The Evening Blues - 9-20-17



eb1pt12


The day's news roundup + tonight's musical feature: Jack Teagarden

Hey! Good Evening!

This evening's music features jazz trombonist and singer Jack Teagarden. Enjoy!

Louis Armstrong & Jack Teagarden - Rockin' Chair

“It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.”

-- Noël Coward


News and Opinion

At Harvard, Chelsea Manning Lost Her Fellowship. At Fordham, a Former CIA Torture Proponent Kept His.

It took less than 48 hours for Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government to revoke its fellowship invitation to whistleblower Chelsea Manning. The announcement that Manning would be a visiting fellow at the school’s Institute of Politics had been met with resistance from current and former denizens of the national security state — a former CIA director resigned his position as a fellow, and President Donald Trump’s CIA Director Mike Pompeo withdrew from a planned speech at the school.

About 200 miles south of Cambridge, Massachusetts, an inverse but much quieter debate unfolded after a top CIA veteran was named to an elite university fellowship. This much, however, resembled the row at Harvard: The security state is poised to win out in this showdown, too.

On September 4, former CIA Director John Brennan began a two-year stint as a “distinguished fellow for global security” at Fordham University’s Center on National Security at Fordham Law, in New York. Brennan, a 1977 Fordham graduate, will participate in discussions at the school, make himself available to students during office hours, and sit in on classes in advance of teaching his own in the future.

Some in the Fordham community — including faculty and alumni who were involved in activism against awarding Brennan a 2012 honorary doctorate of humane letters from the school — believe naming the former top spy to a fellowship sends the wrong message, especially given Brennan’s record of support for controversial policies.

Brennan's appointment as a fellow is stirring up emotions from the fight over his honorary degree. The fellowship announcement sparked a “mixture of fury and indignation tempered by profound disappointment,” said sociology professor Jeanne Flavin. Flavin, who was a member of Fordham Faculty Against Torture, also expressed a sense of cynicism over the decision. ... Gunar Olsen, a 2017 graduate who was a student activist with Fordham Faculty Against Torture, told The Intercept that the 2012 honor was offensive because of what it represents. “Awarding an honorary degree to someone contributes nothing of substantive value to a school,” said Olsen. “But it does indicate where a school administration’s politics lie.” Olsen pointed out that an honorary degree awarded to Bill Cosby was rescinded in 2015.

Trump Falls in Line with Interventionism

Trump’s [UNGA] speech may have extinguished any flickering hope that his presidency might achieve some valuable course corrections in how the United States deals with the world, i.e., shifting away from the disastrous war/interventionist policies of his two predecessors. Before the speech, there was at least some thinking that his visceral disdain for the neoconservatives, who mostly opposed his nomination and election, might lead him to a realization that their policies toward Iran, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere were at the core of America’s repeated and costly failures in recent decades. ...

Just this century, the United States has invaded multiple nations without U.N. authorization, based on various “coalitions of the willing” and other subterfuges for wars of aggression, which the Nuremberg Tribunals deemed the “supreme international crime” and which the U.N. was specifically created to prevent. Not only did President George W. Bush invade both Afghanistan and Iraq – while also sponsoring “anti-terror” operations in many other countries – but President Barack Obama acknowledged ordering military attacks in seven countries, including against the will of sovereign states, such as Libya and Syria. Obama also supported a violent coup against the elected government of Ukraine.

For his part, Trump already has shown disdain for international law by authorizing military strikes inside Yemen and Syria. In other words, if not for the fear of provoking American anger, many of the world’s diplomats might have responded with a barrage of catcalls toward Trump for his blatant hypocrisy. Without doubt, the United States is the preeminent violator of sovereignty and international law in the world today, yet Trump wagged his finger at others, including Russia (over Ukraine) and China (over the South China Sea). ... Then, with a seeming blindness to how much of the world sees the United States as a law onto itself, Trump added: “The scourge of our planet today is a small group of rogue regimes that violate every principle on which the United Nations is based.”

