The Evening Blues - 11-7-17
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features r&b singer, songwriter and bandleader Tiny Bradshaw. Enjoy!
Tiny Bradshaw - The Train Kept A'Rollin'
“What we revealed is that this spying system is devoted not to terrorists, but is directed to innocent people around the world. None of this has anything to do with terrorism. Is Angela Merkel a terrorist?”
-- Glenn Greenwald
News and Opinion
CIA Director Met Advocate of Disputed DNC Hack Theory William Binney — at Trump’s Request
CIA Director Mike Pompeo met on October 24 with William Binney, a former National Security Agency official-turned-whistleblower who co-authored an analysis published by a group of former intelligence officials that challenges the U.S. intelligence community’s official assessment that Russian intelligence was behind last year’s theft of data from DNC computers. Binney and the other former officials argue that the DNC data was “leaked,” not hacked, “by a person with physical access” to the DNC’s computer system.
In an interview with The Intercept, Binney said Pompeo told him that President Donald Trump had urged the CIA director to meet with Binney to discuss his assessment that the DNC data theft was an inside job. During their hour-long meeting at CIA headquarters, Pompeo said Trump told him that if Pompeo “want[ed] to know the facts, he should talk to me,” Binney said. ...
It is possible Trump learned about Binney and his analysis by watching Fox News, where Binney has been a frequent guest, appearing at least 10 times since September 2016. In August, Binney appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox show to discuss his assessment that the narrative of Russia hacking the DNC during the 2016 campaign is untrue, stating that “many people are emotionally tied to this agenda, to tie the Russians to President Trump.” Binney said he is not sure how Trump found out about his analysis.
However the meeting came about, the fact that Pompeo was apparently willing to follow Trump’s direction and invite Binney to discuss his analysis has alarmed some current and former intelligence officials. ... Binney, for his part, is happy that the meeting occurred and eager to help Pompeo and Trump get to the bottom of the DNC email theft because he believes the intelligence community has not told the truth about what happened.
Russian Ads and American Madness
So we’ve finally seen some of the social media ads which we are told skewed the entire election in 2016 and constituted a key part of the internet assault on America launched by Vladimir Putin’s “troll army.” Scary stuff blazoned across front pages and screen scrolls everywhere. But before going on, perhaps we should find out what makes a social media account part of Putin’s invasion force?
Well, according to Twitter, it is ANY account created in Russia. Or any account where the user has a Russian email address. Or if their name contains Cyrillic characters. Or if they ever tweet in Russian. Or if they have ever logged in from any Russian IP address — even a single time. Twitter says: “We considered an account to be Russian-linked if it had even one of the relevant criteria.” ...
So back to those ads. Congressional committees have released images of “Russian-linked” ads which apparently “reached” 150 million Americans. I assume that means they appeared somewhere on a social media page of 150 million Americans at some point; how many people read them or even noticed them is another matter. Of course, the social media companies like to pretend to advertisers that readers devour every ad and promoted post; that’s how they make their money, after all. But apparently no one in Congress uses social media; if they did, they would know that normal human beings ignore 99 percent of the ad crap that litters their Facebook and Twitter feeds. But anyway, after many months, we’ve at last seen some of these history-changing ads which came, according to criteria that are never quite clear, from Russia’s “troll farms.”
What did we see? Hillary Clinton in a devil costume boxing with Jesus. A Clinton-backing Satan arm-wrestling with Jesus. Pro-gun memes. Anti-immigrant memes. Memes about military-hating Democrats. Basically, the same sort of things your cranky uncle or Foxicated cousin has been sending around on email for the past 20 years.
The idea that someone could be dissuaded from voting for Hillary Clinton because of something like this is absurd. (“Ah was sure gonna vote for Mizzus Clinton until Ah saw Jeeezus didn’t like her none! Now Ah’m votin’ fer Trump!”) Anyone “swayed” by this kind of thing would already be committed to voting for Trump or any rightwing candidate. Yet we’re supposed to believe that a handful of crude ads like this were far more effective than Clinton’s hundreds of millions of dollars worth of ads. If that’s the case, then Madison Avenue should hire Putin; he’s the new Don Draper.
Saudi Arabia Purge: Crown Prince reshaping the country
Saudi Arabia Charges Iran With ‘Act of War,’ Raising Threat of Military Clash
Saudi Arabia charged Monday that a missile fired at its capital from Yemen over the weekend was an “act of war” by Iran, in the sharpest escalation in nearly three decades of mounting hostility between the two regional rivals. “We see this as an act of war,” the Saudi foreign minister, Adel Jubair, said in an interview on CNN. “Iran cannot lob missiles at Saudi cities and towns and expect us not to take steps.”
The accusation, which Iran denied, came a day after a wave of arrests in Saudi Arabia that appeared to complete the consolidation of power by the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, 32. Taken together, the two actions signaled a new aggressiveness by the prince both at home and abroad, as well as a new and more dangerous stage in the Saudi cold war with Iran for dominance in the region. ...
