The Evening Blues - 6-13-22



eb1pt12


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

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features early jazz and blues singer Alberta Hunter. Enjoy!

Alberta Hunter - You Can't Tell The Difference After Dark

"The tragedy of it is that nobody sees the look of desperation on my face. Thousands and thousands of us, and we're passing one another without a look of recognition."

-- Henry Miller


News and Opinion

Global nuclear arsenal set to grow for first time in decades

The global nuclear arsenal is expected to grow in the coming years for the first time since the cold war, and the risk of such weapons being used is the greatest in decades, a leading conflict and armaments thinktank says.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and western support for Kyiv has heightened tensions among the world’s nine nuclear-armed states, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) thinktank said on Monday in a new set of research.

While the number of nuclear weapons fell slightly between January 2021 and January 2022, Sipri said that unless immediate action was taken by the nuclear powers, global inventories of warheads could soon begin rising for the first time in decades.

“All of the nuclear-armed states are increasing or upgrading their arsenals and most are sharpening nuclear rhetoric and the role nuclear weapons play in their military strategies,” Wilfred Wan, the director of Sipri’s weapons of mass destruction program, said in the thinktank’s 2022 yearbook. “This is a very worrying trend.”

Ukraine Forces Trapped in Severodonetsk Azot Factory, UK General Criticizes West Leaders' Strategy

Ukraine fears western support will fade as media loses interest in the war

Ukraine’s war with Russia is heading towards its fifth month amid increasing local concern that dwindling media attention could lead to a gradual loss of western support just as Moscow is making slow but steady gains on the frontline.

The anxiety reflects a growing normalisation of the conflict in which large parts of the country feel distant from the war in eastern Donbas – as it becomes clear that casualties are mounting and economic costs soaring. “It’s a very real threat, that people get tired psychologically,” said Lesia Vasylenko, an opposition MP with the liberal Holos party.

International media coverage has dropped markedly in the past two months, she added, and “as that number goes down further, there’s a very high risk of the support from the west going down”.

Ukraine has become increasingly dependent on western help as the war has continued, both in terms of weaponry and humanitarian support, and will need international aid money to help rebuild towns and cities destroyed by the Russians in the early phase of fighting. Its treasury is bare.

Russia, meanwhile, appears close to taking the shattered Donbas city of Sievierodonetsk, after a failed counterattack by Ukraine’s forces. After weeks of silence about casualties, key Ukrainian presidential advisers have admitted in the past week that as many as 150 are being killed in fighting every day and 800 wounded.

U.S. Wants Ukraine War To Last Forever

Obama warns the Ukraine war is 'far from over' and the 'costs will continue to mount'

Former US President Barack Obama on Friday cautioned that Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine will not end anytime soon and warned it will have far-reaching consequences.

"Make no mistake, this war is far from over. The costs will continue to mount," Obama said during a speech at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Friday, adding that the trajectory of the war remains unpredictable and urged the world to remain "strong, steadfast and sustained" in its support until the conflict ends.

Poor countries forced to cut public spending to pay debts, campaigners say

The lack of an effective debt relief scheme is forcing some of the world’s poorest countries to cut public spending to keep up payments to their creditors, research reveals. A report by Debt Justice says the most heavily indebted nations were expected to reduce public expenditure by 3% on average between 2019 and 2023 despite the need to counter the impact of spiralling food and energy prices.

Using International Monetary Fund data for debt and public spending, the campaign group said the disparity between high and low-debt countries highlighted the need for more comprehensive relief. Low-debt countries will increase spending by an average of 14% between 2019 and 2023. ...

In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, the G20 agreed a common framework for the treatment of debt, but no country has yet benefitted from relief through the scheme, in part because of opposition from private lenders.

Noting that 90% of bonds of countries eligible for the G20’s debt relief scheme were governed by English law, Woolfenden said: “The UK must act to make private lenders take part in debt relief. Debt repayments to wealthy lenders should not take precedence over people’s needs in a time of multiple crises.”

Emmanuel Macron’s coalition level with new leftwing group in French elections

Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping was neck and neck with a new leftwing alliance led by the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the vote share of the first round of parliamentary elections, according to early projections.

