@92 & 104 – it’s OT but better than the US elections.
This looks like a non-story whipped into froth for propaganda. I couldn’t find it anywhere and finally had to search Google. The first results page shows the top Atlantic media carrying the identical meme, namely that Putin fired all the commanders of the Baltic fleet because they refused to confront and provoke western ships. It was a “Stalin-style” purge.
The truth is actually found in this story at Russia Beyond the Headlines, dated June 30 – 2 weeks ago:

Commanders of Russia’s Baltic Fleet fired
— Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has dismissed Baltic Fleet Commander Viktor Kravchuk and other high-ranking officials following inspections in the region.

This is all part of the snap inspections and massive drills at zero notice that Russia has conducted lately. The leadership of Russia is determined that its military will be actively ready for war at any time. The Baltic fleet was sloppy, and had falsified reports. Part of the neglect concerned improving the lot of the service personnel, which had been ordered and not carried out.
It didn’t take Putin to order this – Shoigu alone is all it takes to be outraged by a lazy military command in a time of war preparedness.
The true story is thus one of noble aspiration rather than one of egoistic “purges”. But leave to the UK and US media to drag it down to their level.

Posted by: Grieved | Jul 14 2016 5:44 utc | 104

virgile @ 36 You say, “In fact Sanders has more in common with Trump that he has with Hillary.” Au contraire! Sanders has everything in common with Hillary. That’s why he’s backing her. All the Sanders “socialist” shite over the years, all his lefty, lefty politics is just bling to throw to the yokels. “Oh, I got this gold coin at Mardi Gras! Lucky me!” Right! All Sanders has ever thrown out is cheap bling.
Oh, don’t get me started on Elizabeth Warren, the pit bull against Wall Street! Better bling, better presentation. Pocahontas threw wampum to the yokels and we know how much Mad Dog 20/20 a piece of wampum buys in the trading post these days. (MD20/20! Look it up.)
The Democratic Party is a big tent. Sure enough! And the carnies in it will roll you up every time. Of course, the Republicans are just a pack of street thugs. They don’t even give you cotton candy (spun sugar) before they mug you.

Posted by: Macon Richardson | Jul 14 2016 8:43 utc | 106

Thomas Frank: What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?
https://youtu.be/TGLGKghQlgY

Posted by: okie farmer | Jul 14 2016 12:06 utc | 108

Here’s an indicator of what sort of transparency in government one might expect from the Trump “Administration.”
Trump Sues Ex-Staffer For $10 Million For Breaking Nondisclosure Agreement.
Not only are staffers subjected to this, volunteers are as well. “The tight control of volunteers stands in stark contrast to not only American political-campaign norms but also Trump’s reputation for speaking his mind.”
Combine that with his statement that he’d like to change libel laws to make it easier for himself to sue news organizations that down fawn all over him. Does he seem like the sort to encourage whistle-blowers like Manning or Snowden? Will he be logging all his email traffic for future FOIA requests? Or maybe he’ll kill that off, too.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 14 2016 12:21 utc | 110

94;Stop Chip stop;My daughter is married to a chosen and it hasn’t affected me in the slightest as I hate Israel with a passion,same as their f*cking whore ,the hillaryous one.
I didn’t get 20 pieces of silver I guess.
And my son in law,by marrying a shiksa,illuminates the melting pot of America,of which we are all members.

Posted by: dahoit | Jul 14 2016 13:34 utc | 112

108;The naked ambition of pocahontas was startling to say the least.
Two bubbleheads for the price of one.

Posted by: dahoit | Jul 14 2016 13:52 utc | 114

Most awesome? story of the day;Hollande pays 11,000 a month for a hair stylist,at the French peoples expense.
Man,how did they stuck with that clown?Where’s Chirac,they need him.

Posted by: dahoit | Jul 14 2016 13:55 utc | 116

Piotr at 79. Interesting, I didn’t know that these kinds of provisions existed. (Also I thought around 25% would be effectively excluded from Labour membership and thus voting rights, the article says the 25 pounds is an obstacle for only 20% – still quite a lot.)
I don’t approve of the essentialist or ‘social belongings’ inherent classifications though – joining a Union – ethnic/religious minority – LGTB, sexual ‘minority’ – or an ‘upper’ group, Scientists. This kind of pigeon-holing does nobody any good, it is part of the divide-to-rule strategy, it instills in ppl the idea that some groups are truly (and perhaps even legitimately according to some!) discriminated against, and therefore they are encouraged play the victim card, band together, to obtain special conditions, considerations. In French it is called communautarisme and is viewed by many with great suspicion, as the Law of the Land (or…) should apply equally to all citizens.
A huge fail for GB Labour as far as I am concerned. Not that it is surprising.
P.S. Sanders always said he would line up with support for the Dem. candidate, whomever. Never deviated from that afaik (?) Where is the surprise?