The accusations raise the threat of a direct military clash between the two regional heavyweights at a time when they are already fighting proxy wars in Yemen and Syria, as well as battles for political power in Iraq and Lebanon. By the end of the day Monday, a Saudi minister was accusing Lebanon of declaring war against Saudi Arabia as well.
Even before the launching of the missile on Saturday, which was intercepted en route to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, the crown prince had staged another surprise demonstration of the kingdom’s newly aggressive posture toward Iran and Lebanon. The prince hosted a visit from Saudi Arabia’s chief Lebanese client, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who stunned the region by announcing his resignation, via video from Riyadh, in protest against Iran’s undue influence in Lebanese politics.
Even some of Mr. Hariri’s rivals speculated that his Saudi sponsors had pressured him into the statement. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia, said over the weekend that the Saudis had all but kidnapped Mr. Hariri. Mr. Nasrallah urged Mr. Hariri to return to Lebanon for power-sharing talks “if he is allowed to come back.”
Most of Congress 'Likes War' and Opposes Ending US Support for Saudi War in Yemen
Saudi Crown Prince 'Hungry for War' and Trump Seems Perfectly 'Eager to Comply'
Following a massive "power grab" over the weekend that resulted in the arrest of a prominent billionaire and dozens of influential political figures, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) appears to be steering his country to the brink of an all-out war with Iran and Lebanon—and, judging by his tweets late Monday, President Donald Trump is perfectly fine with it.
"I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing," Trump wrote, offering an endorsement of the mass arrests—which came just a week after White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner made a secret visit to Saudi Arabia to push for "peace."
Trump's tweeted endorsement of MBS's consolidation of power came as Saudi Arabia ramped up its aggressive rhetoric toward Iran, accusing its regional foe of supplying the missile fired from Yemen at a Riyadh airport on Saturday, which the Saudi leadership characterized as "an act of war against the kingdom."
Iranian officials have denied any involvement in the missile launch, and Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif wrote in a Twitter thread on Monday that Saudi Arabia is "engaged in wars of aggression, regional bullying, destabilizing behavior, and risky provocations." The kingdom of Saudi Arabia "bombs Yemen to smithereens, killing 1000's of innocents including babies, spreads cholera and famine, but of course blames Iran," Zarif concluded.
As The Intercept's Ryan Grim argued in an email on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's bellicose rhetoric shows why "Saudi palace intrigue actually matters. ... MBS is hungry for war all over the region," Grim notes. If he completes his "power grab," Grim warms, "look out."
The militias that helped push ISIS out of Iraq could cause a whole new crisis
The Islamic State group is finally being flushed out of Iraq, thanks in part to a loose coalition of armed militias that fought beside Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi’s forces. But after tough military gains on the battlefield, Iraq faces a new problem: No one knows what those militias will do when they no longer have ISIS to fight.
“As long as the militias’ interests align with Abadi’s, everything is fine,” Belkis Wille, senior Iraq researcher for Human Rights Watch, told VICE News. “But where they diverge, that’s when we might see significant instability — and situations where civilians are more likely to be targeted with impunity.” ...
The group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), or Hashed al-Shaabi, is cause for serious concern, the senior U.S. official said. Formed in 2014 out of some 40, primarily Shia, militia groups, the PMF played a pivotal role in the fight against ISIS. But the formidable military force is also commonly linked to Iran, and doesn’t necessarily share the same long-term interests as Abadi or the U.S. ... Not having control of the militias could prove disastrous, particularly if rival military forces start fighting each other to stake claims in a country still shaking off ISIS.
Iraq cabinet plans to cut Kurdistan share in 2018 federal budget
Iraq’s cabinet proposed on Sunday to slash the Kurdish share of the country’s revenue in the 2018 federal budget, a move that Kurdish officials said was aimed to further punish them for a Sept. 25 referendum on independence. If approved, the budget would further damage the relationship between Baghdad and Erbil -- the semi-autonomous region’s capital -- already at boiling point after the central government launched a military offensive last month that swiftly recaptured the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
A preliminary draft document seen by Reuters and confirmed by three lawmakers and two Iraqi government officials shows the Kurdistan region’s share of the 2018 budget trimmed to 12.6 percent, down from the 17 percent the region has traditionally been entitled to since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
The post-Saddam constitution put in place a system guaranteeing the Kurds self-rule with a share of overall revenue proportionate to their share of the population. For the past three years, Baghdad stopped sending funds while the Kurds held nearly all of northern Iraq’s oil infrastructure and sold enough crude to fund themselves. But the Iraqi government offensive that recaptured oil-producing territory from the Kurds last month means the autonomous region is once again dependent on Baghdad for funds. The central government has demanded a halt to all independent Kurdish oil sales.
