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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Odds and ends

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features odds and ends that I ran across while putting together other features. Enjoy!

^{Pigmeat Markham - Here Comes The Judge}

“I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.”

-- W.H. Auden

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News and Opinion

Deafening Silence of Democrats on Gaza Massacre Is Because It's Their Baby Too

Gruesome as the latest Israeli atrocities are, with over 70 murdered and a couple thousand civilians deliberately shot by IDF snipers, it will not be the turning point in relations between the US empire and its Israeli client state. The brutal military campaigns against Gaza in 2009 and 2014 killed thousands, wounded tens of thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands with a Democrat in the White House. Despite some DSA victories in western Pennsylvania, despite demurrals from Bernie Sanders and a handful of House members, and whatever qualms Democratic voters might have, Democratic party leaders are as always firmly behind their Israeli clients, and their party machinery remains under lock and key.

Even as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump cut the ribbon opening the US embassy in Jerusalem, and hundreds of Palestinians were being gunned down, Democratic senate leader Chuck Schumer declared the latest provocation was “long overdue” and affirmed it as the official policy of both US ruling class parties. California Senator Kamala Harris, widely considered her party’s front runner for the 2020 presidential nomination addressed AIPAC publicly in 2017 and privately this year. In 2017 she embraced the settler myth that “Israel made the desert bloom” bragging that she helped by collecting funds to plant trees on the sites of massacres and dispossessions. ...

Among the leftmost Democrat elected and selected leaders are Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and North Carolina’s Rev. William Barber, anointed heir of Dr. King and head of the New Poor Peoples Campaign. Both Sanders and Barber call for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine horror, as if forty years of facts on the ground, from the apartheid wall to the land, sea and air blockades of Gaza, and the network of Jewish-only roads, encroaching settlements and military checkpoints didn’t exist, and as if Israel didn’t control the electric and water grids, even the aquifers beneath Gaza and the fishing rights offshore, issue the paychecks of Palestinian civil servants and determine the budgets of Palestinian government agencies.

When Bernie and Barber bray about a two state solution nobody ever asks them out loud why the racist ethnocracy of Israel must be preserved, in their imaginary construction, as a neighbor to Palestine. It’s just something Democrats are committed to. There is no land and no resources out of which to make a viable Palestinian state, the Israelis have taken or blockaded everything of value except the humans living there. Governments based upon race and ethnocracy have no legitimacy in the modern world, except among US Democrats and Republicans, themselves heir to a nation built with stolen labor upon stolen land. US ruling class media faithfully follow the script, reporting on the latest Israeli massacres as though they were natural disasters the Palestinians somehow brought upon themselves by refusing to meekly submit to conquest and expulsion by the US backed state of Israel.

For a generation now, it’s been obvious to everybody paying attention that a just solution to the problems of Israel-Palestine is only possible under a single small d democratic state which respects the rights of all the people living in the territory. But this is a place a party of the US ruling class cannot go. It would mean repudiation of the racist ethnocracy that is today’s Israel. And no matter what Democrat grassroots say they want, Democratic party leaders won’t let that happen and have made sure there are no ways to make it happen.

Reporters Without Borders asks ICC to investigate Israeli sniper fire on Palestinian journalists

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) today formally asked the International Criminal Court to investigate what it regards as war crimes by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) against Palestinian journalists covering protests in Gaza since 30 March.

Submitted to ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda a few hours before today’s UN Security Council meeting and based on article 15 of the Rome Statute (which established the ICC), the request concerns the direct shots that IDF snipers have fired at some 20 Palestinian journalists during the “March of Return” protests in Gaza.

In RSF’s view, these are crimes that clearly fall under the ICC’s competence.

“The Israeli authorities could not have been unaware of the presence of journalists among the civilian demonstrators, and therefore failed in the elementary duty of precaution and differentiation when targeting these protected persons with live rounds,” RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“These deliberate and repeated violations of international humanitarian law constitute war crimes. While referring them to the International Criminal Court, RSF calls on the Israeli authorities to strictly respect international law.”

