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 soul singer James Carr. Enjoy!
James Carr - Pouring Water on A Drowning Man
“It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.”
-- Aristotle
News and Opinion
Capture of Mosul ushers in the birth of a Sunni caliphate
The capture of Mosul by Isis means a radical change in the political geography of Iraq and Syria. Moreover, the impact of this event will soon be felt across the Middle East as governments take on board the fact that a Sunni proto-caliphate is spreading across northern Iraq and Syria.
The next few weeks will be crucial in determining the outcome of Isis’s startling success in taking over a city of 1.4 million people, garrisoned by a large Iraqi security force, with as few as 1,300 fighters. Will victory in Mosul be followed by success in other provinces where there is a heavy concentration of Sunni, such as Salahuddin, Anbar and Diyala? Already, the insurgents have captured the important oil refinery town of Baiji with scarcely a shot fired by simply calling ahead by phone to tell the police and army to lay down their weapons and withdraw.
These spectacular advances by Isis would not be happening unless there was tacit support and no armed resistance from the Sunni Arab community in northern and central Iraq. Many people rightly suspect and fear Isis’s bloodthirsty and sectarian fanaticism, but for the moment these suspicions and fears have been pushed to one side by even greater hatred of Iraq’s Shia-dominated government.
This may not last: Iraqi government officials speak of a counterattack led by special “anti-terrorist” forces that are better trained, motivated and armed than the bulk of the Iraqi army. It may be that the Kurds will use their peshmerga troops in Nineveh and Kirkuk provinces to drive back Isis and create facts on the ground in areas often rich in oil, in Kirkuk and Nineveh provinces. A successful counter-offensive could happen but the failure of the Iraqi army to retake Fallujah, a much smaller city than Mosul, in the six months since it fell in January does not bode well for the government. If the Isis advance takes more towns and villages, then the territory lost to the government may become too large to reconquer.
Iraq in Crisis: Militant Advance Sparks Mass Displacement as "Failed" U.S. Experiment Disintegrates
Iraqi Kurdish forces said to have taken Kirkuk as Isis sets its sights on Baghdad
The crisis in Iraq escalated rapidly on Thursday as Iraqi Kurdish forces said they had taken control of key military installations in the major oil city of Kirkuk and the Sunni jihadi group Isis revealed its intention to move on Baghdad and cities in the southern Shia heartland.
Kurdish peshmerga fighters said they had entered Kirkuk after the central government's army abandoned its posts in a rapid collapse during which it lost control of much of the country's north. ...
Iraq has a Shia majority, with a substantial Sunni minority concentrated in Baghdad and the provinces north and west, who have long complained of being disenfranchised. Iraqi Kurds enjoy a large degree of autonomy and self-government in the north-east but have long coveted Kirkuk, a city with huge oil reserves which they regard as their historical capital. ...
US officials have said they were considering ways to help the Iraqi government even as it emerged that the Obama administration rebuffed a secret request from the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, to bomb Isis positions.
Reports from Iraq have painted a confused picture of a rapidly developing situation with fighting reported in a number of key locations on Wednesday night and on Thursday, including on the outskirts of the city of Samarra, where government officials said Isis fighters had been driven back.
Iraq Militants, Pushing South, Aim at Capital
BAGHDAD — Sunni militants consolidated and extended their control over northern Iraq on Wednesday, seizing Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, threatening the strategic oil refining town of Baiji and pushing south toward Baghdad, their ultimate target, Iraqi sources said.
As the dimensions of the assault began to become clear, it was evident that a number of militant groups had joined forces, including Baathist military commanders from the Hussein era, whose goal is to rout the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki. One of the Baathists, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, was a top military commander and a vice president in the Hussein government and one of the few prominent Baathists to evade capture by the Americans throughout the occupation.
“These groups were unified by the same goal, which is getting rid of this sectarian government, ending this corrupt army and negotiating to form the Sunni Region,” said Abu Karam, a senior Baathist leader and a former high-ranking army officer, who said planning for the offensive had begun two years ago. “The decisive battle will be in northern Baghdad. These groups will not stop in Tikrit and will keep moving toward Baghdad.” ...
Residents of Tikrit reported remarkable displays of soldiers handing over their weapons and uniforms peacefully to militants who ordinarily would have been expected to kill government soldiers on the spot.