Catalonia's ex-leader granted freedom to campaign for independence
Catalonia’s former leader Carles Puigdemont was spared custody on Monday, when a Brussels court ruled he could remain at liberty in Belgium until it had heard Spanish charges against him of rebellion. The court’s decision means Puigdemont, who left Spain last month after Madrid fired his secessionist government and dissolved the Catalan parliament, is free to campaign for independence in an election in the region on Dec 21.
The December vote is shaping up to be a de facto independence referendum.
Puigdemont’s PDeCAT and another secessionist party said at the weekend they might run on a combined ticket, but would need to make a decision on any formal alliance - which might also include other parties - by a deadline of Tuesday. Alliances could however also form after the election.
With North Korea threat looming, Trump seeks $5.9 billion for military
President Trump asked Congress for another $5.9 billion for the military on Monday, as he continued an Asia trip aimed at countering what he called the "North Korean menace."
The addition to the administration's 2018 budget request came just as Trump was leaving Japan for South Korea, where the U.S. has begun installing an anti-missile defense system known as THAAD.
Trump's request includes:
► $4 billion for a missile defense and detection system on the Korean peninsula.
► $1.2 billion to fund his request for 3,500 additional U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
► $700 million to repair two Navy ships.
The request for additional missile defense money comes three months after Trump first expressed second thoughts about his administration's proposal to cut the Missile Defense Agency's budget, and promised to add billions back to the program. But it also represents an easing of his demands for allies to share the burden on defense spending.
South Koreans Greet 'Warmongering Trump' With Clear Message: 'Shut Up, Get Out'
Denouncing U.S. President Donald Trump for intensifying "fears of war on the Korean Peninsula," thousands of South Koreans gathered in front of the U.S. embassy in Seoul on Tuesday to protest Trump's arrival, hoisting signs that sent an unambiguous message: "shut up and get out."
The peaceful demonstrations against the U.S. president—who has threatened to unleash "fire and fury" upon South Korea's northern neighbor, a move that would endanger millions of lives—are expected to carry on through Wednesday, when Trump is scheduled to deliver a speech on North Korea.
"The war-threatening, weapons salesman Trump is not welcome here, especially as he demands that South Korea pay more to host U.S. troops and set aside land for useless weapons like the THAAD missile defense system," Choi Eun-a of the Korean Alliance for Progressive Movements—one of the more than 200 groups participating in protests during Trump's two-day visit—said in a statement.
Even as Trump appeared to tone down his militaristic rhetoric with a call on Tuesday for North Korea to "come to the table" and "make a deal," the U.S. and South Korea engaged in a joint military exercise that could only be viewed as a "major show of force"—one that could further ratchet up tensions and global concerns of nuclear conflict.
Keiser Report: 100 Years of Humiliation & Unintentional Self-Parody
Democratic donor built up vast $8bn private wealth fund in Bermuda
One of the Democratic party’s top donors has spent decades building a hidden offshore fortune of more than $8bn in the tax haven of Bermuda, according to leaked documents. James Simons, a hedge fund magnate who spent $11m in support of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, amassed investment profits in the Lord Jim Trust, a vast private wealth fund set up on the Atlantic island in 1974.
Confidential legal files from 2010 show lawyers and advisers for Simons worked to protect him and his children from “particularly severe” US tax bills that would be triggered if they tried to bring the funds onshore. Bermuda imposes no taxes on profits or income. ... The documents said the Simons trust was worth about $8bn by the end of 2010. Simons said in a statement that the trust was later divided up, half going to him and the other half divided between his three children. He said most of the money would be used for charity.
The leaked documents indicate that because of the hidden fortune in Bermuda, Simons’ personal wealth was greater than estimates in publicly available rich lists. Simons was worth at least $11.25bn in 2010, according to one filing about 32% more than the total stated in Forbes that year. Measures taken by Simons to keep the scale of his offshore wealth secret are also detailed in the files. When restructuring his trust in 2010, attorneys for Simons persuaded Bermuda’s supreme court to hold hearings on the case in private and prevent the Simons name from being listed in the public docket. ...
Simons is the chairman and founder of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund group in New York that manages more than $50bn. Renaissance has been pursued for several years by federal authorities for up to $6.8bn in taxes it was accused of avoiding through practices described as “abuses” by a Senate investigation. The company is due to meet IRS officials for talks this week.
As NYPD Officers are Charged with Rape of Teenager, Advocates Call for End to Mass Sexual Violence
Rahm Emanuel on Donna Brazile Claims: “This is Really, Totally Irrelevant”
Senior Democratic officials were quick to dismiss recent claims by Donna Brazile that the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign exercised extensive influence over the Democratic National Committee, including an agreement that gave the campaign power to vet communications by the party during the presidential primary.
“Lee, I love you, but this is really, totally irrelevant,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in response to The Intercept’s question about the fairness of the DNC-Clinton agreement. “Let’s focus on what we got to do to win not only in 2018 and 2020 going forward, and it ain’t looking back in 2016 and thinking about some agreement everybody’s done before.”