The Onion Not F*ing Around Anymore With Israel

NYT Edit Board Are Last Humans on Earth Who Believe US Neutral in Israel/Palestine Conflict

The fact that the United States favors Israel in its decades-long “conflict” with the Palestinians is not a subjective or abstract question; it’s a well-established empirical fact. The US gives over $3 billion a year in military aid to Israel (more than the US spends on aid for the last seven countries it’s bombed combined), and defends it from sanction almost uniformly at the UN Security Council. Israel’s support from the US Congress borders on sycophantic. The US, on the other hand, gives no military aid to Palestine, and opposes resolutions that even acknowledge Palestine exists—much less support its resistance to Israeli occupation. The US gives some aid to the Israeli-approved and corrupt Palestinian Authority, but this largely serves to buy off the docile and unpopular PA.

None of these simple, clear-as-day facts however, seem to be known—or at least acknowledged—by those who make up the New York Times editorial board. In an otherwise decent scolding of President Donald Trump for moving the US embassy, the Times (5/14/18) fired off this cartoonishly naive and ahistorical gem:

Mr. Trump’s announcement that he was recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and moving the embassy from Tel Aviv, swept aside 70 years of American neutrality.

It’s difficult to imagine any of the seemingly knowledgeable and healthy adults at the Times editorial board actually thinking the US has been “neutral” in its dealings with Israel and Palestine. Perhaps not 100 percent lockstep. Perhaps sometimes pushing back against the most right-wing elements in Israel. But “neutral”? It flies in the face of decades of evidence to the contrary.

Senate confirms Gina Haspel as CIA chief despite her torture past

Gina Haspel, Torture Supervisor, Confirmed Head of the CIA

America and those it elects have been very clear to the rest of the world. They support the Iraq War and Torture and always have. In 2004 when George W. Bush was re-elected everyone knew about the torture, and by then the fact that Bush had lied about WMD was becoming clear as well.

The New York Times, which helped lie the US into Iraq, kindly did not release a story showing Bush’s administration was spying on Americans till after the election. They explicitly said they were worried he might lose if they ran it. Despite all their caviling over the years, when it mattered the NYT was for illegal war and torture. That’s who the NYTimes is when the chips are down, and it’s only when the chips are down that it matters.

The bottom line is that Americans and their leaders are really, truly, ok with illegal wars and torture whenever the decision has to actually be made, and today America’s leaders showed that they do not even feel any actual remorse, or even that torturing was a mistake that matters.

This is just who America is.

This is more than a black mark.

'Black Mark in Our History': Six Democrats Join GOP to Confirm Torturer Gina Haspel as CIA Chief

Here are the six Senate Democrats who voted to confirm Haspel: Mark Warner (Va.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), and Joe Donnelly (Ind.).

Let’s be clear: if those Democrats who voted for Haspel had voted against her, she would not have been confirmed.

— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) May 17, 2018

Ever wonder why there is ALWAYS just enough Dem votes to get these things done? It's never an overwhelming victory, but the Dems ensure it's always a victory that looks like they fought the good fight. We are being duped America & nobody is catching on to this fact. #Assistance

— Shawn Gentry (@ShawnGentry0) May 17, 2018

Daniel Ellsberg: Whistleblowing is Needed to Avert Catastrophic U.S. War with Iran & North Korea

Conspiracy emerges to push Julian Assange into British and US hands

The British newspaper, the Guardian, originally published some of WikiLeaks’ devastating exposures in 2010. It then turned viciously against him, along with other international news outlets. Now, it has instigated a foul campaign, clearly acting in league with various intelligence agencies, to justify Ecuador reneging on Assange’s asylum. The fresh offensive against Assange comes seven weeks after the Ecuadorian government, under pressure from the US, Britain and other powers, cut off Assange’s entire Internet and phone contact with the outside world, and blocked his friends and supporters from visiting him.

The Guardian has published unsubstantiated allegations that Assange “violated” the embassy’s communications system and “apparently” read “confidential diplomatic traffic.” In a tweet, WikiLeaks emphatically denied the accusation and pointed to its source, saying: “That’s an anonymous libel aligned with the current UK-US government onslaught against Mr Assange’s asylum—while he can’t respond.”

