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 singer Beulah "Sippie" Wallace. Enjoy!
Sippie Wallace - Shake It To The Jelly
“I was astonished, bewildered. This was America, a country where, whatever its faults, people could speak, write, assemble, demonstrate without fear. It was in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. We were a democracy...
But I knew it wasn't a dream; there was a painful lump on the side of my head...
The state and its police were not neutral referees in a society of contending interests. They were on the side of the rich and powerful. Free speech? Try it and the police will be there with their horses, their clubs, their guns, to stop you.
From that moment on, I was no longer a liberal, a believer in the self-correcting character of American democracy. I was a radical, believing that something fundamental was wrong in this country--not just the existence of poverty amidst great wealth, not just the horrible treatment of black people, but something rotten at the root. The situation required not just a new president or new laws, but an uprooting of the old order, the introduction of a new kind of society--cooperative, peaceful, egalitarian.”
-- Howard Zinn
News and Opinion
A long, but interesting article about how Stasi-state tactics are sweeping through agencies of the government.
More Federal Agencies Are Using Undercover Operations
The federal government has significantly expanded undercover operations in recent years, with officers from at least 40 agencies posing as business people, welfare recipients, political protesters and even doctors or ministers to ferret out wrongdoing, records and interviews show.
At the Supreme Court, small teams of undercover officers dress as students at large demonstrations outside the courthouse and join the protests to look for suspicious activity, according to officials familiar with the practice. ...
Undercover work, inherently invasive and sometimes dangerous, was once largely the domain of the F.B.I. and a few other law enforcement agencies at the federal level. But outside public view, changes in policies and tactics over the last decade have resulted in undercover teams run by agencies in virtually every corner of the federal government, according to officials, former agents and documents. ...
Most undercover investigations never become public, but when they do, they can prove controversial. This month, James B. Comey, the director of the F.B.I., was forced to defend the bureau’s tactics after it was disclosed that an agent had posed as an Associated Press reporter in 2007 in trying to identify the source of bomb threats at a Lacey, Wash., high school. ... Just weeks before, the Drug Enforcement Administration stoked controversy after disclosures that an undercover agent had created a fake Facebook page from the photos of a young woman in Watertown, N.Y. — without her knowledge — to lure drug suspects. ...
The Times analysis showed that the military and its investigative agencies have almost as many undercover agents working inside the United States as does the F.B.I. While most of them are involved in internal policing of service members and defense contractors, a growing number are focused, in part, on the general public as part of joint federal task forces that combine military, intelligence and law enforcement specialists.
Heh, Psychologists Shrink From Embrace of Torture...
Psychologists Are Rethinking Their Cozy Relationship with Bush Torture Program
The top professional organization for psychologists is launching an independent investigation over how it may have sanctioned the brutal interrogation methods used against terror suspects by the Bush administration. The American Psychological Association announced this week that it has tapped an unaffiliated lawyer, David Hoffman, to lead the review.
In 2002, the American Psychological Association (APA) revised its code of ethics to allow practitioners to follow the “governing legal authority” in situations that seemed at odds with their duties as health professionals. Many argue that the revision, as well as a task force report in 2005 that affirmed that the code allowed psychologists to participate in national security interrogations, gave the Bush administration critical legal cover for torture. ...
New York Times reporter James Risen’s book “Pay Any Price” revealed e-mails from the files of a deceased CIA contractor, Scott Gerwehr, showing close contact between the intelligence establishment and leadership at the APA. The emails centered particularly on the 2005 report and suggested that members of the Bush Administration were involved in its conception and drafting.
