The Evening Blues - 11-15-17
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features Chicago blues bass player, singer and bandleader Willie Kent. Enjoy!
Willie Kent - A Man And The Blues
“Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.”
-- Mahatma Gandhi
News and Opinion
Sen. Chris Murphy Accuses U.S. of Complicity in War Crimes from the Floor of the Senate
Members of Congress have largely avoided speaking out about the famine and cholera epidemic in Yemen, even as aid organizations, celebrities, and late-night TV hosts sounded the alarm this past week. But one U.S. Senator is breaking the Senate silence — and even going further, explaining how U.S. support for the war has enabled the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy spoke out about the crisis on the Senate floor Tuesday, while showing pictures of starving Yemeni children. His remarks went much further than those of most public officials, not shying away from the reality that the cholera epidemic could never have taken place without U.S. support.
For U.S. officials, the difficulty in publicly addressing the crisis is caught up in U.S. complicity, given that the disease and starvation in Yemen is not the result of a random hurricane or an earthquake, but the expected result of deliberate actions taken by the United States and its allies in the Gulf. ...
“There is a humanitarian catastrophe inside this country – that very few people in this nation can locate on a map – of absolutely epic proportion,” said Murphy. “This humanitarian catastrophe – this famine…. is caused in part, by the actions of the United States of America.”
Murphy has been speaking out about the war in Yemen nearly as long as it’s been going on, criticizing both the Obama and Trump administrations. Together with Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, he has introduced multiple measures in the Senate trying to block weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, but none have passed.
Congress Votes to Say It Hasn’t Authorized War in Yemen, Yet War in Yemen Goes On
The House of Representatives on Monday voted 366-30 to declare what has long been known — that it has not authorized U.S. action in support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen, but other than urging the parties to come to a negotiated solution, the resolution did not actually do anything to end American participation in the conflict. ...
Congressional leadership in both parties pushed back, doing everything they could to prevent a vote. Eventually, a compromise was struck, the result of which was the toothless resolution that passed Monday night.
The resolution acknowledges that “Congress has not enacted specific legislation authorizing the use of military force against parties participating in the Yemeni civil war that are not otherwise subject to the Authorization of Use of Military Force (Public Law 107–40) or the Authorization of Use of Military Force in Iraq (Public Law 107–243),” but does not withdraw funding for the participation.
It also “calls on all parties to the conflict to increase efforts to adopt all necessary and appropriate measures to prevent civilian casualties and to increase humanitarian access,” but does not specifically condemn Saudi conduct in the war. It does, however, condemn “Iranian activities in Yemen,” citing arms transfers to the Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia holding PM Hariri & family in ‘act of aggression’ – Lebanese president
Saudi alliance bombs Sanaa Yemen airport, blocking aid access
Yemen's Houthi rebels have accused the Saudi-led coalition of bombing the country's main international airport, destroying a navigation station that is critical to receiving already limited aid shipments.
Houthi officials told Al Jazeera two air strikes targeted Sanaa's international airport in the rebel-held capital early on Tuesday, making it unusable for aid flights and further complicating humanitarian efforts into the country.
"This attack is intended to cause maximum damage and deprive millions of Yemenis from receiving life-saving food and medicines," Mohammed, a Houthi official who declined to give his surname, said.
The Saudi-led coalition forced the closure of Sanaa airport in August 2016 to all but a few UN aid flights.
Germany quintuples arms sales to Saudi Arabia and Egypt
The German government approved nearly €450 million ($526 million) worth of weapons exports to Saudi Arabia and Egypt in the third quarter of 2017, more than five times the €86 million it sold in the same quarter of last year.
The German Economy Ministry disclosed the numbers after a member of parliament from the opposition Left party, Stefan Liebich, requested the information.
Egypt alone bought nearly €300 million worth of weapons, making it the number one export destination for German arms, while Saudi Arabia handed over nearly €150 million. By comparison, the two countries imported €45 million and €41 million respectively in the third quarter of 2016.
House Passes $700 Billion Military Spending Bill
The House and Senate had some differences on the 2018 military spending bill, but reached a compromise last week. The House passed this $700 billion spending and policy bill Tuesday with a 356-70 vote.