There is no doubt about the intent of the latest allegations. Guardian opinion writer James Ball was blunt. The WikiLeaks’ founder, Ball asserted, “should hold his hands up and leave the embassy.” The Guardian’s lead article declared: “If he walks out of the embassy, he can expect arrest and could spend up to a year in prison for breaking his bail conditions. The US might then seek to extradite him. He would contest any attempt, and might win, but would face a long, uncomfortable spell behind bars while his case is decided.”

Earlier this year, Ecuador’s president, Lenín Moreno, who took office last May, stated that Assange was a costly “inherited problem” and a “hacker,” and made it clear that he viewed Assange as an obstacle to better relations with the US. ... Since his election, Moreno has carried out a sharp turn to the right, with tax cuts for big business, cuts in social spending and attempts to reduce Ecuador’s dependence on loans and investment from China in favour of closer relations with US imperialism.

Ecuador’s government cut off Assange’s communications just one day after it welcomed a delegation from the US Southern Command (Southcom), the Pentagon’s arm in Latin America and the Caribbean, headed by General Joseph DiSalvo. Southcom said discussions were held to strengthen “security cooperation.”

Former British Ambassador Craig Murray posted this on his blog, here are some excerpts:

The Guardian Rejoices in the Silencing of Assange

The Guardian has today published a whole series of attack piece articles on Julian Assange which plainly exult in the fact he has now been silenced by the cutting of his communication with the outside world. They also include outright lies such as this one by Dan Collyns:

Sweden dropped its investigation into alleged sexual offences in May 2017, saying “all possibilities to conduct the investigation were exhausted”. However, he remains subject to arrest in the UK for jumping bail. Even his one-time champion Rafael Correa, who was president of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017, recently told journalists in Madrid that Assange’s “days were numbered”. Correa said Moreno, his former protege with whom he is now bitterly at odds, would “throw [Assange] out of the embassy at the first pressure from the United States”.

In fact Julian Assange was questioned for two days solid in the Embassy by Swedish procurators and police in November 2016. The statement he gave to them at that time I published in full. Following that questioning it was plain that there was no hope of a successful prosecution, particularly as the only physical evidence Swedish Police had was a condom Anna Ardin claimed he had worn but which had no trace of his DNA – a physical impossibility.

Dan Collyns is a freelance based in Peru, but the Guardian’s editors certainly know it is blatantly untrue that the investigation into Assange was dropped because he could not be questioned. They have knowingly published a lie. “Facts are sacred” there, apparently. ...

I had a front row seat in 2010 when the Guardian suddenly switched from championing Assange to attacking him, in a deeply unedifying row about the rights and money from a projected autobiography. But they have sunk to a new low today in a collaboration between long term MI6 mouthpiece Luke Harding and the CIA financed neo-con propagandists of Focus Ecuador.

Julian Assange is suffering needlessly. Why not report that?

Breaking news: a series of articles has been published by the Guardian concerning Julian Assange, splashed over the front pages. The big reveal? That after the UK threatened to invade the Ecuadorean embassy, Ecuador beefed up its security and surveillance at said embassy. And that this costs money. And there is pressure to find a solution to a situation that has been described by the United Nations as illegal and arbitrary detention.

Lost in the lede was this: that Ecuador appears to be hoping “that Assange’s already uncomfortable confinement will become intolerable”. ... Isn’t the headline story that the editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks remains detained without access to fundamental healthcare? And since March this year, has been cut off from the outside world, bar meetings with his lawyers, which have apparently been surveilled?

Assange has won numerous awards for publishing information that has exposed egregious violations of human rights and abuses of state power. He has also won the more dubious prize of being placed in the crosshairs of US government attempts to silence free speech by silencing the publications and publishers that dare to speak freely. ... The US secretary of state has declared that first amendment protections (the right to freedom of expression) don’t apply to Assange, and the US Department of Justice has promised that his arrest is a priority, one that has probably moved up even further after the New York Times described WikiLeaks’ Vault 7 publications as the biggest leak in CIA history.

This week’s articles highlight the existence of security to protect Assange and his guests, but fail to note that an intruder attempted to break into the embassy in 2016. They fail to note that the latest “revelations” underscore the extent to which Assange has been denied basic rights, including the right to privacy and the right to enjoy privileged communications with his lawyers. And they fail to note that right to asylum equates to an inalienable right to protection; it is not a “gift” that can be revoked to placate bullies or bribers.

