The Evening Blues - 6-12-17



eb1pt12


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

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features early rock and roller Dale Hawkins. Enjoy!

Dale Hawkins - Oh! Suzie-Q

"Since taking office ... Donald Trump has never allowed the atmosphere of chaos and crisis to let up. Some of the chaos, like the Russia investigations, has been foisted upon him or is simply the result of incompetence, but much appears to be deliberately created. Either way, while we are distracted by (and addicted to) the Trump Show, clicking on and gasping at marital hand-slaps and mysterious orbs, the quiet, methodical work of redistributing wealth upward proceeds apace."

-- Naomi Klein


News and Opinion

Jeremy Corbyn Is Leading the Left Out of the Wilderness and Toward Power

It is no exaggeration to say that the British Labour Party leader has changed progressive politics in the UK, and perhaps the wider West too, for a generation. The bearded, 68-year-old, self-declared socialist has proved that an unashamedly, unabashedly, unapologetically left-wing offer is not the politics of the impossible but, rather, a politics of the very much possible. Last Thursday’s election result in the UK is a ringing confirmation that stirring idealism need not be sacrificed at the altar of political pragmatism.

In these dark, depressing times of Trump and Brexit, of the fallout from the Great Recession and the rise of the far right, Corbyn has reminded us that a politics of hope can go toe to toe with a politics of fear. Millions of people will turn out to vote for a leader who preaches optimism over pessimism, who offers inspiration instead of enervation.

Corbyn has proved that the much-maligned young can be a force for change. Younger voters are not lazy, indifferent or apathetic, as the conventional wisdom goes, but will in fact come out in their droves for a leader who motivates and excites them; who gives them not just something to vote for — be it a scrapping of tuition fees or a higher minimum wage or a new house-building program — but something to believe in. A common struggle, a better future, a more equal society. Because something always beats nothing.

Corbyn has showed how it is possible for progressives to build a coalition between the young, people of color and cosmopolitan liberals on the one hand and, yes, those dreaded white working class communities on the other. It is a fiction to claim that leaders on the left must choose between them, or play one marginalized group off against another. White ex-UKIP voters in the north of the country returned to Labour last week in their hundreds of thousands.

So socialists and social democrats no longer need be on the defensive. Yes, mainstream center-left parties may have been crushed in recent European elections — think of France or the Netherlands. However, Corbyn — who spent 32 years toiling in obscurity on the backbenches before becoming leader of his party in a shock victory in 2015 — has now a paved a road out of the wilderness.

Makes you wonder if this sort of high-visibility truth-telling could happen here in the US. Here's a taste of an excellent article:

U.K.’s Corbyn Told Truth about Terrorism

On May 26, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of British Labour Party, made a speech which dealt in large part with security and foreign policy. Much of his presentation was surprisingly accurate. Here is what he said:

  • There is a cause-and-effect relationship “between wars our governments supported and fought in other countries and terrorism here at home.” For instance, the May 22 Manchester bombing, which killed 22 people, may well be connected to the United Kingdom’s involvement in the overthrow of the Libyan government of Muammar Gaddafi and the subsequent civil wars.
  • This cause-and-effect relationship is not a matter of speculation. “Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to these connections.”
  • Past governments have not been willing to address these connections, and now the people of the U.K. are confronted with a “war on terror that is simply not working.”
  • “We need a smarter way to reduce the threat from countries that nurture terrorists and generate terrorism.” Therefore, Corbyn promised that, if he were to become the leader of the British government, he would “change what we do abroad.”

Corbyn’s speech is unusual because political leaders rarely point out that policies supported by major special interest groups (such as the Zionists, Saudis and the arms industry) are really catastrophic errors. More rarely still do politicians say so in public. In the case of terrorist attacks, almost every Western leader has blamed “radical Islam” (leaving out, of course, any reference to Saudi Wahhabism).

The public at large has gone along with this view because it echoes the media message that constitutes the source of their knowledge on most non-local subjects. The media outlets have never told them that the murderous foreign policies of their own governments contributed to terrorism coming to their shores. And now, along comes Jeremy Corbyn’s message that British policies abroad have something to do with British tragedies at home.

Trump may not visit U.K. this year in order to avoid protests

President Donald Trump reportedly told embattled U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May that he won’t visit her country if he faced the prospect of large protests there over his presence — meaning the president may not make it to the shores of America’s closest ally for a very, very long time. ...

Trump is not well-loved in Britain. According to U.K. polls, the majority of Brits don’t like the president and believe he is likely to make the world a more dangerous place. Trump doesn’t tend to go places where he’s extremely unpopular, even when it’s home — he’s traveled back to New York City only once since taking office, and avoided any public appearances while there.


The Guardian’s report comes days after Trump renewed his Twitter feud with London Mayor Sadiq Khan over and about a week after Trump announced he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.