The bill includes $634 billion for “core operations,” and $66 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). The OCO budget is notoriously used by the Pentagon to shift money around to various programs as officials see fit without having to ask Congress to fund them. ...
The Senate has not yet voted on this bill, though it is expected it will pass with a wide margin.
North Korea 'sentences Trump to death' for insulting Kim Jong-un
North Korea’s state media has criticised Donald Trump for insulting leader Kim Jong-Un, saying the US president deserved the death penalty and calling him a coward for cancelling a visit to the inter-Korean border.
An editorial in the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun focused its anger on Trump’s visit to South Korea last week, during which he denounced the North’s “cruel dictatorship” in a speech to legislators in Seoul.
The visit was part of a marathon five-nation Asia tour by the US president aimed largely at galvanising regional opposition to the North’s nuclear weapons ambitions.
“The worst crime for which he can never be pardoned is that he dared [to] malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership,” the editorial said.
“He should know that he is just a hideous criminal sentenced to death by the Korean people,” it added.
Netanyahu vows Israel will act alone against Iran
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Tuesday that Iran would not gain a foothold in Syria by which to attack Israel. The premier spoke via video to American Jewish leaders just hours after Russia clarified the it had no intention of pushing Tehran’s military forces out of the country.
"Iran is scheming to entrench itself militarily in Syria. They want to create a permanent air, land and sea military presence, with the declared intent of using Syria as a base from which to destroy Israel. We are not going to agree to that. I have said very clearly that Israel will work to stop this,” Netanyahu told the Jewish Federation of North America’s General Assembly which is meeting in Los Angeles.
Israel Uses U.S. Tax Dollars to Abuse Palestinian Children. This Bill Would Put An End To That.
Children and teenagers are frequent victims of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. They face physical abuse by Israeli military forces and are shuffled through an unfair court system without access to legal counsel or even their parents. The United States has long subsidized these abuses, giving billions of dollars in military aid to Israel every year. Now, a group of Democratic members of Congress is saying enough is enough.
Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., and nine co-sponsors on Tuesday introduced legislation that would require the U.S. State Department to certify every year that American military aid is not being used to fund the systematic abuse of Palestinian children.
If passed, the bill — titled the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act — would explicitly prohibit U.S. aid from being used by Israel to support the administrative detention or physical abuse of Palestinian children. The bill says that detention of Palestinian children is “inconsistent with the values of the United States.” ...
Israel maintains two different legal systems in the occupied West Bank: a civilian criminal legal system that applies to Israeli settlers, and a military court system for Palestinians.
Zimbabwe: "Unclear how far the military wants to go"
Robert Mugabe's grip on Zimbabwe ebbing away after military takes control
Robert Mugabe’s 37-year grip on power in Zimbabwe was fast ebbing away on Wednesday evening as he met senior military officers to discuss his future following a day confined to house arrest in Harare.
It seems likely that the ruthless rule of the world’s oldest leader will be over within days, after the military declared on national television in the early hours of Wednesday morning that it had temporarily taken control of the country to “target criminals” around him.
The Zimbabwean capital remained tense but calm despite the political uncertainty. Troops have secured the airport, government offices, parliament and other key sites. The rest of the country was also peaceful.
The takeover by the armed forces appears to have resolved a bitter battle to succeed Mugabe, which had pitted his wife Grace against the former vice-president, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mnangagwa was reported to have returned to Zimbabwe on Tuesday evening from South Africa, where he fled last week after being stripped of his office by Mugabe in an apparent attempt to clear Grace Mugabe’s path to power.
Worth a read:
Meet Clint Watts, a Dubious Russia Meddling 'Expert' Lobbying the U.S. Government to 'Quell Information Rebellions'
On November 1, Congress held hearings on “Extremist Content and Russian Disinformation Online.” The proceedings saw executives from Facebook, Twitter and Youtube subjected to tongue-lashings from lawmakers like Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who howled about Russian online trolls “spread[ing] stories about abuse of black Americans by law enforcement.” In perhaps the most chilling moment of the hearings, and the most overlooked, Clint Watts, a former U.S. Army officer who had branded himself an expert on Russian meddling, appeared before a nearly empty Senate chamber. Watts conjured up a stark landscape of American carnage, with shadowy Russian operatives stage managing the chaos.
