Peter AU1 | Aug 8 2020 7:30 utc | 197
A worksite accident? Unfortunately they really do happen.

Posted by: tucenz | Aug 8 2020 8:40 utc | 203

Just had the best laugh for some time watching the latest Useful Idiots with Matt and Katie. I am up to the 30 minute mark and loving it. The material they have on Biden is just priceless but so is the rest.
Barflies might appreciate.

Posted by: uncle tungsten | Aug 8 2020 9:11 utc | 205

My theory about why Macron went to Beirut (a brave act, by the way, mingling with the crowd, which no-one else has repeated) is that he did a deal with the current dinosaurs in power (I agree with Mina in her description). Come and show sympathy (and thus show off France’s continuing influence), and maybe that will calm to a degree the accelerating anger against the government for its criminal incompetence. Long enough, at any rate, to prevent a revolution, and the old order being overturned. But the other part of the deal will be to address political reform. It really can’t be left any longer, and the cataclysmic catastrophe is a good departure point. The problem with a revolution for Macron is that the Christians would certainly be the losers, and Macron wouldn’t want that, showing off his preference with a visit to a Christian quarter, not a Muslim one.

Posted by: Laguerre | Aug 8 2020 9:44 utc | 207

In the French media since one year, the Lebanese Christians were rather vocal against their corrupt elite, its sectarian system, and France. Macron is probably trying as usual to reclaim the Roman catholics (France has never got rid of its own Christian mafia). Contrarily to Laguerre, I think that he is not giving a good exemple to the French (more than 1000 cases per day for a week, now reached more than 2000 cases a day since yesterday). This time I do hope he will contaminate someone in his close circle so that these bloody Übermenschen slow down…
But he may indeed try to strike a ‘deal of the century’ out of his hat. He has been very close from Sarkozy lately, i.e. to Qatar (they actually pay him for PR and talks), and Magnier underlined in a tweet that the meeting between Macron and a HA guy went very well…

Posted by: Mina | Aug 8 2020 9:57 utc | 209

Instead of attacking posters, could you read your own sources?
https://twitter.com/ejmalrai/status/1291587171497934848
Maybe it’s time to go back surfing. People who can write something as stupid as “you seem quite reasonable while i am posting, then when i am absent you go crazy, or what?” need to get their pills and STFU.

Posted by: Mina | Aug 8 2020 11:52 utc | 211

As Nasrallah said, any event could be turned into an opportunity, and the possible benefits of this disgrace go beyond the Lebanese…
A lot of people is showing its true colors here as well…even people who seemed “leftie”…or others from the spiritual sector…They are all going to great fatigues and above all show great agressiveness so as to “STFU” ( who seem all the way the sign of the house, as they all repeat it…) of whom is opposing their interests here…which is regime change in Lebanon after the organized blast….

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 8 2020 12:17 utc | 213

Unexpected consequences, why unexpected actors will be interested in unveiling the truth and why there will be huge efforts to conceal it, inckuding here…

the wife of the Dutch ambassador in Beirut had died from injuries sustained in the port explosion.

BTW, IDF just shot dead a Palestine young woman in Yenin…The lives of the people of the ME are cheap for this people…
https://twitter.com/almayadeen_es/status/1292051427859279873

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 8 2020 12:32 utc | 215

Letter from International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity to the Peoples. Correspondent of Latin American Summary in Cuba, to the people of Beirut…
https://espanol.almayadeen.net/news/politics/1414716/carta-al-pueblo-de-beirut

