First, links to reports from National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. Then, a link to an Australian observer’s view of a “Struggle for Freedom” event scheduled for next Wednesday involving former U.S. President George W. Bush and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. NOTE: scroll down for the beginning of a war summary by the Berkshire Eagle’s foreign affairs writer. — MCM

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Ukrainians are raising the country’s next generation, children now as old as the war. Reported by Elissa Nadworny | NPR  Their parents are raising the next generation of Ukrainians — children now as old as the war. Click HERE to listen and read.

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A crash course in organ transplants helps Ukraine’s cash-strapped healthcare system. Reported by Daniel Ackerman | NPR  BOSTON —  Ukraine has long lacked a full-service organ transplant center. A crash course at Massachusetts General Hospital aims to change that. It will allow the Ukrainian doctors to open their own lung transplant center — giving patients . . . Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Zelensky and Bush to give joint pro-war presentation, by Caitlin Johnstone | caitlinjohnstone.com War criminal George W. Bush and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be appearing at an event next week at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, in partnership with U.S. government-funded narrative-management operations Freedom House and National Endowment for Democracy. The goal of the presentation will reportedly be to address . . . Click HERE to read and listen.

The summary beginning below is by the Berkshire Eagle’s foreign affairs columnist, who as a journalist was based for about 14 years in Moscow and then Kyiv. — MCM

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Defeats define Russia’s army

By James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle

Russia’s army is being defined by successive defeats in the “three K’s”: Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson.

Last spring, Ukraine’s army and civilian volunteers stymied President Putin’s plan to decapitate Ukraine’s government in three days. The invaders were not only stopped at Kyiv’s northern suburbs, but expelled back to Belarus.

Turning on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Russian forces shelled relentlessly, damaging or destroying a quarter of the housing stock in a city of 1.4 million. Ukrainians dug in their heels. By October, the invaders were expelled from the region.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin took to a stage in Red Square in Moscow and declared that Kherson and three other regions in Ukraine would be part of Russia “forever.”

But on Wednesday, as Ukrainian soldiers gradually tightened the noose on Kherson City, the only provincial capital seized in the war, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered on television a retreat east across the Dnipro River. A retreat would mean that the Kremlin also has given up plans to take the key Black Sea ports of Odesa and Mykolaiv.

Former Kremlin advisor Sergei Markov calls the decision to leave Kherson “Russia’s biggest geopolitical defeat since the collapse of the USSR.” WarGonzo, a pro-war Telegram account, told its 1.3 million mostly Russian subscribers that the announced withdrawal is “a black page in the history of the Russian army. Of the Russian state.”

Chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff Mark Milley estimated Wednesday that Russia has up to 30,000 troops in and around Kherson City. He said: “This is going to take them days and perhaps even weeks to pull those forces south of that river.”

Ukrainian officials say that some Russian soldiers in Kherson City have changed into civilian clothes. Following a strategy adopted by the Red Army in World War II, retreating Russian soldiers have mined apartments and sewers.

Fearing a trap, Ukrainian soldiers are moving cautiously. On Thursday, they liberated 12 rural settlements, about 60 square miles.

After eight months of Russian occupation, Ukrainian collaborator are losing confidence in their future. The collaborationist administration has relocated to Skadovsk, a lowkey port city with a prewar population of 17,000.

When I vacationed there with my family two years ago, I found a peeling Black Sea resort town with a port that received only one ship that year. The Kyiv government was trying to sell the port to a Turkish buyer.

For fleeing pro-Russian administrators, Skadovsk has a big advantage. It is the closest port to Russia-controlled Crimea, about a one-hour motorboat trip across a normally placid gulf.

One administrator, Kirill Stremousov, won’t make it. On Wednesday morning, Kyrill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed regional administration, announced on his Telegram channel that the Russian military was in “full control” of Kherson. Hours later, Russian officials announced that Stremousov was killed in a car crash. President Putin quickly granted him the Order of Courage.

But there is more to Kherson Region than Kherson City.

Ukrainians face a tough fight to regain control of Kherson, a region slightly larger than Turkey. Since the 1960s, the eastern part of the region has supplied Dnipro River water to Crimea, the semi-arid peninsula jutting out into the Black Sea. Constructed from 1957 to 1963, the 250-mile long canal was hailed at the time as one of the “great construction projects of communism.’

