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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Ikey Robinson

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features banjo player Ikey Robinson. Enjoy!

^{Ikey Robinson & His Band - Got Butter On It}

"It is the highest impertinence and presumption, therefore, in kings and ministers to pretend to watch over the economy of private people, and to restrain their expense. They are themselves, always, and without any exception, the greatest spendthrifts in the society."

-- Adam Smith

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News and Opinion

Record US military budget prepares for “future conflict with China”

With no serious public debate or discussion, the US House of Representatives voted Thursday to spend nearly a trillion dollars on the military over the next year, funding the proxy war in Ukraine against Russia and plans for military conflict with China. The vast majority of both Democrats and Republicans in the House voted to spend another $858 billion on the US military, a figure $45 billion higher than President Joe Biden had requested and 8 percent higher than last year’s budget.

The principal target of the bill is China, with congressional lawmakers publicly discussing preparations for war with the world’s most populous country in barely-veiled terms. “This year’s NDAA [National Defense Authorization Act] takes concrete steps towards preparing for a future conflict with China by investing in American hard power, strengthening American posture in the Indo-Pacific, and supporting our allies,” Wisconsin Republican Representative Mike Gallagher said. In a press statement, Gallagher praised the fact that the bill “Provides similar drawdown authority to arm Taiwan as we have Ukraine.”

Despite the war in Ukraine being used as the justification for the massive surge in military spending, the central focus of the bill is US preparations for military conflict with China. For the first time in US history, the United States is directly arming Taiwan, providing $10 billion in arms over 10 years. The direct arming of Taiwan strikes yet another major blow at the one-China policy. Taiwan is by far the most referenced geographic area in the bill, with 438 mentions, more than Russia, with 237, and Ukraine, with 159.

The bill ends the requirement that the Pentagon provide competitive contracts for military procurement, opening the door to massive price-gouging by military contractors Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, which are already posting record profits fueled by the bloody, US-provoked war in Ukraine. ...

The bill continues the transformation of the US military from a force aimed primarily at subjugating and terrorizing former colonies such as Iraq and Afghanistan into one prepared to fight wars with “peer competitors” such as Russia and China.

Pentagon Lost $2 Trillion AGAIN!

Why Are Ukraine Weapons Going To Nigeria, Finland & Holland?!?

US greenlights attacks inside Russia, less fear of escalation. Serbia troop deployment in Kosovo

What could possibly go wrong?

Pentagon gives Ukraine green light for drone strikes inside Russia

The Pentagon has given a tacit endorsement of Ukraine’s long-range attacks on targets inside Russia after President Putin’s multiple missile strikes against Kyiv’s critical infrastructure. Since daily assaults on civilians began in October, the Pentagon has revised its threat assessment of the war in Ukraine. Crucially, this includes new judgments about whether arms shipments to Kyiv might lead to a military confrontation between Russia and Nato.

This represents a significant development in the nine-month war between Ukraine and Russia, with Washington now likelier to supply Kyiv with longer-range weapons. “We’re still using the same escalatory calculations but the fear of escalation has changed since the beginning,” a US defence source told The Times. “It’s different now. This is because the calculus of war has changed as a result of the suffering and brutality the Ukrainians are being subjected to by the Russians.”

Washington is now less concerned that new long-range strikes inside Russia could lead to a dramatic escalation. Moscow’s revenge attacks have to date all involved conventional missile strikes against civilian targets. Previously, the Pentagon was warier of Ukraine attacking Russia because it feared the Kremlin would retaliate either with tactical nuclear weapons or by targeting neighbouring Nato nations.

However, Washington does not want to be seen publicly giving the green light to Kyiv attacking Russian soil. Its position on Ukraine’s attacks inside Russia was defined this week by Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, who said: “We have neither encouraged nor enabled the Ukrainians to strike inside of Russia.”

Congress INSANE To Fund UKRAINE But Not The Govt

Odesa almost out of power after Russian drone attacks, say officials

All non-critical infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa was without power after Russia used drones to hit energy facilities, local officials said on Saturday, with much of the surrounding region also affected.

