The Evening Blues - 2-10-17
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features New Orleans r&b singer and songwriter Larry Williams. Enjoy!
Larry Williams - Short Fat Fannie
"We know there are no weapons of mass destruction. But there are weapons of misdirection. Millions without health insurance, poverty abounds. For war, billions more, but no more for the poor."
-- Joseph Lowery
News and Opinion
Obscurcissement du jour:
House Oversight Committee is worried about Kellyanne Conway's “free commercial” for Ivanka Trump's brand
Donald Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway encouraged Americans to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff” Thursday morning in promotion of Ivanka Trump’s apparel business. “It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it,” she said, adding, “I’m going to give it a free commercial here.”
“Here” was the White House Briefing Room in an interview with “Fox and Friends,” and the incident raised questions about the ethics of a White House official hyping a product that financially benefits the first family. And now, two top members of the House Oversight Committee are asking that the Office of Government Ethics look into Conway’s remarks, The Hill reported.
The House Oversight chairman also called Conway’s promotion of Ivanka’s brand “clearly over the line, unacceptable,” according to the Associated Press.
Kellyanne Conway 'Doesn't Respect The Lines'
Hat tip divineorder. A more general question, why do wealthy people compete to obtain a job with a far lower salary than they would otherwise command? Surely that's not in the rational self-interest economists often lecture us about.
Do Trump supporters have a breaking point?
How much profiteering is too much? Seriously. How much is Donald Trump allowed to use the White House to advance his family's economic interests before you scream “enough is enough”?
Most Americans are concerned first and foremost with their own family's economic situation, and that of their communities. They may reason that if they are doing well, who cares if the Trump family makes a little extra off of its public position? (Let's put aside the raging hypocrisy of the "pay for play" campaign against so-called Crooked Hillary.) ...
Such so-called kleptocracy is nothing new in U.S. politics. President Lyndon Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson profited handsomely from her ownership of a Texas radio station. Ronald Reagan collected a big paycheck from the Japanese after eight years of appeasing their country's economic predations. Bill and Hillary Clinton raked in millions of dollars in speaking fees after leaving the White House. All of this can be criticized, with more and less force. But that doesn’t make it right.
It is surely relevant that many Americans voted for Trump because both he and politically conservative media told them Hillary Clinton was a "crook," while Trump would "clean up Washington" and "drain the swamp."
Trump Launches "Blue Lives Matter Regime" with Three New Executive Orders on Law Enforcement
Trump Executive Order Sets Agenda For Police To Further Criminalize Protesters
Executive orders signed by President Donald Trump set in motion an agenda for escalating the criminalization of citizens, who engage in protest. This agenda will likely have a disproportionate impact on Black Lives Matter activists, immigrant rights activists, and Native Americans engaged in protest against pipeline projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The executive order aimed at “preventing violence” against police officers calls for a review of existing laws. Following the review, recommendations are to be made to Trump for legislation to protect the safety of police.
“If warranted,” the review may propose “legislation defining new crimes of violence and establishing new mandatory minimum sentences for existing crimes of violence against federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement officers, as well as for related crimes.”
Such legislation would be particularly useful for law enforcement interested in suppressing dissent against police brutality and direct action in general.
It also would fit into a trend developing as a result of Republican lawmakers, who have introduced anti-protesting legislation in several states. This includes making it a felony punishable up to five years to march on highways and increasing penalties for individuals who “obstruct” oil and gas equipment during environmental protests.
Trump Intends to Follow Up Botched Yemen Military Raid By Helping Saudis Target Civilians
Donald Trump's first concrete decision as commander in chief was a major fiasco that killed nine children, eight women, and a U.S. soldier in a botched raid on al Qaeda in Yemen. ...
Impoverished to begin with, Yemen is two years into a civil war that has killed 10,000 people and displaced millions. A U.S.-supplied bombing campaign has turned schools, hospitals, essential infrastructure, and ancient heritage sites into rubble. And a U.S.-backed blockade is preventing the trade of food and basic goods, starving a country that previously relied on imports for 90 percent of its food. ...
And signs are that Yemen is in for more suffering at Trump’s hands. Trump’s Defense Department is reportedly considering a proposal to designate Yemen a formal battlefield in the war on terror, which would allow for an “intensified pace of operations, rather than one-off raids or drone strikes.” ...
And the Washington Times reported on Wednesday that the administration is set to approve an arms transfer to Saudi Arabia that the Obama administration denied to them on human rights grounds. ... The Obama administration, despite its reluctance to offend the Saudis, halted the guidance-systems sales after concluding that the Saudi-led coalition was targeting civilians deliberately.
Hey, wait a minute, Trump's fear-mongering isn't new
President Trump is being reviled for wildly exaggerating the peril of Muslim refugees. Some commentators fret that his rhetoric signals a new fascist era descending on America. A Washington Post news analysis on Friday derided Trump’s fear-mongering: "Playing upon the nation’s anxieties about what might happen also stands as a stark contrast to how presidents have lifted the country out of actual crisis in the past."
But presidential fear-mongering has a long and sordid history. We cannot understand the threat that Trump poses without recognizing how prior presidents used similar ploys.
