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This evening's music features blues guitarist and singer Iverson "Louisiana Red" Minter. Enjoy!

“There are many humorous things in the world; among them, the white man's notion that he is less savage than the other savages.”

-- Mark Twain

News and Opinion

Robert Fisk: "I Traced Al-Qaeda Missile Casings In Syria Back To Their Original Sellers"

Veteran Middle East war correspondent Robert Fisk recently published a bombshell report entitled, I traced missile casings in Syria back to their original sellers, so it’s time for the west to reveal who they sell arms to. In it Fisk recalls a bit of detective sleuthing he's lately been engaged in after stumbling upon a batch of missile casings and shipment paperwork last year hidden in what he describes as "the basement of a bombed-out Islamist base in eastern Aleppo" with the words "Hughes Aircraft Co/Guided Missile Surface Attack" emblazoned on the side of the spent tubes. Of course, the Syrian government recaptured the area from Islamist insurgents including al-Nusra terrorists and their allies in December 2016, and has made rapid gains throughout the country's east and south since; and Fisk has been trekking around the country to see what he can find. ...

The past year especially has seen an uptick in such systematic attempts to trace foreign-supplied weapons on the Syrian battlefield, most of them recovered from internationally designated terrorists groups (even ISIS), back to their origination points. We've previously detailed a number of these reports, for example: Journalist Interrogated, Fired For Story Linking CIA And Syria Weapons Flights as well as Weapons Went From The CIA To ISIS In Less Than Two Months — the latter based on extensive arms tracking and field forensics research produced by Conflict Armament Research (CAR).

Robert Fisk, however, represents the rare instance of a prominent journalist on a lone mission to trace weapons serial numbers recovered from the foreign-backed Syrian insurgency back to their origins in the United States. ... Fisk writes further that even if he doesn't ultimately come up with the American base from which the missiles originated, as well as specific factory they were made, he knows one thing for sure, that both Hughes/Raytheon and the US government have erected a paper trail system designed to shield them from violating anti-terror laws.

He explains of this legal cover, "This missile will have been manufactured and sold by Hughes/Raytheon absolutely legally to a Nato, pro-Nato or “friendly” (i.e. pro-American) power (government, defence ministry, you name it), and there will exist for it an End User Certificate (EUC), a document of impeccable provenance which will be signed by the buyers – in this case by the chaps who purchased the Tow missiles in very large numbers – stating that they are the final recipients of the weapons." And yet there's no actual way of knowing that the official "recipients" identified as the "end user" are in fact the end users, as Fisk's investigation proves (for the fact that he found the missile batch in a former Nusra/ISIS/al-Qaeda stronghold).

Western-produced weapons end up in terrorists’ hands

Israel to declare Gaza protest killings ‘operational mishaps’

An internal investigation by the Israeli military into the killing of at least 140 Palestinians in Gaza during the Great March of Return is set to conclude all died as a result of “operational mishaps” and that “weapons fire was carried out in accordance with open-fire orders”. The investigation will also recommend that there is no need for the incidents to be referred to the Israeli Military Police for further investigation, Haaretz reported.

Haaretz added that “the team found that in each incident, […] none of the Israeli army sharpshooters had deliberately targeted uninvolved Palestinian bystanders.” The report will also suggest “demonstrators intruded into the line of fire after troops had opened fire and [there were] incidents in which bullets ricocheted, subsequently hitting Palestinians.”

The investigation team will now pass its recommendations to Israel’s Military Advocate General, Major General Sharon Afek, who will have final say on whether to further investigate the matter.

Israel’s Unrelenting Killings, Siege Try to Crush Gaza’s Protests

Gaza Flotilla Ship Al Awda Violently Seized by Israelis

Israeli soldiers in international waters boarded the Al Awda ship headed to Gaza to deliver relief supplies on Sunday, detaining everyone on board after beating and tasering some passengers, according to an eyewitness account. Only two of the 22 passengers on the ship have been released, with the rest being held in Givon prison in Israel, the flotilla’s organizers said on Monday.

