The Evening Blues - 7-10-19
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features early jazz piano player and composer Jelly Roll Morton. Enjoy!
Jelly Roll Morton ?– Buddy Bolden's Blues
"The mythology of the Reagan presidency is that he induced the collapse of the Soviet Union by luring it into unsustainable military spending and wars: should there come a point when we think about applying that lesson to ourselves?"
-- Glenn Greenwald
News and Opinion
White House threatens to veto $733B defense policy bill
The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto a massive defense policy bill being considered by the House this week. The top concern cited by the White House in a statement was the bill’s $733 billion value, which is $17 billion less than the White House requested for fiscal 2020. If the House version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) “were presented to the president in its current form, his advisors would recommend that he veto it,” the statement of administration policy said.
“While the administration appreciates the House Armed Services Committee’s (Committee) investments in key national security priorities and its support for the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families, H.R. 2500 includes a number of provisions that raise deep concerns,” the statement added. ...
This year, several provisions in the House bill seek to restrict President Trump’s ability to transfer money from the Pentagon to build his proposed border wall, as well as limit his ability to send troops to the border. Tuesday’s 10-page statement said the administration “strongly objects” to the border-related provisions. The NDAA would also block the deployment of a new submarine-launched low-yield nuclear warhead, another provision the White House “strongly objects” to. ...
The bill would also prohibit new transfers into the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. While the Trump administration has not sent any new detainees to the facility, the White House argued the provision would force the Pentagon to “conduct long-term detention of such detainees in-theater or in the continental United States, repatriate them to third countries, or release detainees.”
"The UAE don't want to be associated with the Yemen humanitarian crisis"
Yemen: UAE confirms withdrawal from port city of Hodeidah
The United Arab Emirates has announced a “strategic redeployment” from the port city of Hodeidah in Yemen, as well as a more limited tactical retreat elsewhere in the country – marking a significant moment in Yemen’s four-year civil war. UAE officials said the move, under discussion for as long as a year, was designed to support a United Nations-led peace process that began in Stockholm last December. It was the first official UAE confirmation of a withdrawal, which has been reported in recent weeks by witnesses and foreign officials.
The officials said the UAE would remain in the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in 2015 to try to restore the Yemeni government ousted from power by the Houthis, a rebel group backed by Iran. Oversight would be passed to Emirati-trained local Yemeni forces and foreign mercenaries, and UAE forces remaining in Yemen would focus on counter-terrorism efforts against al-Qaida and Islamic State rather than the battle against the Houthis. The UAE would also continue to support a secessionist movement in southern Yemen.
Analysts have warned it is not yet clear whether local troops and Saudi coalition partners are up to the task of filling the vacuum, sparking fears that the current stalemate in much of the country could be upended. The UAE drawdown also weakens Saudi Arabia’s military capabilities in Yemen, adding to pressure for Riyadh to proactively pursue a political rather than military solution to the war.
US Violates Nuclear Non-Proliferation Obligations, Undermining Credibility With Iran and N. Korea
US Wants Military Coalition to Guard Waters Off Iran, Yemen
Floated weeks ago as an idea that didn’t get a lot of traction, the US
is once again pushing the idea of a military coalition that would commit ships to guarding the waters off the coasts of Iran and Yemen to protect traffic.President Trump has been very keen to see other countries commit to the operation, arguing that the US should not be responsible for defending other nations’ ships in the area, through which a lot of oil traffic flows.
While the US hypes the threat posed by Iran, many others don’t see this as anywhere that big of an issue, and so far none of these nations are interested in committing their navies to defend the area.
Egypt detains Iran oil tanker
Egyptian authorities detained a Ukrainian tanker carrying Iranian oil as it passed through the Suez Canal ten days ago, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed has reported.
US Upgrades Ukrainian Ports To Fit American Warships
As tensions rise between Russia and Ukraine on the Black Sea, the US is upgrading several Ukrainian naval bases to give American and NATO warships the ability to dock just miles from Russia-controlled Crimea.