Though former president Barack Obama’s popularity is now on the rise, he sometimes greatly exaggerated threats to push his legislative agenda. In a speech last year at the funeral of slain Dallas police officers, he asserted, "We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock than get his hands on a computer or even a book." ...
Obama also frequently invoked the threat from terrorism, using it to create a new prerogative for presidents to serve as judge, jury and executioner for suspected bad guys. Thousands of people were slain by Obama-authorized drone attacks, including some Americans and far too many innocent civilians. Obama also played on fears of terrorism to justify permitting the National Security Agency to obliterate online privacy — regardless of the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of warrantless, unreasonable searches. The Obama administration exploited the fear from one blundering would-be underwear bomber to entitle Transportation Security Administration agents to pointlessly grope millions of travelers. More recently, the Obama team warned of horrific consequences unless the feds were permitted to hack into everyone’s iPhone.
Trump Finalizes Executive Order to Put ISIS Detainees in Guantánamo
The Trump administration is finalizing an executive order that effectively tells allies and Islamic State fighters alike: Guantánamo is open for business.
The imminent directive temporarily bars the transfer of any current detainees and instructs the U.S. military to bring any new detainees — explicitly including Islamic State militants — to the detention center in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, according to a draft of the executive order, which is expected as soon as this week. The draft directive was first released Wednesday by the New York Times, and Foreign Policy independently confirmed the details with current and former officials. ...
The new directive indicates a shift in U.S. counterterrorism strategy, with a renewed emphasis on capturing suspected terrorists for their intelligence value rather than killing them in targeted strikes. Observers and lawmakers say the botched Jan. 29 military raid in Yemen was motivated in part by an eagerness to capture new detainees to put in the Cuba prison.
Trump reportedly had to pause a call with Putin because he didn't know about Russia-U.S. nuclear treaty
On Donald Trump’s first official call with Russian President Vladimir Putin recently, the new president apparently didn’t know what the New START Treaty with Russia was, but that didn’t stop him from declaring it a bad deal that was unfair to the United States.
When Putin brought up potentially extending the nuclear arms control treaty, according to a Reuters exclusive, Trump briefly paused the conversation to ask aides about the agreement, then proceeded to criticize it.
Negotiated by President Obama and ratified with bipartisan support by the Senate in 2010, the New START Treaty was the signature policy of Obama’s attempted “reset” with Russia in the first term of his presidency. The arms treaty reduced Cold War nuclear arsenals, capped the total of weapons that could be deployed, and allowed for 18 on-site inspections per year. ...
The treaty can be extended until 2021 and Trump’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson testified before the Senate that he supports the agreement. Trump’s apparent opposition now casts doubt on the treaty’s future, however.
White House says it's investigating leaks
The White House says it is investigating leaks about President Trump's calls with foreign leaders.
“We’re looking into the situation, yes, and it’s very concerning,” press secretary Sean Spicer said when asked about the leaks. “Some of them are done in a way that the release of that information is clearly a breach of a lot of protocols and laws.”
Spicer did not reveal any further information about the nature of the investigation.
The spokesman said Trump is personally troubled that the details of his talks with foreign counterparts have become public.
“Of course, he’s concerned by it. The idea that you can’t have a conversation without that information getting out is concerning,” Spicer said. “We’re trying to conduct serious business on behalf of the country.” ...
The White House has been dogged by a series of leaks of Trump’s conversations with world leaders.
National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say
National security adviser Michael Flynn privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office, contrary to public assertions by Trump officials, current and former U.S. officials said.
Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election.
Flynn on Wednesday denied that he had discussed sanctions with Kislyak. Asked in an interview whether he had ever done so, he twice said, “No.”
On Thursday, Flynn, through his spokesman, backed away from the denial. The spokesman said Flynn “indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”
Officials said this week that the FBI is continuing to examine Flynn’s communications with Kislyak. Several officials emphasized that while sanctions were discussed, they did not see evidence that Flynn had an intent to convey an explicit promise to take action after the inauguration.
Senate Foreign Relations takes hard line on Russia
There was bipartisan agreement in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday that the legislative branch should take decisive action against Russia, even if that means circumventing the White House’s expressed desire for a better relationship between the two nations.
Ranking member Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and several other senators advocated for recently proposed bipartisan legislation that would take decisions about Russian sanctions out of the hands of the White House at the hearing on "The United State, the Russian Federation and the Challenges Ahead." ...
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Phillip Breedlove and Strategy and Statecraft Director Julianne Smith of the Center for New American Strategy told the panel it is critical to keep up a hard-line approach against Russia -- including maintaining sanctions.
“It would be a sign of weakness to ease those sanctions for anything less than full compliance with Minsk,” said Breedlove, referring to two summits between Russia and other world powers that set limits on Moscow’s role in Ukraine.
There was so much agreement between the witnesses that Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) joked it was hard to tell which was a Republican and which was the Democrat.
Trump commits to "One China" policy in phone call to Chinese Premier Xi
U.S. President Donald Trump affirmed his commitment to recognize the “One China” policy in his first phone call with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, allaying fears he was prepared to upend the strategic relationship between the world’s two biggest economies.
