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“The threat of a world war is no more.”

-- Mikhail Gorbachev

News and Opinion

Risking World War III in Syria

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last October said in a little noticed comment that the United States was ready to take “direct action on the ground” in Syria. Vice President Joe Biden said in Istanbul last month that if peace talks in Geneva failed, the United States was prepared for a “military solution” in that country.

The peace talks collapsed on Wednesday even before they began. A day later Saudi Arabia said it is ready to invade Syria while Turkey is building up forces at its Syrian border. ...

The excuse of the Geneva collapse is a ruse. There was little optimism the talks would succeed. The real reason for the coming showdown in Syria is the success of Russia’s military intervention in defense of the Syrian government against the Islamic State and other extremist groups. Many of these groups are supported by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States in pursuit of overthrowing Assad. ...

From the outset of Russia’s intervention the U.S. and its allies have wanted Moscow out of the Syrian theater. They seem to be only waiting for the right opportunity. That opportunity may be now — forced by events.

Former U.S. national security adviser and current Obama adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said last October in the Financial Times that, “The Russian naval and air presences in Syria are vulnerable, isolated geographically from their homeland. They could be ‘disarmed’ if they persist in provoking the U.S.”

Turkey’s downing in November of a Russian warplane that allegedly veered 17 seconds into Turkish territory appeared to be very much a provocation to draw Russia into a conflict to allow NATO to drive Moscow out of Syrian skies. But Russia was too smart for that and instead imposed sanctions on Turkey, while urging Russian tourists not to visit the country, which has hurt the Turkish economy. ...

What we are potentially facing is a war that goes beyond the Soviet-U.S. proxy wars of the Cold War era, and beyond the proxy war that has so far taken place in the five-year Syrian civil war. Russia is already present in Syria. The entry of the United States and its allies would risk a direct confrontation between the two largest nuclear powers on earth.

Syria: Aid crosses Turkish border as refugees fleeing Aleppo offensive mass in new camps

Clinton Stokes Fears Of Russians Coming To The Baltics, When They're Actually Leaving

For the past year, there has been a debate in Washington as to whether or not the Russians were going to roll tanks into the Baltics. They took over Crimea “at gun point,” the saying goes, so their ex-Soviet enclaves along the Baltic Sea were surely next. It is no surprise then that presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reiterated that concern during Thursday’s debate with Bernie Sanders. Russia was a bully. We have to send our NATO allies (as in members Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) the message that we will protect them from Vladimir Putin’s aggression. ...

Based on Russian businesses there, Russia capital and influence is waning. Russia has absolutely zero soft power in the Baltics. ...

Like Latvia and Estonia, Lithuania gets nearly all of its oil from Russia and most of its natural gas. However, last year, Lithuania launched a floating liquefied natural gas terminal and all of that LNG comes from StatOil. The vessel was built as a Russian energy deterrent. Russia had no say. Russia didn’t blow up the boat, sabotage the boat, or raise its prices for natural gas. Instead, thanks to StatOil competition, Gazprom lowered their price of gas.

Russia’s privately owned oil and gas firm LUKOil left Lithuania last week. Austria’s AMIC Energy Management took over LUKOil’s businesses in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia on Feb. 4. They did the same further south in Ukraine last April. They get the message: you’re not welcome here. ...

If Russians had any money, they’re not pouring it into Lithuania to gain influence in its economy, or make friends with politicians looking for jobs for his constituents. ... Everyone is looking for a fight with the Russians. One wonders why. Maybe if you want the war on terrorism all to yourself, from its boogeymen (both real and imagined) to its useful idiots, then you don’t want the Russian government to take part in that. It’s harder to control. So you demonize. ...

Russia has failed the soft power war in the Baltics. It was lost since in the 1990s and is never coming back. The Scandinavian banks dominate Lithuania. There is not a Sberbank or a VTB Capital to be found. Amored weapons on the border, if there are any, does not translate into a pending invasion. NATO has just as many weapons on the same borders. The truth is that Russia does not have a seat at the table in the Baltics, and part of that is by design, both in the Baltics, and in Hillary’s Washington.

Gosh, I guess Ghaddafi was right about a jihadi takeover of Libya following Hillary's coup.

West 'can't fight Isis in Libya without a unity government'

Islamic State (Isis) in Libya has become a threat to all of Europe and western military intervention may now be required, but only so long as the Libyans can first form a coherent national government, Sir Peter Ricketts, David Cameron’s former national security adviser, has warned.

