The Evening Blues - 10-20-21



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Carla Thomas

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Stax soul singer Carla Thomas. Enjoy!

Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz

"Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option."

-- Mark Twain


News and Opinion

Priorities. The Senate has them.

As Corporate Dems Belly-Ache Over Social Investments, Senate Panel Approves Extra $29 Billion for Pentagon

As a handful of right-wing Democrats demand significant cuts to proposed anti-poverty programs and clean energy initiatives in their party's far-reaching reconciliation package, a Senate panel on Monday approved an annual Pentagon budget of $725.8 billion—handing the U.S. military $29 billion more than last year and $10 billion more than requested, with no objection from Sens. Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema, and other so-called deficit hawks.

"That's $100 billion over 10 years—or half the cost of universal pre-K, which we're told we can't afford," journalist Mehdi Hasan tweeted, referring just to the additional $10 billion in military spending approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense panel.

"They literally just threw it in there, extra, no questions asked, no media coverage, no political arguments," Hasan added. "This whole funding/spending debate is so messed up."

By contrast, the price tag of the Build Back Better Act—a popular bill endorsed by President Joe Biden that would raise taxes on corporations and on individuals with annual incomes above $400,000 in order to pay for a potentially historic expansion of social programs and climate action—has been met with close scrutiny from the corporate media and hand-wringing from conservative Democrats, including Manchin (D-W.Va.), Sinema (Ariz.), and a small group of House lawmakers led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.).

Aligning themselves with the Republican Party and an army of anti-working class lobbyists opposed to progressive reforms, those Wall Street-backed Democrats—swimming in corporate cash—are trying to weaken or eliminate life-saving provisions in the reconciliation bill in an effort to reduce its overall cost.

And yet, all of them have voted for every Pentagon budget since being elected. Despite rubber-stamping $9.1 trillion in military spending between 2011 and 2020, Manchin has derided the Build Back Better Act as "fiscal insanity" and called for slashing the legislation's top-line spending level from $3.5 trillion over 10 years to $1.5 trillion over a decade. ...

The defense subcommittee's vote came in the wake of a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office—commissioned by Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—detailing how to cut $1 trillion in spending at the Defense Department over the next 10 years. As Sanders pointed out in May, the Pentagon has never passed an audit.

CodePink national co-director Carley Towne said that Monday's move by the Senate Appropriation Committee's defense panel "shows they're not only out of touch with working people in this country, but with even moderate attempts to cut wasteful spending from the Pentagon budget."

"That's not a surprise," she added, considering that Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), chair of the defense subcommittee, "has taken thousands in campaign cash from war profiteers."

House Intelligence Committee Seeks Answers from CIA on Plot Against Assange

Adam Schiff, the chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday the committee has requested information from the CIA about reported plans to assassinate or abduct Julian Assange, the imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher. Schiff told Yahoo! News that the request has already been made to the agency but refused to comment on whether the CIA has yet replied, the news site reported. ...

Assange is next week to face a U.S. appeal of a January decision by lower court Judge Vanessa Baraitser not to extradite him because of a high-risk of suicide. The U.S. is seeking to overturn the ruling that Assange is too sick to be sent to a U.S. prison. U.S. prosecutors allege that Assange is a malingerer.

Assange’s lawyers intend to bring up the CIA’s plans. Yahoo! reported Tuesday that “lawyers for Assange intend to raise the issue of what they view as the CIA’s misconduct, arguing that returning him to a country where some top officials once plotted to kidnap him strengthens the judge’s conclusions about the risk of suicide and should be an additional basis for turning down the U.S. extradition request.”

Drone Whistleblower Thrown in Pen With Terrorists

Drone whistleblower Daniel Hale was sent on Sunday to the notorious Communications Management Unit (CMU) at the maximum-security U.S. Penitentiary (USP) at Marion, Illinois to serve a 45-month sentence, rather than to the low-security prison at Butner, North Carolina, where federal Judge Liam O’Grady had recommended he go. Butner is a prison hospital complex, and O’Grady was cognizant of Daniel’s need for psychological therapy to deal with post traumatic stress disorder from his time as a U.S. Air Force drone operator.

USP Marion, on the other hand, is a former “Supermax” prison that was built in the early 1960s as a replacement for Alcatraz. It was converted into a CMU to keep terrorists from being in contact with the media. The Bureau of Prisons, which apparently knows better than a federal judge, decided that the American public must be protected from Daniel Hale’s dangerous ideas, like the notion that we shouldn’t murder innocent civilians with drones.

Hale today should be sitting in the TV room of a low-security housing unit in a prison in North Carolina awaiting drug and alcohol counseling or speaking with a therapist. That’s what the judge’s order was. Hale is emotionally fragile. He’s occasionally suicidal. He needs some help and support through this experience. Instead, he’s on 24-hour-a-day lockdown. He will likely spend his entire nearly 4-year sentence in solitary confinement with almost no human contact at great risk to his mental health.