That assurance, given at Xi’s request during a Thursday evening phone call described by the White House as “lengthy” and “extremely cordial,” has gone a long way to soothe international jitters that the two powers were headed for confrontation under the Trump administration.
“This creates more confidence that China-U.S. relations will not completely fall apart, that they will not walk into a showdown or even total war,” Victor Gao, a former Chinese Foreign Ministry official who served as former Premier Deng Xiaoping’s English interpreter, told VICE News. ...
Gao hailed Trump’s affirmation of the policy – under which self-governing Taiwan is recognized as part of the same Chinese nation as the mainland – as a “landmark shift” in his position toward China, “especially against all the noises (he) has created.”
Trump’s Foreign Policy at a Crossroads
If you wanted to bring sanity to a U.S. foreign policy that has spun crazily out of control, there would be some immediate steps that you – or, say, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson – could take, starting with a renewed commitment to tell the truth to the American people. ...
For instance, you could release what the U.S. government actually knows about the Aug. 21, 2013 sarin gas attack in Syria; what the files show about the origins of the Feb. 22, 2014 coup in Ukraine; what U.S. intelligence analysts have compiled about the July 17, 2014 shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine. And those are just three examples of cases where U.S. government propagandists have sold a dubious bill of goods to the American and world publics in the “information warfare” campaign against the Syrian and Russian governments.
If you wanted to base U.S. foreign policy on the firm foundation of reality, you also could let the American people in on who is actually the principal sponsor of the terrorism that they’re concerned about: Al Qaeda, Islamic State, the Taliban – all Sunni-led outfits, none of which are backed by Shiite-ruled Iran. Yet, all we hear from Official Washington’s political and media insiders is that Iran is the chief sponsor of terrorism. ...
There was some hope that President Trump – for all his irascibility and unpredictability – might break from the absurd “Iran is the principal source of terrorism” mantra. But so far he has not. Nor has Trump moved to throw open the files on the Syrian and Ukraine conflicts so Americans can assess how the Obama administration sought to manipulate them into supporting these “regime change” adventures. ...
So far, the Trump inner circle has shown the administrative savvy to avoid bringing in ideologues who would dedicate their efforts to thwarting any significant change in U.S. geopolitical directions. What is less clear is whether Trump, Tillerson and his fledgling State Department team have the intellectual heft to understand why U.S. foreign policy has drifted into the chaos and conflicts that now surround it – and whether they have the skill to navigate a route toward a safe harbor.
US commander in Afghanistan requests several thousand new troops
The commander of the US war in Afghanistan has requested several thousand new troops for America’s longest-ever conflict to break what he described as a stalemate.
In the first indication of the course the 15-year-old war will take under Donald Trump, army Gen John Nicholson told a Senate panel that he was facing a shortfall of troops necessary for training Afghan forces to ultimately replace their US and Nato counterparts.
“They could come from our allies as well as the United States. We have identified the requirement and the desire to advise below the corps level. It would enable us to thicken our advisory efforts across the Afghanistan mission,” Nicholson told the Senate armed services committee on Thursday.
Nicholson acknowledged that the Taliban has gained territory across the country in 2016, and that the Afghans have “tens of thousands” of absent or nonexistent Afghan soldiers on their payrolls. But he described the current situation in Afghanistan as a “stalemate.
WikiLeaks accuses BBC of lying about leaks on French politicians
Turkey's Erdogan paves way for April vote on consolidation of power
Turkey’s president has approved a bill granting him broad new powers under an executive presidential system, paving the way for a referendum in mid-April on the proposed changes.
The 18-article bill was passed by parliament last month without garnering the two-thirds majority needed to become law. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s approval allows the proposed constitutional changes to go to a public vote.
Senior Turkish officials have said the referendum is likely to take place on 16 April.
The constitutional overhaul would allow Erdogan to run for two more terms in office, potentially governing as a powerful executive until 2029. It is backed by the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) and its nationalist allies in parliament.
Government critics fear the proposed changes will usher in an era of authoritarian one-man rule, with few checks and balances on the president by a loyalist parliament, allowing Erdogan to consolidate power amid a large-scale purge of civil servants and a crackdown on opposition media and political parties.
Angela Merkel is clamping down on asylum seekers as election nears
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is set to introduce new measures aimed at speeding up the deportation of failed asylum seekers. The plans come as her party tries to project a tougher line on immigration and border security ahead of elections in September.
Two recent terror attacks in Germany – a truck attack at a Berlin Christmas market and a suicide bombing, the country’s first, in Ansbach – were carried out by migrants whose asylum bids had been rejected but who had not been deported. Both attackers had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
Merkel is meeting the leaders of the country’s 16 federal states on Thursday evening to discuss a 16-point plan aimed at addressing shortcomings in the deportation system, which is currently handled at the state level. ...
Anti-migrant sentiment has fueled the rise of the populist right-wing Alternative for Germany party, predicted to be a major challenge to the political establishment.