Ricketts, who has just ended a stint as UK ambassador to France, said there was a “very remote” chance UK combat forces would be used, and said airstrikes on their own would be of no use.

Western powers have been considering whether any military intervention, such as training Libyan security forces, can help prevent Isis gaining a permanent foothold in the oil-rich country.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Ricketts described Libya as an ungoverned space. “It is a threat to all of us in Europe because Isis is moving in so there is a case to do everything we can to help them produce stability in Libya, but they have got to do it. The likelihood of British combat forces being deployed seems to me very remote, but supporting the Libyans to do a more effective job in governing their own space, I can certainly see a case for that.”

UN-led efforts to form a national unity government in Libya following the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 have foundered. Two rival administrations have formed and militias have proliferated across the country. The UN has so far failed in efforts to reconcile differences between the governments, which are based in Tripoli and Tobruk.

Islamists Shoot Down Libyan Warplane Over Derna

A coalition of Islamist militants in the city of Derna have reported opening fire on a Libyan warplane that was carrying out strikes in the area, and Libya’s Air Force says that the plane, a MiG-23ML, was shot down in the incident. ...

This was one of the last handful of MiG-23 based aircraft in the Libyan force, which lost many over the course of the last several years.

Libyan officials said the plane was attacking ISIS targets along with other militants in the area.

Syrian Islamists Face Growing Pressure on Multiple Fronts

North Syrian Islamist faction the Levantine Front is facing mounting losses in Aleppo Province, as their battle with the Syrian military turns sour just as the Kurdish YPG is mounting its own offensive in the area, imperiling them on another front. ...

When the fighting over Aleppo began years ago, both sides predicted the battle would decide the whole civil war. It’s been stalemated so long, however, that most of the city is a wreck, and it’s not clear how much real benefit anyone would have from gaining full control of it anymore.

That fight, however, has pushed the Levantine Front onto its heels, and the YPG’s push deeper into Aleppo, primarily aimed at fighting ISIS over the Turkish border, has them facing another front. The front is also enemies with ISIS, which mans they can’t retreat in that direction either.

US to deploy hundreds of troops in Afghanistan to thwart Taliban

By month’s end, a force described as battalion-strength, consisting of mostly army soldiers, will arrive in Helmand province to bolster the local military

Hundreds of additional US troops are slated to deploy to a volatile province in Afghanistan to bolster the local military against a resurgent Taliban, the Guardian has learned.

By month’s end, a force described as battalion-strength, consisting of mostly army soldiers, will arrive in Helmand province where US and UK forces have struggled in battles for over a decade to drive out the Taliban.

In keeping with Barack Obama’s formal declaration that the US is not engaged in combat, despite elite forces recently participating in an hours-long battle in Helmand, defense officials said the additional troops would not take part in combat. But they will help the existing Helmand force defend itself against Taliban attacks, officials said. ...

In January, a US special forces soldier died and two others were wounded as they assisted the Afghan military in repelling a Taliban assault in the province that lasted hours.

While the Pentagon initially resisted categorizing the battle as “combat”, press secretary Peter Cook called it a “combat situation, but [US troops] are not in the lead intentionally”, illustrating how the difference between combat and advisory missions can blur in practice.

After Years of Violence, Pakistan is Winning its Fight Against Terrorism

Last year saw precipitous decreases in both terrorist attacks and fatalities in Pakistan. Though exact figures differ, statistics compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal, the research arm of the New Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, as well as a study by the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies, a pro-democracy think tank, showed significant decreases in violence in the country. A CRSS study said terrorist incidents declined 56 percent in 2015 from 2014, and the SATP, which conducts a running tally of terrorism figures, said that Pakistan in 2015 suffered the lowest number of suicide attacks and deaths from terrorism since 2006.

These reported declines follow Pakistan’s initiation in 2014 of a large-scale military operation against Taliban sanctuaries in the ungoverned tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. That effort, which is ongoing, has succeeded in reclaiming most territory in the tribal areas. ...

The tribal areas bearing the brunt of the military effort have been subject to an unprecedented media blackout, with reporting from the region effectively banned by the government. There have been allegations of human rights abuses by Pakistani forces during the campaign, including summary executions, aerial and artillery bombardment against populated areas, and the improper use of military tribunals to deliver civilian justice. ...

