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 jazz and blues singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone. Enjoy!
Nina Simone - Revolution
"Relying on the government to protect your privacy is like asking a peeping tom to install your window blinds."
-- John Perry Barlow
News and Opinion
USA Freedom Act Passes House, Codifying Bulk Collection For First Time, Critics Say
After only one hour of floor debate, and no allowed amendments, the House of Representatives today passed legislation that seeks to address the NSA’s controversial surveillance of American communications. However, opponents believe it may give brand new authorization to the U.S. government to conduct domestic dragnets.
The USA Freedom Act was approved in a 338-88 vote, with approximately equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans voting against. The bill’s supporters say it will disallow bulk collection of domestic telephone metadata, in which the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has regularly ordered phone companies to turn over such data. The Obama administration claims such collection is authorized by Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act, which is set to expire June 1. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that Section 215 does not provide such authorization.
Today’s legislation would prevent the government from issuing such orders for bulk collection and instead force it to rely on telephone companies to store all their metadata — some of which the government could then demand using a “specific selection term” related to foreign terrorism. Bill supporters maintain this would prevent indiscriminate collection. ...
However, the legislation may not end bulk surveillance and in fact could codify the ability of the government to conduct dragnet data collection.
“We’re taking something that was not permitted under regular section 215 … and now we’re creating a whole apparatus to provide for it,” Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., said on Tuesday night during a House Rules Committee proceeding.
“The language does limit the amount of bulk collection, it doesn’t end bulk collection,” Rep. Amash said, arguing that the problematic “specific selection term” allows for “very large data collection, potentially in the hundreds of thousands of people, maybe even millions.”
NSA Metadata Collection Reined in by the House
Conservative GOP Congressman Credits Snowden For Changing His Position on Patriot Act
Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Tex., campaigned on a pledge to support the War on Terror and voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act in 2011.
But the conservative lawmaker changed his opinion due to Edward Snowden’s leak of government documents on surveillance. Explaining his about-face Tuesday evening during the House Rules Committee hearing on the USA Freedom Act, Burgess said that he remembered being told by intelligence officials that Section 215 of the Patriot Act would only be used to collect data on terrorists calling other terrorists in a foreign country.
“With the Snowden revelations,” Burgess said, he found out that Section 215 had been expanded by the NSA to include “every call everyone makes in this country,” a change that was only shared with congressional leadership, not rank-and-file members like himself.
The NYT Editorial Board gets one right:
Overkill on a C.I.A. Leak Case
In a significant rebuke to the Obama administration’s dogged-yet-selective crusade against leaks, Judge Leonie Brinkema of Federal District Court quickly rejected the government’s request and sentenced Mr. Sterling to three and a half years behind bars. ...
The government argued at trial that the leak had disrupted the operation and endangered national security. Judge Brinkema did not appear to buy that claim, which was called “overwrought hyperbole” by one C.I.A. veteran in a letter to the court. She instead focused on Mr. Sterling’s jeopardizing the safety of an informant, whose identity she said was “the most critical secret” an intelligence officer keeps. “If you knowingly reveal these secrets, there’s going to be a price to be paid.” ...
In light of these prosecutions, it is worth considering the degree to which this White House seems to value secrecy over accountability.
It fixates on certain leakers, and the reporters they work with, even as it neglects to prosecute anyone for, say, the torture of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and elsewhere, or for the intentional destruction of videotapes documenting that torture. ...
Of course, we already know that torture and drone strikes pose a profound threat to America’s national security and the safety of its citizens abroad. After all, the murderers of the Islamic State did not dress their victims in orange jumpsuits for no reason; they did it to evoke the horrors of the Guantánamo prison camp.
Possible CIA Crime Revealed in Sterling Trial
No penalty for Guantanamo nurse who refused to force-feed
A Navy nurse who refused to force feed prisoners on hunger strike at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is no longer facing an administrative discharge over his protest, his lawyer said Wednesday.
