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 blues and gospel singer and songwriter Arnold "Gatemouth" Moore. Enjoy!
Gatemouth Moore - I Ain't Mad at You Pretty Baby
“There was a time once when ‘lesser of two evils’ actually meant something momentous, like the choice between starving to death on a lifeboat or eating the first mate.”
-- Alexander Cockburn
News and Opinion
Highest-value terror detainees excluded from Senate investigation of CIA torture
A widely anticipated report by the Senate intelligence committee into torture committed by the Central Intelligence Agency has a hole at the center of its story: the men the CIA tortured.
Lawyers for four of the highest-value detainees ever held by the CIA, all of whom have made credible allegations of torture and all of whom remain in US government custody, say the Senate committee never spoke with their clients. In some cases the Senate’s investigators never attempted to speak with the men whose abuse is at the heart of what the committee spent over four years investigating. ...
Human rights organizations consider the release of sections of the report, expected in December, to be a watershed moment for holding the CIA accountable for torture. Yet lawyers for the men the CIA tortured consider the committee’s omissions consistent with years of US efforts to conceal the truth about the program and insulate those involved from reprisal – including from an ongoing inquiry by an allied country that once hosted a secret CIA prison. ...
The torture experienced by the four men was among the harshest the CIA administered. Mohammed, al-Nashiri and Zubaydah are the only three men the CIA has acknowledged waterboarding – Mohammed 183 times, and 83 times for al-Nashiri, who was also threatened with a gun and a power drill. At a secret prison in Poland, according to a leaked report from the International Committee of the Red Cross, agency officials would douse bin Attash with buckets of cold water and wrap his frigid body in plastic sheeting before interrogations.
While the Senate intelligence committee opted not to speak to the men, the Obama administration actively blocked an investigation by US ally Poland into CIA torture committed on its territory.
As documented by the European Court of Human Rights this summer, Polish investigators repeatedly sought permission from the US to interview al-Nashiri and Zubaydah. Their attorneys, Amrit Singh and Joe Margulies, said the US denied those requests.
Man Allegedly Tortured by UK and US for Nearly a Decade Wins Right to Sue Britain
A Pakistani man who claims he was illegally detained and tortured by British forces in Iraq has won the right to sue the UK government.
The legal system would be "failing in its duty" if it did not deal with the claims of Yunus Rahmatullah, the judge in the case told the courtroom.
Rahmatullah was allegedly tortured by UK forces in Iraq in 2004 before he was handed over to US custody. The US reportedly transferred him to Afghanistan via the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. Rahmatullah claims he was secretly detained and tortured by the US for nearly a decade before his release in June of this year.
The UK denied any involvement in Rahmatullah's rendition until 2008, when then-Defense Secretary John Hutton publicly admitted that it occurred. ...
"Rendition is a potential war crime, yet no authority in the UK seems to want to investigate such matters despite instances being brought to their attention," Nick Mercer, the former chief legal advisor to the UK armed forces in Iraq in 2003 said. "It is hoped that judgements such as these and the intervention of the ICC will ensure proper investigations and the eventual compliance of the UK with International Humanitarian Law."
After Vowing to End Combat Mission in Afghanistan, Obama Secretly Extends America’s Longest War
In a Shift, Obama Extends U.S. Role in Afghan Combat
President Obama decided in recent weeks to authorize a more expansive mission for the military in Afghanistan in 2015 than originally planned, a move that ensures American troops will have a direct role in fighting in the war-ravaged country for at least another year.
Mr. Obama’s order allows American forces to carry out missions against the Taliban and other militant groups threatening American troops or the Afghan government, a broader mission than the president described to the public earlier this year, according to several administration, military and congressional officials with knowledge of the decision. The new authorization also allows American jets, bombers and drones to support Afghan troops on combat missions.
In an announcement in the White House Rose Garden in May, Mr. Obama said that the American military would have no combat role in Afghanistan next year, and that the missions for the 9,800 troops remaining in the country would be limited to training Afghan forces and to hunting the “remnants of Al Qaeda.”
The decision to change that mission was the result of a lengthy and heated debate that laid bare the tension inside the Obama administration between two often-competing imperatives: the promise Mr. Obama made to end the war in Afghanistan, versus the demands of the Pentagon that American troops be able to successfully fulfill their remaining missions in the country.