Despite some of his “America First” rhetoric – tossed in as red meat to his “base” – Trump revealed a global outlook that differed from the Bush-Obama neoconservative/liberal-interventionist approach in words only. In substance, Trump appears to be just the latest American poodle on Bibi Netanyahu’s leash. For instance, Trump bragged about attacking Syria over a dubious chemical-weapons claim while ignoring the role of the Saudi/Israeli tandem in assisting Al Qaeda and its Syrian affiliate; Trump threatened the international nuclear agreement with Iran while calling for regime change in Tehran, two of Netanyahu’s top priorities; and Trump warned that he would “totally destroy North Korea” over its nuclear and missile programs while making no mention of Israel’s rogue nuclear arsenal and sophisticated delivery capabilities. ...

So, what Trump made clear in his U.N. address is that his “America First” and “pro-sovereignty” rhetoric is simply cover for a set of policies that are indistinguishable from those pushed by the neocons of the Bush administration or the liberal interventionists of the Obama administration. The rationalizations may change but the endless wars and “regime change” machinations continue.

Trump's Threat to 'Totally Destroy' North Korea is Illegal

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un vows to achieve military 'equilibrium' with US

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to achieve “equilibrium” in military force with the US. He outlined the ambition as the United Nations Security Council strongly condemned Pyongyang’s latest “highly provocative” ballistic missile launch over Japan. ...

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said Mr Kim had expressed great satisfaction about the launch, which he said verified the “combat efficiency and reliability” of the missile. He vowed to complete his nuclear weapons programme in the face of strengthening international sanctions, the agency reported.

“As recognised by the whole world, we have made all these achievements despite the UN sanctions that have lasted for decades,” the agency quoted Mr Kim as saying.

He said the country’s final goal “is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the US and make the US rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK,” referring to North Korea‘s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. ... Mr Kim said his country, despite “limitless” international sanctions, had nearly completed the building of its nuclear arsenal and called for “all-state efforts” to reach the goal and obtain a “capacity for nuclear counter attack the US cannot cope with”.

Mattis: Use of tactical nuclear weapons discussed with South Korea

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed Monday that the U.S. and South Korea have discussed employing tactical nuclear weapons as an option to defend against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

Was Trump aiming at North Korea's Rocket Man or his friend next door?

On the face of it, Donald Trump’s threat to “totally destroy” North Korea was aimed squarely at Kim Jong-un and the twisted and reckless “band of criminals” he said surrounded him. ... But was the North Korean dictator Trump’s true target, or was it really the man next door?

Some experts suspect Trump’s incendiary ultimatum was in fact directed at Chinese president Xi Jinping, whose assistance he is seeking in the crusade against what he dubbed Kim’s “depraved regime”.

Bonnie Glaser, director of the China power project at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said: “The way Trump speaks about North Korea … suggests he believes that if he is very, very tough that he can somehow persuade other countries to do more against North Korea: that he can bully them into doing more.”

In the case of China, that meant convincing Xi to cut off North Korea’s crude oil supply, a game-changing move that could, eventually, topple Kim’s regime.

Glaser said it was hard to know how such threats might affect Beijing’s calculus. But the message to Xi was clear: “If you guys don’t do more and you really don’t curb your oil exports, then we are going to strike.”

Chinese commentators are split on whether Trump’s gambit will pay off.

UN General Assembly: Macron defends Iran deal

Iran warns of “painful responses” after Trump criticizes nuclear deal

The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday that the U.S. would experience “painful responses” after President Donald Trump and his top diplomat threatened to walk away from the historic nuclear deal.

The future of the landmark 2015 pact hangs in the balance after Trump’s feisty “America First” speech before the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, in which he labelled Tehran a “murderous regime,” and warned that the U.S. “cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program.” ...

Trump’s comments drew a predictably angry response from Iran Tuesday, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif labelling them “ignorant hate speech” that was “unworthy of a reply.” Rouhani, who will address the U.N. Wednesday morning, said in an NBC interview Tuesday prior to Trump’s U.N. appearance that if Washington walked away from the deal, “no one will trust America again.”

