The Weekly Watch - Open Thread
Langston Hughes
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
So the coronation of the Corporation-in-Chief has concluded. He has surrounded himself with fellow million and billionaires... A corporate cabinet to be his board of directors...each one determined to destroy their department. It is almost laughable if it wasn't so dangerous. In the meantime we continue our dirty little wars...from Standing Rock to Syria...all to promote corporate profit.
I'm one to look at the positive. There are some positives. The corporate capture of our government is obvious to anyone who will look. The success of the all the marches yesterday confirms the interest in rejecting the corporate coup. The left seems united in their opposition. I think T-rump is less likely to engage in a war with Russia...which I hope proves true. I'm interested to see how the conflict between "tiny hands" and the media and the CIA play out. Could be some positives there too. As I said it is in my nature to look for the best in situations, but I'm aware this administration presents a struggle. Yet, I will not lose my dream...much of which I'm lucky to live. I refuse to live in fear of Donald “tiny hands”. I'll keep walking my path and doing what I can.
Here's his 16 min address https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04DrMFUS-eg
Trump’s words at the Capitol bore little resemblance to the reality of the administration he is building. https://theintercept.com/2017/01/20/donald-trump-preaches-angry-national...
Naomi Klein, author of "This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate" and Lee Fang of The Intercept talk about the role of corporations inside the administration and the inauguration. (16 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_mnyyBsjYY
About an hour after President Donald Trump was sworn in on Friday, his administration suspended indefinitely a scheduled cut in mortgage insurance premiums—effectively raising costs for middle-class borrowers by about $500 a year. http://commondreams.org/news/2017/01/20/first-hour-president-trump-deliv...
Michael Moore to 25,000 NY Protesters: "There's More of Us Than There are of Them!" Call your reps and senators every week. Be an army of comedy and ridicule “tiny hands” with humor. (13 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lVoMRV69Ic
LGBTQ's Hold Queer Dance Party Outside Mike Pence's Home (40 sec)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN7FKlgPKHg
Who paid for the inauguration?
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/19/trump-inauguration-parties/
How to organize against T-rump
https://www.indybay.org/uploads/2016/12/16/indivisible-resisting-trump-a...
Jon Schwarz offers his advice about the next move.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/20/donald-trump-is-president-this-is-wh...
It seems appropriate that the world's elite gather at Davos in this inauguration week. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jan/16/worlds-eight-...
Donald Trump won’t send an official representative to the annual gathering of the world’s economic elite in Davos. https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-13/trump-team-shunni...
Lee Camp talks with Chris Hedges, host of On Contact and columnist for Truthdig. Hedges discusses how Deep State will play out in a Trump presidency. In the second half, Lee talks with JR Havlan, former writer for The Daily Show and his experiences covering political satire and its role (30 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6UJBn7dLec
The Corporate Cabinet http://corporatecabinet.org/
If there is a thread that connects almost all of the appointments, it is a deep commitment to making America great again for the financial industry and major corporations at the expense of workers and the environment. http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-trump-cabinet-201...
Brave New Films - Betsy DeVos is not fit to be the next Secretary of Education! Watch to learn more about how she ruined education in Michigan through for-profit charter schools – (8 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47OC7wZbwzM
Betsy DeVos lied repeatedly during this hearing. She was VP of her mom's foundation when they poured money into anti-gay organizations.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/18/trump-education-nominee-betsy-devos-...
Rex Tillerson frequently pressed the U.S. State Department for help in negotiating complex business deals and overcoming foreign opposition to its drilling projects
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/17/exxonmobil-state-department/
Mnuchin’s bank has been accused by investigators at the California attorney general’s office of “widespread misconduct” in foreclosure operations, with over a thousand violations of state statutes.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/19/treasury-pick-steve-mnuchin-denies-i...
A climate denier and avowed foe of the agency he’s poised to head, Pruitt appeals to conservatives because he understands “that regulations affect our property rights, our ability to compete, and our livelihoods.”
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/17/epa-under-scott-pruitt-could-cost-th...
