McDonald, Ronald Johnson and Cedrick Chatman were all released only after months and years of struggle including multiple FOIA requests and lawsuits. There is no system of police accountability in the City of Chicago, what exists is a system of deep entrenched conspiracy to protect police at all costs, even after criminal acts of violence and murder are committed.”

He added that “Rahm Emanuel and the entire system of corrupt complicit participation by City government must go”.

Why Hillary Clinton Is Completely Oblivious to the Disappearing American Middle Class

Vowing not to raise taxes on households making $250,000 or less a year, Ms. Clinton ignores U.S. Census data that puts median household incomes at $53,657

According to Money Nation, Hillary Clinton’s net worth is $31.3 million. Her husband, Bill Clinton, has an estimated net worth of $80 million. A Forbes report found there are just over 5,000 households in the United States with a net worth of over $100 million; the Clintons are one of them. Yet despite being one of the wealthiest people in the country, Ms. Clinton wants voters to believe her interests lie with the middle class.

Ms. Clinton’s wealth has detached her from reality, particularly in regard to her definition of the middle class. With her promise not to raise taxes on households making $250,000 or less a year, she ignores the most recent U.S. Census data, which find the median household income is $53,657. Comparing the struggles of a household that makes $53,000 annually to one making nearly $250,000 annually suggests that Ms. Clinton has a complete misunderstanding of what middle class in America actually means.

The middle class is working paycheck to paycheck, balancing mortgages or rent and—in many cases—student loans, car loans and credit card debt. Middle class living expenses pile up to the point where, at the end of the month, even the most frugal households are fortunate to have anything leftover.

“I don’t think we should be imposing new big programs that are going to raise middle class families’ taxes,” Ms. Clinton said, during the second Democratic debate.  ... The ‘new big programs’ Ms. Clinton refers to are Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign platforms—a $1 trillion plan designed not only to revitalize America’s crumbling infrastructure, but to create thousands of jobs for Americans desperately looking for well paid work, all for less than the cost of the Iraq War. ...

Hillary Clinton does not understand what being middle class in America means, and the fact the middle class has been disappearing since the 2008 recession is lost on her and many other politicians. She uses the term as a buzzword to garner more political support, and her pledges are meaningless for those struggling to reach a middle class status.

Howard Dean's bread is buttered on the corporate side.

Howard Dean, Now Employed by Health Care Lobby Firm, Opposes Bernie Sanders on Single-Payer

Howard Dean is the latest in a string of Hillary Clinton supporters to charge that Bernie Sanders is wrong to support a single-payer health care plan. The former chairman of the Democratic National Committee claimed on MSNBC last night that Sanders’ reform might result in “chaos” because “trying to implement it would in fact undo people’s health care.” Dean added, “That is something people should be concerned about.”

Dean, a longtime supporter of single-payer, seemed to be changing his tune, a point made by host Chris Hayes during the segment.

Dean, though he rarely discloses the title during his media appearances, now serves as senior advisor to the law firm Dentons, where he works with the firm’s Public Policy and Regulation practice, a euphemism for Dentons’ lobbying team. ... The Dentons Public Policy and Regulation practice lobbies on behalf of a variety of corporate health care interests, including the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a powerful trade group for drugmakers like Pfizer and Merck. ...

In 2009, Dean praised single-payer while speaking on Democracy Now, calling the idea “by far the most economically efficient system.” That’s because, as Dean noted at the time, a Medicare-for-all style single-payer system would cut down on bureaucratic overhead and do a better job at controlling prices. An analysis by University of Massachusetts at Amherst professor Gerald Friedman found that the single-payer plan introduced into the last Congress, for instance, would save $592 billion, while expanding coverage to all uninsured Americans, regardless of ability to pay. Over 95 percent of households would see higher after-tax income because of the cost controls and elimination of insurance premiums.

