The Evening Blues - 1-17-17
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features Chicago blues singer Big Daddy Kinsey. Enjoy!
Big Daddy Kinsey & the Kinsey Report - Bad Situation
“Like a boil that can never be cured as long as it is covered up, but must be opened with all its pus-flowing ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must likewise be exposed, with all of the tension its exposing creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.”
-- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
News and Opinion
Jack Straw and UK government should face kidnap and torture claims, court rules
The former foreign secretary Jack Straw, MI6 and the government will have to defend claims that they participated in the 2004 kidnapping of a Libyan dissident and his wife, the supreme court has ruled.
Claims that the rendition and torture of Abdel Hakim Belhaj breached rights enshrined in the Magna Carta should be put before an English court, a unanimous judgment by seven justices concludes.
In a series of linked judgments, the UK’s highest court has ruled that ministers cannot claim “state immunity” or escape trial on the grounds of the legal doctrine of “foreign acts of state”.
But the justices did rule in favour of the government in related overseas detention cases brought by a Pakistani, Yunus Ramatullah, and an Afghan, Serdar Mohammed, declaring that claims based on Iraqi or Afghan law could be resisted due to the principle of “crown act of state”.
It also found, in a case brought brought by a former Iraqi detainee, Abd Ali Hameed Ali Al-Waheed, that capturing and detaining “enemy combatants” is permissible. That decision may affect the prospects of hundreds of other claimants who are taking action against the Ministry of Defence. All of the cases, including that of Belhaj, will have to return to the high court for trial.
Dismissing the government’s appeal in the Belhaj case, Lord Mance said the use of torture “has long been regarded as abhorrent by English law”, as individuals must be protected from deliberate physical mistreatment while in custody. “The critical point in my view is the nature and seriousness of the misconduct alleged … at however high a level it may have been authorised,” he said.
UN envoy meets with Yemen president as war toll hits 10,000
A UN envoy held talks with Yemen's President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi on Monday as the United Nations said the death toll from the war had reached 10,000.
The envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, was in Aden for the meeting that focused on a return to a ceasefire and to political talks to end the nearly two-year war.
The United Nations said the civilian death toll in fighting since a Saudi-led force intervened in March 2015 had reached 10,000, up from the previous figure of 7,000. The higher toll "underscores the need to resolve the situation in Yemen without any further delay," said UN spokesman Farhan Haq. "There is a huge humanitarian cost."
Ould Cheikh Ahmed is hoping to revive peace prospects in Yemen after Hadi rejected his proposed roadmap. He is due to report to the UN Security Council later this month. The roadmap provides for a new unity government in Yemen and a rebel withdrawal from the capital and other cities.
US Marines Deployed to Russian Border Area in Norway
Tensions are already on the rise between the US and Russia over massive US deployments in Germany for a training exercise marching east toward Russia. A force of US Marines are now heading to Trondheim, Norway for another deployment along the Russian border.
Russia is none too happy, again, both annoyed at the US for deployment yet more troops along their border, and at Norway, who promised not to host any foreign troops on the Russian border when they became part of NATO. Norway insists this is just a temporary deployment and doesn’t count.
‘Declaration of war’: EU leaders ‘astonished’ by Trump remarks
Germany says NATO concerned about Trump 'obsolete' remark
Germany's Foreign Minister said on Monday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's comments that NATO was obsolete had aroused concern across the 28-member alliance.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, speaking after a meeting with alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels, said Trump's remarks contradicted views expressed by designated Defense Secretary James Mattis. He spoke also of "amazement".
"I've spoken today not only with EU foreign ministers but NATO foreign ministers as well and can report that the signals are that there's been no easing of tensions," Steinmeier told reporters when asked about Trump's interview with Bild newspaper and the Times of London.
"Obviously the comments from President-elect Trump, that he views NATO as obsolete, were viewed with anxiety," he said.
Mike Pence insists Trump campaign has not been in contact with Russia
Vice president-elect Mike Pence denied on Sunday that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign had any contacts with Russia, insisting investigations into Russian hacking of political parties are “a distraction”. ...