The commanding officer of Navy personnel rejected a commander's recommendation that the nurse appear before a board of inquiry that could have resulted in his removal from the military after an 18-year career, attorney Ronald Meister said.
Instead, the nurse, whose name has not been released, will be allowed to resume work.
Saudi Arabia Promises to Match Iran in Nuclear Capability
When President Obama began making the case for a deal with Iran that would delay its ability to assemble an atomic weapon, his first argument was that a nuclear-armed Iran would set off a “free-for-all” of proliferation in the Arab world. “It is almost certain that other players in the region would feel it necessary to get their own nuclear weapons,” he said in 2012.
Now, as he gathered Arab leaders over dinner at the White House on Wednesday and prepared to meet with them at Camp David on Thursday, he faced a perverse consequence: Saudi Arabia and many of the smaller Arab states are now vowing to match whatever nuclear enrichment capability Iran is permitted to retain.
China, U.S. head toward faceoff in South China Sea
The Chinese government gave a stern warning Wednesday that it will protect its sovereignty in the South China Sea after a cat-and-mouse pursuit of a U.S. warship by a Chinese frigate.
"The Chinese side will take resolute measures to safeguard national sovereignty and safety. We will keep an eye on the situation in relevant waters and airspace and respond to any violation of China's sovereignty and threat to China's national security," said Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Her warning came after an advanced Navy warship — the USS Fort Worth — sailed through the South China Sea on Monday near islands China is building in an effort to extend its territorial claims. The United States considers the area to be international waters, and the Philippine and Japanese navies have conducted exercises in the area in an attempt to counter the Chinese claims. ...
International law does not recognize man-made islands as extensions of the mainland, Army Col. Steve Warren said.
NATO Quietly Announces Plans to Stay in Afghanistan
Remember how the Afghan War “ended” at the end of 2014, only for NATO to announce the “Resolution Support Mission” which was keeping occupation forces, and by extension the war, there through the end of 2016?
Today, without much fanfare, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO has decided to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2016, and that this will “have a military component.”
This isn’t entirely surprising, with the US already having a formal deal to keep troops in Afghanistan “through 2024 and beyond,” and seems to ensure that both US and NATO troops will be in Afghanistan for many years to come.
Despite Promised Ceasefire, Saudi Airstrikes Reported in Yemen
The ceasefire between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Shi’ite Houthis is “broadly holding,” according to observers, but a handful of Saudi airstrikes have been reported, and the Houthis have been engaged in a ground battle with Sunni tribesmen in Abyan.
Abyan was the de facto capital of the “Ansar al-Sharia” statelet that emerged in 2011 during the Arab Spring, and has been dominated by al-Qaeda and its allies ever since. The Houthis took the city late Tuesday, apparently shortly after the Saudi truce began.
The Saudis are apparently viewing this as a violation of their demand that the Houthis “not move,” even though fighting a random Sunni military over a town isn’t in and of itself a violation.
Israel looks to justify future strikes on civilian areas in south Lebanon
Israel has warned once again that civilian areas of south Lebanon could be heavily bombed in the next war with Hezbollah, blaming any future destruction on the party for its alleged construction of military facilities in towns and villages.
The Israeli military showed the New York Times satellite images of southern Lebanese villages that claim to pinpoint specific Hezbollah military positions among the buildings such as command posts, rocket-launching sites and bunker entrances. ...
“The civilians are living in a military compound,” a senior Israeli military official told the New York Times in a report published Wednesday. “We will hit Hezbollah hard, while making every effort to limit civilian casualties as much as we can ... [but] we do not intend to stand by helplessly in the face of rocket attacks.” ...
Nevertheless, human rights activists warn that Israel cannot threaten to bomb civilian areas even if Hezbollah has installed military facilities within them.
“This would be a violation of the laws of war to treat entire villages or the entire south Lebanon as a legitimate military target,” said Nadim Houry, deputy director for Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division.