In 2014, at the time of Russia’s takeover of Crimea, the canal was supplying as much as 85 percent of Crimea’s water. Since then, Putin stationed tens of thousands of troops on the peninsula, but did not invest in desalinization plants to obtain drinking water from the Black Sea.

Equally important to the Kremlin, Kherson region is a key part of a “land bridge” from Russia to Crimea. A 250-mile east-west road connects two Ukrainian regions controlled by Russian since 2014 — Donetsk and Crimea.

To circumvent Ukrainian control of this land route, Putin ordered the construction of a 10-mile, $3.7 billion road and rail bridge connecting Russia’s mainland with Crimea. Passing over the Kerch Strait, the bridge was personally inaugurated by President Putin on May 15, 2018.

On Oct. 8 . . . READ MORE . . .

For now, links to reports from Reuters, Agence France-Presse, National Public Radio, the Associated Press, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, reports from non-journalistic sources. — MCM

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Strategic bridge near southern Kherson has collapsed – public broadcaster. From Reuters. KYIV — The Antonivskiy bridge, the only nearby road crossing from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson to the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the Dnipro River, has collapsed, Ukraine’s public broadcaster quoted local residents as saying today. The Suspilne broadcaster published a photograph showing whole sections of the bridge missing. The next , , , READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine says its forces entering Kherson after Russian retreat. From AFP. Ukraine said today its forces were entering the southern city of Kherson and hailed an “important victory” after Russia announced its troops had retreated from the only regional capital it has captured after nearly nine months fighting. The announcement . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia is retreating, so why is the U.S. nudging Ukraine to compromise? Reported by Greg Myre and Tom Bowman | NPR   When Russia annexed four Ukrainian regions in September, Ukrainian President Volvo __  Zelenskyy said he would never negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He made no mention of Putin in his most recent remarks, and some observers interpreted . . . Click HERE to listen and read.

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In a major blow to Putin, Russia says it has fully withdrawn from Kherson. Reported by Rachel Martin and ACHEL MARTIN | NPR  The Russian Defense Ministry says it has completed its withdrawal from the strategically important city of Kherson in southern Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Russia claims all troops gone from city in southern Ukraine, by Hanna Arhirova and John Leicester | AP  MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — The Russian Defense Ministry said today that it had finished pulling out its troops from the western bank of the river that divide’s Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, including the only provincial capital that Moscow had captured since invading the neighboring country. The ministry said not a single unit of military equipment was left . . . READ MORE . . .

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Kremlin mum on decision to withdraw from Kherson. From Tass. MOSCOW — Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not comment on the Defense Ministry’s decision to withdraw Russian troops in the Kherson Region to the left bank of the Dnieper River, redirecting all questions on the matter to the relevant ministry. “I call on you to address the Defense Ministry for any additional . . . READ MORE . . .

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Day 260: Ukrainian Battle Map. From Ukraine News TV. Click HERE for report for Nov. 10.

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Military situation in southern Ukraine on NOv. 10. From South Front. Click HERE for that.

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Ruzzia is losing 20,00o soldiers in Kherson, it may be the end, Reported by Denys Davydof | DenysDavydov24h Click HERE  for illustrated video commentary from yesterday.

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MAY BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from the Associated Press, the Guardian, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, the Moscow Times, National Public Radio, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names and initials below. Then, two items of more overtly partisan reporting and analysis. — MCM