Mr. Maliki, a Shiite, himself suggested the possibility of a disloyal military in his exhortations on Tuesday for citizens to take up arms against the Sunni insurgents.
Iran Deploys Quds Forces To Support Iraqi Troops, Helps Retake Most Of Tikrit
In a stunning development that threatens to further destabilize the Middle East, Iran has deployed an elite unit of its Revolutionary Guard to help the Iraqi government take on ISIS, the Sunni militant group that has seized several areas in the northern part of the country.
Two battalions of the Quds Forces are already making progress in their fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, the Wall Street Journal reported. The militant group took control of Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit on Wednesday, but Revolutionary Guard and Iraqi troops overtook 85 percent of the city on Thursday, Iraqi and Iranian security forces told the paper.
Iran, which is dominated by Shiites, has close ties to Iraq’s Shiite-led government. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called ISIS “an extremist, terrorist group that is acting savagely” during an appearance on state television, Al Jazeera reported. "For our part, as the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ... we will combat violence, extremism and terrorism in the region and the world."
Islamists unleash all-out assault on Iraqi cities with US weapons
Not What the US Planned: Al-Qaeda Tears Down Syria-Iraq Border
While most of the high profile coverage of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI)’s latest gains came in the major cities it took over, one of the most telling aspects of what is happening in Iraq’s northwest and Syria’s northeast could be seen only at what passes for a border.
Syria and Iraq are largely divided by a berm, an earthen mound border that prevents vehicles from driving through in places other than the official crossings. ... AQI seems confident this isn’t just a temporary possession either, and so their bulldozers are hard at work, tearing through the berm and clearing some new dirt roads to connect their new state more efficiently.
What? Iraq? Members of Congress show no interest in country’s burgeoning crisis
As fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria on Wednesday tightened their grip on Iraq’s second largest city, captured the hometown of Saddam Hussein and pushed to less than 100 miles from the Iraqi capital, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee met to question the man President Barack Obama has nominated to be the next ambassador to Iraq. Yet not a single senator asked him directly about the Iraqi government’s apparent loss of control.
They also didn’t ask questions of the man who sat next to him, the current U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
No one pressed for answers about how many U.S. weapons supplied to the Iraqi forces had ended up in insurgents’ hands as Iraqi forces shed their uniforms and fled their posts. Or what the fate will be of the U.S. military assistance program to Iraq, on which American taxpayers have already spent $14 billion. Or why they thought the American training program for Iraq’s military had resulted in such a humiliating rout.
Thousands of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon forced to work
At least 50,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are working, often in dire conditions and for 12 hours a day, to pay for food and shelter for their families, aid organisation CARE said.
More than a million Syrian refugees live in Lebanon, making up a quarter of the country's population, having fled a civil war in its fourth year, which has left more than 160,000 dead.
Only 50 percent of Syrian refugee children in the region attend school, and only 30 percent in Lebanon, CARE said. ...
In Jordan, where nearly 600,000 Syrian refugees live, child labour has doubled nationwide to 60,000 since the start of the war, CARE said this week.
Suspected US drone strike kills 10 in north-west Pakistan
Pakistani intelligence officials say a suspected US missile strike has killed at least 10 people in a north-western tribal district near the Afghan border.
There was no immediate information on the identities of those killed.
The strike came hours after a strike, also in North Waziristan, killed three militants on Wednesday night, marking the resumption of the CIA-led programme in Pakistan after a hiatus of nearly six months.
Russia to submit draft U.N. resolution on Ukraine
Russia plans to submit a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council to put pressure on Ukraine to implement a "road map" to peace, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying on Thursday.
The road map was drawn up by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in May to give impetus to a deal reached in Geneva by the European Union, Russia, Ukraine and the United States to try to end the crisis in Ukraine.
Lavrov accused Kiev of not abiding by the Geneva agreement or the road map and blamed it for the failure to end violence in east Ukraine, where the Ukrainian army is battling pro-Russian separatists who control several towns and cities.
Ukraine National Guard collapsing? 'We're not paid, we don't have food'
Ukraine Health Ministry: 270 Dead in Eastern Offensive
The Ukrainian Health Ministry has issued a statement reporting at least 270 people have died in the ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine, with 225 killed in Donetsk and 45 killed in Luhansk.
