Welcome! "The Evening Blues - Weekend Edition" is a casual community diary (published Saturday & Sunday, 8:00 PM Eastern) where we hang out, share and talk about news, music, photography and other things of interest to the community.
Just about anything goes, but attacks and pie fights are not welcome here. This is a community diary and a friendly, peaceful, supportive place for people to interact.
Everyone who wants to join in peaceful interaction is very welcome here.
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Hey! Good Evening!
This evening's music features the late, great Canadian harp player King Biscuit Boy. Enjoy!
King Biscuit Boy - Ranky Tanky
I couldn't find a decent live video so I put this together in homage to one of my heroes.
News and Opinion
G20
Obama to Putin: Stop Ukraine aggression
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA — President Barack Obama said Sunday that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that if he halts his military aggression in Ukraine that other nations would drop the economic sanctions lodged against his country.
“Russia has the opportunity to take a different path, to resolve the issue of Ukraine in a way that respects Ukraine’s sovereignty, that’s consistent with international law...if it does so, then I will be the first to suggest that we roll back the sanctions that are frankly having a devastating effect on the Russian economy,” Obama told reporters at a news conference.
Some world leaders criticized Putin this weekend at the G-20 meeting of the world’s largest economies for his involvement in Ukraine and threatened to lodge more economic sanctions against his nation.
But Russia has denied accusations that it was behind a recent escalation of military activity in Ukraine, where fighting has claimed more than 4,000 people.
G20
U.S., Japan, Australia agree to deepen security ties
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
BRISBANE, Australia — Eyeing Chinese aggression, President Obama and the prime ministers of Japan and Australia committed Sunday to deepen their military cooperation and work together on strengthening maritime security in the Asia Pacific.
The meeting, the first since 2007 among leaders of the three allies, risked antagonizing Beijing after a week when Obama reached a surprising level of consensus with Chinese President Xi Jinping on climate change and trade, and Japan and China took steps to improve their relationship.
China has viewed Obama’s efforts to deepen alliances with other countries in the region, particularly on security issues, as an attempt to counter Beijing’s rise.
In a joint statement after the meeting, the three leaders said they had agreed to “deepen the already strong security and defense cooperation” between their countries. They also agreed to work on boosting maritime security in a region rife with disputes between China and its neighbors over claims to waters and islands.
G20
Putin walks out of G20 summit 'to sleep'.
Brisbane meeting ends with Russian leader leaving hours before close in apparent snub at being criticised over Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has left the G20 summit in Brisbane early after he came under intense pressure from the West over Moscow's alleged support for separatist fights in eastern Ukraine.
The two-day summit, which gathered the leaders of the world's largest economies in Brisbane, ended on Sunday evening, with Putin exiting the Australian city hours earlier.
Putin said his decision to fly home had nothing to do with tensions over Ukraine, saying he had a long flight and wanted to catch up on some sleep ahead of a full day's work on Monday.
Isis
Isis video appears to show hostage Peter Kassig has been killed
Islamic State (Isis) has released a video appearing to show the British terrorist known as “Jihadi John” standing over the severed head of US aid worker Peter Kassig.
Kassig is the latest of five US and UK hostages to have been murdered in cold blood in Syria as part of a propaganda initiative by Isis.
The footage also showed what appeared to be the mass beheading of several captured Syrian soldiers.
The British prime minister, David Cameron, said: “These beheadings show once again what a depraved organisation this is,” and described Kassig as a “selfless humanitarian worker”.
Bank Fraud
$4.3 Billion Fine for Fraud in Exchange Market Manipulations is Pittance for Major Banks
This collective fine for big banks involved in exchange fraud represent less than 1/1000 of the daily transactions in the market says Bill Black, former financial regulator
Bank Fraud
Max Keiser interviews Matt Taibbi on bank fraud.
Submitted by: Crider
Taibbi interview starts at 12:20.
MIC
White House announces push for next generation of hi-tech weapons
The US military will pursue an ambitious programme to identify and develop new weapons systems based on cutting-edge technologies in a bid to maintain its dominance, the defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, has announced.