One of those released, Zohar Chamberlain Regev, an Israeli citizen, contested an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) statement that the ship had been captured “without exceptional incident.”

“People on board were tasered and hit by masked IOF soldiers. We did not get our passports or belongings before we got off the boat. Do not believe reports of peaceful interception,” Regev said in a statement to the organizers, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. Regev referred to the IDF derogatorily as the Israeli Offense Force. He said he saw “blood on the deck of the Al Awda as the last participants were being dragged off the ship,” according to the coalition’s statement. Regev and a second Israeli passenger, who has not yet been identified, were charged with attempting to enter Gaza and conspiracy before being released.

“A military attack on a civilian vessel is a violent act and a violation of international law,” the flotilla organizers said in its statement. “Taking 22 people from international waters to a country which is not their destination constitutes an act of kidnapping, which is also unlawful under the international Convention of the Law of Sea.”

France 24 Insights: The secret history of Israel’s assassinations

German far-right extremists have “enemy lists” with information on 35,000 people

German right-wing extremists have compiled “enemy lists” featuring the details of more than 35,000 people ­— but so far, authorities have warned only a handful of the potential targets, according to a German MP. The information was revealed in response to a parliamentary question posted by German MP Martina Renner, a lawmaker for the left-wing Die Linke party, who focuses on right-wing extremism. She asked the German government how many people were on so-called enemy lists of neo-Nazi groups, and how many of them had been informed.

The results, she said, were “extremely worrying.” Investigations into prominent right-wing extremist groups including the National Socialist Underground, an alleged far-right terror cell in the German military, and the far-right prepper group Nordkreuz, had revealed the existence of a number of such lists, including contact details for the listed “enemies.”

Yet only a handful of the 35,000 people on the lists have been informed they were potential targets, a situation Renner called “completely absurd.” ...

“The federal government simply ignores the right-wing terrorist threat,” said Renner.

Iran tells Trump: Rejoin the nuclear accord, then we can talk

Iranian officials had a swift response Tuesday to Donald Trump’s spontaneous offer to meet with his Iranian counterpart: Rejoin the nuclear deal first. The comment from Hamid Aboutalebi, a political advisor to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, came after Trump declared that he was prepared to meet the Iranian leadership “anytime they want.”

“Good for the country, good for them, good for us and good for the world,” Trump told a news conference at the White House Monday alongside Italy’s Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte. “No preconditions. If they want to meet, I’ll meet.” ...

Next month, the U.S. will reimpose the first tranche of sanctions — targeting cars, gold and other metals — that had been lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal, a move that has already hit Iran’s economy. A second tranche, targeting the energy sector and transactions with Iran's Central Bank, is due to come into effect in November. In light of the sanctions, Iranian officials said their government isn’t ready for a sit-down. Aboutalebi was quoted by Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency as saying any meeting would first require a return to the nuclear accord, as well as a reduction in hostilities and “respect for the great nation of Iran.”

“Those who believe in dialogue as a method of resolving disputes in civilized societies should be committed to the means,” he said.

Syrian government forces seal victory in southern territories

The Syrian regime has reclaimed a sliver of territory in southern Syria that was under the control of Islamic State, sealing its military victory in the strategic southern territories that rebelled in 2011 against Bashar al-Assad and fully reestablishing its hold over the frontier with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, said forces loyal to the Syrian regime had taken control of the last towns and villages in the province of Daraa that were under the control of Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Waleed, an Isis affiliate that controlled the Syrian part of the Yarmouk River basin, a tributary that runs through Syria, Jordan and Israel. ...

The Assad regime, backed by Russian airstrikes, launched a campaign in mid-June to recover control of the southern and south-western parts of the country bordering Jordan and the Golan Heights – the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra. Rebel groups that had controlled most of the area for years quickly caved to the government’s advance after western backers including the US that had supported those fighters for years abandoned them and signalled they would not intervene to halt the regime’s offensive.