The internal discussion took place against the backdrop of this year’s collapse of Iraqi security forces in the face of the advance of the Islamic State as well as the mistrust between the Pentagon and the White House that still lingers since Mr. Obama’s 2009 decision to “surge” 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan. Some of the president’s civilian advisers say that decision was made only because of excessive Pentagon pressure, and some military officials say it was half-baked and made with an eye to domestic politics.
Oh looky, Obama inserted some weasel words in his speech to the American public, to lead them to believe that the US was finally getting out of the long, awful war in Iraq so that he could give secret orders to keep his war going and avoid public opposition. By now, of course, that should come as no surprise from the man who has discovered that he is pretty good at killing people.
Obama's Secret Extension of the US Role in Afghanistan Should Come as No Surprise
President Barack Obama has reportedly issued a classified order to extend the role of the US military in Afghanistan in 2015. According to several unnamed officials who spoke with the New York Times, the secret order gives Americans a direct role in fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban, and also allows for US air support to Afghan forces.
The Times report came as a surprise to many Americans. Obama announced in May that 2014 would be "the year we will conclude our combat mission in Afghanistan." He said the 9,800 US troops slated to remain in the country would be limited to training Afghan forces and "supporting counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al Qaeda." ...
[And here's the weasel-word report... - js]
The focus of the Times story is on Obama's speech in May. According to the Times, Obama said there would be "no combat role" for American forces. But the President didn't put it quite like that. What he did say is that America's "combat mission will be over by the end of this year." And that Americans "will no longer patrol Afghan cities or towns, mountains or valleys." Those distinctions are important.
Afghans Approve Troop Deal, US Already Breaking It
The Afghan parliament today finally approved the troops deal which will keep US occupation forces on the ground “through 2024 and beyond.” The vote was 152-5, and loudly backed by President Ashraf Ghani. ...
Undiscussed in the Afghan parliament was the fact that the Obama Administration openly plans to violate that pact on multiple fronts now, and has the apparent blessing of Ghani, elected earlier this year and a fraud-laden run-off vote.
On Friday, it was revealed President Obama had already signed a “secret order” that would ignore the training and advisory limit, and ensure that US ground troops remain in direct combat throughout at least 2015, the first year of the deal.
Afghanistan Quietly Lifts Ban on Nighttime Raids
KABUL, Afghanistan — The government of the new Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, has quietly lifted the ban on night raids by special forces troops that his predecessor had imposed. ...
Night raids were banned for the most part in 2013 by President Hamid Karzai. Their resumption is likely to be controversial among Afghans, for whom any intrusion into private homes is considered offensive. Mindful of the bad name that night raids have, the American military has renamed them “night operations.”
American military officials have long viewed night raids as the most important tactic in their fight against Taliban insurgents, because they can catch the militant group’s leaders where they are most vulnerable. For years, the Americans ignored Mr. Karzai’s demands that the raids stop. ...
Some Afghans are worried about resumption of the raids.
“The Taliban will be going into other people’s houses, and the Americans will be behind them again, and there will be losses again of women and children when Taliban shoot from people’s houses, and in reaction the foreigners will bomb or kill them,” said Haji Abdullah Jan, a local shura leader in the Maiwand District of Kandahar Province. “I am not in favor of night raids because we have experienced such huge losses from them during those past years.”
Chuck Hagel Stepping Down 'Under Pressure'
Chuck Hagel to step down as US defense secretary
Senior defense official says Hagel submitted his resignation letter to Barack Obama on Monday morning and the president accepted it
US defense secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to step down from the Obama administration, a senior official has told the Guardian. ... Hagel agreed to remain in office until his successor is confirmed by the Senate, the official told the AP. ... The New York Times characterized his departure from Obama’s national security team as “under pressure” in the face of global crises such as the rise of the Islamic State.
Oh my. What could possibly go wrong with this plan?
U.S. plans to arm Iraq's Sunni tribesmen with AK-47s, RPGs, mortars
The United States plans to buy arms for Sunni tribesmen in Iraq including AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds to help bolster the battle against Islamic State militants in Anbar province, according to a Pentagon document prepared for Congress.
The plan to spend $24.1 million represents a small fraction of the larger, $1.6 billion spending request to Congress focusing on training and arming Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
But the document underscored the importance the Pentagon places on the Sunni tribesmen to its overall strategy to diminish Islamic State, and cautioned Congress about the consequences of failing to assist them.