The unprecedented warming of the planet due to human-caused climate change comes as Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt testified in front of the Senate Wednesday during his confirmation hearing to be the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. (7 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYTC64uJQzI
Wells Fargo to Pay Transportation Nominee Elaine Chao up to $5 Million Over Next Four Years
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/17/chao-trump-wellsfargo/
Aaron Glantz, a senior reporter at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. He covered the siege of Fallujah, Iraq, as an unembedded journalist, and his latest investigation examines whether President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary committed war crimes there while leading U.S. troops in 2004. (21 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll5XKJ9vRbU
Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the the Department of Homeland Security, retired Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, did not disclose on his ethics form that he was listed as a vice chairman at the Spectrum Group, a defense contractor lobbying firm.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/17/homeland-security-pick-gen-john-kell...
Although Zinke says he won’t hand federal land to states, he is likely to lease vast tracts to the oil, gas, and coal industries — and flip green the yellow light that Obama’s administration put on federal lands fossil fuel development.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/18/interior-pick-ryan-zinke-vows-to-rev...
Matthew Cole reports that Rep. Ryan Zinke, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be secretary of the interior, committed travel fraud when he was a member of the elite Navy SEAL Team 6 (10 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmplPzDAw-8
Trump has just nominated former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue to be secretary of agriculture. Perdue ran a grain and fertilizer business before becoming Georgia’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction. (4 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBl9_XIZsJs
Trump’s pick for the Department of Health and Human Services, Georgia Congressmember Tom Price, appeared Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions for his confirmation hearing. (8 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4QyZIWpHX4
Trump's nominee for the secretary of Human and Health Services is in favor of Paul Ryan's plan, says physician Adam Gaffney (16 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rx-eGC-Jb4
Democrats doomed
DNC Chair Candidate Tom Perez Refuses to Support Ban on Corporate Money and Lobbyists
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/18/tom-perez-dnc/
Alligator Ed accurately points it out.
http://caucus99percent.com/content/dnc-democrats-never-change-sad-story-...
The DNC debate was a disheartening event. All of the candidates, including Keith Ellison, demonstrated that they're completely out of touch with average voters, and none of them are offering comprehensive change. (17 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02uhSjrkcDM
The Democratic Party 'leadership' is more interested in maintaining their positions as servants of the power elite than acting as representatives for their own constituents. A discussion of what would be required to actually reclaim the Democratic Party with Debbie, the sane progressive (40 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epD4G_DfPGI
Corporate democrats, like Cory Booker, voted against the Amendment, that would have allowed the buying of prescription drugs from Canada which has cheaper brand name prescription drugs (16 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBuuYU3yij4
Democrat Joe Lieberman introduces Donald Trump's education secretary Betsy DeVos. (7 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdAdl1B118w
Protests to be limited?
In some states, nonviolent demonstrating may soon carry increased legal risks, including punishing fines and significant prison terms, for people who participate in protests involving civil disobedience.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/19/republican-lawmakers-in-five-states-...
Rev. Billy Talen peacefully protested a Monsanto-hosted corporate-ag lovefest at the Iowa State Capitol. Iowa state troopers arrested him immediately for “trespassing.” The state is banning his use of first amendment rights as a defense in trial (3 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7l80iwX__c
DAPL and other pipeline protests
Tensions are once again heating up in the ongoing battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline, with reports that the National Guard sent two surface-to-air missile to a construction site. Meanwhile, protesters who call themselves “water protectors” were unarmed. Lorenzo Serna, journalist with the media collective Unicorn Riot discusses the situation. (5.5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgk6DEVDUfo
BlazinAZ has more detail and comments about the DAPL camps and protectors.
http://caucus99percent.com/content/standing-rock-and-dc-violence-and-mor...
What Donald Trump Means For Standing Rock and the Pipeline (4 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FozCPDofwU
Jimmy Dore interviews Ed Higgens, A Dakota Access Pipeline Protestor and activist against Corporate America. (5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iapKmmSsgs0
Nine activists arrested in November for protesting a pipeline extension in upstate New York have been sentenced to fines and community service, joining a list of 250 protesters prosecuted for resisting construction of the pipeline. (4 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfWUgaZeFe8
Thanks to more cops in schools and zero tolerance for bad behavior, schools are fast-tracking kids to a perpetual cycle of school dropout and prison time. (4.5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79VNDbEm7Vo
Media
Here's a piece by Bill Moyers on the news sources he trusts.
http://billmoyers.com/story/10-investigative-reporting-outlets-to-follow/
Lee Camp talks about the difference between his show and the mainstream media. (2 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soTkooHTjf0
Journalist and author Matt Taibbi breaks down the news media’s struggle between informing the public and preaching an agenda on the 2016 Campaign Trail. (11 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahdkQQUXSNg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBuuYU3yij4 (full 30 min show)
Brazil
The Brazilian Supreme Court Justice overseeing the massive Car Wash corruption investigation died yesterday when a small, private plane carrying him and three other passengers crashed into the sea.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/20/small-plane-crash-that-killed-brazil...