Iranian president Rouhani condemns 'ignorant, absurd, hateful' Trump speech

Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, has said his country would respond “decisively and resolutely” if the US walks away from the nuclear deal agreed with other countries in 2015. Rouhani was speaking at the UN general assembly a day after a speech by Donald Trump, in which the US president repeated his denunciations of the deal signed by Barack Obama as the “worst ever”, and encouraged Iranians to overthrow their government.

The Iranian president described Trump’s speech – in which he also threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea – as “ignorant, absurd and hateful rhetoric” that was beneath the dignity of the UN general assembly. “It would be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics,” Rouhani said. “The world will have lost a great opportunity,” he declared.

Rouhani said that the 2015 deal, signed by Iran and six world powers in Vienna, could become “a new model for international relations”. As a result of the agreement, Rouhani said Iran had “opened our doors to engagement and cooperation”, and he insisted that Tehran would abide strictly to its terms. “Iran will not be the first country to violate the agreement,” Rouhani said. “But it will respond decisively and resolutely to its violation by any party.” ...

The other signatories of the agreement – the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – have confirmed Iran is sticking to its obligations, and have urged Washington not to walk away from the deal that the Obama administration signed. On Tuesday, the UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, told the Guardian: “We are continually urging the Americans not to tear it up.” He added: “I have to tell you the odds are perhaps 50-50.” Speaking after Trump on Tuesday, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, also defended the deal, saying that its collapse would set the scene for a nuclear standoff as serious as the situation on the Korean peninsula.

Trump Administration Wants to Increase CIA Drone Strikes

When President Donald Trump visited CIA headquarters in the first weeks of his presidency, he toured the secure floor where agency officers direct drone strikes against suspected terrorists, current and former U.S. officials told NBC News. Impressed by what he saw, Trump conveyed to incoming CIA Director Mike Pompeo and the assembled agency officers that he wanted them to take a more aggressive posture, according to two current U.S. officials and one former official briefed on the visit.

Soon afterward, multiple sources said, the CIA began carrying out drone strikes that might not have been authorized under the Obama administration, including in Syria, where the military has taken the lead on targeting militant leaders.

The White House granted CIA officers more autonomy to decide on whether and when the U.S. can pull the trigger in various places around the world, including in Yemen, where the military carries out the bulk of the airstrikes, according to four U.S. officials who have been briefed on the agency's counterterrorism operations. The upshot is less micromanaging of targeting decisions by the White House, these officials say.

Now, the Trump administration is contemplating additional policy changes that will further expand the CIA's authority to conduct drone strikes in a number of countries, both in and out of war zones. Such a move would reverse years of effort by President Barack Obama to reduce the CIA's role in targeted killing and shift that responsibility to the military. It could also mean more civilian casualties in CIA drone strikes.

The drone playbook, known as the Presidential Policy Guidance, or PPG, includes a provision that no strike should go forward unless analysts determine that there is a near-certainty that no civilians will be harmed. And it includes a provision forbidding the addition of new detainees to the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Trump administration is contemplating removing both of those restrictions, officials involved in the planning told NBC News.

Trump Slammed as "Enemy to Most of the World" as He Vows Not to Lift Sanctions on Cuba

Turkish president: Trump apologized for indictment of security staff in brawl

After the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, claimed Donald Trump called to apologize for the US indictment of 15 Turkish security officials over a violent brawl with peaceful anti-Erdogan protesters in Washington this year, the White House issued a denial.

In an interview with PBS’s Judy Woodruff to air on Tuesday night, Erdogan said, according to a translator: “President Trump called me about a week ago about this issue. He said that he was sorry and he told me that he was going to follow up on this issue when we come to the United States within the framework of an official visit.”


A White House official told the Guardian: “They discussed a wide range of issues but there was no apology.”

In May, according to witnesses, violence broke out when the Turkish president’s security detail attacked protesters while Erdogan was visiting Washington DC. The protesters were waving a flag of a Kurdish political party. Nine people were injured. One eyewitness, Seyid Riza Dersimi, told the Guardian at the time: “This is crazy – they are kicking us, I could have died – this is America, this is unacceptable.”