Centered at the Ochakiv Naval Base and the military facility at Mykolaiv — 40 miles east of Odessa and less than 100 northwest of Crimea — the American-funded effort includes reinforcing and upgrading existing piers and adding a new floating dock, security fencing around the bases, ship repair facilities, and a pair of brand-new Maritime Operations Centers from which Ukrainian and NATO forces can direct exercises and coordinate activities.
The upgrades come after last November’s incident where Russian warships fired on and seized three Ukrainian navy vessels in the Kerch Strait between Russia and Ukraine. Russia is still holding the crews.
The new American effort in Ukraine will likely rankle Moscow.
Mosul: A city still in ruins, two years after liberation
Amazon and Microsoft battle for $10bn 'war cloud' contract with Pentagon
Amazon and Microsoft are battling it out over a $10bn opportunity to build the US military its first “war cloud” computing system. But Amazon’s early hopes of a shock-and-awe victory may be slipping away.
Formally called the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure plan, or Jedi, the military’s computing project would store and process vast amounts of classified data, allowing the Pentagon to use artificial intelligence to speed up its war planning and fighting capabilities. The defense department hopes to award the winner-take-all contract as soon as August. Oracle and IBM were eliminated at an earlier round of the contract competition.
But that’s only if the project isn’t derailed first. It faces a legal challenge by Oracle and growing congressional concerns about alleged Pentagon favoritism toward Amazon. Military officials hope to get started soon on what will be a decade-long business partnership they describe as vital to national security. ...
Amazon was considered an early favorite when the Pentagon began detailing its cloud needs in 2017, but its candidacy has been marred by an Oracle allegation that Amazon executives and the Pentagon have been overly cozy. Oracle has a final chance to make its case against Amazon – and the integrity of the government’s bidding process – in a court hearing on Wednesday.
“This is really the cloud sweepstakes, which is why there are such fierce lawsuits,” said the Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives. Ives said an opportunity that was a “no-brainer” for Amazon a year ago now seems just as likely to go to Microsoft, which has spent the past year burnishing its credentials to meet the government’s security requirements.
Hong Kong’s Leader Says the Extradition Bill is “Dead.” Protesters Don’t Believe Her.
Hong Kong’s leader says the controversial extradition bill “dead,” in what appears to be a concession to the millions of protesters who flooded the city’s streets over the last month. But activists have rejected the claim, promising they will continue to protest until the bill is withdrawn completely.
Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive Carrie Lam told a news conference Tuesday the bill been a “complete failure” and tried to reassure activists that it wouldn’t be re-introduced. “There are still lingering doubts about the government's sincerity or worries whether the government will restart the process in the Legislative Council,” Lam told reporters. “So I reiterate here, there is no such plan. The bill is dead.”
Critics claim that, if passed, the law would allow Beijing to arbitrarily extradite suspected criminals to mainland China, where human rights abuses are rife and death sentences common. Activists claim it is yet another sign of Beijing attempting to exert control over Hong Kong, in violation of the handover agreement signed with the U.K. in 1997. ...
Joshua Wong, the leader of the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement, which brought the city to a standstill for 79 days in 2014, has rejected Lam’s words, claiming the bill remains in place. “Carrie Lam saying ‘the Bill is dead’ is another ridiculous lie to the people of Hong Kong and foreign media because the bill still exists in the 'legislative programme' until July next year,” Wong tweeted on Tuesday.
David Harvey: The Persistence of Neoliberalism Despite its Loss of Legitimacy
YouTube Has Been Harvesting Kids’ Data for Years and the FTC Seems Fine with That
Kids watch a ton of YouTube. And for months, the Federal Trade Commission has reportedly been investigating the service for harvesting their data and selling it to advertisers. But experts consulted by the FTC believe the agency is about to go easy on the Google-owned platform by putting the onus on content creators to turn off ads for kids under 13, rather than segregate children’s programming onto a separate “YouTube Kids” service.
The discussions so far have disappointed activists who’d hoped for a more robust response from the U.S. government to protect children online. “Over the last 20 years or so, regardless of what party was in power, the FTC has been afraid, been risk-averse, been weak-kneed — choose your metaphor — to the powers of the big digital companies,” said Jeff Chester, executive director for the Center for Digital Democracy, who was involved in the talks.