Posted by: Noirette | Jul 14 2016 14:54 utc | 118

News Flash: Israel wins U.S. election; Iran to be nuked during inauguration
Trump just picked Mike Pence as running mate. And from (((Forward))):

“…Pence has said his support of Israel is deeply rooted in his Christian faith, as well as in his strong relationship with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Pence was introduced to AIPAC members in 2009 by then-board member Marshall Cooper at an AIPAC policy conference.
“Let me say emphatically, like the overwhelming majority of my constituents, my Christian faith compels me to cherish the state of Israel,” then-Rep. Pence said.
Cooper described Pence to the audience as “Israel’s good friend.”…”

So whether Hillary or Trump gets the job (or Obama declares a national emergency an remains) Israel will be the de-facto new commander-in-chief of the U.S., henceforth to be know as Palestine West.

Posted by: PavewayIV | Jul 14 2016 18:57 utc | 120

Noirette: today I have read in The Guardian that the affiliate union members will be subjected to the same six month limit. Apparently, even political correspondents of The Independent and The Guardian have trouble figuring what the rules are, and one phrase suggested that they will be discussed further.
In the meantime, a “Labour donor” vowed to sue to have the ruling on Corbyn (entitled to defend his post) reversed. “Michael Foster, a former parliamentary candidate, will lodge the application at the high court on Thursday afternoon.” The Guardian ended the news piece with those two paragraphs:
“Foster, a former showbiz agent who has given more than £400,000 to the party since 2010, came to prominence during the last Labour party conference, after he confronted Corbyn at a Labour Friends of Israel reception, angered the Labour leader had not mentioned the word “Israel” in his address to the meeting.
“Say the word ‘Israel’,” he shouted at Corbyn, who is a longstanding pro-Palestinian campaigner.”

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jul 14 2016 19:37 utc | 122

Israeli Mass Surveillance System Launched in UAE

The new Falcon Eye surveillance system—sold to the UAE by an Israeli defense contractor—“links thousands of cameras spread across the city, as well as thousands of other cameras installed at facilities and buildings in the emirate,” the Abu Dhabi Monitoring and Control Center said in an official statement. The Falcon Eye will “help control roads by monitoring traffic violations while also monitoring significant behaviors in (Abu Dhabi) such as public hygiene and human assemblies in non-dedicated areas.”

Strange bedfellows? Not at all. The Israelis and the GCC countries, the USG and EU, are all soul brothers : tiny ‘elite’ minorities attempting to rule their respective roosts by technological means encompassing everything from drones to the media to their ubiquitous taps.
Totalitarianism is alive and well in the Middle East … and in North America, the UK, Europe … the last thing to be tolerated, the first things to be crushed, are ‘human assemblies in non-dedicated areas’ over which their corporate selves would rule.
The Powers That Are are thicker than thieves. Among mere thieves competition remains. The PTA are acting in loco parentis … taking ‘care’ of us all for their own good.
Mike Gravel used to describe our present political situation as ‘adolescent’: mature enough to understand the fix we’re in, too immature to do anything but complain to ‘those in charge’.
We’re in charge. We’ve just been asleep at the wheel. Time to wake up, finally? Before our whole world become Nice?

Posted by: jfl | Jul 14 2016 23:28 utc | 124

in re 103 —
Here’s the issue — the Greens stink. More evidence follows later.
But let’s talk now about you’re gold old fashioned anti-communism. It’s the main thing that unites the bourgeois parties, like the Greens and the Republicans.
You know next to nothing about socialism or politics, so your nervous laughter neither surprises nor impresses me.
Telling that you would resort to a business metaphor, but you are in finance and new media, no? That is to say, in an industry that openly produces shite as click-bait. Who cares if it’s bogus, we got hits!
I stand by my point. We socialists took a hard hit with the “collapse of communism.” And yet a democratic socialist nearly beat the Clinton machine for the nomination, in large part because the youth view the doctrine favorably.
And why is that? Do you think it could have something to do with the tendency to monopoly and the impoverishment of labor inherent in the bourgeois mode of production that Marx described? Or maybe Vladimer Ilich’s dissection of finance capital? Gee, why would that resonate in the here-and-now?
Underlying social forces still favor economic democracy. Rather like the underlying force of capitalism and liberal democracy could not be stopped, perhaps not even slowed, by the defeat of the English and French Revolution, it’s still either — “socialism or barbarism.”
Trump’s election might perhaps clarify that choice, but the correlation of class forces does not favor the proletariat, and will far more likely lead to the latter than the former. Hence, the long game.
And so my constant advice — do not blow shit up, if you do not know where the big pieces will fall and how they are to be reassembled.
Oh, and, “America must have proportional representation!”

