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 member of the Larks vocal group, blues, r&b and rockabilly singer and guitarist, Tarheel Slim. Enjoy!
Tarheel Slim - No 9 Train
"As President, I will close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act and adhere to the Geneva Conventions."
-- Barack Obama, 2007
News and Opinion
Judge Orders Government to Release Videos of Guantanamo Force-Feedings
Videos showing force-feedings of a hunger-striking Guantanamo detainee must be publicly aired, a federal judge ordered this afternoon.
Lawyers for Syrian Abu Wa’el Dhiab, who has been held at Guantanamo since 2002 and has been refusing food for the last 18 months, have characterized the footage as “extremely disturbing.” Dhiab is asking the U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. to stop the military’s practice of forcibly removing him from his cell and restraining him for feedings.
The government argues that the 28 tapes at issue are classified, and will likely appeal today’s ruling. Releasing the videos, the Justice Department has said, might give a glimpse of the the prison infrastructure, or let Guantanamo inmates or others learn how to resist “forced cell extractions” or locate equipment that could be used as a weapon. The government also warned that the videos might “inflame Muslim sensitivities overseas.”
But the judge, Gladys Kessler, found that those justifications were “unacceptably vague, speculative,” or “just plain implausible.” So much information about the force-feedings was already public, Kessler wrote, and certainly detainees “are already familiar with the tactics used to extract them from their cells and enterally feed them.” The videos may be altered to protect the identities of prison guards, she said.
The Obama administration says to media, "it's time to poop your pants again!"
FBI director warns of Khorasan attack
The head of the FBI said in an interview broadcast late Sunday that the U.S. is preparing for an imminent terrorist attack.
FBI Director James Comey said the Khorasan Group, an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, may still be working on a plan to hit the United States.
“Khorasan was working and may still be working on an effort to attack the United States or our allies, and looking to do it very, very soon,” he said on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
“I can’t sit here and tell you whether it’s their plan is tomorrow or three weeks or three months from now,” he said.
“Given our visibility, we know they’re serious people, bent on destruction. And so we have to act as if it’s coming tomorrow.”
I hope that you're all quaking in your boots, now! A non-existent group is bent on destruction!
FBI Director Warns of ‘Khorasan’ Threat
Khorasan, as a distinct faction, doesn’t actually exist, and analysts say the term was almost certainly invented by the United States. The term appears to be a way for the US to strike al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusra, a close ally to its “moderate” rebels, without officially saying they’re attacking them.
The US claimed Khorasan to be a faction of about 50 fighters, and also believes it killed 30 of them when it began the air war in northern Syria. The slain were al-Nusra members, which fueled considerable anger amongst the rebels, who accused the US war of being primarily to the benefit of the Assad government.
The US assessments of Khorasan as an imminent threat, given they are actually referring to al-Qaeda, undercuts their claims of having made major gains against al-Qaeda worldwide.
Endless Flow of Weapons Fuels Endless War in Iraq and Syria
An analysis of new data (pdf) collected by a group which tracks weapons in global conflict zones has found that a large proportion of the munitions now being used by ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria are from U.S. manufacturers, either captured on the battlefield or sold to them by supposed U.S. allies.
According to the New York Times on Monday, the available data put together by the Conflict Armament Research, "suggests that ammunition transferred into Syria and Iraq to help stabilize governments has instead passed from the governments to the jihadists, helping to fuel the Islamic State’s rise and persistent combat power. Rifle cartridges from the United States, the sample shows, have played a significant role."
The report notes that a majority of ISIS munitions it examined from Syria were from China and Russia, while those munitions being used by ISIS in Iraq were more likely to be from the United States. The analysis shows that of the approximately 1700 pieces of munitions examined, more than 300 were US-manufactured cartridges, dating from the 2000s. This amounted to nearly 20 percent of the total material documented. "IS forces appear to have acquired a large part of their current arsenal from stocks seized from, or abandoned by, Iraqi defence and security forces," the report states. "The US gifted much of this materiel to Iraq." ...