Spain: Catalan leader accuses Government of imposing 'de facto' state of emergency

Catalan president says Madrid is suspending region’s autonomy

Catalonia’s president has accused the Spanish government of suspending the region’s autonomy after police intensified efforts to stop a vote on independence that has sparked one of the worst political crises since Spain’s return to democracy four decades ago. Spanish Guardia Civil officers raided a dozen Catalan regional government offices and arrested 14 senior officials on Wednesday as part of an operation to stop the referendum from taking place on 1 October.

Carles Puigdemont, the head of Catalonia’s pro-sovereignty government, described the raids as a “a co-ordinated police assault” that showed that Madrid “has de facto suspended self-government and applied a de facto state of emergency” in Catalonia. He also appeared to draw a parallel between the raids and the repression and abuses of the Franco dictatorship, tweeting: “We will not accept a return to the darkest times. The government is in favour of liberty and democracy.” ...

As news of the arrests emerged, a crowd began to gather outside the finance ministry, one of the targets of the raids. By mid morning the crowd had swelled to more than 2,000 people blocking Gran Via, one of Barcelona’s principal thoroughfares. By late afternoon, under the clatter of surveillance helicopters and with a heavy police presence, the angry but peaceful rally had grown to some 5,000, with hundreds more people joining as they finished work or got out of school.

The crowd, breaking into the Catalan national anthem and waving placards reading “We are voting to be free,” began by chanting “No tinc por” (I’m not afraid) – the slogan used in response to last month’s terrorist attacks in the city. But the chant was soon replaced by a new cry: “Occupation forces out!”

Catalan mayors exercise right to remain silent in referendum questioning

The first of hundreds of Catalan mayors summoned to answer questions on why they have backed a banned Oct. 1 referendum on independence from Spain appeared before the state prosecutor on Tuesday amid cheers and chants from supporters. The first three mayors to declare exercised their right to remain silent, the Association of Municipalities for Independence (AMI) said. ...

On Tuesday, police continued their search for ballot boxes, voting papers and campaign leaflets, raiding the offices of Spain’s biggest private delivery company Unipost in several Catalan cities and clashing with protesters. So far, 745 of 948 municipal leaders have said they will provide venues for the referendum.

“Voting is not a crime,” said Marc Solsona, mayor of the town of Mollerussa, one of nearly 750 mayors facing charges of civil disobedience, abuse of office and misuse of public funds, as he left the state prosecutor’s office in Barcelona. “I‘m just the mayor and I have to serve my people. I am committed to the people being able to vote on Oct. 1 in accordance with the law passed by the Catalan parliament and what happens to me is not important,” he said.

Like it or not, the far right is heading for Germany’s Bundestag

On the face of it, Sunday’s general election will be the most boring in Germany’s history. The only question seems to be: will chancellor Angela Merkel continue her “grand coalition“ with the Social Democrats (SPD), or will she rule with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) or the Greens, or both?

One thing, however, seems as certain as Merkel’s continued premiership, and it’s more important: the far-right populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party will enter the Bundestag. Polls put it at 10% or more. For the first time since the Reichstag fire of 1933, a nationalist, reactionary, racist party will sit in the building where the republic was proclaimed in 1918, where Nazis and communists helped destroy the democracy of Weimar, where the red flag was raised by Soviet soldiers in 1945, and which – redesigned by British architect Norman Foster – has come to represent the modern, multicultural and friendly Germany the world saw during the football World Cup in 2006, when Merkel had been in office for just one year.

Rightwing populism has been a fixture in the Netherlands and Austria for years, authoritarian nationalists are ruling Poland and Hungary, Marine Le Pen is down but not out, Ukip is taking Britain out of Europe, and then there’s Trump. Perhaps it’s time to get real, and live with the far right as part of our political present. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. And with all due respect to the Netherlands and the others: Germany is different. Size matters, for a start. And then: German reactionaries have historically been even nastier than their counterparts elsewhere. The most worrying thing about the AfD is the way its rapid descent into nastiness has been accompanied by rising numbers at the polls.

