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 Chicago bluesman Luther Allison. Enjoy!
Luther Allison - Living in the house of the blues
"I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency."
-- Dick Cheney
News and Opinion
Ray McGovern writes an excellent essay:
Cheney’s Legacy: Honesty Still in Short Supply
As the world marks the centennial of World War I, the guns of August are again being oiled by comfortable politicians and the fawning corporate media, both bereft of any sense of history. And that includes much more recent history, namely the deceitful campaign that ended up bringing destruction to Iraq and widened conflict throughout the Middle East. That campaign went into high gear 12 years ago today.
On August 26, 2002, Vice President Dick Cheney – who remains something of a folk hero on Fox News – formally launched the lies leading to the U.S.-UK attack on Iraq seven months later. And on August 30, 2013, Syria was 20 hours away from a similar fate after Secretary of State John Kerry claimed falsely – no fewer than 35 times – to "know" that the government of Syria was responsible for using sarin nerve gas in an attack outside Damascus on August 21, 2013.
Unlike twelve years ago, when the Pentagon was run by Field Marshal Donald Rumsfeld and the military martinets who called themselves generals but danced to his tune, war with Syria was averted last year when Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey talked sense into a young President who was on the verge of making a terrible mistake by bending to the Cheneyesque hawks now perched atop the State Department. ....
Late last summer, Dempsey had the good sense to be a reluctant soldier. He had already told Congress that a major attack on Syria should require congressional authorization, and he was aware that the "evidence" adduced to implicate the Syrian government could not pass the smell test. ...
If the world is lucky, Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham will soon have another chance to heap abuse on Gen. Dempsey for blocking direct US military involvement in one or another of their favorite wars. ... This will take courage and stamina, since ill-informed Groupthink, aided and abetted by the "mainstream" media, has taken hold in Washington, in a way reminiscent of this same time 12 years ago. Sadly, there was no Martin Dempsey at hand then. The malleable careerist generals that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld picked to serve him – like JCS Chairman Richard Myers – could be counted on to salute smartly to all of the boss’s decisions – even on torture. ...
One can only hope that President Obama, in current circumstances, will keep listening to aides that know something about war.
The Islamic State, Assad, and the Contradictions Faced by the US in Syria
Senate Dems frustrated by colleague's push for ISIS vote
Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-Va.) outspoken push for a vote to approve military strikes in Iraq and Syria has cranked up tensions with fellow Democrats who worry it could hurt them on Election Day.
Vulnerable Democrats fighting for their political lives are frustrated that Kaine is pressing for a debate on giving President Obama new war powers at a time when the commander in chief has become a political liability for them.
“Asking anybody to take that vote within two months of an election is just stupid. Why would you put people in that position?” said a Senate Democratic aide. ...
“I think it’s dumb,” said a second Democratic aide. “The less the president is in the news with anything right now, the better.”
Kaine’s response to critics is that voters elected him and other senators to make tough decisions, not avoid them before an election.
“I don’t think anybody should just be in this job for the politics. They should be in the job to do the right thing,” he told The Hill in an interview Tuesday.
The Fun of Empire: Fighting on All Sides of a War in Syria
It was not even a year ago when we were bombarded with messaging that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a Supreme Evil and Grave Threat, and that military action against his regime was both a moral and strategic imperative. The standard cast of “liberal interventionists” – Tony Blair, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Nicholas Kristof and Samantha Power - issued stirring sermons on the duties of war against Assad. Secretary of State John Kerry actually compared Assad to (guess who?) Hitler, instructing the nation that “this is our Munich moment.” Striking Assad, he argued, “is a matter of national security. It’s a matter of the credibility of the United States of America. It’s a matter of upholding the interests of our allies and friends in the region.”
U.S. military action against the Assad regime was thwarted only by overwhelming American public opinion which opposed it and by a resounding rejection by the UK Parliament of Prime Minister David Cameron’s desire to assume the usual subservient British role in support of American wars.
Now the Obama administration and American political class is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the failed “Bomb Assad!” campaign by starting a new campaign to bomb those fighting against Assad – the very same side the U.S. has been arming over the last two years.
It’s as though the U.S. knew for certain all along that it wanted to fight in the war in Syria, and just needed a little time to figure out on which side it would fight. It switched sides virtually on a dime, and the standard Pentagon courtiers of the U.S. media and war-cheering foreign policy elites are dutifully following suit, mindlessly depicting ISIS as an unprecedented combination of military might and well-armed and well-funded savagery (where did they get those arms and funds?). Something very similar happened in Libya: the U.S. spent a decade insisting that a Global War on Terror – complete with full-scale dismantling of basic liberties and political values – was necessary to fight against the Unique Threat of Al Qaeda and “Jihadists”, only to then fight on the same side as them, and arming and empowering them.