Hagel announced the Defence Innovation Initiative and said it would include an effort to develop and field new systems using technologies such as robotics, autonomous systems, miniaturisation, data processing and three-dimensional printing.
Noting the defence department did not dominate the technologies it hoped to exploit, Hagel said the Pentagon would turn to businesses and universities for ideas and help.
He said the Pentagon expected the push to produce systems that would offset its rivals’ advantages, as atomic weapons did in the 1950s and precision strike and stealth have done in more recent years.
Tyranny
'Rosewater' journalist says fear of social media is making tyrants more dangerous
Submitted by: NCTim
Journalist Maziar Bahari, whose memoir "And Then They Came for Me" about his 118 days of imprisonment and torture in Iran has been made into the film "Rosewater," says that the frustration over the inability to control social media and the internet has driven authoritarian regimes deeper into their comfort zones of imprisoning, torturing, and murdering the messengers.
"These are analogue regimes resorting to all their old methods of suppression of information," says Mr. Bahari in a phone interview. "They are used to controlling people through imprisonment, murder, shutting down newspapers and radio stations. They can't handle what the Internet is doing in the way of generating social movements and facilitating communication."
He added, "Social media is a phenomenon that even Mark Zuckerberg himself has no idea how to control."
Immigration
Republicans weigh government shutdown to stop Obama on immigration
(Reuters) - One Republican leader on Sunday held open the possibility that his party could move to shut down the government in an attempt to stop President Barack Obama from taking executive action on immigration policy.
A vocal group of conservatives in the House of Representatives is pressing to use government funding as leverage to prevent any White House moves that would allow millions of undocumented immigrants to stay and work in the United States.
Several Republicans, including some in leadership, have said they were trying to find alternatives that would stop short of directly threatening a government shutdown, and Republican lawmakers on Sunday talk shows acknowledged that the shutdown threat was a less than ideal approach.
Ukraine
Putin says Russia won't demand early repayment of $3 billion lent to Ukraine
(Reuters) - Russia does not intend to demand early repayment of $3 billion which it lent to Ukraine last year, President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with German TV channel ARD, a transcript of which was released by the Kremlin on Saturday.
"If we do it (demand repayment) the whole financial system will collapse. We have already decided that we will not do it. We do not want to aggravate the situation," Putin said. "We want Ukraine to get on its feet at last."
Afghanistan/Pakistan
Pakistan backs Afghan move to bring in Taliban
Submitted by: enhydra lutris
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday pledged his support to the Afghan president in his attempt to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table, a sign of warming ties between the two neighbors.
Sharif met with visiting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai at his office in the capital, Islamabad. Ghani arrived in Pakistan on Friday for a two-day visit, seeking to repair a relationship between the two nations that was often tense in recent years. Ghani’s predecessor, Hamid Karzai, frequently accused Pakistan of turning a blind eye to the Taliban and other militants carrying out cross-border attacks from lawless tribal regions. Pakistan in turn blamed Kabul for failing to police its own borders.
Several weeks ago, Ghani invited the Taliban to join national reconciliation negotiations. On Saturday, Sharif backed Ghani’s initiative but added that the process must be fully Afghan led and Afghan owned.
“I reaffirmed that a peaceful, stable, united and prosperous Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s vital national interest,” Sharif said.
Europe
Across Europe disillusioned voters turn to outsiders for solutions
Submitted by: mimi
FRANCE: Restless voters await a hero
To make their point that France’s mainstream parties are both as inept as each other, the Front National has taken to calling its rivals the UMPS, an amalgam of the acronyms for the opposition centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire and the ruling Parti Socialiste.
The FN’s populist anti-immigration message is broadly similar to that of Nigel Farage’s Ukip. And as with Ukip in Britain, the FN is benefiting not just from disillusionment caused by the economic crisis but from profound disillusion with the two principal parties, which have formerly had a monopoly on power.