Nick Clegg Accuses Labour Of 'Demonising Austerity'

Nick Clegg has said Labour’s decision to “demonise austerity” as “evil” is what led to Jeremy Corbyn being elected its party leader. The former Lib Dem deputy prime minister also told his party conference in Bournemouth on Monday evening that David Cameron ended up behaving like a “demented gorilla”. And defending his decision to take the Lib Dems into a full coalition with the Tories in 2010, Clegg said he would never have backed the sort of “tawdry” deal the DUP has done with Theresa May. ...

The former Lib Dem leader said while he understood why voters liked Corbyn’s manifesto as it was “an invitation to the British public to have a warm bath and a nice cup of tea”. But Clegg criticised Labour for not explaining how the country would afford its policies. ...

Speaking to Lib Dem activists, Clegg said it was right to enter coalition with Cameron. But he lamented the former prime minister’s decision to shift from a moderate “compassionate Conservative” to a one who went out of his way to satisfy right-wing Tory backbenchers. “It was like being a caged with a demented gorilla who was constantly thrashing around constantly trying to find new ways to satisfy Jacob Rees-Mogg, [Daily Mail editor] Paul Dacre and these loopy people,” he said.

Authorities Close In On Pro-Charter School Nonprofit For Illicit Campaign Contributions

A New York-based education reform nonprofit funneled nearly $2.5 million to a related group in Massachusetts, according to new disclosures unearthed as part of a legal settlement.

The Massachusetts operation, called Families for Excellent Schools-Advocacy, a pro-charter group, was hit with a record $426,500 fine for failing to disclose its donors related to a 2016 Massachusetts ballot campaign — a race that became the most expensive ballot measure in state history.

FESA is a 501(c)(4) offshoot of the New York-based Families for Excellent Schools, a 501(c)(3). That connection raises the stakes for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has jurisdiction over Families for Excellent Schools in New York and has made clean campaigns a centerpiece of his agenda.

In exchange for their tax-exempt status, federal law bars 501(c)(3) organizations from engaging in political activity, and some are calling on Schneiderman to investigate why Families for Excellent Schools made a multimillion-dollar contribution, now that the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance has acted.

“This group spent $2.5 million on a Massachusetts ballot initiative. That is a screaming siren, a flashing red light,” says Michael Kink, executive director of the union-backed Strong Economy For All Coalition in New York. “I think it’s something the AG absolutely should look into. A number of other groups are aware of this potential violation, and we’re talking to each other. A substantive investigation is clearly needed.”

Jimmy Kimmel blasts senator for “lying to my face” about healthcare

Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel is turning himself into the nation’s leading voice on healthcare reform. On his Tuesday night show Kimmel took Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana to task for flip-flopping on healthcare saying the senator “lied to my face.”

Sen. Cassidy had appeared on Kimmel’s show in May to talk about the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare shortly after Kimmel opened up about his own son’s recent open heart surgery. In the interview, Cassidy coined a litmus test for a healthcare plan that he could support called the “Jimmy Kimmel Test,” which stipulates that “no family should be denied medical care — emergency or otherwise — because their parents can’t afford it.”

Turns out that was just an applause line. Now Cassidy is sponsoring a plan that would allow states to decide for themselves whether to allow lifetime and annual caps, which, Kimmel says, means there will be caps in some states. Under Cassidy’s plan, each state would, essentially, have to create its own healthcare program, and have the freedom to cover whoever they want, which would affect kids like Kimmel’s son.

So Much for States’ Rights — GOP Senator Wants to Ban State Single Payer In New Health Care Bill

Louisiana republican Senator John Kennedy plans to use the most recent effort to repeal and replace portions of the Affordable Care Act to push an amendment that would bar states from enacting their own single-payer systems, he told reporters on Monday.

When asked by The Intercept on Tuesday about the status of his legislation, Kennedy said that the bill’s co-sponsors, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Bill Cassidy, R-La., told him that the measure already bans single payer, but that he was welcome to offer his amendment either way.