Privacy groups and consumer advocates have criticized YouTube for sucking up information from underage users to maximize the time they spend online and serve them with personalized ads — a revenue stream likely worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
Judge blocks justice department's legal team change in US census cases
A federal judge in New York ruled the US Department of Justice can’t replace nine lawyers on the legal team arguing the controversial dispute over whether the administration can add a citizenship question to the 2020 census without explaining why it wants to swap out the lawyers.
The justice department announced this week that it was appointing a new team of lawyers to take over census-related cases, after the supreme court upheld a lower court decision rejecting the commerce department’s stated justification for adding a citizenship question to the census.
But US district judge Jesse M Furman, who earlier this year ruled against adding the citizenship question, ruled on Tuesday that the justice department provided “no reasons, let alone ‘satisfactory reasons’, for the substitution of counsel”. Furman called the department’s request “patently deficient”, except for two lawyers who have left the department or the civil division which is handling the case.
The changes in the legal team came about after a top justice department civil attorney who was leading the litigation effort told attorney general William Barr that multiple people on the team preferred not to continue, Barr told the Associated Press on Monday.
The Inhumane Treatment of Migrants Is Not New. It’s a Key Part of a Decades-Old Bipartisan Policy
Hundreds of Jewish Activists Surround ICE Office to Protest Trump Detention Centers
Hundreds of Jewish activists and allies took to the streets in Chicago and surrounded a local ICE office on Monday to demand the closure of President Donald Trump's detention camps, where immigrants have been forced to endure inhumane conditions and abuse from Border Patrol guards.
"Never again means close the camps!" demonstrators chanted as they marched down the streets of Chicago.
Rallying outside the Chicago ICE building, protestors hoisted signs that read "There is blood on your hands" and began singing and praying. Demonstrators also shut down the entrances of the Chicago Federal Building, condemning Illinois Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth for voting for legislation that handed the Trump administration $4.6 billion in border funding without any safeguards for immigrant children.
"We have a simple demand: no more money for roundups, close the camps, shut down ICE," tweeted the grassroots Jewish advocacy group Never Again Action, which organized the demonstrations.
The action on Monday was part of a growing nationwide campaign by progressive Jewish activists to condemn the Trump administration's anti-immigrant policies and detention centers, which have been described as concentration camps by lawmakers and scholars.
John Carlos Frey: America’s Deadly Stealth War on the Mexico Border Is Approaching Genocide
Trump violated US constitution by blocking critics on Twitter, federal court rules
President Donald Trump can’t ban critics from his Twitter account, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday, saying the first amendment calls for more speech, rather than less, on matters of public concern.
The second US circuit court of appeals in Manhattan upheld a lower court judge who said Trump violates the constitution when he blocks critics. ...
The ruling came in a case brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. It had sued on behalf of seven individuals blocked by Trump after criticizing his policies.
A Black Teen Got His Throat Slit Over Rap Music. Activists Say It’s a Hate Crime.
Police say at 1:42 a.m. on July 4, 17-year-old Elijah Al-Amin pulled into the Circle K convenience store and gas station in Peoria, Arizona, listening to hip-hop music in his car. Just minutes after Al-Amin stepped into the store, Michael Paul Adams came up behind him and allegedly slit his throat with a pocket knife, then stabbed him twice in the back. Police tried to revive the teen before taking him to a local hospital. Al-Amin was pronounced dead less than half hour after he was stabbed.
Adams, 27, was arrested shortly after the incident took place, and he quickly admitted to killing Al-Amin over the rap music because it made him feel “unsafe.” According to police reports, Adams, a white man, said his aversion to rap comes from previous incidents where he’s been attacked by black, Hispanic and Native Americans who listen to the genre. ...
Adams was taken to Maricopa County jail for suspicion of first-degree murder. The Arizona Department of Corrections later reported that Adams had just been released two days earlier from Arizona State Prison, where he served time for aggravated assault and removal of a theft detection device. And court records show prior arrests for disorderly conduct, assault with a weapon, and assault on a corrections officer. During his first appearance in court July 5 for the murder charge, Adams’ lawyer Jacie Cotterell claimed her client has had a history of mental illness and shouldn’t have been released from prison unless he had access to mental health services.