“Civil wars don’t start with gunshots, they start with words,” he proclaimed. “America’s war with itself has already begun. We all must act now on the social media battlefield to quell information rebellions that can quickly lead to violent confrontations and easily transform us into the Divided States of America.”
Next, Watts suggested a government-imposed campaign of media censorship: “Stopping the false information artillery barrage landing on social media users comes only when those outlets distributing bogus stories are silenced: silence the guns and the barrage will end.”
The censorious overtone of Watts’ testimony was unmistakable. He demanded that government news inquisitors drive dissident media off the internet and warned that Americans would spear one another with bayonets if they failed to act. And not one member of Congress rose to object. In fact, many echoed his call for media suppression in the House and Senate hearings, with Democrats like Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Jackie Speier agreeing the most vehemently. The spectacle perfectly illustrated the madness of Russiagate, with liberal lawmakers springboarding off the fear of Russian meddling to demand that Americans be forbidden from consuming the wrong kinds of media—including content that amplified the message of progressive causes like Black Lives Matter.
Robert Parry weighs in with an excellent article. Here's a taste to get you started:
America’s Righteous Russia-gate Censorship
A stark difference between today’s Washington and when I was here as a young Associated Press correspondent in the late 1970s and the early 1980s is that then – even as the old Cold War was heating up around the election of Ronald Reagan – there were prominent mainstream journalists who looked askance at the excessive demonization of the Soviet Union and doubted wild claims about the dire threats to U.S. national security from Nicaragua and Grenada. Perhaps the Vietnam War was still fresh enough in people’s minds that senior editors and national reporters understood the dangers of mindless groupthink inside Official Washington, as well as the importance of healthy skepticism toward official pronouncements from the U.S. intelligence community.
Today, however, I cannot think of a single prominent figure in the mainstream news media who questions any claim – no matter how unlikely or absurd – that vilifies Russian President Vladimir Putin and his country. It is all Russia-bashing all the time. And, behind this disturbing anti-Russian uniformity are increasing assaults against independent and dissident journalists and news outlets outside the mainstream. We’re not just entering a New Cold War and a New McCarthyism; we’re also getting a heavy dose of old-style Orwellianism.
Sometimes you see this in individual acts like HuffingtonPost taking down a well-reported story by journalist Joe Lauria because he dared to point out that Democratic money financed the two initial elements of what’s now known as Russia-gate: the forensic examination of computers at the Democratic National Committee and the opposition research on Donald Trump conducted by ex-British spy Christopher Steele. HuffingtonPost never contacted Lauria before or after its decision to retract the story,
Other times, the expanding American censorship is driven by U.S. government agencies, such as the Justice Department’s demand that the Russian news outlet, RT, register under the restrictive Foreign Agent Registration Act, which requires such prompt, frequent and detailed disclosures of supposed “propaganda” that it could make it impossible for RT to continue to function in the United States.
Senate Republicans' Tax Plan Will Scrap Obamacare Mandate
In congressional Republicans' latest move to strip healthcare from millions of Americans, several news outlets reported on Tuesday that party leaders in the Senate are adding a provision to their tax bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) individual mandate, which requires all citizens to have health insurance coverage or pay a penalty fee.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that repealing the mandate would, over the next decade, cause 13 million people to lose their coverage, but also reduce federal deficits by more than $300 billion. That reduction is key to the Republicans' tax bill, which cannot add more than $1.5 trillion to federal deficits.
As Chad Bolt, Indivisible's policy manager, explained in a series of tweets, Senate Republicans are motivated to repeal the mandate not only to fulfill their campaign pledges—and repeated demands from Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)—but also to free up that $300 billion to more quickly give corporations larger tax breaks. ...
Shortly after news broke about the update to the Senate bill, a collective of major industry groups representing insurers, hospitals, and doctors released a letter (pdf) to congressional leaders of both parties, urging them to maintain the individual mandate, and warning of the "serious consequences if Congress simply repeals the mandate"—most notably, that millions of Americans "will be uninsured or face higher premiums, challenging their ability to access the care they need."