Obama Administration Leaves Door Wide Open for Torture to Occur Again
Murat Kurnaz was a Guantanamo detainee. He was represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights, eventually got out of Guantanamo, where he had been tortured. He was put into Guantanamo when he was 19 years old, had been sold for a bounty of $3,000, etc., got out eventually, and has tried to continue leading his life, wrote an important book. And he testified about two things, and it was very powerful. One, he said the last hearing that the U.S. faced in Geneva, the committee said they had to close Guantanamo. And the time that happened was in 2006--eight years ago they were told, the U.S., close Guantanamo because it's a form of torture, essentially, even if it's not overt torture in the sense of waterboarding any longer, it's as Kurnaz says: no charges against people; they have no understanding of when they're going to get out of there. It's physical, yes, because they're in a confined space, they can't have visitors other than their lawyers, but it's mental torture as well, certainly cruel and inhuman and degrading treatment, because they have no way out. Seventy-nine of those people have been told they've been cleared for release, have not been released. This is 12 years after the founding of Guantanamo. ...
he Torture Convention requires that torturers be prosecuted. The U.S., since the torture scandal broke open in the early 2000s, has not prosecuted a single person for torture. It was approved by Bush, Cheney, down the chain, CIA people, torture throughout this government, and not one person, not a single person who has been tortured. And the key, as Kurnaz and others have said, the key to stopping torture in the future--which is why I'm so skeptical of the pious words of the Obama administration--the key is to prosecute torturers. We haven't done it. The U.S. claims they tried it with something called the Durham investigation. That was utter BS. They didn't do it. They never interviewed, as far as we know, any of the key victims who were tortured. ...
Annex M is part of the Army Field Manual. It allows sensory deprivation, it allows sleep deprivation, and it allows solitary confinement. Those three taken together can certainly constitute cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, as well as torture. The Obama administration just flip-flopped around it, saying that we require a minimum of four hours of sleep. Well, four hours' sleep day after day is basically cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment if not more. When combined with others it can be worse. The people on the committee said, why don't you just take Annex M out of that? The administration demured on it, as they have for a number of years.
So we still have in our law an authorization to use cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment if not more. ...
here's a claim made by a number of people at Guantanamo and a particular a client in that case saying that forced feeding amounts to torture, certainly cruel and inhuman and degrading treatment. There was medical testimony about it. The way it's done amounts to that.
The drum beat gets louder...
Hagel acknowledges may have to consider troop recommendations in Iraq
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is acknowledging he may have to consider recommendations to place ground forces in Iraq to help forces there locate targets if, in fact, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff makes that recommendation.
But these would not be fighting forces, Hagel said. "There will be no American combat troops in Iraq or Syria."
Gen. Martin Dempsey has suggested at least twice that a recommendation of ground troops could come, although he has emphasized he has not made that proposal yet.
Obama Has No Good Options for Ending the War in Syria
Two months into a US airstrike campaign targeting radical Islamists in Syria, some American officials are growing restless with what they see as a one-sided effort that has handed President Bashar Assad's regime the upper hand in the country's civil war.
But despite reports of a contemplated strategy change, experts say the Obama administration has precious few alternatives to its current course of action.
In an article published Wednesday, CNN cited several anonymous US officials and diplomats who told the outlet that the Obama administration could be reconsidering its policy on Syria's civil war and coming to the conclusion that the Islamic State cannot be defeated without the removal of Assad. ...
On Thursday, however, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the House Arms Services Committee, which oversees the Department of Defense, there was no such shift underway.
"Because we do not have a partner government to work with, or regular military partners as we do in Iraq, in the near term, our military aims in Syria are limited to isolating and destroying ISIL's safe havens," said Hagel, referring to the Islamic State, also called ISIS.
'Moral enemies of ISIS are buying their oil. Why?'
Debating How—Not Whether—to Launch a New War
Moments after Barack Obama’s September 10 primetime address laying out a military plan to attack ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria, CNN featured a debate between Republican Sen. John McCain and former White House press secretary Jay Carney. The somewhat contentious exchange went viral. “Carney, McCain Spar on CNN Over ISIS Strategy” was the headline on the NPR website. “John McCain Has a Huge Fight With Jay Carney on CNN” was how it was billed at the Huffington Post.