Macron's Parliamentary Victories: Sign of strength or "not as good as you may think?"

Macron scores stunning parliamentary victory over Le Pen’s far right party

The far-right National Front party of former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was dealt a huge blow in Sunday’s first round parliamentary elections in France, and is now predicted to win as few as four of the 577 seats up for grabs. Newly-elected President Emmanuel Macron on the other hand is celebrating a stunning victory for his En Marche party, which is on course to win a huge majority and, with it, a mandate to enact his sweeping reforms.

Voting in the first round election for France’s National Assembly took place Sunday, and initial projections indicate that La Republique en Marche, a party founded just over a year ago, could break all records by taking as many as 445 seats in the new parliament, garnering almost 33 percent of the vote. ...

The one negative for Macron will be the historically low voter turnout, with just 49 percent of registered voters electing to cast their ballot. The low turnout was used as an excuse by Le Pen for her party’s poor showing. “This catastrophic abstention rate should raise the question of the voting rules which keep millions of our compatriots away from the polling stations,” she said. “There are a pathetically low number of three-way races.”

Cholera Death Toll Tops 859 in War-Torn Yemen as U.S.-Backed Saudi Assault Continues

Chelsea Manning: I leaked reports after seeing how Americans ignored wars

Chelsea Manning had not planned to share government documents with the public until she saw how disengaged her fellow Americans were from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during a two-week leave from her posting at a military base outside of Baghdad.

Manning left the base having illegally downloaded US military reports from both wars and unsure of how she would use the information, collected after spending hours as an intelligence official watching night-vision video and reading battle reports as bombs went off in the distance.

“There were two worlds,” Manning told the New York Times magazine in an interview published Monday. “The world in America, and the world I was seeing [in Iraq]. I wanted people to see what I was seeing”.

Manning, 29, said she attempted to contact the New York Times and spoke to a Washington Post reporter during this period but neither newspaper was quick to respond so she gave the information to WikiLeaks, which went on to partner with news organizations including the Guardian to share the leaked information.

Saudi Arabia and allies hail Trump warning to Qatar

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia and its allies Saturday welcomed an accusation by President Donald Trump that Qatar was bankrolling extremism but ignored a separate US call for them to ease their economic blockade.

Trump’s comments came as Washington joins intensifying international efforts to heal the worsening rift between the key Western Gulf allies, which has escalated into the region’s worst diplomatic crisis in years.

Qatar denies the allegations and has sent its top diplomat on a tour of European capitals in a bid to drum up support.

But its neighbours seized on Trump’s remarks as vindication of their position and of the crippling sanctions they imposed on Monday.

The United Arab Emirates welcomed “President Trump’s leadership in challenging Qatar’s troubling support for extremism”.

Saudi Royals Bring Trump into Line

Donald Trump’s statements in response to the Qatar, Saudi and Iranian diplomatic crisis have been bizarre even by Trumpian standards. ... Trump ... sided with two U.S. allies against a third that happens to host the massive Al-Udeid airbase, home of some 10,000 American military personnel. Then ... the White House issued a graceless statement regarding the Islamic State suicide attack a few hours earlier on the Iranian parliament and the shrine of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini: “We grieve and pray for the innocent victims of the terrorist attacks in Iran, and for the Iranian people, who are going through such challenging times. We underscore that states that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.”

The evil they promote? This sounded awfully close to “they had it coming,” a stunningly brutal response to an incident in which 17 innocent people died. If Tehran had said anything comparable about 9/11, there is no doubt that the U.S. would have forgotten about Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and invaded Iran instead. It was Trump at his most disconcerting. But what does it all mean? One thing is that while everyone in Washington seems to think that Trump has been captured by the Russians, the real story, it suggests, is that he’s been captured by the Saudis. ...

Once upon a time, Trump seemed to realize, in a dim way, that something was amiss. In 2011, he described Saudi Arabia as “the world’s biggest funder of terrorism” and said it was using “our petro dollars – our very own money – to fund the terrorists that seek to destroy our people while the Saudis rely on us to protect them.” [Donald J. Trump, Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2011), p. 20.] The broad-brush word “terrorism” may have made no more sense in this instance than it did in any other. But at least Trump grasped that the Saudis were the arsonist rather than the firefighter and that it was nonsense to try to cover that reality up.

On the campaign trail, Trump once declared that the Saudis “blew up the World Trade Center,” and said that American firepower was the only thing saving them from disaster. “If it weren’t for us, they wouldn’t be here,” he told NBC’s Meet the Press. “They wouldn’t exist.” All of which was true. But that was before the Saudis agreed to purchase $110 billion in U.S. military hardware and projected a five-story image of his face on the side of the local Ritz-Carlton during his visit last month to Riyadh. So, in Trump’s mind, the Saudis were transformed. Instead of bad guys, they were now good.