Clinton campaign 'surprised' over Bernie Sanders's new 'negative' TV ad

The Democratic frontrunner’s campaign organized a news conference call with reporters on Thursday, following the release of a new ad by the Bernie Sanders campaign that it deemed to be “negative”. Recalling Sanders’s pledge not to run negative advertising, Hillary Clinton’s campaign was somewhat outraged by what they said was an obvious change in tone. ...

The ad itself is, by most accounts, rather mild. It features Sanders, a senator from Vermont, speaking straight to the camera and painting a contrast between “two Democratic visions” for regulating Wall Street. ...

Reporters pressed the Clinton campaign several times during the call on whether they truly felt the ad was “negative”, to which both Mook and Benenson reiterated that it violated, in their view, Sanders’s vow not to run attack ads. ...

Clinton’s campaign has aggressively attacked Sanders over his record on gun control and released a new ad itself [Clinton's similarly "negative" ad appears to have been posted 2 days prior to Sanders' ad. - js] drawing a contrast on the issue. Clinton similarly speaks to the camera and, while not invoking Sanders’s name, says it’s “time to pick a side” between the gun lobby and those standing up against it.

We Haven't Scratched the Surface of What Bernie Is Capable Of

OK, shit's starting to get real on the Democratic side of things.

As the countdown to the caucuses continues, 40 percent of Democrats say they could be persuaded to change their minds about their first choice candidate. Sanders is running strong with young voters and with those who say they plan to attend their first caucus on February 1—the same type of coalition that helped Barack Obama surge to victory over Clinton in Iowa in 2008. Among those younger than 45, Sanders bests Clinton 59 percent to 27 percent. And among those who say they plan to attend their first caucus, he leads 52 percent to 34 percent. Clinton wins with older Democrats (56 percent to 26 percent) and women (49 percent to 32 percent). Both candidates remain popular with Democrats in the state. Eighty-nine percent said they view Sanders favorably, while 86 percent said the same of the former secretary of state.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, polling numbers as they relate to the screwy Iowa caucus system are completely meaningless, since so much depends on your campaign's ability to get enough white people to the local middle school. But the race has tightened in New Hampshire as well, and that leaves us to ponder what the week of free media is going to be like if Hillary Rodham Clinton, the consensus frontrunner, comes out of the beginning of the actual process at 0-2.

(I think cable news would be rendered a nightmare and/or a bloodbath. But I also think she's the only candidate alive who could survive those early losses. What she would have to do to survive them—raise even more big money, get physical with the TV ads, move toward a more Bill-type—likely would alienate further the party's activist base.)

And, if you want some more evidence that shit's getting real on the Democratic side, consider that the Clinton campaign has unlimbered Chelsea Clinton to rip Sanders on health care, and consider that HRC herself has decided to appear on Squint and the Meat Puppet [I think that this is Pierce's special name for Morning Joe. - js] on Friday in what appears to be a desperate attempt to re-establish some Green Room cred.

Donald Trump, the New George Wallace? Head of Segregationist's 1968 Bid on GOP Front-Runner's Racism

'Nail in the Coffin': Obama to Halt New Coal Mining Leases on Public Lands

The White House on Friday will announce a halt to new coal mining leases on federal lands until the administration conducts a comprehensive review on coal companies' royalty fees—a move that is expected to give new momentum to the environmental campaigns calling for a post-fossil fuel era.

"The only safe place for coal in the 21st century is deep underground—these reforms will help keep more of it there," said Bill McKibben, co-founder of climate advocacy group 350.org. "And they'll set the precedent that must quickly be applied to oil and gas as well."

A moratorium would effectively block coal production on federal lands and could put the "nail in the coffin" for the rapidly dwindling coal industry, activists said. Roughly 40 percent of coal produced in the U.S. comes from reserves on federal lands.

Flint Doctor Mona Hanna-Attisha on How She Fought Gov't Denials to Expose Poisoning of City's Kids

Poisoned Flint Residents File Suit Against Gov. Snyder

Michigan residents who say they've suffered injury from drinking lead-contaminated water have filed a class-action lawsuit against Gov. Rick Snyder, the state, and the city of Flint.