Al-Amin’s murder has sparked outrage on social media. The hashtag #JusticeForElijah was trending on Twitter earlier this week, with tweets from users showing solidarity in the teen’s death. New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker, who's running for president, was one of many who demanded that the Department of Justice step in to investigate the murder. ... Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the National Committee For Civil Rights Under Law, had similar demands, outright calling the attack a hate crime.
Glacial melting in Antarctica may become irreversible
Antarctica faces a tipping point where glacial melting will accelerate and become irreversible even if global heating eases, research suggests. A Nasa-funded study found instability in the Thwaites glacier meant there would probably come a point when it was impossible to stop it flowing into the sea and triggering a 50cm sea level rise. Other Antarctic glaciers were likely to be similarly unstable.
Recent research found the rate of ice loss from five Antarctic glaciers had doubled in six years and was five times faster than in the 1990s. Ice loss is spreading from the coast into the continent’s interior, with a reduction of more than 100 metres in thickness at some sites.
The Thwaites glacier, part of the West Antarctic ice sheet, is believed to pose the greatest risk for rapid future sea level rise. Research recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal found it was likely to succumb to instability linked to the retreat of its grounding line on the seabed that would lead to it shedding ice faster than previously expected. Alex Robel, an assistant professor at the US Georgia Institute of Technology and the study’s leader, said if instability was triggered, the ice sheet could be lost in the space of 150 years, even if temperatures stopped rising. “It will keep going by itself and that’s the worry,” he said.
Study Warns Carbon-Saturated Oceans Headed Toward Tipping Point That Could Unleash Mass Extinction Event
The continuous accumulation of carbon dioxide in the planet's oceans—which shows no sign of stopping due to humanity's relentless consumption of fossil fuels—is likely to trigger a chemical reaction in Earth's carbon cycle similar to those which happened just before mass extinction events, according to a new study.
MIT geophysics professor Daniel Rothman released new data on Monday showing that carbon levels today could be fast approaching a tipping point threshold that could trigger extreme ocean acidification similar to the kind that contributed to the Permian–Triassic mass extinction that occurred about 250 million years ago. Rothman's new research comes two years after he predicted that a mass extinction event could take place at the end of this century. Since 2017, he has been working to understand how life on Earth might be wiped out due to increased carbon in the oceans.
Rothman created a model in which he simulated adding carbon dioxide to oceans, finding that when the gas was added to an already-stable marine environment, only temporary acidification occurred. When he continuously pumped carbon into the oceans, however, as humans have been doing at greater and greater levels since the late 18th century, the ocean model eventually reached a threshold which triggered what MIT called "a cascade of chemical feedbacks," or "excitation," causing extreme acidification and worsening the warming effects of the originally-added carbon.
Over the past 540 million years, these chemical feedbacks have occurred at various times, Rothman noted. But the most significant occurances took place around the time of four out of the five mass extinction events—and today's oceans are absorbing carbon far more quickly than they did before the Permian–Triassic extinction, in which 90 percent of life on Earth died out. The planet may now be "at the precipice of excitation," Rothman told MIT News.
Alberta Government Declares War On Environmentalists
David Attenborough: polluting planet may become as reviled as slavery
The attitude of young people towards tackling the environmental crisis is “a source of great hope”, David Attenborough has told MPs, as he predicted that polluting the planet would soon provoke as much abhorrence as slavery.
Giving evidence to the business, energy and industrial strategy committee on how to tackle the climate emergency, the naturalist and TV presenter said radical action was required. Asked by the Tory MP Patrick McLoughlin, a committee member, whether the government’s new commitment of net zero carbon emissions for the UK by 2050 was rapid enough, Attenborough said such targets were not necessarily the best approach.
