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The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

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Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features Texas musician Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Enjoy!

^{Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Honky-Tonk}

"A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to the general applause of wits who believe it's a joke."

-- Soren Kierkegaard

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News and Opinion

Xi Jinping tells Joe Biden not to ‘play with fire’ over Taiwan in two-hour call

The Chinese president has warned Joe Biden against “playing with fire” over Taiwan in a highly anticipated phone call that lasted more than two hours on Thursday, as tensions remain high over the House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential trip to the island next month.

“Those who play with fire will be perished by it. It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this,” Xi Jinping, according to a Chinese statement. He also urged the US to implement the three joint communiques that serve as the foundation for relations between the two countries “both in word and in deed”. Xi vowed “resolutely” to safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity and said this is “the firm will of more than 1.4 billion Chinese people”.

This is not the first time Xi has used such language to dissuade Washington from publicly supporting Taipei. Last November, Xi also warned the US president in a virtual summit that China was prepared to take “decisive measures” if Taiwan makes any moves towards independence that cross Beijing’s red lines.

In response to Xi’s comment on Taiwan, Biden reiterated Washington’s policy and said it had not changed and that “the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan strait”, according to the US statement, which was much shorter than the Chinese one.

The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, would not comment on China’s readout of the call, simply saying that Biden and Xi had “a direct, straightforward conversation”.

Xi warns Biden not to play with fire: 'Clear reference' to potential Pelosi visit

China Is Issuing The Same “Red Line” Warnings About Taiwan That Russia Issued About Ukraine

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has continued to pour gasoline on the foreign policy dumpster fire that is her planned visit to Taiwan next month, now reportedly encouraging other members of congress to come along for the ride.

“Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has invited a small group of lawmakers on her official trip to Taiwan, including the top Democrat and Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” NBC News reports.

This trip, which Beijing perceives as an egregious transgression of Washington’s longstanding one-China policy, is already so incendiary that the Pentagon is now planning to send in fighter jets and other war machinery to protect Pelosi’s plane in case of attacks by the Chinese military.

While already waging a war on Russia, the US empire is also really trying to start a war with China:

The US military is considering sending *fighter jets* to accompany a top US official as she meets with secessionists in China's province of Taiwan, who are armed with US weapons. https://t.co/WV1azGMEdR

— Benjamin Norton (@BenjaminNorton) July 27, 2022

AP reports:

While U.S. officials say they have little fear that Beijing would attack the U.S. House speaker’s plane, they are aware that a mishap, misstep or misunderstanding could endanger her safety. So the Pentagon is developing plans for any contingency.

Officials told The Associated Press that if Pelosi goes to Taiwan — still an uncertainty — the military would increase its movement of forces and assets in the Indo-Pacific region. They declined to provide details, but said that fighter jets, ships, surveillance assets and other military systems would likely be used to provide overlapping rings of protection for her flight to Taiwan and any time on the ground there.

This risk alone would be reason enough to cancel the trip, but adding to the concern is the fact that the Chinese government has begun warning against it using the same “red line” language that Russia was using in the lead-up to its invasion of Ukraine.

“We have repeatedly made clear our our firm opposition to Speaker Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan. If the US side insists on making the visit and challenges China’s red line, it will be met with resolute countermeasures,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijiang said Wednesday. “The U.S. must assume full responsibility for any serious consequence arising thereof.”

China has been using this same language since news first broke about Pelosi’s planned trip, with Chinese state media Global Times saying last week that “visiting Taiwan is definitely a red line that Pelosi must never cross.”

During the lead-up to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was issuing similar warnings using the same phrase. Putin warned over and over again that the west was taking Moscow’s “red lines” on Ukrainian neutrality too lightly, and Washington brazenly dismissed those warnings while continuing to float the possibility of future NATO membership for Ukraine.

“I don’t accept anybody’s red lines,” President Biden told the press in December of last year when asked about the warnings.

Weeks later Putin made good on his threat, launching a horrific war that has killed thousands and which could easily have been prevented with a few low-cost concessions.

“This is that red line that I talked about multiple times,” Putin said. “They have crossed it.”

Was it worth it?

Of course not.

Joe Biden Tells Vladimir Putin Where to Shove His ‘Red Lines’ https://t.co/upLip4Sz9r

— Hal Sparks (@HalSparks) December 8, 2021

Failing to learn from history is one thing; failing to learn even from the last five months is quite another. Pelosi and whoever’s orchestrating her trip should abort those plans immediately, because the dangers that are being toyed with here are not worth the moral victory of being able to say that China didn’t make you swerve in the stupidest game of “chicken” that has ever been played.