“Regardless of what Hezbollah does, Israel has a fundamental obligation under the laws of war to distinguish between a military target and civilians. It’s not enough to basically say, ‘OK, here’s the notice, you have this much time to leave’ and anyone who stays behind is considered to be a military target.”
Vatican to Recognize Palestinian State in New Treaty
The Vatican announced Wednesday that it would soon sign a treaty that includes recognition of the “state of Palestine,” lending significant symbolic weight to an intensifying Palestinian push for international support for sovereignty that bypasses the paralyzed negotiations with Israel.
Palestinian leaders celebrated the Holy See’s endorsement as particularly important, given the international stature of Pope Francis. For Israelis, it was an emotional blow, since Francis has deep relationships with Jews dating back decades, and Christians are critical backers of their enterprise.
“The Vatican is not just a state. The Vatican represents hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide, including Palestinians, and has vast moral significance,” said Husam Zomlot, a senior Palestinian foreign-affairs official.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said it was “disappointed” by the Vatican’s decision, and that the recognition would “not advance the peace process.” That echoed similar statements after a wave of European Parliamentary resolutions on Palestinian statehood last fall, but some Israeli analysts said the Vatican’s step hurt more.
File under: "Elections have consequences."
Thousands sign petition calling for north of England to be part of Scotland
Petition argues that northern English cities ‘feel far greater affinity with their Scottish counterparts than with ideologies of London-centric south’
More than 12,000 people have signed a petition demanding the north of England break away from the “London-centric south” and join a new Scotland.
The petition says the northern English cities “feel far greater affinity with their Scottish counterparts such as Glasgow and Edinburgh than with the ideologies of the London-centric south” and demands secession from the UK. ...
The petition suggests the map of the UK be redrawn, extending Scotland’s southern borders along a line that runs between the mouth of the Humber and the Dee, which flows east from Wales via Chester and discharges to the sea between Wales and the Wirral peninsula in England.
“New Scotland” would see Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle and the rest of the north of England ruled from Edinburgh instead of London, with the Scottish National party holding the reins. ...
The petition was started last year during the Scottish referendum campaign but lay dormant following the no vote.
It has received a new lease of life in the last week since the Conservatives won a majority in the general election, more than doubling the number of signatures in the past few days. The performance of the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon in the first leaders’ debate impressed many voters in England, who took to Google to ask if they could vote for her party despite living south of the border.
Cornel West in Baltimore
In America, not only will we allow fruitcakes to carry guns, we'll give them a badge and a license to work off their aggressive tendencies on citizens.
Baltimore officer Brian Rice accused of threatening to kill ex-girlfriend in 2008
The Baltimore police lieutenant charged with the manslaughter of Freddie Gray was accused of threatening to kill an ex-girlfriend several years before allegedly abusing his position to harass another former partner and her family.
Brian Rice is alleged to have grabbed the woman as she attempted to collect her possessions from the home they had shared and told her that if she ever returned “he would kill me”, she said, when requesting a restraining order in 2008.
The complaint also stated that Rice kept several guns at the house, including an AK-47 assault rifle.
Rice, 41, would later be accused of threatening to kill the husband of another ex-girlfriend, having that man wrongfully arrested, and warning that he was preparing to kill himself, as part of an intense dispute that saw him twice disciplined by chiefs and stripped of his guns.
Experts on policing have expressed dismay that Rice was permitted to stay in his job after his supervisors were repeatedly informed of his actions, which extended to trying once again to have the man arrested on 29 March this year.
Hellraiser Preview
Sherman, set the time machine for tomorrow's Hellraisers Journal which will feature Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and Jack Reed v the Preacher Billy Sunday.
Tune in at 2pm!
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Idiot Democrats cave on Obamatrade, get nothing but a figleaf in trade for their vote to sell out American workers.
