The Evening Blues - 7-3-19
Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features delta bluesman Big Joe Williams. Enjoy!
Big Joe Williams - Blues Jumped A Rabbit
“When all is said and done, Donald Trump will make History completely forget about Richard Nixon.”
-- Ed Krassenstein
News and Opinion
Worth a full read:
Amnesty International Condemns U.S. Attacks on Border Journalists and Human Rights Defenders
The shape of the Trump administration’s approach to policing immigration is at this point familiar. Since January 2017, federal agents and officers have been under orders to enforce a harsh interpretation of immigration laws without restraint. The result has most infamously manifested in the forced separation of immigrant parents from their children and, more recently, a series of horrific reports detailing conditions in border-area detention centers. Though undocumented people have always been the core target of this campaign, the blast radius of the government’s hyper-politicized crackdown has steadily expanded over the years. A new report published by Amnesty International on Tuesday details a two-yearlong attack on human rights defenders, attorneys, and journalists working along the U.S.-Mexico border, calling out a pattern of escalating enforcement in violation of domestic and international law.
The U.S. “government has executed an unlawful and politically motivated campaign of intimidation, threats, harassment, and criminal investigations against people who defend the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers,” the report said, adding that both the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice “have increasingly misused and leveraged the criminal justice system to deter and punish those individuals for challenging — or even simply documenting — the systematic human rights violations by US authorities against migrants and asylum seekers.”
Brian Griffey, a lead researcher on the report, wrote to The Intercept: “These attacks on human rights defenders are an integral part of the Trump administration’s broader campaign of human rights violations against people seeking asylum on the U.S.-Mexico border.”
“The Trump administration’s contempt for lawyers, journalists, and good Samaritans shows its greater contempt for the rule of law and the judiciary, as it continues to apply human rights-violating policies broadly and as quickly as it can, to do maximum damage to vulnerable communities,” before courts are able to rein them in and restore order, he added. ...
Two episodes documented by Amnesty, and previously exposed by The Intercept, have emerged as the clearest examples of law enforcement targeting people whose work does not align with the Trump administration’s border and immigration agenda: an expansive, binational, multi-agency, intelligence-gathering operation focused on migrant caravan-related advocacy and journalism in the Tijuana-San Diego area, and the criminal prosecution of nine human aid volunteers working with migrants crossing the Arizona desert. In both cases, Amnesty found that law enforcement leaned heavily on a portion of the U.S. criminal code — known as 1324 — to justify its targeting of advocates in the borderlands. Noting that “a federal appellate court struck down the human smuggling crime being applied by DHS to justify its politically motivated surveillance,” Griffey, the Amnesty researcher, said the “laws being applied by US authorities are vague and inconsistent with international standards.”
Scott Warren of No More Deaths Faces Retrial for Providing Humanitarian Aid to Migrants in Arizona
Scott Warren to be retried on 2 migrant harboring charges
Federal prosecutors will pursue two harboring charges against No More Deaths volunteer Scott Warren after announcing in federal court Tuesday morning that they would drop the charge of criminal conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens.
During the hearing, prosecutors offered an alternative plea deal to Warren, telling him that he would receive time served if he plead guilty to a misdemeanor for aiding and abetting entry without inspection.
The renewed prosecution sets a new trial, slated for November 12. Warren has until 10 days before that trial begins to accept or reject the plea deal. If convicted on both counts, Warren could face a prison sentence of up to 10 years. ...
Warren still also faces sentencing on misdemeanor convictions after a separate federal trial in May.
"While I do not know what the government has hoped to accomplish here I do know what the effect of all this has been," Warren said Tuesday. A" raising of public consciousness. A greater awareness of the humanitarian crisis in the borderland. More volunteers who want to stand in solidarity with migrants. Local residents stiffened in their resistance to border walls and the militarization of our communities. And a flood of water into the desert at a time when it is most needed."
Decision to retry Dr. Scott Warren is part of wider campaign against human rights defenders
In response to US federal prosecutors deciding today to retry the human rights defender Dr. Scott Warren after a previous attempt to prosecute him ended in a mistrial, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director Amnesty International, said:
“By deciding to mount an entirely new trial against Dr. Scott Warren, the Trump administration is doubling down on its attacks against human rights defenders who are doing necessary and life-saving work at the US-Mexico border.”
“Amnesty International has documented that the criminalization of Dr. Warren is not an isolated incident, but part of a larger politically-motivated campaign of harassment and intimidation by the US government that is in clear violation of US and international law. The US government must immediately halt these campaigns, and Congress should hold authorities accountable for their abuse of power.”
Border Agents Caught Posting Racist, Sexist Messages About Migrants & AOC in Secret Facebook Group
A Honduran Man Just Died in Immigration Custody. He’s the 11th Since September.
A 30-year-old migrant from Honduras has died after spending nearly a month in ICE custody.