North Korea tested new 'submarine-launched ballistic missile'

IAEA chief: Aukus could set precedent for pursuit of nuclear submarines

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has said other states could follow Australia’s example and seek to build nuclear-powered submarines, raising serious proliferation and legal concerns.

Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said during a visit to Washington that he had sent a special team to look into the safety and legal implications of the Aukus partnership announced last month, in which the US and UK will help Australia build a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines.

If the plan is carried through, it would be the first time a non-nuclear weapons state has acquired nuclear-powered submarines. It reflects a grey area in the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows fissile material to be removed from IAEA safeguards for such purposes. ...

Grossi said it “cannot be excluded” that other countries would use the Aukus precedent to pursue their own nuclear submarine plans. Canada and South Korea have both contemplated building nuclear-powered submarines, which can stay underwater longer and are quieter than their conventional counterparts. Brazil too has an ongoing nuclear submarine project.

Grossi noted that Iran informed the IAEA in 2018 of its intention to start a naval nuclear propulsion program. In a letter to the agency, the Iranian government said that for the first five years of the project, no nuclear facility would be involved. In meetings in New York during the UN general assembly last month, Iranian officials pointed to the Aukus deal as a precedent to move the country’s own nuclear submarine plans forward.

REAL: Robot Dogs With Assault Weapons Are Here!

Ryan Grim: Audio Reveals SHOCKING Tie Between Haitian President’s Assassination & Bolivian COUP Plan

Bolivia government says Haiti-linked group planned 2020 plot against President Arce

Members of a group involved in killing Haitian President Jovenel Moise in July had conspired to assassinate Bolivian President Luis Arce in 2020, Bolivia's interior minister said on Monday. Eduardo del Castillo said at a news conference that the government had seen emails, audio recordings, immigration data and hotel stays that proved the failed plot against Arce, a socialist who swept to power last year after a divisive period of right-wing interim government.

"We are talking about the fact that days before the (Oct. 18 2020) elections, paramilitaries who would later kill the president of Haiti and mercenary contractors... were in Bolivia," said del Castillo, showing some of the materials.

"The intention was ending the life of the president."

Del Castillo made some of the data available to media. Reuters was not able to immediately confirm his accusations. ...

Del Castillo accused Luis Fernando Lopez, the former defense minister under Anez, of being the man behind the failed conspiracy to assassinate Arce in 2020. He said the conspirators had aimed to recruit Colombian mercenaries who have since been implicated in the assassination of Moise.

EU top official says Polish ruling is a threat to the bloc

Polish prime minister escalates war of words with EU over rule of law

Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has clashed with the European Commission president and MEPs after accusing EU institutions of seeking to turn the country into a province, in an escalation of the battle between Warsaw and Brussels over the rule of law.

During a heated debate in the European parliament in Strasbourg, where parallels between the Polish situation and Brexit were raised repeatedly by MEPs, Morawiecki claimed the European court of justice (ECJ) was responsible for a “creeping revolution” undermining Poland’s sovereignty.

He further accused unnamed “EU politicians” of seeking to blackmail his government into acceding to a “central power”, in reference to calls to cut Poland’s funding from Brussels over the recent ruling by the country’s constitutional court that key parts of EU law were incompatible with the Polish constitution. The development has been portrayed as a back door “Polexit” by commentators and some senior politicians, including France’s EU affairs minister, Clément Beaune. ...

“Were we to agree to the central principle it would mean that the EU ceases to be an association of sovereign states and by fait accompli, the EU is transferred into a centrally governed European state where European institutions can force the so-called provinces to do as the central power wants. This is not what we agreed in the treaties,” Morawiecki said.

FBI raids Washington mansion linked to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska

The FBI on Tuesday raided a Washington mansion linked to the billionaire Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, as part of what media reports described as a “court-authorised search”. Agents could be seen entering the neoclassical property located in the north-west of the US capital and standing guard outside. They sealed off the driveway with yellow tape. It said: “Crime scene – do not enter.”

It was not immediately clear why the search had taken place. An FBI spokesperson said “law enforcement activity” was occurring, but declined to elaborate, according to NBC News. ... A representative for Deripaska said the house – and a separate address – belonged to relatives of the oligarch.

Biden Spending SLASHED Roughly $2 Trillion

Price for drug that reverses opioid overdoses soars amid record deaths

As the United States faces an unprecedented surge in opioid overdoses, harm reduction groups are seeing shortages in naloxone, a usually affordable and easy-to-use medication that reverses overdoses and has been credited with saving many lives. But it’s not because of a lack of supply; there’s actually plenty of naloxone out there. Instead, the dangerous shortage of naloxone is all about soaring prices.

