Welcome! "The Evening Blues" is a casual community diary (published Monday - Friday, 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 r&b singer Wilbert Harrison. Enjoy!
Wilbert Harrison - Kansas City
“We are oft to blame in this, -
'tis too much proved, - that with devotion's visage,
and pious action we do sugar o'er
the devil himself.”
-- William Shakespeare
News and Opinion
U.S. Embedded Spyware Overseas
The United States has found a way to permanently embed surveillance and sabotage tools in computers and networks it has targeted in Iran, Russia, Pakistan, China, Afghanistan and other countries closely watched by American intelligence agencies, according to a Russian cybersecurity firm.
In a presentation of its findings at a conference in Mexico on Monday, Kaspersky Lab, the Russian firm, said that the implants had been placed by what it called the “Equation Group,” which appears to be a veiled reference to the National Security Agency and its military counterpart, United States Cyber Command. ...
Some of the implants burrow so deep into the computer systems, Kaspersky said, that they infect the “firmware,” the embedded software that preps the computer’s hardware before the operating system starts. It is beyond the reach of existing antivirus products and most security controls, Kaspersky reported, making it virtually impossible to wipe out.
In many cases, it also allows the American intelligence agencies to grab the encryption keys off a machine, unnoticed, and unlock scrambled contents. Moreover, many of the tools are designed to run on computers that are disconnected from the Internet, which was the case in the computers controlling Iran’s nuclear enrichment plants. ...
The firm’s researchers say that what makes these attacks particularly remarkable is their way of attacking the actual firmware of the computers. Only in rare cases are cybercriminals able to get into the actual guts of a machine.
Recovering from a cyberattack typically involves wiping the computer’s operating system and reinstalling software, or replacing a computer’s hard drive. But if the firmware becomes infected, security experts say, it can turn even the most sophisticated computer into a useless piece of metal.
[For more on this, see bobswern's excellent post on the topic. - js]
DM: Italy Ready to Lead Invasion of Libya to Fight ISIS
From the Punic Wars to the Second World War, Italy has a history of seeing military goals along the Libyan coast. Today, Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti suggested thatItaly is looking that way again, preparing to lead an invasion of Libya to fight against the ISIS affiliate there.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano also chimed in, claiming Italy views ISIS as “just south of Rome,” and that the risk of ISIS moving into Italy “could not be discounted,” calling on the UN to endorse a military operation.
Egypt Makes Libya the New Front in Anti-ISIS War, 4 Years After NATO Left Chaos Behind
Oooh, nothing pisses Obama off more than somebody who leaks secrets that Obama doesn't want made public...
A perfect storm brews in the Middle East
Mistrust between the Obama administration and Benjamin Netanyahu has widened even further in recent days because of U.S. suspicion that the Israeli prime minister has authorized leaks of details about the U.S. nuclear talks with Iran.
The decision to reduce the exchange of sensitive information about the Iran talks was prompted by concerns that Netanyahu’s office had given Israeli journalists sensitive details of the U.S. position, including a U.S. offer to allow Iran to enrich uranium with 6,500 or more centrifuges as part of a final deal.
Obama administration officials believed these reports were misleading because the centrifuge numbers are part of a package that includes the size of the Iranian nuclear stockpile and the type of centrifuges that are allowed to operate. A deal that allowed 500 advanced centrifuges and a large stockpile of enriched uranium might put Iran closer to making a bomb than one that permitted 10,000 older machines and a small stockpile, the administration argues. ...
The Iran issue will come to a head next month. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress is scheduled for March 3. Israeli elections, in which Netanyahu is running against a coalition of more moderate Israeli politicians, will take place March 17. The deadline for reaching a framework deal in the Iran negotiations is March 24. It’s a month that could shape the future of the Middle East, not to mention the U.S.-Israeli relationship, for years to come.
Israeli election chief puts curbs on Netanyahu speech to Congress
The head of Israel's election commission acted on Monday to limit any pre-election boost Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may get from a March 3 speech to the U.S. Congress, in which he will warn of the threat from Iran's nuclear programme.
The speech has caused controversy in Israel and the United States, where Democrats and the White House are angry that the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, invited Netanyahu to speak at a sensitive time in the nuclear negotiations between Iran and six big powers including Washington, and only two weeks before Israel's closely fought March 17 election.
Following complaints from opposition parties, election chief Salim Joubran decided that Netanyahu's address should be broadcast with a five-minute delay in Israel, giving news editors time to cut any statements deemed partisan.