But to anyone who actually listened, the two did not represent especially divergent positions: Both agreed that Obama should launch military attacks, although McCain—to no one’s surprise—thought they could be more aggressive.
The fact that such a narrow disagreement could be seen as a “huge fight” speaks volumes about how little debate exists in corporate media over this new phase of the “war on terror.”
If you thought the Isis war couldn't get any worse, just wait for more of the CIA
As the war against the Islamic State in Syria has fallen into even more chaos – partially due to the United States government’s increasing involvement there – the White House’s bright new idea seems to be to ramping up the involvement of the intelligence agency that is notorious for making bad situations worse. As the Washington Post reported late Friday, “The Obama administration has been weighing plans to escalate the CIA’s role in arming and training fighters in Syria, a move aimed at accelerating covert U.S. support to moderate rebel factions while the Pentagon is preparing to establish its own training bases.”
Put aside for a minute that the Central Intelligence Agency has been secretly arming Syrian rebels with automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and antitank weapons since at least 2012 – and with almost nothing to show for it. Somehow the Post neglected to cite a front-page New York Times article from just one month ago alerting the public to the existence of a still-classified internal CIA study admitting that arming rebels with weapons has rarely – if ever – worked:
As the Times’ Mark Mazzetti reported:
One of the things that Obama wanted to know was: Did this ever work?’ said one former senior administration official who participated in the debate and spoke anonymously because he was discussing a classified report. The C.I.A. report, he said, ‘was pretty dour in its conclusions.
... So even though the CIA “couldn’t come up with much” proof of any time when sending tons of weapons into a war zone full of extremists has worked in the past, or that the agency itself has told Congressmen arming the rebels was “doomed to failure,” the Obama administration is ready to do just that.
No one doubts that Isis is a horrific terrorist group that’s terrible for the entire Middle East – as it proved over the weekend by barbarically beheading another innocent aid worker – but further entrenching the CIA and its weapons into an already awful situation can really only make things worse. Much worse.
Iran and US close in on historic nuclear deal at Vienna talks
Iran, the US and other world powers meeting in Vienna this week are close to a historic, comprehensive agreement that could bring a permanent end to 12 years of deadlock over Iran’s nuclear programme.
With a deadline for the talks looming in a week’s time, diplomats are converging on the Austrian capital for the last stretch of marathon negotiations beginning Tuesday, with the outcome still in the balance.
Compromises have been found on previously contentious issues, and detailed text for different versions of a final deal has been drafted.
Some diplomats describe their work as 95% done, pending political decisions to be made in national capitals over Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium over the next few years, and the sequence in which international sanctions are lifted.
Several leading arms-control experts have argued that the residual obstacles are more political than substantial, determined by the need of President Barack Obama’s administration and President Hassan Rouhani’s reformist government in Iran to reassure conservatives at home, rather than by the actual requirements of Iran’s nuclear energy programme or genuine nonproliferation concerns.
Israel's proposed Jewish nation-state law hits hurdle
Divisions within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition delayed on Sunday a preliminary vote on a proposed law to declare Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads a centrist party, has expressed concern that the rightist-backed legislation would put preservation of Israel's Jewish character above democratic values, and she blocked its discussion in a ministerial committee she chairs.
In now-frozen peace talks, Palestinians had rejected Netanyahu's demand that they recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Legislators from the country's Arab minority have described the bill as racist. ...
The Israeli leader said it was time for the country's courts, which have been attacked by some ultranationalists as supportive of Palestinian land rights, "to recognize the aspect of our being the nation state of the Jewish people".
Israeli Troops Shoot 10-Year-Old Palestinian in Neck for ‘Loitering’
Israeli military officials are tonight defending the attack and potentially fatal wounding of a 10-year-old Palestinian civilians at the Kissufim checkpoint, after troops shot him in the neck for “loitering.” ...