Community groups working to prevent overdose deaths are now paying up to 30 times more for the life-saving medication – at a time when more Americans than ever are dying from overdoses.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that nearly 100,000 people died of overdoses during the first year of the pandemic – a record high and a 30% increase from the year before. A majority of those deaths were caused by opioids, especially drugs tainted with fentanyl, an extremely dangerous substance that is 100 times more potent than morphine. ...

Drug giant Pfizer reached a deal with the Opioid Safety and Naloxone Network (OSNN) Buyers Club in 2012 to provide its injectable medication at low cost for harm reduction groups, which work closely with people with substance abuse disorders to prevent overdose deaths. But Pfizer ran into problems in manufacturing doses of naloxone earlier this year, and the company temporarily stopped supplying the affordable medication to the community groups battling overdoses. The issues are now fixed, and Pfizer expects to be fully stocked again by the end of the year.

But meanwhile, thousands of people are dying from overdoses without enough medication to reverse them, as other drug firms have not responded to the supply problems by lowering their prices. The drug is now far more expensive for the very providers that need it the most.

Striketober: Labor Militancy Grows, U.S. Workers Walk Off the Job & IATSE Members Get Tentative Deal

‘People are fed up’: Dollar General workers push to unionize amid hostility from above

The low-cost retailer Dollar General has the highest number of store locations in America, with over 17,600 stores in 46 states, and its golden and black logo has become ubiquitous across the country. The company’s rapid footprint is continuing to grow, as a staggering nearly one out of every three retail stores opening in America this year is now a Dollar General. All that business generates dizzying revenue too: the company reported $33.7bn in sales last fiscal year.

Currently, none of the thousands of Dollar General retail stores are unionized, as the company is aggressively opposed to unions with a company philosophy of remaining “union free”. Yet a handful of workers at a Dollar General store in Barkhamsted, Connecticut, are pushing to change that, with a union election scheduled for 22 October to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW).

Five workers at the store are currently eligible to vote in the election, as a sixth employee was abruptly fired just a day before a 9 October cut-off to be eligible. They requested to remain anonymous for fear of risking other job prospects. ... The worker affirmed in the five months working at the Dollar General that he had no write-ups, was never late and was a model employee. The union has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over the firing and will be challenging for his union election ballot to be counted in the vote.

“I was terminated with absolutely no warning – [and] under false pretenses,” added the worker. “People are fed up with working for the company. They’re worth nearly $50bn and our infrastructure is terrible, our corporate management is terrible. Our store teams become more of a family than anything because we’re really all we have, so that’s why we felt like we needed to take these steps to get a union.”

10,000 Striking John Deere Workers Demand “Equitable” Pay & Benefits as Company Sees Record Profits

‘Abject neglect’: critics report chaotic and deadly conditions on Rikers Island

New York’s Rikers Island, one of the largest and most notorious jails in the world, is reaching a breaking point after more than a dozen incarcerated people died this year alone, in what elected officials and advocates are calling a humanitarian crisis. The jail, located on an island in between the Bronx and Queens, has descended into dangerous chaos. Those with access to visit reported seeing inmates walking around with infected self-harm wounds, an inmate hijacking a bus full of prisoners and crashing it into a wall, and a lack of access to basic hygiene products.

Most of the 5,700 people held in jail in New York City are held in Rikers, with the majority awaiting trial because they cannot afford the high bail set by the judges presiding over their case. Last week it was announced that women and transgender people would be moved out of the jail to other facilities.

Some state and local elected officials who toured the complex recently have been left traumatized, such as the former public defender and Democratic candidate for city council Tiffany Cabán. “People were relieving themselves into bags. They were sleeping on floors,” Cabán said. “These were the kinds of things you think about if they were happening in another country, you would believe without any hesitation that these were human rights violations. Nobody should ever be treated or kept in these conditions.”

The New York city council has already voted to permanently close Rikers in 2026, but the recent worsening of conditions has spurred doubts about the sustainability of the huge jail complex even for the next five years. With about 500 inoperable cell doors, a lack of toilets that has forced inmates to defecate in bags, and a jail guard force hit by high absenteeism, justice advocates say it’s unclear how long Rikers can stay open.



the horse race



Meet India Walton: Black Socialist on Democratic Ticket for Buffalo Mayor Snubbed by NY Dem Party

House Capitol attack committee votes to recommend Steve Bannon prosecution

The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack voted on Tuesday to recommend the criminal prosecution of Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, after he defied a subpoena relating to their inquiry into the 6 January insurrection.

The select committee approved the contempt of Congress citation unanimously, sending the report to the Democratic-controlled House, which is expected on Thursday to authorize the panel to go to court to punish Bannon for his non-compliance.