Minyon Moore, an at-large member of the DNC and senior adviser to Clinton, said the agreement wasn’t unusual “because the DNC is always considered the stepchild, and we want candidates who want to help build the party.”
Maria Echaveste, a former aide in Bill Clinton’s administration who backed Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, said she had not read the agreement but asserted that any “notion that the Hillary campaign controlled the DNC and therefore rigged the election, the selection process, is nonsense.” But, she added, that “in terms of the DNC, we have a lot to learn.”
Trump started a culture war. Democrats don't know how to fight back.
Donald Trump’s “culture war” army is growing. Republicans across the country are increasingly following the president’s lead and picking fights over Confederate monuments, NFL player protests, Muslims, undocumented immigrants, and preaching law and order — opting to rally the party’s mostly white base more brazenly than the subtle racist dog whistles of the past. ...
And Democrats don’t want any part of it. When it comes to the culture war, most Democrats would rather fight Republicans on policy than on Trump’s racially fraught ground. But some black and Latino leaders are warning Democrats that the current approach — talking around race rather than confronting it head-on — is further demoralizing people of color, who are usually loyal Democratic voters but did not turn out in 2016 at the level they did in 2012. ...
But party insiders say there’s at least one strategic reason Democrats aren’t engaging with Trump on race. “You have to understand, there are just a ton of white people in this country,” one Democratic Party official explained to VICE News recently, a point several Democratic strategists echoed when asked why they choose policy over going to war on culture issues. Democrats are instead relying on the belief that good policy is more important to people of color than debates over things like monuments and player protests of police violence.
Yet, most Democratic leaders say they support NFL players’ right to protest but shy away from forcefully embracing their cause to end police violence. A bill from Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey to remove the Confederate monuments in the Capitol — including one of Confederate President Jefferson Davis — has only four co-sponsors out of 48 Senate Democrats and has had little public push from leadership. And the party’s much-promoted “Better Deal” agenda makes no mention of immigration or the criminal justice system. ...
“We are ceding this anxious ground to Trump and the Bannons of the world,” said pollster Cornell Belcher, the author of “A Black Man in the White House.” Belcher, who is black, added that “when Trump stands in front of his audiences and says, ‘I’m going to give you back your country,’ he is having a conversation about race. Democrats’ response to that is that ‘I’m going to raise the minimum wage.’ It’s disconnected.”
Syria signs Paris climate agreement and leaves US isolated
Syria has decided to sign the Paris agreement on climate change, the world’s final functioning state to do so. The surprise decision, taken amid a brutal civil war in the country, will leave the US as the only country outside the agreement if it follows through on President Donald Trump’s vow to leave.
Syria’s decision brings to 197 the number of nations signed up to the landmark 2015 pact on global warming, the first in more than 20 years of UN negotiations to bind both developed and developing countries to a clear limit on temperature rises.
President Barack Obama signed the accord and it was ratified before his term of office ended, but this summer Donald Trump began the process of withdrawing from it. Withdrawal will take several years under UN rules, so the US officially remains a party until 4 November 2020, the day after its next presidential election. The US is the only country to renege on the agreement.
Civil society groups said the US, the world’s largest economy and second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, was now isolated on the world stage.
Big meat and big dairy's climate emissions put Exxon Mobil to shame
Did you know that three meat companies – JBS, Cargill and Tyson – are estimated to have emitted more greenhouse gases last year than all of France and nearly as much as some of the biggest oil companies like Exxon, BP and Shell? Few meat and dairy companies calculate or publish their climate emissions. So for the first time ever, we have estimated corporate emissions from livestock, using the most comprehensive methodology created to date by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
And before the meat and dairy industries descend upon COP23 to broadcast their “feed the world” narrative, let’s set the story straight: their emissions could lead us to a point of no return. We’ve found that the top 20 meat and dairy companies emitted more greenhouse gases in 2016 than all of Germany, Europe’s biggest climate polluter by far. If these companies were a country, they would be the world’s seventh largest greenhouse gas emitter.
It’s now clear that the world cannot avoid climate catastrophe without addressing the staggering emissions from the largest meat and dairy conglomerates. Over the past few decades, the meat and dairy majors have become immensely powerful and have successfully pushed policies to support rapid growth of industrial meat and dairy production and consumption around the world, at all costs.
One consequence, among many, is that livestock production now contributes nearly 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, even more than the transportation sector. If production continues to grow as projected by the FAO, emissions will escalate to the point where industrial meat and dairy production alone will undercut our ability to keep temperatures from rising to an apocalyptic scenario.
Children Sue Trump Admin for 'Reckless and Deliberate Indifference' to Climate Threat
Two Pennsylvania children and a Philadelphia-based environmental organization filed suit on Monday against the Trump administration for its gutting of climate regulations, laws, and policies—actions which show the government's "reckless and deliberate indifference to the established clear and present dangers of climate change."