On Friday the White House said it was aware of regular contact between Trump’s pick for national security adviser, retired Lt Gen Michael Flynn, and the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak. Before the campaign, Flynn met Putin and made occasional appearances on Russia Today, a Kremlin-funded media network.
Pence denied that Flynn spoke with Russia’s ambassador in December about sanctions on Russian officials.
“I talked to General Flynn yesterday, and the conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to new US sanctions against Russia and the expulsion of diplomats,” Pence said.
He then argued that the intelligence agencies’ conclusions were politically motivated. “I joined this campaign in the summer,” he said, “and I can tell you that all the contact by the Trump campaign and the associates were with the American people.
“This is all a distraction, and it’s all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election." ...
The president-elect’s transition team has however tried to distance itself from Carter Page, whom Trump called a foreign policy adviser during the campaign. Page has longstanding business interests in Russia, and visited Moscow in December.
On Contact w/ Chris Hedges: Real purpose of intel report on Russian hacking with Abby Martin & Ben Norton
Donald Trump v. the Spooks
Much has already been written about [Christopher] Steele and the company, much of it contradictory as no doubt befits the life of a former spy. But it is a standard career trajectory for insiders to move on to corporate, mercenary spy companies, and this is what Steele appears to have done successfully in 2009. Of course, much is predicated on maintaining good working relations with your former employers.
That is the aspect that interests me most – how close a linkage did he indeed retain with his former employers after he left MI6 in 2009 to set up his own private spy company? The answer is important because companies such has his can also be used as cut-outs for “plausible deniability” by official state spies.
I’m not suggesting that happened in this case, but Steele reportedly remained on good terms with MI6 and was well thought of. For a man who had not been stationed in Russia for over 20 years, it would perhaps have been natural for him to turn to old chums for useful connections.
But this question is of extreme importance at a critical juncture for the U.K.; if indeed MI6 was complicit or even aware of this dirt digging, as it seems to have been, then that is a huge diplomatic problem for the government’s attempts to develop a strong working relationship with the US, post-Brexit. If MI6’s sticky fingers were on this case, then the organization has done the precise opposite of its official task – “to protect national security and the economic well-being of the UK.” ...
So, this is a world championship heavy-weight fight over who gets to hold office and wield power, an area where the U.S. and U.K. intelligence agencies have considerable experience in rigging matches and knocking out opponents. ... Trump appears shameless and pugnacious. Street-smart and self-promoting, he seems comfortable with bare-knuckle fighting. This match has already gone into the middle rounds with Trump still bouncing around on his toes and still relishing the fight.
Putin says those behind Trump dossier are 'worse than prostitutes'
Vladimir Putin has dismissed the dossier published last week about alleged links between Moscow and Donald Trump, saying he doubted Trump would use sex workers and describing the people who ordered the dossier as “worse than prostitutes”. ...
“I’ve never met him. I don’t know what he’ll do on the world stage. So I have no reason either to criticise him, or to defend him,” said Putin, who has previously expressed admiration for Trump’s stated desire to improve relations with Russia.
Putin dismissed as an “obvious fake” the idea that Trump could have been compromised during a 2013 trip to Moscow for the Miss Universe competition.
“This is an adult, and a man who for years organised beauty contests and spoke with the most beautiful women in the world. I can hardly believe that he ran off to meet with our girls of low social morals. Although of course ours are the best in the world,” said Putin.
“The people who order these fakes which are being spread against the president-elect of America and use them in the political battle are worse than prostitutes. They have no moral limits,” the Russian president added.
Earlier, the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, dismissed the dossier as a “crude provocation” and referred to Steele as a “fugitive crook from MI6”.
Insane Clown President: Matt Taibbi Chronicles Election of "Billionaire Hedonist" Donald Trump
Milton Friedman, Betsy DeVos, and the Privatization of Public Education
Milton Friedman, patron saint of the free market, died in 2006, but his ideas about public education live on in the thought and deeds of Betsy DeVos, likely the next U.S. Secretary of Education. The two are ideological soulmates—a fact that justifiably panics supporters of public education.