“It is essential that we get Mr Bannon’s factual and complete testimony in order to get a full accounting of the violence of January 6th and its causes,” said Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the select committee.

“Mr Bannon will comply with our investigation or he will face the consequences,” he said. “We cannot allow anyone to stand in the way of the select committee as we work to get to the facts. The stakes are too high.”



the evening greens


‘Case closed’: 99.9% of scientists agree climate emergency caused by humans

The scientific consensus that humans are altering the climate has passed 99.9%, according to research that strengthens the case for global action at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.

The degree of scientific certainty about the impact of greenhouse gases is now similar to the level of agreement on evolution and plate tectonics, the authors say, based on a survey of nearly 90,000 climate-related studies. This means there is practically no doubt among experts that burning fossil fuels, such as oil, gas, coal, peat and trees, is heating the planet and causing more extreme weather.

A previous survey in 2013 showed 97% of studies published between 1991 and 2012 supported the idea that human activities are altering Earth’s climate.

This has been updated and expanded by the study by Cornell University that shows the tiny minority of sceptical voices has diminished to almost nothing as evidence mounts of the link between fossil-fuel burning and climate disruption.

'Stop Line 5': Valve Turner Forces Shutdown of Enbridge Oil Pipeline in Michigan

Water protectors donning masks gathered at a pump station outside of Vassar, Michigan on Tuesday and chanted "stop Line 5" as an unidentified activist crawled under a fence then used a pipe wrench to close a valve of Enbridge's oil pipeline.

The protest, which featured a punk rock performance, was livestreamed on Facebook. MLive reports that activists called Enbridge in advance of the action and company officials "confirmed they opted to shut down Line 5 out of an abundance of caution for communities, first responders, and the protesters themselves."

The action came in response to Enbridge's ongoing refusal to abide by Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's directive to shut down Line 5 by May 12, and Attorney General Dana Nessel's efforts to force the Canadian company to comply—a dispute that is being sorted out in U.S. court and now involves Canada's government invoking a 1977 treaty to keep oil flowing.

"Water is life," the valve turner said in a lengthy statement highlighting Indigenous opposition to the controversial pipeline. "We are here to protect the water, land, and air that support all life, including our own. Line 5 poses an immediate threat to our lives and these actions are taken out of necessity and in self-defense."

"Enbridge has no legal right to operate this pipeline and the continued operation of Line 5 is an imminent threat to my life, and the lives of an untold number of other people and living beings," the activist added. "All other routes have been exhausted, Enbridge has been operating the pipeline illegally since May 12th, and direct action must be taken to enforce the governor's order and begin healing the Mother Earth." ...

The Canadian company behind the operation is also responsible for Line 3, a controversial tar sands pipeline that has provoked Indigenous-led protests in Minnesota resulting in hundreds of arrests.

Indigenous and climate leaders are pressuring President Joe Biden to shut down both Line 3 and Line 5, highlighting his campaign pledges regarding treaties and the planet.

To fight the climate crisis, banks must stop financing factory farming

As the climate crisis boils over, new research shows that reducing methane emissions is our best hope to rapidly stem the crisis. It’s time to turn up the heat on the industrial meat industry and dramatically curtail its climate harm, which includes 32% of global methane emissions. Yet instead development banks are using public funds to expand this sector that generates 16.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

On 19 and 20 October, hundreds of public development banks (PDBs) will gather for the second Finance in Common Summit to make pledges to advance Paris climate and UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). The summit – which will also focus on agriculture and agribusiness transformation – presents a vital opportunity for these banks to put their money where their mouth is and align their agriculture investments to meet these goals.

Development banks on every continent are directly undermining the UN SDGs and Paris goals by channeling billions of public dollars into multinational meat corporations. While undermining the livelihoods of small-scale producers, this heavily polluting industrial meat system is fueling the climate crisis, destroying precious ecosystems, promoting animal cruelty and increasing the risk of antibiotic resistance and future pandemics.

With vast documented evidence of factory farming’s destructive effects, a new global campaign, Divest Factory Farming, is calling on PDBs to immediately stop financing industrial livestock operations and shift their investments towards a more equitable and sustainable food system. A 2020 investigation by the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism revealed that over the past decade, just two banks – the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) – “have provided $2.6bn for pig, poultry and beef farming, as well as dairy and meat processing”. Additional research shows that the top five development banks have spent more than $4.6bn in this sector over the past 10 years. ...

While the banks argue that investments in giant livestock corporations create jobs, in reality these loans propel further consolidation and corporate power in a sector that harms workers, farmers and consumers. ... Ultimately, these PDB investments entrench a destructive industrial food system that worsens our climate crisis. These investments mirror the misguided spending of governments worldwide. A recent UN report found that nearly 90% of the $540bn in global agricultural subsidies each year are “harmful”, with the largest subsidies going to industrial beef and milk production.