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Russia claims pullout from occupied city; Ukraine skeptical, by Sam Mednick | AP  KYIV — Russia’s military said Wednesday it will withdraw from the only Ukrainian regional capital it captured, but Kyiv was skeptical and an analyst warned this could be a ruse to lure the country’s forces into a deadly trap. A forced pullout from the city of Kherson would mark one of Russia’s worst setbacks in the 8-month-old war. Ukrainian authorities . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian booby traps turning Kherson into ‘city of death’, says Ukrainian official. From the Guardian. Mikhailo Podolyak,  adviser to the head office of Ukraine’s president, tweeted that Russia “wants to turn Kherson into a ‘city of death’”. He claimed that the Russian military “mines everything they can: apartments, sewers”, and that “artillery on the left bank” of the Dnieper River “plans to turn the city into ruins”. He said . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia’s war hawks rally behind decision to abandon Ukrainian city of Kherson, by Mark Trevelyan | Reuters * Russian troops to fall back from western bank of River Dnipro * Decision means handing back strategic city of Kherson * Retreat is a humiliation for Moscow’s military top brass * But leading war hawks say it was wise and necessary | LONDON — Russia’s leading war hawks on Wednesday swiftly rallied behind the decision to abandon the Ukrainian city of Kherson, putting a brave face on one of Moscow’s most humiliating retreats in nearly nine months of war. The pullout proposed by General Sergei Surovikin, appointed last month to take overall charge of Russia’s war effort, means . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine says it has retaken 12 villages in Kherson since Wednesday. From AFP. Ukraine said today its forces had reclaimed a dozen towns and villages in the southern Kherson region after Russian forces announced they were pulling back troops from the strategic territory. Ukrainian general Valeriy Zaluzhny said Ukraine’s forces had recaptured six settlements after fighting near Petropavlivka-Novoraisk and another six in the Pervomaiske-Kherson direction, capturing more than 200 square kilometers (75 square miles) from Russian forces

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Russian retreat from Kherson would be another Ukraine victory  – NATO chief. From AFP. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says he is waiting to see how Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson plays out, but if confirmed, it would be “another victory for . . . Click HERE to read and watch brief video.

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Zelensky’s readiness for talks with Russia points to rift within NATO — Turkish newspaper columnist. From Tass. ANKARA — Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s readiness for negotiations with Russia is indicative of a split in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to Baris Doster, a columnist for Turkey’s opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper. “Finally, something that was expected happened. As key . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ruzzia calls army out from Kherson, Ukrainian army may be trapped. Reported by Denys Davydof | DenysDavydov24h Click HERE for illustrated video commentary from yesterday.

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Hungarian objections to EU aid for Kiev regime in line with what most Europeans think, by Drago Bosnik | South Front The bureaucratic empire in Brussels seems to be pushing all the wrong buttons in regards to Budapest. The European Union’s failed attempts to force it into submission are effectively being laughed off in Hungary. The bloc’s . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

There are few news stories related to the war to link to today. The reasons may include massive coverage of U.S. elections, the summit in Egypt on addressing climate change (from which the war is draining resources and attention), and the possibility of behind-the-scenes maneuvering to get talks going to put an end to the carnage. So today’s entry is brief. It begins with links to non-journalistic posts that are biased on one side or the other but don’t pretend, as news organizations do, that they are without bias. — MCM

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Day 258: Ukrainian Battle Map. From Ukraine News TV. Click HERE for yesterday’s report.

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Day 259: Ukrainian Battle Map. From Ukraine News TV. Click HERE for today’s.

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Russian forces on defensive but continue storming Ukrainian strongholds in Donbass. From South Front. Click HERE for yesterday’s report.

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Slippery prospect of diplomatic solution for Ukrainian war. From South Front. Click HERE for today’s report.

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MAY BE CONTINUED

For now, links to reports from Reuters, Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Next, links to two non -journalistic looks at the war in Ukraine from websites that offer seemingly opposite perspectives. Then, a kind of “user’s guide” for evaluating those two sites.— MCM

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Ukraine reaffirms tough stance on talks with Russia. From Reuters. KYIV — Ukraine doubled down on its tough stance on negotiations with Russia today, saying talks could only resume once the Kremlin relinquishes all Ukrainian territory and that Kyiv would fight on even if it is “stabbed in the back” by its allies. The remarks come days after a U.S. media report that Washington had encouraged Kyiv to signal willingness for talks, and seemed aimed at rebuffing such pressure, at a time . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine’s Zelensky urges ‘unwavering unity’ in U.S. until ‘peace restored.’ From AFP. In a recorded address, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky today urged the United States to “maintain unwavering unity,” as questions hover over American support for his country following midterm elections to determine control of the U.S. Congress. “Democracies must not stop on their way to the victory,” he said. READ MORE . . .