"We must hold the federal government accountable for the long-term environmental harm that is propagating under its direction. It's time to fight back," said Clean Air Council executive director and chief counsel Joseph Minott.
The suit (pdf), filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, names as defendants President Donald Trump, the Energy Department, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, and argues that through the administration's rollbacks, which interfere "with a stable climate system," they violated the public trust doctrine and infringed upon the defendants' Fifth and Ninth Amendment rights.
Among the actions cited in the suit are ditching the Paris climate accord, stopping methane emissions reporting by oil and gas companies, approving the Keystone XL pipeline, proposing cuts to federal agencies dealing with climate change, proposing the repeal of the Clean Power Plan, and purging scientists from the EPA board of scientific counselors.
All such actions, the suit argues, "will cause irreversible and catastrophic harm to the natural systems critical to plaintiffs' rights to life, liberty, and property." They will also "cause human deaths, shorten human lifespans, result in widespread damage to property, threaten human food sources, and dramatically alter the planet's ecosystem, thereby violating plaintiffs' fundamental right to a life-sustaining climate system."
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
The seven Republican super-donors who keep money in tax havens
How Trump is dismantling a pillar of the American state
Why Donna Brazile's Story Matters – But Not for the Reason You Might Think
From Single Payer to Pipelines, Sen. Joe Manchin Is Just Plain Brilliant
A Little Night Music
Tiny Bradshaw - Well Oh Well
Tiny Bradshaw - Walkin' the Chalk Line
Tiny Bradshaw - I'm A Hi-Ballin' Daddy
Tiny Bradshaw - Later, South of the Orient
Tiny Bradshaw - I'm Gonna Have Myself A Ball
Tiny Bradshaw - Lay It on The Line
Tiny Bradshaw - Bradshaw Boogie
Tiny Bradshaw - Long Time Baby
Tiny Bradshaw - Breaking Up The House
Tiny Bradshaw - Heavy Juice
Comments
For some reason today I've had "Colonel Bogey" stuck in my head.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW-DahcNQv8]
Mainly because I know that "Hitler has only got one ball..." tends to piss Nazis off...
Tempted to write one for modern America...
Clinton, can't even steal a vote,
Barry, just sits back and gloats,
Feinstein, just drinks her winestein,
While Trump sends them all thank you notes.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
evening dmw...
heh, you're off to a start there, could be a song for our times.
have a good one!
Kim Dotcom
The German who has lived in New Zealand for many years and produced a very successful file sharing program MEGA UPLOAD.
The US has gone after him because people used his system to move items like movies which are intellectual property.
Chriss Dodd left Senate and became head of Motion Picture Association and led the effort to shut him down and put him in jail. A huge raid on his house about 4 years ago and seized his assets.
It sorta looks like the case against him fell apart.
I am on an email list and he sent out info on the movie about him.
Follow this link
Kim Dotcom caught in the web
A number of places to click. Here is one of them
You can get a preview. Film won awards.
Lots of stuff on his web page
kim.com
And he has a new on line, secure file storage product
https://mega.nz
On his web page he states again his contact with Seth Rich, the DNC employee who was murdered. He respects the family who does not want the publicity so has said nothing additional. He has volunteered to speak to authorities but no one has contacted him so far. Apparently Seth contacted him and they had several contacts. Was Seth the inside source who provided the emails???
evening don...
last i heard, sometime in feb (2018) kim dotcom has another extradition appeal, which hopefully will go well now that there have been numerous findings of illegal activity by the gcsb and the us government against dotcom and some of his associates. it will be interesting to see if dotcom can get his assets back as well (though i would assume that there would need to be further proceedings for that to happen).
hopefully, one day dotcom will tell everything he knows about seth rich and the circumstances of his untimely demise.
Howdy, howdy joe!
From the Vice story about Trump's culture wars:
I would sure like to know what "good policy" the Democrats have that they believe are so important to POC than protests over police violence. In fact, I can't think of a single "good policy" the DNC Centrists have on any issue that anybody cares about.
As far as the party failure to fight back in the culture wars, their problem is that the culture wars either are not worth fighting (The War on Christmas) or they can only be won with progressive ideas. Bernie, or any genuine leftist, can easily make them look like the idiots they really are.
The genuine winning issues are working class economic issues the DNC Centrists refuse to endorse.
"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
Dem Establishment no single payer, but another war??
....
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
On what grounds does she think that the troops
and this country have the right to do anything to NK? I'm mean besides the fact that our country thinks it can do whatever it wants.
I can't believe that other country's leaders would sit back and watch this happen.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
I'm pretty sure this entire chicken hawk strut
…is 100 percent bluff end-to-end. There are major geopolitical reasons why that is so.