As Phyllis Bennis, senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, told Common Dreams in reaction to CAR's September report on weapons in the region: "This is one more piece of evidence of why military solutions have devastating consequences in the immediate and long terms. We see an example of the consequences of the over-arming of the region if we look back at Afghanistan in the 1980s during the anti-Soviet War when the U.S. provided stinger missiles that can bring down aircraft to mujahedin guerrillas who morphed into al Qaeda."
Surprise! 2,300 more Marines set for Iraq
Consisting of 2,300 Marines—almost double the number of Marines already in Iraq today—this new unit will be stationed on the border of Iraq in Kuwait as a “Quick Reaction Force.” A Quick Reaction Force is a combat-ready unit which has the purpose of being set to reach a war zone within 24 hours.
Top Marine Corps commander General James Amos said this unit will stand ready to deploy to combat at a moment’s notice anywhere in the Middle East, such as Libya or Syria, signaling growing U.S. commitment to ground war in the region.
But this new unit is also tasked with the mission to reinforce the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, rescue downed pilots in Iraq and join Iraqi Army troops.
With that, another couple thousands U.S. troops’ boots are added to the “no boots on the ground” strategy in Iraq.
New steps to wider war in Middle East
The US military has deployed a quick-reaction force of 2,300 Marines to the Middle East, the Pentagon revealed Wednesday, the latest step in a carefully planned escalation of American military power in the region.
Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, said that about half of the force, to be based in Kuwait, was in place, and the rest were on the way. Most of the troops come from Marine Corps bases in southern California, according to reports in the local press there.
The Marines are only the spearhead of a much larger US force in Kuwait, already numbering some 15,000 troops, including an entire armored brigade, which has only flat desert terrain separating it from the war zone in eastern Syria and western Iraq. Another 1,000 Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are stationed on board Navy warships in the Persian Gulf.
Obama's War on ISIS an 'Epic Formula for Blowback': Jeremy Scahill
The Obama administration employed "flimsy justification" to enter a war that will only exacerbate the crisis in the Middle East, investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, co-founding editor of the The Intercept and author of the book Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield, said on Democracy Now! Friday.
"What I’m saying is that the United States, through its policies, created the very threat that it claims to be fighting now, and in continuing this policy, what President Obama is doing is embracing the very lies that made the Cheney-Bush Iraq War possible," Scahill argued. "And in the process, he’s creating yet another generation of people in the Islamic world who are going to grow up in a society where they believe that their religion is being targeted, where they believe that the United States is a gratuitous enemy. And so, this is sort of an epic formula for blowback." ...
"You know, Lockheed Martin is making a killing off of the killing, every Tomahawk cruise missile that’s launched," Scahill said. "You know, the next generation of drone aircraft is going to be coming out. They’re working on jet-propelled drones that are going to be able to stay in the air for a very long time. The war industry is in its twilight right now, under Mr. Transformative Presidency Barack Obama. His administration has been an incredibly great friend to the war industry. And outside of some small groups of loony bins that are in Syria and Iraq, the war industry is the greatest beneficiary of this policy."
Pentagon yet to decide on Syrian rebel force central to Isis offensive
Two weeks after US warplanes began bombing Islamic State (Isis) positions in Syria, the Pentagon leadership has yet to make critical decisions about building the proxy rebel force central to its plan for taking territory away from the jihadist army.
US military officials consider raising a Syrian rebel force crucial for the war aim of ultimately destroying Isis without committing US soldiers and marines to another bloody Middle East ground war. But the Pentagon has yet to even assign a US officer to the task of determining which rebels are trustworthy and capable enough to comprise that force.
“No decision has been made as to who will lead the program,” commander Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman, confirmed to the Guardian.
Once selected for the training, the rebels will be led by Major General Michael Nagata, a special-operations veteran. The supposedly moderate Free Syrian Army is expected to form the kernel of the proxy force.