Pakistanis have long been reluctant to go to war against militant groups in the tribal regions, seeing such an effort as lending support to an unpopular U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan. But the past few years of violence in Pakistan, in which many of those same militant groups turned their guns on Pakistanis themselves, has altered these sentiments.

Israeli bill targeting leftwing NGOs passes first hurdle

An Israeli bill targeting groups that campaign largely on Palestinian human rights issues has overcome its first hurdle in the process to become law.

The proposed legislation, which would compel NGOs receiving most of their funding from foreign governments to declare it in official reports, passed its first reading in the Israeli parliament by 50 votes to 43 on Tuesday.

The legislation has been criticised as it would only affect leftwing Israeli organisations, many of which are funded by EU countries, and not rightwing NGOs, which are supported by private donations from wealthy supporters of Israel. MPs who oppose the legislation described it as “political persecution” and an erosion of Israeli democracy.

The opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, said the law would damage Israel’s standing among its friends abroad. Last month, the US ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, said: “Governments must protect free expression and peaceful dissent and create an atmosphere where all voices can be heard.” ...

At the request of Netanyahu, a proposed requirement for NGO members to wear a badge indicating that their organisation was funded by a foreign country has been dropped from the bill.

‘EU is disintegrating, there’s only one solution’: Varoufakis launches new leftist party

Julian Assange prosecutor to request interview at Ecuadorian embassy

The Swedish prosecutor heading a preliminary investigation into an allegation of rape against Julian Assange has said she is preparing a new application to interview him at Ecuador’s embassy in London.

Last week a United Nations panel report said Assange’s stay at the embassy amounted to arbitrary detention.

Hacker fulfills threat to dump data on 20K FBI agents

An anonymous hacker on Monday made good on his threat to post the details of 20,000 FBI employees online, less than 24 hours after he dumped the data for 10,000 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel.

The hacker, who claims to have obtained the information by hacking the Department of Justice, shared both datasets with Motherboard in advance of the hack. The publication performed a spot check and found that most of the names, email addresses and job descriptions — including around 1,000 intelligence analysts — appear to be legitimate.

Officials have downplayed the alleged breach.

The thin blue lie strikes again:

Why did Mississippi police release two versions of fatal shooting report?

Since 26-year-old Ricky Ball was shot and killed by police in October, the black community in Columbus, Mississippi, has grappled with questions that don’t have clear answers.

Why did police shoot Ball that night? Why did a string of police officials resign in the months that followed? And why did police claim Ball stole a gun from a police officer’s home only after his death?

Attempts to obtain police documents about the case have raised a new question: why did police release two different versions of events from the shooting?

Documents obtained by the Guardian show police altered a document labeled “uniform incident report” in Ball’s death. An initial version published by the Commercial Dispatch said an officer “tased” Ball before he fled. A new version of the incident report released to the Guardian does not include any mention of Taser use.

“One of these two reports is not true,” said Philip Broadhead, director of the criminal appeals clinic at the University of Mississippi law school. Broadhead said he’s never seen an incident report altered the way the document was in this case. “For police officers to offer up this type of information in the form of an incident report as sworn law officers … It’s a violation of their oath.”

This is what's important in Michigan. Never mind the fact that 100,000 people have been poisoned in Flint, people are getting blow jobs, dammit!

Michigan Senate Passes Bill Outlawing Oral and Anal Sex — Violators Will Face 15 Years in Prison

During their session last week, the Michigan Senate passed a bill that effectively bans all forms of sodomy, anal, oral, gay and non-gay — making the acts punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The passage of this Bill is in spite of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas declaring sodomy bans unconstitutional.

In an attempt to skirt the legal boundaries of the SCOTUS ruling, Michigan encompasses these so-called ‘sex crimes’ into the legislation on bestiality — as if the two are related in any way whatsoever.

“A person who commits the abominable and detestable crime against nature either with mankind or with any animal is guilty of a felony,” reads SB 219.

Keiser Report: Efficacy of Capitalism

The Meaning Behind the Sanders Surge - an interview with Richard Wolff

Sen. Bernie Sanders’s candidacy raises the question of whether there can be a better system than free-market capitalism – with its bloated income inequality and its hollowed-out middle class – while Hillary Clinton’s message is that the system needs only minor reforms at the edges, said economist Richard Wolff. ...