To the people of Beirut.
To the political and religious authorities.
A Ghassan Ben Jeddou President of Al Mayadeen
To Wafica Ibrahim director of Latin America
To all the journalists and workers of Al Mayadeen TV.
We have followed the catastrophe of the accident that occurred in the port of Beirut from Al Mayadeen TV in Spanish, a pan-Arab communication medium of excellence, a reference for all as our teleSUR. Al Mayadeen has accompanied each of our great struggles.
Al Mayadeen was a bulwark in the battle for the freedom of the Five Cuban Patriots, in the fight against the US blockade of Cuba, in the defense of Bolivarian Venezuela, the ALBA countries and in bringing Latin America closer to the peoples Arabs.
Love with Love is paid. Today we are all together with you and the heroic people of Lebanon, historically so in solidarity with Palestine, Syria, the Arab peoples and Latin America.
We stand with you in the solidarity Beirut that gave refuge to thousands of Palestinians and Syrians; in Beirut that was rebuilt after Israel’s war in 2006; in Beirut where all religions coexist; in Beirut, which reflects in its streets the names of the martyrs who fell in defense of the resistance of Lebanon and Palestine; in Beirut full of beauty of its Historical Cultural Heritage; in the Beirut of brave, heroic and caring men and women.
And in this Beirut that hurts us to tears when we see so much destruction, so many lost homes, in the midst of a difficult economic situation that this catastrophe enlarges.
May all our sentiments be transformed into a hug of solidarity to the people of Beirut and Lebanon. May all our outrage at the tragedy turn into fencing off the ignominy of the Zionist regime in Israel that tries to profit from this catastrophe in collusion with Yankee imperialism and the IMF as the executing arm of its looting.
Much Strength, Endurance and Hope. The same that you have always given us in the most terrible moments of our peoples.
Our unconditional solidarity, our arms and our blood today and always together with you, together with Beirut and Lebanon.
International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity to the Peoples.
Correspondent of Latin American Summary in Cuba

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 8 2020 12:44 utc | 217

I think many people commenting here is suspicious about the accident hypothesis for the simple fact they come from First World nations.
As a Third Worlder, you can trust me these kind of accidents are perfectly possible in Third World countries. It is very possible – even probable – that inefficient and corrupt judiciary caused 2.7t of AN to be deposited besides a fireworks deposit for seven years.

Posted by: vk | Aug 8 2020 12:53 utc | 219

I think that he is not giving a good exemple to the French (more than 1000 cases per day for a week, now reached more than 2000 cases a day since yesterday).

I don’t mind, but is that really the fault of Macron? It’s pretty much the same as is happening everywhere in western Europe. Spikes only among the young, following raves (“soirées”), and virtually no deaths.

Posted by: Laguerre | Aug 8 2020 12:55 utc | 221

@ Peter AU1 | Aug 7 2020 21:46 utc | 152, 161
Thank you for your reply, regret the delay in responding. I do think we are speaking of same observations, just differing on presentation vocabulary.
What was presented on RT and Sputnik reporting the incident was the information I’m working with plus the picture b provided in the first post. You can see a sheet of roofing material near the top of the reddish cloud, long, narrow, bright in the light. The reddish cloud marks the first explosion that removed the containment of the warehouse. Once that atmosphere had cleared, a different combustion process took over, the bottom of that column having a distinctly different colour. Out of that bottom cloud the white shock wave emerged to envelope the column of smoke. You should note the distance between the white shock wave in b’s picture and another shockwave traversing the harbour, I’d estimate about 2-300 meters ahead of the second explosion but scales are deceiving. Witnesses report about six seconds between explosions but that may be mistaken as well. Nowhere have I speculated about ignition sources, accepting ‘fireworks’ which were heard after the first explosion removed the warehouse roof and walls, and likely unheard outside immediate locality due to abundant big city noises. The salience where the event happened was built into the natural harbour and is generally constructed of concrete retaining structure built on the harbour floor and backfilled with rubble and paved for use. In b’s picture you see water displaced by the second blast strike a seawall further out in the harbour, easily seen on followup satellite photos and can give some idea of distances. Due to disruption of page widths, I will not continue trying to comment and leave this to the bright sparks who cannot manage a href function for their extensive unbreakable links.

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Aug 8 2020 13:31 utc | 223

Someone posted at Pepe Escobar Vk page the French “Deal of the Century” trnaslated from Colonel Cassad post…

– that FknFranco Colonial Vulture’s “humanitarian” ultimatum:
https://colonelcassad.livejournal.com/6076849.html
Machine translated:
“1. Declare Beirut a demilitarized zone.
2. Complete disarmament of all Hezbollah offices and offices in Beirut and its suburbs.
3. Transfer Beirut International Airport to a joint international contingent led by Germany.
4. Deploy UNIFIL forces in Beirut and the Lebanese mountains, and in coastal waters to deploy a group of warships from Beirut to the southern borders of the
country.
5. Eliminate all Hezbollah missile forces and installations in the south, and Hezbollah command posts are handed over to UNIFIL.
6. Resign Parliament and The Government, hold early elections followed by the choice of president.
7. Make lists of active intelligence officers and then replace them up to the change of leadership of the structures.
8. If the local authorities refuse to push through a UN Security Council resolution within 10 days, followed by NATO’s order to ensure security in Lebanon and the implementation of the above points.
All this was voiced by Macron’s representative to Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
Ультиматум Макрона colonelcassad.livejournal.com

Here, Macron taking over, his security/advisers taking President Aoun apart for Macron be left as head…concentrating whole protagonism…
https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/1292058834261991425
Whose bid is Macron doing here?