Trump Pursues Denuclearization in North Korea & Nobel Peace Prize, While Ramping Up US Weapons Sales

Trump is trying everything to make sure Kim shows up in Singapore

Donald Trump is determined next month’s potentially historic meeting with Kim Jong Un goes ahead. After North Korea abruptly threatened to cancel the summit Wednesday, Trump went on a wild ramble in the Oval Office Thursday, flashing both carrot and stick. Trump first assured Kim he would remain in power if he agreed to complete denuclearization at the summit ­— then warned the regime would be “decimated” if he didn’t play ball. ...

Part of North Korea’s threat to exit the summit focused on a suggestion from Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton that Washington would pursue a “Libya model” of verifiable denuclearization for Pyongyang. Speaking with Bolton at his side Thursday, Trump contradicted his national security adviser and explicitly dismissed the Libya comparison. “The Libyan model isn't a model that we have at all when we're thinking of North Korea,” he said.

“This with Kim Jong Un would be something where he would be there. He would be running his country. His country would be very rich.” Instead, he floated Pyongyang’s southern rival as a potential model for the North’s future prosperity. “If you look at South Korea, this would be really a South Korean model in terms of their industry… They're hard-working, incredible people.”

Elaborating on the Libyan comparison, Trump acknowledged the fate of the Gadhafi regime to make an explicit threat to Kim. “The Libyan model was a much different model. We decimated that country. We never said to Gadhafi, ‘Oh, we're going to give you protection,’” he said. “We went in and decimated him, and we did the same thing with Iraq.”

“That model would take place if we don't make a deal,” Trump said.

Sergei Skripal discharged from Salisbury hospital

Moscow has demanded a meeting with Sergei Skripal, the Russian former spy poisoned by a nerve agent in Salisbury, following his discharge from hospital. Vladimir Putin said he was pleased Skripal had been released from hospital on Friday, more than 10 weeks after the poisoning, and wished him well. “God grant him good health,” the Russian president said. “If a military-grade poison had been used, the man would have died on the spot. Thank God he recovered and that he left [hospital].”

Russia’s ambassador to London, Alexander Yakovenko, also welcomed Skripal’s release, but claimed the UK would be breaking international law if it did not allow access to him and his daughter, Yulia, who was also poisoned and was discharged last month.

Yakovenko said nobody actually knew if the pair were alive and suggested that, if they were, they may have already left the country. Scotland Yard made clear that no details of the security arrangements for the pair would be given. ...

At a press conference at his official residence in London, Yakovenko said Russia wanted access to the Skripals “just to understand how they feel and for them to say personally what they want. We are not asking for anything extraordinary. We are asking for the UK to comply with the law.” He said: “It is not just a question of our bilateral relations but international law through the Vienna convention 1965.

“Nobody has seen their pictures, heard their voice and whether they are alive. It is fine for us if they say they do not want our services.” He said he had the impression, based on conversations with UK security services “that we will never see them”, and called on the British press “to be a bit more active and ask to see them. They may not be in this country.”

Writing Off Democracy in Venezuela, US Press and Politicians Dream of a Coup

When are elections free and fair, according to corporate media? When the US government says they are. The May 20 Venezuelan presidential elections pit Hugo Chavez’s successor, President Nicolas Maduro, against opposition challenger Henri Falcon. Maduro has called for the United Nations to observe and oversee the contest. Despite calling for elections throughout 2017, many local opposition groups, together with the US government, have demanded no observers should come, arguing that it would “validate” the elections, and have preemptively decided they will not recognize the victor.

The US State Department (2/8/18) has cast doubt on the validity of the elections, claiming they represent a “dismantling” of Venezuela’s democracy, as “they do not have the agreement of all political parties.” That the country is ruled by a dictator presiding over fake elections is taken as a given by corporate media; the Miami Herald (5/2/18) declared the contest “fraudulent,” a “sham,” a “charade” and a “joke” in one column alone.