And since they were good, they could no longer be terrorists or sponsors of terrorism. Indeed, they were now so good that they were in a position to say who the real sponsors of terrorism were. When they pointed at Qatar, Trump instantly agreed.

Qatar, in regional crisis, hires former US attorney general

Qatar has paid $2.5 million to the law firm of a former attorney general under U.S. President George W. Bush to audit its efforts at stopping terrorism funding, a matter at the heart of the Gulf diplomatic crisis that erupted last week.

John Ashcroft personally will lead his Washington-based firm's efforts "to evaluate, verify and as necessary, strengthen the client's anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing" compliance, according to documents filed to the U.S. Justice Department.

Qatar hiring Ashcroft, who was attorney general during the Sept. 11 attacks and then helped push through the Patriot Act, appeared aimed at appeasing the Gulf nations now trying to isolate it.

Israel, Saudi, UAE team up in anti-Qatar lobbying move

US legislation threatening to sanction Qatar for its support of "Palestinian terror" was sponsored by 10 legislators who received more than $1m over the last 18 months from lobbyists and groups linked to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The bill was introduced to the US House of Representatives on May 25, but the text wasn't available until Friday morning, hours after Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Egypt put 59 people and 12 institutions linked to Qatar on a "terror list". The nations abruptly ended diplomatic relations with Qatar on Monday, accusing Doha of supporting "extremism" and siding with their regional rival Iran.

"Hamas has received significant financial and military support from Qatar," the Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act of 2017, also known as HR 2712, said. It went on to list sanctions including an end of exports of defence technologies, arms, and loans or financing totalling more than $10m.

For Trita Parsi, author and founder of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a nonprofit that aims to strengthen the voice of US citizens of Iranian descent, the similarities between the US-allied Arab nations' "terror list" and HR 2712 show growing cooperation between Gulf Arab states and Israel. "The coordination between hawkish pro-Israel groups and UAE and Saudi Arabia has been going on for quite some time," Parsi told Al Jazeera. What is new, he continued, is pro-Israel groups such as the Foundation for Defense of Democracies "coming out with pro-Saudi [articles] and lobbying for them on Capitol Hill".

Iran claims to have evidence of US support for ISIS

This idiot really needs to get his walking papers from the decent people of the US:

GOP lawmaker: Wasn't ISIS terror attack in Iran 'a good thing'

A Republican congressman said this week that a recent ISIS attack in Iran could be a “good thing” and even suggested that the U.S. government support ISIS for attacking other terrorist groups.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) said during a House hearing on Hezbollah “isn’t a good thing for us to have the United States finally backing up Sunnis who will attack Hezbollah and the Shiite threat to us?”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” he said. “And if so, maybe this is a Trump — maybe it’s a Trump strategy of actually supporting one groups against another, considering that you have two terrorist organizations.

Naomi Klein weighs in with a speculative piece about the dangers that yet lurk in a Trump administration. I'd suggest that they lurk just beneath the surface of any Demlican or Republicrat administration (and certainly in a Pence administration) that might replace Trump. At any rate, it is a piece worthy of attention, here's a taste:

The Worst of Donald Trump’s Toxic Agenda Is Lying in Wait – A Major U.S. Crisis Will Unleash It

During the presidential campaign, some imagined that the more overtly racist elements of Donald Trump’s platform were just talk designed to rile up the base, not anything he seriously intended to act on. But in his first week in office, when he imposed a travel ban on seven majority-Muslim countries, that comforting illusion disappeared fast. Fortunately, the response was immediate: the marches and rallies at airports, the impromptu taxi strikes, the lawyers and local politicians intervening, the judges ruling the bans illegal.

The whole episode showed the power of resistance, and of judicial courage, and there was much to celebrate. Some have even concluded that this early slap down chastened Trump, and that he is now committed to a more reasonable, conventional course.

That is a dangerous illusion.

It is true that many of the more radical items on this administration’s wish list have yet to be realized. But make no mistake, the full agenda is still there, lying in wait. And there is one thing that could unleash it all: a large-scale crisis. ...

Witnessing the tsunami of executive orders during Trump’s first 100 days, it rapidly became clear his advisers were following Machiavelli’s advice in “The Prince”: “Injuries ought to be done all at one time, so that, being tasted less, they offend less.” ... But here’s the thing. All of this is shock doctrine lite; it’s the most that Trump can pull off under cover of the shocks he is generating himself. And as much as this needs to be exposed and resisted, we also need to focus on what this administration will do when they have a real external shock to exploit. Maybe it will be an economic crash like the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. Maybe a natural disaster like Superstorm Sandy. Or maybe it will be a horrific terrorist attack like the Manchester bombing. Any one such crisis could trigger a very rapid shift in political conditions, making what currently seems unlikely suddenly appear inevitable.