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 8 2020 13:35 utc | 225

“Venezuela Sentences US Mercenaries to 20 Years in Prison”
link

Posted by: arby | Aug 8 2020 14:09 utc | 227

Breaking news: USA waves white flag, admits it is not the sole superpower anymore:
Russia, China and Iran seeking to influence US ahead of elections, top intelligence official says
No, no: the intelligence source is bullshit. It is normal for the relevant nations to extraofficially declare their preference of candidates of other relevant nations (the USA, obviously, being the most relevant of them all). One month before November 2016, for example, I read in The Japan Times a “leaked report” that revealed the Abe administration preferred Hilary Clinton to win. It was there, in the front page, for everyone to see.
The relevant news here is that this “intelligence official” fake leaked this “report” on the hopes the American people itself will believe it. And most will believe it (the Democrats, that Trump is Russia’s sockpuppet; the Republicans, that Biden is China’s). That an USG mandarin forged such a report on the hopes most Americans would believe him is revealing.
The fact that such absurd fake news is believable to the American is the true news. The American people itself doesn’t believe in the supreme potency of America anymore.

Posted by: vk | Aug 8 2020 14:22 utc | 229

Macron is definitely not a realistic politician. If the French people thinks that way, they are as equally delusional.
Posted by: vk | Aug 8 2020 14:36 utc | 231
Congratulations on your totally unsupported personal opinion. Next time try having some evidence for your opinion.

Posted by: Laguerre | Aug 8 2020 14:38 utc | 231

laguerre – i liked what willie said on a few things here.. he could have posted on the open thread here, but he didn’t… i agree with willie – macron is rothchilds boy.. one of the conditions macron will bring will be demanding an end to hezbollah… read willies comments below.. they commented on the wrong thread…
“Maybe the venezuelan authorities should investigate their harbour’s depots looking for ammonitrate as well.It makes the perfect alibi for an israeli missile attack.When the next missile hit Odessa,Bandar Abbas and Maracaibo might be on the list too.
Articles on Beirut on Agoravox ,a French citizen media website,arboring many comments,but the space to comment does not open to me,how come?
This is really out of bounds.Fukus and Israel threatens Lebanon,for over a month,lebanese government accused Israel for menacing its citizens,Netanyahoo showed the world some hangars to hit a few years ago,because of Hezbollah.Now that it happens everybody is on denial.I just do not understand.Just compare the explosion in Syria ,about five months ago,with the one in Beirut Port.
Posted by: willie | Aug 8 2020 9:23 utc | 42
Macron,who opposed EU-funds to help southern european countries being conditioned by the so called “frugal” counties like Netherlands,Austria and Denmark,is likely to condition any help of Lebanon,to its rejecting hezebollah legitimacy in that country. He is Rothschild’s boy,owned by Israel,like Pompidou in his time,who was president when money printing by Banque de France was abolished in the seventies,and all of the financial leverage was given to private banking entities….
Too bad no sniper vised this viper.
Posted by: willie | Aug 8 2020 9:29 utc | 43″

Posted by: james | Aug 8 2020 15:39 utc | 233

229 “Macron is at least a realistic diplomat”.
Macron is not a diplomat..he is only a tool in the hands of one of the first zionist family..This is all about banksters and settlers and I fear it will not finish in a good way..Someone think it’s been an accident?..Well what a coincidence…