But the Pentagon, which hopes to field an initial force of nearly 5,000 to fight Isis out of its Syrian strongholds, has yet to determine which fighters amid Syria’s panoply of mostly Islamist rebel groups are eligible to receive US cash, heavy weaponry and Nagata’s expertise.
The Syrian rebels are the soft underbelly of the Obama administration’s strategy against Isis. Pentagon officials routinely concede that air strikes are insufficient to oust Isis from areas in Syria under its control. Yet even under optimistic conditions, the Pentagon does not expect to have units prepared to attack Isis on the ground in Syria for eight months at the earliest.
Andrew Bacevich:
Even if we defeat the Islamic State, we’ll still lose the bigger war
As America’s efforts to “degrade and ultimately destroy” Islamic State militants extend into Syria, Iraq War III has seamlessly morphed into Greater Middle East Battlefield XIV. That is, Syria has become at least the 14th country in the Islamic world that U.S. forces have invaded or occupied or bombed, and in which American soldiers have killed or been killed. And that’s just since 1980.
Let’s tick them off: Iran (1980, 1987-1988), Libya (1981, 1986, 1989, 2011), Lebanon (1983), Kuwait (1991), Iraq (1991-2011, 2014-), Somalia (1992-1993, 2007-), Bosnia (1995), Saudi Arabia (1991, 1996), Afghanistan (1998, 2001-), Sudan (1998), Kosovo (1999), Yemen (2000, 2002-), Pakistan (2004-) and now Syria. Whew.
With our 14th front barely opened, the Pentagon foresees a campaign likely to last for years. Yet even at this early date, this much already seems clear: Even if we win, we lose. Defeating the Islamic State would only commit the United States more deeply to a decades-old enterprise that has proved costly and counterproductive. ...
[W]hether putting boots on the ground or relying on missiles from above, ... U.S. efforts to promote stability have tended to produce just the opposite. Part of the problem is that American policymakers have repeatedly given in to the temptation to unleash a bit of near-term chaos, betting that longer-term order will emerge on the other end.
Back in Vietnam, this was known as burning down the village to save it. In the Greater Middle East, it has meant dismantling a country with the aim of erecting something more preferable — “regime change” as a prelude to “nation building.” Unfortunately, the United States has proved considerably more adept at the former than the latter. ...
Yet even as the United States persists in its determination to pacify the Greater Middle East, the final verdict is already in. U.S. military power has never offered an appropriate response to whatever ails the Islamic world. We’ve committed our troops to a fool’s errand.
Syrian Kurds Battle Advancing Islamic State for Strategic Town
Kurdish militiamen and US-led airstrikes struggled to repel an intense Islamic State offensive Sunday around the strategically valuable Syrian town of Kobane near the Turkish border.
Islamic State fighters have pounded the beleaguered town, also known as Ayn al-Arab, with mortars and shells from the city's outskirts. The militants have advanced to parts of the city in the east, west, and south, after weeks of battle with allied forces. ...
A Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) spokesman told AFP that, despite a fresh round of airstrikes aimed at deflecting their advances over the weekend, the extremists had overrun the southern part of a nearby hill, which provides a strategic vantage point over the town. ...
Turkish Kurds have witnessed smoke billowing from Kobane as the fighting continues, but they have been unable to cross the border to help their neighbors, friends, and family fight the insurgency. ...
Turkish authorities used tear gas Friday to drive away a group of protestors attempting to cross the border back into Syria.
Syrian Kurds say air strikes against Isis are not working
US-led air strikes in northern Syria have failed to interrupt the advance of Islamic State (Isis) fighters closing in on a key city on the Turkish border, raising questions about the western strategy for defeating the jihadi movement.
Almost two weeks after the Pentagon extended its aerial campaign from Iraq to neighbouring Syria in an attempt to take on Isis militants in their desert strongholds, Kurdish fighters said the bombing campaign was having little impact in driving them back. ...