The death of Yimi Alexis Balderramos-Torres on Sunday marks the sixth death of a person while they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement since October, the agency confirmed late Monday. It also appears to be the first in-custody death related to the Trump administration’s controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy.
At least 11 people have died in federal immigration custody, including in Border Patrol stations and child migrant shelters, since September.
Balderramos-Torres was being held in a Houston detention center operated by CoreCivic, a private prison company that contracts with ICE. He was found “unresponsive in his dormitory” on June 30, ICE said in a statement, and the facility’s medical personnel couldn’t revive him. The statement included few details about Balderramos-Torres’ condition until that point, and ICE did not immediately respond to VICE News’ request for comment.
He died early in the morning after being transferred to a local hospital.
'The coup turned Honduras into hell': President Manuel Zelaya on 10th anniversary of overthrow by US
Try as it may, the government can’t circumvent the Constitution in an effort to deter and punish asylum-seekers applying for protection.
This ruling will provide much-needed relief for people being detained in cruel and inhumane conditions while going through the asylum process.
— ACLU (@ACLU) July 2, 2019
Federal judge blocks Barr order on indefinite detention for asylum-seekers
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked an order from Attorney General William Barr that stated certain asylum-seekers can be detained indefinitely. U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman in Washington state wrote that it was "unconstitutional" to deny asylum-seekers a bond hearing while they wait for their asylum claims to be processed.
"It is the finding of this Court that it is unconstitutional to deny these class members a bond hearing while they await a final determination of their asylum request," Pechman, a Clinton appointee, wrote in her ruling.
The judge had issued a preliminary injunction earlier this year that required asylum-seekers who are given a hearing in their proceedings to be released within seven days after that hearing is granted. The Trump administration had asked her to dismiss that ruling after Barr issued his new asylum order. But Pechman rejected the request in her order on Tuesday, finding that the policy implemented by Barr’s order was unconstitutional.
The attorney general had written in the order, issued in April, that asylum-seekers who are able to demonstrate a "credible fear" [of persecution or danger if they leave the U.S.] and are sent to full deportation proceedings cannot be released on bond.
Booker follows Sanders in announcing a plan to reverse Trump's disgusting, illegal assaults on migrants. Booker includes far more weasel words than Sanders did. Sanders, so far has the most comprehensive plan statement.
Booker Says He’d Close All “Inhumane” Detention Centers on Day One of His Presidency
Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker vowed Tuesday that one of his first acts as president would be to “virtually eliminate immigrant detention” centers he described as “inhumane.”
The New Jersey senator promised to bypass Congress and expand protections for undocumented immigrants using an executive order “on day one of his presidency” and reverse almost all of President Donald Trump’s policies.
Specifically, Booker said he would shut down “inhumane facilities” while requiring all detention centers to meet standards outlined by the American Bar Association. He added that he would “phase out contracting with private prison facilities and county or local prisons.”
"Although there are limits on what we can do to reverse the damage that has already been done to the lives of thousands and to communities across our country, we can put an end to the horror, and turn the page to a new chapter of our history," Booker said in his statement announcing the plan. "Our country must have an immigration system that reflects our values, not one that strips dignity away from people fleeing danger, threats, and violence.”
Italian judge frees detained Sea-Watch captain
Millions have fled war-torn Yemen – the US has accepted 50
Since a devastating war began in Yemen in 2015, causing the displacement of 3 million people, the United States has taken in just 50 Yemeni refugees. Despite the deteriorating conditions in Yemen, where citizens must endure outbreaks of famine and disease amid the fighting, the number of Yemeni refugees resettled in the US has fallen almost to zero since Trump entered office.
Just two Yemeni refugees were resettled in the US in fiscal year 2018 and one has been resettled so far in fiscal year 2019, according to state department statistics. This is no coincidence, considering Trump has dismantled the US refugee program, setting a record low ceiling of 30,000 refugees in total for fiscal year 2019. Advocates say this move has guaranteed that a backlog of refugees in war-torn countries such as Yemen will only become more clogged.
“You can’t overstate the impact on Yemenis seeking safety in the United States. It’s become almost impossible,” said Nazanin Ash, vice-president of public policy and advocacy for the International Rescue Committee. “You have extraordinary levels of humanitarian suffering in Yemen. People can’t leave, and aid can’t get in.”
As the US continues to support its close ally Saudi Arabia in the war, selling weapons and providing intelligence, civilians in Yemen are at constant risk of airstrikes and street bombings. With the war showing little sign of slowing down, the halt of the US refugee program – which had typically taken in the highest number of refugees in the world – is devastating.
Lester Holt Begs Tulsi For Iran War
Europeans urge Iran to abide by nuclear pact; Israel says preparing military
European signatories to a nuclear pact with Iran said on Tuesday they were “extremely concerned” by Tehran’s apparent breach of the 2015 deal, as Israel said it was preparing for possible involvement in any confrontation between Iran and the United States. ... Foreign Minister Israel Katz told an international security forum that Iran might accidentally stumble out of what he termed the “grey zone” of contained confrontation.