Russia warns U.S. not to strike Syrian pro-government forces again

Russia said on Saturday it had told the United States it was unacceptable for Washington to strike pro-government forces in Syria after the U.S. military carried out an air strike on pro-Assad militia last month.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov relayed the message to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call on Saturday initiated by the U.S. side, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. ...

Russia said at the time that the U.S. action would hamper efforts to find a political solution to the conflict and had violated the sovereignty of Syria, one of Russia's closest Middle East allies.

"Lavrov expressed his categorical disagreement with the U.S. strikes on pro-government forces and called on him to take concrete measures to prevent similar incidents in future," the ministry said.

North Korea trolls Trump with threat to test long-range missile

The war of words between North Korea and President Donald Trump has escalated, with Pyongyang calling out Trump by name and threatening to soon test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) “capable of precisely striking any place of the U.S. mainland.”

Earlier this year, after North Korea announced that “final stage in preparations” were underway for a long-range missile test, Trump tweeted that he wouldn’t let it happen on his watch, declaring emphatically “It won’t happen!”

It took a few months, but North Korea finally responded to Trump’s tweet on Sunday. State news agency KCNA released an article touting the country’s “miraculous successes” developing nuclear weapons and announcing imminent plans to test a missile that could potentially put the continental United States within range for a nuclear strike.

“Trump blustered early this year that the DPRK’s final access to a nuclear weapon that can reach the U.S. mainland will never happen,” KCNA wrote. “But the strategic weapons tests conducted by the DPRK clearly proved that the time of its ICBM test is not a long way off at all.”

Trump is set to announce Friday his reversal of Obama’s Cuba policies

President Donald Trump will reportedly announce his new Cuba policy Friday in Miami, which may reverse some of Barack Obama’s attempts to improve America’s decades-long hostile relationship with its neighbor. ...

Trump is now reportedly considering banning business with the Cuban military and clamping down on travel to Cuba while maintaining the diplomatic relations restored by Obama. While Trump has been quiet on Cuba since taking office — though the plan to reverse Cuba policy has reportedly been set for some time, the administration has had its implementation repeatedly delayed by more pressing matters — he periodically talked tough on Cuba on the campaign trail, especially in Florida.

Puerto Rico Backs Statehood in Referendum Boycotted by Opposition Groups

Puerto Rico governor to take statehood case to Washington but faces US snub

The governor of Puerto Rico, Ricard Rosselló, has announced that he is to visit Washington in the next phase of his campaign to turn the island into the 51st state of the United States.

Rosselló will go to the US capital armed with a 97% backing for statehood from voters in Sunday’s plebiscite on the future of the stricken US colony. But he faces an uphill struggle impressing his case on the US Congress, which holds ultimate power over Puerto Rico, given the historically low turnout of the vote and the boycott staged by opposition parties.

The governor, a 38-year-old member of the ruling Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP), insisted the referendum sent a clear and strong message to Washington. “From today, the federal government will no longer be able to ignore the voice of the majority of the American citizens in Puerto Rico. It would be highly contradictory for Washington to demand democracy in other parts of the world, and not respond to the legitimate right to self-determination that was exercised today in the American territory of Puerto Rico,” he said after the vote.

But observers of Puerto Rico’s long and tortured relationship with its vastly more wealthy and powerful overlord scoffed at the idea that the plebiscite would have any impact. They pointed to a turnout of 23% of the territory’s 2.3 million registered voters – a dismal figure on an island that regularly has participation rates of 60% or 70%.



the horse race




Sessions will testify on Russia

Attorney General Jeff Sessions will testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday as part of its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.

But whether the American people will actually have a chance to hear what he says is still uncertain — it’s not yet clear whether Sessions will appear in an open session or a closed session before members of the committee.

Sessions had been scheduled to testify in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee to discuss the Justice Department’s budget. But he agreed to instead testify before the Intelligence Committee in the wake of former FBI Director James Comey’s no-holds-barred testimony last week; it had become clear Sessions would face questions related to the Russia investigation no matter what committee he faced.

[Update: I've seen it reported that Sessions' testimony will be in public. -js]

'Inspirational' Corbyn offers blueprint for our party, say left-leaning Democrats

Progressive politicians in the US have hailed Jeremy Corbyn’s performance in the British general election “an inspiration” that could shift the Democratic party to the left in the run-up to the 2018 midterms.

Bernie Sanders was among those to praise Labour’s result, saying it showed “people are rising up against austerity and massive levels of income and wealth inequality,” while left-leaning members of Congress said the victory would have major implications for the future of Democrats.

Corbyn’s achievement was part of a “global trend,” said Pramila Jayapal, a US congresswoman from Washington, “towards recognising that progressive policies are the answer to a lot of the inequality, and a lot of the issues that young people and working families across the globe are facing.”

“It’s a good sign for Democrats here in the United States,” said Jayapal, who endorsed Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary and introduced a bill with the Vermont senator to make college tuition free in the US.