“Air strikes alone are really not enough to defeat Isis in Kobani,” said Idris Nassan, a senior spokesman for the Kurdish fighters desperately trying to defend the important strategic redoubt from the advancing militants. “They are besieging the city on three sides, and fighter jets simply cannot hit each and every Isis fighter on the ground.”
He said Isis had adapted its tactics to military strikes from the air. “Each time a jet approaches, they leave their open positions, they scatter and hide. What we really need is ground support. We need heavy weapons and ammunition in order to fend them off and defeat them.”
New NATO Chief: We Can Put Troops Wherever We Want
New NATO chief Jens Stollenberg insisted today on a mission to Poland that he doesn’t believe Cold War agreements on troop limitations in Eastern Europe apply any longer.
Stollenberg insisted that NATO can put troops wherever it wants and no treaties would be used to limit its decisions on deployments, which hyping a planned “spearhead” force to be deployed along the Russian frontier.
Netanyahu says US criticism of settlements is 'against American values'
In an interview broadcast on Sunday on CBS, Netanyahu said he did not accept restrictions on where Jews could live, and said that Jerusalem’s Arabs and Jews should be able to buy homes wherever they want.
He said he was “baffled” by the American condemnation.
“It’s against the American values. And it doesn’t bode well for peace,” he said. “The idea that we’d have this ethnic purification as a condition for peace, I think it’s anti-peace.”
Israel says east Jerusalem is part of its capital and considers Jewish housing developments there to be neighbourhoods of the city. But the international community, including the United States, does not recognise Israel’s annexation of the area and considers construction there to be illegitimate settlement activity.
Death of U.S.-Backed Ex-Dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier Won’t End Haitian Victims’ Quest for Justice
Ousted Haitian dictator, Jean-Claude Duvalier dies
Jean-Claude Duvalier, who presided over what was widely acknowledged as a corrupt and brutal regime as the self-proclaimed "president for life" of Haiti until a popular uprising sent him into a 25-year exile, has died. He was 63. ...
Haitian President Michel Martelly expressed his condolences to the former dictator's family, making no mention of the widespread human rights abuses that occurred under Duvalier and his more notorious predecessor and father, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. ...
The elder Duvalier was a medical doctor-turned-dictator who promoted "Noirisme," a movement that sought to highlight Haiti's African roots over its European ones while uniting the black majority against the mulatto elite in a country divided by class and color.
"Papa Doc" tortured and killed political opponents, relying on a dreaded civilian militia known as the Tonton Macoutes.
In 1971, Francois Duvalier suddenly died of an illness after naming his son to succeed him. At 19, Jean-Claude Duvalier became the world's youngest president.
Jean-Claude Duvalier ruled for 15 years, retaining the Tonton Macoutes and the brutality of his father's regime, though to a lesser extent. The son's administration was seen as less violent and repressive than that of the father, though it perhaps was more corrupt. ...
The New York-based Human Rights Watch estimated that up to 30,000 Haitians were killed, many by execution, under the regime of the two Duvaliers.
Debate Brews Over Disclosing Warrantless Spying
Obama administration lawyers have been debating whether the Treasury Department must inform the people or groups it lists as foreign terrorists when it relies on warrantless surveillance as the basis for the designation, according to officials familiar with the deliberations.
Intelligence officials are said to oppose being more forthcoming about who has been subjected to surveillance, especially in cases involving noncitizens abroad — who do not have Fourth Amendment privacy rights — because such information would tip them off that the National Security Agency had intercepted their communications.
But a provision in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, requires the government to disclose when it uses information from eavesdropping in any “proceeding” against people. In 2008, Congress made the N.S.A.’s warrantless surveillance program a part of FISA, but the full implications of applying its disclosure provision to that program were overlooked. ...
The government began to scrutinize how the disclosure provision applied to the warrantless surveillance program in the summer of 2013, when leaks from Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor, were shining a spotlight on surveillance-related policies.
Killing Americans on the White House Lawn Is Wrong
America’s forever war has come to this — the front lawn of the White House may become a kill zone. That’s crazier than whatever prompted Iraq war veteran Omar J. Gonzalez to jump the fence on Pennsylvania Avenue two weeks ago, running for the Oval Office.
