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

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Chicago blues harmonica player Mojo Buford. Enjoy!

^{Mo-Jo Buford - Whole Lotta Woman}

"The hegemony of finance and the banks has produced the indebted. Control over information and communication networks has created the mediatized. The security regime and the generalized state of exception have constructed a figure prey to fear and yearning for protection—the securitized. And the corruption of democracy has forged a strange, depoliticized figure, the represented. These subjective figures constitute the social terrain on which—and against which—movements of resistance and rebellion must act."

-- Michael Hardt

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News and Opinion

The Time Has Arrived for a Comprehensive Middle East Peace

The attack by Israel and the U.S. on Iran had two significant effects. First, it once again exposed the root cause of turmoil in the region: Israel’s project to “reshape the Middle East” through regime change, aimed at maintaining its dominance and blocking a Palestinian state. Second, it highlighted the futility and recklessness of this strategy. The only path to peace is a comprehensive agreement that addresses Palestine’s statehood, Israel’s security, Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, and the economic recovery of the region.

Israel wants to topple the Iranian government because Iran has supported proxies and non-state actors aligned with the Palestinians. Israel has also consistently undermined U.S.-Iran diplomacy regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

Instead of endless wars, Israel’s security can be ensured by two key diplomatic steps—ending militancy by establishing a Palestinian state with United Nations Security Council guarantees, and lifting sanctions on Iran in exchange for a peaceful and verifiable nuclear program.

The far-right Israeli government’s refusal to accept a Palestinian state is the root of the problem.

When the British empire promised a Jewish homeland in Mandatory Palestine in 1917, the Palestinian Arabs constituted 90% of the population and Jews less than 10% of the population. In 1947, with intense U.S. lobbying, the U.N. General Assembly voted to grant 56% of Palestine to a new Zionist state, while the Jews were only 33% of the population. Palestinians rejected this as a violation of their right to self-determination. After the 1948 war, Israel expanded to 78% of Palestine, and in 1967, occupied the remaining 22%—Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.

Instead of returning occupied lands in exchange for peace, Israeli right-wing politicians insisted on permanent control of 100% of the land, with the Likud founding charter declaring in 1977 that there would be only Israeli sovereignty “between the Sea and Jordan.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu represents this policy of domination—and has served as prime minister for a total of 17 years since 1996. When he came to power, he and his U.S. neocon allies authored the “Clean Break” strategy to block the creation of a Palestinian state. Instead of pursuing land for peace, Israel aimed to reshape the Middle East by overthrowing governments that supported the Palestinian cause. The U.S. would be the implementing partner of this strategy.

This is exactly what happened after 9/11, as the U.S. led or sponsored wars against Iraq (invasion in 2003), Lebanon (U.S. funding and arming Israeli aggressions), Libya (NATO bombing in 2011), Syria (CIA operation during 2010’s), Sudan (supporting rebels to break Sudan apart in 2011), and Somalia (backing Ethiopia’s invasion in 2006).

Contrary to the glib promises by Netanyahu to the U.S. Congress in 2002—that regime change in Iraq would bring a new day to the Middle East—the 2003 Iraq War augured the events that were to come across the region. Iraq descended into turmoil, and since then, each new war has brought death, destruction, and economic disarray.

This month, Israel attacked Iran even as negotiations between Iran and the U.S. were underway to ensure the peaceful use of Iran’s nuclear program—repeating the same WMD propaganda that Netanyahu used to justify the Iraq War.

Israel has been claiming for more than 30 years that Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. However, on June 18, 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general stated that there is “no proof of a systematic effort” by Iran to develop nuclear weapons. More to the point, Iran and the U.S. were actively engaged in negotiations according to which the IAEA would monitor and verify the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.

The attack on Iran proves yet again the futility and nihilism of Netanyahu’s approach. The Israeli and U.S. attacks accomplished nothing positive. According to most analysts, Iran’s enriched uranium remains intact, but is now in a secret location rather than under IAEA monitoring. In the meantime, with Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, neither peace nor security have been achieved.