Plaintiffs Doris Collins, Robin Pleasant, and Jason Phinisee, all Flint residents who paid for—and in some cases continue to pay for—undrinkable water, filed the suit (pdf) on behalf of approximately 31,000 household residents who have also been affected by the public-health crisis.

They say state and city officials all breached their contract to provide drinkable water, in return for payment, from April 2014 to the present. They charge that the "use of said funds without providing drinkable water as promised, constitutes unjust enrichment to the extent of the monies collected." ...

The lawsuit also cites violation of the state's Consumer Protection Act, reading:

Prior to the time the State was forced to admit that it was responsible for poisoning the water, the State knowingly made false statements concerning the drinkability of the water. The State's statements that the water was suitable was drinking water were acts that were unfair, deceptive and practiced in violation of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.

Meanwhile, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) reported this week that cases of the potentially fatal Legionnaires' Disease have soared in Genesee County following the city's move to the toxic water source.

And now, murder. BREAKING: 10 people dead in Flint from Legionnaires Disease. Flint River water suspected. No arrests yet. #ArrestGovSnyder

— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) January 14, 2016

Historic Test for Climate Defenders Dealt Legal Blow

A group of climate activists known as the Delta 5 facing trial for blocking an oil train were reportedly dealt a blow on Thursday when the judge "undercut their ability" to defend their act of civil disobedience on the basis of the threat of climate change.

Though last week Snohomish County Judge Anthony Howard took the unprecedented step of allowing the defense to use the "necessity defense"—an argument to justify action taken on behalf of the planet—it now appears the jury will not be able to consider that defense.

Judge will not give necessity defense instructions to the jury. Defense can't make necessity defense argument in closing statements. #Delta5

— Tim DeChristopher (@dechristopher) January 14, 2016

Wow, this is an audacious corporation!

Famed Yosemite hotels and landmarks forced to change names

The names of iconic hotels and other landmarks in the world-famous Yosemite national park will soon change in an ongoing battle over who owns the intellectual property, park officials said Thursday. ...

The move at Yosemite comes in an ongoing dispute with Delaware North, the company that recently lost a $2bn bid – the National Park Services’ largest single contract – to run Yosemite’s hotels, restaurants and outdoor activities.

The park service says it belatedly learned that Delaware North had applied for the trademarks for the names when it prepared to open bids for the concessionary operation. Yosemite awarded a 15-year contract to Aramark last year. ...

Delaware North demands to be paid $51m for the names and other intellectual property. The New York-based firm filed a lawsuit last year, saying that when it won the contract in 1993, the park service required the company to buy the former concessionaire’s assets. ...

Yosemite national park – another name that is also claimed by Delaware North and remains in dispute – will stay put, park spokesman Scott Gediman said.

Delaware North also runs concessions at the Kennedy Space Center and has a trademark application for “Space Shuttle Atlantis”, government court papers say. Delaware North “apparently embarked on a business model where by it collects trademarks to the names of iconic property owned by the United States”, Justice Department attorney John Robertson wrote.

Also of Interest

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

Portugal Wants to Extradite a Former CIA Officer in an Infamous Kidnapping Case

Israel’s imperial need to build walls and ban books

Recommended:

Capitalism Versus The Social Commons

Gaius Publius: Wall Street Reviews What Sanders Plans for Wall Street

Uluru's magnificent waterfalls: landmark transformed by rain

A Little Night Music

Magic Slim & The Teardrops, "Gotta Love Somebody"

Magic Slim & The Teardrops - Ship Made Of Paper

Magic Slim & the Teardrops - Let Me Love You Baby

Magic Slim & the Teardrops - Crazy Woman

Magic Slim & the Teardrops - Gravel Road

Magic Slim - Before you Accuse me

Magic Slim & the Teardrops - Pretty Girls Everywhere

Magic Slim & The Teardrops 2-21-13