The Secret Service has not announced what will happen to the next homeless person with PTSD who rushes the White House, but the Outrage Machine is demanding blood. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the Republican who sits on a committee that is investigating the September breach, warned at a hearing this week, “You make a run and a dash at the White House, we’re going to take you down. I want overwhelming force.” In the same vein, Ronald Kessler wrote in Politico Magazine that the Secret Service should have tried to “take out” Gonzalez.
We shouldn’t be surprised by the over-reaction. There have been armored police vehicles and camo-clad officers with ballistic helmets and assault rifles on the streets of Ferguson and other places, so by the same logic, shouldn’t the guardians of the White House be visibly legion and have their fingers on the trigger, fully automatic? Welcome to the nation’s capital, hope you have a nice day, don’t make any quick movements, deadly force may be used, mental illness is no excuse. Invade, torture, drone, shoot — these are the four horsemen of the post-9/11 apocalypse.
Call me crazy, but I’m glad the Gonzalez saga ended with him being wrestled to the ground in the East Room rather than shot dead on the lawn outside it.
NYT’s Belated Admission on Contra-Cocaine
Nearly three decades since the stories of Nicaraguan Contra-cocaine trafficking first appeared in 1985, the New York Times has finally, forthrightly admitted the allegations were true, although this belated acknowledgement comes in a movie review buried deep inside Sunday’s paper.
The review addresses a new film, “Kill the Messenger,” that revives the Contra-cocaine charges in the context of telling the tragic tale of journalist Gary Webb who himself revived the allegations in 1996 only to have the New York Times and other major newspapers wage a vendetta against him that destroyed his career and ultimately drove him to suicide.
The Times’ movie review by David Carr begins with a straightforward recognition of the long-denied truth to which now even the CIA has confessed: “If someone told you today that there was strong evidence that the Central Intelligence Agency once turned a blind eye to accusations of drug dealing by operatives it worked with, it might ring some distant, skeptical bell. Did that really happen? That really happened.” ...
Indeed, the New York Times took a leading role in putting down the story in the mid-1980s just as it did in the mid-1990s. That only began to change in 1998 when CIA Inspector General Frederick Hitz conducted the spy agency’s first comprehensive internal inquiry into the allegations and found substantial evidence to support suspicions of Contra-cocaine smuggling and the CIA’s complicity in the scandal.
Lessons from Flood Wall Street
The day after Flood Wall Street, the internet was abuzz with tales of scuffles with the police, an eerily poignant shot of a polar bear in handcuffs, and a debate between journalist Chris Hedges and a conservative reporter about capitalism that had erupted at the edge of the crowd. Watching the debate footage, I was struck by the fact that the two weren’t really on opposite sides. Both were clearly in favor of the quintessential American Dream: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The difference was in how they believed we could get there. Repeating the far right’s favorite mantra, the reporter blamed the government for stealing from the hard-working American and giving to the idle poor, and lauded capitalism as the only solution. Hedges, by contrast, blamed a corporate coup d’etat for the plight of the poor and the disappearing middle class.
If it wasn’t obvious before, it is now: capitalism has become the most divisive issue of our time. But it’s an oversimplified version. The problem is actually more intricate than straightforward capitalism, and the solutions potentially more unifying. What Flood Wall Street is trying to do, along with so many other people’s movements, is to transform one of the most un-free markets that ever existed: a corporate state in which the role of government is to ensure that the so-called “invisible hand” favors only the wealthy few and the biggest corporations. The capitalism celebrated by many ordinary Americans, including the reporter, simply doesn’t exist.
Whatever you want to call it—capitalism, the growth economy, globalization, the corporate state—our current economic system has aimed to make the world “flat”, paving the way for big business with a thick coating of fossil fuels. Reclaiming and restoring all the rumples and folds will require engaging in a myriad of place-based economic activities, like those mentioned in the Flood Wall Street group. It may be more time-consuming, requiring more tolerance, attention and face-to-face conversation, but if we want to create an economy that works for people and the planet we’ll have to start dealing in details. They may be devilish to explain, but that’s also where the true solutions are—ones that are adapted to local cultures and ecosystems.