Israel has driven the region to a 4,000-kilometer swash of violence from Libya to Iran through its reckless, lawless, and warmongering actions, all ultimately aimed at preventing a State of Palestine by “remaking” the Middle East.

The solution is clear: It is time for the United States to recognize that its own strategic interests require a decisive break from partnering in Israel’s destructive strategy.

Prioritizing genuine peace in the Middle East is not only a moral imperative, but a fundamental U.S. interest—one that can only be achieved through a comprehensive peace deal. The key pillar of this deal is for the U.S. to lift its veto on a Palestinian State on the borders of June 4, 1967, and to do so at the start, not in some vague distant future that never actually arrives.

For more than 20 years, Arab nations have backed a practical peace plan. So too has the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), with its 57 member countries, and the League of Arab States (LAS), with its 22 members. So too have almost all the nations in the U.N. General Assembly. So too has the International Court of Justice in its 2024 ruling that Israel’s occupation is illegal. Only Israel, with support from the U.S. veto, has stood in the way.

Here is a seven-point peace plan in which all parties would benefit. Israel would gain peace and security. Palestine would achieve statehood. Iran would win an end to economic sanctions. The U.S. would win an end to costly and illegal wars fought on Israel’s behalf, as well as the risks of nuclear proliferation if the current violence continues. The Middle East would win economic development, security, and justice.

First, an immediate cease-fire would apply across the entire region—and the cease-fire would include an immediate release of all hostages and prisoners.

Second, the U.N. Security Council would vote upfront to welcome Palestine as the 194th U.N. Member State on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel and Palestine could subsequently agree on mutually desired border adjustments.

Third, Israel would withdraw from all territories occupied since 1967. U.N.-mandated international forces would ensure a peaceful, orderly transition; a transfer of Palestinian territories to Palestinian authorities; and mutual security for both Israel and Palestine.

Fourth, the territorial integrity and sovereignty would be guaranteed for Lebanon, Syria, and all states in the region. All non-state armed groups would be demilitarized, and foreign troops would be withdrawn.

Fifth, the U.N. Security Council would adopt an updated nuclear agreement with Iran, including binding verification, and with all economic sanctions on Iran lifted alongside Iran’s verified compliance with the peaceful uses of its nuclear program.

Sixth, Israel and all Arab and Islamic states would establish full diplomatic relations following the admission of the State of Palestine as a U.N. member state.

Seventh, the Middle East nations would establish an international fund for rebuilding the war-torn parts of Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, with contributions coming from within the region and from external sources.

"Worst Thing I've Ever Seen": U.S. Surgeon Describes Mass Starvation, Injury and Death in Gaza

Israel launches waves of Gaza airstrikes after new displacement orders

Israel ramped up its offensive in Gaza on Monday, with new displacement orders sending tens of thousands of people fleeing the north of the devastated territory and waves of airstrikes killing about 60 Palestinians, according to local officials and medical staff. The violence in Gaza came as a senior adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was due to arrive in Washington for talks on a new ceasefire, a day after Donald Trump called in a social media post for a deal to end the 20-month war and free 50 hostages held by Hamas.

Ron Dermer, the strategic affairs minister and a close confidant of Netanyahu, is expected to meet senior US officials to discuss ongoing indirect negotiations with Hamas, the aftermath of Israel’s war against Iran and the possibility of regional diplomatic deals.

An Israeli government spokesperson told reporters on Monday that Netanyahu was working to end the war in Gaza “as soon as possible” through the release of the hostages, of whom more than half are thought to be dead, and the defeat of Hamas. A US official said Netanyahu would travel to the US on 7 July to meet Donald Trump.

The new “evacuation orders” warned of impending assaults around densely populated Gaza City and told Palestinians to head south to overcrowded coastal zones, where there are few facilities and limited water. About 80% of Gaza is now covered by such orders or controlled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The orders also said that the IDF planned to advance into the centre of Gaza City to fight Hamas militants based there.