Declaring 'Train of Injuries Must End,' House Dems Introduce Articles of Impeachment Against Trump
A group of House Democrats on Wednesday introduced five articles of impeachment accusing President Donald Trump of obstructing justice, violating the foreign emoluments clause, undermining the freedom of the press, and other constitutional breaches.
"The time has come to make clear to the American people and to this president that [Trump's] train of injuries to our Constitution must be brought to an end through impeachment," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who introduced the articles alongside Al Green of Texas, Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, Brad Sherman of California, Marcia Fudge of Ohio, and John Yarmuth of Kentucky.
"Given the magnitude of the constitutional crisis, there's no reason for delay," Cohen added, calling for hearings to begin immediately.
A resolution calling for impeachment hearings. pic.twitter.com/JNJAshC5bf
— Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) November 15, 2017
There's some pretty scary stuff in this, it's worth a full read.
Dakota Access Pipeline Company Paid Mercenaries to Build Conspiracy Lawsuit Against Environmentalists
The private security firm TigerSwan, hired by Energy Transfer Partners to protect the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, was paid to gather information for what would become a sprawling conspiracy lawsuit accusing environmentalist groups of inciting the anti-pipeline protests in an effort to increase donations, three former TigerSwan contractors told The Intercept.
For months, a conference room wall at TigerSwan’s Apex, North Carolina, headquarters was covered with a web-like map of funding nodes the firm believed it had uncovered — linking billionaire backers to nonprofit organizations to pipeline opponents protesting at Standing Rock. It was a “showpiece” for board members and ETP executives, according to a former TigerSwan contractor — part of a project that had little to do with the pipeline’s physical security.
In August, the law firm founded by Marc Kasowitz, Donald Trump’s personal attorney for more than a decade, filed a 187-page racketeering complaint against Greenpeace, Earth First, and the divestment group BankTrack in the U.S. District Court of North Dakota, seeking $300 million in damages on behalf of Energy Transfer Partners. The NoDAPL movement, the suit claims, was driven by “a network of putative not-for-profits and rogue eco-terrorist groups who employ patterns of criminal activity and campaigns of misinformation to target legitimate companies and industries with fabricated environmental claims.” ...
“We felt compelled to file the lawsuit against Greenpeace and others because we want the truth to come out about the illegal actions that took place in North Dakota and the funding of these actions,” ETP spokesperson Vicki Granado told The Intercept. “In many cases, the only way the truth comes out is through the legal process.” ...
“It grossly distorts the law and facts at Standing Rock,” said Greenpeace general counsel Tom Wetterer. “We’ll win the lawsuit, but it’s not really what this is about for ETP. What they’re really trying to do is silence future protests and advocacy work against the company and other corporations.”
Congress and Oil Industry Collude to Charge Anti-Pipeline Activists With Terrorism
I released 2,000 minks from a fur farm. Now I'm a convicted terrorist
People usually laugh when I tell them I am a convicted terrorist. I try not to open with that – it seems a little bit forward. First, I explain how my friend Tyler and I entered a fur farm in the dead of night. I describe the unspeakable suffering we found there. I tell people how Tyler and I opened every single cage and released 2,000 mink to save their lives. ...
The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act is a piece of designer legislation written and paid for by the agriculture and pharmaceutical industries. It federalizes non-violent property crime and punishes it as terrorism – but only when the perpetrators are motivated by the belief that animals deserve to live free from violence. The court explicitly stated that the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act did not apply to four Fresno, California, teenagers who sneaked into a Foster Farms facility and bludgeoned 900 chickens to death with a golf club because “they killed the chickens for no reason”. Put succinctly, I am a terrorist not because of what I did, but because the government dislikes why I did it.
[In 2005] the FBI declared animal rights activists to be the nation’s “number one domestic terrorism threat”. A year later, Congress passed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Suddenly, I found myself being followed as I drove to work. My parents and siblings were harassed. My home was raided by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Three times. We no longer argued with the police about where we could chant and hold our signs. The police brandished assault rifles, and we did as they said. Then, when we were done, they openly followed us back to our cars to photograph our license plates. While the rest of the nation took no notice, simply organizing a protest became a frightening prospect if you were an animal rights activist.