A frantic final week of campaigning will begin on Monday before the second round, as Macron’s centrists still hope to edge ahead but face uncertainty over whether they can win a crucial majority of seats in parliament.

A historic alliance of parties on the left, led by Mélenchon’s France Unbowed party and including the Socialists and the Greens, was slightly ahead on 25.6% – a strong showing which presents a challenge to Macron. The president’s centrist alliance, Ensemble (Together), was projected to take 25.2% of the vote, according to estimations by Ipsos-Sopra Steria for France Télévisions.

Turnout on Sunday was estimated to have hit a record low of about 47%, according to polling firm projections, after candidates described the mood among voters as angry and disillusioned at the political class. Olivia Grégoire, the government spokesperson, said the low turnout was the “key issue”. ...

Mélenchon’s alliance – known as the Nupes, or the New Popular Ecological and Social Union – is seeking to increase its seats and reduce the number of Macron’s centrists. The coalition’s platform includes a significant minimum wage increase, lowering the retirement age to 60 and a freeze in basic food and energy prices to address the cost of living crisis.

Russian Sanctions Are Hurting U.S. WAY MORE Than Russia

They Plan On Repeating “Putin’s Price Hike” Until People Believe It

President Biden used the phrase “Putin’s price hike” again in a reaction to Friday’s Consumer Price Index report revealing continued high inflation, showing once again that the US government believes Americans are idiots.

“Make no mistake about it: I understand inflation is a real challenge to American families. Today’s inflation report confirms what Americans already know: Putin’s Price Hike is hitting America hard,” Biden said in a statement. “My administration is going to continue to do everything it can to lower prices for the American people.”

Which is of course absurd. Prices were already soaring and inflation was already at a 40-year high before Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February, and there was never anything inscribed upon the fabric of reality which said the US needed to respond to that invasion with an economic war that has made everything worse. The US initiated these unprecedented acts of economic warfare in response to an invasion it could easily have prevented with a little diplomacy, and has managed to do so without even hurting the strength of the ruble at all.

There are many people Americans could blame for their shrinking bank accounts, but Putin isn’t one of them.

And people know this. Nobody who doesn’t work for the US government ever unironically uses the term “Putin’s price hike” except to comment on the Biden administration’s repeated use of that term. I’ve never once seen even the dumbest liberals in my social media notifications use that phrase.

Right now it looks ridiculous to hear even Biden use that term. It sticks out like dog’s balls because of how obviously contrived and out of place it is, like if he’d spontaneously yelled “Cowabunga, dudes!” or something.

But just you wait. If they keep repeating it often enough and frequently enough, sooner or later you’ll start to notice rank-and-file members of the public repeating it themselves.

This is because the empire managers understand something which John Q Public does not, and it’s this: if you repeat something often enough in a confident-sounding tone of voice, a glitch in human cognition known as the illusory truth effect causes them to mistake what you’re saying for the truth.

The illusory truth effect describes the way people are more likely to believe something is true after hearing it said many times. This is due to the fact that the familiar feeling we experience when hearing something we’ve heard before feels very similar to our experience of knowing that something is true. When we hear a familiar idea, its familiarity provides us with something called cognitive ease, which is the relaxed, unlabored state we experience when our minds aren’t working hard at something. We also experience cognitive ease when we are presented with a statement that we know to be true.

We have a tendency to select for cognitive ease, which is why confirmation bias is a thing: believing ideas which don’t cause cognitive strain or dissonance gives us more cognitive ease than doing otherwise. Our evolutionary ancestors adapted to seek out cognitive ease so that they could put their attention into making quick decisions essential for survival, rather than painstakingly mulling over whether everything we believe is as true as we think it is. This was great for not getting eaten by saber-toothed tigers in prehistoric times, but it’s not very helpful when navigating the twists and turns of a cognitively complex modern world. It’s also not helpful when you’re trying to cultivate truthful beliefs while surrounded by screens that are repeating the same bogus talking points over and over again.