Andrew Bacevich:
Malarkey on the Potomac: Five Bedrock Washington Assumptions That Are Hot Air
“Iraq no longer exists.” My young friend M, sipping a cappuccino, is deadly serious. ... His is an opinion grounded in experience. As an enlisted soldier, he completed two Iraq tours, serving as a member of a rifle company, before and during the famous Petraeus “surge.” After separating from the Army, he went on to graduate school where he is now writing a dissertation on insurgencies. ... Few in Washington would endorse M’s assertion, of course. Inside the Beltway, policymakers, politicians, and pundits take Iraq’s existence for granted. Many can even locate it on a map. They also take for granted the proposition that it is incumbent upon the United States to preserve that existence. ...
Considered from this perspective, the “Iraqi government” actually governs, the “Iraqi army” is a nationally representative fighting force, and the “Iraqi people” genuinely see themselves as constituting a community with a shared past and an imaginable future. Arguably, each of these propositions once contained a modicum of truth. But when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and, as then-Secretary of State Colin Powell predicted, broke the place, any merit they previously possessed quickly dissipated.
The value of M’s insight -- of, that is, otherwise intelligent people purporting to believe in things that don’t exist -- can be applied well beyond American assumptions about Iraq. A similar inclination to fanaticize permeates, and thereby warps, U.S. policies throughout much of the Greater Middle East. Consider the following claims, each of which in Washington circles has attained quasi-canonical status.
- The presence of U.S. forces in the Islamic world contributes to regional stability and enhances American influence.
- The Persian Gulf constitutes a vital U.S. national security interest.
- Egypt and Saudi Arabia are valued and valuable American allies.
- The interests of the United States and Israel align.
- Terrorism poses an existential threat that the United States must defeat.
For decades now, the first four of these assertions have formed the foundation of U.S. policy in the Middle East. The events of 9/11 added the fifth, without in any way prompting a reconsideration of the first four. On each of these matters, no senior U.S. official (or anyone aspiring to a position of influence) will dare say otherwise, at least not on the record.
Yet subjected to even casual scrutiny, none of the five will stand up.
Dispatch from Syria: US Bombing Campaign Driving Wave of ISIS Support
US air strikes in Syria are encouraging anti-regime fighters to forge alliances with or even defect to Islamic State (Isis), according to a series of interviews conducted by the Guardian.
Fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Islamic military groups are joining forces with Isis, which has gained control of swaths of Syria and Iraq and has beheaded six western hostages in the past few months.
Some brigades have transferred their allegiance, while others are forming tactical alliances or truces. Support among civilians also appears to be growing in some areas as a result of resentment over US-led military action.
Netanyahu to push for bill to revoke residency of "terrorists" and their families
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to present a bill in the near future that seeks to revoke permanent residency and social benefits of anyone who commits terror and serious offenses with nationalist motives and for their families.
Interior Minister Gilad Erdan said Saturday that he has asked his staff to look into how he can extend his powers and revoke the permanent residency and social benefits of East Jerusalem Arabs who encourage terror and incitement to violence. ...
On Friday, Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat issued a similar call for Israel to revoke the citizenship of terrorists’ families who support attacks against Israelis.
“I discussed the matter with the prime minister and the cabinet,” Barkat told Army Radio, “and I think they understand it, and will examine how to revoke the citizenship of terrorists’ families, as well as how to act more decisively against those who incite, cause disturbances and throw stones.”
Iran nuclear talks extended seven months after failing to meet deadline
Iran and six powers failed for a second time this year on Monday to resolve their 12-year dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions and gave themselves seven more months to overcome the deadlock that has prevented them from clinching an historic deal.
Western officials said they were aiming to secure an agreement on the substance of a final accord by March but that more time would be needed to reach a consensus on the all-important technical details. ...
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told reporters that Iran and the powers "made some significant progress" in the latest round of talks, which began last Tuesday in the Austrian capital. Hammond said that there was a clear target to reach a "headline agreement" of substance within the next three months and talks would resume next month.
It is unclear where next month's talks will take place, he said, noting that during the extension period, Tehran will be able to continue to access around $700 million per month in sanctions relief. A source close to the talks said Vienna and Oman were possible venues for next month's discussions.
An Iranian official confirmed the extension, as did Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who echoed Hammond's comments about "substantial progress".
Vladimir Putin: I don’t want to rule Russia for life
Vladimir Putin does not want to rule Russia for life, but may well run for another six-year term in 2018, he has said.