“It should be taken into account that mistaken calculations by the (Iranian) regime ... are liable to bring about a shift from the ‘grey zone’ to the ‘red zone’ - that is, a military conflagration,” he said in a speech to the Herzliya Conference. “We must be prepared for this, and thus the State of Israel continues to devote itself to building up its military might for the event that it will have to respond to escalation scenarios.”
Israel has long threatened to take preemptive military action to deny Iran the means of making nuclear weapons. Tehran says it has no such designs. One of its senior lawmakers warned on Monday that Israel would be destroyed within “only half an hour” should the United States attack Iran.
Syria accuses Israel of 'heinous aggression' after airstrikes
Syria has accused Israel of “heinous aggression” after alleged Israeli airstrikes killed several civilians.
“Israeli authorities are increasingly practising state terrorism,” the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official Sana news agency on Tuesday. “The latest heinous Israeli aggression falls within the framework of ongoing Israeli attempts to prolong the crisis in Syria,” it added.
Strikes south of Damascus and in Homs province near the border with Lebanon overnight on Sunday killed at least 15 people, Sana and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, including at least six civilians, among them three children. It was not immediately clear if the civilians died in the strikes or their aftermath, the Observatory said.
Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes inside Syria since 2015 targeting supply routes and infrastructure such as the weapons depots of President Bashar al-Assad’s Iranian and Hezbollah allies. Civilian deaths are relatively rare, however, leading to the furious response from Damascus on Tuesday. ...
Syria’s foreign ministry also filed a complaint to the United Nations security council over the attack, demanding accountability, according to Sana. Israel’s “dangerous and hostile” actions would not have been possible without the support of its ally the United States, which protects it on the security council, the complaint said.
'This Attack Clearly Could Constitute a War Crime,' Says UN Envoy After at Least 44 Killed in Bombing of Libyan Migrant Detention Center
The overnight bombing of a migrant detention center in Tajoura, Libya that killed at least 44 people and severely injured 130 more elicited sharp criticism from United Nations officials and drew global attention to the war-torn North African nation's role in the global refugee crisis.
"This attack clearly could constitute a war crime, as it killed by surprise innocent people whose dire conditions forced them to be in that shelter," Ghassan Salamé, head of the U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), said in a statement Wednesday. "The absurdity of this ongoing war today has led this odious bloody carnage to its most hideous and most tragic consequences." Salamé called on the international community "to denounce this crime and apply appropriate penalties on those who ordered, carried out, and provided arms for this operation in a flagrant violation to the international humanitarian law and the simplest humanitarian norms and values."
Libya's Government of National Accord (GNA), which is based in the capital city of Tripoli and recognized by the U.N., "blamed the raid on the forces of Libyan renegade General Khalifa Haftar, whose self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA) has been fighting to seize Tripoli for the past three months," according to Al Jazeera. Haftar's LNA "denied responsibility," The Guardian noted, "but only on Monday Haftar's air force commander Mohammed al-Manfour had warned that his forces would intensify air raids on Tripoli."
The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) condemned the attack, emphasized the need for a full and independent investigation, and reiterated calls for "an immediate end to detention of migrants and refugees" in Libya. ... This attack, said their statement, "speaks to the danger both IOM and UNHCR have warned over returning migrants and refugees to Libya after their interception or rescue on the Mediterranean Sea." Charlie Yaxley, UNHCR's global spokesperson for Africa and the Mediterranean/Libya, added in a tweet: "This is a despicable tragedy that never should have happened. We warned about this two months ago. No action was taken. People have paid the price with their life."
Libya migrant centre airstrike: 'Every effort to create stable system in Libya has not worked'
Park Service diverts $2.5 million in fees for Trump’s July Fourth extravaganza
The National Park Service is diverting nearly $2.5 million in entrance and recreation fees primarily intended to improve parks across the country to cover costs associated with President Trump’s Independence Day celebration Thursday on the Mall, according to two individuals familiar with the arrangement.
Trump administration officials have consistently refused to say how much taxpayers will have to pay for the expanded celebration on the Mall this year, which the president has dubbed the “Salute to America.” The two individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, confirmed the transfer of the Park Service funds Tuesday.
The diverted park fees represent just a fraction of the extra costs the government faces as a result of the event, which will include displays of military hardware, flyovers by an array of jets including Air Force One, the deployment of tanks on the Mall and an extended pyrotechnics show. By comparison, according to former Park Service deputy director Denis P. Galvin, the entire Fourth of July celebration on the Mall typically costs the agency about $2 million.