In a 1955 essay called “The Role of Government in Education,” Friedman laid out his plan for K-12 schooling, which boils down to this: taxpayer funded but privately run. ... It’s a wealth of privatized choices meant to squeeze out, as much as possible, the least appealing alternative for free-market ed reformers: neighborhood public schools.
In 1996 Milton Friedman and his wife Rose (also an economist) launched the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice as “the nation’s only organization solely dedicated to promoting their concept of educational choice.” “Choice” is the ed-reform movement’s euphemism for privatization. All the tools used to create choice—vouchers, charter schools, tax credits for private school tuition, tax credits for individuals and businesses that create private school scholarships, “education savings accounts” (usually government-funded debit cards used for various private-school expenses, not just tuition)—siphon tax dollars out of the public school system and into private hands. DeVos has worked with and donated to the Friedman Foundation, recently renamed EdChoice.* Their visions for the future of K-12 education coincide.
For almost twenty-five years, Betsy Devos has arguably been the most dogged political operative in the movement to privatize public education. ...
A useful model for DeVos comes from the outgoing ed-reformer-in-chief, Barack Obama. He allocated $4.3 billion from the 2009 “stimulus package” to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who used it to create the controversial Race to the Top program. More than thirty states competed for RTTT grants by committing to a detailed list of K-12 reforms—reforms that often required changing state laws. In exchange for money, resource-strapped states agreed to evaluate teachers, at least in part, according to student scores on standardized tests; raise or eliminate any caps on the number of charter schools; and “turn around” low-achieving schools by turning them into charters, replacing the teachers and principals, or closing them. Many states found that implementing the reforms cost more than they received in grant money. Much worse, the reforms undermined public school teachers, robbed many neighborhoods of their most stable institution, and introduced into the public system less accountable, often poorly performing schools and financial malfeasance by private operators. But the free-market ed reformers were thrilled. By opening the way for rapid charter school expansion, the Obama administration made the nation’s first significant progress toward privatization.
Kieser Report: Health Care Plan for Trump Voters
U.S. border officials are illegally turning away asylum seekers, critics say
Several weeks ago, a former Guatemalan police officer walked up to U.S. private security guards at the border crossing here and asked for asylum in the United States.
“I am fleeing my country,” the policeman later recalled telling the guards, explaining that he had survived two attempts on his life. “I am being persecuted in a matter of life and death.”
The policeman said he was told he needed to see Mexican immigration authorities, who would put him on a waiting list to make his case to U.S. officials. But Mexican authorities refused to add him to the list, the policeman said, and he has been stuck in northern Mexico.
The Guatemalan is one of hundreds or perhaps thousands of foreigners who have been blocked in recent months from reaching U.S. asylum officials along the border, according to accounts from migrants and immigration lawyers and advocates. ...
“This is happening on a daily basis,” said Kathryn Shepherd, a lawyer with the American Immigration Council, a Washington-based advocacy group, who says she has testimony from dozens of asylum seekers denied access to U.S. asylum officials at border crossings in San Diego; Nogales, Ariz.; and Texas cities including Laredo, El Paso and McAllen.
How To Spot A Media Psy-Op
In 2005, President George W. Bush admitted in a televised press conference that the US government creates its own “news” videos to give to the press, who often air those stories with no disclaimers informing viewers that they are watching government-generated media. In 2013, the US government implemented the negation of a 1948 law which had made it illegal for it to conduct psychological operations (psy-ops) on its citizens. The 2017 NDAA allots a portion of the defense budget to a new State Department-run “counter-propaganda” program to fight certain types of information Americans are getting from the internet. So when I tell you that the American government is known to actively use the media to psychologically manipulate the American people, that isn’t some wacky conspiracy theory, it’s a fact. These people have been legalizing and legislating psy-ops campaigns because they want to use them. ...
In 2003 while the corporate media was manufacturing consent for the Iraq invasion, everyone suddenly started using the phrase “Support our troops.” It was everywhere. “Support our troops, support our troops!” You couldn’t watch the news without hearing it frequently peppered into the conversation, which is bizarre because taken on its own the phrase is essentially meaningless. The opposition to the Iraq war wasn’t rooted in a lack of “support” for the individuals in the armed forces, it was opposition to the invasion itself and the decision to do so made by politicians in DC. But all at once corporate media began slamming the American psyche with the absurd subconscious notion that if you didn’t support the invasion you must therefore hate soldiers and marines. ...