Court Refuses to Reinstate Trump's Muslim Ban, Says "No Evidence" of Attacks from 7 Listed Countries
Major setback for Trump as judges uphold temporary travel ban restraining order
Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban suffered a major setback on Thursday after a panel of three judges upheld an injunction against the president’s order banning arrivals from seven Muslim-majority countries.
In its unanimous ruling, the three judges on the ninth circuit court of appeals upheld the temporary restraining order, which was issued by Judge James Robart, a federal district court judge in Washington state, and has blocked the enforcement of many key parts of the executive order.
The court found that “the government has not shown a stay is necessary to avoid irreparable injury.” In particular, its ruling noted “the government has pointed to no evidence that any alien from any of the countries named in the order has perpetrated a terrorist attack in the United States. Rather than present evidence to explain the need for the executive order, the government has taken the position that we must not review its decision at all.”
Almost immediately, Trump tweeted his response: “SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”
Fixed that for you.@realDonaldTrump SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE! pic.twitter.com/YoHQ9tCAGl
— Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) February 9, 2017
Trump's Mexico border wall could cost $21bn, departmental files show
President Donald Trump’s proposed US-Mexico border wall would be a series of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6bn, and take more than three years to build, according to a US Department of Homeland Security internal report seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The estimated price-tag is much higher than a $12bn figure cited by Trump in his campaign and estimates as high as $15bn from Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell.
The report is expected to be presented to John Kelly, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in coming days, although the administration will not necessarily take the actions it recommends.
The plan lays out in three phases what it would take to seal the border of just over 1,250 miles (2,000km) by the end of 2020.
With 654 miles (1,046 km) of the border already fortified, the new construction would extend almost the length of the entire border.
Many cost estimates and timelines have been floated since Trump campaigned on the promise of building a wall. The report seen by Reuters is the work of a group commissioned by Kelly as a final step before moving forward with requesting US taxpayer funds from Congress and getting started on construction.
Sarah Palin is being considered for job as ambassador to Canada. She's presently on a flight to Europe to meet with us. #sarahpalin
— Rob Willcott (@advantagephysio) February 9, 2017
Sarah Palin ambassador to Canada? Our 2 official languages are French and English. She will have to learn at least one #canpoli pic.twitter.com/G0UwKkNDsU
— Mister Race Bannon (@MrRaceBannon) February 9, 2017
GOP Congressman Jason Chaffetz Showered With Boos and Jeers in Roiling Town Hall Meeting
Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz was home in his district Thursday night to hold a town hall at a high school in the suburbs of Salt Lake City. It did not go well. The crowd well exceeded the auditorium’s 1,000-person capacity and the event kicked off to chants of “kick him out!” (re: Chaffetz) mixed with “let them in!” (re: the some 1,000 person overflow crowd locked out of the event). The crowd that did make it inside roiled with anger, asking pointed questions on the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act, violence against women, Chaffetz’s refusal, as the GOP chairman of the House oversight committee, to investigate President Trump’s apparent conflicts of interest and Russian election meddling, as well as his stated desire to sell off local public lands.
Fighting for all? House Democrats divided over party agenda under Trump
In Baltimore, familiar faces stood at a podium, presenting a familiar slogan. In a stab at increased relevance, the slogan had acquired a hashtag: #FightingforAll. In the age of Donald Trump, House Democrats were seeking to frame their core message. ...
This is a moment of reckoning for Democrats, who were in Baltimore for an annual retreat to discuss strategy and vision. They had expected to start the year working with President Hillary Clinton and a Senate majority. Instead, for the first time in a decade, they were without control of the White House or either chamber of Congress.
They must therefore defy President Trump with limited tools, while seeking to recapture the working-class voters who helped keep Clinton out of the White House. It will not be easy. The three-day Baltimore retreat exposed discord within the ranks, but largely the same leadership espoused trite slogans that long predated Trump. It was clear that senior Democrats see little if any cause for major change.
“We are not irrelevant at all,” Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No2 Democrat in the House, told reporters on Wednesday. ...
At the Baltimore retreat, assurances that Democrats were unified were sometimes betrayed. Progressives, for example, reportedly walked out of a presentation hosted by the centrist thinktank Third Way on Wednesday evening.
“I didn’t notice that,” Pelosi said on Thursday morning. “Members walk out for a variety of reasons – some of them relate to personal hygiene.”
Was she saying there were no divisions in the party? “Yeah, that’s what I’m saying,” Pelosi answered, through a mouthful of cookie from Vaccaro’s bakery in Baltimore’s Little Italy, where she grew up.
FBI terrorism taskforce investigating Standing Rock activists
The FBI is investigating political activists campaigning against the Dakota Access pipeline, diverting agents charged with preventing terrorist attacks to instead focus their attention on indigenous activists and environmentalists.
The Guardian has established that multiple officers within the FBI’s joint terrorism taskforce have attempted to contact at least three people tied to the Standing Rock “water protector” movement in North Dakota.
The purpose of the officers’ inquiries into Standing Rock, and scope of the task force’s work, remains unknown. Agency officials declined to comment. But the fact that the officers have even tried to communicate with activists is alarming to free-speech experts who argue that anti-terrorism agents have no business scrutinizing protesters.