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Zelenskyy: Talks with Russia possible on Ukraine’s terms, by Andrew Meldrum and Yuras Karmanau | AP  KYIV — Ukraine’s president has hinted at the possibility of peace talks with Russia, a shift from his earlier refusal to negotiate with President Vladimir Putin. Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the international community late Monday to “force Russia into real peace talks” and listed his usual conditions for dialogue: the return of all of Ukraine’s occupied lands, compensation for damage caused by the war and the prosecution of war crimes. READ MORE . . .

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 A chance meeting is war-torn Ukraine helps reconnect friends Hayda world away. Reported by Kat Lonsdorf | NPR   Ludmilla Boiko, whose sister and a nephew were killed in a missile strike, speaks from her collapsed apartment in Borodyanka in Ukraine. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Day 257: Ukrainian Battle Map. From Ukraine News TV.

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Military situation in eastern Ukraine on Nov. 7, 2022 (map update). From South Front.

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An observer comments on Ukraine News TV and South Front accounts (just above). “Quite a difference in level of detail, including maps and other interactive tools. Those of us from a certain age can recall the era of misleading body counts during the Vietnam War that included both outright lies and failure to account for different levels of morale of the different forces. So I’m not suggesting acceptance at face value but more of an ongoing study plan, which tends to be either confirmed or refuted in daily precision coverage.”

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MAY BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, Tass, the Moscow Times, and Agence France-Presse; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. — MCM

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Kyiv region still struggles 6 months after Russian retreat, by Sam Mednick | AP  An estimated 1 million people — half the number who fled the region — have returned, according to local authorities. But many no longer have jobs, cannot afford to fix their houses and say they need more assistance. Nearly $350 billion is needed for reconstruction across the war-ravaged country, and that amount is expected to grow, according to a . . . READ MORE . . .

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Power being partially restored in Russian-occupied Kherson, by Andrew Meldrum | AP  KYIV — The city of Kherson in the southern region that Moscow illegally annexed in September was cut off from power and water supplies on Sunday following damage to three power lines. The deputy head of the pro-Kremlin administration of the partially occupied Kherson region, said today that “power and connectivity . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia issues rare denial of ‘pointless losses’ by marines in Ukraine, by Mark Trevelyan | Reuters LONDON — Russia’s defence ministry today took the rare step of denying allegations that a naval infantry unit had suffered disastrous losses of men and equipment in a futile offensive in eastern Ukraine. It was a response to what Russian military bloggers said was an open letter from members of the 155th marine brigade of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, complaining they had . . . READ MORE . . .

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Italian newspaper says U.S., NATO believe talks on Ukraine possible if Kiev takes Kherson. From Tass. ROME — The US and NATO think that launching peace talks on Ukraine would be possible if Kiev takes back Kherson with the battle for it having both strategic and diplomatic significance, La Repubblica wrote today. According to the paper, Washington is in constant contact with Brussels and its allies on this issue as well as . . . READ MORE . . .

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Putin says employers must retain jobs for Ukraine war volunteers. From the Moscow Times. Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that employers should guarantee the jobs of men who volunteer to fight in Ukraine amid a widely reported troop shortage in Moscow’s ongoing invasion of its neighbor. A spokesman for Putin said he pledged to order the government to enshrine the provision in law after receiving complaints . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine hails arrival of Western defense systems. From AFP. Ukraine announced today that it had received more air defence systems from Western military allies, saying they would help defend against Russian attacks that have recently targeted energy infrastructure. “NASAMS and Aspide air defence systems arrived in Ukraine! These weapons will significantly strengthen . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

First, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Then, from the Berkshire Eagle, a link to an op-ed its foreign affairs columnist on Brazil’s likely position on the war and other international matters from one president to the next. Last, the most recent video commentary by a London-based podcaster whose daily analyses were recommended last week, HERE, in an article from Consortium News. — MCM

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U.S. privately asks Ukraine to show Russia it’s open to talks – Washington Post. From Reuters. WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. The paper quoted unnamed . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine’s Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam damaged in shelling – Russian media. From Reuters. Ukraine’s Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces, Russian news agencies reported today, citing emergency services. The vast dam blocks the Dnipro river upstream of Kherson where Ukrainian forces have been making advances, has taken on vital strategic . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian soldiers enter Kherson homes, dig in for urban war, by Andrew Meldrum and Yuras Karmanau | AP  KYIV — Russian soldiers are forcing Ukrainian civilians from their apartments in the occupied capital of the Kherson region and moving in themselves, a resident said Friday. His account of soldiers spreading throughout the city of Kherson suggested that Russia could be preparing for intense urban warfare in anticipation of Ukrainian advances. Russia-installed authorities . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian army concentrating tanks, armored vehicles in Kherson area, says official. From Tass. KHERSON — Ukraine’s armed forces are concentrating a large number of tanks and armored motor vehicles on the approaches to the Kherson Region, deputy head of the region Kirill Stremousov sai  today. “Lots of equipment units are . . . READ MORE . . .