The major argument for this declaration is the barring of certain candidates from running, chiefly Leopoldo Lopez. Lopez is under house arrest after being convicted of leading a violent coup attempt against the government in 2014, and was also a key member of the 2002 coup against Chavez; even the State Department has called him “arrogant, vindictive and power-hungry.” Glossing over or simply not mentioning these key details in a 9,000-word puff piece, the New York Times Magazine (3/1/18) presented him as a Christ-like figure, “the most prominent political prisoner in Latin America, if not the world,” comparing him to Martin Luther King.

This is hardly the first time media have labeled elections in Venezuela a sham. As detailed in my new book, Bad News From Venezuela: 20 Years of Fake News and Misreporting, US media overwhelmingly presented, by a 12:1 ratio, the 2013 elections as unclean. ... This contradicted years of positive appraisals from independent observers like the European Union. An AGB Nielsen report on the country showed that the state accounted for less than 10 percent of the TV market.

It was even contradicted by US organizations Washington had paid to go there. The Washington-based Carter Center’s report on the 2013 election noted that Maduro’s opponent received nearly three times as much TV coverage, mostly positive, while Maduro’s coverage was mostly negative. It also reported that less than 1 percent of Venezuelans claimed to have been pressured to vote in any direction, and twice as many for the opposition as for Maduro. Indeed, its founder, Jimmy Carter (9/11/12) stated categorically: “The election process in Venezuela is the best in the world…. They have a very wonderful voting system.”

In recent months, the US government has begun to discuss an invasion, with President Trump noting, “We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option.”

Gosh, look at who else besides military industries is profiting from Trump's militaristic foreign policy and economic sanctions regimes. Also, with the oil price per barrel going up, the fracking industry is on the cusp of becoming profitable again. ...

IEA: High Oil Prices “Taking A Toll” On Demand

Geopolitics has taken over the oil market, driving oil prices up to three-year highs. The inventory surplus has vanished, and more outages could push oil prices up even higher. Yet, there are some signs that demand is starting to take a hit as oil closes in on $80 per barrel. In the IEA’s May Oil Market Report, the agency said that OPEC might be needed to step in and fill the supply gap if a significant portion of Iran oil goes offline. Saudi Arabia suggested shortly after the U.S. announced its withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal that OPEC would act to mitigate any supply shortfall should it occur.

But while geopolitical fears helped push Brent up to $79 per barrel in recent days, the underlying fundamentals are also mostly bullish.

Venezuela’s production is plummeting, and output is 550,000 bpd below its agreed upon target as part of the OPEC deal. Conservative estimates suggest that the country could lose several hundred thousand barrels per day over the course of 2018, but there are several massive threats to PDVSA’s operations that could make that forecast look optimistic. ConocoPhillips continues aggressive action to obtain control of PDVSA’s assets after an international arbitration court awarded it $2 billion in awards. Related: The Most Underappreciated Story In The Oil Market

There is a great deal of confusion about what Conoco’s actions mean for Venezuela’s oil production, but the asset seizures could be pivotal. Reuters reports that the American oil major is now trying to seize two cargoes of crude and fuel near a terminal in Aruba run by Citgo, a subsidiary of PDVSA. The cargoes are holding 500,000 barrels of oil and 300,000 bpd of jet fuel, gasoline and diesel. On top of that, Venezuela is set to hold a presidential election on May 20, an event that could be met with more painful U.S. sanctions. Conoco’s actions, combined with a crackdown by the U.S. Treasury, could send Venezuela’s oil production deeper into a death spiral.

The big question is if supply will be lost in Iran, which, coupled with the supply losses in Venezuela, could severely tighten the oil market. “The potential double supply shortfall represented by Iran and Venezuela could present a major challenge for producers to fend off sharp price rises and fill the gap, not just in terms of the number of barrels but also in terms of oil quality,” the IEA wrote in its report.

Trump promises to sign prison reform bill that could free thousands

Donald Trump on Friday promised to sign bipartisan prison reform legislation currently working its way through Congress that could free thousands of prisoners. “My administration strongly supports these efforts and I urge the House and Senate to get together … work out their differences [and] get a bill to my desk. I will sign it,” Trump said at an event the White House described as a prison reform summit.