Posted by: LuBa | Aug 8 2020 16:48 utc | 235

Back from surfing I see that Maidan technology with violent riotts ( by foreign well payed actors, since no decent Lebanese would contribute to overwhelm the Lebanese Health Services, already collapsed by the Covid-19 pandemic plus those of the, let´s call it, port “blast”, with adding a surplus of 150 injured ) and seizing of ministry´s buildings…
This is the same people whose common motherland is money, nationals of those same who supported the bombing of the parliament of the USSR and the sell out of their alleged nation´s assets to oligarchs…
This comes to confirm us that the rendition to the recolonizing program depicted by Macron in Beirut was rejected, as any sane person would do.
For those who affirm I support Hezbollah, yes, I support anyone fighting for its sovereignty and what is fair for them and their country, if possible, by peaceful means, if not possible, then by taking arms, there is no other way for the poor….
I agree mostly with Pepe Escobar´s recently published analysis on the events ( curiously he holds most of the points I have made here…).
He is saying that there is an intend of starving Lebanon with the blast , as is being done with Iran and Syria, and also with Venezuela.
Well, some countries, already enough impoverished by the Covid-19 pandemic and being aided themselves, and thus not in the position of sending in millions of dollars or pounds, are also sending, along with as much cash as they can, some help in the form of wheat
coming from the Olof Palme Foundation…..Olof Palme would agree…I fear…
To anyone, resisting anywhere, some words from the introduction to El Diario del Che en Bolivia, written by Fidel…in 1968…

La solidaridad con el movimiento revolucionario puede ser tomada como pretexto, pero nunca será la causa de las agresiones yanquis. Negar la solidaridad para negar el pretexto es ridícula política del avestruz, que nada tiene que ver con el carácter internacionalista de la revoluciones sociales contemporáneas. Dejar de solidarizarse con el movimiento revolucionario no es negarle un pretexto, sino solidarizarse de hecho con el imperialismo yanqui y su política de dominio y esclavización del mundo.
(…)El gobierno de Barrientos y los más altos jefes militares tiene sobradas razones para no publicar el Diario, donde se puede constatar la inmensa incapacidad de su ejército y las incontables derrotas que sufrieron en manos de un puñado de guerrilleros decididos que en unas pocas semanas le arrebató en combate cerca de doscientas armas.
(…)En el Diario del Che se pueden apreciar cuán reales eran sus posibilidades de éxito y cuán extraordinario el poder catalizador de la guerrilla, como él consigna en sus apuntes.
En cierta ocasión, ante los evidente síntomas de debilidad y rápido deterioro del régimen boliviano, expresó: “El gobierno se desintegra rápidamente, lástima no tener cien hombres más en este momento”.
(…)Para no luchar habrá siempre sobrados pretextos en todas las épocas y en todas las circunstancias, pero será el único camino de no obtener jamás la libertad. El Che no sobrevivió a sus ideas, pero supo fecundarlas con su sangre. Con toda seguridad sus críticos seudorrevolucionarios, con su cobardía política y su eterna falta de acción, sobrevivirán a la evidencia de su propia estupidez.

In the preface, his son, Camilo Guevara, writes:

Confiscada por los militares bolivianos, en la última hoja de una agenda verde, con fecha 7 de octubre de 1967, apenas se puede leer por la difícil caligrafía de su autor: “Se cumplieron los 11 meses de nuestra inauguración guerrillera sin complicaciones, bucólicamente…”. Estas palabras no parecen de ningún modo el epílogo de la epopeya heroica que se describe en este Diario, no se percibe el más mínimo dejo de desánimo, de pesimismo, de derrota; por el contrario, parece el principio, el prólogo…..

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 8 2020 21:18 utc | 237

Who is the The Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon? Are they behind the riotts? Have they seats in the parliament?
I do not know by now, but when a “socialist” party needs a long tail of labels, start suspecting that they are “socialist” but also something more…probably Atlanticists…

The Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon requests that an international commission be charged with investigating the incident that led to the explosion in the port of Beirut.

https://twitter.com/descifraguerra/status/1292178680492560387

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 8 2020 21:33 utc | 239

james 234
From what Magnier has said, Hezbollah doesn’t have much of a presence ant the port and those that control it are hostile to Hezbollah. The sat pics Netenyahu had at the UN showed buildings near the airport as targets or Hezbollah controlled.
With what was stored in that warehouse, it was an accident waiting to happen, perhaps someone threw a cigarette but in deliberately, but as the began while maintenance work was carried out most likely an accident.
Apparently the leader of the christian fascists was killed there – now it looks as though the explosion will be used by groups hostile to Hezbollah – as in terrorist attack by Hezbollah….

Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 8 2020 21:43 utc | 241

“Protesters” tear apart the Central Association of Lebanon’s Banks.
https://twitter.com/descifraguerra/status/1292157897124851719

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 8 2020 21:51 utc | 243

Well, according to the play book of color revolutions, lately actualized into Maidans…here come the “cookies”…

BREAKING: Two senior #US officials heading to #Beirut
in coming days. USAID acting director @JBarsaUSAID is expected to head Sunday. David Hale, No. 3, at State Department heading to #Lebanon mid week.

https://twitter.com/Marwa__Osman/status/1292185933664616449
If there was still any doubt on that all this was orchestrated, I hope it dissipates with this…

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 8 2020 22:03 utc | 245

The same unjustified violence we saw in Hong Kong is being used against the Lebanese Army by riotters…They already killed and officer by throwing him into an elevator gap…
https://twitter.com/UpdatesLebanese/status/1292188656841760775
It is clear that some, in the verge of losing their grip on power and their criminal shenanigans uncovered, are willing to restart a civil war…
The Lebanese Army is said to have retaken over the ministries seized by the riotters…

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 8 2020 22:23 utc | 247

Notice that the riotters, are distracting Lebanese rmy effectives which could be working in unearthing survivors of the blast…
A German rescue tema officer stated in a video that still there is time…that was yesterday and he was estimating upt to 72 hours of possible survivors to be found..
This way, the riotters, at this time clearly alligned with the perpetrators, achieve to increase the final number of victims which they clearly deem will increase Lebanese people´s outrage which then will turn instrumental for them…
BTW, for those claims from the US about Lebanon´s incompetence and corruption I must add my own testimony while travelling there on the fact that the US NGOs like USAID are already years ago ensconced into the Lebanese system… for what I was able to witness….
While strolling through the Cedars National Park, I got astonished by seeing the USAID logo screwed into the bench by the side of the guards stall…also seen their logo in what seemed a infrastructure project on conduction of water from the higuest mountains in Bcherry…
Clearly ensconced into what is Lebanon´s natural resources..and, if they are already years ago ensconced there, could they not be ensconced alo into the port…I bet they are…And they are sending people to obstacilize the probe…Hence the riotts are targetting the Lebanese Army who is in charge of the port probe…

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 9 2020 0:56 utc | 249

Meaning Bcharre mountains…where USAID seemd totally ensconced,sorry…trusted my memory…this is the place…
https://pix10.agoda.net/geo/city/390213/1_390213_02.jpg?s=1920×822

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 9 2020 1:02 utc | 251

The US Embassy in Beirut lacked time to express support for the riotters, and called for “peaceful” regime change…
https://www.rt.com/usa/497490-lebanon-us-embassy-peaceful-protest/

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 9 2020 1:36 utc | 253

Below is a quote from a ZH posting (no link)
”
With the ‘swamp’ fighting over pork as unemployed Americans die on the vine, President Trump on Saturday announced sweeping executive actions aimed at coronavirus relief – after stimulus Congressional stimulus talks broke down once again last week.
The new orders will:
Eliminate the payroll tax
Extend unemployment benefits by $400 per week, down from $600
Defer student loan repayments through the end of the year
Extend protections against evictions
The administration is also looking at cuts to income taxes for lower and middle-income individuals, as well as cuts capital gains taxes.
”
Eliminate the payroll tax is obfuscation speech for killing the Social Security Insurance program and Medicare. I have read that he doesn’t have the authority to do such and that most corporations will not follow his orders but we are in LaLa land and all bets are off.
No debt jubilee, just deferment of payment during which time I expect the interest on the principal will continue to increase….
And cuts to capital gains taxes……more money for the rich.
The cult of God of Mammon is alive and well in the USA under Trump.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 9 2020 1:53 utc | 255

A follow on to my comment #256 about Trump and new Executive Orders
Just because I have written here many times about how Trump was focused on throwing America and Americans under the bus doesn’t mean I think it is a good idea….
I am seeing this strategy by the elite being one of throwing as much shit as they can against the wall and see what sticks. And tantamount to all is maintaining control of global narrative to show position as unipolar control cancer it is.
When does default on US debt occur? Soon I suspect given the desperation in the air.