In an interview with a Russian state news agency, Putin, who has ruled as either president or prime minister since 2000, said he would base any decision to run again on the mood of the country and his personal feelings.
Staying in office beyond 2024 would be detrimental for the country, he told Tass. ...
The interview touched on familiar topics including the deterioration of Russia’s relations with the west. Putin said the west wanted to punish Russia for being strong and assertive, and not over the unrest in Ukraine.
“Take a look at our millennium-long history. As soon as we rise, other nations immediately feel the urge to push Russia aside, to put it ‘where it belongs’, to slow it down,” he said.
Sanders Joins Warren in Opposing Obama's Wall Street Nominee for Treasury
'The American people are disgusted with Wall Street bankers'
Last week President Obama nominated Wall Street investment banker Antonio Weiss, head of global investment banking for the financial giant Lazard, to become the administration's new Under Secretary for Domestic Finance. Weiss has spent the last 20 years of his career at Lazard -- most of it advising on international mergers and acquisitions. Lazard helps clients avoid U.S. taxes by sheltering profits in other countries.
Sanders urged President Barack Obama to withdraw the nomination.
“The Wall Street crash of 2008, caused by the greed and illegal behavior of major financial institutions, created the worst recession in modern history. We need an economic team at the White House which will hold Wall Street accountable and fight for the needs of working families, not more Wall Street executives,” Sanders said. “The American people are disgusted with Wall Street bankers who find loopholes in the tax code to help profitable companies shelter profits in offshore tax havens in order to avoid paying their fair share of U.S. taxes. We need economists in government who have a history of helping to create jobs, not helping corporations avoid taxes."
Protesting GM Auto Workers Attacked by US Embassy Staff
Failing to Deliver: Manufacturing Wages Aren't What They Used to Be
'The quality of too many of the returning jobs is low and fails to live up to workers’ and the overall public’s expectations
Though nine out of ten Americans perceive blue-collar jobs as "good jobs" and policymakers tout the benefits of expanding the country's manufacturing base, the truth is that factory wages now rank in the bottom half of those for all jobs in the U.S., according to a new study from the National Employment Law Project (NELP).
The report, Manufacturing Low Pay: Declining Wages in the Jobs That Built America’s Middle Class (pdf), reveals that while the manufacturing sector has experienced a rebound in recent years, in fact "the quality of too many of the returning jobs is low and fails to live up to workers’ and the overall public’s expectations."
"Manufacturing jobs are... highly sought after by our federal and state policymakers," write co-authors Catherine Ruckelshaus and Sarah Leberstein, "lauded as 'advanced industries' that generate investments, create a high number of direct and indirect jobs, enhance worker skills, and generate additional economic activity in related industries."
But "while the manufacturing sector has been resurging in the last few years, growing by 4.3 percent between 2010 and 2012, the jobs that are returning are not the ones that were lost: wages are lower, the jobs are increasingly temporary, and the promised benefits have yet to be realized," they write.
- More than 600,000 manufacturing workers make just $9.60 per hour or less and more than 1.5 million manufacturing workers—one out of every four—make $11.91 or less
- Real wages for manufacturing workers declined by 4.4 percent from 2003 to 2013—almost three times faster than for workers as a whole.
- In the largest segment of the manufacturing base—automotive—wages have declined even faster. Real wages for auto parts workers, who now account for three of every four autoworker jobs, fell by nearly 14 percent from 2003 to 2013—three times faster than for manufacturing as a whole, and nine times faster than the decline for all occupations.
- In particular, new jobs in the auto industry pay less than the jobs that were lost. New hires in auto earn less than $10 an hour.
- Heavy reliance on temporary workers hides even bigger declines in manufacturing wages. About 14 percent of auto parts workers are employed by staffing agencies today. Wages for these workers are lower than for direct-hire parts workers and are not included in the official industry-specific wage data cited above.
Hellraiser Preview
Sherman, set the time machine for tomorrow's Hellraisers Journal which will feature ongoing coverage of Colorado's stolen election of 1904.
Tune in at 2pm!
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Longest-Serving U.S. Prisoner in Solitary Ordered Free Again, But State Obstruction Bars His Release
Ferguson Grand Jury Reaches Decision
Grand jury reaches decision in case of Ferguson officer
ST. LOUIS — A grand jury has reached a decision on whether to indict Darren Wilson, the white Ferguson, Mo., police officer whose fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager sparked days of turbulent protests, sources close to the process said.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) and the county prosecutor’s office are expected to hold news conferences later Monday, and prosecutors have notified the family of Michael Brown — the teen who Wilson killed — that the grand jury’s decision will be announced Monday night, family attorney Benjamin Crump said. ...