For Trump’s planned speech at the Lincoln Memorial, the White House is distributing VIP tickets to Republican donors and political appointees, prompting objections from Democratic lawmakers who argue that the president has turned the annual celebration into a campaign-like event. The Republican National Committee and Trump’s reelection campaign confirmed Tuesday that they had received passes they were handing out for the event.
Busting Right-Wing Talking Point, 'Groundbreaking' Study Shows Federal $15 Minimum Wage Would Not Cause Job Losses in Low-Wage States
New research published Tuesday by economists at the University of California, Berkeley showed that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would significantly reduce poverty without causing job losses in low-wage states—a finding that further undermines fearmongering by conservatives and centrist Democrats.
Anna Godoey and Michael Reich of U.C. Berkeley's Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics, the authors of the study (pdf), examined 51 minimum wage increases in 750 low-wage counties across 45 states between 2004 and 2016.
The researchers found "substantial declines in household and child poverty" in low-wage areas—such as Mississippi and Alabama—without detecting any negative impact on employment or hours.
"The results of our research show that we can raise pay to $15, even in low-cost states," Godoey said in a statement. "The data show that the minimum wage has positive effects, especially in areas where the highest proportion of workers received minimum wage increases."
The "groundbreaking" new research comes as so-called moderate Democrats in the House are working to water down legislation that would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024. Led by Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), a group of around a dozen Democrats is pushing for a "regional wage" adjusted to local costs of living. Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 across the board, they argue, would result in job losses.
Uber co-founder buys record-breaking LA mansion for $72.5m as drivers fight for wages
Two massive luxury real estate deals in Los Angeles have shone a harsh light on the wealth gap in a region where tens of thousands of people live on the streets while mansions the size of football fields sell for more than $100m. On Monday, Variety reported that the Uber co-founder Garrett Camp and his partner Eliza Nguyen have purchased a Beverly Hills mansion for a record-breaking $72.5m, in what is believed to be the largest-ever sale of a home in the neighborhood. It wasn’t even the biggest Los Angeles luxury real estate deal reported this week. A 56,500-square-foot Holmby Hills chateau, once home to television producer Aaron Spelling, sold for $120m, according to the Los Angeles Times, making it the highest home price in Los Angeles county history.
The extraordinary mega-mansion sales come at a time when Los Angeles is faced with widening inequality and escalating concerns about the housing crisis and a dramatic rise in homelessness, prompting intense debate about who gets to benefit from the growing economy. ...
The Beverly Hills mansion purchase by Camp was completed mere weeks after Uber’s IPO further enriched its wealthy investors and founders. Camp, a Canadian entrepreneur with an estimated net worth of $4.2bn, already owns a portfolio of luxury properties in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Manhattan. Camp’s purchase has drawn the ire of activists and drivers who have long been protesting about Uber’s labor practices and advocating for better working conditions. ...
The purchase by Camp is particularly eye-popping given that Uber continues to lose money and has also aggressively opposed drivers’ efforts to organize and improve their working conditions, said Veena Dubal, an associate law professor at the University of California, Hastings, who is an expert on labor rights in the gig economy. “It’s a slap in everyone’s face,” she said, arguing that Uber was built on the idea of breaking labor laws and violating existing regulations. “The capitalist system we have has unduly rewarded him with extraordinary, in-your-face wealth.”
Citing drivers’ ongoing fights for workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, minimum wages and other rights, Dubal said that $72m could go along way: “This amount of money could change people’s lives.” She also noted that many Uber drivers rely on public benefits and government assistance since their wages are so low, meaning taxpayers in effect contribute to Camp’s exorbitant wealth.
“It’s our money that went into that house,” she said.
Cops Arrested a Black Hospital Patient Who Was Taking a Walk Outside with an IV. They Thought He Was Stealing It.
A black hospital patient taking a quick walk outside in his hospital gown was arrested on suspicions that he was stealing IV equipment — which he was hooked up to at the time.
Shaquille Dukes, 24, says he was being treated at Freeport Health Network Memorial Hospital for pneumonia in early June when a doctor granted his request to take a quick walk outside. Shortly after he stepped out, Dukes was approached by a hospital guard, and then by Freeport police, who arrested him over suspicions that he was stealing the IV equipment, according to a now-viral Facebook post and accompanying video describing the June 9 incident. Cops asked if he was trying to sell the equipment on eBay.
Dukes said he told cops he was a patient at the hospital receiving treatment, but the cops removed his IV equipment on the sidewalk, took his inhaler and arrested both him and his brother. Dukes said he had a seizure and asthma attack while inside the police car. He was ultimately charged with disorderly conduct.
"This is truly one of the most racist cities in America,” Dukes said in his Facebook post. He’s from the Chicago area, about 100 miles outside of Freeport.
Kamala Harris Says She Was a Progressive Prosecutor. Her Record Tells Another Story
Democratic Governor Considering Signing Major GOP Voter Suppression Legislation in Pennsylvania
The state of Pennsylvania is on the cusp of approving a major piece of voter suppression legislation ahead of the 2020 election, despite a Democrat serving as governor.