In this atmosphere, more and more of my friends stopped speaking out for animals. Countless times I heard people say they were scared of being placed on a list. More than once, someone told me they had canceled their subscriptions to animal-related magazines. The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act achieved its intended outcome. When the distinguishing feature of a “terrorist” is simply an ethical concern for animals, such concerns become marginalized, and voicing them becomes dangerous. What remains is silence.
Scientists Issue Dire Warning on Climate Change & Key Researcher Urges “Changes in How We Live”
Plastics found in stomachs of deepest sea creatures
Animals from the deepest places on Earth have been found with plastic in their stomachs, confirming fears that manmade fibres have contaminated the most remote places on the planet.
The study, led by academics at Newcastle University, found animals from trenches across the Pacific Ocean were contaminated with fibres that probably originated from plastic bottles, packaging and synthetic clothes.
Dr Alan Jamieson, who led the study, said the findings were startling and proved that nowhere on the planet was free from plastics pollution. ...
Evidence of the scale of plastic pollution has been growing in recent months. Earlier this year scientists found plastic in 83% of global tapwater samples, while other studies have found plastic in rock salt and fish.
Humans have produced an estimated 8.3bn tonnes of plastic since the 1950s and scientists said it risked near permanent contamination of the planet.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Congress Asks If Donald Trump Really Can Blow The World Up Without Restraints
'It has no protections': scientists fight for wildfire-burned land amid logging threat
A Little Night Music
Willie Kent - Going Down the Road
Willie Kent - That Will Never Do
Willie Kent - Make A Room For The Blues
Lil' Ed & Willie Kent - Going Shopping
Willie Kent & Mad Dog Davenport - Ain't It Nice
Willie Kent - Trouble In Mind
Willie Kent & Willie James Lyons - Blue Guitar
Willie Kent - Born In The Delta
Willie Kent - Just Sitting Here Thinking
Willie Kent & His Gents - All My Life
Comments
Video of Trump rally
Awesome Floyd Video!
What year was this video made? The Wall came out in 79. Were the Nazi vids original or added to the song later? I totally missed this.
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
It's from the movie
early 80's
Was also
part of the 2010 Roger Waters North American Tour. An awesome show.
How ironic that I'm wearing the tour tee shirt this morning, complete with the double hammers.
Thanks for that, gjohnsit.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
evening gj...
i have a funny feeling that by the time the democrats and the deep state are done with their russiagate thing, all political rallies might resemble floyd's art.
I'd be almost willing to tolerate that
if the music was as good.
But the music will suck!
heh...
reminds me of something that caitlin johnstone wrote the other day:
Howdy, howdy joe!
Robert Parry nails it on media/government censorship and mainstream propaganda in your Consortium link:
https://consortiumnews.com/2017/11/14/americas-righteous-russia-gate-cen...
I was at Occupy L.A. from day four until the bitter end. The L.A. Times building was two or three blocks away and had some of the worst coverage imaginable. I wasn't hip to RT at the time, but I suspect they had better coverage.
"They'll say we're disturbing the peace, but there is no peace. What really bothers them is that we are disturbing the war." Howard Zinn
evening mm...
i was paying attention to the media during occupy and the mainstream press was pretty horrible all over despite the fact of many occupy protests in major cities with proximity to mainstream press. fortunately, occupiers created their own means of getting the word out.
RT covered prison strike while mass media did not.
An article in The Nation that looked at RT sometime ago said one positive aspect was that they covered stories the mass media did not and gave as an example last year's prison strikes. Found this on youtube.
They have voices not heard other places, or actually not allowed to be heard. But apparently this is all in the service of dividing Americans.
the ptb are scared of outlets publishing truth
fortunately news groups do provide a more honest analysis of current events from a global perspective. According to our thought police, it is either fake news or scary russian tampering with the delicate american mind.
But we are now living in bizarro world
RT also covered the police brutality during the OWS protests, but the other day the person who said that she was responsible for creating the protests wrote an article about how Russia used the protests to create more divisions in the country.
If this crap keeps continuing, people are going to blame the slave revolts on Russia.
This is getting way out of hand...