"Editors-in-chief of broadcast channels will watch and make sure that nothing the prime minister says can be construed as election campaigning," Joubran said in a statement. "Any campaigning will be omitted from the broadcast."
Opposition Leaders Issued A Statement to Signal the Launch of the Foiled Coup
PERIES: So, Lucas, let's begin with President Maduro unveiled on Thursday night.
KOERNER: Well, I guess, to begin, you have a small group of Air Force officials who developed a plan to use a Brazilian-manufactured Super Tucano aircraft to strike various tactical targets in Caracas on Thursday, including Miraflores Palace, the headquarters of military intelligence, Ministry of Defense, the teleSUR, the international media television station, so basically the vital military, political, and communications network of this government, so, clearly, you know, to deliver a paralyzing blow to the democratically elected government of President Nicolas Maduro. They actually--these Air Force officials dressed in uniforms with U.S.-issued AR-15s, which are assault rifles, which are not available in Venezuela, and paid with U.S. dollars. They recorded a video that was basically to announce a coup d'etat and thereby provoke a general uprising of the military. And this coup attempt has many echoes of the 2002 thwarted--really, defeated--coup effort in Venezuela, where there was also a prerecorded video that was released, and you also had efforts--successful efforts at first--to shut down pro-government or pro-Chavista affiliated media, in that case the state-owned media.
PERIES: Lucas, what evidence did they provide on television during the telecast unraveling the coup plot?
KOERNER: Well, the main evidence is this video that was discovered of these Air Force officers basically announcing their coup plot. We've also discovered the identity, the government's discovered the identity of the aircraft to be used, which is a Super Tucano aircraft that actually reportedly is registered to Blackwater, U.S.A. It was sold by--the only aircraft its kind to be sold to Blackwater U.S.A. So, so far they're claiming that it's a foreign aircraft that was to be used. ...
PERIES: Right. And what else did they unravel?
KOERNER: They also unraveled that one of the, I think, barriers of the participants in the coup, at least one of them had a visa, a U.S. visa, stamped, I believe, February 4, meaning that he, in the event that the coup went awry, he could flee to the United States.
We also see that there was--I think the biggest evidence was a opposition publication, a statement released by the three main leaders of one of the most radical leaders of Venezuela's opposition, including María Corina Machado, Leopoldo López, and Antonio Ledesma, calling for a transition, a national transition, and a transition government, which is completely unconstitutional, that a government that is elected has to run its course unless the Supreme Court finds that the practices of the president are unethical and takes action.
PERIES: And they found these recordings where?
KOERNER: This statement came out the day before the coup. And what the authorities are claiming is that this statement was to be the signal for the coup efforts the next day, for this kind of media offensive that was to pave the way for the blow that was to come the next day.
Amid Ukraine Ceasefire Struggles, Both Sides Refuse Artillery Pullout
The Ukrainian ceasefire is holding across most of the nation’s east, though intermittent clashes continue to be reported around the town of Debaltseve. Each side is blaming the other for the ceasefire violations there.
That most of the country remains calm seems to be forgotten in all of this, though the question of the two sides withdrawing heavy artillery from the front line may be the real stressor on the truce. ...
Everything now seems to hinge on Debaltseve, and the 8,000 Ukrainian troops therein, who were effectively surrounded before the ceasefire. The rebels are offering to let them withdraw from the town, but Ukraine doesn’t want to cede the strategically useful town to the rebels either. Whether the battle over the town spoils the ceasefire everywhere else remains to be seen.
Federal judge blocks Obama's plan to shield millions from deportation
A federal judge in Texas has momentarily blocked Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, granting 26 states more time to try to stop a plan that would spare millions of people from deportation.
District judge Andrew Hanen ordered the injunction late on Monday night, not ruling whether the executive action itself was legal but saying that the states had sufficient cause to challenge it. The White House said in a statement early on Tuesday that the Justice Department will appeal the ruling.
The injunction stops the Obama administration’s plan to expand a deferred deportation program on Wednesday, meaning thousands of young immigrants planning to apply must now wait in limbo for the foreseeable future.
In his decision, Hanen shot down the Obama administration’s claims to discretion within the bounds of the constitution, writing that the Department of Homeland Security was “not given any ‘discretion by law’ to give 4.3 million removable aliens” a “legal presence”.