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 9 2020 2:22 utc | 257

Yes, I am fixated on Trump’s EO about SSI
Below is a quote from a Reuters posting.
”
A PAYROLL TAX CUT
Trump’s first order waives the payroll tax that funds Social Security in a bid to inject extra money directly into salaried employees’ pockets. Trump has been pushing the idea for a while but it has found little support in Congress from Democrats or his fellow Republicans.
The executive order says the cut comes into effect on Sept. 1, but Trump said it “most likely” would be retroactive to Aug. 1 and translate into “bigger paychecks for working families.”
”
I have read “suspends collection” so the devil is in the details but, if successful at any level, is potentially a shot to the heart of the most successful social insurance program ever….
Will Trump continue to succeed in forcing America through a Shock Doctrine event?

Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 9 2020 3:31 utc | 259

@Circe
Credit where credit is due: you were right that the Empire would manipulate Lebanese Christians and Lebanese Sunnis but you were wrong to smear these groups. Americans and Europeans are just as susceptible to propaganda as many comments at moa have mentioned over the years.
!!

Posted by: Jackrabbit | Aug 9 2020 4:10 utc | 261

The Israeli people is also protesting against its government corruption and management of Covid-19 pandemic and then nobody helps them, not even the US Embassy…
They seem also “progresists”, why have not they a right to “peaceful” regime chnage like the Lebanese?
Why there are not tents and fists there? Why are not they storming the ministries?
https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/1292331250355712001
They have passed several months already protesting…USAID where are you?

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 9 2020 11:22 utc | 263

I posted here before, do not recall where i read it, that the blast in the Beirut port happened very near a Lebanese Navy base…
Well, today at TASS, in their report of recovering of victims by the Russian Rescue Team, they insist in that point…
https://tass.com/world/1187135
Why do you think nobody has pointed this out in their “analysis”, not even Elijah Magnier who knows Beirut as his hand´s palm, or the usual

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 9 2020 11:35 utc | 265

Btw, another “detail”, amongst the riotters, there was abundance of dudes in bermuda ( like in Maidan Kiev and HK, btw, seems a trade mark of the house…) and obviosuly high quality clothes….not a common sight in Beirut or anywhere in Lebanon where overwhelming majority of males wear trousers even in the canicle of summer…These are not working class peers, for the much they would try to invent the “Socialist Progressives Slightly to the Left of the Phoenician Coast Party”
https://twitter.com/PressTV/status/1292191475040751617

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 9 2020 11:52 utc | 267

Den lille abe | Aug 7 2020 14:09 utc | 99
Please go and fellate a running chainsaw you dopey little racist.

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Aug 9 2020 13:27 utc | 269

@ willie | Aug 9 2020 13:06 utc | 269.. thanks willie.. you often make really good commentary, and i felt like sharing what you had to say.. i recall being shocked at how easily macron came out of nowhere to win the french election… another pretty face in a cheap, or expensive suit, but completely on a mission – not his own… enjoy the garden, woodchopping and rehearsing.. you have my curiousity on what type of rehearsing you do? i play music and that is what i typically rehearse…
@ Jon_in_AU | Aug 9 2020 13:27 utc | 270… i skipped of his post.. i think he has been drinking too much of something.. it ain’t worth responding to, but i have noticed a few of these type posts from him of late… i liked your suggestion, lol…
nice thoughts in your @ 271 on the lebanese people to which i share..