Jayapal said some Democrats “are still stuck in the frame of: I need to move to the center” – despite some recent wins for progressives at city and state level. “But I think the UK election and the current elections here show that that’s not actually the answer people are looking for,” she said.

Bernie Sanders lambasts 'absolute failure' of Democratic party's strategy

Bernie Sanders has criticised the Democratic party’s current direction as “an absolute failure” in a speech at the People’s Summit in Chicago. Speaking to a crowd of 4,000 activists, Sanders hailed the “enormous progress in advancing the progressive agenda”, saying the increasing House and Senate support for a $15 minimum wage and the opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership showed the success of the movement.

But the Vermont senator said that establishment Democrats were standing in the way of further progress. “The current model and the current strategy of the Democratic party is an absolute failure,” Sanders said. “The Democratic party needs fundamental change. What it needs is to open up its doors to working people, and young people, and older people who are prepared to fight for social and economic justice.

“The Democratic party must understand what side it is on. And that cannot be the side of Wall Street, or the fossil fuel industry, or the drug companies.” Sanders’s speech was rapturously received at the People’s Summit, a gathering of some of the most influential progressive activists and organizations in the country.



the evening greens


An excellent article. Here's the intro to get you started:

New threats to public lands endanger America's unique wildlife corridors

The life of a Wyoming mule deer is a tough one. In order to survive, thousands of the deer undertake an arduous 150-mile migration twice a year to find food. Manmade and natural hazards abound on this two-month trek. “It’s not just about getting from point A to B, they have to forage all along the way,” said Matt Kauffman, a University of Wyoming zoologist. “These animals are slowly starving to death all winter. If winter is long enough or they are held up, the animals will die.”

Migrating animals can wander onto highways and be flattened by trucks, or tumble through frozen lakes. Fences, mining operations and other obstacles also provide a challenge. But for the mule deer there is no choice – they must follow what Kauffman calls the “green wave” of young, lush vegetation from the mountainous greater Yellowstone area to the brush of Wyoming’s interior as the seasons change. They either move or starve.

This Red Desert to Hoback migration is the longest in the contiguous US and, despite occurring for thousands of years, was only fully discovered by researchers in 2011. Its epic length is rivaled only by the “path of the pronghorn”, a journey that takes America’s fastest land mammal on a biannual trudge to and from Grand Teton national park in search of water.

These migration routes take the animals through a patchwork of public and private land. The importance of publicly owned national parks was recognized long ago, but these crucial wildlife corridors linking protected areas are only starting to be understood and valued. But the nascent movement to safeguard wildlife corridors – vital for animals as diverse as wolves, bears, elk, tortoises and ground-dwelling birds – is now at risk. In recent years congressional Republicans have pushed for federal land in the western states to be handed over for development. With Donald Trump now in the White House, these ambitions could come to fruition.

Oil giants need to invest heavily in renewables by 2035, says analysis

More than a fifth of investment by the largest oil and gas companies could be in wind and solar power in just over a decade, according to analysis of how global changes in energy will reshape the sector. Slowing demand for oil and forecasts of rapid growth in renewables posed both a threat and and opportunity BP, Shell and Total among others cannot ignore, said research group Wood Mackenzie.

“The momentum behind these [renewable] technologies is unstoppable now,” said Valentina Kretzschmar, director of research. “They [the oil companies] are recognising it is a megatrend; it’s not a fad, it’s not going away. There is definitely a risk to their core business.”

The commodities analysts found the major energy companies would need to spend more than $350bn (£275bn) on wind and solar power by 2035 to take a market share similar to the 12% they have in oil and gas.

Hawaii is banking on Tesla to cut its addiction to oil

While life in Hawaii looks pretty good, but there’s a challenge to living on an island in the middle of the Pacific. It’s expensive. And nothing is more expensive than energy. About 90 percent of Hawaiian energy comes from fossil fuels and 100 percent of that needs to be imported.

An average Hawaiian family can pay up to $600 a month in energy bills. So Hawaii Governor David Ige set a goal: to power the island completely with renewable energy by 2045.

Getting off oil by 2045 will take wind turbines, volcanic energy, bio-mass recycling, and ocean energy. But Hawaii’s biggest power source will be solar. The trouble is, a sunny day in Hawaii is so sunny, the electrical grid can’t handle all the solar power that is captured, so the state’s opening giant battery fields, and that’s where Tesla comes in.