Yemen
The death toll in the Yemeni conflict is more than 10,000 people, according to estimates from a senior UN official amidst the chaos in the country suffering a tremendous humanitarian disaster. (5 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkw57Hxp6GE
The Russia distraction
Chris Hedges in conversation with Abby Martin and Ben Norton (26 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqcINip57qc
Jeremy Corbyn Accused of Being Russian “Collaborator” for Questioning NATO Troop Build-Up https://theintercept.com/2017/01/16/jeremy-corbyn-accused-of-being-russi...
Given the proxy wars in Syria and Ukraine, Dr. Cohen tells host Abby Martin that the real alarming danger today is "a new, multi-front Cuban missile crisis." (22 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op6Qr7uuMy8
The Planet
NASA looks at Arctic Sea Ice (3.5 in)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwPCnsogE1o
Earth’s 2016 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern record-keeping began in 1880, making 2016 the third consecutive hottest year in a row. (1 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3RWTTtPg8E
http://earthsky.org/earth/2016-warmest-year-on-record-global-temperatures
Astronauts on the International Space Station take pictures of Earth out their windows nearly every day; enjoy the top 16 photos of Earth for 2016 (3 min)
Dreams are important. They keep us reaching...striving toward something. Sometimes you have to let go of dreams. A year ago I was dreaming of President Sanders. I'm left with appreciating a Senator Sanders.
But, I still dream. I dream of justice. I dream of a world not addicted to oil. I dream of a time when people and the planet are more important than profit. I dream of a world at peace. Not because I think it will happen... but because I want to help bend the arc.
Dreams, rainbows, and unicorns? Maybe...but now is the time to reach for any dream within grasp. The climate dictates little time. Make your life as close to your dream as you can.
Have a good Sunday. Keep a good heart. Live the life you want. Be a person you admire.
And as always add your dreams, thoughts, stories, and comments below.
Comments
I have not read so much hate speech as in the comments
about the LBQT party, presumably in Indy at the house of Pence. He was the Governor of that State, and very anti-gay legislation was passed under his aegis. Public figures lose privacy, I see no way around that. That is a trade. One that I personally would not deal with. Not that we have much privacy left.
Very discouraging. I missed the March in Ithaca yesterday, still recuperating. 10K here is 10% of the county population. 10K marched in Seneca Falls. Some went by bus to DC. As much solidarity there as possible.
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.
His DC rental?
Seems like I heard Amy say it was in front of his DC rental. I guess he's at the VP house now.
I like the M. Moore speech (worth your time I think) where he says they have thin skin and the way to get under it is with humor. I think the dance is a perfect example.
We got an inch of rain at the scheduled time of the march in a fog so thick it would have been difficult to get up on the mountain. We stayed home and watch the coverage of the DC march...a little too $hill for the most part, but looked like a good event. Some friends went and will get a better report later in the week.
Hope your feeling better and better. Seems like spring is around the corner after days in the 70's and another week of 60's coming up.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
California green energy future. Oy!
Australian firm plans nation's largest geothermal plant in Imperial Valley
That's right. Cloverdale is to the west of the Geysers, here's a screen grab of latest quake map. Gosh I hope USGS keeps their funding.
then I remembered reading this a couple months before, Risk of big earthquake on San Andreas fault rises after quake swarm at Salton Sea
Hope private corporations work with public agencies and stop before creating yet another major crisis, that would be insane. Destroy hollywoo and make profit too. Oy!
Be positive this is a great song. Cheers.
good morning eyo
The mining geothermal plant sure sounds interesting, but the earthquakes...well not so much. Like death, earthquakes are inevitable. Sometimes seems like CA has the best and worst of the geographic dice roll.
They've been cutting the USGS for years. J. W. Powell was the first head (and first fellow to navigate the Colorado R.). He helped insure much of the west was federal property because there wasn't enough water to have massive land distribution and a large population.