On Monday, Israeli tanks and infantry pushed into the Zeitoun neighbourhood on the eastern edge of Gaza City and shelled several areas in the north, while aircraft bombed at least four schools after ordering hundreds of families sheltering inside to leave, residents said. “Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes,” said Salah, 60, from Gaza City. “In the news we hear a ceasefire is near; on the ground we see death and we hear explosions.” In the afternoon, an airstrike hit a crowded cafe on the shore in Gaza City, killing at least 22 people, including women, children and a local journalist.

COL. Douglas Macgregor : Where Will Trump’s Bombing Failure Lead?

Opioid pills discovered in US-backed food aid, Gaza authorities say

The Gaza government media office on Friday condemned the discovery of oxycodone pills reportedly discovered in flour bags distributed by “American-Israeli” aid centres. “We have so far documented four testimonies from citizens who found these pills inside the flour bags,” it said in a statement, warning of the “possibility that some of these narcotic substances were deliberately ground or dissolved in the flour itself”.

Oxycodone is an opioid meant to treat severe and long-term pain, often prescribed to cancer patients. The drug is highly addictive and can have life-threatening effects, including breathing complications and hallucinations. The media office’s statement comes after several social media posts shared images of pills purportedly discovered in flour bags in Gaza.

Palestinian pharmacist Omar Hamad described the discovery of the pills as “the most despicable form of genocide”. Khalil Mazen Abu Nada, a Palestinian doctor in Gaza, also posted about the drug on Facebook, describing it as a “means to obliterate our societal awareness”.

The Gaza government media office said it held Israel “fully responsible for this heinous crime of spreading addiction and destroying the Palestinian social fabric from within”. The office also decried the Israeli military’s “exploitation of the blockade to smuggle these substances as ‘aid and assistance’”, describing the Israeli and American-operated aid centres as “death traps”.

Revealing OUTRAGE Over "Death to the IDF" Chant

Glastonbury’s defiant stand for Palestine and the radicalisation of the working class and youth

There are events which burst through the crust of official politics and media-managed opinion and let popular sentiment erupt to the surface. Saturday afternoon at the UK’s Glastonbury music festival was one of those. The days leading up to it were filled with demands from columnists and politicians for Irish-language rap trio Kneecap to be struck from the lineup of the world’s largest greenfield music and arts festival, with a 210,000 capacity.

This reached its peak with Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer telling The Sun they should not be allowed to perform. The caretakers of bourgeois public opinion were worried that the band’s pro-Palestinian stand—for which member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (stage name Mo Chara) has been hit with trumped-up terror charges—would find massive popular support. In the end, it was even worse for them than they feared.

BBC producers made the cowardly decision not to show Kneecap’s performance live. Instead, they cut to London punk duo Bob Vylan, who promptly led chants of “Free, free Palestine!” and “Death, death to the IDF!” An audience of mainly young people which has watched with disgust and fury as Israel’s armed forces have waged a criminal war of occupation and genocide responded in their thousands. Vylan dedicated the set to people “losing their platform to speak up for the Palestinian people and speak against the crimes that Israel and the UK and the US and much of the Western world are complicit in”.

An hour later, Amy Taylor from Australian group Amyl and the Sniffers told the crowd, “I’m thinking about the people in Palestine” and denounced the Labour governments in Australia and the UK for “doing jack shit.” The day before, Irish pop singer CMAT concluded with a chant of “Free, free Palestine!” Elijah Hewson of the Dublin band Inhaler dedicated a song to “the people of Palestine, to any innocent people being starved or bombed, or genocided for the sake of some lunatics.” Jordan Stephens, of Rizzle Kicks, invited his mother on stage wearing a keffiyeh and waving a Palestinian flag.