The bill, passed largely along party lines with nearly universal opposition from Democrats in the state legislature, is on the governor’s desk. If signed into law, it would ban what’s known as “straight-ticket” voting, which allows a voter to cast a ballot for all Democrats, or all Republicans, at once. Because precincts in Democratic areas of the state, particularly in Philadelphia, are heavily under-resourced relative to the size of the voting population, banning straight-ticket voting would mean much longer lines at the polls, as each voter needs more time behind the curtain. Studies have shown the longer lines depress Democrat turnout significantly.
The ban is a longtime goal of Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel. In late 2015, Republicans succeeded in banning straight-ticket voting in Michigan, spurring litigation that lasted for a couple of years. “I deposed Ronna Romney McDaniel,” Mary Ellen Gurewitz, a lawyer who represented Democrats in a suit to stop the ban, told the Detroit Metro Times. “She said that, when she was running for [chair] for the Michigan Republican Party in 2015, that it was her passion to eliminate straight-party voting, and that one of the reasons was that she thought it would help Republicans win.”
Donald Trump carried Michigan by 10,700 votes and Pennsylvania by 44,000 in 2016, meaning a swing of just a percentage point could be the difference between Trump’s reelection and his defeat.
Wolf is currently reviewing the bill and has not commented publicly on it since its passage. ... The governor originally supported the election reform bill because it approved a much-needed $90 million in funding for new voting machines, said state Rep. Kevin Boyle, the Democratic chair of the State Government Committee, where the bill originated. “Now the Governor has indicated he may veto it. We aren’t 100% sure though.”
2020 Census Form Will Not Include Citizenship Question, Trump Administration Says
The Trump administration admitted defeat on Tuesday, confirming that forms for the 2020 United States census will not include a question asking residents who respond to the survey if they are U.S. citizens. The change of plans follows last week’s Supreme Court decision that the Commerce Department had failed to provide a valid reason for adding the question.
The news was conveyed in an email from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights division to lawyers who had contested the effort in lawsuits, and confirmed to The Intercept by Kelly Laco, a spokesperson for the division.
Gotta love the mainstream media:
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s nuclear war warning might seem hyperbolic, but experts are split on whether she's actually that far off. https://t.co/NqFRfmmg4c
— ABC News (@ABC) June 28, 2019
Matt Taibbi: The debates exposed a weakness in Biden, Marianne Williamson getting standing O's
The Democrats Are Kinda Sorta Thinking About Hosting a Climate Debate
Climate activists — and more than a dozen Democratic presidential candidates — have been calling on the Democratic National Committee to host a debate focused solely on climate change. And for months, the top of the Democratic Party has essentially said “nope.”
That might be changing.
During a meeting of the DNC’s executive committee in Pittsburgh on Saturday, party officials introduced two proposals that would put climate change in the national spotlight during the Democratic primary. The party will make a decision on the proposals during their next meeting, in August in San Francisco, a DNC official told VICE News. It would be the first single-issue presidential debate in recent memory. ... There are two proposals on the table, a DNC official said: One is for a debate among the candidates on climate, introduced by Christine Pelosi and other members of the DNC; the second, put forward by South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson, is a forum rather than a debate, where candidates will give speeches presenting their platforms without debating their merits.
But the proposals don’t guarantee that the debate will move forward. Where the resolution stands now, it might not even go to a vote. All it guarantees is the resolutions committee will have to consider whether to put those resolutions to a vote before the party’s 447-member full voting body. Despite those calls, DNC chief Tom Perez told activists who confronted him last week that the party would not host a climate debate. “We don't have enough debates to do that,” he told the Sunrise Movement, which supports a debate rather than a forum.
With Poorest Bearing the Brunt, Report Warns Searing Temperatures of Global Heating Could Cost World Economy $2.4 Trillion by 2030
A new United Nations analysis warns that by 2030, labor impacts of rising temperatures and extreme weather tied to the human-caused climate crisis are projected to cost the global economy $2.4 trillion and exacerbate inequality worldwide. The report, entitled Working on a Warmer Planet: The Impact of Heat Stress on Labor Productivity and Decent Work (pdf), was published Monday by the Geneva-based International Labor Organization (ILO).
"Heat stress refers to heat received in excess of that which the body can tolerate without suffering physiological impairment," the report explains. "Such excess heat increases workers' occupational risks and vulnerability; it can lead to heatstroke and, ultimately, even to death."
In what the report frames as a "conservative estimate," researchers found that "projections based on a global temperature rise of 1.5°C by the end of the twenty-first century, and also on labor force trends, suggest that, in 2030, 2.2 percent of total working hours worldwide will be lost to high temperatures—a productivity loss equivalent to 80 million full-time jobs."