Most towns and cities in Daraa and Quneitra capitulated in “reconciliation” deals that gave rebel fighters and civilians a choice between forced displacement to opposition territories in northern Syria or reconciling with the Assad regime. Most have chosen to stay, and some rebel groups joined the regime’s offensive against Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Waleed.

“Quiet Skies”? Boston Globe Exposé Reveals TSA Is Secretly Surveilling Thousands of U.S. Travelers

Amazon Promises “Unwavering” Commitment to Police, Military Clients Using AI Technology

While some Silicon Valley giants grapple with the ethics of offering cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to military and law enforcement agencies with histories of abuse, Amazon, apparently, has no reservations.

When asked about the culture “gap” between Amazon employees — who have protested the sale of facial recognition technology to law enforcement — and the company’s “executive level” interests, Teresa Carlson, vice president of the worldwide public sector of Amazon Web Services, was frank. “We are committed to our customer, and we are unwaveringly committed to the U.S. government and the governments we work with around the world,” Carlson declared at the Aspen Security Forum on July 20 in Colorado. Carlson’s remarks, largely unreported outside of a mention in a technology trade journal, mark the lengthiest public discussion in recent months of Amazon’s role as a technology provider for military and law enforcement, which has been a source of substantial controversy for the company.

Amazon workers recently circulated a letter to chief executive Jeff Bezos protesting the sale of Amazon’s facial recognition software, called Rekognition, to law enforcement; the letter cited the Department of Homeland Security’s “increasingly inhumane treatment of refugees and immigrants.” The American Civil Liberties Union raised concerns about the sale of Amazon’s technology, charging that Rekognition could allow police to constantly monitor and harass ethnic minorities and political dissidents. Microsoft and Salesforce have similarly faced internal pressure from employees to end work on behalf of DHS, with workers outraged that their companies enable U.S. immigration policies.

US Suddenly Buys More Ecuadorian Oil: Is It Also Buying Assange’s Arrest?

Speaking in Madrid on Friday, Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno told an audience that WikiLeaks founder and editor-in-chief Julian Assange would need to leave Ecuador’s London embassy “eventually.” ... However, Moreno asserted that Assange’s “departure [from the embassy] should come about through dialogue.” He went on to state that “for a person to stay confined like that for so long is tantamount to a human rights violation” and affirmed his commitment to reach a resolution to Assange’s situation that did not “pose a danger” to the journalist’s life.

Moreno’s sincerity in his concern for Assange’s “human rights” is dubious at best, given that on March 27, Moreno cut off Assange’s access to the internet and all visitors — aside from his legal team. ... Thus, Moreno’s concern for the WikiLeaks editor’s “human rights” might easily be mistaken for an attempt to deflect recent criticism that has accused him of acquiescing to U.S. demands that Ecuador revoke Assange’s asylum and evict him from the embassy. ...

Moreno’s recent statements continue to add to the speculation that Ecuador will soon give in to those U.S. demands, particularly given the increasing pressure the Trump administration has placed on Ecuador regarding Assange’s situation. According to some reports, the U.S. has threatened to block an International Monetary Fund loan to Ecuador over the Assange case. In addition, over the last two weeks, the U.S. has imported a record amount of Ecuadorian oil, leading to speculation that a deal or pay-off may have been made to ensure Moreno’s cooperation with Washington’s long-standing efforts to have Assange arrested and extradited.

Julian Assange's fate rests on death penalty assurances, Ecuador's President says

Speaking in Madrid, President Lenín Moreno suggested Ecuador was seeking guarantees that whatever Assange's eventual fate, he would not face the death penalty. ... Moreno said the previous Ecuadorian government granted Assange asylum because it agreed his life was in danger. "The death penalty does not exist in Ecuador, and we knew that possibility existed... The only thing we want is a guarantee that his life will not be in danger," Moreno said.

