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 Wilson Pickett. Enjoy!
Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour
“Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out...and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel. ..And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man"--with his mouth."
-- Mark Twain
News and Opinion
Obama Puts US Drone Program Back into Deadly High Gear
Pending confirmation of John Brennan as new CIA chief has done nothing to quiet controversial program
The latest strike in a deadly string of U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan killed up to six people Thursday—the seventh strike in ten days which have left over 40 dead in 2013 so far.
The recent surge in U.S. strikes in Pakistan amounts to the heaviest concentration of strikes in the country since last August and signals that the menacing presence of U.S. drones in the skies of Pakistan are on a troubling increase and not, as some had speculated, on a decline. ...
The sudden resurgence in Pakistan strikes, coinciding with similar campaigns in Yemen, Somalia, and other countries in the region, signals, as Spencer Ackerman of the Danger Room writes, the "impending arrival at the CIA of the drone campaign’s chief advocate," i.e. Obama's top choice for new head of the CIA John Brennan.
Ackerman writes:
The drone strikes are likely to play a central role in the Senate confirmation hearing of John Brennan, the White House counterterrorism official whom President Obama nominated Monday to lead the CIA. Brennan, a CIA veteran, has been at the center of the drone campaign in Obama’s first term, even providing Obama with the names of suspected militants marked for a robotic death.
Gitmore: 'US exports Guantanamos across planet'
'Wall Street Insider' Jack Lew Has No Place as Secretary Treasury
Sen. Bernie Sanders: Lew will not 'stand up to corporations and their powerful lobbyists'
President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated White House Chief of Staff and "Wall Street insider" Jack Lew to become the next Treasury Secretary, succeeding Timothy Geithner—a move that ensures Wall Street interests will continue to be prioritized over those of the American public, critics warn.
Before working for the Obama administration as Chief of Staff, Lew worked as managing director and chief operating officer of Citi Global Wealth Management and then Citi Alternative Investments from 2006 to 2009.
Robert Weissman of Public Citizen reports today that Lew's position at Citi included management positions involving "aggressive, speculative betting."
Raising Taxes on Rich? No Problem. Austerity? A Disaster! says IMF
Massive Cuts to Postal Service a Step Towards Privatization?
US wants UK in EU: 'Cameron insincere, America should mind its own business
Bronx Residents Accosted by NYPD Win Landmark Court Ruling Deeming "Stop and Frisk" Tactic Illegal
Colbert to NRA’s LaPierre: ‘You, sir, are f*&ked in the head’
On Wednesday night’s edition of “The Colbert Report,” host Stephen Colbert talked about recent gun safety measures that the government has proposed and how they prove that the real victims in America’s shooting tragedies are guns themselves. He also directed some stinging words to the NRA head Wayne LaPierre.
Colbert opened the segment by saying that sometimes he thinks it would be better just to move to an armed citadel somewhere, because “make no mistake, they are coming for our guns.”
He continued, “And we freedom-loving gun-lovers are totally defenseless. Other than, you know, the guns.”
Idle No More: Indigenous Uprising Sweeps North America
Idle No More has organized the largest mass mobilizations of indigenous people in recent history. What sparked it off and what’s coming next?
On December 4, when representatives of First Nations came to the House of Commons to share their concerns about the proposed bill, they were blocked from entering . A week later, after being repeatedly denied a meeting with Harper, Chief Spence began her hunger strike. Since then, the movement has grown to encompass a hundred years’ worth of grievances against the Canadian government, which is required by Section 35 of the Constitution Act to consult with native people before enacting laws that affect them. Indigenous leaders accuse the Harper administration of “ramming through” legislation without debate or consultation.
Even worse is the bill’s “weakening of environmental assessment and the removal of lakes and rivers from protection,” says Eriel Deranger, Communication Coordinator of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, which is directly downstream from toxic tar sands mining. She knows firsthand the importance of protecting waterways from industrial pollutants. “Indigenous people’s rights,” she says, “are intrinsically linked to the environment.” She adds that the removal of such protections paves the way for resource extraction, bringing Canada closer to its self-stated goal of becoming a global energy superpower. This isn’t just a native thing, Deranger says; this is something that affects everyone.
And so begins the largest indigenous mass mobilization in recent history. Native people and their allies from all over North America have gathered to peacefully voice their support for indigenous rights: they’ve organized rallies, teach-ins, and highway and train blockades, as well as “flash mob” round dances at shopping malls.
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin'
Idle No More: Global Day of Action Tomorrow Jan. 11
Occupy Sandy Needs You. Still.
Global Warming: What Can I Do?
WATCH: Paul Krugman on Jack Lew
A Little Night Music
Blues Brothers Band & Wilson Pickett - Midnight hour
Wilson Pickett - Mustang Sally
Wilson Pickett - 634-5789
Wilson Pickett- Everybody needs someone to Love
Wilson Pickett - Land Of 1000 Dances
wilson pickett - funky broadway
wilson pickett - Sugar sugar
stagger lee - wilson picket
Wilson Pickett - Ninety Nine a Half
Wilson Pickett - I'm A Midnight Mover
Wilson Pickett - Bring It On Home To Me
Wilson Pickett - Fire and Water
Wilson Pickett - Night Owl
Wilson Pickett - Peace Breaker
Wilson Pickett - If You Need Me
Wilson Pickett - You can't stand alone
Wilson Pickett - Don't Knock My Love
Wilson Pickett - Something You Got
Remember when progressive debate was about our values and not about a "progressive" candidate? Remember when progressive websites championed progressive values and didn't tell progressives to shut up about values so that "progressive" candidates can get elected?
Come to where the debate is not constrained by oaths of fealty to persons or parties.
Come to where the pie is served in a variety of flavors.
"The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum." ~ Noam Chomsky
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