Although a parallel federal civil rights investigation of the shooting is continuing, federal investigators have all but concluded that they do not have a case against Wilson, law enforcement officials have said. Federal investigators are also conducting a broader probe of the Ferguson Police Department.
If Wilson is not charged, government officials are bracing for protests in the St. Louis area and nationwide.
Waiting for a Decision in Ferguson
Last night, for the second night in a row, Ferguson police arrested several protestors for blocking traffic; officers used pepper spray on one of the demonstrators. The growing unease can be attributed to the fact that very few expect charges to be filed. ... If that is the case, some activists are intent on expanding the zone of last summer’s unrest beyond the streets of Ferguson in into St. Louis’ more affluent communities. The Organization for Black Struggle, one of the many protest groups, plans to demonstrate in Clayton, a wealthy, largely white municipality that serves as the county seat. “We are going to send a message to St. Louis and the country by shutting down Clayton,” said Grady Brown, a representative of the group. ...
St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay held a joint press conference to preview their responses to any potential unrest. “If something does happen, then we are prepared to handle it,” Slay said. The pair also announced that a coalition of protest groups and government officials had agreed to a set of informal rules for how police would deal with protestors. In anticipation of the announcement, the school district in nearby Jennings has cancelled classes next week, while the FBI dispatched 100 agents to St. Louis.
St. Louis protesters march ahead of grand jury announcement
Darren Wilson May Quit Ferguson Police Ahead of Grand Jury Decision
A grand jury will soon decide the fate of Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson, but regardless of whether Wilson is indicted for shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown, it seems the officer will no longer be a member the city's police force.
People close to Wilson told the New York Times that he plans to resign from the Ferguson Police Department ahead of the jury's decision, which is expected to ignite another series of protests in the St. Louis suburb that has been in turmoil since the August 9 shooting of Brown. ...
Wilson has been on paid administrative leave since the shooting. Ferguson officials reportedly have advised that Wilson resign, but Wilson didn't agree with the timing. However, Wilson's attorneys have been in talks with Ferguson officials for the past two months about terms of the resignation.
Ferguson police chief Tom Jackson said previously that Wilson could potentially still work as an officer in the department. "Legally speaking, if he is not indicted he can return to his job," Jackson said last week.
The Long, Brutal History that Predicts Darren Wilson Will Get Off Scot Free
To the black community, a non-indictment for Brown would be predictable. It would be as predictable as the verdict in the trial over the shooting death of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a verdict that acquitted defendant George Zimmerman, allowing him to continue doing stupid things. Or as predictable as the involuntary manslaughter verdict handed down in the shooting death of restrained, unarmed, 23-year-old Oscar Grant in Oakland. Or as predictable as the acquittal of police officers charged with killing unarmed Sean Bell in Queens, New York by firing 50 shots into his vehicle. As predictable as the acquittal of the police officers who fatally shot unarmed Amadou Diallo 19 times, killing him. As predictable as the acquittals in the infamous police beating of Rodney King. And so on, back to Emmett Till and before.
And those are just the incidents the public knows about. For every Eric Garner choked and squeezed to death by the police or for every police officer caught on camera horribly shooting an innocent black man as he reaches for his license, there are thousands of racially tinged episodes of police brutality known only to the people involved, to the friends and families of the victims, and to pockets of the impacted communities. ...
Too many different stories of police brutality against black victims end the same way, with acquittals or lenient sentences for the cops. That’s why most people in the black community have no faith Wilson will ever face trial.
Marion Barry, former Washington DC mayor, dies aged 78
Marion Barry, the former mayor of Washington DC, who was jailed for smoking crack cocaine before making a surprise return to office, has died aged 78.
Barry, who was hospitalised briefly last week, died at the United Medical Center in Washington on Sunday, his spokeswoman, Natalie Williams, said. The cause of death was not immediately confirmed.
Barry served three terms as mayor from 1979 until 1991 when he went to prison for six months after being filmed smoking crack cocaine.
After his release, he was quickly re-elected to the city council and reclaimed the job of mayor in the 1995 election.