In a statement Friday, Moreno's communication's office stressed the President "hasn't ordered, at any moment, the removal of Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy in London." Ecuador's government has no desire that Assange remain "in asylum his whole life" and urged "a solution to a problem we inherited," the statement said. ...

The government of British Prime Minister Theresa May played down any suggestion of an imminent change in Assange's status. A Downing Street spokesperson told CNN that discussions were "ongoing" but that a time frame for Assange's departure from the embassy had not been discussed. Discussions had not taken place during Moreno's recent visit to the UK, the spokesperson said. US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said last April that the Department of Justice was preparing charges against Assange, and that his arrest was a "priority."
Under the terms of an extradition treaty between the US and the UK, US authorities could request Assange's detention in London. British authorities have refused to say whether the US has submitted a formal extradition request.

Keiser Report: Apocalypse is Coming?

Faneuil Hall: Boston landmark named after slaveowner faces boycott

Boston’s Faneuil Hall has served as a home for civic rhetoric from the time colonists congregated to talk about freedom from the British. But the site known as the Cradle of Liberty is named after wealthy 18th-century slaveowner Peter Faneuil, much to the chagrin of activists who are planning a boycott.

Kevin Peterson is leading the boycott of the city-owned building this week, saying the hall was constructed from money derived from the sale of slaves, and that the city’s African Americans don’t feel a connection to the site. Peterson said letters to Democratic Mayor Martin Walsh’s office and the Boston city council calling for a public hearing have gone unanswered.

As an alternative, Peterson and other members of the New Democracy Coalition are calling for the name to be changed to commemorate Crispus Attucks, a black man who was killed during the 1770 Boston Massacre, generally considered the first casualty of the American Revolution. ...

Merchant Peter Faneuil offered to build a public market house in 1740 as a gift to the city on the site where slaves had previously been auctioned. Completed two years later, the hall served as a meeting spot for colonists planning to overthrow King George III’s rule over the 13 colonies.

Outrage after Aloha Poke Co tells Hawaiians to stop using 'Aloha' in business names

Hawaii residents are calling out a Chicago-based poke chain after it tried to stop other US restaurants selling the trendy sushi bowls from using “Aloha” in their business names, accusing the company of cultural appropriation.

In May, lawyers for Aloha Poke Co, sent cease-and-desist letters to a native Hawaiian family business in Anchorage, Alaska, ordering it to stop using “Aloha” or “Aloha Poke” in its name, Aloha Poke Stop. Aloha Poke Co had done the same to other shops around the country, including at least one in Hawaii, where poke originated. Over the weekend, the Anchorage business announced that it had been bullied into changing its name, setting off a firestorm in the Hawaiian community. ...

“Aloha” literally means both “face to face” and “breath of life,” according to Davianna Pōmaikaʻi McGregor, a Hawaii historian. It is a Native Hawaiian word used around the islands in place of “hello” and “goodbye”. But the word is also an important cultural concept for the islands’ culture, and its generally peaceful, kind and welcoming way of life. Poke is a native Hawaiian food – and recent foodie fad off the islands – consisting of raw fish seasoned with spices and served over rice. Aloha Poke Co has allegedly been targeting poke restaurants around the country that have similar names for the past two years, citing a 2016 trademark. ...

Kaniela Ing, a Hawaii State Representative who is also a chair of Hawaiian Affairs, said in a video posted on Twitter: “It’s bad enough that [aloha] has been used and commodified over time. But this is the next level. To think that you have legal ownership over one of the most profound Hawaiian values – it’s just something else.” Ing encouraged people to boycott the Chicago-based chain.

Ing also pointed out that there were several Aloha Poke outfits in Hawaii that also use that name. “They should be suing you,” Ing said. “But they probably won’t, because that’s not ‘aloha’.”

Judge Orders Trump Admin to Stop Drugging Migrant Children

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee of Los Angeles ruled on Monday that a Texas detention center for unaccompanied migrant children and those forcibly separated from their families by the Trump administration must stop administering psychotropic drugs without parental consent.