“In a way I would think that is not the way of focusing on the problem,” he said. “We cannot be radical enough in dealing with the issues that face us at the moment. The question is: what is practically possible? How can we take the electorate with us in dealing with these things?” He said: “The most encouraging thing that I see, of course, is that the electors of tomorrow are already making themselves and their voices very, very clear. And that is a source of great comfort in a way, but also the justification, the reality, that these young people are recognising that their world is the future. ...
Asked by the Labour MP Vernon Coaker to expand on how public attitudes were shifting, Attenborough replied: “There was a time in the 19th century when it was perfectly acceptable for civilised human beings to think that it was morally acceptable to actually own another human being for a slave. And somehow or other, in the space of 20 or 30 years, the public perception of that totally transformed.” He said: “I suspect that we are right now in the beginning of a big change. Young people in particular are the stimulus that’s bringing it about.
'Overtourism is killing Big Sur': activists raise banner in California vacation spot
Residents of California’s Big Sur are showing signs – specifically a large, yellow sign - that they are fed up with tourists. Over the weekend, a banner declaring “Overtourism is killing Big Sur” was hung from Bixby Bridge, dominating any would-be Instagram-perfect photos of the scene. ...
Tourism injected $2.85bn into the economy of Monterey county, on California’s central coast, in 2017, up 3.5% from the previous year. Tourists began to overwhelm Big Sur starting in 2005, Butch Kromland, of the Community Association of Big Sur, told local news station KSBW. “The barrier between appropriate and inappropriate behavior, that barrier has melted away in a lot of ways and I think that is a result of normalizing things in way via social media,” Kromland said.
The popularity of Bixby Bridge in particular has grown after its frequent appearances in Big Little Lies, an HBO show set in the county. A video published on 4 July showed the heavy traffic traversing the bridge ahead of the weekend. In May, an Instagram account called Big Sur Hates you began shaming visitors for inappropriate or damaging behavior, by reposting their photos with critical comments.
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
Government That Tortures Journalists Bans RT From Media Freedom Conference
Isikoff, Who First Peddled The Fake Steele Dossier, Invents New 'Russian Influence' Story
How Florida’s summer of slime turned Republicans into eco-warriors
Trump Takes the Bait, Lashing Out at U.K. Ambassador Whose Private Notes Were Leaked
A Little Night Music
Jelly Roll Morton - The Chant
Jelly Roll Morton and his New Orleans Jazzmen – Ballin’ the Jack
Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers - Pontchartrain Blues
Jelly Roll Morton - Hesitation Blues
Jelly Roll Morton & His Red Hot Peppers - Fussy Mabel
Jelly Roll Morton - Dr. Jazz
Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers - Wild Man Blues
Jelly Roll Morton - King Porter Stomp
Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton - Alabama Bound
Jelly Roll Morton - Blackbottom Stomp
Comments
Bernie "is the antichrist!”
From Bloomberg
“Bernie Sanders, in my opinion, doesn’t have a clue,” Leon Cooperman, a former partner at Goldman Sachs, is quoted as saying.
“It has the potential to be a dangerous moment,” Blankfein said of Sanders’s campaign.
“In 2016 I saw Bernie Sanders and the kids around him. I thought: ‘This is the antichrist!”’ said Home Depot Co-Founder Kenneth Langone.
“The senator’s uninformed views are, in a word, contemptible” -- Lowell McAdam, former Verizon CEO.
afternoon gj...
well, even if bernie isn't the antichrist, he may just bring back hyperbole as a popular artform.
Here's the link.
Bernie's anti-endorsement page: https://berniesanders.com/anti-endorsements/
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Scary
Car vs. Cactus ...
Saguaro wins. AZ Daily Star
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
evening azazello...
wow! it appears that saguaros are made of sterner stuff than i had imagined.
Ha.. Finger Rock
Cool rock formation. How subtle.
Great pictures.
Finger Cactus
Hot Cactus Babe
Elephant Cactus
One more
Okay who didn't smile at this?
If ICE were hunting down Trump’s critics, that would be bad but would make sense.
But ICE is hunting down Israel’s critics.
Finger rock is just about exactly due north
of where I sit right now. I can see it from my back window as I type.