And that’s exactly what’s happening here. China’s “red line” warnings make it clear that Pelosi landing in Taiwan will at best kick up brinkmanship between the two nations another notch, while Republicans are aggressively pushing the narrative that if the trip doesn’t happen it will mean that “Communist China is winning.” The political pressure is on the side of escalation, with even progressive Democrats supporting Pelosi’s move and calls for de-escalation and detente becoming increasingly relegated to the sidelines.

We shouldn’t have to deal with this. We shouldn’t be watching a whole new country added to the potential flashpoints for nuclear armageddon just because some octogenarian in congress is too old to care if her plane gets shot down. We shouldn’t be risking another deadly conflict which stands to benefit no ordinary person over what amounts to nothing more than petty egoic chest-pounding.

We shouldn’t have to hope that the world’s most powerful people don’t take some idiotic risks for no good reason which could hurt us all or even end up getting us all killed. We should not have systems in place which can allow the worst things imaginable to happen if the tyrants who rule over us don’t happen to make the wisest decision on any given day.

Our futures shouldn’t depend upon the better angels of the worst monsters. Those with power have far too much of it, and the ordinary people of this world have not nearly enough.

I respected Zelensky at the beginning of the war when we were flooded with photos of the Ukrainian President on the frontline in tactical gear.

Turned out the photos were faked.

An act like the man himself.

Now posing for Vogue.

All to grift billions from western taxpayers. pic.twitter.com/nSsiok0Iyw

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) July 26, 2022

Biden, what recession? Xi warns Joe. Lavrov to Blinken, 'I am busy.' Ukraine-Poland merge

US Says It Has Not Seen Signs of Russia Buying Drones from Iran

A spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council on Tuesday said that the US has not seen any signs of Russia purchasing drones from Iran despite earlier claims from Washington.

“We’ve seen no indications of any sort of actual delivery and/or purchase of Iranian drones by the Russian Ministry of Defense,” NSC spokesman John Kirby told Al Arabiya.

Earlier this month, on the eve of President Biden’s trip to the Middle East, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed without evidence that the US had “information” that Iran was preparing to provide Russia with hundreds of drones.

German cities impose cold showers and turn off lights amid Russian gas crisis

Cities in Germany are switching off spotlights on public monuments, turning off fountains, and imposing cold showers on municipal swimming pools and sports halls, as the country races to reduce its energy consumption in the face of a looming Russian gas crisis.

Hanover in north-west Germany on Wednesday became the first large city to announce energy-saving measures, including turning off hot water in the showers and bathrooms of city-run buildings and leisure centres.

Municipal buildings in the Lower Saxony state capital will only be heated from 1 October to 31 March, at no more than 20C (68F) room temperature, and ban the use of mobile air conditioning units and fan heaters. Nurseries, schools, care homes and hospitals are to be exempt from the saving measures. ...

Hanover’s 15% savings target is in line with the reductions the European Commission this week urged member states to make to ensure they can cope in the event of a total gas cutoff from Russia. Germany, which is more reliant on Russian gas imports than other European countries, is under pressure to lead the way.

US economy shrinks in second quarter, signaling unofficial start of recession

The US economy shrank again in the last three months, unofficially signaling the start of a recession.

The commerce department announced Thursday that gross domestic product (GDP) – a broad measure of the price of goods and services – decreased at an annualized rate of 0.9% in the second quarter after falling at an annualized rate of 1.6% in the first three months.

The bad news will be a major blow for the Biden administration as it prepares for a tough midterm election season. White House officials have tried to tamp down talk of a recession, arguing that many parts of the economy remain strong.

The growth rate stands in marked contrast to the robust 6.9% annual increase in GDP recorded in the final quarter of 2021 when the economy roared back from Covid shutdowns.

The fast pace of growth contributed to soaring inflation – now running at 40-year highs – and the Federal Reserve’s decision to sharply increase interest rates in order to bring down prices.

Lawmakers Aren’t Disclosing Their Next Jobs

A 2007 law requires retiring lawmakers to notify a congressional ethics committee when they begin negotiating for a new job. But in the 15 years since the law took effect, more than 500 federal lawmakers have retired, with many taking lucrative gigs as lobbyists, lawyers or trade association officials — and only 18 departing representatives and senators have filed such disclosures, according to a review by The Lever.

This year promises to be no different. Fifty House members and a half-dozen senators have announced plans to retire; only one outgoing representative has notified an ethics panel about his post-congressional job prospects. Loopholes in the 2007 ethics law and a lack of enforcement have allowed retiring lawmakers to routinely negotiate future jobs with corporate lobbying firms without ever notifying the public whom they are supposedly still representing.