Israeli military forces routinely shoot and kill people who are even a little close to checkpoints into the Gaza Strip, though it is rare for one to be such a young child. The Israeli military continued to refer to him as a “suspect” in all statements, and suggested he might have been working for terrorists.
Norwegian doctor, Mads Gilbert, issued a lifetime ban from entering Gaza by the Israeli government
Israeli authorities cited security reasons for shutting Doctor Gilbert out from the Gaza Strip.
The Norwegian 67-year-old has travelled to and from Gaza to treat Palestinians. This summer, the chief physician who lives and works in northern Norway, was back working at Shifa hospital, Gaza, where he spend more than 50 days treating many of the 11,000 injured.
The doctor was attempting to return to the region in October to help in the hospital and was stopped by Israeli officials from entering. ...
Gilbert, an outspoken peace activist, wrote a letter to the global media in July this year in which he spoke about the extreme conditions at the Gaza hospital where he worked.
Heavy shelling rocks rebel-held Donetsk in east Ukraine
Fresh volleys of artillery fire were heard across many parts of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, a Ukrainian government statement said, after Kiev warned again of rebel preparations for a fresh offensive.
A Reuters witness in central Donetsk heard several dozen blasts of artillery fire, although it was unclear who had launched them or what was under attack.
Shelling from both sides has repeatedly punctured a ceasefire, agreed in a deal signed on Sept. 5 to end a war that has killed more than 4,000 people since April. Government forces and rebels have accused each other of violating the terms of the truce, raising fears it could collapse entirely.
Ukraine Predicts Resumed Fighting
The Ukrainian government has been predicting an imminent collapse of the ceasefire for weeks now, and says they believe the ethnic Russian rebels are preparing for a new offensive against them.
The prediction comes amid Ukrainian claims of a Russian invasion, though there is still no concrete evidence of the Russian military being present, and to the extent that fighting is testing the ceasefire, it’s still the same shelling in Donetsk that it’s been for weeks.
Hat tip mimi. Looks like Putin and Merkel's relationship may be on the rocks. It looks like Putin has had about enough of the US's "sole superpower" crap, too.
Putin's Reach: Merkel Concerned about Russian Influence in the Balkans
It is a fundamental principle of German foreign policy that talks are the best way to solve diplomatic problems. Such was the rationale behind Gernot Erler's recent trip to Moscow to speak with Russian parliamentarians about the ongoing Ukraine-related difficulties. Erler is the German government's Russia liaison and he has spent much of his political career working towards better relations between Germany and Russia. But his recent trip to the Russia capital was a painful one. There was no one in parliament who was willing to speak with him. ...
From the perspective of Berlin, Russia has gone from being a difficult partner to being an adversary within just one year. The effort launched in 2008 to tighten cooperation on a number of issues, one in which German leaders placed a great deal of hope, would seem to have come to an irrevocable end. Instead, Berlin is now discussing ways in which it might be able to slow down Russia's expansionary drive -- particularly in the Balkans, a region in which some states are not entirely stable. Elmar Brock, a member of Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and the chairman of the European Parliament's Foreign Policy Committee, is also concerned about the region. "It is part of a broad strategic approach by Russia to 'infiltrate' the countries politically but mostly economically," he says. ...
During the Cold War, Kremlinology was the word used to describe efforts to determine the true intentions of the Soviet leadership. That discipline has now been replaced by "Putinology," but the emphasis on speculation has remained. Even the chancellor, despite dozens of conversations with Putin, doesn't know how far the Russian president is willing to go in the current conflict with the West, or even whether he knows himself. She has spoken to Putin at least 35 times by phone since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis. She also requested a transcript of a speech given by Putin at the Valdai Club in Sochi four weeks ago. In it, the Russian president laid out his world view before journalists and political science experts. It is not a view that made Merkel more optimistic.