There are countless numbers of these already—those described at Flood Wall Street, in the Planet Local series, on Naomi Klein’s new Beautiful Solutions website and many others. A number of these localized economic solutions have a distinctly free-market look to them. They may also appear socialist or, heavens, communist, depending on your political bent. The point is that they are about putting people first, profits a distant second, and mega-multinational corporations nowhere in the picture. But whatever the feel-good effect, it’s not going to be enough just to list them. As Klein writes in her new bestseller, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, “If the opposition movements are to do more than burn bright and burn out, they will need a comprehensive vision for what should emerge in the place of our failing system, as well as serious political strategies for how to achieve these goals.”
Hong Kong Protesters Defy Deadline to Disperse Amid Hints of Crackdown
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong returned to busy roads and entrances to government offices Sunday, defying a looming deadline issued by the territory's chief to clear demonstrations by the start of the workweek. Government executives have failed to agree with student leaders on prerequisites for initiating a dialogue, and officials have hinted that a crackdown could be on the horizon.
Alex Chow, secretary general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said officials refused to meet the students' three demands: that negotiations occur over multiple rounds, that both sides have equal footing, and that the government "executes" on any agreements to come out of talks, according to the South China Morning Post. Student leaders also said that talks would not happen if police used violence against protesters.
The previous night, Chief Executive Leung Chin-Ying suggested that a crackdown could be imminent, ordering protesters to clear entrances to government buildings before the start of the workweek. He vowed to take "all necessary action to restore social order," leading many to speculate that police would use forceful methods to clear demonstrations, including tear gas.
Tens of thousands of protesters ignored warnings from officials, university chancellors, and parents, turning out en masse for an eighth day of civil disobedience. The largest crowds emerged in Admiralty, the city's government district, and Mong Kok, a densely packed shopping area that was hit by violence over the weekend. The crowds were noticeably smaller than on Saturday, when a sea of protesters overflowed onto bridges and stairs.
Black Prophetic Fire: Cornel West on the Revolutionary Legacy of Leading African-American Voices
Michael Brown protesters interrupt St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concert
Michael Brown protesters interrupted the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's concert on Saturday night, causing a brief delay in the performance at Powell Symphony Hall.
The orchestra and chorus were preparing to perform Johannes Brahms' Requiem just after intermission when two audience members in the middle aisle on the main floor began singing an old civil rights tune, "Which Side are You on?" They soon were joined, in harmony, by other protesters, who stood at seats in various locations on the main floor and in the balcony. ...
Before leaving, the protesters scattered red paper hearts over the edge of the balcony onto the main floor orchestra seats. They read, in part: “Requiem for Mike Brown.”
Voter Registration Surge in Ferguson 'Could Completely Change the Political Landscape'
In a new development that many activists believe could spark a political shift, voter registration in St. Louis County has soared since August 9, the day that unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot to death by Officer Darren Wilson, an election official said on Thursday.
Activists with This is the Movement, one of the grassroots organizations that formed on the ground in the wake of Brown's death and subsequent protests, said of the soaring numbers, "This is what democracy looks like."
Registration booths began popping up throughout the region in August and September as part of the movement that emerged after Brown's death, which included protests against police racism and brutality and calls to address the rampant racial disparities between the city's residents and its government officials. The result is that 4,839 people in St. Louis County have registered to vote since August 9, with 3,287 from Ferguson.
Supreme Court Declines to Review Appeals, Gay Marriage to be Legal in 30 States
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up same-sex marriage appeals from five states, paving the way for same-sex couples to tie the knot
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up same-sex marriage appeals from five states, a decision that should pave the way for legal gay marriage in a majority of states.