Pacific and European trade deals may be back on track as US Senate votes again
Democrats reach compromise on new votes after decision on Tuesday seemed to deal fatal blow to White House’s pursuit of new on TPP and TTIP free trade agreements with Asia and Europe
Under the agreement, the Senate will hold a series of votes on Thursday on three separate trade measures: two standalone votes on bills that reflect Democrats’ priorities, including one that would crack down on Chinese currency manipulation, and then another vote on a bill that would give Obama so-called “fast-track” negotiating authority. ...
But each would be subject to a 60-vote threshold, and there is no guarantee that they will be added to the final TPP legislation. Should they pass as standalone measures, the House of Representatives can do away with them when it considers the TPP bill. The White House has opposed the currency provision, making it even more unlikely that the text will make it into the final piece of legislation.
Nevada senator Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, said the agreement was nonetheless “fair”.
Marco Rubio says US not the 'world police' but must intervene more
Marco Rubio filled a lecture hall at the Council on Foreign Relations with imagery about warships, fighter jets and weapons shipments in an appearance on Wednesday to lay out his vision for a significantly more muscular US foreign policy – one that he said would prevent a global descent into “chaos” but stop short of making America the “world’s policeman”. ...
While most of the policy prescriptions Rubio made on Wednesday – arm the Ukrainian military, pull back from negotiations with Iran, increase air strikes in Iraq, increase naval activity in the China Sea, reverse the “normalization” of relations with Cuba – were hawkish in nature, on the most hotly contested foreign policy issue of the last decade – the Iraq war – the candidate seemed to reverse himself in the direction of restraint. ...
In the world view Rubio outlined Wednesday, which he billed as a new doctrine, certain regional conflicts that look very difficult – the ongoing war in Syria, the failed state of Libya – in fact began as tractable problems that spun out of control due to tragic US negligence. Other regional conflicts that look very difficult, meanwhile – the demise of a two-state solution for Israel-Palestine, for example – Rubio presented as every bit as confounding as they seem, with the United States powerless to act.
Iowa Scientists Want Climate Change to be High on the Agenda During the State's 2016 Presidential Primary
In a statement on Monday, the scientists tied human-caused climate change to major floods and a drought that have hit the state since 2008 and urged Iowa voters to pressure primary candidates on the topic.
Jerald Schnoor, co-director of the University of Iowa's Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research and a supporter of the statement, said the goal is to activate Iowa's famously engaged voters.
"It's another reminder that climate change is real and it's already affecting Iowans," he told VICE News, "but it's also a challenge to make sure you ask the candidates what will they do in response to the accepted science of climate change."
"We'd like them to be on record," he added. ...
How Iowa voters respond to the Republican candidates could set a significant precedent for the rest of the presidential campaign, Livermore said.
"If it turns out that Republican voters in Iowa reject candidates that are not willing to acknowledge the risks of climate change, that could have a profound effect," Michael Livermore, a senior adviser at the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University told VICE News. "That would tell us that even though there are some elites within the Republican Party that feel comfortable with that position, their primary voters do not. That would be a big deal."
The Evening Greens
"Irresponsible & Reckless": Environmentalists Decry Obama’s Approval for Shell Drilling in Arctic
Portland mayor pulls support for fracked gas terminal amid protests
Charlie Hales cancels city council meeting with Canada’s Pembina amid overwhelming opposition to building $500m facility to ship propane gas
Portland’s mayor has all but killed off a plan to build a $500m terminal to ship fracked gas from Canada in the face of overwhelming popular opposition and fears about damage to the city’s progressive image. ...
Hales backed the plan as “great news” when it was announced in September, saying it would create jobs, earn tax revenues to pay for schools and police, and help the environment by reducing dependence in China and other countries on dirtier fuels, such as coal.
But the mayor turned against the plan in the face of a burgeoning popular campaign which claimed the terminal was in conflict with Portland’s green policies and claims to be an environmentally conscious city.