Half a year after the Iraq invasion, a poll by USA Today found that 70 percent of Americans still believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11. This wasn’t because reporters were directly saying this; they never could have gotten away with such blatant falsehoods. What they could get away with was consistently making sure they mentioned Saddam Hussein in the same breath as the September 11th attacks over and over again, and I remember them doing this frequently. ...
A recent YouGov poll found that 50 percent of Hillary Clinton voters believe that the Russian government tampered with vote tallies to help Donald Trump win the presidential election. This is because media outlets, nearly all of which are owned by just five powerful companies in the US, have been deliberately using phrases like “election hacking” and “hacked the election” instead of phrases like “hacked the DNC emails” or “spearphishing John Podesta’s emails” which would have been an infinitely more accurate reflection of the actual substance of their reports. ...
A few days ago we saw the same thing when Donald Trump lashed out at Rep. John Lewis for saying he didn’t consider him a legitimate President; the overwhelming majority of the headlines from liberal corporate media used words like “civil rights hero” and “civil rights icon” when referring to Lewis and “attack” and “smear” when referring to Trump’s response to him. In reality Trump was just returning fire initiated by a Congressman in the opposing party, but I guarantee you there are millions of Americans who now think of Trump as someone who attacks civil rights leaders because he hates civil rights, for the same exact reason people think Russia hacked polling booths and thought Saddam was responsible for 9/11.
Trump Attacks Civil Rights Icon John Lewis on MLK Weekend; Watch Lewis Recall Bloody Sunday 1965
Inauguration boycott grows as Donald Trump meets Martin Luther King III
More than 30 members of Congress will boycott Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday, amid escalating outrage over alleged connections between the president-elect’s team and Russia and disparaging remarks about civil rights veteran John Lewis.
As the US marked its national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr on Monday, the number of Democrats pledging to shun Friday’s ceremony and celebrations rose. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress and a candidate for chair of the Democratic National Committee, joined them. Their extraordinary step was praised by progressive leaders.
A little before 1pm, however, Martin Luther King III, the oldest child of Martin Luther King Jr, arrived at Trump Tower in New York to meet the president-elect.
Around 50 minutes later, King emerged from the building’s elevators and spoke to reporters. Asked why he had met Trump, who did not talk to the press but was seen shaking his guest’s hand, he said it was a constructive meeting and added: “We have got to move forward.”
King and William Wachtel, a New York lawyer, said they spoke to Trump about voter participation and how to carry forward King’s father’s legacy by making it “easier for everyone to vote”. “President-elect Trump has committed to working with us,” Wachtel said.
Trump calls his historically bad favorability numbers "rigged"
President-elects tend to ride into office on a wave of positive popular opinion. Not Donald Trump. A few days before his inauguration, poll numbers show him performing poorly across the board since winning the election compared to his predecessors. A Washington Post/ABC News Poll suggests Trump is the most unpopular president this close to inauguration of any incoming president for the last four decades, clocking just a 40 percent favorability rating. ...
The unfavorability figures aren’t too flattering either; 54 percent of Americans said they had an unfavorable view of Trump, compared to 18 percent for Obama.
Trump is bristling at the findings.
The same people who did the phony election polls, and were so wrong, are now doing approval rating polls. They are rigged just like before.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017
Rex Tillerson’s ExxonMobil Frequently Sought State Department Assistance, New Documents Show
ExxonMobil under its CEO Rex Tillerson frequently pressed the U.S. State Department for help in negotiating complex business deals and overcoming foreign opposition to its drilling projects, according to documents reviewed by The Intercept.
The requests for help — documented in diplomatic cables obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from DeSmogBlog as well as some previously released by Wikileaks — raise a whole new series of conflict-of-interest concerns about Tillerson, who retired as ExxonMobil CEO soon after being nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next secretary of state.