“In fact the law mandates that these illegally-present individuals be removed,” the ruling continues. It adds that the Department of Homeland Security “has adopted a new rule that substantially changes both the status and employability of millions.”
Copenhagen attacks: Denmark's mourners pay tribute to victims
Tens of thousands of people gathered at torch-lit memorials around Denmark on Monday, commemorating the victims of the deadly attacks on a synagogue and an event promoting free speech that shocked a nation proud of its record of safety and openness.
Singing John Lennon’s Imagine, defiant Danes promised to uphold their open society and showed solidarity with the country’s Muslim minority after reports emerged that the gunman was a Dane with Palestinian roots and a passion for Islamist issues.
The 22-year-old gunman opened fire on a cafe hosting a free speech debate on Saturday afternoon, killing one, before attacking a synagogue the same night, killing a guard. ...
Thousands of Danes left flowers at the synagogue, walking in a quiet, solemn procession, with many also leaving both Danish and Israeli flags. A march by Pegida, the anti-Islam movement born in Germany, however, attracted only around 50 people.
Craig Hicks indicted over North Carolina shootings of three Muslim students
A North Carolina grand jury on Monday indicted a man on three counts of murder, in the fatal shooting of three Muslim students. ...
In addition to the murder charges, Craig Hicks faces one count of discharging a firearm into an occupied building. Police have said he was motivated by a parking dispute, though family and friends of the victims suspect the killings were motivated by the victims’ religion.
Family members have said the three victims were killed “execution style”. Mohammad Abu-Salha said his daughters had said they had felt threatened by Hicks.
Police have not completely ruled out that this was a hate crime; the attack is also being investigated by the FBI.
Obama wants to 'counter violent extremism'. He should look beyond Muslims
On Tuesday, the White House will convene a national summit on combatting violent extremism – but, despite a plethora of attacks by domestic right-wing extremists and the increase in white supremacist hate groups, no one expects that to be on the agenda.
Just a week ago, Craig Hicks, an apparently militant anti-theist murdered three American Muslim college students in Chapel Hill; the FBI and local law enforcement have opened an inquiry into the possibility that it was a hate crime. In August 2012, Wade Michael Page, an avowed white supremacist, stormed into the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin outside Milwaukee and killed six people. Page died, but Attorney General Holder made it clear that the community had endured an act of terrorism and hatred at Page’s hands. Frazier Glenn Miller Jr, a neo-Nazi who founded the White Patriot Party, allegedly killed three people at a Jewish retirement community in Overland Park, Kansas on 13 April 2014. He awaits trial for murder.
One would think the federal government’s response to this and other threats against communities of color would be to develop programs and practices to confront the very real threat of right-wing violence and the alarming increase of such hate groups in the United States. Instead, the Obama Administration’s programs to counter violent extremism (CVE) almost exclusively focus on the recruitment and radicalization of Muslims to engage in terrorist attacks in this country.
While it is important for our government to address all forms of violent extremism to keep Americans safe, the CVE framework is deeply flawed because of its failure to do that and its reliance on unworkable models.
The threat of right-wing domestic extremism is not far-fetched. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), since the year 2000, the number of hate groups in the United States has increased by 56%; they now include anti-immigrant, anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim and anti-government “Patriot” groups. The federal government too is aware of the threats from these groups. In April 2009, a report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on right-wing extremism was leaked and then withdrawn. It revealed the government’s assessment that “white supremacist lone wolves” posed the most significant domestic terrorist threat in the US.
Yet, despite this complicated and growing landscape of domestic right-wing groups, the Obama Administration’s Countering Violent Extremism programs continue to focus on the threat of radicalization in Muslim communities.
Pasco police shooting: victim's American dream ends in violent reality
About 10 years ago, Antonio Zambrano-Montes arrived in Pasco, Washington, in pursuit of what his family simply describes as “a better future”. He left behind a village in the municipality of De Aquila in the southern Mexican state of Michoacan. ... He brought with him his wife and two daughters to the city of around 70,000 people, in America’s north-west.
“[He wanted] a better life for his family, to provide for his girls, so they could have a better future. The American dream. Every Mexican, every Hispanic that crosses the border, they want the American dream. A better future than what they had,” said his cousin Maria Madrigal-Zambrano. ...
His life met an abrupt, violent end last week, when he was shot dead by police who pursued him across a busy intersection. He was unarmed, but had allegedly been throwing rocks at traffic. His death has left members of his extended family devastated and bewildered. The incident, the fourth fatal police shooting in Pasco in seven months, has also shocked the city, contributing to growing distrust among the majority Hispanic population towards a majority white police force.
