Global

Let’s be blunt: As a supposed friend of American workers, Joe Biden is a phony. And now that he’s running for president, Biden’s huge task is to hide his phoniness.

From the outset, with dim prospects from small donors, the Biden campaign is depending on big checks from the rich and corporate elites who greatly appreciate his services rendered. “He must rely heavily, at least at first, upon an old-fashioned network of money bundlers -- political insiders, former ambassadors and business executives,” the New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Biden has a media image that exudes down-to-earth caring and advocacy for regular folks. But his actual record is a very different story.

NASHVILLE: PLOT SPOILER ALERT!!!

After viewing Father Goose at the TCM Classic Film Festival I decided to watch Nashville, which was also being screened in the Chinese Multiplex #1 and was filled with theatergoers. I hadn’t seen Robert Altman’s magnum opus again since its 1975 release. I stumbled upon Jeff Goldblum and other cast members as they entered the roomy theater and upon recognizing Keith Carradine, I declared: “Preacher Casy rules!” Of course, this referred to Keith’s father, the great character actor John Carradine, who perfectly depicted the clergyman-turned-union-organizer in John Ford’s 1940 classic adaptation of John Steinbeck’s Dustbowl and beyond masterpiece, The Grapes of Wrath.

Whenever, in ordinary circumstances, the subject of violence comes up, most people throw up their hands in horror and comment along the lines that it is ‘in our genes’, ‘nothing can be done about it’ or other words that reflect the powerlessness that most people feel around violence.

It is true that violence is virtually ubiquitous, has a near-infinite variety of manifestations and, at its most grotesque (as nuclear war or run-away climate catastrophe), even threatens human extinction in the near-term.

Nevertheless, anyone who pays attention to the subject of violence in any detail soon discovers that plenty of people are interested in tackling this problem, even if it is ‘impossible’. Moreover, of course, at least some people recognize that while we must tackle each manifestation of violence, understanding the cause of violence is imperative if we are to successfully tackle its many manifestations at their source. To do all of this effectively, however, is a team effort. And hopefully, one day, this team will include all of us.

Premiering as it did hard on the heels of the annual TCM Classic Film Festival, the must-see musical Singin’ in the Rain live onstage now at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts is like a delicious dessert conjured up by a three-Michelin star chef following an exquisite five course meal. This theatrical production is adapted by Betty Comden and Adolph Green from the book of their 1952 screen masterpiece starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O’Connor, also with music by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics by Arthur Freed (the theatre iteration opened in the 1980s on West End and Broadway stages).

”Environment Canada reported that the metallic contaminants that had been dumped in the tailings pond included these hazardous metals:Lead, Arsenic, Nickel, Zinc, Cadmium, Vanadium, Antimony, Manganese and Mercury.”

“ALL tailings "ponds" are problems. If they don't breach and spill massive amounts of toxic sludge into the environment like at Mount Polley, they leach that contamination slowly, poisoning the waters and lands around them.” -- From:  http://canadians.org/blog/update-mount-polley-mine-disaster-imperial-metals-and-government-focus-covering-instead;

Hearings in the Ohio Legislature this week (Tuesday and Wednesday) will underscore opposition to the proposed mega-bailout meant to keep the decrepit Davis-Besse and Perry nukes operating to ultimate failure.

PLEASE go there to testify.

Here are some key talking points (in progress).  Please insert your own:

Physical status of the plants:

1)         These two Nukes are literally crumbling (see work by Kevin Kamps/Beyond Nuclear, Mike Keegan, and more)

Iran’s retention of archives related to its past covert nuclear weapons program (the Amad Plan), as well as its efforts to keep many scientists and technicians from that former weapons program working together under the continued leadership of the former head of that program, raise serious questions regarding whether Iran intended to preserve the option to resume elements of a nuclear weapons program in the future….

– US Department of State report, “Adherence to and compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments,” April 2019

ith absolutely zero good reasons for waging war on Iran, the Trump administration goes on making stuff up to lie the country into yet another war. The template looks like the Bush administration’s successful effort to lie the US into the Iraq War, the catastrophic effects of which keep unfolding.

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand's army chief has warned a state of emergency will be declared if post-election violence degenerates into "civil war".

The military-led government is meanwhile trying to imprison a new, wildly popular, anti-army politician for "sedition" while the junta enjoys legal immunity for their 2014 coup and subsequent acts.

Officials are also deciding how to count the votes from last month's election amid allegations of manipulated ballots, "ghost voters," and a baffling, complex system invented by the regime. Critics say it is biased against pro-democracy candidates. 

The junta filed the sedition charge -- punishable by nine years in jail -- plus other cases against Future Forward party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, 40, on April 6. 

The case dates back to 2015 when Mr. Thanathorn allegedly "provided assistance" to an anti-coup protest leader. Mr. Thanathorn reportedly gave a walking protester a ride in his car.

A new film, Corporate Coup, (trailer at link https://vimeo.com/292721963 ) is premiering in the coming days in Washington, D.C., (April 26-27 at Filmfest DC) and Toronto (April 29, 30, and May 3 at Hot Docs Festival).

The film is vague about when the corporate takeover of the U.S. government began, probably because it actually predates the U.S. government and wasn’t entirely new in the 1970s or the 1980s but did see, at that time, a major acceleration that in some ways was a leap backward and in other ways a leap into something unseen before.