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 15 2016 0:04 utc | 126

The Guardian
Ewen MacAskill
Thursday 14 July 2016 17.00 EDT Last modified on Thursday 14 July 2016 19.35 EDT
Labour grassroots members are in open revolt over a series of restrictions imposed by the party’s ruling national executive over the leadership contest – with some branches holding unofficial meetings in defiance of a ban imposed nationally earlier this week.
Labour branches in London, the Midlands, Liverpool and elsewhere all defied the order and organised impromptu events, reflecting unhappiness in some parts of the party’s membership at the decision taken at the same meeting that confirmed that Jeremy Corbyn would be on the leadership ballot.
New union members barred from voting in Labour leader election
Read more
After Corbyn’s candidacy was validated, the NEC ruled that only those who had been members for more than six months would be allowed to vote, while new supporters wishing to cast their vote would be given two days to sign up as registered supporters. They will have to pay £25, far more than the £3 many Corbyn-backers paid in the contest last year.
Pro-Corbyn members are also protesting over the suspension of all constituency party meetings until the election for leader is over at the end of September.
=============
Almost strangely, the coverage in The Guardian is increasingly sympathetic to the opposition to PLC/NEC.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jul 15 2016 5:27 utc | 128

Late to the party as per usual. Chiefly because I’ve been devoting most spare time and energy to the Corbyn push for resistance to neoliberalism in the UK.
As far as Sanders goes, that was pretty much how we all predicted it would go when he first kicked off.
Yes it is a piss off that another generation has been permanently turned off political activism by Sanders’ selfish careerism, but millennials probably wouldn’t have turned up anyway. This isn’t a criticism – I completely understand why young people have decided voting is toxic, but it can be frustrating as fuck. For example the pix of millennials protesting brexit belies the reality that voter turn out in the referendum was low for 18 to 25’s.
Huch lower than say the boomer turn out where millions of people unaffected by the long term outcome of england outside the EU, turned up and said their two bobs worth -OUT. (yeah the EU has morphed into a neolib horrorshow but that need not be permanent. Sorting the EU into a viable humanist structure for a united europe would be a doddle compared with trying to achieve the same thing within the english reactionary system – england still wants to be part of the single market, all they’ve done with brexit is remove themselves from the decision making body while still having to follow EU decisions. The French have a better approach – just ignore the rules the EU pushes out that are disagreeable – no one ever seems to pull France up for that.
Anyway the Corbyn thing. I dunno how many are aware exactly how scared the parliamentary labour party chicken coup organisers are.
In addition to stopping new members from voting they have also passed a meeting at the NEC barring branches from having any official meetings (including the Annual General Meetings they are required to have by law) until after the leadership campaign has finished. They are obviously worried that branches up and down the country will deselect the chicken coup plotters before Corbyn is replaced.
The hope is that Corbyn will be defeated and his supporters won’t be able to vote for sympathetic NEC. Then a motion will be passed making all preselection for constituency seats the role of the National body rather than the constituency branch.
See as well as parachuting like minded neolibs who they knew up at Offord or Cambridge while they were being indoctrinated, the corrupt blairites have also been selling seats to rich fuckers who want to become ‘leaders’ e.g. This Michael Foster asshole whose family donated just under half a million pounds to Labour and was rewarded with a promise of a seat. Now that the party doesn’t appear to be a plaything of the rich with Corbyn at the helm Foster is suing in an effort to have Corbyn chucked off the ballot.
This is what it is all about. For years now local electorates have had people parachuted in and been told to support their candidature. It is a scam because many many Britons vote Labour no matter who is running because the level of trust for the party was that high. No longer hundreds of Labour MPs abstaining on welfare cuts was the straw that broke the camels back for millions of Labour voters who live in regions that have been derelict since Thatcherism destroyed all employment in the area. For too many citizens the only easily attainable work that pays sufficient to keep the family fed is selling smack and/or whiz to the other unfortunates in the area.
These globalist assholes thought that being seen to support welfare recipients would be a turn off for the bourgois London citizens they have been trying to woo from Toryland.
They just took the poor fuckers in the rustbelt for granted, thinking “well who else can they vote for?” in that time honoured rip of an ersatz left political movement burning the impoverished who have no one to turn to other than those who are screwing them.
This leadership election could be closer than the last because there is no doubt some will give way under the deluge of propaganda the media are pumping out.
Certainly the chicken coup plotters’ polling is telling them it is a big ask which is why they are pulling all these scaredy cat stunts.
Despite the talk about forming another party, they know that without the Labour ‘brand’ they are just another mob of chancers trying to compete with the centuries old chancers tradition of the conservative party in other words they are fucked if they can’t win this.