“I don’t think states should have the authority to take money from the American taxpayer and set up a single-payer system,” Kennedy said. “Now some people think that that’s inconsistent with the idea of flexibility. But that’s what the United States Congress is for. I very much believe in flexibility, and I know the governors want flexibility. But it’s our job to make sure that that money is properly spent.”



the evening greens


Melting Arctic ice cap falls to well below average

The Arctic ice cap melted to hundreds of thousands of square miles below average this summer, according to data released late on Tuesday. Climate change is pushing temperatures up most rapidly in the polar regions and left the extent of Arctic sea ice at 1.79m sq miles at the end of the summer melt season. This is the time when it reaches its lowest area for the year, before starting to grow again as winter approaches. The 2017 minimum was 610,000 sqmiles below the 1981-2010 average and the eighth lowest year in the 38-year satellite record.

Scientists from the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) said the rate of ice loss this summer had been slowed by cool mid-summer weather over the central Arctic Ocean. The record minimum came in 2012, when the ice area fell to 483,000 square miles below the 2017 extent. Ted Scambos at NSIDC said the Arctic sea ice had set a record for the smallest winter extent earlier in 2017 and was on track to be close to the 2012 record minimum until July. But a cloudy and cooler than normal August slowed the melting.

Instead of Protecting the Earth, EPA Agents Now Forced to Serve as Pruitt Bodyguards

Thanks to a hiring freeze, budget cuts, and the exorbitant travel needs of Trump's cabinet, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agents are being forced to ditch climate crime investigations in order to serve as personal bodyguards for EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, resulting in what one critic called an "evaporation of criminal enforcement."

"The EPA head has traditionally had one of the smallest security details among cabinet members," the Washington Post reported on Tuesday. But Pruitt's expansive security team—which cost taxpayers over $830,000 in his first three months as EPA chief—has shattered all precedent.

"This never happened with prior administrators," Michael Hubbard, former head of the EPA Criminal Investigation Division's Boston office.

Pruitt's 24/7, 18-member security detail "demands triple the manpower of his predecessors" and is forcing "officials to rotate in special agents from around the country who otherwise would be investigating environmental crimes," the Post's Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis noted. ...

The impact of this transfer of resources can already be seen in the rapidly falling number of new cases opened by the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division. Eilperin and Dennis note that the "current fiscal year is on pace to open just 120 new cases...down sharply from the 170 initiated last year."

Hurricane Maria Strikes Puerto Rico, Threatening to Be Most Catastrophic Storm in a Century

This is what Hurricane Maria did to Puerto Rico

The worst storm to hit Puerto Rico “in modern history” made landfall as a Category 4 storm early Wednesday, causing massive damage and destruction.

Hurricane Maria, the strongest storm to hit the island in 85 years, roared through with sustained 155 mph winds, hitting near Yabucoa around 6:15 a.m., as residents sought shelter and high ground in the face of a slow-moving system that’s expected to drop up to 25 inches of rain and create a surge of nearly 10 feet.

Maria is devastating the island, blowing roofs off buildings, destroying public infrastructure, and leaving Puerto Ricans homeless, just a week after the island suffered damage from Hurricane Irma. The island’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, tweeted early Wednesday morning that already 11,229 people had been admitted to shelters, along with 580 pets.



Also of Interest

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

The Empire’s Hustle: Why Anti-Trumpism Doesn’t Include Anti-War

Single Payer, the Democratic Party and the Nonprofit Industrial Complex

As Sanders Prepared Medicare Bill, Health Care Lobbyists Bankrolled Senate Democrats

America gives $700bn to the military – but says healthcare is a luxury

US facing court challenges from drone 'kill list' survivors

The party's over: Republicans and Democrats are both finished

Rob Reiner and Morgan Freeman Declare ‘War’ on Russia

We Are All Prisoners of the Police State’s Panopticon Village

To Punch or Not to Punch – The American Left’s Existential Crisis

How Many of 2017’s Retail Bankruptcies Were Caused by Private-Equity’s Greed?