Video footage of the shooting has gone around the world, prompting comparisons with the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, drawing activists to the city and provoking condemnation from the Mexican government. In death, Zambrano-Montes has become part of a different American story: that of the unarmed man, shot dead by police.
Dashcam Records Cop Turning Camera Off While Officers Allegedly Beat and Tase Teen
A St. Louis cop faces disciplinary action after she warned fellow officers about a dashcam recording while they allegedly beat and used a Taser on 18-year-old Cortez Bufford during a traffic stop last year.
Video footage released by Bufford's lawyers shows a number of officers dragging him from his car and apparently shocking him with a Taser while he is on the ground. Bufford was stopped after he made an "illegal U-turn" and "abruptly parked" on a street near Lafayette Park in St. Louis on April 10, 2014, according to a police report obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Toward the end of the video recording, another officer, Kelli Swinton tells the officers, "Hold up. Hold up, y'all. Hold up. Hold up everybody, hold up. We're red right now, so if you guys are worried about cameras, just wait." ...
Seconds after Swinton's warning, the screen goes black. After the recording was cut off, the lawsuit claims police continued to beat Bufford and caused injuries that resulted in $6,439.32 worth of medical bills.
Police charged Bufford with resisting arrest and unlawful use of a weapon. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's office told the Post-Dispatch that authorities later dropped the charges because "the action of turning off the dash cam video diminished the evidentiary merits of the case."
Rise of SYRIZA and PODEMOS in Europe and the Pre-requisite for the Black Rebellion in the US
Greek Debt Standoff Continues as Finance Ministers Struggle to Find Common Ground
For the second time in less than a week, the eurozone's financial heads failed to reach an agreement to resolve the Greek debt crisis, with talks Monday in Brussels ending with the Greeks and the rest of the eurogroup seemingly further away from finding common ground than they were last week.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the chairman of the eurogroup finance ministers, told Greece on Monday that it must sign an extension of its current bailout program, which is set to expire at the end of February. While the majority of the EU finance ministers seemed to favor an extension, their Greek counterpart requested a four-month "bridge" that would allow "space and time" for discussions on a new contract with the EU.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis claimed he was presented with a draft agreement just a few minutes before the meeting started. He reportedly agreed to sign the draft, which was offered up by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, only to have it switched out with another from Dijsselbloem. Varoufakis ultimately refused to sign. ...
During press conference Monday night, Varoufakis appeared annoyed, saying the only way of reforming Greece was to treat it as a partner and not as a debt colony. He said he is ready to sign an agreement — but only if the terms are favorable. Otherwise, he said, Greece will let the current bailout program expire, a move that could potentially cause the value of the euro to plummet.
"It's not a bluff," Varoufakis said. "It's the only option we have. There's a plan A. There's no plan B. Therefore, no games."
EU gives Greece 1-week ultimatum to request bailout extension or...what?
Bernie Sanders: The pro-worker, pro-growth experiment in Greece is under threat
While the wealthiest 85 individuals on the planet own more wealth than the bottom half of the world’s population – and when the top 1% will soon own more wealth than the bottom 99% – the people of Greece and the anti-austerity party, Syriza, they elected to lead them are struggling to rebuild their economy so that ordinary people there can live with a shred of dignity and security.
But powerful international interests are putting the pro-growth, pro-worker experiment in progressive democracy currently underway in grave danger. ... The German government, the European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) all seem intent on bringing the new government to heel, regardless of the people for whom German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble claims to feel sorry.
The real concern, apparently, is that democracy may go too far for austerity advocates to continue imposing their economic ideology from a distance: in Spain, Portugal, Finland and elsewhere, the patience of citizens is wearing thin as a growing number of them awaken to the stark reality that, while the very rich get much richer, the austerity programs their governments dutifully implemented are the cause rather than the cure for what ails their economies.
If Syriza succeeds in rolling back the EU-mandated measures, it could encourage dissident political movements in other parts of Europe; the right-wing governments in Europe’s periphery are terrified of a Greek success at the negotiating table. ...
My hope instead is that both Syriza and the EU coalition will work toward a compromise that promotes economic growth for all Europeans. A more heavy-handed approach aimed at “teaching the Greeks a lesson” would not only be an economic mistake but, perhaps more importantly, a political mistake. Anything that weakens the Greek economy and undermines democracy could strengthen the Greek neo-Nazi movement and do real harm to economically vulnerable people in Greece.