Looks like the T-rumpy's are ready to sell out to the highest bidders
http://www.ecowatch.com/house-gop-sell-public-lands-2178463680.html
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
"earthquakes are inevitable"
the Geysers are unstable from injecting waste water in to the system, after the natural steam ran out or was not enough for the power company, they started using reclaimed waste water to make the steam. People nearby got kind of upset when all their foundations cracked, lawsuits ensued. I can feel the mini-quakes sometimes, it's like a tiny vertigo blip then gone. That recent 5.0 rocked me up off my chair right quick though. woo
When there is a major earthquake in downtown Los Angeles it will be bad no matter what, but causing one is plain stupid. Maybe there is eternal pressure in the Salton Sea area and mother nature will not go slip sliding away due to the geothermal plan not being "holistic" enough, or whatever means looking at the entire system as a whole to achieve some balance.
I don't know why Jerry Brown loves private corporations to exploit public lands so much, oh wait yes I do. "That's the system." I am hoping this plan works, and is kind to the land and the people too.
I guess like in OK
Where they have accelerated earthquake by injecting waste fracking water.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wastewater-injection-caused-o...
Trade offs with everything. When I read geothermal, I thought great no carbon. Never thought about increased earthquakes.
Solar seems to be the obvious best source in my part of the world and I bet CA too.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
A couple more items...
Interesting piece in the Guardian about the DC march
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/21/donald-trump-first-24-ho...
And Glenn Greenwald nails this idiot general on MSNBC with (who knew) past Faux news fraudcaster...I had to fast forward through most of the general's lies and misrepresentations.(8 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwotPyPVHSs
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
With each MSM slot Greenwald stands so singularly for Truth,
amidst the heaping piles of reactionary bullshit passed off as legitimate debate and discussion.
We're in a critical phase of journalism right now, in which the MSM has all the obvious reasons in the world to start building up a stiff spine by doing serious, intrepid, investigative journalism so sorely missing from the national conversation they've thus far had such a big hand in devolving into its current state of a crass pool of manufactured controversy and celebrity gossip. Instead, they're reflexively reaching, as they've been trained these past few decades, to honor the false equivalency of "fair and balanced" coverage.
Was watching Bob Herbert of Demos (formerly veteran NY Times reporter, who seems to have found his spine in the past few years) interviewing Eric Aldermann of the Nation/Professor of Journalism about the current state of journalism. He remarked that in spite of the aforementioned opportunity, the MSM is now seeking out Trump supporters to pepper their newscasts with in order to reflect what the country is feeling right now.
Thanks as always for your excellent Open Thread, lookout.
He deserves a prime-time show on a major network.
"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:
THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"
- Kurt Vonnegut
Thanks for the video
I'll listen to it today. Media is the link. It's the corporate media way to ignore and deny movements.
I've been wondering what it takes to develop a youtube channel. It sure would be great if we all had a place to drop clips that point people back here to c99 for conversation. I wonder about making use of youtube/google, but it sure is nice to have such a variety of content at one site.
Here's another good info one stop -
http://www.newsanewtv.com/
All the best!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Doonesbury is back. Look for Trudeau's comic today.
If nothing else, the comedians are going to have fertile soil.
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.
"the comedians" daily Dore cannabis calm
thanks, this is what I mean by peace plant, it is so calming for so many things, and pain relief omg. I hope Sessions gets a clue. I cannot even speak to Xavier Bacera becoming AG here, it is dumbfounding. Good luck.
don't burn one like this...
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/how-not-dispose-marijuana-crop-just-busted
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
thanks for all the links
minor quibble- how about putting 'the planet' news at the top.
bygorry
That's a thought
I like to finish with the planet because it reminds me that we are very small in the scheme of things, and all the emperors, oligarchs, and politics are really pretty trivial compared to sea level rise, meteor impacts (which we just missed last week), wild weather, and mass extinctions (probably including our own).
The top story changes from week to week depending on what seems to be the important news (from my view). But I see your point and I do agree that the planet is the most important story, and will continue to grow in importance and immediacy. I appreciate the thought.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
thx for the roundup and thx for the shoutout
I appreciate all your work, Lookout!
There is no justice in America, but it is the fight for justice that sustains you.
--Amiri Baraka
back at you...
We'll keep trying.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
ditto
I like your weekly watch collection a lot. Wished I had the skills.