Also of Interest

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

The Day After Corbyn’s Surprise Surge, NPR Would Rather Talk About Buckethead

On 50th Anniversary of Israeli Occupation, Palestinian Opinions Largely Ignored

The quiet crisis: mass eviction shows toll of homelessness on Native Americans

The fight against climate change: four cities leading the way in the Trump era

When ‘Mother Jones’ Wasn’t Russia-Bashing

Lost natural wonder in New Zealand may be found, say researchers


A Little Night Music

Dale Hawkins - Tornado

Dale Hawkins - Take My Heart

Dale Hawkins - Heaven

Dale Hawkins - Mrs Merguitory's Daughter

Dale Hawkins - Someday One Day

Dale Hawkins - Linda

Dale Hawkins - Lonely Nights

Dale Hawkins - Wildcat Tamer

Dale Hawkins - Back Street


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enhydra lutris's picture

It's about time:

Russia warns U.S. not to strike Syrian pro-government forces again

We need to be called out at the UN for War Crimes & murders for all our operations there.

They currently have the cash reserves to wait until it is built and then buy it.

Oil giants need to invest heavily in renewables by 2035, says analysis

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

i think that i'm glad that russia told the us (and allies) to back off. i wonder whether it will lead to a prudent understanding of international law or just another escalation.

the potential for the oil companies buying off the renewables market is why we need to press for a lot of small-scale local/individual projects, working on getting people off the grid and literally putting the power in people's hands. making energy something that the rentier class can't hold over people's heads would be a big step forward.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@joe shikspack
and wouldn't mind getting all the way off myself.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

snoopydawg's picture

after being exposed to the horrors of the Iraq war and then coming home and seeing the American people not even paying attention to them?
The Collateral Murder video wasn't covered by the msm, IIRC, just the alternate media such as Democracy Now.
It is no wonder that she wanted to show Americans what was happening to the people in Iraq.
And instead of people being upset and trying to get our troops out, she was Court Martialed instead and thrown in prison.
As usual, the only people who paid a price by exposing war crimes were the ones who exposed them.

What would happen if Qatar closed the base we have there? Isn't that base where most of our attacks in Syria fly from?

Zinke: Bears Ears boundaries need to be reduced
BTW, Zinke is advising Trump to decrease the size of the Bears Ears national monument. I'm not sure if he can do this, because someone went after the Grand Staircase that Clinton created, but they were unsuccessful in overthrowing it. There have been many challenges to the act.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

i can't really imagine how chelsea manning feels about the vast majority of americans' lack of knowledge or concern about the things she revealed after putting her life on the line to expose us war crimes. i guess she can feel somewhat satisfied in the knowledge that when faced with a choice she stood up and did the right thing very courageously.

because the middle eastern countries that allow the us to fly from their air bases are not exactly proud of it, there isn't a great deal of information about where the sorties originate from.

what i've found is that there is an aircraft carrier (the george h.w. bush) in the persian gulf and when erdogan is in a good mood, incirlik air base in turkey. an article from 2014 identifies 3 airbases in gulf states that are used:

Public records and U.S. military statements about the types of U.S. aircraft deployed over Iraq indicate that they are primarily drawn from three major bases in the gulf: al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Ali al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.

In addition, Predator drones and possibly other U.S. aircraft are flying from Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, a NATO ally.

i'm not sure about what trump can do with the bear's ears monument. that might take some research. i have read that, once created, national monuments are difficult to decommission, but i don't remember the details.

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snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack
for the information on the bases. It would be great to see both Qatar and Turkey close our bases and tell us to stick it. But I don't think they have much say in it. Japan came close, but the base is still there with all its crap that comes with it.
I have read a few articles on the antiquity act, and most of them that have challenged them have been shot down by the courts. The last time there was a challenge to it was the grandstair chase that Clinton set up. Hopefully, a court will tell Trump no. Again.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg I hope to send her $10 a month until my "estate" just runs dry.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

snoopydawg's picture

@on the cusp
She has a go fund me fundraiser. The initial goal was $150 thousand and it's standing at $172 thousand.
I think that Chelsea does see that many people listened to her after all, and they want her to know that by helping her get her life back.
I'm glad to see how many people have been able to help her get her footing back.
Here's her fundraiser.
Chelsea Manning go fund me

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mimi's picture

in this article, because there are a lot of them in there.
Top Reasons Why Qatar Will Survive the Saudi-led Diplomatic Offensive

The former Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who captured power in a bloodless coup by toppling his dad Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani in 1995, moved Qatar closer to and established solid ties with the US. Sheikh Hamad readily agreed to allow the US military to use the Al-Udeid airbase in Qatar in the run up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Saudi Arabia, in the face of stiff domestic opposition, had earlier refused the Bush regime the use of Prince Sultan air base, close to Riyadh, to launch an attack on Iraq. Qatar also cut a political niche in Washington after writing a big check of $100 million to rebuild New Orleans in Lousiana after hurricane Katrina had devastated that city in 2005. So did its GCC partner the UAE. Doha also actively participated in the NATO-bombing of Libya in 2011, much to the appreciation of the US. But things went upside down with Qatari financial and diplomatic backing of Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates in Egypt and Syria under the rubric of the Arab Spring uprisings.

There is a lot in this article and I don't know what to extract.