Posted by: Debsisdead | Jul 15 2016 9:51 utc | 130

How bad are the Greens at politics then?
Let’s look at the actual data they report, shall we? Here’s the underlying source.
I note the snark in Stein’s statement. “There is so much courage out there to stand up to the marching orders handed down by the usual suspects.”
Of course, if Sanders marching orders had been to go with the Greens, as Stein kept pleading as late as five days ago, then of course he’d be an “elder statesman” and not one of “the usual suspects.”

Since Tuesday morning, the Green Party has received over $80,000 in contributions, over half of which comes from first-time donors, and half of which comes in the form of contributions under $50. Tellingly, about 615 of those contributions totalled $27, the exact number commonly trumpeted and solicited by the Sanders campaign during his revolutionary grassroots funding movement.

So let’s see – assume that only the first time donors are disillusioned Sanders supporters. So that is about USD40K. Some USD20K is collected in the form of donations under USD50. USD16,605 would be the total of USD27 contribs.
So that would be under 1/4th. of the total haul since Tues. can be ID’d as likely Sanders voters.
Since this is said to represent a ten-fold increase in their pace, I think the real take-home message is how poorly they were doing before. We’ll see if it is sustained.
And actually, I would hope and expect that they gamed it. That Sanders would endorse the nominee was a given, so they knew this day would arrive. And some amount of money was likely to flow. So they had some reliable givers lined up, they ponied up their USD40K of donations over USD50, inflating the total.
If not, they’re worse aktiv than I thought.
The dating of the love note on USUNCUT (sometime Wedsneday) suggests that the campaing is raising about USD80K per day, at best. With just over 2,775 days at that clip, they will have collected the USD222.6 mil. that Sanders raised.
Yeah, quite the little prairie fire there. Not.
Maybe her polling numbers will rise in a few days. Or maybe not.

Sanders supporters had begun consolidating around Clinton’s candidacy after she all but secured the nomination in May, according to Washington Post-ABC News polling.
Before then, 71 percent of Democratic-leaning Sanders voters supported Clinton against Trump in a two-way matchup. The number rose to 81 percent in June — larger than the share of 2008 Clinton backers who supported Barack Obama at a similar point that year.
Although only 8 percent of Sanders voters said they support Trump, the latest poll found that third-party candidates pose a risk to Clinton. In a four-way matchup, 11 percent of Sanders Democrats said they would back Green Party candidate Jill Stein and 8 percent would back Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, dragging Clinton’s support down to 65 percent.

And actually, they might only be gaining back folks for who earlier had defected Green ranks for Sanders’ fresh, young face.
“The Sanders Campaign Is Absolutely Destroying Us!” California Greens told Mother Jones.

The party’s steep decline in registration — from nearly 110,000 voters in early 2015 to 78,000 now — represents a tiny fraction of California’s 18 million registered voters. Yet it underscores how the Sanders campaign has made deep inroads into California’s liberal electorate, tapping voters who may have never before considered voting for a Democrat.

Sanders going Green was always a fantasy. They’ve been after him since 2011, and he has yet to return their calls.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 15 2016 11:46 utc | 132

“Abstaining from any endorsement or running as independent or Green party candidate would have been more honorable ways for Sanders to admit defeat.”
This apparent failure makes much more sense if you understand that Bernie is at heart a deeply committed patriot and is only doing what is best for his nation, the Jewish nation.

Posted by: Ezra Pound | Jul 15 2016 12:13 utc | 134

rufus magister @ 129
Cambridge has a progressive/liberal majority that would be in city government under any fair scheme. I am not sure if “reflecting nuances of public opinion” is important, but surely, it is important to have a flow of ideas represented in the “elected mainstream”, and a more efficient way of eliminating those who became worse during years in office.
However, in any system, “mini-parties” do not have a critical mass to sway the political outcomes, and if they have a role in deciding the majority of representatives, all too often they are basically bought.
In any case, Sanders has to thing how his program can advance best in the current system, and “playing nice” with the party system will help more than hurt. Moreover, one has to get majority under the current system first to change it. Armed revolution is clearly not an alternative.

Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jul 15 2016 13:03 utc | 136

135;Oh,a poison ivy league commie zionist.A perfect hell bitch voter.

Posted by: dahoit | Jul 15 2016 13:32 utc | 138

rufus pissing in the wind (of change). LOL!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 15 2016 13:58 utc | 140

Cornel West endorses Jill Stein

… I am supporting Jill Stein. I am with her – the only progressive woman in the race … I have a deep love for my brother Bernie Sanders, but I disagree with him on Hillary Clinton. I don’t think she would be an “outstanding president”. Her militarism makes the world a less safe place.
Clinton policies of the 1990s generated inequality, mass incarceration, privatization of schools and Wall Street domination. There is also a sense that the Clinton policies helped produce the right-wing populism that we’re seeing now in the country. And we think she’s going to come to the rescue? That’s not going to happen.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 15 2016 14:14 utc | 142

@2 bill..bernie spporters better not show how stupid they are by also voting for hillary..
Posted by: james | Jul 13, 2016 1:27:48 AM | 3

Sanders supporters are by definition stupid and/or dishonest
For example: the one commenting at #14 and #101 in this thread is a prime example of a Sanders supporter that is both stupid AND Dishonest

Posted by: DownWithThat | Jul 15 2016 16:08 utc | 144

I’m not an Ivy Leaguer. I went to high school with no AP courses in rural Delmarva. My undergrad ed was at Northeastern and UMass/Boston, I took my MA from Boston College and was a doctoral student at Pitt.
The drearily glibly, moralistic Preacher West, however, is an Ivy League theologian. And a prominent figure in identity politics.
The Greens don’t offer real change; they represent a different, more piously moralistic wing of the bourgeoisie. They do not challenge capitalism, they simply want a more green and sustainable version. We’ll go from Big Oil influence peddling to Big Herbal All-Organic Supplements influence peddling. You would still slide envelopes of cash across the table, but the envelope is unbleached, 100% post-consumer recycled paper, and the table artisanally fashioned from sustainably grown hardwoods. But no leather cushions on the seats, and no dairy for the organic Fair Trade coffee.
I can’t see how pardoning or even appointing Snowden to the Cabinet is especially principled or courageous. He’s popular with progressive voters, no risk there. I rather doubt if the Greens were the first to think of the pardon. With absolutely no chance of winning the Presidency, it’s showboating. Which is what candidates do.
It is a clever little stunt. Except for the fact that even if Stein won, with no Green Tea Senators, Snowden would never be confirmed. I don’t think he’s Cabinet material myself, at this time, though he looks good for a responsible post among the siloviki.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 16 2016 2:28 utc | 146

@149 rufus,
these tit for tat responses get boring, lol.. i thought you were british? do you get to vote in the usa election? seems to me (and as b points out), the idea of sanders throwing his support for hillary is disingenuous.. the reason so many people believed in him is he was presenting himself as a viable alternative.. now that he has bowed out, there is no viable alternative… those folks who wanted to vote for sanders are essentially screwed… well, if you believe you have to vote based along party lines, i believe many people are going to be rudely awakened in this election, just like some folks were with brexit..

Posted by: james | Jul 16 2016 3:17 utc | 148

@rufus
I don’t trust anything you say about yourself.
I’ll take Greens today over the false promise of your bullsh!t ‘long game’.

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Jul 16 2016 17:37 utc | 150

There are other socialist parties than CPUSA. SWP for many years, but they’ve faded. Socialist Party of late.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 16 2016 18:01 utc | 152

in re Jack Rabid
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Is any of this inconsistent with my background, as previously outlined?
I have no doubt that you are who you say you are. Sanctimonious, inclined to impute bad faith to others while insisting upon your own superior rectitude. Incapable of acknowledgeing the experiences or viewpoints of those who differ from you, you filter out anything that fails to confirm your narrow views.
In short, you are financier and a new media click-baiter, ignorant of most things you profess to pontificate upon.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 16 2016 18:06 utc | 154

james —
Glad to see we agree on the important stuff. I saw Rokcpile’s “Seconds of Pleasure” Tour, best concert ever.
Trump is not Brexit. Established figures in the Conservative Party are now at the helm, most of the new Cabinet is apparently committed to leaving the EU, which itself is encouraging it.
One’s protest vote in America will get to appoint Supreme Court Justices and will serve as Commander-in-Chief. And other fun stuff like that there. He has no organization and has trouble attracting money and endorsements.

Posted by: rufus magister | Jul 16 2016 21:01 utc | 156