According to Putin's thinking, the US destroyed the international legal system and is attempting to establish a unipolar global order. He said that the so-called victor of the Cold War is trying to reorganize the world according to its own interests. Putin said that Washington is responsible for the rise of Islamist terrorism as well as the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
Whereas the US cavalierly intervenes around the world, Washington reproaches Russia for doing exactly that, Putin said with a view toward Ukraine. "What Jupiter is allowed, the Ox is not," he said, referring to the Latin phrase often used to indicate a double standard. But the bear, he continued, "will not even bother to ask for permission." The bear, he said, is the "master of the taiga" and will not cede it to anyone. Putin then said that he doesn't intend to advance into other climactic zones. The taiga refers to the forested region stretching all the way across Russia, and the sentence from Putin's speech has now led Berlin officials to wonder where the taiga ends for Putin and where other climactic zones might begin. Observers have been keeping close track of the Russian president's comments in this regard, but a complete picture has yet to emerge.
Another hat tip to mimi:
Putin’s Loss of German Trust Seals the West’s Isolation of Russia
As President, Putin’s foreign and economic policies have always looked to Germany as a pivotal ally, a vital partner in trade and a sympathetic ear for Russian interests. He seemed to feel that no matter what political headwinds came his way, the German sense of pragmatism would prevail in keeping Berlin on his side. That illusion has just been shattered.
During a speech on Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel predicted a drawn-out confrontation with Moscow. ...
Merkel came to the Hilton Hotel in central Brisbane for an unscheduled meeting with Putin that reportedly lasted almost six hours, running well into Sunday morning. The subject was the conflict in Ukraine, and according to the Kremlin, Putin did his best to “clarify in detail the Russian approach to this situation.” But his efforts to win Merkel’s sympathy – or at least her understanding – appear to have done the opposite.
The letdown seemed all the more painful considering his recent attempt to reach out to the German public. A few days before the G20 summit began, Putin decided to give a rare one-on-one interview to the national German television network ARD, whose correspondent grilled him on Russia’s support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. Putin tried to sound conciliatory. “Of course we expect the situation to change for the better,” he said. “Of course we expect the Ukrainian crisis to end. Of course we want to have normal relations with our partners, including in the United States and Europe.”
Modern slavery affects more than 35 million people, report finds
More than 35 million people around the world are trapped in a modern form of slavery, according to a report highlighting the prevalence of forced labour, human trafficking, forced marriages, debt bondage and commerical sexual exploitation.
The Walk Free Foundation (WFF), an Australia-based NGO that publishes the annual global slavery index, said that as a result of better data and improved methodology it had increased its estimate 23% in the past year.
Five countries accounted for 61% of slavery, although it was found in all 167 countries covered by the report, including the UK.
India was top of the list with about 14.29 million enslaved people, followed by China with 3.24 million, Pakistan 2.06 million, Uzbekistan 1.2 million, and Russia 1.05 million.
Mauritania had the highest proportion of its population in modern slavery, at 4%, followed by Uzbekistan with 3.97%, Haiti 2.3%, Qatar 1.36% and India 1.14%.
RAP NEWS 29: The G20 with Tony Abbott - Feat. Senator Scott Ludlam
David Cameron warns of looming second global crash
PM says ‘red warning lights are flashing’ against a backdrop of instability and uncertainty, as G20 summit draws to a close
David Cameron has issued a stark message that “red warning lights are flashing on the dashboard of the global economy” in the same way as when the financial crash brought the world to its knees six years ago.
Writing in the Guardian at the close of the G20 summit in Brisbane, Cameron says there is now “a dangerous backdrop of instability and uncertainty” that presents a real risk to the UK recovery, adding that the eurozone slowdown is already having an impact on British exports and manufacturing.
His warning comes days after the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, claimed a spectre of stagnation was haunting Europe. The International Monetary Fund managing director, Christine Lagarde, expressed fears in Brisbane that a diet of high debt, low growth and unemployment may yet become “the new normal in Europe”. ...
“The eurozone is teetering on the brink of a possible third recession, with high unemployment, falling growth and the real risk of falling prices too,” Cameron writes. “Emerging market economies which were the driver of growth in the early stages of the recovery are now slowing down. ..."