In every case, the response from the crowd was enormous. ... The fierce, uncompromising anti-imperialist and anti-Labour sentiment on show at Glastonbury will not be satisfied by the reformist niceties, polite appeals and turn-the-other-cheek pacifism of Corbyn. There was another roar from the crowd when Mo Chara promised everyone would “remember” the people “who did fuck all, and so will history.” Nor will that sentiment be cowed by Starmer. The Labour government is in crisis, lashing out with one police-state attack after another, and inviting a larger popular counterblow each time. ... It is being made ever more obvious that the Starmer government and its international counterparts are intent on proscribing opinions held by the majority of the population and that it is they who are desperately isolated.

Iran-Israel round 2; Diplomacy and war preparations

Top Iranian General Doubts Israel Will Uphold Ceasefire

Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, expressed doubt on Sunday that Israel will uphold the ceasefire that was reached last week after 12 days of an Israeli-initiated war.

Mousavi, who replaced former Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri after he was killed by an Israeli airstrike on June 13, made the comments in a phone call with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman.

“We did not initiate the war, but we responded to the aggressor with all our might, and since we have real doubts about the enemy’s adherence to its commitments, including the ceasefire, we are prepared to give it a strong response if it repeats the aggression,” Mousavi said, according to Iran’s PressTV.

Mousavi’s comments come after Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened that Israel could strike Iran despite the ceasefire. Katz said he instructed the IDF to come up with an “enforcement plan” aimed at “maintaining Israel’s air superiority, preventing nuclear advancement and missile production, and responses to Iran for supporting terrorist activities” against Israel.

Iran Says NO As US Seeks Nuclear Talks Restart, Demands Guarantees; West Alarmed By Russian Advance

Trust in UN’s nuclear watchdog is broken, Iranian president says

Trust in the UN nuclear inspectorate is broken inside Iran, the country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has told Emmanuel Macron, as European nations issued a statement in defence of its head. The two men spoke as Iranian officials said the total number of Iranian deaths during the 12-day air war with Israel and the US had risen to 935 people, including 38 children and 132 women.

Pezeshkian criticised Rafael Grossi, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general, in the call, according to an Iranian account, saying he had not condemned the Israeli and US attacks even though they had been in flagrant breach of the UN charter and the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). His language was more constrained than others in Iran, where the conservative newspaper Kayhan said if Grossi came to the country he should be put on trial and sentenced to death for links to the Israeli spy agency the Mossad.

A joint statement on Monday from the UK, France and Germany said they condemned threats against Grossi “and reiterate our full support to the agency and [Grossi] in carrying out their mandate”, calling on Iran to cooperate with it. “We call on Iranian authorities to refrain from any steps to cease cooperation with the IAEA. We urge Iran to immediately resume full cooperation in line with its legally binding obligations, and to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of IAEA personnel,” it said.

But the sense in Iran of western double standards is fuelling a deep feeling of grievance, as well as a refusal to give the IAEA access to make an independent assessment of the damage to Iran’s nuclear sites, leaving such assessments to highly politicised reports emerging from the US.

According to the Iranian account of the Sunday evening call, Pezeshkian told the French president: “What guarantee is there that our facilities won’t be attacked again, even if we cooperate?” He also questioned why Israel, which is not a member of the NPT, had been allowed to become a source of evidence for IAEA reports.

Scott Ritter: Everything Has Changed: Trump Now Faces a New World with Iran and Russia!

Chile communist Jeannette Jara to lead beleaguered ruling coalition at election

The Chilean communist Jeannette Jara, the country’s former labor minister, has won the primary election for leftwing parties with surprising ease, beating out a more moderate rival to clinch over 60% of the vote. The decisive upset makes Jara, 51, the candidate representing Chile’s beleaguered incumbent government in November elections, set to face off against center-right and far-right contenders who have surged in the polls. Because of term limits, the current leftist president, Gabriel Boric, 39, cannot run for a second consecutive term.

Jara, a lawyer and member of Chile’s Communist party who was Boric’s labor minister before resigning to run for president, secured 60.5% of the vote. The runner-up who had been considered a favorite – the former interior minister Carolina Toha from the traditional Democratic Socialist party – took 27.7%. ...