“Due to the scale of the damage all users in Odesa except critical infrastructure have been disconnected from electricity,” Odesa’s mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, wrote on Facebook. ...

Since October, Moscow has been targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with large waves of missile and drone strikes, with Kyiv acknowledging on Friday that every single thermal and hydroelectric power plant in the country had been damaged.

Russia Advances Deeper Bakhmut, UK MSM Praises Surovikin, Serbia Kosovo Crisis, China Saudi Links

Judicial Coup in Argentina: Corrupt Judges Conspire With Media Oligarch to Ban Cristina Kirchner From Office

Argentina’s notoriously corrupt and deeply politicized judicial system set off an international scandal on December 6, sentencing left-wing former President and current Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to six years in prison and banning her from future office based on highly dubious charges. Prominent leaders across Latin America denounced the ruling as a “judicial coup.” It is eerily similar to the fraudulent case that led to the imprisonment of Brazil’s left-wing former President Lula da Silva in the lead-up to the 2018 elections, which the United Nations Human Rights Committee later denounced as an illegal show trial that lacked due process and violated his rights.

Leaked messages, photos, and videos show that corrupt Argentine prosecutors involved in the case conspired with right-wing opposition politicians, conservative media corporations, and former intelligence officers to wage lawfare (judicial warfare) against Kirchner and her progressive movement. ...

Kirchner had long been targeted in a campaign of systematic legal harassment by the right-wing opposition. She faced 654 legal complaints between 2004 and 2022. Six individuals charged her between 20 and 74 times each. Virtually all of these lawsuits were determined to be totally frivolous, but they drained her of valuable time, energy, and resources.

Twitter Files REVEAL DEEP FBI Involvement

Arizona governor builds border wall of shipping crates in final days of office

A makeshift new barrier built with shipping containers is being illegally erected along part of the US-Mexico border by Arizona’s Republican governor – before he has to hand over the keys of his office to his Democratic successor in January. Doug Ducey is driving a project that is placing double-stacked old shipping containers through several miles of national forest, attempting to fill gaps in Donald Trump’s intermittent border fencing.

The rusting hulks, topped with razor wire and with bits of metal jammed into gaps, stretch for more than three miles through Coronado national forest land, south of Tucson, and the governor has announced plans to extend that up to 10 miles, at a cost of $95m (£78m). ...

Ducey issued an executive order in August to erect old shipping containers near Yuma, and 11 days later workers had installed 130 of what he described as “22ft-high, double stacked, state-owned, 8,800lb, 9x40ft containers, linked together and welded shut”.

In October, Ducey filed a lawsuit in which he claimed that the federal land along the border known as the Roosevelt Reservation actually belongs to the state, not the US government, and that Arizona has the constitutional right to protect itself against what he termed an invasion, citing “countless migrants” resulting in “a mix of drug, crime and humanitarian issues”. US attorneys issued a withering response, refuting the claims.

The US Bureau of Reclamation and the Cocopah tribal nation said that Ducey was violating federal law by placing the containers on federal and tribal land there. In a letter, the bureau demanded that the state remove the containers. But the state has not, and has since been emboldened to embark on the larger project now proceeding apace more than 300 miles to the east.

Bernie DEMANDS Biden Action For Rail Workers

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Massachusetts recount flips state house election to Democrat by one vote

A recount in a political race in Massachusetts has flipped a state house of representatives election from Republican to Democrat by a single vote. Democrat Kristin Kassner won against her Republican opponent and five-term incumbent Lenny Mirra earlier this week after a recount that shrunk the candidates’ narrow vote deficit to one. The candidates were all vying for a seat based in the North Shore area, which is a coastal region between Boston and New Hampshire.

Prior to the recount, Mirra led Kassner by 10 votes out of over 23,000 ballots that were cast in that region during the 8 November midterm election. The 10-vote deficit was within the legal threshold of a recount. On 30 November, Massachusetts secretary of state Bill Galvin ordered hand recounts in a general area where Mirra held a slim advantage.