On the left, President François Hollande and his governing Socialist party are facing criticism from without and within. Economic liberals believe the administration has not and will not carry out necessary structural reforms to create jobs, boost growth and cut public spending. It comes as a surprise to no one that France’s deficit is in contravention of European commission rules. This was the case even under the centre-right Nicolas Sarkozy, who did little to reduce it.
The commission has now lost patience and Hollande, the man currently in charge, is being held responsible. The president appears to be floundering. At one point France thought it wanted a monsieur normal, and Hollande fitted the bill. Now the country is giving the impression it wants a hero and a saviour and that Hollande is too ordinary. There is also a feeling among many PS supporters that Hollande won the presidency by paying lip service to a socialist programme, only to turn into a social democrat in office. Some suspect this was a deliberate and less than honest move.
Mox
MOX gets 10-year extension for construction
Submitted by: NCTim
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, announced Friday that it is extending the construction completion deadline for Savannah River Site’s MOX facility an additional 10 years.
In May, CB&I AREVA MOX Services requested that the NRC extend the construction authorization expiration date from March 30, 2015, to March 30, 2025. The request was made to keep construction of the facility in good, legal standing during future construction.
In October, the NRC wrote in the federal register that it was still reviewing the request, and that if the request was denied, MOX construction would have to end in 2015 once authorization expires.
On Friday, the NRC wrote in a press release that it is granting the extension and stated that MOX Services has shown “good cause” to extend the deadline for completion.
More on the MOX Project
Toxic Leak
Four Die, One Injured in Chemical Leak at Texas Plant
Four workers were killed and one injured in a chemical leak at a DuPont plant near Houston, Texas early Saturday morning.
A valve began leaking methyl mercaptan, a chemical used to make insecticides and fungicides, around 4am at a plant stationed in La Porte, about 20 miles east of Houston. Officials say the leak was contained by 6am, but the five employees who were in the unit at the time responded to the accident and were exposed to the chemical. The cause was not immediately known.
Methyl mercaptan is also often used to add odor to natural gas, which has no smell, for safety purposes.
According to the Houston Chronicle, among the victims were 39-year-old Robert Tisnado and his 48-year-old brother Gibby Tisnado, who had worked at the plant for six years. USA Today also wrote that the leak killed a supervisor who had been with DuPont for more than 40 years.
TPP
Critics challenge US plans for the TPP.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership could block access to much-needed medicine for the world's poorest people, opponents say.
Los Angeles, United States - It's a typical, sunny day in Los Angeles County and on the lot of the DreamWorks studios, birthplace of some of the world's most recognizable animated movies - Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, and How to Train Your Dragon.
Throngs of employees wait for a man who's no stranger to Hollywood: US President Barack Obama.
Some of the most powerful people in this town are here to welcome him, too. No, not Julia Roberts or Brad Pitt. People such as DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, who along with partners Steven Spielberg and David Geffen happen to be some of Obama's biggest Tinseltown financial boosters.
The place erupts as the Commander in Chief bounds onto the stage. He's here to talk about the economy and, more importantly, about affordable healthcare, a shining achievement of his presidency and an issue that receives instant whoops of support whenever he mentions it.
Ferguson
Ferguson: video shows Darren Wilson arresting man for recording him
Submitted by: NCTim
Video footage has emerged showing Darren Wilson – the police officer who shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri – threatening and arresting a resident who refused to stop filming him with a cellphone.
Wilson is seen standing near his Ferguson police SUV and warning Mike Arman: “If you wanna take a picture of me one more time, I’m gonna lock your ass up.” Arman, who had requested Wilson’s name, replies: “Sir, I’m not taking a picture, I’m recording this incident sir.”
The officer then walks to the porch of Arman’s home and apprehends him, after telling him that he does not have the right to film. The 15-second clip was uploaded to YouTube on Friday but recorded in 2013, according to police documents.
War in Syria
Obama Has No Good Options for Ending the War in Syria
Two months into a US airstrike campaign targeting radical Islamists in Syria, some American officials are growing restless with what they see as a one-sided effort that has handed President Bashar Assad's regime the upper hand in the country's civil war.