“The idea that the government would attempt to construe this indigenous-led non-violent movement into some kind of domestic terrorism investigation is unfathomable to me,” said Lauren Regan, a civil rights attorney who has provided legal support to demonstrators who were contacted by representatives of the FBI. “It’s outrageous, it’s unwarranted … and it’s unconstitutional.”
Regan, who has regularly visited Standing Rock and is the executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center in Oregon, said she learned of three cases in which officers with the taskforce, known as the JTTF, tried to talk to activists in person. She described the encounters as attempted “knocks and talks”, meaning law enforcement showed up at people’s doors without a subpoena or warrant and tried to get them to voluntarily cooperate with an interview.
"Who needs Democrats? Shortly after the Army Corps of Engineers announced its intention to grant an easement allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline to begin tunneling under the Missouri River, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, the Democrat from North Dakota, said, “Today’s announcement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers brings this issue one step closer to final resolution — and delivers the certainty and clarity I’ve been demanding.” Heitkamp’s “Final Re-solution” has a chillingly familiar ring to it."
-- Jeffrey St Clair
Taking the pipeline to court
When the Army Corps of Engineers cleared the way for completing the Dakota Access Pipeline on Tuesday, the agency also canceled something the Standing Rock Sioux have been asking for since the project started: a full report on the environmental effects to the tribe’s main water source. ...
The planned lawsuit will cite two main arguments: that the environmental impact statement was wrongfully abandoned, and therefore, the Army Corps can’t legally grant the easement, according to Jan Hasselman, lead attorney for the Standing Rock Sioux at nonprofit law firm Earthjustice.
“The president doesn’t have the authority to change the law, and the executive order doesn’t support the change,” he said. “[The Army Corps of Engineers is] waning to political pressure and violating the law and the tribe’s rights by abandoning the environmental impact statement.”
Technically, the Army Corps of Engineers reserves the right to change its mind about projects, but the agency needs to give a reason, according to retired Col. John Eisenhauer, a district engineer and commander with the Army Corps of Engineers from 2011 to 2013. He now serves as senior adviser at Dawson & Associates, an environmental regulation consulting firm.
Both the Army Corps’ federal court filing and its letter notifying Congress refer to compliance with Trump’s memorandum about finishing the Dakota Access Pipeline. But the memorandum itself doesn’t offer any explanation as to why the project needed further review in December but not today.
Dakota Access Pipeline Approved a Week After Co-Owner’s Pipeline Spilled 600,000 Gallons of Oil in Texas
On January 30, 600,000 gallons (14,285 barrels) of oil spewed out of Enbridge’s Seaway Pipeline in Blue Ridge, Texas, the second spill since the pipeline opened for business in mid-2016.
Seaway is half owned by Enbridge and serves as the final leg of a pipeline system DeSmog has called the “Keystone XLClone,” which carries mostly tar sands extracted from Alberta, Canada, across the U.S. at a rate of 400,000 barrels per day down to the Gulf of Mexico. Enbridge is an equity co-owner of the Dakota Access pipeline, which received its final permit needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on February 7 to construct the pipeline across the Missouri River and construction has resumed.
'World Is Watching' as DAPL Construction Resumes Amid Protests and Lawsuits
The company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) has resumed construction on the controversial project despite massive protests and legal battles.
Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) spokesperson Vicki Granado on Thursday confirmed that the company began working on the much-disputed 1.5-mile Lake Oahe section immediately after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted the final easement late Wednesday.
Water protectors in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, who have resisted the pipeline's construction for months, vowed to keep fighting.
"It's not over," Stephanie Big Eagle, a member of the Yankton Sioux tribe, told the Guardian. "This is my ancestral treaty lands where my people have always been. I have to be out here."
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, founder of Sacred Stone—the first opposition camp set up at the construction site—said ETP was "already ready to drill," and that the fight against DAPL has taken on global significance.
"It's not about Standing Rock anymore, it's about the world," she said. "No matter what happens, even as they're drilling as we talk, we must all stand up for the water."
Brandy-Lee Maxie, a 34-year-old Nakota tribe member from Canada, warned, "If we just stand down, that sets a precedent for other pipelines—that they are allowed to go to Indian land and just take it."
Solar Created More Jobs in 2016 Than Oil, Gas and Coal Combined
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Former CIA Analyst Sues Defense Department to Vindicate NSA Whistleblowers
The U.S. Military Is Reporting Alternative Facts
Facing Down Trump in Court: A 37-Year Old Hero Emerges
Pentagon journal explores what would happen if a president called for Muslim internment camps
Newly Released Letter From 9/11 Mastermind Shows How Interventionism Causes Terrorism
Women Skeptical of the Women’s March
A Socialist Strategy to Defeat Trump
A Little Night Music
Larry Williams - Slow Down
Larry Williams - You Bug Me Baby
Larry Williams - Bony Maronie
Larry Williams - Bad Boy
Larry Williams - Call on me
Larry Williams - Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Larry Williams - Just Because
Larry Williams - High School Dance
Larry Williams - She Said Yeah
Larry Williams - Hootchy Koo
Larry Williams - Heeby Jeebies
Larry Williams - Jockamo
Larry Williams - Marie, Marie
Larry Williams - The Dummy
Comments
Good news for 3rd parties
link
evening gj...
that's excellent news! i wonder how they will manage to exclude third parties now.