[Here's a taste of the interview itself:]

RW: ... Hillary Clinton [and] her husband Bill Clinton are people who came to their high political office, and indeed came to their ways of thinking, in a period of American history, the last three or four decades, when the governing ideology in this country was that capitalism is the greatest thing since sliced bread. That it’s a magical, ultimate achievement of human civilization. That it provides growth and prosperity in an endless vista into the future. And that therefore anyone thinking about alternatives must have been asleep at the wheel, must be a backward-looking person, maybe even an evil person, but someone whose thinking and speech we don’t have to take seriously.

So like everyone else in these dominant positions in America in the last 30 – 40 years, they spent no time worrying about how to do better than capitalism, no time learning or exploring the alternatives. That’s no good anymore because capitalism has shown us its vulnerabilities: the inequality that I mentioned a few minutes ago, but we can go on … the instability, the crash of 2008, and the failure of most Americans to recover in a significant way, from that crash. The uncertainty that now suggests we may have another recession this year, later.

This is a system whose inequality and instability, the injustice of everything we read about in the papers, from the scandal of the Flint water system, to Dupont’s poisoning of the water, to the absurd prices of apartments in New York City. I mean, one could go on and on.

This is a system that has given us more than enough reason to think about alternatives. And the fundamental difference between Sanders and Clinton is Sanders is about alternatives, Clinton acts as if they are not necessary because that’s been the way she, and the people she represents, have been thinking for 40 years.

[Click the link for an excellent interview. - js]

Midnight vote in Dixville Notch puts Sanders and Kasich ahead in New Hampshire

John Kasich and Bernie Sanders received early boosts in New Hampshire early on Tuesday morning, when each was declared the primary winner in the tiny town of Dixville Notch.

Nine people cast their votes in the northern New Hampshire town just after midnight. The voting was over by around 20 seconds past 12. When the votes were counted, around three minutes later, Ohio governor Kasich was declared the Republican winner, beating Donald Trump by three votes to two.

On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders won Dixville Notch by a landslide. He received four votes compared with Hillary Clinton’s zero.

Ex-NAACP Head Ben Jealous: Sanders is Most Consistent Candidate Tackling Racism, Militarism & Greed

New Study Finds Sanders’ Legislation Would Extend Social Security Solvency By 40 Years

Last year, Sanders introduced the Social Security Expansion Act to extend the solvency of the program and ensure that the wealthy begin paying their fair share. Under current law, the amount of income subject to the payroll tax is capped at $118,500. That means millionaires and billionaires pay the same amount in payroll taxes as people making $118,500 a year. Sanders’ bill would subject all income over $250,000 to the payroll tax. According to the Center for Economic Policy, only the top 1.5 percent of wage earners would be impacted.

On Thursday, the Social Security’s Office of the Chief Actuary found that Sanders’ legislation would extend the solvency of the program from the current estimate of 2034 to 2074. The increase in Social Security benefits would provide an additional $1,300 a year to seniors with less than $16,000 in income. Sanders’ bill would also increase the annual cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security recipients while fighting to significantly reduce the senior poverty rate.

Hillary Clinton Refuses To Promise Not To Cut Social Security Benefits

Hillary Clinton refuses to rule out any and all benefit cuts to Social Security, angering leading progressive groups that have not endorsed a candidate in the Democratic primary.

The issue has arisen as Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), her remaining rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, debate who has stronger progressive bona fides and progressive groups call for a red-line pledge not to cut benefits.

A Clinton aide instead referred The Huffington Post to the statement on Social Security on the campaign's website, which says the former Secretary of State will "oppose closing the long-term shortfall on the backs of the middle class, whether through benefit cuts or tax increases." ...

What worries advocates, however, is that a Democratic president would use Social Security as a chip in a "grand bargain" with Republicans after the election. Clinton pledges on her website to "expand" Social Security benefits for "those who need it most and who are treated unfairly by the current system -- including women who are widows and those who took significant time out of the paid workforce to take care of their children, aging parents, or ailing family members."

Nancy Altman, a co-founder of Social Security Works who has 35 years of experience in the field, said that Clinton campaign's statement and the policy descriptions on her website, do not definitively promise not to cut the program.

Why Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein Called Bernie Sanders “Dangerous”

There’s more to that story than it appears. It’s not simply that Sanders uses Blankfein as a symbol of the “greed of Wall Street” — it’s that Sanders does so while highlighting the evocative contrast between the 2008 bailout of Wall Street and Blankfein’s public advocacy for cuts to entitlements.