The anticipated economic losses, the report notes, are expected to disproportionately impact certain sectors and regions—particularly Southern Asia and Western Africa.
After Data Shows Last Month Was Hottest June on Record, Sanders Says Maybe Now Is 'Time to Start Treating This Like a Crisis and Not a Hoax'
In response to news on Tuesday that a European Union satellite agency declared last month the hottest June ever recorded, 2020 Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders said, "Maybe, just maybe, it's time to start treating this like a crisis and not a hoax."
With campaigners across the world demanding leaders respond to the crisis of the rapidly heating planet as the "climate emergency" it is, Sanders was responding to a tweet by 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben noting new data released by the UN-supported Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) that showed global temperatures last month were the highest ever recorded for June since records began in the late 19th century.
According to data from Copernicus, this past June was the warmest June on record. #ClimateChange #GlobalWarming https://t.co/YYlymNDs0b pic.twitter.com/qKGnqhYyDm
— Dr. Mark H. Shapiro (@doctormark2) July 2, 2019
According to C3S, average temperatures across Europe "were more than 2°C above normal" and the "global-average temperature for June 2019 was also the highest on record for the month." Globally, the temperature average, the group noted, was about 0.1°C higher than that of the previous warmest June, in 2016, following a strong El Niño event.
Summer has just begun for many, but already temperature records are being broken.@CopernicusECMWF just reported that last month was the hottest June EVER. We need to act like this is the climate emergency it is. Join the Sept 20 #ClimateStrike https://t.co/sYhos065GS pic.twitter.com/c9vhXYBRiJ
— 350 dot org (@350) July 2, 2019
Also of Interest
Here are some articles of interest, some which defied fair-use abstraction.
It’s Time To Admit That The US Is Signing The Checks For Greater Israel
Bolton pushes Trump to crush what’s left of the Iran deal before the 2020 election
No, Iran Is Not Rushing To Build A Nuclear Weapon
Creating a Climate for War With Iran
The Antiwar Movement No One Can See
Warning to Progressive Dems: You’re Leaving Corporate Media’s Comfort Zone
Tulsi Got Med4All Question Right! Warren & Harris FAIL
Revealed: rampant deforestation of Amazon driven by global greed of meat industry
A Little Night Music
Big Joe Williams - Baby, Please Don't Go
Big Joe Williams - When I First Left Home
Big Joe Williams - Delta Blues
Big Joe Williams - Meet Me Around the Corner
Big Joe Williams & Bob Dylan - Sittin On Top Of The World
Big Joe Williams - Hellhound On My Trail
Big Joe Williams - I'm Getting Wild About Her
Big Joe Williams - Mellow Peaches
Big Joe Williams - Rollin & Tumblin
Big Joe Williams - Highway 49
Comments
I was surprised to see you cite the Antiwar Movement
That No One Can See piece. It was an incoherent mess. It barely mentioned Tulsi and misrepresents other Ds as anti-war. The comments called the author out roundly.
chuck utzman
TULSI 2020
evening chuck...
i post things for a variety of reasons. some things, i think that everybody needs to be aware of. some things contain excellent points. some things i post to give folks a sense of how certain issues are being discussed.
i didn't personally think much of the author's analysis, but it does put the subject of what is going on with the (nearly invisible) antiwar movement out there for discussion.
So facebook allows the existence of secret groups
on their software platform?
I hope Sugarmountain will not be allowed to offer those in Europe. I have never used facebook and will boycott this .... for good.
I don't like private messaging and don't know why it is needed on C99p either.
YMMV.
Have you tried the contact project?
Something I host. Has been useful for many folks here. You will see it in the left sidebar. It is about communicating outside of the larger audience.
More private. Same as PM.
Just saying.
evening mimi...
there are a lot of platforms that host secret groups - or you could call them "invitation only" groups.
i don't personally have a problem with people creating private groups for discussion, fraternizing, education, commerce or organizing so long as they are not using them to avoid the transparency required for the public's legitimate business.
hmm, I think this article goes in depth
about facebook's hate groups violating facebook's standards.
Facebook Has Ignored Its Secret Hate Groups for Years
I have difficulties to see Facebook having any standards other than making profits from the freedom to hate.
We sometimes get spanked via
pm and we make up via pm.
dfarrah
that's why I would not read pms unless I love the author :-) /nt
Troubling...
Especially with the way Trump is treating human rights activists at the border. This started happening when he changed the way that immigrants would be treated. And so far no democrat has spoken about it.
As I said yesterday people who commit heinous crimes always seem to get off whilst those that try to expose them are persecuted.
Herheinous is tweeting about what's happening at the border with absolutely no self awareness of her role in it. I read about the Libyan refugee camp bombing earlier and wondered how Obama's life is these days. Has he even given a seconds thought to what he did to those people? Or is he too busy living the high life with his rich buddies?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
I see all the troublemakers are stacked at the top, here.
Carry on,
Good points, all.