Posted by: james | Aug 9 2020 16:38 utc | 271

Hi James,
I thought you’d be aware of me playing live music as I am of your being a drummer and playing gigs.However , the one comment where I talked about it,I think I posted it with a day or two of delay,at the end of some thread,so I figure you never read it.As I wrote,I’m playing the keyboards in a band backing a female singer,all amateurs,and in another I sing,I play guitar,and mostly keyboards as well.No gigs on the schedule apart from one in september.But what takes my attention at the moment,is rehearsing some twenty songs,that a friend from Amsterdam who’s got a little property over here in Eastern France,to be played in the marge of an evening market in our nearby little town.Most of them we’ve played before,some ten years ago,but now there’s no drummer,no bass player,and I’ll be the one playing bass with my left hand,and other instruments like Hammond,or electric piano,or strings withe the right hand.Glad it is him who does the lead singing,because that would be out of my league to do that as well.The repertoire consists of real oldies from the Doors,J.J.Cale,Pink Floyd,the Stones,Jimi,Steppenwolf,Moody blues ,and as a tribute to Peter Green we play BlackMagic Woman.Also included some blues standards.My friend plays a mean lead guitar,and triggers an Alesis rhythm box,which is really our point faible.
So everyday sees me endlessly repeating the EmA bass line of Riders on the Storm,and trying keep up the tempo when doing Manzarek’s riffs on the righthand.I love it.It is wonderful that with todays equipment you can really emulate the oldies’ sounds.
I think a lot of barflies are about the same age as I.The first ever LP that I bought,after ten weeks of sparing pocket money,was Waiting for the Sun,by the Doors.Some months later I bought Axis:bold as love,and still some months after,my third album was John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers featuring Peter Green,may he rest in peace.So you can pretty much guess my age.
What about you,I gather that you are in to jazzrock,or fusion,but I suppose that is only one item in a broader musical spectrum that( you can play.Thanks again for having this discussion.You are really a pillar of this bar.

Posted by: willie | Aug 9 2020 17:08 utc | 273

@ 274 willie… thanks willie! i don’t believe i ever saw that comment where you replied a day or two later.. i sometimes feel i can’t keep up with all the conversations, although i wish i could! playing left hand bass on the keys is a challenge… i play with a fellow who is very good at it.. he saw jimmy smith at a young age in los angeles when he was growing up and got inspired by that.. he is maybe 67 years old… he learned how to play those 70’s disco lines on his left hand while doing other stuff with his right… the whole b3 organ phenom has taken hold for the past 10 or more years thanks to players like joey defrancesco and others… but my friend was so influential in this relatively small town i live in, that all the top young keyboard players all wanted to be able to do what my friend marty was able to do on his left hand.. the 3 or them now around age 30 are all capable in various degrees.. 2 of them come from classical training which probably helped.. and i do play riders on the storm and other doors tunes when we do trio gigs from time to time.. marty is extremely good at playing all those lines on a modified rig of his own making – 2 keyboards – 1 a keyboard for bass and the other, a roland f4 as memory serves, which is a fairly run of the mill keyboard… my other buddy has the high end nord b3 organ set up which costs a lot new… we have a trio where we do stevie wonder tunes in a jazz context with no singers.. we will take a song like my cherie amour and play it in 5 and stuff like that! we have a whole repertoire of this.. i have it unpublished on youtube, but when i publish it, i will share it with you…
i have basically no gigs.. i did 3 in june and 1 in july, but i am now averaging 1 a month into november… it is slim pickings for gigs at present.. the 50 person minimum is still in effect.. most of the gigs i am doing right now are outdoor.. i have had 2 gigs cancel in an already thin situation in the past few weeks.. people are fearful of covid.. generally where i live there are older retired people from across canada – retiring on vancouver island because of the more moderate weather and beauty..
i continue to practice and work on ideas on the drums and i have been spending about 1/2 hour every day working thru some brazilian songbooks i ordered from brazil on the piano.. my piano skills are limited, but i understand jazz harmony and can play chords on my left hand while soloing with my right hand… i set up myself to be able to play with a bass player… i am no good at playing bass lines on my left hand! the songbooks i am working thru are ivan lins, dorival caymmi, gilberto gil, and djavan… i had bought the jobim books maybe 10 or more years ago – 3 of them – and that helped me develop a concept for doing a reharmonizing of gordon lightfoots songs… lightfoot is a well known songwriter here in canada. here is a link https://jamesmcrae.ca/videos to my arrangements played by some friends in vancouver with me on drums..

Posted by: james | Aug 9 2020 18:54 utc | 275

Formerly T-Bear | Aug 9 2020 17:39 utc | 275
Thanks for the info. I did study chemistry up to the end of my first year at university, but it was a while ago so quite a bit has “fallen out the back door”.
Whatever the cause and progression of the deflagration (if it is ever honestly determined), I’m just hoping for better days ahead for the people of Lebanon. We have quite a large Lebanese community here in Sydney and my thoughts go out to them also.
May the light side of the force triumph over the darkness of the Anglo-Zio Empire

Posted by: Jon_in_AU | Aug 10 2020 2:50 utc | 277

About the music … Did you James and Willie ever play a clavinet?
It’s a full piano keyboard with amplified hammered strings. About the size of a modern synth but made of wood and the keys hit strings.
Amazing bass sounds from a keyboard.
My friend Mike lent me his decades ago, I used it to record my worse than amateur solo songs.
Nowadays they are quite expensive but to create good sounds with limited skills, amazing.