The ministry said 15 women and 14 children were among the slain. ... The offensive continues, primarily centered around Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, neighboring cities in Donetsk’s north. Reports from Slovyansk suggest most of the civilians have fled after weeks of shelling.
Ukraine-Russia Gas Talks End With Stalemate on Pricing Dispute
Russia and Ukraine have ended the current round of talks on their gas trade with a stalemate, and both sides complaining the other wasn’t taking the talks seriously on reaching a settlement ...
At issue primarily is the question of price. Gazprom had initially sought to raise Ukraine’s price to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters, roughly in line with what they charge the rest of Europe.
Russia finally offered a price of $385, but that too was rejected by Ukraine, which was seeking $268.50, in line with the price Russia was giving the previous Ukrainian government.
Crimea: you've seen the annexation ... now buy the T-shirt
The Ukraine crisis might have left Vladimir Putin isolated on the international stage, but at home, his approval ratings have soared to record levels after the annexation of Crimea.
Not just Russia's most popular politician, Putin is set to become an unlikely fashion icon as one brand launches a new collection of Putinwear. For those Russians not content with seeing the president on the news each evening, they can now display his image on their chests as well.
The range of Putin T-shirts went on sale at a pop-up shop within the most prestigious location in Moscow – the GUM department store on Red Square. ...
In total, there are 15 different prints of the Russian president, with something for everyone. For fans of a plain, austere look, there is a simple Putin headshot, mouth set in an implacable determination and eyes hidden behind a pair of shades, embossed on a plain white or black t-shirt.
Several designs reference the recent events in Ukraine, with perhaps the stand-out of the collection a retro "Greetings from Crimea" print, featuring a summery Putin clad in a Hawaiian shirt and holding a long cocktail glass in one hand.
Will Potter: The shocking move to criminalize nonviolent protest
Warrantless cell phone tracking ruled unconstitutional in federal court
Investigators must obtain a search warrant from a judge in order to obtain cellphone tower tracking data that is widely used as evidence to show suspects were in the vicinity of a crime, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined people have an expectation of privacy in their movements and that the cell tower data was part of that. As such, obtaining the records without a search warrant is a violation of the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable searches and seizures, the judges ruled. ...
The U.S. Supreme Court, while not yet ruling on cellphone tower records, in 2012 decided that attachment of GPS devices to suspects' vehicles also constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment. The justices did not, however, decided that investigators must always obtain a search warrant.
The 11th Circuit decision, which relied heavily on the GPS decision, applies in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. The judges said other circuit courts had considered similar arguments, but not in a criminal case. Ultimately the issue will likely have to be resolved by the Supreme Court.
Eric Cantor's loss is bad news for the NSA
Eric Cantor (R-VA), the House Majority Leader who just suffered a surprise primary defeat, has butted heads with President Barack Obama on a wide variety of issues. But there's at least one issue where Cantor was a reliable Obama ally: NSA surveillance. ...
In August, Tea Party Republican Justin Amash (R-MI), along with Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), offered an amendment to a defense funding bill that would have shut down the NSA's controversial phone-records program. The amendment won the support of 94 Republicans and 111 Democrats, coming just a few votes short of passage. Cantor, like Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) voted no.
The man who just beat Cantor, Dave Brat, has taken a different tack on surveillance issues. In a recent interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, he argued that "The NSA’s indiscriminate collection of data on all Americans is a disturbing violation of our Fourth Amendment right to privacy." On his website, Brat says he favors "the end of bulk phone and email data collection by the NSA."
Oh my, looky here. A teabagger wins an election on issues that used to belong to Democrats, civil liberties and support of the little guy against corrupt government-business alliances.
Too bad that Democrats don't want to own those issues anymore.
Eric Cantor Defeated by a Conservative Who Rips Crony Capitalism
The DC-insider storyline about this being a great year for the Republican establishment is undergoing a rapid rewrite. For the first time since the post was formally established in 1899, a House majority leader has been defeated in a bid for renomination. And as political prognosticators, Republican stalwarts and savvy Democrats search for explanations, they are being forced to consider complexities they had not previously entertained—including the prospect of conservatives who are ready and willing to criticize big business.