More Homeless Children Now Than Any Point in US History
The annual levels of homelessness among children have never been higher in the United States, according to a new comprehensive report released on Monday.
Prepared by the National Center on Family Homelessness, the report—America’s Youngest Outcasts (pdf)—shows that with poverty and inequality soaring in recent years, approximately 2.5 million children in 2013 found themselves without a roof over their head or place to call home. That number equals one in 30 American children nationally, and constitutes an 8 percent increase over the previous year.
"Child homelessness has reached epidemic proportions in America," said Dr. Carmela DeCandia, director of the NCFH, in a statement. "Children are homeless to night in every city, county and state — in every part of our nation.”
Gaius Publius serves up a heaping helping of the natural truth:
Harry Reid Surrenders His Sword
Harry Reid has just said he will surrender to most things the Senate Republicans want to do, if they have the votes to do them. ...
Reid's gone all "collegial," all bipartisan. ... Now consider carefully. Reid's not stupid. He's fighting for something, achieving some goal. Is Reid fighting for you? Or just for himself and the other insiders — the "club" as George Carlin called it — in his bipartisan Coalition of the Wealthy, the group that serves the group that buys their lunch?
What if, next, Reid mouths progressive words? Will you be mollified? What if he goes so far as to bring Elizabeth Warren into a leadership position? Will it offset the fact that he surrendered his sword ahead of the very first fight?
Is Obama’s Immigration Plan Too Modest? Proposals Cover Less Than Half of Nation’s Undocumented
Facebook, Google and Apple lobby for curb to NSA surveillance
A coalition of technology and internet companies is lobbying to curb US National Security Agency surveillance powers and for more transparency on government data requests.
The Reform Government Surveillance coalition, including Facebook, Google, Twitter, Microsoft and Apple, added its support for the race to pass a bill through the US Senate before the end of the year, which would inhibit mass data collection from emails and internet metadata.
“The Senate has an opportunity this week to vote on the bipartisan USA Freedom Act,” said the coalition in an open letter sent to the Senate. “We urge you to pass the bill, which both protects national security and reaffirms America’s commitment to the freedoms we all cherish.”
The bill would also allow technology companies to disclose the number and types of data demands from government as part of the continued transparency push from the industry. ...
Privacy advocates and technology groups championed the bill originally but many revoked their support after compromises expanded the definition of what data the government can collect.
St Louis police chief says only criminals were teargassed at Ferguson protests
The police chief leading the response to protests over the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, has been accused of dishonesty by demonstrators after denying that officers shot at them with rubber bullets and claiming that only criminals were teargassed.
Chief Jon Belmar of St Louis County made the claims as the region braced for the possibility of further unrest following the imminent decision of a grand jury on whether a white police officer should face criminal charges for killing Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.
Discussing clashes with protesters in the days following Brown’s death on 9 August, Belmar told St Louis public radio: “We didn’t use rubber bullets. If they’re actually rubber bullets, they’ll kill you.” After making a similar statement during an interview with KSDK, he said that his officers had instead used “little balls full of pepper spray”.
Belmar went on to say in his public radio interview that teargas and smoke grenades had not been fired at “peaceful protesters”, adding: “We used that on unfortunate criminal activity that span out of the protests.”
His remarks stirred fresh mistrust among demonstrators as they urged police not to use military-style equipment against future protests. ... Deray McKesson, an activist who co-authors a daily newsletter that has become central to the protest movement, described Belmar’s comments as “disingenuous at best, and downright dishonest at worst”. He said: “We saw projectiles that were rubber. It is clear that Chief Belmar is attempting to revise history. A lie continuously repeated is not the truth.”
Missouri Gov. Declares State of Emergency Ahead of Ferguson Decision
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency in Missouri Monday afternoon, just days before a grand jury is expected to reach a decision about whether to indict Darren Wilson, the St. Louis County police officer who killed Michael Brown in August. The declaration, which is good for 30 days, also activates the National Guard in Missouri.