The court's order immediately ends delays on marriage in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. In addition, couples in six other states—Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming—should be able to get married soon because they are also under the jurisdiction of appeals courts that struck down the bans.
According to the New York Times, "The move was a major surprise and suggests that the justices are not going to intercede in the wave of decisions in favor of same-sex marriage at least until a federal appeals court upholds a state ban."
BB King cancels tour after suffering from dehydration and exhaustion
The blues guitarist BB King has canceled the remaining eight performances of his current tour, suffering from dehydration and exhaustion. ...
King’s official website said he fell ill on Friday evening during a performance at the House of Blues in Chicago and was evaluated by a doctor. ... No further updates on his condition were provided.
The Evening Greens
UN biodiversity report highlights failure to meet conservation targets
Global Biodiversity Outlook 4 paints a damning picture of governments’ efforts to meet a set of targets agreed in 2010
The Global Biodiversity Outlook 4, published as nearly 200 countries meet on Monday in South Korea in a bid to tackle biodiversity loss, paints a damning picture of governments’ efforts to meet a set of targets agreed in 2010 to slow the destruction of species’ habitats, cut pollution and stop overfishing by the end of the decade.
Conservationists said the lack of progress, nearly halfway to the 2020 deadline for the targets, was a troubling sign and a reality check.
The situation of the planet’s most threatened species, which include 90% of all lemurs and species such as the blue-tongued forest giraffe and spoon-billed sandpiper, is getting worse rather than better. “The average risk of extinction for birds, mammals, amphibians and corals shows no sign of decreasing,” the report says.
The set of 20 targets are broken down into 56 elements, of which only five are on track for 2020. Thirty-three show progress, but at an insufficient rate to meet the targets, 10 show no progress, five show things getting worse and three have not been evaluated.
A key pledge to halve the loss of natural habitats, including forests, is one of the targets that will be missed. “While global rates of deforestation are declining, they remain alarmingly high,” the report says.
New Evidence Links Global Heat Waves to Climate Change
Here We Go Again: Monsanto Spends Millions to Defeat State's GMO Labeling Effort
Monsanto has poured $4.7 million into the campaign to defeat an initiative to label genetically modified food in Colorado.
The funds went to the No on 105 Coalition, which hopes it can beat Proposition 105, one of four statewide ballot measures Colorado voters will see on their November ballots. If passed, the measure would require most food made with genetically modified material (GMOs) to be labeled "Produced With Genetic Engineering" starting July 1, 2016. ...
The campaign contribution continues a pattern of big spending to defeat state GMO labeling efforts, such as those in California and Washington, not only by by the St. Louis-based agribusiness giant but by other industry groups like the Grocery Manufacturers Association, ConAgra Foods and PepsiCo.
According to an analysis by the Environmental Working Group, industry groups disclosed $27.5 million of spending in the first half of 2014 towards lobbying expenditures that made reference to GMO labeling—a surge from such spending in 2013.
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
Isis is turning us all into its recruiting sergeants
Carmen Segarra, the whistleblower of Wall Street
Can China and Russia Squeeze Washington Out of Eurasia?
Why war? It's a question Americans should be asking
A Little Night Music
Tarheel Slim & Little Ann - It's Too Late
Tarheel Slim - Wildcat tamer
Tarheel Slim & Little Ann - Can't Stay Away
Tarheel Slim & Little Ann - Much Too Late
Tarheel Slim & Little Ann - Bless You My Darling
Tarheel Slim - You're A Little Too Slow
Tarheel Slim and Little Ann - Two Time Loser
Tarheel Slim & Little Ann - Lock Me in Your Heart
Tarheel Slim & Little Ann - Security
Tarheel Slim & Ann - You Make Me Feel So Good
Tarheel Slim - Somebody Changed The Lock On My Door
The Larks - Eyesight To The Blind
The Larks - Little Side Car (Too Many Drivers)
The Larks - Rockin' In The Rocket Room
The Larks - Forget It
Tarheel Slim - Superstitious
Tarheel Slim - Some cold, rainy day
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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