The Next Syriza? As Greece Rejects Austerity, Meet the Activist Who Could Become Spain’s New PM
Illinois governor Bruce Rauner: organized labor's public enemy No1?
Union leaders say Republican who spent $27m of his own money on getting elected may surpass Wisconsin’s Scott Walker in ferocity of his ‘assault on labor’
Rob Fanti, a counselor for prisoners at the Sheridan correctional center outside Chicago, said he had expected Illinois’ new governor, Bruce Rauner, to begin his term by attacking the state’s outsize budget deficit.
Fanti said he was “stunned” that Rauner instead began by attacking labor unions, pushing a half-dozen proposals that would weaken and shrink organized labor. Among those proposals, Rauner – the former chairman of a private equity fund who spent $27m of his own money to win election – would prohibit government-employee unions from contributing to state and local political campaigns. ...
Rauner ran to the right during the Republican primaries, saying “government union bosses” ran the state, but in the general election he muted his views on labor. Since his inauguration last month, however, he has emerged as a full-throated foe of unions, with some labor leaders complaining that he is pushing to demonize, defund and delegitimize unions. Some union leaders say he might supplant Wisconsin governor Scott Walker as labor’s public enemy No1.
Last week, Rauner issued an executive order – challenged by the state’s Democratic attorney general – that would bar any requirement that state employees pay so-called “fair share” fees to the union that represents them. In his state of the state address on 4 February, Rauner proposed letting localities create special economic development “empowerment” zones that would have right-to-work laws banning any labor contract that requires workers to pay union fees. Rauner embraced this local approach, knowing the Democratic-controlled state legislature would never approve statewide right-to-work legislation.
Hellraiser Preview
Sherman, set the time machine for tomorrow's Hellraisers Journal which will feature a statement from Eugene Debs on prison labor found in the Labor World of Duluth, Minnesota.
Tune in at 2pm!
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US ports shutdown: millions of dollars in lost exports as labor secretary flies in
A partial shutdown of 29 ports along the US west coast looks stretched into a third day as the federal labor secretary was due to arrive in San Francisco to try to broker a settlement ending months of disruptions on the cargo-clogged docks.
The White House, under pressure to weigh in on a labor dispute that is costing industry hundreds of millions of dollars in lost exports, said on Monday that labor secretary Tom Perez would meet the two sides on Tuesday.
Neither the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which represents 20,000 dockworkers, nor the shipping companies’ bargaining agent, the Pacific Maritime Association, have spoken about the negotiations since agreeing a news blackout on Friday requested by a federal mediator. No face-to-face talks between the parties are believed to have occurred since then. ...
The affected ports handle nearly half of all US maritime trade and more than 70% of imports from Asia. A domino effect has been felt across much of the economy, extending to agriculture, manufacturing, retail and transportation.
Brewing 'Perfect Storm,' GOP Lawmakers Push Millionaire-Friendly State Tax Schemes
As income inequality in the U.S. continues its ascent, Republican lawmakers in several states are pushing increasingly regressive tax agendas that only promise to benefit top earners while burdening states' poorest residents.
An analysis by the New York Times published Friday notes that "of the 10 or so Republican governors who have proposed tax increases, nearly all have called for increases in consumption taxes, which hit the poor and middle class harder than the rich."
Central to Ohio Governor John Kasich's "Blueprint for Ohio," which is among the most aggressive new tax proposals, is a plan to cut state income tax by $5.7 billion and raise sales and other types of taxes by $5.2 billion. Analystssay that Kasich's agenda will only benefit the top 40 percent of Ohio income-earners while the bottom 60 percent, who make under $58,000 annually, would end up paying more in state and local taxes.
Maine Governor Paul LePage has beentouring the state to promote his plan to drastically cut the state income tax from 7.95 to 5.75 percent and reduce the top corporate tax rate from 8.93 to 6.75 percent by 2021. The losses will be offset by increasing the state sales tax by a percentage point to 6.5 percent and expanding the number of goods and services that are subject to the sales tax.
The push by GOP-led state governments to shift state revenue away from income taxes comes as the U.S. continues to face extreme and growing levels of income inequality.