Hi joe. Nice lineup.
The Structural Barriers are so numerous for third parties, that the thought is ludicrous. Just one small example:
For the US, it's a two-party system for the duration of the nation.
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/why-third-parties-cant-win
oh, absolutely...
since all of the states are allowed to make their own rules, there are all sorts of ridiculous hoops that have to be jumped through for third parties.
each state making its own rules
This is actually more to blame for the American Dupoply than Duverger's Law and its causes are.
When we last enabled a new national political party -- the birth of the GOP in the late 1850s -- State rules about forming new political parties were pretty much commonsense matters and therefore fairly uniform. That's NOT the case today!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
@joe shikspack
It's OK - all election processes are now safely in the Top Secret hands of Homeland Security, and any independent/citizen oversight or verification of processes or results would endanger national Security. The Right People will now always win.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
Whoa joe, all Trump all the time? Heh.
Something's happening here....and it may be in reaction to the Democratic Party more than it is to Trump.
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...
lately it seems like trump is pretty much all that the chattering classes and democrats especially want to talk about.
In the seemingly endless supply of evidence of cluelessness
of the Democratic Party comes the quote from a candidate to LEAD the DNC.
In the discussion about the DNC getting access to Bernie's email list we get this.. "His primary challenger, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, told The Huffington Post in December that he wants “to learn from Senator Sanders about how he did it.”
Gee how did Bernie get so many donors? Maybe if Tom Perez checked out any one of the campaign event that had attendance in the tens of thousands, and listenedthen he might find a clue. Did he even miss the Primary debates, or as I suspect,watch them but consider it just electioneering talk?
Really, what a feckless ass. And then he walked that back asap.
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Sounds like Nancy Pelosi
represents Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
If you have to deny it...
Trust us.
Democrats are fiiiinnnnneee.
Exactly!
Democrats need to get out more. Can they not see that they're a national joke?
Likely, as long as the money keeps flowing, they really couldn't give a proverbial.
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
evening bollox...
friendly amendment:
her office is in cloud cuckoo land. nancy pelosi, 15th wealthiest congressworm, represents the 1% and their corporations.
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi represents California.
This California:
[video:https://youtu.be/jFi2ZM_7FnM width:480 height:270]
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Sharing some coastal motion for EBers...
Heh. js after reading your news roundup wonder if they will even let us lefties back into the country?
For the most part it's been easy to not think about it all.
We were able to once again get free air miles flights we rack up mainly by taking advantage of credit card bonus offers. We also fix our meals for the most part so saving money there as well.
Riding buses and boats has been interesting and pretty easy on the budget.
We have been hiking, kayaking, and thoroughly enjoying our annual foray into Costa Rica. And sweating. Buckets.
Using the free wifi at most places where we stay, we take some time out of the heat from time to time to put up stories and pictures on our travelblog.
Since I take most of the pictures jakkalbessie ends up doing most of the writing. She just announced she has pulled the trigger on segments on our recent boat trip into Tortuguero National Park.
Have a good weekend all!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
Nice photo, DO
it sounds like you two are having a great time. The weather here is awful and I wish I was where you are.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Hey sd wanted to reply to you last night but our wifi
in the room would not work. Not sure if you will see this.
Hey, you know,want to be in Costa Rica, didn't we learn from the Wizard of Oz ' just click your heels three times and you'll be there'?
Have a good one!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
heh...
thanks for the heads up about the new journals from jb and your wonderful pictures!
i'm glad to hear that you guys are having a great time. i guess if they won't let you back in, you can use your frequent flier miles to get to a wonderful place to apply for refugee status.
Bad news and good news today
Bad news: Anything concerning Trump, criminalizing protesting, thousands more troops for the unending war in Afghanistan, designating environmental activists as terrorists and Sarah Palin Ambassador to Canada (what!??).
Good news: Solar creating more jobs than fossil fuels and support for third parties.
Seems like there is an undercurrent of good news being blotted out by the bad.
Thanks Joe!
To thine own self be true.
evening marilyn...
so far, it seems to me that the things that trump is doing are stirring up a counter-movement, which is an improvement over what happens when democrats do awful things (crickets) in recent years.
if we can in a timely fashion (somehow) focus people on making the movement about policy and better governance rather than opposition to a single (admittedly horrifying) person, trump will have served a greater purpose.
have a great weekend!
Larry Williams...an interesting story
As I recall, Specialty dropped him because he was "dealing drugs". Marijuana? Whatever, he was their biggest seller after Little Richard. Reading between the lines I'd say he was another performer who got ripped off. Died young, too. Murdered? Suicide?
What's weird about his career is that he had so many great songs and it all happened in one year.
Meanwhile, re: Trump. He'll ever be deposed or will settle down to the usual doing the bidding of the overlords.
evening shahryar...
for me, williams' work from 56-59 is pretty much the best of his lifetime. he did go on after that to have a partnership with johnny guitar watson which led to a bunch of albums (though they are not my favorite work for either of them).