This is a great article about how the intelligence agencies were the ones that really interfered with the election and that they did so that Hillary would win. It all started with the DNC leaks and the Steele dossier. The dossier was used to get a FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campaign personnel. This was written about a year ago and before the election. This website has some really good information on it.
U.S. Intelligence meddles in U.S. Presidential election: backs Hillary Clinton, tries to stop Donald Trump
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Russia created American slavery.
You may have seen this already.
Razz Putin.
I was joking about the slavery thing. I had heard that some of the FB ads were to get people to go to areas to join the BLM protests. A lot of people have thrown blacks under the bus when they blamed racial divisions on Russia. This is one of the lowest things I've heard of. Shame on them.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
evening mr w...
thank you! that was pretty amazing.
Disturbing
If this included the Peace Corps I might endorse it.
Unfair Question
Gallup should only ask this question of the young people who would be subjected to such service. I noticed 2/3 of those 65+ favor such action, but only 39% of those 18-29 years agree. It would be interesting to know what % of those 65+ who favor mandatory service also avoided military service during Vietnam. I bet there's a sizable overlap.
Involuntary servitude == slavery.
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 --
To which the conventional retort is often, “Freedom isn’t free™”
—Up With People, the youth roadshow of a (Falun Gong–like?) organization called Moral Re-Armament in the 1960s
Hallo joe, bluesters. Can’t say billionaire, can’t say animal .
What a country!
Your link about The act past declaring animal rights activists terrrorists, and the actions against water protectors protest organizations getting RICO suits must be fought.
...
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
evening do...
i'm guessing that as time goes on, if congress gets away with it, more and more unrelated things will be described as terrorism. first they came for the...
There it is again. Putting profits over animals
DiFi pushed to make animal activists terrorists. Just think about this. Filming animal cruelty is considered terrorism in this country. This is insane that the corporations get more protection from their cruelty to animals than the people that document it. This happens at the big agricultural farms where animals are crowded in on themselves and when they go to get slaughtered, they are tortured first. I'm beyond disgusted by this.
Just like defense company's profits are more important than people's lives. There are too many sick people in this world.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
A German court just acquitted some animal rights activists who
were on trial for having broken into a large-scale pig-farming operation.
https://www.taz.de/Urteil-zum-Hausfriedensbruch/!5462235/
The activists and their lawyers were able to convince the court that their only motive was to get film documentation proving violations of animal protection laws.
The court recognized that intervening to protect pigs against cruel treatment could, in this case, justify breaking the law. Furthermore, the argument that intervention was urgently needed was not undermined by the fact of a four-month delay between the break-in and airing of the obtained material on television. It was realistic, said the court, to view authorities as unlikely to react without publicity in the form of a well-prepared TV exposé, so taking the time to prepare such an exposé was only reasonable.
What is it going to take to stop the madness of wars?
The citizens in Yemen are being exterminated by our military and Saudi Arabia, yet congress votes on an appalling non binding legislation that only says that they didn't authorize our support to the Saudis in Yemen. The hubris and hypocrisy of this statement is unbelievable!
Is Iran bombing civilian areas like the Saudis are? Are they blocking food and medicine from getting into the country? Obama and Hillary sold them billions in weapons and now Germany is selling them more. Do the profits of the defense industries mean more than the lives of the Yemen people?
Our government knows that they are supporting most of the terrorist groups, but the only things they say when people are killed by terrorists is that we need to fight them harder.
Good gawd, if the world survives this era, people will look back at it and wonder how this was allowed to happen.
The rest of the news deserves a lot of OFFS!
I just saw Jesus Christ go by my house on a pogo stick...
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Second that sd.
Also, remember pogo stick. A friend just sold his car and moved to Manhatten for six months to satisfy a life long dream .
The thing he just can't seem to get over is the number of people riding unicycles for transportation. Jesus!
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...
what is it going to take? collapse of the system that makes it both profitable and possible for a relative few people to operate wars.
whataboutism I killed my dog but what about being nice to kids?
I first heard about this word from John Oliver in his last program for the year on Trump.
It is one of his best. He takes a Trump speech and shows that it is incoherent. But what about his standing up for workers?