Also of Interest

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

More Brain Death At NATO

The Drivers Of Empire Want To Rule As Greek Gods

Chris Hedges: The Call

Remembering Colin Powell

'End the Filibuster': GOP Ready to Tank Even Manchin's Compromise Voting Rights Bill

This 3-Minute Video Explains How Richie Neal Turned Paid Family Leave Into Insurance Giveaway

It’s OK To Be Angry. How Else Will We Change the World?

Five U.S. Senators Tell Zuckerberg that Facebook Can’t Be Trusted and to Back Off His Crypto Plans

“Dire Crisis of Poverty”: NYC Taxi Drivers Launch Hunger Strike to Demand Relief from Medallion Debt

Dems FLAIL On CTC Extension, Pandemic Has Killed Parent Or Guardian Of 1 In 500 U.S. Children


A Little Night Music

Carla Thomas - B-A-B-Y

Carla Thomas - A Woman's Love

Carla Thomas - You'll lose a good thing

Otis Redding & Carla Thomas - Tramp

Carla Thomas - I Like What You're Doing

Carla Thomas - No Time To Lose

Otis Redding & Carla Thomas - Bring it on home to me

Carla Thomas - My Baby Specializes

Carla Thomas - Red Rooster

Rufus Thomas & Carla Thomas - The Night Time Is The Right Time


Share
up
19 users have voted.

Comments

up
17 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

ryan knight is spot on in both of those tweets.

that second one reminds me of all the noise that "progressives" were making about immigration when trump was in office only to stifle themselves when biden continued and expanded on trumps policies.

idiots.

up
9 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

Seems like some folks are easily shocked, I mean, who could imagine that plots against two non-aligned governments might possibly be linked. That's almost as weird as if somebody claimed that they'd gratuitously throw money at the MIC while tanking social programs, almost like claiming that it's been on automatic since the Reagan-Clinton days.

Thank goodness for Carla, something to brighten the day.

be well and have a good one

up
10 users have voted.

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 --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

who could imagine that plots against two non-aligned governments might possibly be linked

heh, what amuses me is the media coverage that portrays these incidents as plots that originated in bolivia/haiti/colombia rather than the more likely location in langley.

thank goodness for the music.

up
8 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@joe shikspack

said, it is always THE presumption.

be well and have a good one

up
8 users have voted.

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 --

CB's picture

on the Lies Americans Are Fed About China
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxfvrnSEt24]

Scott is joined by author James Bradley. They discuss how foolish the Russiagate story was from the beginning before getting into China. Bradley explains how the entire American understanding of China is flawed. That the average American’s perception of China is the result of a mirage or fictional narrative we’ve been fed for many decades. Bradley argues that no rational look at China makes them out to be the threat they’re portrayed to be. And that, instead, the greatest threat comes from the American aggression that results from these false stories.

up
11 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@CB

thanks for the video.

regarding this:

That the average American’s perception of China is the result of a mirage or fictional narrative we’ve been fed for many decades.

i think that it would still be an absolutely correct statement if you put it thus:

"that the average american’s perception of the u.s.a. is the result of a mirage or fictional narrative we’ve been fed for many decades."

up
11 users have voted.

In the "this is just plain stupid department"

Democrats Agree to Drop Free Community College From Biden Plan

Fractious congressional Democrats are getting somewhat closer to agreement on scaling back President Joe Biden’s economic plan, including dropping two years of free community college from the bill.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-19/democrats-agree-to-dr...

up
11 users have voted.

@QMS

His popularity is not going to go up!

up
8 users have voted.

@humphrey

Has approved an additional $46 Billion for 'defence'.
Someone tell me how in the world that is going to help us build back butter?

up
9 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@humphrey

Almost everything that Bernie wanted in the bills has been removed cuz Manchin doesn’t want people’s lives to be too easy. Or people becoming dependent on them. You know like the oil companies not becoming dependent on subsidies and tax breaks. That would be bad.

Not sure if he did it for preservation or the fact that there’s water on the land…gawd I hate being so cynical.

Ya think?

"They literally just threw it in there, extra, no questions asked, no media coverage, no political arguments," Hasan added. "This whole funding/spending debate is so messed up."

Hale being thrown in solitary confinement might actually help Julian’s case against extradition. After a judge asks for low confinement Biden’s justice department decides that solitary is the best place for him? Hopefully the British pseudo judge is seeing that. I don’t know if I have anymore despisement left in me for 3 more years of him.