The Evening Greens
A Pair of 'Bomb Train' Derailments Highlight Continued Risk of Shipping Oil by Rail
According to the Charleston Daily Mail, at least one tanker car fell into the Kanawha River that runs adjacent to the tracks, forcing the shutdown of a water treatment plant about three miles from the scene that serves about 2,000 customers. Another plant further downstream also closed after the accident, according to an Associated Press report. A 911 dispatcher told the Daily Mail oil was leaking from at least one car.
The train was carrying light crude from the Bakken oil field in North Dakota, Rosser said, which is particularly volatile. The fire is expected to burn until at least midnight and had already caused power outages. ...
The incident comes a day after a train carrying petroleum derailed in a remote part of northern Ontario, starting a fire that's still burning and spilling an unknown amount of crude.
The train, operated by Canadian National Railway Company, was travelling from Alberta to Quebec, traveling 38 miles per hour, when 29 cars derailed shortly after midnight on Sunday. Seven of the cars caught fire and were still burning as of Monday afternoon.
"The accident site itself is quite remote," Chris Krepski, a spokesperson with Canada's Transportation Safety Board, told VICE News. "It's not anywhere near any kind of populated area. There's no road access to where the accident happened."
Warming Planet Threatens More and Possibly Deadlier Pathogens, Warns Study
An overall hotter planet and a rapidly-changing climate are altering the range of pathogens and increasing the appearance of infectious diseases, warns a new research paper published this week.
It may not come in the form of a global pandemic, but outbreaks of viruses like West Nile, and Ebola are signaling that global warming is already having dramatic impacts in the development and spread of such diseases, according to zoological researchers Daniel Brooks and Eric Hoberg. Increasing the level of concern is the impact rising temperatures may have on the emergence of previously unknown pathogens introduced to new regions or human environs.
"It's not that there's going to be one 'Andromeda Strain' that will wipe everybody out on the planet," explained Brooks, making reference to the 1971 science fiction novel by Michael Crichton. "There are going to be a lot of localized outbreaks putting pressure on medical and veterinary health systems. It will be the death of a thousand cuts."
In the study, published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B on Monday, Brooks and Hoberg, who work for the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the U.S. National Parasite Collection respectively, warn that rising global temperatures have upended the balance of biodiversity of ecosystems which in turn threaten both human and animal populations across the planet.
Climate Change Could Decimate the American Ski Industry
The 2015 world ski championships concluded Sunday in Vail, Colorado, but climate change could put future championships in peril. Many athletes and resort owners fear what a warmer future holds for an industry that relies on consistent snow to attract winter sporting enthusiasts. And they're starting to call for political action.
Skiers in the Pacific Northwest are already feeling the heat. The Summit at Snoqualmie, near Seattle, closed its highest and last remaining open slope last week because of poor conditions. The situation there hues closely to what's happening all across the West.
"Based on a 60-year record, the total amount of snow that we've lost in the West varies anywhere from 15 to 60 percent," Noah Molotch, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, told VICE News.
Focusing on the skiing industry may seem quaint, or even elitist, compared with the need of protecting coastal cities from sea-level rise or the agricultural sector from drought. But winter sports recreation generates $67 billion annually for the US economy, propping up 900,000 jobs. Its collapse could kill entire local and regional economies across the West or in New England. ...
In 2013, 108 ski resorts signed a declaration that called for reduced energy consumption and deployment of clean energy technologies.
"In order to make headway on this whole issue, we've got to make headway on legislation," Chris Steinkamp, Executive Director at Protect our Winters (POW) told VICE News. "When we talk to people on Capitol Hill, we try to depoliticize the whole thing. The leaders in our industry have the power to turn heads in Congress."
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
Russian resurgence: how the Kremlin is making its presence felt across Europe
Amid a Fresh Wave of Protests, an Occupier Reflects on an Earlier Tide of Dissent
Obama’s ISIS War Request Is an "Extraordinary Opportunity" for Congress
The Putin-Did-It Conspiracy Theory
Like the Water
A Little Night Music
Wilbert Harrison - Let's Work Together
Wilbert Harrison - Stagger Lee
Wilbert Harrison - Get It While You Can!
Wilbert Harrison - Baby Don´t You Know
Wilbert Harrison - Let's Stick Together
Wilbert Harrison - Happy in Love
Wilbert Harrison - Broke
Wilbert Harrison and his Kansas Playboys - Off To School Again
Wilbert Harrison - My Babe
Wilbert Harrison - Near To You
Wilbert Harrison - Messed Around
Wilbert Harrison - Goodbye Kansas City
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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