This would appear to be the strategy behind the continual repetition of the phrase “Putin’s price hike” in particular and the narrative that rising prices are Russia’s fault in general. Just keep saying it and saying it until the illusory truth effect kicks in and overrides people’s cognitive faculties.

We are being trained. Westerners are paying more because of western policies chosen by western policy makers, and we’re being trained to look at our shrinking bank accounts and yell, “Damn you, Putin!”

No part of this new cold war would be possible without copious amounts of such training. Without massive amounts of propaganda, people would never consent to being made poorer in order to facilitate the dopey grand chessboard maneuverings of a few sociopaths on the east coast of the United States. Without massive amounts of propaganda, people would never consent to having the gun of nuclear war held to their heads every day as US unipolarist escalations continually ramp up brinkmanship between the world’s two nuclear superpowers. Without massive amounts of propaganda, people would never consent to agendas which directly hurt them and threaten everyone they know while providing no material benefit to them whatsoever.

But this is also true of our entire society in general. Our entire civilization is marinating in propaganda produced and promulgated by the powerful in order to manipulate our collective psychology into consenting to a status quo which serves them and not us.

Over centuries of dynasties, upheavals and revolutions, powerful people have learned that the best way to dominate a population is to manipulate them into serving your interests while giving them the illusion of freedom and control. The invention of mass media has facilitated this new form of tyranny, as has the emergence of psychology as a field of study. These two factors have combined together to give rise to the steadily advancing science of modern propaganda.

This is why the world is as it is: because the people have been psychologically manipulated at mass scale away from using the power of their numbers to create systems that benefit them instead of a few powerful sociopaths.

This is the source of all our major problems. Understanding it, and finding ways to overcome it, is the solution. The only reason they’ve been able to control us in this way is because they understand all the many ways our minds can be manipulated better than we do.

US gas prices rise to a record $5 a gallon but Biden hedges on Saudi Arabia visit

US gasoline prices, a key driver of the highest inflation seen in the US in 40 years, hit a record $5 a gallon on Saturday. There was little to suggest they would drop anytime soon but, also on Saturday, Joe Biden said he had “not yet” decided if he will travel to Saudi Arabia, a week after opening the door to a possible trip.

Any such visit would be aimed at bolstering relations with the country at a time when Biden is trying to find ways to lower gasoline prices. Many on the US right blame the high prices on the president. Others blame the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Democrats accuse oil companies of price gouging.

In fact prices have been surging since April 2020, when the shock of the coronavirus pandemic drove gasoline under $1.80 a gallon, according to government figures. Prices hit $3 in May 2021 and passed $4 this March. On Saturday, the nationwide average for a gallon ticked just above $5, a record, according to auto club AAA. The average price jumped 18 cents in a week and was $1.92 higher than this time last year. State averages ranged from $6.43 in California to $4.52 in Mississippi. ...

On Saturday, asked by a reporter later in Albuquerque, New Mexico, if he would make a trip to the Middle East, Biden said: “We’ll see.”

Excellent article by Glenn Greenwald, it's worth clicking the link for a full read.

Joe Biden's Submissive -- and Highly Revealing -- Embrace of Saudi Despots

In 2018, President Trump issued a statement reaffirming the U.S.'s long-standing relationship with the Saudi royal family on the ground that this partnership serves America's “national interests.” Trump specifically cited the fact that “Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world” and has purchased hundreds of billions of dollars worth of weapons from U.S. arms manufacturers. Trump's statement was issued in the wake of widespread demands in Washington that Trump reduce or even sever ties with the Saudi regime due to the likely role played by its Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. ...

Perhaps the most vocal critic of Trump's ongoing willingness to maintain ties with the Saudi regime were then-Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. As a recent CNN compilation of those statements demonstrates: “In the years prior to taking office, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and many of their administration's top officials harshly criticized President Donald Trump's lack of action against Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.” In a 2019 Democratic primary debate, Biden vowed: “We were going to in fact make them pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are,” adding that there is “very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia.” Harris similarly scolded Trump for his ongoing relationship with the Saudis, complaining on Twitter in October, 2019, that "Trump has yet to hold Saudi officials accountable," adding: "Unacceptable—America must make it clear that violence toward critics and the press won't be tolerated."