Earth to Planet God - We got a problem, Mister !
Good Night, Good Luck and Thank You, Mr. Shikspack. Your first music piece was great. I could see my father trying to twist to that tune before he would stumble over his own feet. That's the only thing that made me smile tonight. Everything else was more than I wanted to know. Gosh. At least the universities are on the front lines of resistance. It could be worse, like when Mr. Hitler was in power, German universities' students were busy burning books. So, there is some kind of hope for you American folks right there.
... to be continued in the morning. Midnight here.
https://www.euronews.com/live
evening mimi...
have a good night. while trump is pretty awful, it seems to me that the social conditions in the us are not quite as they were in germany during hitler's rise. it strikes me that there is a very considerable, mobilized middle-class resistance as well as institutional resistance to trump. i'm not saying that it couldn't all go wrong, but for now at least things don't seem quite as dire as that socially.
good morning, agreed, I let myself go, but did you see this?
Russia Considers Returning Snowden to U.S. to ‘Curry Favor’ With Trump: Official
So, imagine it would happen, what would be the response on the left here to that kind of move?
Ha. How about Germany would give Snowden asylum? That would make "Germany great again", no?
Ah, ok, this was posted here already.
Listen, I am brain-washed now and somehow my nerve fabric shrinked in brain department. Give me some slack, who is fooling whom?
Just make sure Snowden stays alive, no matter where he is. Fuck that shit.
https://www.euronews.com/live
morning mimi...
i've seen nbc's report, but i really don't believe it. i don't see any great advantage to russia in sending snowden back here for execution. while they might want to curry favor with trump, the downside of turning over snowden would be very high.
russia has gone to great lengths to curry favor with a segment of publics around the world with the rt network. all of that goodwill would be gone, both here and in europe.
and frankly, at this point, trump is not really in a position to deliver anything that the russians really want. trump can't unilaterally lift the sanctions and there will be great congressional resistance to anything that trump tries to do that favors the russians.
so, if they just want trump to like russia, and don't care about any quid pro quo or their relations with populations in other countries, they'll turn over snowden.
but i doubt it.
@mimi
The corporate media lies like an un-Welcome mat, as does Trump. I'd be hesitant to believe such claims, myself.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.
There is a bit of a lunar eclipse tonight
http://earthsky.org/tonight/penumbral-eclipse-on-night-of-february-10
It will not be easy to see, but some of you may catch it. Starts about 7:30 Eastern.
I was surprised to learn this week that a few seconds mention of our little local march in Mentone, Alabama made Samatha Bee's Full Frontal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pEcvteQo9g
(8 min clip from Full frontal with Mentone mention and nice take of the song “I can't keep quiet”)
It was fun to find this post because the weather was wild and scared us away...and now I have a sense of the march. Here in the backwaters these sorts of movement moments have meaning. (15 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFOEt8_he1U
Thanks for the news and blues. Have a good evening.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
evening lookout...
i tried to check out the eclipse here tonight, but the cloud cover was too thick to see much. oh well, maybe next time.
i'm glad to hear that people are getting uppity all over. i would never have figured that salt lake city might harbor a thousand uppity people that would call out chaffetz and take him to task for the blm land grab and the loss of health insurance.
things are looking up.
Snowden in the news
He was 50 minute video interviewed by Katie Couric and it's been published on Yahoo.
[edit: this video is OLD. As in Never Mind. But the speculation about Russia giving him to Trump has been renewed this evening. Carry on!]
Now the news is running with speculation that Russia may 'turn him over' to Trump as a gift. Whatever
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0vfJg8YHXs]
The Snowden gift
is a sort of gift, itself. It's an opportunity to measure the gullibility factor in one's milieu.
evening crider...
i just don't see russia turning over snowden. there is nothing in the air that suggests that putin/russia have found a reason to reward the us deep state.
Amusing Tweet about this today from Snowden
If the NSA records the nation
If the NSA records the nation's phone calls, I would certainly expect that all Americans have an equal right to be explicitly monitored, especially the President of the United States and every member of Congress.
I would expect the Deep State to go over every word said by all members of this administration, whether on the telephone or simply conversing amongst themselves. It never occurred to me that this was not the case in every prior administration, to the best of their ability given the technology of the moment. Occam's Razor tells us that the first place to look for a leak is inside the NSA. It certainly doesn't take a genius to figure this out, just someone smarter than Spicer.
To illustrate the point, in recent months, a number of performers from Trump de Soleil have been (suddenly) coming clean about the phone calls they made prior to January 20th to various Heads of State or banksters. Like they suddenly remembered(!) what they forgot to disclose.
What is rare is that kind of leak from the NSA. The NSA has been very restrained and circumspect about its discoveries and the way they are used to serve the Deep State — although NSA analysts do hang out on night duty, eavesdropping on the sex talk of public officials and snickering about it. But these tidbits never leaves the building — unless a vote needs to be changed or legal decision needs to be altered. And, then, it is a one-on-one affair. I guess mischief in the Trump House is an irresistible urge.