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act (HLOGA) was passed in 2007, largely as a result of the post-congressional activities of former Rep. Billy Tauzin, a walking conflict of interest who crafted health care legislation that steered billions of tax dollars to members of drug industry lobbying powerhouse Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PhRMA). Tauzin, a Louisiana Democrat-turned-Republican lawmaker, retired in 2005 to take a $2 million job with the lobbying group — one day after his congressional term expired. His compensation had risen to $11.6 million when he left Big Pharma in 2010.

Tauzin was the most egregious example. He was far from the last.

So far this election cycle, at least 56 lawmakers have said they’re retiring. If previous election cycles are any guide, the largest share are likely to join the influence industry on K Street.

Propelled to Victory by Dem Leaders, Cuellar Says $7.25 Too Much for Millions of Workers

Labor experts and advocates on Wednesday expressed disbelief and outrage as the details of an "unconscionable" new bill purporting to expand "flexibility and choice" in workplaces came to light, condemning Democratic co-sponsor Rep. Henry Cuellar for proposing the gutting of minimum wage protections.

The Worker Flexibility and Choice Act (WFCA) was originally announced by Cuellar (Texas) and his Republican co-sponsors, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), on July 20, but it wasn't until Wednesday that law professor Veena Dubal shared the text of the bill on social media, describing the proposal as "terrifying."

Aiming to create a new classification for people working in the gig economy for companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, the bill would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 by establishing "worker flexibility agreements" in which a worker "will not be treated as an employee for federal tax purposes" and "is not subject to the minimum wage and overtime protections."

The proposal would not only affect gig workers, said Dubal, who is a professor at University of California Hastings College of Law, but would "carve workers out of minimum wage and overtime protections" whenever an employer sets work schedules "using algorithms and incentives instead of providing secure hours."

In other words, said former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse, "it seems to empower any employer—not just gig companies—to tell any worker: if you want to work for me, you must agree we won't follow minimum wage or overtime rules."

Rebecca Dixon, executive director of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), noted that the bill is being backed by "the corporate lobby group the Coalition for Workforce Innovation (CWI), which was established to fight against growing workers' movements."

The proposal is an attempt to capitalize on the notion that "flexible" working hours benefit workers, Dixon said, but "because the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is already compatible with worker flexibility, it would be a fatal mistake for Congress to create a carveout for companies that demand 'worker flexibility agreements' of their workforce."

Instead of actually providing flexibility, said Dubal, "as Uber, DoorDash, and Instacart have already done to their workforce, it would empower employers to force workers to work long and hard to eke out a living."

Progressive critics of Cuellar were hardly surprised by his sponsorship of the bill, with Usamah Andrabi of the Justice Democrats noting that the anti-choice, anti-climate, pro-NRA lawmaker voted against the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act twice.

The bill intensified outrage over the support Cuellar garnered from Democratic leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) earlier this year when he faced progressive immigrant rights advocate Jessica Cisneros in the Democratic primary for a second time, winning by just 289 votes.

Cuellar's bill could particularly harm Texans, Cisneros noted, considering the state's minimum wage is among the lowest in the nation.

"Texas still has a $7.25 minimum wage and Cuellar thinks working people in our district don't even deserve that," said Cisneros. "How are Democrats supposed to energize South Texans for the midterms with this?"

The proposal amounts to a "boldfaced lie," said the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU).

"If corporate interests were actually serious about workplace flexibility, you'd see them supporting the rights of their employees to have a say in what goes on in the workplace; paying people wages that keep up with the rising costs of living; and encouraging working parents to take time off to care for sick children," said John Samuelson, international president of the union.

"Instead, this dangerous piece of legislation seeks to deny all of these rights to working Americans AND forbid states and cities from taking any action to hold criminal corporations accountable," he added. "This bill would allow employers to trample on the rights of an untold numbers of workers."

Massachusetts Trader Joe's Becomes First to Unionize

Workers at a Massachusetts Trader Joe's on Thursday voted to become the first of the supermarket chain's more than 500 locations to unionize, a historic development that comes amid a nationwide labor organizing wave.

Employees at the Trader Joe's in Hadley, a suburb of Springfield, voted 45-31 to form a union, according to the National Labor Relations Board. ...

Labor unions and organizers hailed the Hadley vote, with Starbucks Workers United congratulating the store's crew on its "incredible and groundbreaking victory."

Wen Zhuang, a member of the NewsGuild of New York and Emergency Workplace Organizing, called Thursday's vote "amazing."

"Trader Joe's has a deep history of simply atrocious union busting, firing of organizers, and lots of other shenanigans," she tweeted. "What happened here will most definitely be replicated."