Imagine for every year opioids were killing people the numbers and ages of the deaths were highlighted by the media to ramp up fear of taking them like they have for the Rona deaths.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday that nearly 100,000 people died of overdoses during the first year of the pandemic – a record high and a 30% increase from the year before. A majority of those deaths were caused by opioids, especially drugs tainted with fentanyl, an extremely dangerous substance that is 100 times more potent than morphine. ...

Imagine congress being as concerned about the numbers of deaths for countless preventable deaths and from lack of health care like they have the Rona ones. Imagine congress giving a damn about our lives at all. Letting their donors kill the planet doesn’t get much coverage either. Let’s mandate congress giving a rats damn about our lives. Rant coming on..grr!

up
15 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

joe shikspack's picture

@QMS

yep, we are watching the "progressives" being played expertly in a game of "how low can you go."

the progressives ought to call the bluff of the "moderates" and tank both of the infrastructure bills. then they should all divide into two teams and take an intensive "vacation" to promote infrastructure spending in west virginia and arizona and call all of their media friends.

up
10 users have voted.
Lookout's picture

Nothing profound to say (as usual). Just that the game is rigged and working folks don't stand a chance...nor do antiwar activists....whistleblowers.... and all those who speak truth to power. But thankfully they are out there doing what they can.

Hope you all had a good day. Lovely here and managed to do a bit of cooking on the smoker. Pretty tasty even if I do say so myself!

All the best.

up
11 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

joe shikspack's picture

@Lookout

heh, these are interesting times. the game is rigged and everybody knows it. the working class appears to be fed up in growing numbers. perhaps progressives can rediscover the working class.

heh, whatever, the music is good and barbecue sounds like a great idea.

have a great evening!

up
8 users have voted.

I heartily agree with the 3 comments already posted regarding Russia/China. Let me add that schaudenfreude is what I feel, when I see that Iran no longer has to care what we think, becuse her new alliances and trade partners will keep her oil flowing out to market and whatever Iran needs will be reaching her people.

The Mark Twain quote impressed me enough to copy it onto the top of my calendar page for November. I am not so sure it applies to mothers and mothering, however. Kind of the nature of parenting, is it not. Suck it up. That's the deal. IDK, will ponder this further.

Otis Redding and Carla knock it out of the park on Bring it on Home to me. Need all the pleasure we can find in this sorry mess. and oh, loved what Caitlin had to say.

Thanks Joe!

up
10 users have voted.

NYCVG

joe shikspack's picture

@NYCVG

Iran no longer has to care what we think, becuse her new alliances and trade partners will keep her oil flowing out to market and whatever Iran needs will be reaching her people.

this is true as long as israel and its flunky the u.s. can be restrained from attacking iran.

my supposition is that should sanctions against iran no longer function, israel would demand that the u.s. attack dog be activated.

heh, i suppose that twain's quote is not a great fit for the situation of parenting, particularly with young children. i suppose that there is a point in development where a certain reciprocity has to happen, though and twain's perspective might become increasingly serviceable as the years go by.

have a great evening!

up
10 users have voted.
ggersh's picture

up
9 users have voted.

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

snoopydawg's picture

@ggersh

for years. Like when the republicans met with bank and hedge fund CEOs to write their tax bill Pelosi and Schumer are meeting with their donor’s lobbyists to write theirs. A republican showed what the bill looked like a few weeks ago and it was over a foot tall. He asked if anyone thought that congress would read it before voting on it.
"We have to pass it to see what’s in it." Pelosi on the ACA remember?

up
10 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

ggersh's picture

@snoopydawg [Search domain wiredailynews.com] https://wiredailynews.com › 2021 › 10 › 10 › jesse-watters-investigates-pelosis-wealth
And her husband owns commercial properties in San Francisco "combined, worth up to $50 million," the host said. "In 2018, the Pelosis' wealth has skyrocketed," he said. "That year, her financial disclosure report revealed a net worth of over $114 million. In 2019, Pelosi's assets total up to a whopping $271 million and in 2020 ...
How rich is Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul Pelosi? Net Worth ...
[Search domain thebiography.org] https://thebiography.org › how-rich-is-nancy-pelosis-husband-paul-pelosi-net-worth-wiki
Nancy Pelosi Net Worth. As of early Nancy Pelosi's net worth is around $33 million, earned largely through her career in politics, however, combined with her husband, they have more than $150 million worth of assets. Appearance and Vital Statistics. Nancy has brown hair and brown eyes.
Nancy and Paul Pelosi Making Millions in Stock Trades in ...
[Search domain greenwald.substack.com] https://greenwald.substack.com › p › nancy-and-paul-pelosi-making-millions
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is the sixth-richest member of Congress, according to the most recent financial disclosure statements filed in 2019.As the California Democrat has risen through party ranks and obtained more and more political power, her personal wealth has risen right along with it.

up
10 users have voted.