After officials recounted the votes in question Thursday, the results emerged as 11,763 to 11,762. Kassner was ahead by the slightest of margins.

In response to that outcome, Mirra said that he will “absolutely” challenge the result, the Boston Globe reports.

Rogan Spits Truth About Hunter Biden, The Deep State & Media Bias

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Marine life hit by ‘perfect storm’ as red list reveals species close to extinction

Illegal and unsustainable fishing, fossil fuel exploration, the climate crisis and disease are pushing marine species to the brink of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list, with populations of dugongs, abalone shellfish and pillar coral at risk of disappearing for ever.

Marine life is facing a “perfect storm” of human overconsumption, threatening the survival of some of the world’s most expensive seafood, according to the conservation organisation, which publishes the most up-to-date information on the health of wildlife populations on Earth.

From South Africa to Australia, 20 of the world’s 54 abalone species are now threatened with extinction, according to the first IUCN scientific assessment of the species group. In east Africa and New Caledonia, dugongs – marine mammals that largely feed on seagrass – are close to extinction, damaged by oil and gas exploration, bottom-trawling, chemical pollution and mining. ...

There are 150,388 species that have been assessed by scientists for the IUCN red list, of which 42,108 are threatened with extinction. More than 1,550 of the 17,903 marine animals and plants analysed are at risk of disappearing for ever, with global heating affecting at least 41% of threatened marine species.

Michigan Judge Drops Flint Water Charges Against GOP Ex-Gov Snyder

Environmental justice advocates on Friday condemned a move by a district judge in Michigan to drop two misdemeanor charges against former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder in connection with the 2014 Flint water crisis that killed dozens of residents of the predominantly Black city and poisoned thousands more.

The Detroit Free Press reports Genesee County Judge F. Kay Behm signed an order remanding willful neglect of duty charges against Snyder, who served two terms as Michigan's governor from 2011 to 2019.

According to the paper:

Behm cited a Michigan Supreme Court ruling from June which stated government prosecutors erred in 2021 when they had a circuit judge serve as a "one-man grand jury" to indict Snyder and the other officials. She also noted circuit court rulings to dismiss charges against other former state officials which cited the Supreme Court ruling.

"The people of Flint deserve justice—and it's unacceptable that the people responsible for Flint's water crisis aren't being held accountable," the advocacy group Food & Water Watch tweeted in response to the dropped charges.

Tom Ivacko, director of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, said on Twitter that "the Flint water crisis was an abject failure of governance at all levels, and the ultimate price was paid by the residents of Flint."

"While the legal ramifications continue to play out, residents need to claim their role in holding the government accountable," Ivacko continued. "Policymakers need to redouble their efforts to increase government transparency and improve the workings of government."

Journalist Jordan Chariton noted on Twitter, "Nearly 9 years into #FlintWaterCrisis, not one government official in prison."

As the Associated Press reports:

Flint's water became tainted with lead after city managers appointed by Snyder began using the Flint River in 2014 to save money while a new pipeline to Lake Huron was built. The water wasn't treated to reduce its corrosive qualities, causing lead to break off from old pipes and contaminate the system for more than a year.

The Michigan Civil Rights Commission said it was the result of systemic racism, doubting that the water switch and the brush-off of complaints in the majority-Black city would have occurred in a white, prosperous community.

Flint residents complained about the water's smell, taste and appearance, raising health concerns and reporting rashes, hair loss and other problems. Snyder didn't acknowledge that lead was a problem until 17 months after the water switch, in fall 2015, when he pledged to take action.

In addition to lead poisoning, a 2014-15 outbreak of Legionnaires disease caused by the water emergency officially killed 12 people, although an investigation found that the actual death toll may have been up to 10 times higher.

Last year, a federal judge approved a $626 million settlement for Flint victims.