‘Hunted’: one in three people killed by US police were fleeing, data reveals

Nearly one third of people killed by US police since 2015 were running away, driving off or attempting to flee when the officer fatally shot or used lethal force against them, data reveals.

In the past seven years, police in America have killed more than 2,500 people who were fleeing, and those numbers have slightly increased in recent years, amounting to an average of roughly one killing a day of someone running or trying to escape, according to Mapping Police Violence, a research group that tracks lethal force cases.

In many cases, the encounters started as traffic stops, or there were no allegations of violence or serious crimes prompting police contact. Some people were shot in the back while running and others were passengers in fleeing cars.

Two recent cases have sparked national outrage and protests. In Akron, Ohio, on 27 June, officers fired dozens of rounds at Jayland Walker, who was unarmed and running when he was killed. And last week, an officer in San Bernardino, California, exited an unmarked car and immediately fired at Robert Adams as he ran in the opposite direction.

Despite a decades-long push to hold officers accountable for killing civilians, prosecution remains exceedingly rare, the data shows. Of the 2,500 people killed while fleeing since 2015, only 50 or 2% have resulted in criminal charges. The majority of those charges were either dismissed or resulted in acquittals. Only nine officers were convicted, representing 0.35% of cases.

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Most Americans do not want Biden or Trump in 2024, poll finds

Majorities of American voters do not want Joe Biden or Donald Trump to run in the next presidential election in 2024, according to a new poll.

More than 60% of voters and 30% of Democrats in the NewsNation/Decision Desk HQ poll said Biden should not run again. Among all voters, 57% said Trump should not run again. Among Republicans, that total was 26%. ...

Respondents in the poll were asked who they would prefer as the Democratic candidate if Biden did not run.

“Someone else” attracted 44.2% support but among named alternatives the vice-president, Kamala Harris, led with 16.1%. Next came Bernie Sanders, the 80-year-old socialist senator from Vermont who ran for the nomination in 2016 and 2020, with 10.7%; Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, with 8.9%; and Pete Buttigieg, the secretary of transportation, who also ran in 2020, with 7.8%. ...

On the Republican side of the ledger, “Someone else” also led, with 38.1% of the vote. DeSantis, the governor of Florida, attracted 23.4% support and Mike Pence, Trump’s vice-president, received 20.5%.

Why Is AIPAC Spending Millions in Primary to Defeat Rep. Andy Levin, a Former Synagogue President?

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‘It’s plunder’: Mexico desperate for water while drinks companies use billions of litres

The water truck parks on a block, a 10-minute walk uphill from Rocio Vega Morales’ house, for 15 minutes at most. She has no clue what time the pipa will arrive in her neighbourhood, delivering the water she and her four children need to bathe, wash dishes and flush the toilet. It could be while she is at work, or in the middle of the night.

The drought in North Mexico means taps are dry in the city of Monterrey so pipas, primarily run by the city authority, are the only way to deliver water to homes and businesses. As people who cannot afford bottled water are drinking the brackish water from the trucks, anger is growing here that beverage companies with bottling plants here, including Coca Cola and Heineken, are extracting billions of litres of water from public reservoirs.

Several brewers and soft drinks companies have factories in the city, and these use nearly 90bn litres a year in total, and over half of that – nearly 50bn litres a year (or 50m cubic metres) – is water from public reservoirs. ...

Mexico is facing its worst water crisis in 30 years as reservoirs serving about 23 million people dry up. The climate crisis has caused consistently hotter summers, and this year’s La Niña weather patterns created the perfect conditions for severe drought. But the drought has not halted the water use of companies including Coca-Cola and Heineken use private wells to continue extracting groundwater for their production lines. ...

In recent weeks, activists have popularised the phrase: “No es sequía, es saqueo” (“It’s not drought, it’s plunder”). Jaime Noyola, director of the Alliance of Users of Public Services, says his organisation predicted the crisis four months ago. The public-interest group regularly protests outside government buildings. They allege that local leaders, including the governor of Nuevo León state, Samuel García, are directly profiting from drinks companies’ water use.

Behind the Scenes of the Senate Climate Bill & What Finally Pushed Joe Manchin to Make a Deal

After Manchin Deal, Advocates Say 'We Still Need Biden to Declare a Climate Emergency'

Climate advocates made clear Thursday that they have no intention of dropping their calls for U.S. President Joe Biden to declare a climate emergency after Democratic leaders cut a legislative deal with Sen. Joe Manchin that includes tens of billions of dollars in green energy investments.