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How Russian soldiers ran a ‘cleansing’ operation in Bucha, by Erika Kinetz, Oleksandr Stashevskyi and Vasilisa Stepanenko | AP  There was a method to the violence. What happened on March 4 in Bucha was what Russian soldiers on intercepted phone conversations called “zachistka” — cleansing. The Russians hunted people on lists prepared by their intelligence services and went door to door to identify potential threats. Those who didn’t pass this filtration were tortured and executed, surveillance video, audio intercepts and interviews show. The Associated Press and the PBS series “Frontline” . . . READ MORE . . .

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Brazil’s Lula prefers the world over Washington, by James Brooke | The Berkshire Eagle After a razor-thin victory of less than two percentage points, Brazil’s veteran left-wing politician Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will become president on Jan. 1 of a country deeply cut by a left-right divide. One “continuismo” will be the nation’s neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war. Partly due . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine facing defeat; U.S. sends ‘military inspectors,’ by Alexander Mercouris.

For now, links to National Public Radio, the Associated Press, Reuters, Agenzia ANSA, Agence France-Presse, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. NOTE: This is the second entry today. — MCM

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Russia’s invasion has prompted Biden to offer reconciliation to Venezuela’s president. Reported by John Otis | NPR  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted the Biden administration to extend an olive branch to Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Millions of Ukrainians left without electricity after Russian strikes. Reported by Scott Simon and Jason Beaubien | NPR  Millions of Ukrainians are without electricity after Russian strikes and a major battle is brewing over the port city of Kherson. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Power blackouts across Ukraine amid Russian shelling, by Andrew Meldrum | AP  Russian forces continue to pound Ukrainian cities and villages with missiles and drones, inflicting damage on power plants, water supplies and other civilian targets, in a grinding war that is nearing its nine-month . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukrainian forces brace for bloody fight for Kherson, by Jonathan Landay | Reuters * Ukrainian forces close in on Russian-controlled Kherson * Re-taking city would be a major victory in the war * Kherson acts as a gateway to Crimea, annexed in 2014 * Soldiers in trenches foresee a fierce battle ahead |  FRONTLINE WEST OF KHERSON, Ukraine — The contest for the only provincial capital seized by Moscow in the full-scale invasion launched on Feb. 24 may be one of the most consequential of the war so far. With control of the Dnipro’s West Bank . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine introduces additional power rationing. From ANZA and AFP. KYIV — Ukraine’s state energy company today announced additional power rationing in Kyiv and several other regions. . . .  “Today the Ukrenergo control centre was forced . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian forces thwart Ukrainian attacks near Krasny Liman – Defense Ministry. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian forces thwarted Ukrainian attacks towards Krasny Liman . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russia is using energy as a weapon. Could this spread to the rest of the world? Reported by Jackie Northam | NPR  Before the war in Ukraine, Europe was Russia’s largest natural gas customer. Now, Russia is using energy as a weapon. There’s concern this new front in the war will spread to the rest of the world. Click HERE to listen and read this report from last Wednesday.

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TO BE CONTINUED

“This month’s Museletter consists of two essays,” the author writes in an intro. “The first . . . looks at parallels between today’s energy/economy crisis and my 2003 book The Party’s Over. The second, ‘Blues for America,’ was inspired by a concert I attended recently and discusses Wynton Marsalis’s suggestion that the blues should be America’s national anthem.” (Both begin below.) — MCM

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Oil, war and the fate of industrial societies

By Richard Heinberg | Post Carbon Institute

The world teeters on the brink of economic disaster due to energy shortages caused by war. The main oil-producing nations are unable and unwilling to increase output, even though prices are high and threatening to go much higher. The solutions being proposed—electric cars and renewable energy technologies—are coming on line, but not fast enough. Building them to the scale required to maintain current levels of economic activity and societal complexity would require enormous amounts of minerals and metals that are also becoming scarce. We appear to be hurtling toward geopolitical and economic turmoil.