Populations don’t like wars. They have to be lied into it.
That means we can be “truthed” into peace. — Julian Assange
evening snoopy...
i have been watching the u.s. proceed incrementally closer to fascism since i became politically aware.
when i was in college (in the 70's) people refused to believe me that we would eventually wind up here. i couldn't believe that they could see what was happening with the "war on drugs" among many other things and not see it coming.
well, here it is and people argue about the definition of concentration camps and whether or not this is "just like nazi germany" (as if that is the only way that fascism can be manifested).
i'm sure that hillary will forever deny that her actions in supporting the coup in hondouras have anything to do with the refugees teeming north.
there is not a spot in hell hot enough for her.
Amen, Joe!
She can join her friend McCain there and save seats for Obama, Bush, ..... lots of others and be joined by Bill, Madeline and Henry K. Wonder what Bush One and John are discussing?
Have you read Ray Balko's book, The Rise of the Warrior Cop? Excellent history of the rise of the police state starting with SWAT and how ByeDone helped destroy our rights starting with asset forfeiture. If you're interested I have a link to ByeDone doing that.
The term Inverted Totalitarianism really connects with what is happening today. Feel free to expand on your comment.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
heh...
i read a bunch of balko's articles and some extensive reviews of the book. i'm pretty sure that a long time ago in a galaxy far, far oranger than our own i wrote a couple of articles that quoted some of his insights. i really liked his observation that the reason why cops shouldn't be militarized is that the job of a soldier is to hunt down and kill people and destroy property, while the job of a cop (technically a peace officer) is to maintain the peace.
i feel like inverted totalitarianism was (and remains to a large extent) a valid understanding of u.s. governance. however, i feel that trump and his cronies are working hard to upright fascism to a more recognizable, older pattern and that they are succeeding to a degree that might even surprise sheldon wolin.
As I was the one who believed that the word
concentration camp refers only to Nazi Germany style of KZ, I would like to clarify that for me this was a learning process to see that what you have in the US are as well concentration camps. I didn't expect to learn about such conditions. Now I know better.
I am tired of fascism and wars, wars of words and wars of bombs and wars propaganda and manipulation. I am very tired of the conversations online. They kill people. Reason enough to leave those wars behind.
Nothing for Ungood.
Your curating of the border holocaust
...and the concentration camps on the US side, is just outstanding, Joe.
(My title includes the words that run through my logical mind whenever I focus on that situation. My apologies to anyone who has been trained to find them offensive. I regret that someone forced you to read them.)
I find Dr. Warren's prosecution very humbling and inspiring. I have never seen such blatant desperation and fear on the part of the government. It got me thinking about volunteering there.
Populations don’t like wars. They have to be lied into it.
That means we can be “truthed” into peace. — Julian Assange
One of the stories on your 'Also of Interest' list
Really deserves a read by the folks, here.
No, Iran is Not Rushing to Build a Nuclear Weapon.
Just to stay on top of their own annihilation.
—
Populations don’t like wars. They have to be lied into it.
That means we can be “truthed” into peace. — Julian Assange
I don't feel that using those words is offensive
So far 11 people have died in the camps since Trump became president. This is a hard article to read, but read we must.
Now We Know
The Nazis concentration camps didn't start out as death camps, but they did end up with killing people. Lots of people.
I too wonder how people who are working in the camps have given up their humanity and become so callous?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
evening pluto...
thanks!
and anybody who objects to the term "concentration camps" in this context is willfully blind and ignorant beyond the pale.
This is what Trump's supporters don't understand
those that see no problem with what he is doing to immigrants are probably not aware of what he's doing to American citizens who are trying to help the immigrants or trying to expose it.
This is why people who are upset about what's happening to immigrants are saying it's the start of a slippery slope.
"First they came for immigrants and I didn't speak out.
They came for journalists and human rights defenders and I didn't speak out.
They came for those who protested against what's happening at the border and I didn't speak out..."
Applying for asylum is legal, but people's rights are being revoked because of Trump's zero tolerance policies. I'm fully aware that lots of this happened during Obama's tenure too, but he is not the president now. Trump is and the buck stops with him.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Caitlin on Trump's tanks
and how people are freaking out about it. More than one person has said that this is Putin's America.
This isn't the first time this has happened...
JFKs inauguration
Eisenhower's inauguration.
FDRs inauguration.
On John McCain...
She has such a way with words doesn't she?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
That's why I thought Charles Blow's tweet was lame.
"Tanks in the nation's capital", like it was Tiananmen Square or something.
So far, Trump is more like P.T. Barnum than Hitler, no need to hyperventilate.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
evening azazello...
perhaps charles blow is not a terribly deep thinker (i really don't know, i don't remember ever reading anything he's written other than that tweet) and he was indicating that the mere fact that there are tanks in d.c. is indicative of fascism.
i would urge you to consider why the tanks are in d.c.
is it because trump is an infantile moron who likes to play with toys? or is it because he is attempting to enhance an image of executive power that is consonant with his other efforts to curry the favor of the military, police forces, domestic paramilitaries, armed-right wing thugs, bikers and beer hall bullies?