That Joe Biden was masquerading as some sort of human rights crusader who would sever ties with the despotic regimes that have long been among America's most cherished partners was inherently preposterous. As Obama's Vice President, Biden was central to that administration's foreign policy which was driven by an embrace of the world's most barbaric tyrants. ... That is what made the hysterical reaction to Trump's reaffirmation of that relationship so nonsensical and deliberately deceitful. Trump was not wildly deviating from U.S. policy by embracing Saudi tyrants but simply continuing long-standing U.S. policy of embracing all sorts of savage despots all over the world whenever doing so advanced U.S. interests. Indeed, what angered the permanent ruling class in Washington was not Trump's policy of embracing the ruling Saudi monarchs, but rather his honesty and candor about why he was doing so. ...

Thus, it was not Trump's embrace of long-standing U.S. partnerships with Saudi and Egyptian despots that represented a radical departure from the American tradition. The radical departure was Biden's pledge during the 2020 presidential campaign to turn the Saudis into "pariahs” and to isolate them as punishment for their atrocities. But few people in Washington were alarmed by Biden's campaign vow because nobody believed that Joe Biden — with his very long history of supporting the world's worst despots — ever intended to follow through on his cynical campaign pledge. ... This is why it comes as absolutely no surprise, repellent as it may be, that Joe Biden aggressively abandoned this core 2020 campaign foreign policy vow regarding Saudi Arabia the first chance he got. Far from turning them into a "pariah” state as he pledged, Biden has seamlessly continued — and even escalated — the U.S. tradition of propping up and strengthening what is quite plausibly the world's single most despotic and murderous regime. ...

And now, it appears that Biden is planning a pilgrimage to Riyadh to visit his Saudi partners in person. Last week, The New York Times reported that Biden “has decided to travel to Riyadh this month to rebuild relations with the oil-rich kingdom at a time when he is seeking to lower gas prices at home and isolate Russia abroad.” During the trip, “the president will meet with” bin Salman himself, who Biden's own DNI said oversaw the murder of Khashoggi. The rationale offered by The New York Times for Biden's planned trip was virtually identical to the arguments Trump used in 2018: “the visit represents the triumph of realpolitik over moral outrage, according to foreign policy experts.” ...

What cogent moral argument can be advanced that it is preferable to buy Saudi oil as a means of avoiding the purchase of Russian oil? ... But herein lies the unique truth-providing value of the U.S. partnership with Saudi Arabia. Of course U.S. foreign policy is not devoted to spreading freedom and democracy and fighting despotism and tyranny in the world. How can a country that counts the Saudi monarchs, the Egyptian military junta, the Qatari slave owners, and the Emirati dictators as its closest partners and allies possibly claim with a straight face that it opposes tyranny and fights wars in order to protect democracy? The U.S. does not care, at all, whether a foreign country is ruled by democracy or tyranny. It cares about one question and one question only: whether the government of that country serves or hinders U.S. interests. Donald Trump's sin was admitting this obvious fact. ...

The core deceit about U.S. foreign policy — that it is designed to spread democracy and vanquish tyranny — serves no purpose other than to manipulate the American public, through the government tool known as the U.S. corporate media, to support whatever new wars, obscene spending packages, or authoritarian powers are demanded in its name. And therein lies the real value of the long-standing U.S./Saudi partnership, the reason that Biden's immediate abandonment of his campaign pledge to scorn the Saudis, is so illuminating. For any rational person, watching Joe Biden continue and even escalate the decades-long love affair between Washington and the murderous despots in Riyadh should dispel these myths once and for all and illuminate the reality, the actual motivational scheme, that drives the role that the United States plays in the world, both generally and in Ukraine.

Gas OFFICIALLY At $5/Gallon With No End In Sight

'It's War,' Says Amazon Labor Union After Company Fires Top Organizer

"They fucked with the wrong uncle."

[https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/06/10/its-war-says-amazon-labor-u... That was how Amazon Labor Union (ALU) president Christian Smalls responded Thursday after the e-commerce behemoth's management reportedly fired Pasquale "Uncle Pat" Cioffi, an organizer credited with convincing hundreds of hesitant employees to support the unionization effort at the JFK8 fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York.]