Does anything about this scenario sound familiar? It might. It happens to be almost exactly what I discussed in my book The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, published in 2003. I have no interest in rubbing salt in society’s worsening wounds by saying “I told you so,” but it would be a dereliction of duty for me not to point out the facts.

My book was one of the first to discuss peak oil—the point when supplies of the world’s most economically pivotal resource start to dwindle. Of course, the most pessimistic predictions for the timing of the peak were wrong. Many analysts thought that petroleum production would start to decline in the years between 2005 and 2010. Instead, the rate of global conventional oil extraction flatlined during that period, and is just now beginning to descend from its long plateau. Meanwhile, unconventional oil (tar sands and tight oil produced by fracking and horizontal drilling) enabled new heights of production starting around 2010. The general consensus thereafter was that oil supplies can easily continue to increase for the foreseeable future; all it takes is more investment.

My organization, Post Carbon Institute, documented in great technical detail that the new unconventional oil sources were a flash-in-the-pan, and that world oil production was still set to enter its inevitable long-term decline phase quite soon. But very few listened. Where peak oil was still mentioned, it was framed in terms of peak demand resulting from the universal electrification of transport modes.

Today oil supplies are tight once again, as they were in 2008, before the fracking boom. But now there is no fracking cavalry waiting on the horizon to swoop down and rescue the global economy. Indeed, the only factors keeping oil prices from going stratospheric today are depressed Chinese demand (due to Covid restrictions) and fears of a global recession (triggered by high energy prices).

In July, President Biden went hat-in-hand to the Saudis, begging for more oil output. Instead, as of mid-October, OPEC+ (a loose affiliation of the 13 OPEC members and 10 of the world’s major non-OPEC oil-exporting nations) is planning to cut its production by two million barrels per day. Political elites in Washington read this as the Saudis trying to interfere in the upcoming US midterm elections by causing gasoline prices to rise, thus nudging voters toward Republican candidates. While that interpretation may ring true, the fact is that OPEC and Russia cannot produce much more oil in any case. If their tired old oilfields were forced to yield more oil over the short term, the result would be less production potential over the longer term.

On October 11, Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told a conference in London, “Today there is spare capacity that is extremely low. If China opens up, [the] economy starts improving or the aviation industry starts asking for more jet fuel, you will erode this spare capacity.”

Is Nasser exaggerating for political effect? If anything, the Saudis have been hiding their production capacity constraints for years in order to . . . READ MORE . . .

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Blues for America

Recently my wife Janet and I splurged on tickets to a spellbinding concert by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. The music was memorable, but a comment by orchestra leader and trumpet virtuoso Wynton Marsalis proved even more so. Marsalis introduced a blues number with the seemingly off-hand suggestion that the blues should be America’s national anthem.[*]

The audience laughed. But I, for one, took this as a serious and brilliant suggestion. It’s worth some discussion.

The blues is a uniquely American (at first solely African-American) musical form. Unlike minstrel tunes and cakewalks, it wasn’t easily hijacked by the dominant culture in order to parody and demean African Americans; nor was it, like ragtime, adapted by Blacks from popular Euro-American dance forms like the march or the two-step. Instead, it erupted directly as a raw response to degrading conditions forced upon resilient, creative people by the deeply racist society that had kidnapped and enslaved their ancestors. In both form and expression, the blues was startlingly original. And, in its first iterations, there was almost nothing commercial about it.

The blues began to emerge in the South, probably at around the time of the Civil War. However, an exact year or place is impossible to pin down. In 1909, W.C. Handy copyrighted what is often cited as the first blues composition, “The Memphis Blues,” but it was not written strictly in the form of a blues. Further, it was preceded by Jelly Roll Morton’s “New Orleans Blues,” composed in 1902 though not copyrighted until 1925, which was a true and iconic blues that still sounds thoroughly hip 120 years later.

There is early testimony in recorded comments by Morton and his contemporaries that, at the turn of the 20^th century, the blues had already been around for a while, maybe even a couple of generations. Since the first blues singers to . . . READ MORE . . .