Sanders took offense when Blankfein, in a 2012 segment on “60 Minutes,” said, “You’re going to have to undoubtedly do something to lower people’s expectations” that they will get their full Social Security and Medicare benefits because “we can’t afford it.” Blankfein advocated an increase in the eligibility age for both programs as well as other cuts because “entitlements have to be slowed down and contained.” ...

And so that’s why Sanders’ remarks concern Blankfein: No one on Wall Street wants someone running for president asking why the United States “can’t afford” Social Security and Medicare but could afford to bail them out.

Hillary Clinton & the "Mass Incarceration Machine": A Debate on Her Support of 1994 Crime Bill

Apparently to Hillary Clinton, "dead broke" means, "C'mon you peasants, you don't really expect me to live on $200,000 a year, do you?"

Taxpayers Give Big Pensions to Ex-Presidents, Precisely So They Don’t Have to Sell Out

“We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt,” Hillary Clinton complained in an interview in 2014, justifying her spree of paid speeches on Wall Street and elsewhere.

Those speeches have now turned into a major political controversy, with the campaign refusing to agree to release the transcripts of what was said.

Despite Clinton’s protestations, however, the reality is that this country does not allow its former presidents to live “dead broke.” Running the country has great retirement benefits. Ex-presidents are given pensions of nearly $200,000 annually as well as funding for office space and custodial staff. ...

The median private pension benefit of individuals age 65 and older was $9,227 a year in 2014 — for those people lucky enough to have a pension in the first place.

'Artful Smear' Attack Backfires as Clinton Accused of Denying Impact of Big Money

Hillary Clinton is under fire for defending the millions of dollars she has collected from Wall Street and other monied interests, as critics charge that her rationalization of those contributions ignores the dangers of a pay-for-play political system and amounts to an acceptance—if not a "tacit embrace"—of the role of money in politics.

Since last week's Democratic debate, Clinton has repeatedly accused rival Sen. Bernie Sanders of attempting to 'smear' her with insinuations that she's been bought through political donations, speaking fees, and other payments. ...

Kurt Walters, a campaign manager with the anti-corruption group Rootstrikers, told Huffington Post's Zach Carter that he understands how this "might be an appealing defense," given how this charge has resonated with voters and considering Sanders' recent gains on the frontrunner.

"But just like the Citizens United line of thinking," Walters adds, "it ignores all of the other ways that money influences politics beyond the explicit exchange of cash for a vote." 

"Clinton, like our Supreme Court, ignores thousands of years of human experience in how money corrupts politics not just through quid pro quos, but also by shaping attitudes," agreed Pulitzer Prize-winning economics writer David Cay Johnston.

Carter reports:

Like Clinton, the [sic] Citizens United relies on a narrow definition of corruption as straightforward bribery—a literal trade of money for votes. Previous Supreme Court decisions, like McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, had applied a broader standard than Citizens United—one in which money can exercise an "undue influence" over policymaking, even absent explicit quid pro quo deals. 

And while Democrats have long acknowledged that a check from a big donor might not result in a politician switching her position on an issue, they have argued that campaign contributions can buy a phone call or a meeting in which a donor can make his case—opportunities unavailable to mere voters.

FBI formally confirms its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server

In a letter disclosed Monday in a federal court filing, the FBI confirms one of the world’s worst-kept secrets: It is looking into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

Why say this at all, since it was widely known to be true? Because in August in response to a judge’s direction, the State Department asked the FBI for information about what it was up to. Sorry, the FBI said at the time, we can neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation.

Now, in a letter dated February 2 and filed in court Monday, the FBI’s general counsel, James Baker, notes that in public statements and congressional testimony, the FBI “has acknowledged generally that it is working on matters related to former Secretary Clinton’s use of a private email server.”

You really have to hand it to this guy, he knows what media outlets and the dumbed-down, celebrity-gaga public want - a steady stream of scandal and outrage.

Donald Trump is a Master Debater and Attention Getter

Heh, and Trump is rewarded with wall-to wall coverage:

Trump saying 'pussy' makes him like the Founding Fathers

Trump repeats crowd member's 'pussy' insult as New Hampshire votes

Donald Trump used his final rally before Tuesday’s New Hampshire presidential primary to sling a litany of insults at his rivals, raising eyebrows when he repeated an offensive remark from a member in the crowd who shouted that Ted Cruz’s position on waterboarding made him “a pussy”.