"Amazon fired our beloved Uncle Pat today!" Smalls, a former Amazon employee who was fired after organizing against the company's lax coronavirus safety measures, wrote on social media. "They retaliated against him for organizing ever since our last rally... At our last rally he stated he flipped 500 people and ever since those remarks the company targeted him."

In a Twitter thread late Thursday, ALU noted that Cioffi, a former dockworker who was employed at Amazon for two years, was "instrumental in the JFK8 victory, and is one of our most influential and outspoken supporters."

"He was fired for arguing with a manager about mistreatment of workers," the union wrote. "What they did to Pat is unjustifiable. It's clearly motivated by anti-union animus and they're only going forward because they believe it's more cost-effective to fire him and deal with the backlash than it is to allow to him to continue organizing during our contract campaign."

Warning that "the situation at JFK8 has gotten out of control" due to Amazon's relentless union-busting campaign, ALU said it has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) requesting immediate action to reverse Cioffi's firing, which came a month after Amazon fired two other JFK8 workers who were involved in the union drive.

"It's war," the union declared.

During a press conference in April, Cioffi—who has been described in media reports as a "Trump-supporting Republican"—said he "must have flipped four to five hundred ​'noes' to a ​'yes.'" The union ultimately won its election at JFK8 by just over 500 votes, a historic victory for the U.S. labor movement against one of the most powerful companies in the world.

"Everybody knows me from day shift, any shift, any department. They know who I am because I'm always making that extra effort to help them out in whatever the situation is," Cioffi told In These Times last month. "Amazon didn't make this about the ALU. They made it about Chris Smalls. But this wasn't really about Chris Smalls. This was about the people."

Cioffi was fired just days before an NLRB hearing at which Amazon is set to present evidence as part of its attempt to overturn the JFK8 election results. ALU maintains that Amazon's election objections are bogus and will be rejected by the labor board.

On Thursday, the NLRB denied Amazon's request to bar the public from watching the hearing, which is set to take place on Zoom.

"The board's hearings are not secret," Cornele Overstreet, the NLRB's regional director in Phoenix, said in response to Amazon's demand. "Accordingly, preventing the public from viewing its important processes is not an option."

Critics Say Starbucks CEO Just Declared 'Permanent War' Against Union

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz made it clear Thursday that he does not intend to hold good-faith negotiations with Starbucks Workers United—the union that has won elections at more than 140 coffee shops nationwide since December—potentially exposing the corporation to a fresh legal fight with the National Labor Relations Board.

When asked by Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times if he could ever see himself "embracing the union," Schultz responded tersely: "No."

"The customer experience," the billionaire claimed during a live interview, will be degraded "if a third party is integrated into our business."

As Jordan Zakarin of More Perfect Union reported Friday, Schultz's comment "marks a significant and potentially illegal shift in the company's public statements about its relationship" with Starbucks Workers United.

"Schultz's statement could run afoul of the National Labor Relations Act, which requires a constructive approach from employers when its workers vote to form a union," Zakarin noted. "The law demands that during collective bargaining, employers must 'confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.'" ...

Peter Certo of the Institute for Policy Studies, meanwhile, responded to Schultz's comments by issuing a caustic reminder that "Hillary Clinton was going to make this man her labor secretary."

Harvest of Empire: Juan González on Landmark Book, Immigration & Consequences of U.S. Imperialism



the horse race



Capitol attack panel members urge DoJ to consider criminal charges for Trump

Members of the House committee investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat called on Sunday for the US justice department to consider a criminal indictment for the former president and warned that “the danger is still out there”.

Their comments on the eve of the second of the panel’s televised hearings into the January 6 2021 insurrection and deadly Capitol attack will add further pressure on attorney general Merrick Garland, who has angered some Democrats by so far taking no action despite growing evidence of Trump’s culpability.

“There are certain actions, parts of these different lines of effort to overturn the election, that I don’t see evidence the justice department is investigating,” committee member Adam Schiff, Democratic congressman for California, told ABC’s This Week. “I would like to see the justice department investigate any credible allegation of criminal activity on the part of Donald Trump.”