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

joe shikspack's picture

@ggersh

heh, that recording of the lobbyist ought to go in the dictionary next to the entry for "captive government."

it is pretty clear that we are toast if we cannot break the corporate stranglehold on government power or dispose of the captive government entirely and start from scratch.

up
9 users have voted.
Azazello's picture

From Harper's mag, August issue: The Enemy Within - by Andrew Cockburn
What an A-hole.

up
13 users have voted.

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

joe shikspack's picture

@Azazello

i wholeheartedly concur with your estimation of manchin. frankly, it's the nicest description of him that i can come up with.

thanks for the link to cockburn's article, it's got some interesting background on the asshole of west virginia.

have a great evening!

up
9 users have voted.
The Liberal Moonbat's picture

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2021/10/197_317249.html

It's very sad; I'm sure Sir Tim was thinking, you know, if the possibility of physical violence was taken off the table and all people could do was talk to each other, then reason would have to prevail - instead we're looking at a whole new breed of fascists who seem to be specifically thriving on the fact that you CAN'T sock them in the jaw (or worse). The question "how do you win an argument with a moron?" is no longer one we can afford to shrug off with "just don't, because you can't" - the fate of everything of value on this planet seems to depend on having an actual answer.

“The enemy wasn't men, or women, or the old, or even the dead. It was just bleedin' stupid people, who came in all varieties. And no one had the right to be stupid.”

― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

_._._._

Yes, EXCELLENT Twain quote! That's a new one even to this long-time quote-collector!

While I'm At It: I'd be inclined to write more essays/columns/posts on here myself, but the publication-timing-widget-thing (you know what I'm talking about?) is just too frustrating for my threadbare mind to bear.

up
8 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

joe shikspack's picture

@The Liberal Moonbat

heh, yeah, it appears that the language police have taken over the internet and to some extent, the culture. i suppose that the language police have their own solution to the "how do you win an argument with a moron" by identifying the people they don't like as morons and enlisting all of their friends as a bellows to blow the moron into social oblivion.

i don't know what sort of problem you're having with the scheduler, but if you find it troublesome, you can always just hit the publish button and not have to worry about scheduling something. i create all of my evening blues posts on a template on my computer and when i've filled in the template, i copy and paste it into the appropriate windows and hit publish. it really makes things simple to do it that way and also means that i have a back up copy if something goes wrong.

up
5 users have voted.
The Liberal Moonbat's picture

@joe shikspack To your first statement: They're the morons we need to win arguments with (and more importantly, deprogram everyone else so we can at least be as lucid and rational as we were in 2012, which is asking pathetically little enough as is).

To your second: I don't understand; just hitting "Publish" doesn't seem to work. It seems to me like you HAVE TO use the insufferably persnickety timer.

up
4 users have voted.

In the Land of the Blind, the One-Eyed Man is declared mentally ill for describing colors.

Yes Virginia, there is a Global Banking Conspiracy!

@The Liberal Moonbat

If you do not want to use the scheduler, then do not put any date or time in those fields.
Otherwise it gets confused. Leave those fields blank and just hit publish on the bottom.
Be sure to fill the TAGS* field as well with whatever your subject is. It should then show up in the recent essays menu.

up
6 users have voted.

As many have said before me, the blues make reading much of this more palatable. Beautiful day here so spent some time working on my outside deck painting and doing some deferred maintenance on the railing. For some reason the Association decided that I as a homeowner am responsible for my deck and outside stairs. Problem is, stairs are shared by my unit and one across the landing. The deck is my floor and the person downstairs roof.

My problems of course are small compared to the fine mess that is called Congress in Washington. I do not know how a person can feel good about themselves knowing what they are doing to so many. Of course, I understand they have no real experience with the people that so desperately need the government to assist them in some way.

Be well and thanks for your unfailing news and blues to get us through the week.

up
10 users have voted.

Life is what you make it, so make it something worthwhile.

This ain't no dress rehearsal!

joe shikspack's picture

@jakkalbessie

good to hear from you! like you, for the last several days, i've been taking advantage of what may be the last really nice weather of the year to batten down the hatches at chez shikspack, getting out the draft doggies, rebuilding the snow screens, pulling the air conditioners out of the windows and starting to seal them up for the winter.

I do not know how a person can feel good about themselves knowing what they are doing to so many.

this has always been something to muse about. you wonder if these are just lesser moral beings, people overtaken by evil or, i suppose the nicest characterization is that they are just disconnected from the reality of their constituents, clueless and living in a bubble.

dunno. i've met some of them and they don't appear to have horns, but they could be cleverly hiding them.

well, there's always the music. Smile

have a great evening!

up
9 users have voted.

up
14 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

that community members are ready to support the deere workers. i hope it turns out well.

up
8 users have voted.
janis b's picture

"Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option."