Consider: ExxonMobil sent State Department officials a request to help overcome local opposition to fracking in Germany; in Indonesia, the State Department acted as a advocate for ExxonMobil during contentious negotiations between the firm and the Indonesian government over a major gas field in the South China Sea; and in Russia, ExxonMobil asked the U.S. ambassador to press the Russians to approve a major drilling program, noting that a “warming of U.S.-Russian relations” overall would also help the company.
Under the leadership of Hillary Clinton, the State Department started its own in-house energy promotion department, the Bureau of Energy Resources. The team works on a variety of energy projects, but its most high-profile programs have been focused on spurring the worldwide spread of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) technology, with the hope that doing so would blunt the influence of certain foreign powers. The Bureau’s Unconventional Gas Technical Engagement Program (formerly the Global Shale Gas Initiative) has in the past engaged with ExxonMobil for projects in Poland and eastern Europe.
Parts of United States are heating faster than globe as a whole
Global warming obviously refers to temperature increases across the entire globe. We know the Earth is warming, we know it is human-caused, we have a pretty good idea about how much the warming will be in the future and what some of the consequences are. In fact, when it comes to the Earth’s average climate, scientists have a pretty good understanding.
On the other hand, no one lives in the average climate. We live spread out north, west, east, and south. On islands, large continents, inland or in coastal regions. Many of us want to know what’s going to happen to the climate where we live. How will my life be affected in the future?
This type of question is answered in a very recent study published by scientists from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The team, which includes Dr. Raymond Bradley and researcher Dr. Ambarish Karmalkar looked specifically at the Northeastern United States. They found that this area will warm much more rapidly than the globe as a whole. In fact, it will warm faster than any other United States region. The authors expect the Northeast US will warm 50% faster than the planet as a whole. They also find that the United States will reach a 2 degree Celsius warming 10–20 years before the globe as a whole.
So why does this matter? Well first, it matters because some of the effects people will experience are directly tied to the temperature increase in their region. For instance, we know that warmer air leads to more intense precipitation. In fact, we are already observing increases in very heavy rainfall across the United States (especially in the Northeast). Based on this new research, that trend will only get worse. It means that winters in this region will get warmer and wetter – more winter precipitation will likely occur as rain rather than snow. This affects the availability of water into the spring months. It also means that summers will have more intense heat waves which will lead to more severe droughts.
Bipartisan EPA Alumni Urge Senate to Reject Pruitt's "Troubling" Nomination
On Monday, 13 former heads of state environmental bureaus sent a letter to senate leaders, urging them to reject Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's nomination as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief.
The letter (pdf), organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), implores members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to vote against Pruitt over his track record of opposing EPA rules—a history that calls into question whether he "appropriately respects science-based decision making" or would cooperate with states to protect Americans' health and safety from climate threats.
"While we have worked under both Republican and Democratic Governors, reflect a range of political views, and come from diverse states, we share a common concern about Mr. Pruitt's nomination," the letter reads.
In one instance outlined in the letter, Pruitt challenged the EPA's 2009 assertion that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare. Along with the fossil fuel industry, Pruitt filed a lawsuit that argued the finding—based on analysis of scientific literature, including research by the United Nations' climate panel—was "arbitrary and capricious."
Although the legal challenge was unsuccessful, Pruitt's argument—that the EPA should not have relied on reports issued by scientific bodies—sheds a revealing light on his environmental positions.
"We find this deeply troubling," the letter states. "The fact that Attorney General Pruitt attacked this finding suggests a lack of understanding as to how environmental protection agencies make science-based decisions or, even worse, an inclination to set science aside when the outcome is at odds with his predetermined political point of view."
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Chris Hedges: Building the Institutions for Revolt
Donald Trump is changing our language. We need a vocabulary of resistance
A Demand for Russian ‘Hacking’ Proof
The Deep State Wants to Deep Six Us
Obama Loved Austerity and the New Democrats Remain Addicted to It
The DNC Hands the Democratic Party Over to David Brock and Billionaire Donors
Draining the Swamp in Washington Through Community Banking
Healthcare without Planned Parenthood: Wisconsin and Texas point to dark future
The California Drought Is on Its Way Out, but Deeper Droughts Lie Ahead
A Little Night Music
Big Daddy Kinsey - Walking Thru The Park, Mannish Boy
Big Daddy Kinsey & Sons - Going to New York
Big Daddy Kinsey - I Am The Blues, The Queen Without A King
Big Daddy Kinsey - Tippin' On In
Big Daddy Kinsey - Good Mornin' Mississippi
Big Daddy Kinsey - Can't Let Go
Big Daddy Kinsey - Little Rain Falling
Big Daddy Kinsey & Sons - Do You Need Me Like I Need You, Dancin Shoes
Big Daddy Kinsey - For The Love of a Woman
Comments
Sweet music , thanks Joe
maybe Trump likes these numbers?