Krystal Ball: The Left Case AGAINST Jan 6 Commission



the evening greens


Climate crisis is ‘battering our economy’ and driving inflation, new book says

Forget Ukraine, coronavirus, corporate greed and “supply chain issues”, when it comes to inflation the climate crisis is the real, lasting, worry, according to a new book, and one that’s only likely to get worse. Climatenomics, by former White House reporter and director of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) Bob Keefe, is a narrative account of how the climate crisis is fundamentally altering not just the US but global economies.

Within its pages, Keefe lays out what he sees as the false choice between creating jobs and driving economic growth and protecting the planet, and how “supply chain disruptions” has become a euphemism for the effects of climate change. “I don’t think people have realized that climate change is an economic issue now because it’s always been seen as an environmental, health or social issue,” says Keefe. “The fact of the matter is climate change is battering our economy.” ...

According to Keefe, citing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) figures, climate-related weather disasters cost the US economy more than $145bn in 2021 – a nearly 50% increase from last year. Over the last five years, they have cost $750bn. Since 1980 323 weather and climate disasters have cost $1bn or more, the total cost of these events exceeds $2.195tn.

Moreover, according to a report from the reinsurance firm Swiss Re last year, climate disasters could cost the US economy 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) – the broadest measure of economic health – by 2050. Globally, that figure rises to 18%. A 2018 National Climate Assessment (NCA) projects that rising temperatures and extreme heat are projected to decrease worker productivity by $221bn a year by 2090, and climate-related weather disasters are projected to cost the US $500bn a year.

Cocktail of chemical pollutants linked to falling sperm quality in research

A cocktail of chemical pollutants measured in people’s bodies has been linked to falling semen quality by new research. Chemicals such as bisphenols and dioxins are thought to interfere with hormones and damage sperm quality, and the study found combinations of these compounds are present at “astonishing” levels, up to 100 times those considered safe.

Bisphenol A (BPA) was responsible for the highest risks, the scientists said. The chemical is found in milk and tinned food as it leaches from the linings of the packaging. The key steps for healthy male sexual development occur during pregnancy, making the study results particularly relevant for expectant mothers, the researchers said.

Sperm counts and concentration had undergone an alarming decline in western countries for decades, the scientists said, with sperm counts halving in the last 40 years. Other male sexual disorders such as penis malformation, breast cancer and undescended testes have been increasing. Hormone-disrupting chemicals are a prime suspect and the study sheds new light on the potential for chemical cocktails to cause harm.

The study team, led by Prof Andreas Kortenkamp, at Brunel University London, said they “were astonished by the magnitude of the hazard index”, the measure of risk from the chemical cocktails. The team were also surprised that BPA was the most worrying chemical, as previous work had focused on phthalates, which are used in plastics.


Also of Interest

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

Ralph Nader: Is There Any Hope Left for Democracy?

Ukraine Bits: No Ammo, More Casualties, Thin Lines, Propaganda And Passing The Buck

Iranian press review: Iran-Turkey clashes in Syria 'highly likely', says ex-diplomat

Turkey plays its strong hand as it prepares incursion into Syria

Biden Faces Backlash at Summit of Americas for Excluding Countries

The Modern-Day Captains Of Industry Linked To The Nazis

US Taxpayers Spent Billions Inflating CEO Pay

The race against time to breed a wheat to survive the climate crisis

Britain to defy EU with 'relatively trivial' N.Ireland law

Ukraine Court BANS Main Opposition Party


A Little Night Music

Alberta Hunter - Darktown Strutters' Ball

Alberta Hunter - Someone Else Will Take Your Place

Alberta Hunter - Sweet Georgia Brown

Alberta Hunter - My Castle's Rockin'

Alberta Hunter - You Gotta Reap What You Sow

Alberta Hunter And Lovie Austin - Downhearted Blues

Alberta Hunter With Lovie Austin & Her Blues Serenaders - Saint Louis Blues

Alberta Hunter - I've Had Enough (Alberta's Blues)

Alberta Hunter - Gimme All The Love You Got


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15 users have voted.