Trump called prison reform an issue “that unites people from across the spectrum”, as he thanked progressive commentator Van Jones and his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner for their involvement in pushing for the bill. The package, which would immediately release 4,000 federal prisoners according to some advocates, passed the House judiciary committee last week and is likely to be brought up for a vote early next week. The bill would also expand compassionate release, giving elderly and terminally ill inmates a path home, and invest tens of millions in re-entry programs. It would also end the shackling of women giving birth behind bars and provide them with necessary hygiene items at no charge.

Even if it passes in the House, the bill faces an uphill climb in the Senate, not because there isn’t support for it, but because key lawmakers feel the bill does not go far enough. Unlike prior attempts at federal reform legislation which also would have relaxed criminal sentencing, especially on drug crimes, the current bill only deals with policies that affect people who are already incarcerated.

An Equifax and Facebook Lawyer Will Now Run the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection

In a rare party-line vote, the Federal Trade Commission appointed a corporate lawyer who has represented Uber, Equifax, Facebook, and a jailed payday lender to run its Bureau of Consumer Protection. The appointment was one of the first moves of the new five-member panel, all of whom were confirmed by the Senate last month. ... The commission appointed heads for the bureaus of Competition and Economics and a General Counsel unanimously, as is typical for these positions.

Only the appointment of Andrew Smith to the Bureau of Consumer Protection was controversial, with a 3-2 vote along party lines. Democratic appointees Rohit Chopra and Becca Kelly Slaughter opposed Smith, and each laid out their concerns in written dissents. ... As the New York Times explained last week, while Smith once worked at the FTC, he was most recently a partner with the financial services practice at Covington & Burling, a leading white-collar defense firm. His clients included dozens of financial institutions, credit-reporting agencies, and tech firms, including players in some of the most notorious corporate scandals of the past several years. For example, Smith represented convicted payday lender Scott Tucker, from whom the FTC won a $1.3 billion judgment for deceiving and exploiting consumers. Tucker faces 16 years in prison.

Three other Smith-repped companies have active investigations at the FTC: Facebook, for potentially violating a 2011 consent decree over safeguarding user privacy; and Uber and Equifax, over separate data breaches that exposed the personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans. Smith even testified on Equifax’s behalf in the Senate last year. Smith has said he would recuse himself from any investigations or enforcement involving companies with whom he has worked. But as Chopra writes in his dissent, “The Director should be our quarterback on the agency’s top priorities. But, I fear our quarterback will be spending too much time on the sidelines.”

43 Percent of American Households Can’t Afford Basic Needs

Donald Trump may be celebrating the fact that America’s unemployment rate is at its lowest level in nearly two decades, but that’s not enough for the alarming number of American families still struggling to put food on the table and pay their rent. On Thursday, the United Way’s ALICE project released a study showing, as CNN reports, “Nearly 51 million households don’t earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cell phone.”

These numbers include both the 16.1 million families living at or below the federal poverty line, (currently $24,600 for a family of four), and the 34.7 million families the United Way calls ALICE, or Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. This means people who earn too much to qualify for federal poverty programs but are still unable to cover their monthly expenses. ...

More low-wage jobs may decrease the unemployment rate, but employment doesn’t mean families can pay their bills.

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Rolling Stone Keith Richards says America has to ‘get rid’ of Donald Trump

The Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards has called for the U.S. to "get rid of" President Donald Trump. The British musician, who has lived in Connecticut for decades, recalled Tuesday that the last time he became angry was in 1989 — in a row concerning Trump when the band was on the road for its "Steel Wheels" tour.

"(Donald Trump) was the promoter for us in Atlantic City and we got to Atlantic City and (it was billed as) Donald Trump presents… the Rolling Stones (was written) in miniature," he told BBC Radio 4's "Today" program. "We never have much to do with promoters but this one got me. That was the last time I got angry, I pulled out my trusty blade and stuck it in the table and said: 'You've got to get rid of this man.'"

Now, it's the U.S. that has the problem, Richards suggested. "Now America has to get rid of him. Don't say I didn't warn you," he added.