Eric Cantor, the face of the GOP establishment, one of the party’s most prodigious fundraisers and the odds-on favorite to become the next speaker of the House, lost his Virginia Republican primary Tuesday to a challenger who promised, “I will fight to end crony capitalist programs that benefit the rich and powerful.”
The result shocked the not just the Republican establishment but the DC establishment. The shockwaves continued Wednesday, as Republican aides said Cantor would step down July 31 from his position as the second most powerful figure in the House—ending the congressman’s run as a Washington power player who championed the interests of Wall Street and corporate America.
That Wall Street connection was a central theme of the challenge that displaced Cantor.
Dave Brat, who defeated the number-two Republican in the House by a 56-44 margin, tore into big business almost as frequently as he did the incumbent. “I am running against Cantor because he does not represent the citizens of the 7th District, but rather large corporations seeking insider deals, crony bailouts and a constant supply of low-wage workers,” declared the challenger.
Cantor dismissed Brat as a “liberal college professor.”
Working Families Party Betrayal
Supposedly progressive politics in New York offer a cautionary tale for leftists across the country. The Empire State has a Democrat-in-name-only governor, Andrew Cuomo, and a mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, who gets more credit for being progressive than he deserves. New York also boasts a party, Working Families, whose name implies integrity it doesn’t possess.
Andrew Cuomo came to office and made beating up on public employee unions his first priority. He forced state workers to take pay cuts allegedly in exchange for job security but then laid off some of them anyway. Cuomo stood by while corrupt Democrats in the state senate cynically switched sides and gave Republicans the majority in that chamber and deprived the people of representation they had voted for. ...
The Working Families party and the unions who fund it certainly hope that voters are stupid. They first claimed that they wouldn’t endorse Cuomo but after having done the deed changed their stump speech to claim that the stab in the back was an act of political shrewdness. Pundits outdid one another claiming that the betrayal was proof of progressive power when it was in fact just the opposite.
The pathetic showing is evident not only in New York but across the country. In Chicago, SEIU Local 73 made a $25,000 contribution to mayor Rahm Emanuel, champion of pushing the neo-liberal agenda in one of the country’s major cities. Emanuel’s lay-offs of teachers and other public employees and attempts to cut pensions apparently aren’t serious issues for SEIU. In New York or Illinois or anywhere else in the country, working people have few champions in the smoke filled rooms of politics.
In Sisi’s Egypt, Leading Dissident Gets 15-Year Term as Al Jazeera Reporter Languishes Behind Bars
Palestinian boy's autopsy: wounds consistent with live ammunition
A postmortem examination of the exhumed body of one of two Palestinian teenagers killed by Israeli forces at a demonstration last month has reportedly identified wounds consistent with live ammunition, despite the Israeli military's denial that it used live rounds that day.
The killings of 17-year-old Nadeem Nawara and 16-year-old Mohammad Salameh caused international outrage and calls from the US for a full investigation after their deaths were caught on video camera footage that made clear the boys posed no threat to Israeli forces at the time of their deaths.
This week Human Rights Watch issued a report suggesting that the killing of the two boys was a war crime. "The wilful killing of civilians by Israeli security forces as part of the occupation is a war crime," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the group's Middle East and North Africa director. ...
The case gained international prominence because the video footage of the two teenagers' fatal wounding appeared to clearly demonstrate that neither of the boys posed a threat to Israeli soldiers at the time they were targeted, and that one was walking away from Israeli troops when he was shot.
Anonymous senior Israeli military officials quoted in the local media attempted in the aftermath of the killings to suggest the footage had been forged or a mystery Palestinian gunmen had actually killed the boys – shooting four rounds over a period of more than two hours, apparently without being noticed by several dozen Israeli soldiers and police.
Students Face Down Tear Gas and Water Cannons in Chile Protests
Riot police in Santiago on Wednesday used tear gas and water cannons against student protesters during a march in which tens of thousands rallied against what they declare are inadequate education reform proposals.
The unrest in the Chilean capital marked the latest in a string of protests over the last several years championing free public education and specifically denounced a new round of education policies which students say do not go far enough in fulfilling the government's promises to meet student demands.