Frightening the American people out of their minds makes for colorful optics, though.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
frightening the american people is an object...
after all, they have to be clamoring to be led to safety. it's a jobs program for otherwise useless nincompoops.
on the other hand, there is still the chance that some of these doddering fools might be willing to go nuclear if they think that they can do it, kill off a bunch of that annoying surplus population and still remain rich and in charge afterwards.
I've seen this scenario run many times
The fact is, every outcome of any US nuclear foolishness runs counter to US national interest and its obsession with Empire. And, it goes downhill from there, especially in the case of conventional weapons and ground warfare, which is required and logistically impossible without China or Russia supporting the US forces. All this in full awareness that the ultimate US goal is to crush Eurasia. We tend to forget that the vast Asian bloc — which incorporates a majority of the global population and a majority of the global economy — doesn't have a huge problem with North Korea. in some geopolitical views, South Korea and Japan are regarded as Americanized enclaves more than Asian allies. Their problems are of their own making.
All UN Member Nations know the answer is a simple one. It's been proposed repeatedly. The US can stop terrorizing North Korea 24/7 with its aggressive war games and pretend bombing runs. End of problem.
My guess is if some senile fool wants to bomb North Korea, he's going to trip and bump his head on the way to the war room. Probably break his hip, poor thing.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
heh...
to repurpose and old saying for the digital age; from your keyboard to god's ears, pluto.
the thought has crossed my mind that even though everyone else is aware that a ground invasion of north korea or a limited nuclear exchange will lead to the end of the empire, there are idiots in washington that stay up late at night "amusing themselves" while writing up procurement documents for variable yield warheads. these freaking morons actually believe that a limited nuclear exchange can happen and that the empire could survive it intact. some of these idiots probably find north korea an appealing test case for the theory.
enter the cheetoh man and the pelosinator...
i'm not saying that there's a large chance of something this idiotic being allowed by the folks that are really in charge, but it is a possibility, i think.
Hahaha! I trust the Deep State to keep their eyes
…on the prize. They've been embedded for 75 years, at least, waiting for this moment.
I have a hard time visualizing this at the joint chiefs level of command in the War Room. . On the other hand:
That keeps me up nights, knowing how badly boys need to watch things explode.
____________________
The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
As A Last Resort?
What kind of double talk is that? Pelosi trusts Trump to engage in rational first, second or third resorts?
Pelosi is flat out fanning the flames for invasion.
"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
Pelosi is just being the new Hillary
when the excremental winds hit the turf, she will say that she didn't give him her permission to go to war......, she only voted for it in order for......
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
evening do...
senility can be a dangerous thing.
that lady has some screws loose in her head /nt
may be it is my head, not hers, one never knows /nt
only if she leads the way.
perhaps she could be used to check for landmines.
as a last resort.
this dangerous nonsense will solve none of the problems we face.
this is what they hand us.
they will walk away rich and clean, like obama.
that's the way they see it going.
imo.
evening mm...
oh yeah, good policy is important. surely it's more important than stopping the police from murdering unarmed black people with impunity - i bet freddie gray or eric garner would have much rather had some good policy than something that would have kept them alive and uninjured. yeah, and all of those black parents that have to give the lecture to their kids about how to act when the police are around, they'd certainly prefer "good policies" to something that would protect their kids from dangerous predators in blue with guns.
sheesh!
Evening all ...
I thought Max and Stacy were good today, especially Michael Hudson in the second half.
Here's Pepe Escobar's take on the Saudi purge: Asia Times
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
evening azazello...
heh, if pepe is correct, the future of saudi arabia may be a lot of things, but it won't be boring.
i would imagine that the cia would step in to assure that whatever regime emerges it will be comfortable with. there's a lot at stake for the spooks.
Okay joe. It’s ok, it’s okay to laugh again.
...
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...
thank goodness, because i find little beauregard to be an amusing little weasel.
Heh!
In other words (given that Trump lives in Opposite World), the Saudis have no idea what they are doing.
Iran would trounce SA. The Saudis might have a load of foreign made military kit, but I very much doubt their elan/fighting spirit. Look how they cried and worried when Saddam invaded Kuwait all those years ago.
Iranians on the other hand...
(Edited)
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
evening bollox...
it seems to me that iran's failure to squash saudi arabia like a bug is generally evidence of their peaceful intentions considering the effort the saudis have exerted to irritate iran and persecute shiites.
it seems to me that mbs is poking a hornets nest.
The House of Saud ain't skeered
they have Uncle Sugar by the balz and that is probably why all Trump Administration antiIran prop now beating drum for war????
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
i'm sure that a lot of mbs' bravado re: iran...
is due to the knowledge that trump and netanyahu are both drooling at the thought of having an opportunity to have a war with iran. hell, obama wanted it badly, too. he stuck a huge flotilla in the persian gulf to strut around in front of iran, despite the fact that these ships (including the roosevelt aircraft carrier) are sitting ducks for iranian missiles (sunburn missiles) which the us fleet is largely defenseless against in a confined space.
poking a hornets nest
To paraphrase Anonymous, with our penis!