Syria and Isis committing war crimes, says UN
The Syrian government and Islamic State (Isis) insurgents are both committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, UN investigators have said.
Syrian government forces have dropped barrel bombs on civilian areas, including some believed to contain the chemical agent chlorine in eight incidents in April, and have committed other war crimes that should be prosecuted, they said in a 45-page report issued in Geneva on Wednesday. ...
Deaths in custody in Syrian jails are on the rise and forensic analysis of 26,948 photographs allegedly taken from 2011-2013 in government detention centres support its "longstanding findings of systematic torture and deaths of detainees". ...
"In areas of Syria under [Isis] control, particularly in the north and north-east of the country, Fridays are regularly marked by executions, amputations and lashings in public squares," the independent commission of inquiry on the human rights situation in Syria said.
"Executions in public spaces have become a common spectacle on Fridays in [Isis power-base] Raqqa and in Isis-controlled areas of Aleppo governorate," said the commission, which includes former war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte. "Bodies of those killed are placed on display for several days, terrorising the local population."
Del Ponte called on world powers to launch cases at the international criminal court, based on the evidence.
"The Damage is Beyond Imagination in Gaza": Journalist Mohammed Omer on Ceasefire Deal & Rebuilding
Officials Announce Long-Term Truce Agreement to End Attack on Gaza
Israel and Palestinian officials announced Tuesday that they have reached a long term ceasefire agreement drawing an end to fifty days of death and destruction in the Gaza strip.
After Hamas officials broke the news, according to the Associated Press, Israeli officials are now confirming the truce which reportedly began at 7 PM local time (1600 GMT). As part of the agreement, Israel has reportedly agreed to ease their blockade on the Strip to allow for rebuilding materials to enter the war torn territory.
In a speech following the announcement, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas reinforced the complete destruction of Gaza after seven weeks of intense shelling and the pressing need for "materials" to help rebuild the schools, hospitals and places of worship so that Palestinians "will be able to live" in the days following the ceasefire.
"The disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination," he said. During his speech, news outlets streamed images of people in Gaza celebrating in the streets.
According to senior Islamic Jihad official Ziad Nakhala, discussions regarding more long term issues—such as whether Palestinians in Gaza will be permitted to build a seaport or airport, and Israel's demands for Hamas to be "demilitarized"—will begin in a month.
Nato plans east European bases to counter Russia
Nato is to deploy its forces at new bases in eastern Europe for the first time, in response to the Ukraine crisis and in an attempt to deter Vladimir Putin from causing trouble in the former Soviet Baltic republics, according to its secretary general.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the organisations's summit in Cardiff next week would overcome divisions within the alliance and agree to new deployments on Russia's borders – a move certain to trigger a strong reaction from Moscow.
He also outlined moves to boost Ukraine's security, "modernise" its armed forces and help the country counter the threat from Russia.
Rasmussen said: "We will adopt what we call a readiness action plan with the aim to be able to act swiftly in this completely new security environment in Europe. We have something already called the Nato response force, whose purpose is to be able to be deployed rapidly if needed. Now it's our intention to develop what I would call a spearhead within that response force at very, very high readiness.
"In order to be able to provide such rapid reinforcements you also need some reception facilities in host nations. So it will involve the pre-positioning of supplies, of equipment, preparation of infrastructure, bases, headquarters. The bottom line is you will in the future see a more visible Nato presence in the east."
Brazil Socialist Presidential Nominee Marina Silva Spikes in Polls
Marina Silva, former environmental minister of Brazil whose populist appeal has resulted in surging poll numbers and a wave of new voter interest in the election, last week became the presidential nominee of the country's Socialist Party and the frontrunner to challenge current President Dilma Rousseff. ...
Silva, whose conservation campaigns as a senator helped decrease deforestation in the Amazon by 59 percent between 2004 and 2007, is seen by many as an anti-establishment politician with strong, populist ethics. She was born to an impoverished family in the Amazon and learned to read as a teenager before becoming the first rubber tapper ever elected to Brazil's federal senate. ...
"I recognize that there are good people in all parties, but that the good guys are on the bench," she said. Silva's running mate is Beto Albuquerque, a legislator from Rio Grande do Sul with strong ties to agriculture lobbyists.