Comments

snoopydawg's picture

Dumber than a box of rocks.

Boy he nailed it didn’t he? I wonder how people in Europe feel about their leaders making their lives hell just so American businesses can stick it to Putin?

Seems Trump was very clairvoyant.

Might as well end on a happy note. I bet Putin had a hand in creating it. Smile

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11 users have voted.

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

if you can’t trust the country’s government, why trust it’s money?

how else would you purchase the country's government officers?

heh, somebody ought to tell that guy from the eu that it's far worse than becoming the non-voting 51st state. if the eurocrats don't figure this thing out soon, they are going to be swirling the bowl.

thanks for the giant xylophone video. Smile

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9 users have voted.
CB's picture

and only his VP #KamalaHarris is hated more.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjHI4hk-fCU]

"We Trained Nazis" - Former US Marine Corp Intelligence Officer, Scott Ritter

"The first troops to be trained by US and British soldiers were the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion"
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWcGTRHqONI]

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14 users have voted.
joe shikspack's picture

@CB

thanks for the galloway videos! i always enjoy his take on things.

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7 users have voted.
CB's picture

ggersh's picture

well not much else will....we will own nothing and be happy. They, the Davos Man
has their plan going on steroids.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheBern/

With the markit crashing will we hear of another bank bailout soon or will
they just be happy that we own nothing and the herd is being culled?

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9 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

joe shikspack's picture

@ggersh

well, it looks like mr market is unhappy, so it's likely that a bunch of rich people are going to get bailed out and an unspecified (probably) number of little people will face extreme economic duress unaided by the government which only cares about the donor class.

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7 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

@ggersh

Not only the huge transfer of money at the beginning of Covid, but they’ve getting billions every month since September 2019. They used the money to buy back their stock. Today we found out that no inspections by the FDA happened since 2020. No wonder they missed the crap that got in baby food and ya have to wonder what else they have missed? But it’s not like they would have been told to invest some money in their business and clean it up. Remember all the slap on the wrist mining companies got before their mines collapsed and we found out that they had over 200 violations, but were never shut down until they were fixed? It’s a big effing club and you know that thing!

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10 users have voted.

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

snoopydawg's picture

@ggersh

up
4 users have voted.

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

ggersh's picture

@snoopydawg But not totally safe...sigh

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp6VkCyKZ5g&t=2s]

up
2 users have voted.

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Lookout's picture

Thanks for the excellent round up of news and blues. Been a scorcher here...first really hot day of summer...and wouldn't you know it I've got a carpentry crew here redoing a deck. We got the old deck off, bad joist and such replaced, and a few pieces of decking on already. Should wrap it up tomorrow, but projects for the aging are a challenge. It is a good tired tonight.

Hope all is well with all of you! (cause the world has gone to hell)

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9 users have voted.

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

joe shikspack's picture

@Lookout

glad to hear that your project is going well despite the weather's attempt to fricassee you and your helpers. it's warming up again here, too and the humidity was pretty nasty today.

have a good evening!

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5 users have voted.
snoopydawg's picture

as does roasting in hell Albright and McCain.

https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/04/26/bill-clinton-makes-a-patheti...

Typical American propaganda. Saying it was a defensive move whilst planning on stealing Russia’s oil and other resources. Not a lick of difference between the 2 parties, but y’all know that.

This is good essay on the Russia conflict and where it’s going. I haven’t read this author before and I like his writing.

https://www.lauriemeadows.info/conflict_security/Treaties_of%20_Settleme...

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joe shikspack's picture

@snoopydawg

i'll stick it in tomorrow's posts of interest section in hope that it will get more eyeballs.

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snoopydawg's picture

@joe shikspack

America has reached the outer limits of it's malignancy. One step further is destruction. It is being shown to it's place. And that is not at the head of the table.

"Let me assure you, dear friends, that we are objectively assessing our potentialities: our intellectual, territorial, economic and military potential.
I am referring to our current options, our overall potential.
Consolidating this country and looking at what is happening in the world, in other countries I would like to tell those who are still waiting for Russia’s strength to gradually wane, the only thing we are worried about is catching a cold at your funeral."