"We suggest you remove your penis from the hornets' nest!" -- Anonymous
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
well now...
there's an image that well describes the idiocy of what's happening and at the same time makes you want to cross your legs.
Since seeing the Facebook ads
I'm even more dumbfounded by the number of people who are believing that Russia interfered with the election. The ads that they say swung the election to Trump are just plain dumb.
People's minds are usually made up long before the debates start happening.
There were probably more people who didn't belong to it than to it and if Russia really wanted to influence the election, I'm sure there was other ways to do it.
Israel's hold over our government is much more worrying to me because they don't just say who can be in it, they tell them what to do.
From what I've read about the Mueller investigation is that Manafort, Podesta's and others are in trouble for what they did with their lobbying businesses in Ukraine, not colluding with Putin.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
My Take As Well snoopydawg
A few thousand dollars in Facebook ads were more influential than the hundreds of millions the Koch brothers and Mercer poured in to the election, voter suppression and Republican gerrymandering. Really?
Waiting for Mueller to drop the other shoe, but so far he seems to be stumbling across plain old white collar corruption all over the place.
"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
Remember Fitzmas during the Plamegate investigation?
I remember
diarrheadiaries on this day after day and everyone said that this is what was going to take down the Bush administration only to see that after Fitzpatrick spent months calling people in to testify he found no one actually guilty because people kicked sand in his face and he couldn't see if the runner crossed the base before he was touched by the catcher.Gack! I'm betting that this is what is going to happen with this.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
evening snoopy...
i have to say, the folks whose heads are exploding over russiagate have got to be dumber than cat poop. i have a hard time believing that anybody with a functioning brain can possibly look at the evidence presented and think that it is convincing.
and yeah, frankly israel has far more influence on our elections and the workings of government than is proper - and it clearly dwarfs the $100k of ads that people with russian ip addresses spent on faceboob.
Hi, SD! Agree with you and Joe
that it's mind-boggling that so many folks are buying into the Russia ruse. However, considering the 24/7 barrage of lies about so-called Russian meddling--for months, now--emanating from the MSM, Dems, and Repubs on teevee, it doesn't totally surprise me. It's just tremendously sad and tragic.
I wish there was something that we could do to neutralize the power of the corporatist mainstream media's propaganda, but I'm not sure what that would be.
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
we must find an answer
Absolutely agree, Irishking! Personally, not giving up;
but, I'm definitely discouraged.
It's not just the lies that the corporatist media spins, it's the ones that come from the Dem Party Leadership. Especially, regarding their plans for revamping Medicare--most of which are about turning Traditional Medicare into a managed care plan, instead of the current FFS (Fee-For-Service) program.
(The Kaine-Bennett proposal is a perfect example of this bait-and-switch tactic. I've heard both Sentators interviewed, and unless a person follows the topic very closely, their plan probably sounds quite innocuous, since they present it as a plan that won't ensnare Seniors--initially.)
Mollie
“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)
SOSD - A volunteer-run organisation dedicated to the welfare of Singapore’s street dogs. We rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome strays to give them a second chance.
SOSD Rescue 'Barabas The Brave'
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Northam Wins In Virginia
http://q13fox.com/2017/11/07/democrat-ralph-northam-wins-virginia-govern...
I guess that's good news if the DNC doesn't botch up redistricting.
"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
The spin on it is already centrist..
Remember, this is apparently a great victory that proves that we must all support the democrats! Expect 24-48 hours of telling us how this will fix everything, followed by years of explaining that it wasn't enough and they need a 60 seat majority AND all of the Governorships before they can actually do anything.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
All that matters is that he is a democrat
at least according to some people on ToP. It doesn't matter what a person does while in office, just that they are democrats and then the party will have those 60 votes.
Mankin votes with republicans more than he does the democrats, but according to their way of thinking, it's better than the republicans having more players on the field.
See why being a democrat is so important
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
It's not tha the Dims were so good,
it's that the Reps were so appallingly awful. Northam told us nothing about why we should vote for him, except that he was "Anti-Trump". I don't recall hearing much from Justin Fairfax, but everyone knew Jill Vogel was overweeningly ambitious and bad news for all Virginia women. A couple of people (including AG Mark Herring (D) and State Representative Chris Collins (R)) kept their jobs simply by not antagonizing the voters.
The downside is that the Dim party will take this as an indication that they should continue their lemming-like rush over the Hard Right cliff.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
I will take that win
and it extends downballot as well. Makes me cautiously hopeful about the AL Senate race next month. Crazypants Roy Moore needs to go down.
Hola, Joe & Gang! Thanks
for tonight's EB--I'll be dropping back by to finish reading them, after I take care of paying several cell phone bills (we have to keep several carriers, so that we have coverage while traveling). For whatever reason, cell coverage (by some major carriers) in the mid- and deep-south is very spotty/erratic, even along major interstate routes.