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/dailykos.com
I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish
"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"
Heard from Margaret Kimberley
evening ggersh...
heh, i'm sure that they are rigged, too.
Yay.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Reply to: divineorder
color me delighted! best news of the week.
Reply to: joe shikspack
Agree ! In fact we are ensconsed in our 100 year old shack here in the TX Hill Country, having a glass of wine against the cold and in celebration of this CM news.
We have been planning and packing for Costa Rica. Been a little harder making decisions on what to carry this year than past years because looks like we will have one or two boat transfers to remote areas which limit the amount of luggage we can carry. Today we also rode our bikes to get the second jab in the rabies vac series. We had had the first one in Austin, had to wait a week for the second one and didn't want to have to drive 120 miles RT back to Austin just for the shot so we called the local pharmacist whom we had met at a local bar here a few years and asked if he would mix it up and stick us. He agreed, but wouldn't charge us for his service! Cool dude. The third and final dose we will take with us to Costa Rica and hope to find someone there who can interpret the instructions which are in English . Fingers crossed. Also hoping natural disasters give us a pass...
http://www.ticotimes.net/2016/12/29/natural-disasters-costa-rica
Heh. Earthquakes, all kinds of 'interesting' stuff could happen, but true to our travel addict nature we are going anyway-- unless that halt air traffic again.....
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Reply to: divineorder
safe travels!
Considering our current political situation
This song by George Benson seems apropos:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-ibK5L2a4I]
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Reply to: Steven D
Yesssssssssssss!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
evening steven...
a timely choice of music, indeed. well chosen!
Reply to: Steven D Thanks for that...
and credit to Leon Russell for the song. But oh my did Benson do it right.
The last chance for ISIS...
...to commit a major massacre?
evening gj...
i have been speculating that turning up the heat on isis in iraq is intended to drive isis fighters into syria to do maximum damage to assad and his allies. i would not be surprised to see a significant isis ramp up in syria to monkey wrench any potential peace process.
Nope, my mind is still boggled
About how many people are buying the government's propaganda about Russia hacking the election.
Oh Keith how far you have fallen since your Countdown days. That rant about how we are no longer a democracy and that our rights are in danger is total bullshit! And don't you remember when you covered the Patriot and Military commission acts that took our rights away? I do. So since our rights have already been neutered, then how can they be in danger? And this goes for your little dog too! (RM)
The video with Chris Hedges is great. The ending comment is spot on. Since Obamas's tenure, the DP has lost seats all across the country. Heck of a job, Barry, mission accomplished.
Remember when we were told that the RP would be dead for decades? And in one election cycle, they had the house back, in two they now hold all 3 branches of government.
And they are playing a very dangerous game with Russia. Putin isn't going to allow too many more troops on his borders.
Wasn't NATO created to stop another Hitler type person? When did its mission change to back up whatever the USA wants to do in other countries?
Great article on how Hillary's state department helped Tillerson with his energy problems in Europe. I wonder if we will hear how much money he gave to the Clinton's foundation?
How true is this?
Thanks, joe.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Reply to: snoopydawg
Right on sd
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
evening snoopy...
great cartoon!
here's an article in a british socialist paper that addresses some of your questions about nato:
an answer to your question about tillerson-clinton:
Hillary Clinton’s Oily Exxon Connections
When are people going to get it that the DP
Doesn't want to change direction? I keep reading comments about how they still haven't learned their lesson for why Hillary lost the election.
If they were going to change then they would have endorsed Bernie. Even Warren has gone over to the dark side. Oh she speaks a good game, but has she gotten any bills passed that has actually helped people? Are student loan debts being discharged?
