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 a master of the lap steel guitar, Freddie Roulette. Enjoy!
Freddie Roulette - End of the Blues
“If you're going to kick authority in the teeth, you might as well use two feet.”
-- Keith Richards
News and Opinion
joe shikspack is still on vacation. A big thanks to joanneleon for providing the news tonight!
Paul Krugman believes that, despite all the differences between now and then, we are largely the same country that we were in 1776, that there is "a thread of continuity in our national identity".
E Pluribus Unum
But the real America is, in fact, a nation of metropolitan areas, not small towns. Tellingly, even when Ms. Palin made her infamous remarks in 2008 she did so in Greensboro, N.C., which may not be in the Northeast Corridor but — with a metropolitan population of more than 700,000 — is hardly Mayberry. In fact, two-thirds of Americans live in metro areas with half-a-million or more residents.
Nor, by the way, are most of us living in leafy suburbs. America as a whole has only 87 people per square mile, but the average American, according to the Census Bureau, lives in a census tract with more than 5,000 people per square mile. For all the bashing of the Northeast Corridor as being somehow un-American, this means that the typical American lives in an environment that resembles greater Boston or greater Philadelphia more than it resembles Greensboro, let alone true small towns.
[...]
And ethnically we are, of course, very different from the founders. Only a minority of today’s Americans are descended from the WASPs and slaves of 1776. The rest are the descendants of successive waves of immigration: first from Ireland and Germany, then from Southern and Eastern Europe, now from Latin America and Asia. We’re no longer an Anglo-Saxon nation; we’re only around half-Protestant; and we’re increasingly nonwhite.
[...]
Of course, our democratic ideal has always been accompanied by enormous hypocrisy, starting with the many founding fathers who espoused the rights of man, then went back to enjoying the fruits of slave labor. Today’s America is a place where everyone claims to support equality of opportunity, yet we are, objectively, the most class-ridden nation in the Western world [...] But that very hypocrisy is, in a way, a good sign. The wealthy may defend their privileges, but given the temper of America, they have to pretend that they’re doing no such thing. The block-the-vote people know what they’re doing, but they also know that they mustn’t say it in so many words. In effect, both groups know that the nation will view them as un-American unless they pay at least lip service to democratic ideals — and in that fact lies the hope of redemption.
emptywheel considers some of the abuses enumerated in the
Declaration of Independence.
Happy Birthday, You Rebels!
But this year, particularly given the coup in Egypt, I want to contemplate this passage.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
With Edward Snowden, we appear to have placed demands on NATO countries France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal to deny Evo Morales overflight. But Austria, not a NATO country, offered Morales a place to land. Did we secretly declare Snowden mutual defense threat against NATO, because he revealed how much the government spies on us all?
We don’t have soldiers sleeping in our homes. We’re a long way from that kind of militarization. But we are, increasingly, becoming a military empire at the expense of the Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness of American liberty and — even more so — the liberty of people around the globe.
RT ran a liveblog of the Restore the Fourth protests.
#Restorethe4th: Anti-NSA protest LIVE UPDATES
An anti-NSA surveillance nationwide protest and online campaign is launching on Thursday. It aims to restore the Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights, which protects US citizens from "unreasonable searches and seizures."
The ‘Restore the Fourth’ campaign was born on Reddit last month and is being supported by Mozilla, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and other US and international press freedom organizations.
Booker’s Opponents May Use His Friendship With Christie Against Him
He has been a guest at the governor’s state-owned beach house and once spent time backstage with the governor’s wife and children after a Taylor Swift concert.
He even introduced Mr. Christie to his new friend, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, who has since raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the governor.
For years, Cory Booker, the celebrity mayor of Newark, has been an unlikely supporter, ally and even friend of Mr. Christie, the only New Jersey politician with a national following to rival his own.
[...]
With the mayor enjoying a huge lead in the polls, his opponents are signaling that they plan to make his ties to the governor a major theme in the primary campaign, arguing that it is emblematic of the complicated relationship the mayor has had with his own party, particularly its liberal base.
Egypt braces for protests after Muslim Brotherhood calls for 'day of rejection'
Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi gather at rallies as Brotherhood refuses to engage with 'usurping authorities'
Egypt is braced for drama after Friday prayers as the vanquished Muslim Brotherhood called for a "day of rejection" following a widespread crackdown on its leadership by the country's new interim president, Adly Mansour.
Supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, still reeling from the military coup that removed their leader from power, have begun to gather at rallies following a series of raids and arrests that decimated the Muslim Brotherhood's senior ranks and consolidated the military's hold on the country.
A Brotherhood statement read to supporters near the Rabia al-Adawiya mosque in eastern Cairo said: "We declare our complete rejection of the military coup staged against the elected president and the will of the nation. We refuse to participate in any activities with the usurping authorities."