Although Jara’s landslide win represents the rise of hardliners within Boric’s coalition, analysts have described Jara as less dogmatic and more diplomatic than some of her communist peers. As labor minister, she earned praise for a program that increased minimum wage and reduced the working week to 40 hours. ...

But Jara faces a tough climb to the top job. Recent opinion polls show the leftwing government declining in popularity at a moment of sluggish economic growth and rising fears over organized crime and migration in what has long been regarded as one of the region’s most stable and prosperous democracies.

Trump officials create searchable national citizenship database

The US Department of Homeland Security has for the first time built a national citizenship database that combines information from immigration agencies and the social security administration. The database was created in collaboration with the “department of government efficiency” (Doge) in an effort to bridge the gaps between disparate information sources to make it easier to determine whether someone is a citizen, according to NPR, which first reported the details of the database.

The database is the result of an expansion of the systematic alien verification for entitlements (Save) program, made up of smaller databases within the homeland security department, and an integration with information from the Social Security Administration. The centralized repository is searchable and can be accessed by state and local election officials to look up the names of anyone trying to vote to determine if they are citizens, according to NPR. Until now, election officials had to ask potential voters for documents verifying their citizenship or rely on a hard-to-navigate patchwork of databases.

In response to a request for comment, the DHS said: “Integration with the Social Security Administration (SSA) significantly improves the service offered by Save.” Previously, agencies involved in voting were required to use numbers issued by the DHS to look up voter registrations, which they may not have had access to but may have been more likely to possess social security numbers, according to the statement. The citizenship database may also soon integrate state department of motor vehicles (DMV) data, NPR reported.

The DHS statement also describes the motivations for the creation of the database: “Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, USCIS is moving quickly to eliminate benefit and voter fraud among the alien population.” Voter fraud is rare in the US, experts say; consequences include fines or jail time.

Trump’s justice department issues directive to strip naturalized Americans of citizenship for criminal offenses

The Trump administration has codified its efforts to strip some Americans of their US citizenship in a recently published justice department memo that directs attorneys to prioritize denaturalization for naturalized citizens who commit certain crimes.

The memo, published on 11 June, calls on attorneys in the department to institute civil proceedings to revoke a person’s United States citizenship if an individual either “illegally procured” naturalization or procured naturalization by “concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation”.

At the center of the move are the estimated 25 million US citizens who immigrated to the country after being born abroad, according to data from 2023 – and it lists 10 different priority categories for denaturalization. According to the memo, those subjected to civil proceedings are not entitled to an attorney like they are in criminal cases. And the government has a lighter burden of proof in civil cases than they do in criminal ones.

The memo claims such efforts will focus on those who are involved “in the commission of war crimes, extrajudicial killings, or other serious human rights abuses … [and] naturalized criminals, gang members, or, indeed, any individuals convicted of crimes who pose an ongoing threat to the US”.

The directive gives justice department attorneys wider discretion on when to pursue denaturalization, including in instances of lying on immigration forms, cases where there is financial fraud or medical fraud against the US or against private individuals; and cases referred by a US attorney’s office or in connection with pending criminal charges.

US Senate Republicans make final push to pass Trump’s one big beautiful bill

US Senate Republicans will on Monday make a final push for passage of Donald Trump’s one big, beautiful bill, a massive tax-and-spending bill that the president has demanded be ready for his signature by Friday.

Senators convened at the Capitol for a process known as “vote-a-rama”, in which lawmakers will propose amendments to the legislation over what is expected to be many hours. Democrats, who universally oppose the bill, are expected to use the process to force the GOP into politically tricky votes that they will seek to wield against them in elections to come.

But all eyes will be on Republicans, who will use the process to make last-minute changes to the text ahead of a vote for passage that could come on Tuesday, after which it will return to the House of Representatives for their final say-so. On Saturday, Senate Republicans agreed to begin debate on the act, but not without substantial drama. After the North Carolina moderate Thom Tillis declined to vote for the bill, Trump attacked him and the senator announced he would not stand for re-election next year, potentially improving Democrats’ chances of picking up the purple state’s seat.