The National Guard will be in place this week and will serve in a "secondary role," according to St. Louis mayor Francis Slay.
Hat tip dharmafarmer:
Member of Missouri Senate asks Obama to Federalize NG troops
The Evening Greens
Neil Young calls on fans to boycott Starbucks
Neil Young has called on fans to boycott Starbucks, citing the coffee chain’s alleged role in a battle over genetically modified food labelling.
Writing on his website, Young accused Starbucks of “hiding behind” an organisation called the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), which, along with three other food companies, is jointly suing the state of Vermont over a new law requiring genetically modified ingredients to be labelled on food products. Although Starbucks is one of the GMA’s many member companies, the corporation is not itself part of the court proceedings. ...
In a statement, Starbucks denied playing any part in the Vermont legal battle and contended that it has yet to take “a position on the issue of GMO labelling”. The company “is not a part of any lawsuit pertaining to GMO labelling nor have we provided funding for any campaign”, the statement continues. “Starbucks is not aligned with [GMO maker] Monsanto to stop food labelling or block Vermont state law.”
Nevertheless, Starbucks did not condemn the GMA’s move. In fact, a representative of the company said of Vermont’s Act 120: “As a company with stores and a product presence in every state, we prefer a national solution [to GMO labelling]”, rather than state-by-state rules.
Naomi Klein: Reject Keystone XL Pipeline, We Need Radical Change to Prevent Catastrophic Warming
Jimmy Carter Urges Obama To Reject Keystone XL Pipeline
Former President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday announced his opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, joining a group of Nobel laureates urging President Barack Obama to reject the project.
In a letter to Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, Carter and nine other Nobel Peace Prize recipients said the decision on whether to approve the pipeline would be one of the administration's most critical choices.
"You stand on the brink of making a choice that will define your legacy on one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced -- climate change," reads the letter. "As you deliberate the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, you are poised to make a decision that will signal either a dangerous commitment to the status quo, or bold leadership that will inspire millions counting on you to do the right thing for our shared climate."
Carter is the first former president to come out against the controversial pipeline, which would export crude oil from tar sands in Canada to refineries in the United States.
Day Before Vote, Activists Bring #NOKXL Fight to Democratic Senator's Front Door
Despite the rain, about 75 activists gathered outside the Washington, D.C. home of Senator Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) on Monday morning, protesting the Keystone XL pipeline she's thrown her full weight behind.
"Sen. Landrieu: if you're not a climate denier, don't vote like one," read one banner amidst a sea of "Vote No KXL" signs. Demonstrators included climate activists, local students, a farmer from Nebraska, and representatives of Native American communities. Protesters also brought along an inflatable black plastic pipeline.
The action, which was organized by 350 D.C., took place on the lawn of Landrieu's Capitol Hill home one day before the U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on the controversial Keystone pipeline. Landrieu's support for the pipeline has been pegged as a last-ditch attempt to win votes ahead of a tough runoff election in December.
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
Red List: the world's most threatened species – interactive
No Debate and the New War
A revolutionary friend has died
Breaking: #Ferguson Protest Begins, Announces Targets
A Little Night Music
Sippie Wallace - Women Be Wise
Sippie Wallace - Murder Gonna Be My Crime
Sippie Wallace w/John Mayall - Shorty George
Sippie Wallace - Suitcase Blues
Sippie Wallace - I'm A Mighty Tight Woman
Sippie Wallace - Bedroom Blues
Sippie Wallace w/Albert Ammons - Buzz Me
Sippie Wallace - Devil Dance Blues
Sippie Wallace - You Gonna Need My Help
Sippie Wallace w/Clarence Williams' Trio - Off And On Blues
Sippie Wallace w/Clarence Williams' Blue Five Trouble Everywhere I Roam
Sippie Wallace - Up The Country Blues
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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