Some of those you posted are cristate, or crested saguaros. They're fairly rare but you see 'em every now and then if you get out and hike or drive in the desert. Here's a couple more.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Ha again
You are lucky to have such a beautiful view out your window. If you can stand the heat. I went to Phoenix once and the heat was so oppressive it felt like it was squashing me. Thank gawd for air conditioning huh?
If ICE were hunting down Trump’s critics, that would be bad but would make sense.
But ICE is hunting down Israel’s critics.
We don't have a/c.
The way I see it, if you can't make it with a swamp-box maybe the desert's not for you.
I even think a/c should be outlawed. If we could do that, the population of Maricopa County would drop by 75% overnight. All those right-wing loons would go back to wherever they came from.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Willis Carrier
is the greatest inventor ever, IMHO. If a/c were outlawed, I would just lay down and die. The only good thing I see about summer are the flowers and crops. I can not stand the heat and it just keeps getting hotter. 94 yesterday with a heat index of 106. I just want to hibernate in the a/c until September or October.
We had 108 yesterday, 80 for a low this morning.
Still, I'm comfortable with the swamp cooler and double pane windows.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
Just to say hi, Glen Greenwald is a very polite
man to ask such a question. Imagine he wouldn't know the answer to his question...
[video:https://youtu.be/7cqHtGb9WYM]
Good Night.
https://www.euronews.com/live
evening mimi...
heh, reagan caused the collapse of america in ways that didn't show up on a balance sheet.
have a great evening!
About the Ukrainian port handling US Navy ships.
I happened upon a pretty good blogger named War Nerd. He published a look at what a US/Iranian war would look like. Tulsi is right. Make Iraq look like a camping trip.
Radio War Nerd #142: Iran-US War Scenarios
Basically, one of the things discussed is how Naval power is obsolete as it is cheap and easy to sink literally any ship, almost anywhere. Things like aircraft carriers were important in WWII, but now useless in an all out conflict. This was proved out in what I guess is the now infamous Millennium Challenge war game held in 2002 where it was the US vs sort of an Iranian force. Within short order, the crazy an ex-Marine general representing the Iranians had sunk 16 US warships. The game had to be reset.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Challenge_2002
No foreign power will dominate or control the Black Sea other than the Russians.
Also, pretty scary scenario with Iran. Iran could give the US a blood nose in which case, a nuke attack might be ordered against Iran.
Hmm..wonder if that is what Russia is thinking?
"Go ahead and park a few of your boats within easy range of our missiles."
Since Putin was elected the USA and NATO have been pushing them more and more and one day Russia is going to say enough. There is no way Russia would be allowed to overthrow Mexico's or Canada's government and install a puppet government like what happened in Ukraine. No way in hell. How much longer until Russia does put nukes in Cuba? The threat to their country is reaching its breaking point. And remember not too long ago the defense department posted an article about how the world might survive using mini nukes. Stop the insanity!
If ICE were hunting down Trump’s critics, that would be bad but would make sense.
But ICE is hunting down Israel’s critics.
evening mr w...
i don't believe that the u.s. can prevail in an all-out war with iran without resorting to nuclear weapons.
on the other hand, most of the wars that the empire has been engaging in lately don't seem to be about getting the adversary to concede defeat and knuckle under. rather, they appear to be about disrupting a culture, destroying its infrastructure and forcing it into a prolonged existential battle among its ruins while its people starve. this is, of course, the u.s.' form of "humanitarian intervention."
the u.s. might be able to arrange such a humanitarian intervenion in iran and keep it in some sort of bloody stalemate for decades - but the cost will be high.
the naval display in the black sea is just a show for the rubes.
The Road
Or our version of Mad Max. The other thing is that when we invade countries without winning it sure gives the defense companies lots of money. 20 years in Afghanistan and the Taliban are still sending our troops home in body bags. Utah lost another man a few weeks ago. The North Ogden mayor that was killed has been honored for the two years he has been gone. I'm hoping that community will do this same thing for the guy who just died. The mayor was on his 7th tour and left behind his wife and 7 children. How sad that I don't know his name. Brent ...?