As the marathon session kicked off on Monday morning, John Thune sounded optimistic that the measure would soon clear his chamber. “Let’s vote. This is good for America, this is good for the American people, it is good for working families,” the Senate majority leader said.

Democrats managed to slow down the bill’s progress temporarily on Saturday night, by demanding the clerk read its entire 940-page text before amendments could be considered – a process that took until Sunday afternoon.

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Democrats Are PANICKING Over Mamdani's Win (w/ David Sirota)

Tucker, MTG Seem Very Confused About Zohran Mamdani

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EPA employees sign ‘declaration of dissent’ over agency moves under Trump

A group of Environmental Protection Agency employees on Monday published a declaration of dissent from the agency’s policies under the Trump administration, saying they “undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment”.

More than 170 EPA employees put their names to the document, with about 100 more signing anonymously out of fear of retaliation, according to Jeremy Berg, a former editor-in-chief of Science magazine who is not an EPA employee but was among non-EPA scientists or academics to also sign. The latter figure includes 20 Nobel laureates.

The letter represents rare public criticism from agency employees who could face blowback for speaking out against a weakening of funding and federal support for climate, environmental and health science. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health made a similar move earlier in June.

“Since the Agency’s founding in 1970, EPA has accomplished [its] mission by leveraging science, funding, and expert staff in service to the American people. Today, we stand together in dissent against the current administration’s focus on harmful deregulation, mischaracterization of previous EPA actions, and disregard for scientific expertise,” the letter read.

Trump delays plan to cut satellite data access crucial to hurricane forecasting

The Trump administration on Monday announced a delay of one month to a plan to cut forecasters out of an atmospheric satellite data collection program that is seen as crucial for hurricane forecasting. There has been alarm among scientists about the plan to cut access to the data after it emerged last week in a public notice sent by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Some scientists had warned the sudden loss of access to the data for Noaa and Nasa experts could set hurricane forecasting “back decades”.

Monday’s delay in the program’s abrupt termination comes after an apparent intervention by a top Nasa official – a sign that the Trump administration’s stance towards science may be receiving meaningful internal pushback. The data is collected and processed by US Department of Defense satellites and had been due to be suspended on Monday. It has been unclear why the decision had been made to cut forecasters out, though media reports had suggested it was driven by concerns about cybersecurity, and the new notice on Monday by Noaa describes steps as being taken to “mitigate a significant cybersecurity risk”.

Noaa had insisted last week that the changes would not affect the quality of forecasting and had previously not said anything publicly about cybersecurity.

Scientists use the data for a myriad of key weather and climate purposes, including monitoring the rapidly changing evolution of hurricanes, wildfires and sea ice. Should the satellite program end on 31 July, it would still be unavailable to forecasters during the peak months of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, which runs until 30 November.

Climate Scientist Michael Mann on Deadly Heat Domes Around the World

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Also of Interest

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

Jonathan Cook: Attacking a Chant, Aiding a Genocide

Britain’s Authoritarian Ban on Palestine Action

Craig Murray: Hedge Fund Owns ‘RAF Planes’ Targeted by Palestine Action

The Biden Hawk Behind Trump’s Iran War

NYT - Guessing About Iran With 'Experts' Who Lack Knowledge Of It

Unable to Reinvent Itself, Dems Can’t Capitalize on Trump’s Missteps

Biden National Security Adviser Among Those Crafting 'Project 2029' Policy Agenda for Democrats

DEPORT ELON? Trump GOES NUCLEAR Over ‘Big Beautiful Bill’

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A Little Night Music

Mojo Buford - Knockin' On My Door

George Mojo Buford with Cool Disposition - Everything Going To Be Alright

Mojo Buford - Honey Bee

Mojo Buford - Devil's Love Sin

Mojo Buford - Slim & Trim Mama

Mojo Buford - Picking Rags

Mojo Buford - Don't Go No Farther

Mojo Buford - Rollin' and Tumblin'

George 'Mojo' Buford - Mo's Boogie

Mojo Buford - Shake It For Me

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