Chile Student Federation president Melissa Sepulveda said students will not tolerate “makeup on the educational model,” that currently exists––a privatized system originally established under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. ...
Demonstrators claimed that some 80,000 people participated in the Santiago protest with an additional 20,000 people marching in cities nationwide.
The use of tear gas and water cannons prompted a violent response from demonstrators, who threw objects at police officers, which in turn led to a number of arrests, according to Al Jazeera.
Angry cab drivers gridlock Europe in protest at 'unregulated' taxi app
Several major European cities ground to a halt on Wednesday as licensed taxi drivers took to the streets in mass protests against the smartphone taxi app Uber.
Demonstrations in London, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin, Milan and Rome caused travel chaos and long tailbacks, as taxi drivers protested against the app, which they argue is unregulated and threatens their livelihood.
In London, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall were jammed from the start of the planned "go slow" at 2pm, as thousands of black cabs gathered honking their horns, bringing total gridlock to the centre of the capital, while supporters waved banners and started occasionally chanting: "Boris, out!"
A spokeswoman for Uber, the US start-up which links minicab drivers to passengers via a GPS-based smartphone app, said the protests had boosted new users in London by 850%, as people tried to cope with the gridlock.
New Jersey's soaring subsidy program doing little to boost struggling economy
Spending on corporate subsidies by the state of New Jersey has risen more than sevenfold under Republican governor Chris Christie, according to a study published on Wednesday, which concluded that the awards had done little to boost the state’s flagging economy.
New Jersey has awarded tax breaks or credits at a rate of $75.9m per month since Christie came to office in 2010, compared to $10.1m per month during the previous decade, according to a report by New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP), a liberal-leaning thinktank. ...
Michele Brown, a longtime Christie ally who heads his economic development authority (EDA), which awards the subsidies, said in January the $1.2bn worth given out in 2013 would “result in new jobs, increased private investment and an enhanced quality of life for residents”.
Yet New Jersey has badly trailed the rest of the US in recovering from the 2008 recession. The state has regained only half the jobs lost during the recession compared with 83% that were recovered nationally, a Rutgers University study found at the end of last year.
A comprehensive review of economic data last month by the Newark Star-Ledger found that “during Christie’s governorship, only New Mexico has generated private-sector jobs at a slower pace than New Jersey”. The state is facing a budget shortfall of $2.7bn over the next year and has had its credit rating downgraded five times since Christie entered office.
Is inflation lurking out there
WASHINGTON — All but absent in recent years, inflation is ticking up. That’s to the delight of those who think it signals a return to economic health, to the worry of others who fear it will disrupt financial markets.
Headline inflation _ the rising prices consumers pay at the pump, grocery, restaurant or shopping mall _ measured 1.6 percent in April from a year earlier. It’s been driven up in part by a harsh winter and drought conditions in some regions. ...
But April marked the first time consumer and wage inflation accelerated together since the Great Recession’s end in 2009. If sustained, it could mean workers have more power to demand higher wages in the face of rising prices. And wages chasing rising prices is how an inflationary spiral begins.
Because inflation means a dollar buys less over time, it erodes purchasing power. That is why its return could change the calculation for borrowers seeking a loan, lenders debating whether to grant one, or investors choosing between stocks and bonds.
And since the Federal Reserve’s response to inflation is to push higher interest rates across the economy, it could complicate payments on mounting U.S. debt. The United States must take out new borrowing to pay for past spending.
“All of this is modest, but clearly it’s the first time (in recent years) that we’ve had wages and consumer prices going up at the same time in an accelerated way,” said James Paulsen, an economist and chief investment strategist for Wells Capital Management.
How We Broke the Bank of England
The Evening Greens
Climate threat to America's 'king corn'
The days of "king corn" could be numbered as climate change brings higher temperatures and water shortages to America's farmland, a new report warned on Wednesday.
Nearly one-third of US farmland is devoted to raising corn and the country produces about 40% of the world's corn crop. But the $1.7tn (£1tn) industry – the equivalent of Australia's GDP – is under threat from water shortages, heatwaves and unpredictable rainfall caused by climate change.
"Corn is an essential input to our economy, and climate change, water scarcity and pollution are a critical threat to that sector going forward," said Brooke Barton, director of the water programme at the Ceres green investor network and author of the report.