"A federal court has now confirmed what we already knew: Children are suffering abusive treatment and cruel and inhumane conditions in government detention centers," responded Jess Morales Rocketto of Families Belong Together, a coalition of groups opposing the administration's family separation policy. "Children belong with their families, not scared, alone, and subject to abuse in prison-like conditions."

As Common Dreams reported last month, court filings alleged that children detained at the nonprofit Shiloh Treatment Center near Houston were forced to take drugs such as Clonazepam, Divalproex, Benztropine, and Duloxetine—used to treat seizures, Parkinson's disease, and depression—which led them to feel "dizzy, lethargic, and even incapacitated."

Although immigrant rights advocates welcomed Gee's ruling, which found that Shiloh staff had violated the state's child welfare laws, as one attorney unaffiliated with the case put it, "That this even has to be said is grotesque."

Ron Dellums (1935-2018): Organizing for Peace Forces Us to Challenge All Forms of Injustice

Ron Dellums, Radical Antiwar Activist, Unlikely House Armed Services Chairman, Dead at 82

Former Rep. Ronald V. Dellums, a Marine-turned-antiwar activist who represented Oakland in the House and went on to chair the Armed Services Committee, died of cancer early Monday in Washington. He was 82.

Dellums was elected to thirteen terms as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives and was the first African American elected to Congress from Northern California.

Though he ran as a Democrat, and caucused as a Democrat in Congress, Dellums described himself as a Socialist. He was the first self-described socialist in Congress since Victor L. Berger. In the 1970s, Dellums was a member of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC), an offshoot of the Socialist Party of America. He later became vice-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which was formed by a merger between the DSOC and the New American Movement, and which works within and outside the Democratic Party.

Known for championing a progressive agenda that put civil rights and programs for people ahead of weapons systems and warfare, his career in politics spanned over 40 years, 27 of them in Congress and four as mayor of Oakland.

Trump just attacked the “globalist” Koch brothers, calling them “a total joke”

Donald Trump lashed out at the "globalist" Koch brothers Tuesday, calling them “a total joke” among Republicans after members of the conservative megadonors' network criticized the White House’s protectionist trade policies over the weekend.

Trump claimed he had beaten the brothers “at every turn,” that their network of donors was “overrated” and that their attacks on his administration were prompted by a desire to protect their own business interests.

“They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. from being taxed, I’m for America First & the American Worker — a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas,” Trump tweeted.

Leaders of the Koch network surprised Washington Saturday when they announced that their American for Progress group of roughly 500 top conservative donors would no longer solely fund GOP candidates, but would also consider pro-growth Democrats.

Bigfoot Porn Has Become A Major Controversy In A U.S. House Race. Seriously.

A Democratic candidate in a hotly contested U.S. House race in Virginia has accused her opponent of supporting white supremacists — oh, and also of liking Bigfoot porn. Democrat Leslie Cockburn sparked a Twitter frenzy on Sunday by sharing a curious drawing, apparently taken from Republican rival Denver Riggleman’s Instagram page, showing a Bigfoot-like creature with its genitals obscured by a “censored” sign.

Riggleman was “caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist,” Cockburn wrote in the tweet, referring to video showing her opponent hitting the campaign trail with Isaac Smith, co-founder of the white nationalist group Unity & Security for America.

“Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica,” Cockburn continued.

My opponent Denver Riggleman, running mate of Corey Stewart, was caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist. Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/0eBvxFd6sG

— Leslie Cockburn (@LeslieCockburn) July 29, 2018

Ignoring Climate Threat and Economic Realities, Trump Brags About Building Fleet of LNG Terminals in EU—And Europe 'Will Pay For' Them

Responding to questions from reporters during a joint press conference with Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the White House on Monday, President Donald Trump echoed his "And-Mexico's-Gonna-Pay-for-It" routine by announcing plans to build liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals across the continent for the expressed purpose of importing fracked gas from the United States. "We are already talking to the European Union about building anywhere from nine to 11 ports—which they will pay for—so that we can ship our LNG over to various parts of Europe," Trump stated. "And that will be more competition."