The college that defrauded the government had to pay a small fine, but since Duncan let them not admit any wrongdoing, the people who had taken out student loans are still on the hook for repaying them.
Has anyone who committed any type of financial fraud even been charged during Obamas's administration?
The only people he has put in prison were whistleblowers.
The person who told about the torture program went to prison while the people who committed the torture got to look forward.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/01/17/89812/
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Thanks for the link to the article, joe
I figured that Exxon had given them money. It's good to see the evidence. And people are upset with what Trump is possibly going to do, but they certainly didn't mind it when Obama and Hillary did the same things.
How come my replies don't get in the right spot like others do? Is there a trick to it?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Reply to: snoopydawg
i'm not sure, snoopy. i'm just starting to get a feel for this new interface, too.
like with the old comment system, you have to make sure to click the "reply" button on the right comment (you'd be surprised how many times i screwed that up.)
the other thing that i've noticed is that different avatar widths seem to make the comments appear to indent more than others, so that sometimes parent and child comments don't seem to line up like you might hope.
other than that, i dunno.
Excellent:"Insane Clown President"
I enjoyed that interview, The situation described by Taibbi is desperate but he sees a way out in the end. I'm going to watch it again. Thanks Joe.
To thine own self be true.
Reply to: MarilynW evening marilyn...
i thought taibbi had a good position on the trump/russian issue - that investigation is necessary because we really have no decent basis of facts and evidence to draw conclusions from at this point.
i wish somebody like taibbi would do some writing about what happens if trump is impeached and pence becomes president. i think that a lot of folks are thinking that pence is a reasonable person because they don't know much about him.
Greetings, Joe & Bluesters! Just lost my initial
comment, and it's too late to start it over. So, I'll just post a link (below) about a proposal that I heard discussed earlier today. It's very similar to the one that the conservadem Senators--including Warren and Manchin who've been appointed to the current Dem Leadership team--proposed during the 2014 election cycle.
The Dude, who's a US Republican Representative, is proposing a HD plan with a HSA. He's a Louisiana physician. Hopefully, the piece will be self-explanatory.
I am 'hoping' that progress will be made regarding negotiating drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies. After the reaming we took from late September until this month--having to pay for Tier 5, Specialty drugs which were not covered by the RX formulary, completely out-of-pocket--I'll welcome any help I can get!
Hey, if I don't have a dependable Wi-Fi connection during the next few days, I sure hope I can manage one Friday. We're pretty much expecting a major riot, or something, to happen during the various inauguration events. Mr M heard that almost one quarter million Hells Angels (I think he said that club/group) will be descending on D.C., along with the one million folks in the women's march, and various other groups. Should make for some real interesting viewing, or in our case, listening, since we'll be traveling.
Hey, thanks for tonight's excellent news roundup, Joe. I'll be back to listen to Taiibi; already watched the Keiser Report, which I enjoyed.
BTW, it's practically like summertime, here. Shorts two days in a row!
Everyone have a nice evening!
Mollie
The original meaning of “fiscal conservative” may be gone. In fact, Democrats have had a better claim on the label in recent years than
Republicans.
____David Leonhardt, Journalist, NYT, January 9, 2017
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."
____Author Unknown
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit and therefore–to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
____Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
Available For Adoption, Save Our Street Dogs, SOSD
Taro
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
heh, i am not holding out much hope that a republican will come up with a healthcare plan that works well and satisfies the rest of the republican party's donors. i guess we'll see what the
monkeys with typewriterscongressworms come up with.i suspect that friday is going to be quite an interesting time. i've been seeing things on the net that suggest that there are folks who will be attempting to shut down the city and interrupt the inauguration - no mention of the tactics they will be using, though. i predict a circus. maybe a riot.
i'm hoping that saturday will be a peaceful affair, friends of mine will be attending and i am considering it. heh, maybe if somebody offers me one of those swell "pussyhats."
Mollie, I wonder how many agent provocateurs there are going to
be at those marches? It's only going to take one shooting event for more of our liberties to be taken away from us. That's if we have any left.
Already 1,3,4 and 5 are on life support what with the wars on drugs and terror.