That is obviously a lie, but the strategy of the use of this approach to change the subject is something to be aware of
Here is the link to Oliver's show
The Trump Presidency: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
With a few more views it will be up to 5 million views.
I am sure almost every reader is aware of the interview effort of The Intercept headed up by Jeremy Scahill.
He is JS
—
Some examples
Trump does it
But, but, ... JS continues --- establishment figures in both parties use this tactic to hide our dirty deeds
Jeremy goes into the rehabilitation of W Bush, the war criminal
**
There is audio and a transcript. There is introductory stuff, then he starts on this topic and goes into it quite a bit.
This is the democratic push for Russia, for example. And the ongoing push of the Clinton's
Maybe sweet justice is that Hillary running will lead to her life being trashed much more than the republicans were able to do for 30 years. And with all the disclosures of attacks on women, Bill might see himself back in the limelight with even more women back on the stage.
Here is the link to Jeremy and he probably interviews someone later in the podcast
INTERCEPTED PODCAST: SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE HANDS
Back in my DK/TOP/GOS days I brought up election integrity. 2 guys here in Columbus have worked on it for years and they have been banned from DK by Kos himself.
Someone who has been all over the place, at least it seems that way because I follow him on twitter, but I am not sure about him. He is getting the message out, been on Joy Reed's show and others. (Joy, yuck) But he has been too close to the Clinton's for my comfort level. And an article just came out for Mother Jones where he interviewed Hillary and she said the world would fall apart if justice department went after her. It seems to me that if one wanted a solid following with progressives, one would stay clear of the Clinton swamp.
By the way, there is a good article on paper ballots in VA in the last election by one of the 2 founders of nakedcapitalism.org
Hand-Marked Paper Ballots and Virginia’s 2017 Elections
Maybe the democrats will someday get around to pushing hard on election integrity
Both parties are so corrupt -- military spending, bank bill linked above, etc., that I am not sure that anyone wants to bring up the issue
Left out name, Ari Berman
He works mostly on election issues and is doing good work.
But just out is the article on Hillary.
A zany working on elections, and other stuff, is Greg Palast
Greg Palast.com
He has an excellent film and you can watch a preview for free.
evening don...
thanks for the john oliver link. it's good that he's taking on an education mission, lot's of americans could really use some tutoring in critical thinking skills.
Again I learn about Germany's positions about
weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and Egypt from Joe's article selection. Thanks for pointing to the DW article. First time I hear about Stefan Liebich from "Die Linke". I am embarrassed. Reading the weaseling words of the Economy Ministry is no fun.
Ah yeah, it's so hard to say "no", isn't it?
Also thanks for the Parry article and to serve as a desert the articles about Granddaddy Mugabe, who tried to make his wife Grace Mugabe his successor. "First Shopper Gucci Grace", who seemed to have a 'loose hand' inclined to punch people in the face.
How entertaining ... /s
Well, I wonder if I could boycott plastic. May be the toughest boycott to engage in ... but at least I could reduce buying food wrapped in plastic containers and other items made out of plastic. That Guardian article was quite haunting.
Thanks again, I read it all tonight. Great Job.
evening mimi...
wow, your eyeballs must be tired tonight! glad you found so much of interest.
Ed Snowden & Bernie Sanders & OWS
I just had a thought.
These two people, and OWS, with all the allies they have garnered, have changed the political game.
We are all spied on all the time, or most of the time. And that violates the constitution and the government has lied about it for years. OWS, along with animal rights activists are terrorists.
I read the first few pages of Bernie's book "Our Revolution." He has been doing the same thing for 40 years. He ran against both parties right from the start.
He brought issues onto the table. And he has kept it up. And we see the parties even more in disarray as they try and hold onto their place at the table.
In fact, Bernie brought politics back into the conversation.
And now with the collapse of the empire and the environment, politics is important and necessary and the established politicians cannot deliver what is needed.
I am just wanderina around, but Bruno Latour's article comes to mind. And the thrust is "No Issues, No Politics." In other words, we didn't have politics before. And we are struggling to bring it back to life.
What if we Talked Politics a Little?
Always educational
and thoughtful comments, thanks DM.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
The slaughter of wild life
is just so cruel.