Battle over Austerity Collapses French Government
French President François Hollande took the dramatic step Monday of dissolving the country's government in the midst of a heated row over unpopular austerity policies—a move that effectively forced austerity critics from their positions and created a new cabinet of loyalists.
The upheaval marks the second time in less than five months that Hollande has orchestrated a shake-up of the French cabinet and comes amid rising opposition to the austerity policies of the president, whose approval rating has plummeted to 17 percent.
Amid a growing rift within the Socialist Party over austerity, Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg was featured in an interview with French paper Le Monde, published Saturday, in which he called for the president to abandon the country's "dogmatic" austerity policies, which he charged as "absurd" and subservient to Germany's far-right political forces. ...
The turmoil comes amid plummeting approval of the Socialist Party, which has moved further to the right amid rising unemployment and poverty in France. Meanwhile, support for the extreme far-right National Front is on the rise, with the party polling high for France's 2017 Presidential race.
NSA Creates Google-Like Search Engine to Help Other Agencies Access Collected Phone, Email Records
Activists Sound Alarm as More Police Departments Consider Using Drones
Police departments in the U.S. are increasingly considering the use of drones as a law enforcement tool, even as civil rights groups and media turn up scrutiny of police militarization in the wake of brutal crackdowns on anti-brutality protesters in Ferguson, Missouri and other cities.
The Baltimore Sun reported on Sunday that agencies in several Maryland counties are considering testing drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), for intelligence gathering and "high-risk tactical raids." That news comes less than a week after anti-war activists in California protested against "mission creep" by the Los Angeles Police Department, which recently acquired several of their own drones. Indiana police departments also recently announced their plan to pursue adding drones to their weapons arsenal. ...
But while many police departments claim that they would use the vehicles strictly for high-risk scenarios, critics have sounded the alarm over the risks of drone use, particularly by entities they say are as historically oppressive as American law enforcement agencies.
Is Ferguson Feeding on the Poor? City Disproportionately Stops, Charges and Fines People of Color
Detroit resumes shutting off water service after month-long suspension
Bankrupt Detroit resumed shutting off water to people who have not paid bills after a month-long suspension that followed international and local criticism that the practice was unduly harsh to residents of one of the nation’s poorest cities.
The city said it was scheduled to deny service to 420 customers Tuesday, although it was not immediately clear how many had actually been shut off.
Detroit filed the nation’s largest-ever municipal bankruptcy last year and has struggled to manage basic services.
Nearly 45% of the city’s 173,000 residential water accounts are considered past due, the city said. Some 25,000 customers have reached payment plans with the city.
Despite Calls for Humanity, Detroit Resumes Water Shutoffs
Citizen advocates warn that the "whole world is watching" as city cuts off water to thousands of most impoverished residents
Despite widespread public outcry and international condemnation, the city of Detroit on Tuesday resumed shutting off the water supply to thousands of city residents.
Ending the month long moratorium on shutoffs, Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) public affairs specialist Gregory Eno confirmed to Common Dreams that the city turned off the water to roughly 400 households that are delinquent on their water bills and have not yet set up a payment plan. More shutoffs are expected.
According to the citizens group Detroit Water Brigade, the only thing that changed since shutoffs began in March is that the city has lowered the required down payment water bills from 30% to 10%. "The water is still too expensive for Detroit," they said. Detroit is one of the poorest cities in the United States with over 38% of the population living below the poverty line, according to Census Bureau statistics.
Members of the Detroit Water Brigade are calling on the city to halt the shutoffs altogether and consider alternatives for helping people pay their bills, arguing that restricting access to water for the city's poorest residents is "doing nothing more than hurting people," DWB volunteer DeMeeko Williams told a local CBS affiliate.
The Democratic Enemies of Medicare for All
When Barack Obama decided to take ownership of a right-wing idea pushing market exchanges for private insurance, with mandates and subsides to make sure everyone bought the product, as a fix for our embarrassing health care system- it was clear we were in trouble. Now, as Obamacare is finally up and running, we see the most tech savvy Presidential Administration in history fail to build a functioning website. (Ironically, given the NSA revelations, when people actually want to give the government their personal information they seem incapable of taking it.) I remember heated conversations with liberals who assured me this was the best we could get, as conservatives would do anything to stop a plan that didn’t involve private insurance and marketplaces. Anything? Like shutdown the government even?
Quietly, while this mess was going on, some people continued to receive affordable treatment. Unlike Obamacare, this is actually a government program. Even the people who support Ted Cruz’s McCarthyite ramblings tend to support it. It is called Medicare. It is popular. It works. And it could truly bring down costs. Compare and contrast “Obamacare” with “Medicare for all.” One is convoluted and divisive, the other self-explanatory and familiar. ...