The Evening Greens
As Walmart 'Wages War on Workers and Earth,' Green Groups Join Labor Fight
With Black Friday now one week away, Walmart workers and their allies are gearing up for what they predict will be the largest strike in the retailer's history.
Among the tens of thousands of people and hundreds of organizations that have vowed to support Walmart's low-wage workers are a growing number of voices from the climate justice movement, calling for broad resistance to the corporation's violations of workers' rights and the environment.
"As people deeply committed to environmental and climate justice, we condemn Walmart as a climate criminal and we stand side-by-side with Walmart’s workers organizing for $15 per hour, full time work, and the respect they deserve," said Brooke Anderson of Movement Generation's Justice and Ecology Project on a press call Friday. "At the same time that Walmart wages war on its workers, it wages war on planet Earth."
An Institute for Local Self-Reliance study released Thursday finds that Walmart burns a "staggering" amount of coal, at 4.2 million tons annually, consuming 0.5 percent of all coal electricity in the United States. Furthermore, a report released by ILSR in October reveals that Walton family members are personally funding almost two dozen organizations that are working to undermine renewable energy policies.
Nonetheless Walmart has sought to cultivate a public image as an environment-friendly company, including by declaring "sustainability goals." This prompted The Green Life in April to designate the company the "worst greenwasher of the year"—a reference to the practice of falsely representing oneself as eco-friendly.
Reactive Denial
One of the fears of those who seek to defend the natural world is that people won’t act until it is too late. Only when disasters strike will we understand how much damage we have done, and what the consequences might be.
I have some bad news: it’s worse than that.
For his fascinating and transformative book, Don’t Even Think About It: why our brains are wired to ignore climate change, George Marshall visited Bastrop in Texas, which had suffered from a record drought followed by a record wildfire, and Sea Bright in New Jersey, which was devastated by Hurricane Sandy. These disasters are likely to have been caused or exacerbated by climate change.
He interviewed plenty of people in both places, and in neither case – Republican Texas or Democratic New Jersey – could he find anyone who could recall a conversation about climate change as a potential cause of the catastrophe they had suffered. It simply had not arisen.
The editor of the Bastrop Advertiser told him: “Sure, if climate change had a direct impact on us, we would definitely bring it in, but we are more centred around Bastrop County.” The mayor of Sea Bright told him: “We just want to go home, and we will deal with all that lofty stuff some other day.” Marshall found that when people are dealing with the damage and rebuilding their lives they are even less inclined than they might otherwise be to talk about the underlying issues.
NASA | A Year in the Life of Earth's CO2
Taxpayers to fund hundreds of fracking boreholes across Britain
Hundreds of government-funded boreholes are set to be drilled across Britain to try to persuade the public that a looming shale gas boom can be developed safely, the Observer has learned. Sensors in the boreholes would detect possible water pollution or earthquakes caused by fracking and the information would be made public.
“We will be taking the pulse of the sub-surface environment and will reveal if things are going wrong, but also if they are going right,” said Professor Mike Stephenson, director of science and technology at the British Geological Survey, which would drill the boreholes. “The aim is to reassure people that we can manage the sub-surface safely.” The plan, called the energy security and innovation observing system, will cost taxpayers £60m-£80m. ...
Green party MP Caroline Lucas accused the government of subsidising “dirty” energy firms. “There’s no justification for using public money to help the fracking industry pull the wool over people’s eyes. It’s another desperate attempt to quell legitimate public concern and may further undermine public trust,” said Lucas.
America's Dangerous Pipelines, 1986-2014
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
I beat Sallie Mae at the student loan game – but nobody should face financial ruin for an education
Six vital steps world leaders must agree to take to protect Earth
The Pentagon Wants $5 Billion for Iraq-Syria War? Three Reasons to Oppose
Chris Hedges: Why We Need Professional Revolutionists
Obama Extends War in Afghanistan - The implications for U.S. democracy aren’t reassuring
Sometimes you just want to scream. Sometimes you just have to laugh.
A Little Night Music
Gatemouth Moore - Walking My Blues Away
Gatemouth Moore - Did you ever love a woman
Gatemouth Moore - Beale Street Ain't Beale Street No More
Gatemouth Moore - Love Doctor Blues
Gatemouth Moore - Boogie Woogie Papa
Gatemouth Moore - Somebody's Got To Go
Gatemouth Moore - Goin' Down Slow
Gatemouth Moore - Everybody has their turn
Gatemouth Moore - My Mother Thinks I'm Something
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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