Insanely Concentrated Wealth Is Strangling Our Prosperity


A Little Night Music

Jack Teagarden - I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues

Paul Whiteman, Jack Teagarden - Aunt Hagar's Blues

Bobby Jacket & Jack Teagarden - Muskrat Ramble

Jack Teagarden and The Whoopee Makers - Makin' Friends

Jack Teagarden - Tin Roof Blues

Jack Teagarden - Blues After Hours

Jack Teagarden Orchestra, Fats Waller - You Rascal, You!

Jack Teagarden - Basin Street Blues

Jack Teagarden (w/Frank Trumbauer) - 'Long About Midnight

Jack Teagarden - Wolverine Blues

Jack Teagarden - Boogie Woogie / The Blues


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joe shikspack's picture

@gjohnsit

not surprisingly, most of the companies are part of the digital economy. it has always struck me that the market has always overpriced internet-based businesses. a lot of these companies have profited from disrupting markets and when they disappear, some of them (like amazon) are going to leave a pretty big hole.

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enhydra lutris's picture

to him in quite a while.

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

joe shikspack's picture

@enhydra lutris

thanks for dropping by. have a great evening!

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divineorder's picture

Third party? Not looking likely. Post partisan wins then?

Recently Brand New Congress added foreign policy to their platform.

Then this surprising Email today from Brand New Congress was quite interesting. Guess won't be able to post about BNC at TOP after they get wind of this.

https://brandnewcongress.org/

[divineorder] --

A few days ago I drove out to one of the furthest corners of Arkansas’s 3rd congressional district to meet with members of the Green Party. They were mostly young folks, and in 2016 they campaigned hard for Bernie Sanders. What would make them want to meet with a Republican like me?

Because I was willing to listen.

Robb FB.png

The major political parties have written you off. The establishment has neatly sorted us into red states and blue states. They think they don’t need to earn your vote, and they’ve spent years building a system to make sure only insiders get a seat at the table.

This is the source of our partisan gridlock. Either take what they dish up for you -- or you don’t matter.

Not anymore. Brand New Congress is going to change that.

I’m going to change that. And I’m going to up-end the Republican party along the way.

It took a lot of trust for these folks to sit down with me and hear me out. When they did, they found out I’m fighting for a lot of the same priorities they have. We are united in the push for single payer health care, rebuilding the American economy, and getting money out of politics.

While my opponent, Steve Womack, is trying to buy his way into the House Budget Chairmanship, my grassroots campaign is meeting with voters abandoned by the political establishment of both parties.

I’m listening, because I’m running to represent everyone in the 3rd district. As an independent Republican I will work with other Brand New Congress candidates, elected progressives, and independently-minded members of either party to pass real solutions to the challenges we all face.

Brand New Congress is working hard to recruit more Republican candidates, and you’ll meet our next Republican very soon.

In the meantime, you can help get our post-partisan message out by making a small contribution to my campaign.

Brand New Congress Verified account
@BrandNew535

We are a post-partisan campaign to elect a unified slate of honest, accountable candidates to Congress during the 2018 midterm elections. RT ≠ Endorsements.
United States
brandnewcongress.org

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A truth of the nuclear age/climate change: we can no longer have endless war and survive on this planet. Oh sh*t.

joe shikspack's picture

@divineorder

well, i'm glad to see that somebody still wants to talk to "the little people" in order to obtain their votes. how that, or "up-ending" the parties is going to work out, i guess we'll have to wait and see. i have little hope that the democrat party can be redeemed.

on a lot of days lately, i have little hope that the whole system can be repaired or replaced in time to make the difference that is needed before the inevitable, precipitous collapse occurs.

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riverlover's picture

My short-term memory is currently lagging but I stay optimistic about my health and memory. Off to bed to read; I have a dog grooming appt in the AM. My Cairn is a brindle, grey and black and blonde. Currently recharging on some sofa.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

mimi's picture

they would be so impressed to comply with his requests? Has he forgotten that Chinese usually eat dogs, if not alive, then well cooked.

I guess some of Bibi's dog trainers have barked at Morgan Freeman. That sure worked.

Darn it. One more mind broken, how many more to go?

Sorry, I must have mixed up several EBs and diaries. Broken minds, broken hearts and all that...

May your minds never be broken, good folks at the EB. Good night.

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