-- Mark Twain

Never allow someone to be supreme and you their follower.

Or you’ll lose a good thing ...

like yourself.

up
11 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@janis b

heh, right on. Smile

have a great evening!

up
10 users have voted.
janis b's picture

@joe shikspack

"come on"

Where to, the ultimate question ...

up
7 users have voted.

up
10 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

one thing that rich people really hate is when their egos get bruised by bad publicity.

up
6 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

Lots of car crashes and near misses and too many people driving that need to go to traffic school. I’m as careful as I can be on the roads and am constantly looking for the dumb drivers, but some times…

up
8 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

yeah, we have our share of bad drivers here, too. a lot of the worst ones seem to have virginia plates. i don't know if there's like some sort of national statistic available on where the worst drivers come from, but i'd guess that virginia is in the top 5. Smile

up
6 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

One of my biggest pet peeves is the nimrods driving slow in the fast lane. And parking their butts in the HOV lane and only going the speed limit because they think they should enforce it. I passed a woman doing 45 in the 65 whilst being on her phone. Absolutely no awareness of how slow she was driving and weaving…gah there’s never a cop around either.

What do Virginia drivers do to be so bad?

up
7 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

i suspect most of the really awful ones are from the dc suburbs. they are notorious tailgaters, cutter-offers and erratic drivers often not able to paint between the lines. impatience and vitriol seem to be their responses to most driving situations.

if you ever drive the dc beltway, you'll learn to spot the virginia drivers and give them a wide berth.

up
7 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

It’s about Facebooks fact checkers for Covid and who funds it so I posted it in today’s dose. Check it out.

up
7 users have voted.

Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Probably has something to do with the upcoming election in Nicaragua in early November.

up
9 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

gotta keep that pink tide down. he's in deep shit politically and he's responding by declaring a state of emergency and immunizing the police and paramilitaries.

i'll have a story in tomorrow night's eb.

up
7 users have voted.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/577717-police-recommend-charges...

Police are recommending charges for four people who followed Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) into a bathroom on an Arizona college campus earlier this month to demand her support of the Democrats’ reconciliation bill.

Police from Arizona State University, where Sinema teaches, are recommending that four people involved in the incident receive misdemeanor charges related to disruption of an educational institution and disorderly conduct, the Arizona Republic reported.

Adam Wolfe, a spokesperson for the university’s police, said the investigation concluded this past week, but declined to name the individuals referred for charged.

up
7 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@humphrey

don't give them any ideas.

up
6 users have voted.
mimi's picture

I still somehow can understand are the songs of the musicians you feature in your EBs.

To respond to some of the comments and news stories you posted in the EB (10/20)

Drivers of trucks are so dangerous and annoying that I don't drive anymore outside my little town to get into the city of Hamburg. In my little town I don't want to drive anymore (but I must, unfortunately) because the towns government is imposing parking fees so high, that not driving at all would make sense. Parking a car is a nuisance and very expensive. Often I can't find a space and miss appointments I had due to the damn lack of enough, inexpensive parking spaces.

So, to use a bicycle makes sense, but now all the bicyclers feel like the kings of the road and present a danger to non-bicylers, be it car drivers or pedestrians. That leaves the option to use an e-scooter (They are so fast and so noiseless that they become to a danger to elderly pedestrians, because they can't hear them coming).

I can't use a bicycle, because I have a neurological damage somewhere in my brain - behind my right eye - the damage came about slowly and I never realized the dammage until I returned to Germany and tried to use a biycle five years ago - you guys have not many bicyclers in the US and probably can't understand what I am talking about. The damage causes me to be incapable to make a right rurn on a bicycle. (My dear sister told me that one can not 'un-learn' to ride a bike, Yeah, she is smart isn't she?)

And since a couple of month my leg's muscles are so weak due to a disk prolapse in the spine which caused my legs to not carry me anymore properly. I pretty much walk like a drunken sailor, who is bound to collapse.

So the solution is to not drive, but take the train into the city of Hamburg. That means I have to walk and climb on to the railway platform, which I barely can make. I would need something like a rollator walker.

An I swore to myself if I am in need of a rollator walker, everybody 'kann mich mal'.

So what's the best solution? Staying in bed, sleep in, reading online with my laptop on my stomach. Which I am doing right now.

Darn it, other than the music nothing seems to be seductive to read further.

Well, I still lvoe you all and the EB. Ain't that something?

up
6 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@mimi

well, we're glad to have you here, even if you can't ride a bike anymore. Smile

take care!

up
3 users have voted.
mimi's picture

@joe shikspack
you and others on this site offer to me.

Thanks from the heart.

up
4 users have voted.