The report amplifies warnings earlier this year from United Nations climate scientists and the National Climate Assessment that America's agricultural industry – and specifically its corn crop – was at risk from the high temperatures and water shortages anticipated under climate change.
In the case of corn, however, there are potentially trillions at stake because the industry now touches on almost every aspect of the American economy.
House to Pentagon: Ignore Climate Change
Blowback As Canada Muzzles Public Talk of Climate Change
The public is up in arms after Canadian officials decided to prohibit government weather forecasters from publicly discussing climate change.
As of Wednesday, nearly 14,000 people had signed a petition penned by Canadian resident Janelle Martel that slams "another move on the government’s part to keep the public uninformed about climate change."
In late May, government agency Environment Canada confirmed to investigative journalist Mike De Souza that weather forecasters employed as government weather forecasters are banned from discussing global warming.
David Suzuki: Pipeline spills are good for the economy
Energy giant Kinder Morgan was recently called insensitive for pointing out that “Pipeline spills can have both positive and negative effects on local and regional economies, both in the short- and long-term.” The company wants to triple its shipping capacity from the Alberta tar sands to Burnaby, in part by twinning its current pipeline. Its National Energy Board submission states, “Spill response and cleanup creates business and employment opportunities for affected communities, regions, and cleanup service providers.”
It may seem insensitive, but it’s true. And that’s the problem. Destroying the environment is bad for the planet and all the life it supports, including us. But it’s often good for business. The 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico added billions to the U.S. gross domestic product! Even if a spill never occurred (a big “if”, considering the records of Kinder Morgan and other pipeline companies), increasing capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels a day would go hand-in-hand with rapid tar sands expansion and more wasteful, destructive burning of fossil fuels—as would approval of Enbridge Northern Gateway and other pipeline projects, as well as increased oil shipments by rail.
The company will make money, the government will reap some tax and royalty benefits and a relatively small number of jobs will be created. But the massive costs of dealing with a pipeline or tanker spill and the resulting climate change consequences will far outweigh the benefits. Of course, under our current economic paradigm, even the costs of responding to global warming impacts show as positive growth in the GDP — the tool we use to measure what passes for progress in this strange worldview.
And so it’s full speed ahead and damn the consequences. Everything is measured in money.
Fight over crude-oil transports through California intensifies
Responding to a federal order, BNSF Railway Co. acknowledged in a report to state safety officials that it’s transporting flammable Bakken crude oil in California, but it continued to vehemently resist releasing information about the shipments to the public. Such information is a trade secret, and only fire responders should be allowed to know, the company says.
Kelly Huston, deputy director of the state Office of Emergency Services, responded that the state wants to provide as much information as possible to the public about crude oil’s movement on the rails, but the data the railroad has turned over appear limited. “We aren’t convinced that the information we were provided meets the intent of the (federal Department of Transportation’s) emergency order,” Huston said.
The dispute over whether BNSF revealed enough about its oil shipments came a day before a panel of California safety officials plans to release a report saying not enough is being done to protect the public, waterways and habitat from potential railroad spills of crude oil.
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
Obama's Cold War Rhetoric Is Outdated—And Masks Ukraine's Real Crises
Reshaping the Vietnam Narrative
The Fall of Mosul and the False Promises of Modern History
The Battle for Iraq Is a Saudi War on Iran
Blaming Obama for Iraq’s Chaos
From Pussy Riot to Snowden: the Dissident Fetish
Inaction feeds crisis over Mississippi River, environmentalists say
Hawaiian transgender woman wins rights after a decade of harassment
ACTION: Prison Reform - Federal Drug Sentencing Reductions
A Little Night Music
James Carr - She's Better Than You
James Carr - At the dark end of the street
James Carr - These Ain't Raindrops
James Carr - You got my mind Messed Up
James Carr I Don't Want To Be Hurt
James Carr - Freedom Train
James Carr - Search Your Heart
James Carr - To Love Somebody
James Carr - Stronger Than Love
James Carr - Lovable Girl
James Carr - These Arms Of Mine
James Carr - I'm Gonna Send You Back To Georgia
James Carr - Dixie Belle
James Carr - Love Attack
James Carr - A Losing Game
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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