While this is all well known, there is little political will to even bring the issue up. But the problem is not simply with the tea party. They are more concerned with attacking Barack Obama, for whatever reason, than providing any sort of comprehensive healthcare reform. The problem lies with the Democrats. Obama, the supposed great orator, certainly could have explained the need for Medicare’s expansion, at least as a starting point. The idea could have been taken up by any number of leading Democrats. There certainly would be pushback from the insurance industry, but this is inevitable for any reform to healthcare (it even was for Obamacare, which guarantees them customers).
The truth is the Democratic Party as a whole is ideologically against a national healthcare system. This seems obvious to anyone who has followed the issue somewhat closely, but many liberals have somehow convinced themselves that if only the nasty Republicans would be more reasonable we could finally get the healthcare the rest of the industrialized world enjoys. Until then, Obamacare is the best we will get so we should support it. That is nonsense. Those of us fighting for Medicare for all during the implementation of Obamacare need to both keep the conversation going and realize the Democrats are more adversary than ally.
The Evening Greens
Expecting the Unexpected: Abrupt Climate Change
'Severe... Pervasive... Irreversible": IPCC's Devastating Climate Change Conclusions
Climate change is here. Climate change is now. Climate change will be significantly more dangerous, deadly, and expensive if nothing is done to correct humanity's course, but aspects of future shifts are probably already irreversible.
That's the assessment of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has sent world governments a draft of its final "Synthesis Report" which seeks to tie together previous reports the panel has released over the last year and offers a stark assessment of the perilous future the planet and humanity face due to global warming and climate change.
Based on a clear and overwhelming consensus among the world's leading scientists, the draft says that failure to adequately acknowledge and act on previous warnings has put the planet on a path where “severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts” of human-caused climate change will surely be felt in the decades to come.
In a clear statement regarding the dangers of continued inaction, the draft report declares: “The risk of abrupt and irreversible change increases as the magnitude of the warming increases.”
People's Climate March - Sept. 21st
Grain Piles Up, Waiting for a Ride, as Trains Move North Dakota Oil
FARGO, N.D. — The furious pace of energy exploration in North Dakota is creating a crisis for farmers whose grain shipments have been held up by a vast new movement of oil by rail, leading to millions of dollars in agricultural losses and slower production for breakfast cereal giants like General Mills.
The backlog is only going to get worse, farmers said, as they prepared this week for what is expected to be a record crop of wheat and soybeans. ...
[R]eports the railroads filed with the federal government show that for the week that ended Aug. 22, the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway — North Dakota’s largest railroad, owned by the billionaire Warren E. Buffett — had a backlog of 1,336 rail cars waiting to ship grain and other products. Another railroad, Canadian Pacific, had a backlog of nearly 1,000 cars.
For farmers, the delays often mean canceled orders from food giants that cannot wait weeks or months for the grain they need to make cereal, bread and an array of other products. “They need to get this problem fixed,” Mr. Hejl said. “I’m losing money, and my customers are turning to other sources as a result. I don’t know how much longer we can survive like this.” ...
Farmers and agriculture groups say rail operators are clearly favoring the more lucrative transport of oil. Rail shipments of crude oil in North Dakota have surged since 2008, and the state now produces about a million barrels a day. About 60 percent of that oil travels by train from the Bakken oil fields in the western part of the state to faraway oil refiners.
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
NSA Quits Spying on Americans Out of Disgust
Shocking Picture of What Life Will Look Like When You Can't Afford to Retire
ISIS: Is it really a threat to the U.S.?
The US still decides the future of capitalism, not the G20, and not the Brics nations
Assange's swedish nemesis, US government toady, loses election
Reading Hamilton From the Left
gjohnsit:
The Rise of ISIS
Do check out bobswern's excellent diary:
NSA's ICREACH Program: “a landmark moment in the history of classified U.S. gov't surveillance”
A Little Night Music
Luther Allison - Bad Love
Luther Allison - Cherry Red Wine
Luther Allison - Dust my broom
Luther Allison Band - She Was Born That Way
Luther Allison - It's Been a Long Time
Luther Allison - Serious
Luther Allison & Bernard Allison - Life is a bitch
Luther Allison - Fight
Luther Allison - Should I Wait
Luther Allison - San-Ho-Zay
Luther Allison - Soul Fixin' Man
Luther Allison - Give Me Back My Wig
Luther Allison - Live in East-Berlin 1987
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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