Qatar has, on the contrary, won the support of two regional heavyweights – Turkey and Iran. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has openly sided with Qatar and vowed to support “Qatari brothers” pushed in a crisis by Saudi Arabia and the US. To counter any possible military threats by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Turkish parliament quickly moved to ratify two defense agreements to enable rapid dispatch of some 3,000 troops to a Turkish-controlled military base in Qatar, established under a 2014 agreement

The Okra in the Qatar Gumbo

Saudi Arabia’s anti- Hamas posture and closeness to President Trump, a notorious Muslim-hater who largely won the election banking on an anti-Islam strategy, has strengthened Qatar’s moral case of standing up to Saudi Arabia and the US. Most Muslims seem to believe that the Saudi demand to cut funding to Hamas only aids the Israeli occupiers of Palestinian lands, an objective the Trump regime welcomes. An American political analyst writes: “Hamas has one real enemy, and that’s Israel. So, Saudi efforts to freeze Qatari terror funding for Hamas has only one real beneficiary – Israel”. And the move to cut funding to Hamas came just days after President Trump visited Riyadh – what a great coincidence!

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joe shikspack's picture

@mimi

as with a gumbo, there is a lot going on just beneath the surface - and it appears that the flame has been turned up under the gumbo pot.

i think that this article that i posted friday night is probably the most compelling account of the motives underneath the surface.

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mimi's picture

The Worst of DONALD TRUMP’S Toxic Agende is Lying in Wait – A MAJOR U.S. CRISIS WILL UNLEASH IT

But there’s another, less discussed reason why this administration might rush to exploit a security crisis to start a new war or escalate an ongoing conflict: There is no faster or more effective way to drive up the price of oil, especially if the violence interferes with the supply of oil to the world market This would be great news for oil giants like Exxon Mobil, which have seen their profits drop dramatically as a result of the depressed price of oil — and Exxon, of course, is fortunate enough to have its former CEO, Tillerson, currently serving as secretary of state. (Not only was Tillerson at Exxon for 41 years, his entire working life, but Exxon Mobil has agreed to pay him a retirement package worth a staggering $180 million.)

Other than Exxon, perhaps the only entity that would have more to gain from an oil price hike fueled by global instability is Vladimir Putin’s Russia, a vast petro-state that has been in economic crisis since the price of oil collapsed. Russia is the world’s leading exporter of natural gas, and the second-largest exporter of oil (after Saudi Arabia). When the price was high, this was great news for Putin: Prior to 2014, fully 50 percent of Russia’s budget revenues came from oil and gas.

But when prices plummeted, the government was suddenly short hundreds of billions of dollars, an economic catastrophe with tremendous human costs. According to the World Bank, in 2015 real wages fell in Russia by nearly 10 percent; the Russian ruble depreciated by close to 40 percent; and the population of people classified as poor increased from 3 million to over 19 million. Putin plays the strongman, but this economic crisis makes him vulnerable at home.

We’ve also heard a lot about that massive deal between Exxon Mobil and the Russian state oil company Rosneft to drill for oil in the Arctic (Putin bragged that it was worth half a trillion dollars). That deal was derailed by U.S. sanctions against Russia and despite the posturing on both sides over Syria, it is still entirely possible that Trump will decide to lift the sanctions and clear the way for that deal to go ahead, which would quickly boost Exxon Mobil’s flagging fortunes.

oh, oh, Qatar might like the higher oil prices too and just look at those kabuki cozy US-Russia sanctions and their shadowy love affair.

Better I take a nap now. Good Night.

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joe shikspack's picture

@mimi

yes, that's it, the "resistance" must stop trump from escalating a war because exxon russia might like it.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@mimi
Other than Exxon Mobil, the only entity ... Putin's Russia ...
BWAHAHAHAHA!!

Biggest by Revenue
Saudi Aramco
China National Petroleum Corporation 428.62
PetroChina 367.982
Exxon Mobil 268.9
Royal Dutch Shell 265
Kuwait
Lukoil
BP
Eni
....

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Unabashed Liberal's picture

what I brought up about Mueller and Comey--that is, is it appropriate for Mueller to serve as Special Counsel, considering how 'close' they are. I was blown away when this Op Ed written by Gregg Jarrett popped up in my cell phone news feed. (Of course, he's a Fox talking head, so, I suppose it could be argued that he's a right-winger, but, in this case, I think he's on to something. It's truly puzzling to me how much their relationship is actually touted by some news outlets, such as CNN.)

Gregg Jarrett: Are Mueller and Comey ‘colluding’ against Trump by acting as co-special counsel?

By News on the Net -- FoxNews —— Bio and Archives June 12, 2017

. . . It was evident at the outset that the fired FBI Director would be the pivotal witness in any potential obstruction of justice investigation by Mueller. Therefore, it was incomprehensible that Rod Rosenstein, the Acting Attorney General, would choose him. It was equally baffling that Mueller would accept the position.