I hope that people have or will read Ray Balko's book The Rise of the Warrior Cop which starts with the war on drugs and continues with the war on terror and explains how our rights were curtailed and how the SWAT teams started up.
Joe Biden was instrumental on getting a lot of bad laws passed. And remember that he was big during the bankruptcy bill.
People think that he's a kindly Uncle Joe, but that's because they don't know what he did when he was in congress.
I have heard that tptb are itching to impose some type of martial law if someone at the inauguration becomes violent.
And with all the various groups going to it how can it stay peaceful?
I hope that I'm wrong.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
It seems Assange is going to step out of the Equadorian embassy
Probably as soon as Trump is sworn in. He thinks he'll get a fair trial then. Hmm . . .
This was on their Facebook feed
evening crider...
if i was assange, i don't think that i would bet my freedom on mr. trump. he seems a bit fickle to me.
Hi, SD! Like you,
I hope that there's no violence during the inaugural festivities.
Thanks for the link to the Counterpunch piece. BTW, I enjoyed your photos posted at the Photography Thread the other evening. The ones about the family who lost so many children, really touched me.
A few months ago, I found photos of my Father and his family on the Internet--posted by a cousin. I would have judged my Father to be about 10 or 12 years old. But, since the photo was dated, I know that he was only six. (He was standing by his Mother who was seated, so I guess it was his height that threw me off--he was 6' 7" as an adult.)
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."
____Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
It would be very interesting to hear your account, Joe,
if you should decide to attend the March, or whatever.
From all that I'm reading, there'll be enough of a police presence, that I imagine that it'll be safe, if one doesn't go too far off the beaten path.
I searched, and found a link to Representative Cassidy's health care proposal. This bill would be a travesty, to say the least.
H.R.5284 - World's Greatest Healthcare Plan Act of 2016
114th Congress (2015-2016)
Stay safe, if you should go.
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."
____Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Good evening, Joe, thanks for the news & blues.
Seems to me that Jack Straw is quite aptly named for his position.
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 --
Reply to: Unabashed Liberal
Thanks Mollie.
Yes that grave marker gets me each time I look at the fathers eyes. Losing his children at such a young age had to be crushing for both of the parents. But it's the photo of him and his son that gets me.
The first girl was born in Park City, UT and died in Tombstone AZ the same year.
The next girl was born in Tombstone and died in Brisbee the same year.
Then the first Mike was born in Tower, MN and died there again the same year.
Mike might have been called Harvey and the picture lists him as Harvey Dear, but on the back his grave says Mikey Darling.
I wonder why they moved around so much and what he did for a living?
I think that the father was a Mason or what's the other group?
On the upper corner there's two symbol like these, but they are up and down not sideways and there's a G in the middle.
I'm trying to get the picture off my phone and will post it if I can.
Maybe someone can tell me what the symbols mean.
Cool that you found a photo of your father. My brother is interested in genealogy and sends me pictures of family members who lived overseas.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
The Clinton Global Initiative has terminated 22 employees
and will soon become another casualty of the 2016 election season.
The CGI will close it's doors in April this year.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/16/clinton-global-initiativ...
I wonder what they are going to do with the money? What can they do with it legally.
Remember that when she was SOS many governments, organizations and individuals donated money to their foundation after she sold them weapons or intervened when they had business with our state department.
That's where the pay for play accusations came from.
Now that she isn't going to be president and they are closing it down, well where there's smoke there's usually fire.
The Clintons didn't return a call for a comment.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Reply to: joe shikspack- Pence can work his agenda
from where he is right now. He is so machiavellian. Trump will be too busy tweeting and worrying about himself. Anyway, I think Tiabbi is looking at constraining Trump somehow with whatever is available under the law.
To thine own self be true.
In the early 1900's,
if I'm not mistaken, two of the largest fraternal organizations were the Freemasons/Masons, and the Woodmen Of The World.
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."
____Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Reply to: gjohnsit Looks like Daesh is poised for
another head-chopping spree in Dier Ezzor. Not without a little help from their friends in the USAF. There is no escape for the people trapped there. I imagine Syrian soldiers will be fighting to the last bullet.
native