"The climate doesn't give out prizes for getting 70% of the way there," said Fossil Free Media director Jamie Henn, referring to estimates that Senate Democrats' newly proposed bill, if passed, would bring the U.S. significantly closer to meeting Biden's goal of cutting the nation's greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade.

"We still need Biden to declare a climate emergency," Henn added, "and stop approving fossil fuel projects that take us further from that goal."

Climate organizations have responded with alarm to provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that would expand oil and gas drilling and potentially lock in future greenhouse gas emissions, even as it bolsters renewable energy manufacturing, slashes methane pollution, and invests in electric vehicle production.

Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity, noted that the bill's proposed green energy funding is "paltry compared to the $800 billion we spend on our military every year and the trillions needed to solve the climate crisis."

"No matter what," said Hartl, "none of this should deter President Biden from declaring a climate emergency and taking bold executive action to address this crisis."

There's also the possibility of the bill hitting a snag and failing to pass the Senate, where it needs unanimous support from the Democratic caucus. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), a key swing vote, has yet to endorse the legislative text unveiled late Wednesday.

In a statement earlier this month, Biden vowed that "if the Senate will not move to tackle the climate crisis and strengthen our domestic clean energy industry, I will take strong executive action to meet this moment."

Days later, The Washington Post reported that Biden was considering the option of declaring a climate emergency, a move that proponents say would unlock key federal authorities and resources needed to accelerate the country's renewable energy transition and slash carbon pollution.

During a press conference on Thursday, the president hailed the Inflation Reduction Act as "the most important investment we've ever made in our energy security" and provided no indication that a climate emergency declaration is forthcoming.

JL Andrepont, senior policy campaigner and policy analyst at 350.org, warned that "the Biden administration, in a desperate need to capitulate to Manchin, is engaging in a bait and switch tactic on climate legislation."

"With these and the many other underhanded gifts to him and the fossil fuel industry, this bill is more of a climate scam bill than a climate change bill," said Andrepont. "How are we supposed to hit our emission reduction targets, be a beacon to the rest of the world, and show that we are committed to addressing climate change if our best efforts are two steps backward?"

"What the world needs now," Andrepont added, "is an unequivocal commitment by those in power to shut down the fossil fuel industry and do everything possible to support the frontline communities who contribute the least to this crisis, but are already suffering the most from it."

Torrid heatwave in Pacific north-west suspected cause of four deaths

Triple-digit heat was being investigated on Thursday as the cause of death for four people as a sweltering heatwave enveloped the US Pacific north-west and the forecast showed no sign of letting up soon in a region unaccustomed to such temperatures.

The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office said hyperthermia was suspected in the deaths this week of at least three people in Multnomah county, which is home to Portland. A fourth death in eastern Oregon’s Umatilla county may also have been caused by heat, the agency said Thursday in an email. ...

The state has roasted since Monday and temperatures at or near triple digits were forecast into the weekend. Portland could be on track to break a record for the duration of the hot spell, authorities said, as local governments and non-profits scrambled to expand capacity at cooling centers.

“For the next several days through Saturday we’re going to be within a few degrees of 100F every day,” said Colby Neuman, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service (NWS) in Portland, Oregon.

Temperatures in Oregon’s largest city were forecast to soar to 101F (38.3C) again on Friday. On Tuesday, Portland set a daily record of 102F (38.9C). Seattle also reported a new record daily high of 94F (34.4C). The heat spell was forecast to last into Saturday in western Washington as well. ... Climate change is fueling longer heatwaves in the Pacific north-west, a region where weeklong heat spells were historically rare, according to climate experts.

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Also of Interest

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

The Corporate Oligarchs Have Put Humanity on a Path Toward Self-Annihilation

The Gang That Can’t Shoot Straight: Western Leaders Bungle Russia Gas Supply, Barmy Oil Price Cap, and Appear Unable Even to Line Up Meetings

Provoking Beijing

Forgiving Debt: Ancient Analogies for the US

Report Details 'Abusive' Eviction Tactics by Corporate Landlords During Height of Pandemic

American men getting vasectomies after Roe – while they can

The Fine Print in US Congress Climate Deal

Anti-Populist DISTRUST Of Fellow Citizens On The Rise

“The View” Forced To Apologize For Calling Conservative Group “Nazis”

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A Little Night Music

Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Boogie Uproar

Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Okie Dokie Stomp

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Midnight Hour

Freddie King & Gatemouth Brown - Funky Mama

Clarence Gatemouth Brown - She walks Right in

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Do The Zydeco

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Same Old Blues

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Please Mr. Nixon

Carlos Santana Presents Blues At Montreux Clarence Gatemouth Brown 2004

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