I remember reacting to the news with the words, “are you kidding?” Turns out, it was no joke.

Conflict of Interest Defined

The law governing the special counsel (28 CFR 600.7) specifically prohibits Mueller from serving if he has a “conflict of interest.” Even the appearance of a conflict is disallowed.

The same Code of Federal Regulations defines what constitutes a conflict. That is, “a personal relationship with any person substantially involved in the conduct that is the subject of the investigation or prosecution” (28 CFR 45.2). Comey is that person. He was substantially involved in the conversation with President Trump which may be the subject of an obstruction investigation. In fact, the former Director is the only other person involved. There were no witnesses beyond himself.

A conflict of interest is a situation in which an individual has competing interests or loyalties. Here, it sets up a clash between the special counsel’s self-interest or bias and his professional or public interest in discharging his responsibilities in a fair, objective and impartial manner. His close association with the star witness raises the likelihood of prejudice or favoritism which is anathema to the fair administration of justice.

Mueller has no choice but to disqualify himself. The law affords him no discretion because the recusal is mandatory in its language. It does not say “may” or “can” or “might”. It says the special counsel “shall” recuse himself in such instances.

An excellent post by Robert Barnes, a constitutional lawyer, identifies five statutes, regulations and codes of conduct that Mueller is violating because of his conflict of interest with Comey. Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner recounts in detail the close personal relationship between Mueller and Comey which gives rise to the blatant conflict of interest. . . . .

For certain, if this had happened during my federal suit, I sure as heck would have fought it.

Oh, I've finally found a (free) countdown clock to our retirement. I was in a hurry, so I picked out practically the first format that I came across. Guess I need to change it, since it looks like a 'Valentine's Day' motiff--not exactly appropriate, huh?

Wink

Anyhoo, Mr M can file for retirement up to 24 months before he plans to take it, so he's going to do so on 1 July. This is one reason I'm so pressured to wind up Probate & Trust matters, and frequently have to run up and down the road on side trips. BTW, I found out that posting to Drupal requires tweaking the code--so, I just played with it until I bumbled onto something that would work!

It's sorta odd--the only way that I can post the 'clock,' is to make it the 'last item.' Otherwise, it doesn't show. Go figure.

Hey, Everyone stay cool, if you can--'real feel' of 98 degrees here, today. Whew! Have a nice evening!

Bye

Mollie


"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."--Lao Tzu

"I think dogs are the most amazing creatures--they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive."--Gilda Radner

COUNTDOWN TO (FULL) RETIREMENT

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

joe shikspack's picture

@Unabashed Liberal

it'll be interesting to see what happens with mueller. it seems to me that, despite the provenance of the material you quoted, it contains what appears to be a fair point.

congratulations on being so close to full retirement. i hope the time flies by happily for you guys.

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snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack
just in case his lawyers don't know this.
Yep. According to the article, Mueller can't be the special prosecutor. He's way too close to Comey. The history of the two of them go way back.
I wonder how the Russianbots will react to this? If Hillary losing the election is any reaction, not well Smile

Congrats on your upcoming retirement. Those 556 days are going to fly by. Okay, I hope that they will. I can't believe how much effort it takes to retire correctly.
Do you have plans for after the big day? I would love to travel with a small trailer and my dawgs.

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riverlover's picture

Wed night did a faceplant on tile floor with pottery goblet in between face and floor. I broke multiple bones in my face nose, eye socket, a crack through bones covering sinus cavities, a crack through my upper jaw, at tooth nerve area. Lower front teeth are studs now. No one but a resident actually looked at me for my five days except for an ENT resident. The soft tissue surgeon was gone the entire time. He really does not want to see/do anything until swelling is reduced. I can only eat pureed food for now. Too many moving teeth and a partial jaw.

Thinking about moving to a single level house, again.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Unabashed Liberal's picture

@riverlover

that you've been a bit scarce, lately.

Stairs are definitely trickier as one ages. Several years ago, while my foot (ankle) was casted, I didn't even attempt to navigate the staircase. (Luckily, kitchen, bath, etc., were available on first floor.) Since I've fractured both ankles--both instances/freak accidents occurred outdoors, while walking a dog--I'm very careful in my movements, and careful to wear shows that allow me good traction when I'm walking 'the B.'

Take care, and please let us know how you're doing.

Mollie


"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."--Lao Tzu

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snoopydawg's picture

@riverlover
you have been through hell and back. Hopefully, you are feeling better. Do you have a crockpot? If you do, you can make good meals in it and are nutritional.
I've had my jaw broken twice and my dad cooked great meals for me in the crockpot.
Take care and hope things start looking up for you soon.

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joe shikspack's picture

@riverlover

wow, that sounds particularly awful. i really hope that you can work out a living arrangement that allows you to live without the frequent accidents and health challenges that you've been dealing with.

i hope that you feel better soon.

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