Meanwhile, the CIA continues to scramble to come up with concocted stories about who peed on whom and when. I imagine the NSA got a laugh out of that.
evening pluto...
i wouldn't necessarily assume that the leaks have come from the nsa. i read or heard somewhere (i cannot remember right now where) a reporter's claim that this white house is surprisingly leaky off the record and that there are a lot of well-positioned people that are interested in talking to the press. the reporter suggested that the reason was that there was a lot of behind-the-scenes jockeying of people in competition for favor and advancement (probably at the expense of other members of the administration).
on the other hand. the nsa, as you say, does have the tools and it would be shocking if they weren't using them.
Too bad that people aren't as worried about their 1st amendment
right as they were of losing their 2nd amendment rights under Obama who never threatened to take them away.
All the bills coming out against protesting is troubling and I don't see people worried about that. But then there were many people who didn't care about their 4th amendment rights to be secure in their homes when both Bush and Obama expanded the spying programs. I saw two comments today about how the police can capture what is on people's phones that said they had nothing to hide so what's the big deal? The people who can take people's information can also plant anything they want on their phones and under a part of the NDAA they can be arrested and held indefinitely without being able to see a lawyer or have charges brought against them.
The women's march article was interesting. This stood out.
And has anyone read this article? If you read it I'd like to know your thoughts on it. I can't tell if it's right wing bloviating or not.
http://rinf.com/alt-news/editorials/indict-clinton-for-the-russian-dnc-a...
Thanks for the week of EBs joe. Have a great weekend.
I have a yard of dog mess to clean up if it stops raining. I couldn't stay on top of it because it kept snowing.
Sunday I had 3 feet of snow in my yard and today it's almost gone. And we are having flooding problems all over the state because of the warmer temperatures and the rain. Sigh. There goes another pair of shoes.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
I'd say that we never had a clearer view.
One can stare into the abyss and things come into focus now. People can still make choices, but only for themselves. And only for a little while longer.
evening snoopy...
i suspect that many people of our acquaintance will suddenly discover their deeply-felt beliefs about the bill of rights in 3... 2... 1... yeah.
sorry to hear about the flooding. i'll see if i can ship you guys the gusty winds that we got here today - that ought to help dry everything out.
KMS (mastermind of 9/11) shows he understands the American
political system better than 90% of the American public.
From Joe's link Newly Released Letter From 9/11 Mastermind Shows How Interventionism Causes Terrorism
Here's link to KMS letter. It's a must read.
http://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article131466809.ece/binary/ksmle...
evening cb...
yep, it appears that ksm has a firm grasp on the basics of american demockery. he probably suspected all this, but he has been shown the sort of monsters that our culture produces, too. i'm sure that he understands the american character better than most people.
from the letter ...
unfortunately that really rings a bell of truthiness. Sigh. Was Obama naive?
So, what's the story about this letter been available to us now? I stopped reading the letter to the end after the paragraph I quoted above. May be at another day. I am so tired.
https://www.euronews.com/live
ksm wrote it back in 2015...
and the military commission court sat on it until the last few days of obama's term in office.
Global warming is getting very scary
A rapidly warming Arctic could loose a methane climate bomb resulting in extinction in nine years
The political revolution continues
evening shockwave...
it's really scary that the predicted catastrophes are increasingly, by leaps and bounds, closer in time to the present.
9 years, eh?
'Don't forget to bring your towel' !!!!!!!
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
I feel so bad for the animals like the polar bears in the photo
all the other animals that are going to go extinct along with the humans on this planet. And the number of people who don't believe in climate change are going to be in for a huge surprise when the cities by the shorelines are going to under water.
9 years and there is nothing that can happen to reverse the effects. Hopefully the oil executives who have known about climate change for decades will be the first people affected by this. But sadly they are the ones who have enough money to build those underground living places to wait until the earth is habitable again.
Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.
Better be in the Himalyas
their underground coffin will need a scuba apparatus
Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever
Greetings, Joe & Bluesters! Having script problems,
so I'll just say 'hi,' and thanks for tonight's New & Blues.
Everyone have a nice weekend!
Mollie
"Every time I lose a dog, he takes a piece of my heart. Every new dog gifts me with a piece of his. Someday, my heart will be total dog, and maybe then I will be just as generous, loving, and forgiving."
____Author Unknown
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
yelling into the oceans and the deserts
If you go back towards dependency on others, you surrender personal power. If you want to change the future live it. If you know the end, you had better make the journeyand the path your best. Do the most you can. Surpass low expectations, resist accepting what is, and help right history. Don't wait for anyone to kick your door in and make your life better. We are all here because not all of life's lesson are easy, or available online. The difference between theory and practice is You! If tou feel powerless, you have accepted the mass programming.
Fighting for democratic principles,... well, since forever
Whoa! Why not write an essay based on this?
A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.
... The spokesman said Trump
Well, a good start would involve preventing private corporations and government agencies from snooping into the private conversations between private individuals, because '...The idea that you can’t have a conversation without that information getting out...' is insane.
Public officials, on the other hand, have to expect no privacy when engaging in public business, which public information belongs to the citizens his public office exists to serve the interests of.
Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.
A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.