I was recently in the Serengeti, in a land rover, heading over a little bridge. And we stopped. 5 lions were sleeping on it. The guide said, "This is their land, not ours. We cross when they move, or we turn back."
We turned back.
That it how it should be here.
The wildlife should always own their territory.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
evening otc...
i totally agree with you. i hope that it doesn't make us terrorists.
sounds like you had a great trip. photos?
@joe shikspack My camera is with my
My camera is with my tech guy. When he finishes up with getting the pictures saved, transferred, I promise a full photo essay.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
woohoo!
looking forward to it.
Hola, Joe & Gang! Wanted to slide
in and say 'hi,' since I expect to be sidetracked for the next week or so. I look forward to listening to the Hedges video (from last night) when things slow down.
Hedges for President 2020!
Sorry--couldn't resist.
I'm getting an earful about the Moore kerfuffle on the Gulf Coast. Just as I thought--folks are digging in even more. No pun intended!
Hey, here's a couple more trivia items, since I have no real news:
Heard that Ron Johnson won't vote for the tax package. I was wondering which Repub would nix the bill (this time).
Our weather's been beautiful lately--more like late September, early October.
Hey, Everyone have a nice evening!
Mollie
The "Grand Bargain" isn't dead--it's being implemented incrementally through piecemeal legislation. Please read "The Moment Of Truth."
"The standard of living of the average American has to decline. I don't think you can escape that."
--Paul Volcker, The New York Times, October 18, 1979, Page 1.
“If we can divide the electorate this way, we can have them expending their energies fighting amongst themselves, over issues that for us, have no meaning whatsoever."
--USA Bankers Magazine, August 25, 1924
"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.
evening mollie...
i hope that it is a good kind of sidetracked.
oh well, i guess moore will be good for the late night comedians. i can hear it now, "roy moore showed up to work in washington today, you could tell due to the clatter and din of millions of area parents locking their teenage daughters in their rooms for safety."
Roy Moore news
I've been glancing at al.com for the latest news on Roy Moore. They have extensive coverage.
Thanks, Karl. Right now, we're
in the 'belly of the beast,' as they say. Out of curiosity, Mr M asked a female in a service position, "What do you think about Moore?" He got such an ear full (in defense of him), he's not even going to broach the topic with anyone else down here.
I'll definitely check out the link. I'll be curious to see how Alabama journalists receive the press conference with Moore's attorney earlier today. (Only heard very partial replays, but, the attorney claims that the signature of Moore's Court Clerk--D [Delbert ?] Adams--was erroneously mistaken as Moore signing his name as "Roy Moore, DA," as in District Attorney. Apparently, Moore was the presiding Judge when her divorce action was dismissed. (She dropped it, IOW).
Anyhoo, Allred says her client will not allow a handwriting expert to analyze the yearbook signature.
Sessions is super popular in this neck of the woods. However, doesn't sound like most folks are going to be willing to vote for him (as a write-in), considering that Sessions doesn't even want to run for his old seat.
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Which one of the news items is Hedges?
I have time to watch the video tonight.
Thanks. I can't easily find it in the EB.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
i'll just put it here for you...
Thanks, Joe. The way that corporatist Dems go after
RT makes me even 'madder,' since Hedges' program is on that Channel.
What I can't figure out is 'why' rank-and-file Dems--like those at TOP--don't get a hint that something's wrong when their Party attacks an obvious true leftist like Chris. One of the few with a media platform, I might add.
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
They only listen to Rachel
They hang on her every word and love her way of making shit up to show that Trump colluded with Russia to win the election.
There was a time when they were critical about what the intelligence agencies told them. WMDs should have been the last straw for them, yet here we are...
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Hi, SD! You're 100% correct! Accidentally landed
on her show not long ago (on XM's MSNBC Channel). I was absolutely flabbergasted at what I heard.
And to think that, at one time, I listened to, and even admired her.
Whew!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Thanks, joe
I watched it.
I am glad the email spam advertisements for penis function enhancement do, in fact, go to this woman's spam.
I am like anyone else on the street or country roads. We see ads. We see the results. We just want to fit in. So, we purchase.
Thanks again for helping me.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981