Environmental groups also challenged the planned terminal as one of a string of proposed new or expanded coal, oil and gas export facilities across the Pacific Northwest – Oregon and Washington state in the US, and British Columbia in Canada – with the capacity to dwarf the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
Hales called Pembina to ask it to withdraw the planning application because he said it failed to meet the “environmental and climate values firmly held by Portlanders” and because of safety issues.
Seattle Mobilizes to Shut Down Shell Operations to Protest Arctic Oil Drilling
'The World is Watching' Seattle as Arctic Drilling Fight Heats Up
Shell says 'drop dead' after Port Commission calls for delay of rig arrival
The Seattle Port Commission on Tuesday passed a resolution asking Shell to delay the arrival of its Arctic drilling rig, bending to pressure from local citizens, environmentalists, and city officials who packed the hearing to express outrage over the Commission's unilateral decision to house the oil fleet.
Seattle Mayor Ed Mayor said that the Port Commission must apply for a new land-use permit in order to grant the oil giant a "homeport" lease for its drilling rig. However, the Commission did not go so far as to rescind the initial lease and, refusing to alter its drilling schedule, Shell still plans for its rig and support vessels to reach the port later this week before heading to Arctic waters.
The Seattle Times reports:
"Rig movement will commence in the days to come," said Shell spokesman Curtis Smith in an email.
Foss Maritime CEO Paul Stevens, whose company is slated to work on the Shell rigs at Terminal 5, was equally blunt: "We are going to proceed… These rigs and our operation will be in and out of here before there is any conclusion on the appeal process." He said the first of the two drilling ships will arrive Thursday.
Under the banner "sHellNO," local activists and environmental groups are holding a series of demonstrations in the coming days to protest Arctic drilling and other "extreme energy" projects in the face of the growing climate crisis.
30 Million Gallons Under the Sea: Five Years After BP Disaster, New Drilling OK’d by Spill Site
A third of Europe’s birds under threat, says most comprehensive study yet
One in three European birds is endangered, according to a leaked version of the most comprehensive study of Europe’s wildlife and natural habitats ever produced.
The EU State of Nature report, seen by the Guardian, paints a picture of dramatic decline among once common avian species such as the skylark and turtle dove mainly as a result of agricultural pressures, and also warns that ecosystems are struggling to cope with the impact of human activity. ...
Of 804 natural habitats assessed by the European Environment Agency for the report, 77% were deemed to be in a poor condition, with almost a third having deteriorated since a study in 2006. Just 4% were found to be improving.
The wide-ranging technical survey made use of data compiled by 27 EU countries between 2007-2012, and will be released by the European Commission later this year.
“The report clearly shows that Europe’s wildlife and natural habitats are in crisis,” said Andreas Baumueller, the head of WWF Europe’s natural resources unit. “Our habitats are slowly dying and our natural capital – reflected by species such as birds and butterflies – is being put under enormous pressure from unsustainable agriculture and land use policies.”
Blog Posts of Interest
Here are diaries and selected blog posts of interest on DailyKos and other blogs.
What's Happenin' Is On Hiatus
Unhappy anniversary:
The Jackson State Massacre of 1970
What Do Prison Families Think of Hillary’s Promises About Mass Incarceration?
CIA Officer Jeffrey Sterling Sentenced to Prison: The Latest Blow in the Government’s War on Journalism
The Feudalism of Facebook: New Pay-to-Play News Feed as Indy Media Killer
Count All Lives Taken By Drone War, Not Just Western Ones: Human Rights Groups
A Little Night Music
Nina Simone - I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
Nina Simone - Feeling Good
Nina Simone - Mississippi Goddamn
Nina Simone - Four Women
Nina Simone - Love Me Or Leave Me
Nina Simone- I Put Spell On You
Nina Simone - Backlash blues
Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me
Nina Simone - Baltimore
Nina Simone - Why (The King of Love Is Dead)