Posted by: 😨jonku | Aug 11 2020 7:23 utc | 279

@ Jon_in_AU | Aug 10 2020 2:50 utc | 278
Thanks for your reply, I have a near parallel experience but did not continue university, life intervened but curiosity kept going. Am going to use “fallen out the back door” in some form or another, probably without attribution though. Would ‘lost files in attic’ avoid plagiarism?
Video supplied by
Lurk | Aug 10 2020 23:37 utc | 174 in Open Thread 2020-63
has a continuous view of the fire and explosion from a vantage point looking towards the sun so lighting conditions caused loss of colour of combustion products but shows the original fire’s smoke being carried off in an easterly direction not far above the ground, a perspective about opposite the first picture’s perspective of the first and second explosions in full colour. The latter video has full view of small ‘fireworks/magazine’ explosions so ignition isn’t in doubt. My original point was there is a lot of information in contemporaneous pictures of an event if one knows how to read the information as it is presented.
Am in close agreement about wishing better ‘stars’ for all the people of Lebanon, so far from heaven, so close to occupied Palestine, to paraphrase Gov. Lew Wallace of New Mexico territory commiserating his remit looking toward Texas. Robert Fisk’s “Pity the Nation, The Abduction of Lebanon” is an outstanding and illuminating history of modern Lebanon, a witness of the peoples’ travails.

Posted by: Formerly T-Bear | Aug 11 2020 17:19 utc | 281

Huawei Developer Conference 2020. The event will be held from 10 to 12 September 2020.
Watch below Chinese vid translated to Eng.
“Huawei’s Nanniwan Project.”
https://www.reddit.com/user/Juniperzhang/comments/i55ahy/huaweis_nanniwan_project_??????????release_of/

Posted by: JC | Aug 11 2020 20:08 utc | 283

corporate tool biden picks corporate tool harris as vp. what a shock.

Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 11 2020 21:26 utc | 285

@ 280 jonku… i never have, but i have heard great things about them! i am mostly a drummer, lol… keys are a 2nd instrument for me..

Posted by: james | Aug 12 2020 2:19 utc | 287

Japan cares so much about the victims of the nukes…
Japan to fight ruling recognizing Hiroshima ‘black rain’ victims
You know why the Japanese government doesn’t care about the victims of the nukes? For the same reasons the Emperor didn’t care about them in 1945.
The only reason the Emperor surrendered unconditionally to the Americans is that he was afraid the Soviets would execute him and his family. It was only to save his and his entourage’s asses – and not the Japanese people – that he surrendered. On the contrary: when the first reports came to his table, he didn’t seem to be very impressed with the nukes, as they “only” killed some hundreds of thousands of people.
Japan was fascist state in 1945; it continues to be a fascist state in 2020. That’s why it surrendered to the Americans only.
–//–
Another century of humiliation… here we go!
‘Hard times are here’: UK suffers WORST economic meltdown in Europe with over 20% GDP contraction
But hey, at least they avoided a Corbyn government…

Posted by: vk | Aug 12 2020 12:33 utc | 289

Posted by: vk | Aug 12 2020 12:52 utc | 291
Facebook. Youtube. Instagram. Whatsapp. Tumblr. It looks like the way to start a new imperium these days is to begin with a social networking campaign …

Posted by: Arch Bungle | Aug 15 2020 11:08 utc | 291

Any serious FBI agent would find the connection amongst the fast closing window of opportunity for Israel to achieve a bit more security in the face of already lost of deterrence before Hezbollah retaliates for his soldier killed in Syria plus the at this point open possibility of deadly attack on Lebanese port, with the happening of this geopolitical event…now… and in this form….
But, of course, we know, seriousness is discarded here by having witnessed how all the “Russiagate” affair has gone…
Was ‘Beirut’ a Botched Act of Deterrence?
By Alastair Crook…via Elijah Magnier Twitter…

Posted by: H.Schmatz | Aug 15 2020 11:50 utc | 293