Tha tanks are in D.C for the exact same reason
that the Air Force Thunderbirds fly over the Superbowl.
We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.
heh...
ymmv, but i don't think that this is like the usual military public relations/recruiting effort.
trump has gone to a great deal of effort to orchestrate a particular kind of event - with his own performance to drive a message home. the message itself may not be overtly stated, though nobody knows from moment to moment when trump might go off script and accidentally (on purpose?) spill the beans.
trump has gone to a lot of effort, over the objections of the military itself as well as congress to put on this particular spectacle. it is a display of his personal power which will be uninterrupted by a football game.
I wished you were right, but I think you are wrong -redacted
I redacted it because I stepped on Americans' fee fees and should not do it.
I soooo want to post these photos on ToP
It's filled with photos of Hitler's military parades as well as other country's dictators. lol.. I did have fun on Twitter though.
Putin's America is trending... and people are freaking out about the tanks. One person asked why tanks needed a police escort.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Voting is like driving with a toy steering wheel.
Must be missing something
How does the military make a muir rika great?
Seems they are bleeding the life out of us.
Must be the theatrical images.
Or something.
evening qms...
the illusionary america that trump is trying to birth has little to do with most americans. it is about the power of one man, his cronies and his trusty thug forces.
great blues, sorry about the news... ;)
Big Joe was awesome... what a voice, and a great unique guitar player, friggin 9-string.
Amazing. Love that Baby Please Don't Go.
The dems are just waiting for the think tanks and focus group report on the optics of having vs. not having a climate debate. Because they really care, about optics. What they did so far was more of a pagent with a wee bit o' action.
Glad to see 400 Holocaust scholars make a statement against the numbskulls that can't actually correctly define 'concentration camp'. Was so not surprised to see Liz Cheney lead the charge. I presume McCain was right behind her.
Big Joe with Willie Dixon, 1966
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM-ebiCuVpo
Was glad to see a judge that understood basic law at sea.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/03/judge-releases-german-rescu...
thanks for the great tunes!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
evening dystopian...
i recommend finding big joe's early recordings and giving a listen. yeah, they're a bit poppy and scratchy, but his voice was really amazingly powerful when he was a younger man.
the dems are in a bind over the climate debate thing. they have to choose between their base - particularly the younger generations and their donors. i'm sure that they'll figure out a way to satisfy their large donors.
Hola, Joe & Gang! Getting ready
to make a couple of day trips over this holiday week and weekend. So, wanted to say 'hi,' and wish All a safe and fun Fourth.
Think I've posted this GIF, previously, but, it didn't have the pesky logo 'watermark' or whatever it's called. Anyhoo, it's the only one I've seen, that's appropriate for 4th of July. So, sorry if it doesn't show up.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t74/Barbara_Wyckoff/Holidays/July%204...
Actually, it may not work here, without clicking on the link. (It still works at WordPress, though.)
Next week, I'll post about a new online pet store I was referred to--by the manufacturer of a dog kibble we're starting Kaity on. They sell direct, but, they don't allow phone orders, and this outfit does both (phone and online orders). Like their Customer Support 'chat,' as well. Took only two days to arrive (free, orders over $49). Just like the dog food manufacturer, they didn't charge us sales tax--an almost 10% savings. As soon as I heard the text message alert (yesterday), voila--there it was. Talk about convenient.
Don't know why we didn't do this sooner.
Everyone have a nice evening.
Mollie
Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.
Interview with Zeyala was great.
I didn't know he was a reformed capitalist, never heard him speak before. Shame on Her, yet again. Bernie should be President at least once, so he could invite Daniel Ortega to some public housing at The White House. lol
"Does Media Lie?" Bernie Sanders Grills Journalists along with Jim Jeffords, Brian Burns (1985)
[video:https://youtu.be/icHiBruPkBY?t=1470]
Short Q&A transcript, starting 24m30s:
facetious gazinga
left wing party sounds pretty good
democratic party not so much
hmph
Raising the minimum wage
According to a conversation I had with someone that is against raising the minimum wage, the argument isn't that it will cause job losses. What I've been told is that if they raise the minimum wage, the price of everything will go up and no one will be able to afford anything still. What they want instead of a minimum wage raise is a cap on the price of everything - meds, housing costs, food - everything.
Forgive me if I'm wrong, but they haven't raised the minimum wage in 10 years and prices of everything went up anyway. So, my question is, how long do we have to wait to get more than $7.25 - 20 years, 30 years, when the world burns?
Is it great yet?
Nixon imposed price controls and he was a Republican
Why have strong measures like that since become unthinkable for presidents who were Democrats?