Friday's dismissal comes two months after Genesee County Circuit Judge Elizabeth Kelly dropped felony charges against seven former officials in connection with the Flint water crisis. Earlier this year, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, dropped racketeering charges against officials connected to the catastrophe, drawing accusations of corruption.

Responding to Friday's development, the Flint Water Prosecution Team said in a statement that "this decision is not surprising, and the prosecution will appeal."

"We anticipated that this ruling would be similar to other outcomes that only considered process," the prosecutors continued. "Our team has been preparing for this and looks forward to addressing these issues in court. As we have reiterated time and again, rulings up to this point have been on process alone—not on the merits of the case."

"We are confident that the evidence clearly supports the criminal charges against Rick Snyder," the team added, "and we will not stop until we have exhausted all possible legal options to secure justice for the people of Flint."

Keystone pipeline leaks 14,000 barrels of oil into creek in biggest spill yet

An oil spill in a creek in north-eastern Kansas this week is the largest for an onshore crude pipeline in more than nine years and by far the biggest in the history of the Keystone pipeline, according to federal data. Canada-based TC Energy estimated the spill on the Keystone system at about 14,000 barrels and said the affected pipeline segment had been “isolated” and the oil contained. It did not say how the spill occurred.

After a drop in pressure on the pipeline that carries oil from Canada to the Texas Gulf coast, the company said it shut down its Keystone system on Wednesday night.

Oil spilled into a creek in Washington county, Kansas, about 150 miles north-west of Kansas City.

The transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, on Friday tweeted that the government was investigating.

Zack Pistora, a lobbyist in Kansas for environmental campaign group the Sierra Club, noted the latest spill was larger than all of the 22 previous spills combined on the Keystone pipeline, which began operations in 2010. “This is going to be months, maybe even years before we get the full handle on this disaster and know the extent of the damage and get it all cleaned up,” he said.

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Also of Interest

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

The Biggest Obstacle To Real Freedom Is The Belief That We Already Have It

Taking ‘Peace’ Out of the Nobel Peace Prize

US Intel Lays Out Assange Attack

'Minsk II Was Agreed On To Arm Ukraine' - Did Merkel Really Say That?

Ukraine SitRep - Catastrophic Losses, Failing Wonder Weapons, NATO Escalation

Peru’s Oligarchy Overthrows President Castillo

Kosovo Serbs block road to main border crossings in volatile north

The Rap Sheet on US Rail Companies

Lula Sues Bolsonaro for Abuse of Power and Baseless Attacks on Brazil's Voting System

What was Dracula really like? 550-year-old clue to life of Vlad the Impaler emerges

NATO, Serbia, Russia; Second front and conflict in the Balkans

“SMOKING GUN:” Is Biden HIDING CIA Oswald Op?

Qatar, EU parliament's credibility rocked by bribe claims

Ryan Grim CALLED OUT For Defending Dems Over Rail Workers

The Mafia, CIA & Jeffrey Epstein Worked TOGETHER To Traffic Minors

Theocratic fascists rise to key security posts in Israel's gov't

McCarthy To Issue 51 SUBPOENAS In Hunter Biden Probe, 'EGREGIOUS' Information Found In Twitter Files

German coup targets political opposition. Merkel's disastrous legacy

EU, Baerbock push Serbia towards conflict. Bakhmut nears endgame, Russia advances.

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A Little Night Music

"Banjo" Ikey Robinson - My Four Reasons

The Rhythm Aces (Jabbo Smith, Omer Simeon, Cassino Simpson, Ikey Robinson) - Jazz Battle

Ikey Robinson - A Minor Stomp

Banjo Ikey Robinson & His Bull Fiddle Band · Rock Me Mama

Ikey Robinson & His Windy City Five - Sunshine

Ikey Robinson w. Jabbo Smith - Take Your Time

The Pods of Pepper (Banjo Ikey Robinson) - You've Had Your Way

The Hokum Boys - I Had to Give Up Gym

Banjo Ikey Robinson & His Bull Fiddle Band · My Four Reasons

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