In response to a question about a gas pipeline from Russia, Trump said, "I'd like to see a competing pipeline" to that. Turning to Conte, Trump added, "So Mr. Prime Minister, I hope we're going to be able to do that competing pipeline." ...

Despite the president's claims about what the EU will do, there's little evidence to support the idea that Europe is on the verge of a giant LNG import binge. As Reuters noted, "three-quarters of Europe's existing import facilities lie empty while demand for U.S. LNG on the continent remains limited." According to an analysis by Food & Water Watch Europe released earlier this year, the utilization rate of Europe's existing LNG import terminals shows there is no need for new facilities.

As California burns, many fear the future of extreme fire has arrived

Recent California wildfires in California are notable for their ferocity. At least six people have died, including two firefighters, in the past month in fires that continue to blaze, and 44 died as a result of last year’s wine country fires. The conflagrations have also spawned bizarre pyrotechnics, from firenados to towering pyrocumulus clouds that evoke a nuclear detonation. These events are not aberrations, say experts. They are California’s future.

As of Monday morning, the Carr fire had burned more than 98,000 acres, and containment stood at 20%, with more than 5000 structures threatened. In the evening, Cal Fire began lifting evacuation orders, allowing residents mostly on the east side of the fire to return home.

Awareness of fires “is not just because the news is covering it more”, said Michael Wehner, a senior staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “More acres are burning. That is almost certainly due to climate change.” As the climate shifts, so does fire behavior. Summers are longer and drier. Sometimes the winter rains are meager for years, as in the recent five-year drought. Sometimes, like this year, they are torrential, producing explosive plant growth that, several months later, desiccates into prime accelerant. The needle is moving, but where it will stop is anybody’s guess.

“Climate change is continuing to unfold,” said Anthony LeRoy Westerling, a professor of management of complex systems at the University of California, Merced. “The impacts from it will probably accelerate. There won’t be a new normal in our lifetimes.” He said the Carr fire is one of “a bunch of large fires which have behaved in uncharacteristic ways” in recent years in the west.

Teenagers' Climate Lawsuit Against Trump Can Proceed, Supreme Court Rules

A group of teenagers and younger children secured a victory in their case against the Trump administration this week, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that their lawsuit demanding that the federal government take stronger action against the climate crisis can proceed.

The high court rejected the Trump administration's request that the case be halted. The ruling follows similar decisions from the U.S. District Court in Oregon and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The case, known as Juliana vs. the United States, will now be heard by the Oregon court.

"This decision should give young people courage and hope that their third branch of government, all the way up to the Supreme Court, has given them the green light to go to trial in this critical case about their unalienable rights," said Julia Olson, chief legal counsel and executive director of Our Children's Trust, which is representing the plaintiffs. "We look forward to presenting the scientific evidence of the harms and dangers these children face as a result of the actions their government has taken to cause the climate crisis.”

Also of Interest

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

How Ahed Tamimi Became the Symbol of Palestinian Resistance to Israeli Oppression

A siege. A bomb. 48 dogs. And the black commune that would not surrender

A piece of Alaskan paradise is at risk

A Little Night Music

Louisiana Red - Bring It On Home To Me

Louisiana Red - I Done Woke Up

Louisiana Red - I Had A Feeling

Louisiana Red - The Story Of Louisiana Red

Louisiana Red - I'm Too Poor To Die

Louisiana Red - My Heart's a Loser

Louisiana Red - When My Mama Was Living

Louisiana Red w/Sunnyland Slim's Blues Band & Carey Bell - You Can't Mistreat A Brother

Louisiana Red - Thirty Dirty Women!

Louisiana Red & Little Victor's Juke Joint - The Black Bayou

Louisiana Red - Little Girl, Take Your Time

Louisiana Red - Vienna Blues Festival, Vienna 2005