Vladimir Putin 22 October 2020

Wowzer that’s in your face isn’t it?

This could have been avoided so easily and yet Biden thought he could actually destroy Russia. Instead he’s brought the whole effing world pain and misery. Caitlin is right. Just for this Biden will go down in history as one of the worst presidents America ever coughed up.

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dystopian's picture

Hi all, Hey Joe, Hope it's all good out there!

That Alberta was sure an interesting lady. What a life. Great singer.

From the Green Blues above... So we have chemicals in what we consume that are decreasing fertility which if allowed to continue at the current pace will mean eventual extinction of our species, sooner rather than later. And yet, the short-term profits are too irresistible to entertain any thoughts that we maybe should not be doing this if we want people to sell things to? Capitalism at its best. Money worship above all else, including logic and reason. But at least there are no pesky regulations! It is astonishing to me that sellers do not have to prove the safety of what they put in people. I have to finance the studies that prove it is not safe.

Thanks for the great sounds!

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We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

joe shikspack's picture

@dystopian

yep, capitalism certainly seems to have a lot of irons in the fire to destroy humanity. i guess sooner or later one of them will take us down because we don't seem able to rid ourselves of the menace that plagues us.

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CB's picture

struck a Ukrainian city in retaliation for the continuing strikes against Donetsk that have killed 3 and wounded 18 civilians today.

UN Says Reports of Ukrainian Attack on Donetsk Maternity Hospital ‘Extremely Troubling’
"We’ve seen the media reports about a maternity hospital in Donetsk. This is extremely troubling. Any attack on civilian infrastructure, especially health facilities, is a clear violation of international law," Dujarric said on Monday.

This is a major escalation but Putin had warned the Ukrainians what would happen if they continued targeting Russian civilians in Donetsk - especially Russian mothers.

The retaliatory strike did not have to wait long (Watch)

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CB's picture

@CB

Ukraine has 'crossed all lines' – DPR
DPR has requested additional forces from Russia following heavy shelling of Donetsk's residential areas by Ukrainian troops

The Donetsk Peoples’ Republic (DPR) is requesting additional “allied forces” to help in its fight against Ukrainian forces, its head, Denis Pushilin, outlined on Monday in a video address. The move comes amid reported heavy artillery shelling by Kiev of residential areas in Donetsk and other locations across the republic.

“The enemy has literally crossed all lines. Prohibited methods of warfare are being used. The residential areas and the central districts of the city of Donetsk are under artillery shelling, other cities and towns of the DPR are also under fire,” Pushilin stated.

Therefore, the republic is requesting Russia to deploy additional forces to help in the ongoing conflict, the official stated. “An understanding was reached that all the necessary additional forces of the allied troops, primarily of Russia, will be deployed,” he said.
...

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snoopydawg's picture

@CB

by continuing to target civilians there. Of course they are cowards that then hide among the civilians so that Russia can’t target them.

Did you see the link I posted up thread on what Russia is doing? Pretty good read. MoA has a good thread tonight too. Looks like the people who said that they would fight till the last Ukrainians are changing their tune. Good. I also read that Ukraine is drafting women up to the age of 60 to fight against Russia. Let’s see the shitlibs hurrah over women being drafted. It’s just throwing cannon fodder for nothing. How many more people must die for NATO?

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CB's picture

@CB
report that Putin has actually responded with massive strike...

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janis b's picture

So is that why Ukraine and its backers keep promoting more war? I think it's time to unplug the main stream media.

From your post …

Ukraine fears western support will fade as media loses interest in the war
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/12/ukraine-fears-western-supp...

The Henry Miller quote is more relevant than ever. People have to unplug once in a while as well.

I've Had Enough - Alberta Hunter

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Lookout's picture

@janis b

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3pnFR7DeZA]

...and money makes the world go around.

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

janis b's picture

@Lookout

Is that what most msm is promoting to the american public as a solution? Are people really buying it? From your personal experience, is that what the majority supports?

As disturbing as the video is, thank you for it.

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