If ICE were hunting down Trump’s critics, that would be bad but would make sense.
But ICE is hunting down Israel’s critics.
[Edited] Hola, Joe & Gang! Quick drive-by
to say 'hello.' Gonna be scarce until I finish Mr M's spreadsheets.
(He hasn't found my dawdling to be particularly amusing, to say the least.
Actually, can't much blame him. I hate that program so much, that I'd work about 15 minutes, then break for an hour, or more. IOW, I got no where, fast! So, promised to put my nose to the grindstone for this week, and next, if it takes it.)
I was a little puzzled by the Intercept piece. I wonder if the author is aware that the British Ambassador has resigned. (IOW, DT got exactly what he wanted.) Frankly, it didn't surprise me that Darroch did so. What else could he do? No one (in the US State Dept) would be able to work with him, after that, since they would likely be eyed with suspicion (by DT) if they continued to work with Darroch.
Remember--'O' actually fired a top General for mild criticism of his and Biden's Afghanistan war management. (talking about Stanley McChrystal) Right or wrong, that's the way it is in our Federal Bureaucracy.
Hey, not much news. It's been so miserably hot, that even the Pup dreads going outside. Temps in low 90's--real feel getting close to 100. Phew! As soon as I finish this stuff, I'll be back to researching LA countries, again. Enough of hot summers!!!!! And, the US political system. To be honest, I'm somewhat relieved that I'm too busy to follow all the machinations of the 2020 election cycle. Yesterday, I couldn't believe that after getting rid of "less than a fraction of one percent Swalwell," Steyer's jumped into the DP Clown Car!
[Edited: 'Yesterday' not 'Yestday' and 'the Dem Party' not 'they']
And, as if that's not bad enough--DP activists are trying to put Deep Stater (military pilot) Amy McGrath in Congress. I have to wonder if they realize that, in 2018, the Dem Party elected over 30 Deep State conservadems--none of whom would likely ever vote for any of the agenda items for which they've so fervently advocated. BTW, just heard a few minutes ago that Amy McGrath raised 2 1/2 million dollars in hours (24 hrs?) after her announcement (yesterday ?). There is such a disconnect, IMO. It's almost scary.
Promise I'll have a 'good news' blurb next time.
(about a pet service)
Hey, Everyone have a nice evening. Stay cool, if you can!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
evening mollie...
i believe that it was written before the resignation. i think that some of the speculation in it about who was behind the leak and why is probably worth considering as we watch events unfold. there appears to be a power grab happening in the uk outside of the control (and likely the druthers) of (very significant numbers of) the electorate there.
it's pretty hot here, still. there's a lake in maine whose call is getting louder.
i don't know much about mcgrath. the sudden deluge of money is a very interesting data point that i don't have a clue as to how much to attribute to a national dem desire to be rid of mitch mcconnell and how much to attribute to deep state support. i guess the deep state likes it that way.
My bad, Joe--didn't even notice the date
of the piece. Honestly, though, I thought the situation was untenable, since, in one respect, federal service, or, in this case, "working with our federal service," is not that different from the private sector--once you've totally insulted 'the Boss', you're probably toast--or, that would be true of most Diplomats.
McGrath is supported by several PACs--one has David Gergen and Erskine Bowles as 'advisors.' I posted a link to the PAC quite a few months ago, when I was running around 'with my hair on fire' prior to the 2018 midterms.
Here's a link, below, showing support (in 2018) from a PAC to elect former military-types. It's the one with Gergen and Bowles backing--"With Honor PAC."
It's basically a 'military' No Labels. When I've got more time, I'll post a blurb that expounds on the so-called 'pledge' that they take.
She raised a truckload of dough in 2018. Considering her established money network--especially, with the help of the military PACs and the National Dems--I really wasn't all that surprised that she raked in 2-1/2 Million Dollars in hours. She was on several Cable TV programs yesterday (including Hardball) that I heard, although I didn't pay rapt attention to what she said, since I already know where she's coming from.
Hey, if it's as miserable in MD, as it is here--hope you make it up to Maine!
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Hey, Joe! You linked to a wiki article about Jelly Roll Morton.