It's so late, I'll comment on one of them later, when I've got time to document my opinion. As for Manchin, if we can manage to 'expose him,' maybe he won't appear to be so 'brilliant!'
Seriously, as much as any other lawmaker, his policies have helped create the heroin crisis. He was instrumental in having the DEA reschedule oxycontin and hydrocodone combination products from schedule III to schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act. This, in turn, caused the costs of these drugs to skyrocket. Which resulted in many users turning to a cheaper drug--heroin. I can't imagine why he hasn't been shown the door years ago.
Hey, got a couple of 'numbers' statistics that I thought were interesting (from a calendar). Certainly, can't compete with EL's excellent 'numbers' OTs, but here you go,
Hey, Everyone have a nice evening!
Postcript: Thanks DO for the Tweet about the proposed Medicare X Bill. I'll add to your piece, soon.
Mollie
The "Grand Bargain" isn't dead--it's being implemented incrementally through piecemeal legislation. Please read the 2010 Bowles-Simpson proposal, "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've been reading from other rv travellers that they use several providers as well, which seems kinda ridiculous to me, but then again, those companies own the regulators who could force them to provide a better service.
have you ever tried a cellphone signal booster? if so, did it work?
heh, i think exposing manchin will just turn him into a party switcher, though it would free up a space on the ballot...
anyway, have a great evening!
No, never tried one, Joe--honestly, didn't know of such
a thing (cell phone booster). You can bet, though, that I'll 'Google' them this evening. Sounds as though it might come in handy, and 'possibly' eliminate a cell phone bill, or two.
I can deal with that--thanks for the recommendation!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
the train kept a'rollin'
This Tiny Bradshaw tune started in boogie-woogie blues, but has gone through many other musical genres in the subsequent decades from rockabilly to heavy metal!
Here are samples of the various other cars in the great Train, of which Tiny Bradshaw's rendition was the Great Locomotive:
Johnny Burnette Trio (1956):
[video:https://youtu.be/VkZhJJ8sPmw]
Yardbirds (1968):
[video:https://youtu.be/0y078n95ApA]
Led Zeppelin (1969):
[video:https://youtu.be/u3jqC7m4QgM]
Led Zeppelin (with better audio):
[video:https://youtu.be/UhSng_r3Y1s]
and, finally, the rendition most likely to be recognized by readers currently under the age of 60:
Aerosmith (1974):
[video:https://youtu.be/_EvGn22Mplg]
It does appear that this great Train has indeed kept a'rollin' all night long -- for thousands of nights on end!
EDIT: Corrected the URL in the latter Led Zeppelin window and some typos.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
evening sean...
thanks for the featurette! it's certainly a great tune. i think that my favorite version of it was probably a version i had on a bootleg of the yardbirds which i listened to a lot when i was a teenager. it took me a number of years before i realized there was an original version before johnny burnette, but i like those versions a lot, too.
FWIW, Jake Tapper just noted that 'progressives'
might outta take away from tonight's election results that 'purity tests' can be a bad idea. I assume that he's acknowledging that both the Dem Party gubernatorial candidates [who won this evening] are corporatists/centrists. Whew!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Evening Bluesters
Thank you joe, you for the news and blues.
What an astute and thoughtful peice by Chris Floyd. He encapsulates much of the absurdity that defines this American/Russian Drama.
Too many people thrive on the pre-packaged drama the media likes to shout about, never giving enough time to thought because the next episode follows immediately after. We are all subject to distraction. I think a good addition to education would be a course on how to think independently in a world of infinite information and misinformation, and urge toward uniformity. How do we learn not to misuse it, for the common good. Why can’t some hack shut down the tv news ; )
Thankfully we still have options and a beating heart to balance it all.
Hey Joe
I was glad to see the piece about Big meat and dairy, the fact that it has now surpassed transportation in emissions is mind blowing. If we are going to be serious on climate change this is something that has to be addressed. There are far to many that like to rant about gas guzzlers and so on but don't have a problem eating a big juicy steak or half pound hamburger and a milk shake. Also the way these factory slaughter houses kill these animals is beyond brutal.
Good next morning ...
just wanted to say hallo and admit that everything thing I read (which is not much due to other "errands" I have to do) is beyond my pay grade. Considering that I labor for free that is nowadays a new default.
I saw a German documentary about Trump yesterday night. It had a lot of old footage from Trump as a young hot shot. And some interesting footage about all his foot licking cabinet members and advisers to present their loyalty promises and laudatios of his leadership role one by one sitting like obedient little kiddos aroung the conference table. Never seen such a bunch of cowards in one heap. Not ONE man having the guts to leave or oppose him.
Everything he displays in his behavior is the same as he displayed it as a young man.
Other than utter chaos I don't expect anything anymore.