But despite reports of a contemplated strategy change, experts say the Obama administration has precious few alternatives to its current course of action.
In an article published Wednesday, CNN cited several anonymous US officials and diplomats who told the outlet that the Obama administration could be reconsidering its policy on Syria's civil war and coming to the conclusion that the Islamic State cannot be defeated without the removal of Assad.
Tech
Facebook Says It Can See Everything You Post
In an announcement that will come as little surprise, Facebook has recently sought to clarify that it can see everything its users post. While individual users are given the option to regulate the information that other people can view, the Facebook community is not able to stop the site operators from viewing its material.
The social networking giant’s manager of privacy and public policy, Matt Scutari, recently explained that most of its competitors also adopted a similar policy. “With most online services, there’s an understanding that when you use those services to share information, you’re also sharing information with the company providing the service,” explained Scutari. He then went on to say that most online platforms collect information from their users to provide the actual service.
Attending the Palo Alto conference on privacy identity innovation,”“ Scutari offered the following suggestion to privacy-conscious users, who remain worried about a particular network using their data: “… honestly, you might not want to share information with that platform.”
The Facebook employee was responding to an audience member’s question about the availability of tools that can stop Facebook from looking at a user’s posts. In short, Scutari revealed that such tools did not exist.
The Evening Greens
Weekend Edition Editor - Agathena
NOAA Sea Surface Temperature anomaly Sept. 2014
Warmest oceans ever recorded
From 2000-2013 the global ocean surface temperature rise paused, in spite of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. This period, referred to as the Global Warming Hiatus, raised a lot of public and scientific interest. However, as of April 2014 ocean warming has picked up speed again, according to Timmermann's analysis of ocean temperature datasets.
"The 2014 global ocean warming is mostly due to the North Pacific, which has warmed far beyond any recorded value and has shifted hurricane tracks, weakened trade winds, and produced coral bleaching in the Hawaiian Islands," explains Timmermann.
And as if that's not enough to worry about, we got more lightning ahead.
Lightning expected to increase by 50 percent with global warming
Atmospheric scientists looked at predictions of precipitation and cloud buoyancy in 11 different climate models and concluded that their combined effect will generate 50 percent more electrical discharges to the ground by the end of the century because of global warming. The main cause is water vapor, which fuels explosive deep convection in the atmosphere. The more convection, the greater the charge separation and the more cloud-to-ground strikes.
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
Marijuana can cause brain cancers
Watchers of the Sky Falls in a Pit
Who are the real butchers in this war?
Hellraisers Journal: Hosts of Organized Labor, Fifty Thousand Strong, March in Philadelphia Parade
BigAl: Just Don’t Call It Democracy
Hard to believe: Mexico City becomes more trans-friendly than most US cities
Aji for TiaRachel: When There Aren't Enough Spoons In the World: Helping a Friend Dig Out
A Little Night Music
King Biscuit Boy - Too Poor to Die
King Biscuit Boy - Biscuit's Boogie
King Biscuit Boy - Get It Right
King Biscuit Boy - Now I'm Good
King Biscuit Boy - Hoy Hoy Hoy
King Biscuit Boy - Mean Old lady
King Biscuit Boy - Caledonia River
King Biscuit Boy - River Boat
King Biscuit Boy - Gotta Be A Goodun
King Biscuit Boy - Step Back Baby
King Biscuit Boy - I've Done Everything I Can
King Biscuit Boy - Mind over Matter
King Biscuit Boy - The Bum Is Mine
KIng Biscuit Boy - I'm Gone
King Biscuit Boy - You Done Tore Your Playhouse Down Again
It's National Pie Day!
The election is over, it's a new year and it's time to work on real change in new ways... and it's National Pie Day. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to tell you a little more about our new site and to start getting people signed up.
Come on over and sign up so that we can send you announcements about the site, the launch, and information about participating in our public beta testing.
Why is National Pie Day the perfect opportunity to tell you more about us? Well you'll see why very soon. So what are you waiting for?! Head on over now and be one of the first!
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