I could say that a link to one wiki article deserves another However, I have to admit that I blush to post this one. However, in the interests of history, language and fans of Jelly Roll Morton....https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AJelly_roll_(slang)
I wish I had something more pithy this evening, but I am off to contemplate the next meal (and to be grateful that I have the funds and health to have a next meal today).
In Music Appreciation class
My Missouri born, severely sheltered instructor just lovvvved the fact he was called Jelly Roll. My class partner and I decided we wouldn't tell her what it was slang for after doing our homework and finding out.
I can't imagine a musician today having a stage name of Poontang or Shlong, except they probably exist and I, thankfully, don't know it.
Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss lol!
And I learned about a minute before I posted it. I figured
"jelly roll" had to be slang for something, so I googled. I spent the rest of the minute deciding if I should post the link.
It must be jelly
'cuz jam don't shake like that.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
evening henry...
heh...
have a great evening!
Once upon a time
DP members would be telling the democrats not to vote for the huge and obscene military budget. Good for the young upstarts to be making some noise about it.
Yeah I don't see why anyone has some concerns about putting mini nukes on submarines...but it's good that some of them are trying to get the AUMF rescinded. This has been abused since it was created. All Bolton has to say is that Iran is working with AQ and there you go. We're in Iran.
If ICE were hunting down Trump’s critics, that would be bad but would make sense.
But ICE is hunting down Israel’s critics.
evening snoopy...
democrats love them some outrageous, unaccountable defense budgets. how else do you suppose the military budget has continued to increase and accountability has never been seriously imposed despite the fact that trillions of dollars cannot be accounted for? the notion of democrat opposition is a sham.
Who is Amy McGrath?
This came from an article on WSWS during the last election when so many ex intelligence agents, ex military and ex other members were running for congress. Once upon a time people like her would be rejected by the people who vote for democrats. That so many democrats are okay with Kambama instead of rejecting what she stands for is just so f'cking mind boggling. They are the ones who supported the black lives matter movement while Harris would be the one prosecuting them for protesting against cops. Go figure this out..
If ICE were hunting down Trump’s critics, that would be bad but would make sense.
But ICE is hunting down Israel’s critics.
Hi, SD--thanks for that blurb about McGrath. Just
added a bit more info to what you've posted, in reply to Joe.
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
I wrote about the CIA democrats who were running
last election here. It was amazing how many ex.... people were running in that election and that many people didn't have a problem with it. But now they don't have a problem with Kambama or Kamillary this time. She is probably more like Obama since she ran on a progressive platform, but once in office she turned away from it. She didn't want to release people from prison because of over crowding because they were used on fire lines and other programs.
She got huge kudos for going after ByeDone during the debate on his comments on the racists remember? But right after she did that she had the photo of her as a little girl on her website for sale. She planned on doing that. Ugh.
If ICE were hunting down Trump’s critics, that would be bad but would make sense.
But ICE is hunting down Israel’s critics.
McGrath says she would have voted for Kavanaugh
Oops. Then she got lots of flack by people and so she changed her mind. Sure you did, Amy.
If ICE were hunting down Trump’s critics, that would be bad but would make sense.
But ICE is hunting down Israel’s critics.
Well now they often call me pedo ...
My new earworm:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SW0g84mXRM width:400 height:240]
Now, I just don't get this. The chairman of the federal reserve is said to be considering an interest rate cut, WSJ, NYT, CNN.
WTF ? This makes no sense. We're told every day how well the economy is doing, there appears to be no financial catastrophe, stock prices are soaring.
Why would they need to do this ?
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
heh...
simple. wall street wants some more free money.
there might be a hitch in their plans, the bls' cooked job numbers were up in june, which might cause the inflation-averse (even the hint of it) fed to hold rates steady.
What Sheldon Adelson is to Trump, Haim Saban is to the Democrats
How to give away $420 million: Cheryl and Haim Saban talk power, philanthropy, Israel, and the 2020 presidential race
one hollywood media mogul less wouldn't be bad either
one disaster philantropist gone, more to come. Hopefully.
https://www.euronews.com/live