As voters began to brave the New England snow, the echo from a rumbustious Trump rally was still rippling across the state

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Refuses Request From Congress To Testify On Flint Water Crisis

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is turning down a request from House Democrats that he testify about his role in Flint, Mich.’s drinking water crisis.

Snyder spokeswoman Anna Heaton said Monday that the governor won’t attend on Wednesday because he’s due to present his annual budget proposal that day in Michigan.

The hearing is being called by the Democrats' partisan Steering Committee, which does not have subpoena power. It will be the second by lawmakers on Flint's lead contamination, and the second at which Snyder will not testify.

Rep. Dan Kildee (D), who represents and lives in Flint, called Snyder’s refusal “deeply disappointing.”

“His administration's policies led to this man-made crisis, and he needs to answer questions so that the whole truth can be found,” said Kildee, who House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appointed to the Steering Committee last week.

Bernie Sanders Calls For Federal Criminal Investigation Into Rick Snyder For Poisoning Flint

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders is calling for a federal criminal investigation into Gov. Rick Snyder and his administration after it was revealed that the Snyder administration knew of a potential link between a Legionnaires’ disease outbreak and the water in Flint, Michigan.

In a statement, Sanders responded to a report that state officials knew about a link between Legionnaires and Flint water.

The Democratic presidential candidate said:

The latest revelation about the public health crisis in Flint is horrifying. It is unacceptable that anyone on Gov. Snyder’s team would not act swiftly at even the slightest chance that residents were becoming seriously ill from the drinking water in Flint. Because of the conduct by Gov. Snyder’s administration and his refusal to take responsibility, families will suffer from lead poisoning for the rest of their lives. Children in Flint will be plagued with brain damage and other health problems.

Not only should Gov. Snyder resign immediately, the Justice Department must hold everyone accountable who knew about this crisis and did nothing. The federal government needs to take every possible measure to ensure that the people of Flint get clean drinking water as soon as possible.

US Forest Service stretched to breaking point after record year for wildfires

‘Climate change is real and it is with us,’ says top government official after 10.1m acres of forest went up in flames in 2015, costing 65% of the agency’s budget

The US Forest Service has warned it is at the “tipping point” of a crisis in dealing with escalating wildfires and diseases that are ravaging America’s increasingly fragile forest ecosystems.

The federal agency, which manages 193m acres (78m hectares) of forest, will plead once again for more funding from Congress, in the wake of a devastating 2015 that saw record swaths of forest engulfed in flames.

A total of 10.1m acres were burned last year, a figure that is double the typical losses seen 30 years ago. During this time, the average fire season in the US has lengthened by 78 days, with scientists predicting that the amount of forest razed by fire will double by 2050.

Climate change-driven drought, wildfire and invasive diseases are stretching the US Forest Service to breaking point, the agency has warned. It spent about 65% of its $5bn budget dealing with wildfires last year and is requesting that fire be treated like other natural disasters so that it is able to access more money to keep pace.

“We are seeing real challenges on the ground – climate change is real and it is with us,” Robert Bonnie, under secretary for natural resources and environment at the US Department of Agriculture, told the Guardian. “The whole US Forest Service is shifting to becoming an agency dominated by wildfires. We really are at a tipping point. The current situation is not sustainable.”

Also of Interest

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

Clinton's struggle with young women in spotlight as New Hampshire votes

It's not just water that's poisoning our kids; it's also our collapsing democracy

Pentagon Releases 198 Abuse Photos in Long-Running Lawsuit. What They Don’t Show Is a Bigger Story.

A Plan Must Be Made for ‘Life After Isis’ in the Middle East

Millions could die as world unprepared for pandemics, says UN

Erdogan's destruction of Sur: is this historic district a target for gentrification?

How Washington’s New Rich Live

Human for sale: the artist who turned herself into a corporation

A Little Night Music

Jack Teagarden - St. James Infirmary

Jack Teagarden - Wolverine Blues

Jack Teagarden & Louis Armstrong - Old Rockin' Chair

Jack Teagarden - Mis'ry And The Blues

Jack Teagarden - Tin Roof Blues

Jack Teagarden Orchestra, Fats Waller - You Rascal, You!

Jack Teagarden - Strut Miss Lizzie