One of the group's most senior leaders, Mohamed Beltagy, who has not been arrested, appeared before the crowd. Tens of thousands are expected at the mosque and may march to the nearby defence ministry building.
Bolivians Indignant at European Treatment of President Morales
‘We don’t need US Embassy in Bolivia’: Morales, UNASUR slam ‘imperial’ skyjack, demand apologies
An emergency UNASUR meeting has demanded the governments of France, Portugal, Italy and Spain apologize for forcibly halting President Morales’s plane in Austria due to suspicions Edward Snowden might have been aboard.
The Cochabamba Declaration issued at the summit also denounced "the flagrant violation of international treaties."
Tensions flared at the UNASUR summit in Bolivia, with the country’s president Evo Morales saying that his “hand would not shake” if and when he “closes the US Embassy,” following the forced stop of presidential plane in Austria.
[...]
"Apologies from a country that did not let us pass over its territory are not enough," Morales said before talks in the central city of Cochabamba. "Some governments apologized, saying it was an error, but this was not an error."
NSA leaks: UK blocks crucial espionage talks between US and Europe
First talks to soothe transatlantic tensions to be restricted to data privacy and Prism programme after Britain and Sweden's veto
Britain has blocked the first crucial talks on intelligence and espionage between European officials and their American counterparts since the NSA surveillance scandal erupted.
The talks, due to begin in Washington on Monday, will now be restricted to issues of data privacy and the NSA's Prism programme following a tense 24 hours of negotiations in Brussels between national EU ambassadors. Britain, supported only by Sweden, vetoed plans to launch two "working groups" on the espionage debacle with the Americans.
Instead, the talks will consist of one working group focused on the NSA's Prism programme, which has been capturing and storing vast amounts of internet and mobile phone metadata in Europe.
[...]
The talks on Prism and data privacy have been arranged to coincide with the trade talks in an attempt to defuse the transatlantic tension. EU diplomats and officials say the offer of talks by the Americans is designed to enable the leaders of Germany and France to save face following revelations about the scale of US espionage – particularly in Germany, but also of French and other European embassies and missions in the US.
UN Accuses Israel of Torturing Palestinian Children
Shir Hever: Israeli forces proven to be using Palestinian children as human shields despite attempts to cover it up to protect image
Col. Morris Davis.
Thank You For Your Service: Remembering Michael Hastings
I first enlisted in the Army as a private first class in the summer of 1985. Since that time I have served in four combat deployments and been commissioned as an officer, and I presently serve in the Washington, D.C., area. Virtually every time I travel anywhere in this country, kind people always pull me aside and say, “Hey, thanks for your service!” Today I feel an obligation to return the favor and publicly tell a great American how much I appreciate his service. I only wish I’d have done so while he was still alive.
[...]
Within 10 minutes of meeting him my opinion had changed dramatically. I found him to be a very rational, honest, and respectful guy. He also showed real interest in and concern for the regular combat troop and was definitely not some “military hater.” Over the course of lunch that day I shared with him my frustration at what I believed to be a significant chasm between what some of our senior military leaders were saying in public and what I knew to be true behind the scenes. Michael told me that didn’t surprise him, because he’d seen it in his own experience over the years and had many soldiers tell him the same thing.
Within days of that meeting I returned to Afghanistan to complete my combat deployment, but our meeting had left an impression on me. Shortly after my return to the U.S. in October 2011, my concerns about the observed truth deficit began to grow to the point where I could no longer remain silent. In part I was motivated to take the risk of publishing my experiences because of the courage I saw in Michael Hastings. I spent virtually the entire month of December 2011 writing my story, which I shared with numerous members of Congress and then in the Armed Forces Journal. On February 5, 2012, the story broke in The New York Times; five days later Michael wrote a very supportive piece in Rolling Stone.
So-called free trade talks should be in the public, not corporate interest
Instead a negotiation process that is neither democratic and or transparent is likely to perpetuate a managed trade regime
If negotiators created a genuine free trade regime that put the public interest first, with the views of ordinary citizens given at least as much weight as those of corporate lobbyists, I might be optimistic that what would emerge would strengthen the economy and improve social well-being. The reality, however, is that we have a managed trade regime that puts corporate interests first, and a process of negotiations that is undemocratic and non-transparent.
The likelihood that what emerges from the coming talks will serve ordinary Americans' interests is low. The outlook for ordinary citizens in other countries is even bleaker.
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin'
A Little Night Music
Freddie Roulette - The Thrill Is Gone
Freddie Roulette - Killing Floor
Freddie Roulette - Sleep Walk
Freddie Roulette - Blues Jam
Freddie Roulette - Million Dollar Feeling
Freddie Roulette - Lucille
Freddie Roulette - Need Your Lovin'
Freddie Roulette - Smoked Fish
Freddie Roulette - Got My Mojo Workin'
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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