Trump claims FBI planted agent in his 2016 campaign 'for political purposes'

Donald Trump escalated an increasingly cutthroat fight with the justice department on Friday, with a series of tweets accusing federal agents of infiltrating his 2016 presidential campaign “for political purposes” and to “frame” him for crimes he “didn’t commit”.

The president was echoed on television by the former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, his lawyer, who said Trump’s accusations “may turn out to be closer to the truth than people thought”.

“For a long time we’ve been told that there was some kind of infiltration,” Giuliani told CNN. “I don’t know for sure, nor does the president, if there really was one.” ...

The Washington Post reported earlier this month that a “top-secret, longtime intelligence source” provided information to the FBI about the Trump campaign and Russia. The status of the source in relation to the campaign was unclear. ...

Republicans in Congress led by the House intelligence committee chairman, Devin Nunes, have demanded the department release documents laying out the origins of the FBI inquiry. Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general overseeing the Mueller investigation, has fiercely resisted, warning earlier this month that “the justice department is not going to be extorted”.

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Trump’s EPA Doesn’t Want You to Know Chemicals in Teflon Are Poisoning Waterways & Firefighters

The EPA’s “Leadership Summit” on PFOA Pollution Will Exclude Victims and Community Groups

Kristen Mello wasn't invited to the Environmental Protection Agency’s upcoming “National Leadership Summit” on PFOA, PFOS, and other PFAS chemicals. For most of her life, Mello, a member of Westfield Residents Advocating For Themselves, drank water contaminated with the chemicals that are going to be discussed at the meeting. At least six compounds in this class seeped into local drinking water from firefighting foam used at the Air National Guard base in her hometown of Westfield, Massachusetts. Mello and several of her immediate family members have developed some of the health problems associated with the chemicals, including thyroid disease, ulcerative colitis, and liver problems. While most people in the United States have been exposed to PFAS, Westfield is one of the growing number of communities to learn they’ve had an especially high dose of the chemicals as the result of living near a military installation or manufacturing site that used them.

But when Mello sent the EPA a request to attend the PFAS summit, which will be held May 22-23 at EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C., the agency said she wasn’t welcome. “EPA has limited the invitation to federal partners, states, territories, tribes and representatives from national organizations,” the EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water wrote to Mello in an email. Although the summit is intended to identify actions “needed to address challenges currently facing states and local communities,” according to the agency’s website, the people in these communities who are directly affected by the chemicals will be strikingly absent from the meeting.

“We have 35 members as part of our coalition and every single one of them has reached out either to the EPA or to their state agencies asking to be represented at the summit,” said Shaina Kasper, Vermont and New Hampshire state director at the Toxics Action Center. “In each case, we’ve heard, ‘No, there will be no community group representation.’ We’re so disappointed.” ...

When asked how the EPA had decided whom to invite to its meeting, an agency spokesperson replied in an email that that “EPA’s goal in this effort has always been to ensure that states and local communities have the tools they need to address PFAS contamination in their local areas. With that goal in mine [sic], we are working with our partners at the state and tribal levels and our across the federal family for this event. We also understand the importance of having representation from utilities, non-governmental organizations, industry, Congress and other national associations.” When asked which nongovernmental organizations were invited to the meeting, the EPA didn’t respond.

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Also of Interest

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

Blaming the Victims of Israel’s Gaza Massacre

IDF Soldier Recounts Harrowing, Heroic War Story Of Killing 8-Month-Old Child

Israeli Soldiers Open Fire On Palestinians Carrying Potentially Dangerous Injured Friends

The Guardian's hit team fires off another round at Assange:

Assange's guest list: the RT reporters, hackers and film-makers who visited embassy

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A Little Night Music

Bill Johnson - You Better Dig It

Tommy Brown - Southern Women

Beulah Bryant - What Am I Gonna Do?

Waymon Brown - Barefoot Susie

Goree Carter- She's Just Old Fashioned

Tommy Brown - The House Near The Railroad Track

Luis Perez Meza - Elvis Pérez

Art Neville - Zing Zing

The Meters - Hey Pocky Way

Art Neville - What's Going On

The Meters - Cissy Strut

Big Bob - Your Line Was Busy

Kid Thomas - Rockin This Joint To-Nite

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