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Jussie is toxic

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From THE WRAP:

“Empire” sunk to series lows on Wednesday, one week after an already-rough midseason premiere. Those episodes marked the first two original hours of the Fox soap since star Jussie Smollett was arrested and charged with filing a false police report in Chicago.
Last night, “Empire” managed a 1.1 rating/6 share among adults 18-49 and 4 million total viewers. The drama’s previous series lows came on Halloween 2018, when the show drew a 1.2 demo rating and 4.2 million overall audience members.

They need to announce that Jussie is fired.  That's the only thing that's going to save the show now.  An announcement on Friday (tomorrow) that Jussie will not be returning and that Jamal has been written off the show.

He has soured people on the show.  The actor should have been publicly fired the minute he was charged because the minute he was charged we all knew he was lying.

It's not enough for him to just be out of the last two episodes of the season.  There are seven more episodes left.  The show cannot afford to have Jussie in five more episodes.  He's dragging the whole show down.

They need to film a scene and put it in Wednesday's episode where Taraji's Cookie says something like, "I can't believe the boy has dropped the ball again to run after his boyfriend!"  And that should be it.  Have Jamal run after the guy he wanted to marry.  And get Jussie away from the show for good.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"



Thursday, March 21, 2019.  And the war goes on, yes, the war goes on.  And on and on and on.


Yesterday, DEMOCRACY NOW! offered this hard hitting commentary on the Iraq War.




Oh, wait.  That's Chris Hayes.  Amy Goodman and her hideous DEMOCRACY NOW! didn't do s**t.  They never do.  And you're an idiot if you're still watching Goody Whore.

Chris Hayes, on MSNBC, did what Goody Whore didn't.

On ALL IN, Chris Hayes provided the journalism that Goody Whore refused to.

Chris Hayes: Today marks the 16th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War.  It is the single biggest tragedy of my political lifetime and an incredibly informative experience. I was 23-years-old when we set out to invade Iraq and I watched as, in an atmosphere of fear after 9-11, leaders manipulated the public to forge an incredibly robust, elite consensus that we had to undertake something that seemed to me and many at the time and seems ever more so now as indefensibly wrong.  But so many experts told us that we had to do it, that Saddam was a threat and that he had weapons of massive destruction And the Bush administration, more than any other single entity -- of course, used its power to manipulate and cherry pick intelligence to scare the public into war.  Of course, millions of people dissented and took to the streets -- I was among them -- and we were right and the so-called 'experts' and politicians and editorial boards and columnists?  They were all wrong.  The costs of that war was nearly 5,000 American service members' lives, trillions of dollars and the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, hundreds of thousands of fellow human beings, of men, women and children dead because of the events that our nation set in motion.  Prisoner tortured in Abu Ghraib, children shot dead in front of their parents in the city square by mercenaries.  And 16 years later, we still live with the consequences though not as much as Iraqis do.  And yet remarkably, with some notable exceptions, the many individuals responsible never really paid any kind of price for it -- reputationally, politically.  Influential people who advocated for the war and voted for it still have prominent positions.  Some have apologized and recanted, recognizing the error of their ways -- and that really does matter.  But the broader lesson here is when you don't really confront the past, you create conditions that lead to something like the current administration where Iraq War cheerleader and uber hawk John Bolton is advising the president -- he is the National Security Advisor and, as we speak, banging the drums of war against both Iran and Venezuela.  And unless we deal with this era -- the Trump era differently than we did the Bush administration, history will repeat itself again.  In fact, it sort of has already. 


Amy Goodman did nothing.  That's sort of a slogan now, isn't it?  And it's a good thing when she does nothing because when she does something these days, it's destroying a country.

Danny Haiphong (BLACK AGENDA REPORT): "Since 2011, Amy Goodman has never strayed from the NATO line on countries such as Libya, Syria, and Russia. Like the corporate media, Goodman and her staff at Democracy Now! have provided positive coverage of so-called humanitarian groups like the White Helmets which have long been proven to work directly with NATO-armed jihadist mercenaries ravaging Syria."

Bruce A. Dixon (BLACK AGENDA REPORT):

Is the independent media movement's flagship radio-TV show Democracy Now! pushing the State Department and Pentagon line on Libya instead of “going where the silence is” and telling the truth without fear or favor? Are its Libyan correspondents embedded with the US-backed Libyan rebels to such an extent that they have minimized and failed to follow up persistent reports of ethnic cleansing in Libya or investigate whether alleged “mercenaries” ever existed or Khadaffi's “massacres” ever took place?
Have Democracy Now's correspondents in Libya, Anjali Kamat and Sharif Abdel-Kodous minimized or avoided reporting upon the persecution of black Libyans and sub-Saharan African migrants in by US-backed Libyan rebels? Have they reported massacres that may not have happened, and mercenaries who might not have existed? Have they ignored or minimized the impact of US and NATO bombing and the presence of Saudi, Qatari and other foreign forces on the ground in Libya, also in support of the US-backed Libyan rebels? Have they simply embedded themselves with US-backed forces in Libya to pass the views of the Pentagon and State Department to us as “independent, unembedded news”?


We could go on and on and on.  Goody Whore rips off the American people the same way she rips off PACIFICA RADIO -- which should cancel her contract immediately and they can do so.  They can do it on the ground that she repeatedly breaks the rules (including on air self-promotion) and they can do it on the grounds that her show has lost journalistic merit.  They don't need DEMOCRACY NOW! but Amy needs PACIFICA is she's going to continue to live her elite lifestyle.  The money PACIFICA wastes on Amy -- thanks to that old whore Leslie Cagan -- has repeatedly left the radio network struggling to pay bills.  They don't even own the program or the archives.  It's time to kick Amy to the curb.


Tuesday, CBS NEWS offered.




I have no comment on the exchange above except to note, as I said on the phone to a friend at CBS earlier, well at least this time we didn't have giggles and laughter in the background.



On this day in 2003, the US committed the greatest crime of the 21st century thus far by invading Iraq. The war killed over 1 million people, displaced millions more, brought unknowable depths of suffering to the Iraqi people & gave birth to ISIS.
 
 



happy sweet 16 to the iraq war. reminder that ppl like dubya now bc he gave a piece of candy to michelle obama (wife of another crook & war criminal). libs ate that up like slop from a trough bc aww what a cute meme on the teevee. eat it up, piggies. oink oink u f**kin sh**heads
 
 



Today marks 16 years since the United States invaded Iraq. I opposed it at the time and we are still dealing with its consequences. Our foreign policy must change.
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The Iraq War woke me up to the horrific extent of US atrocities & cover-up by its corporate media machine. I remain stunned after so much carnage & destruction, the architects & agitators are heralded as intellectuals instead of shamed as war criminals. Empire rots from within
 
 
16 years ago we watched from the balcony of our hotel as the -led coalition began it's "shock an awe" invasion of . Here are some photos taken the first nights of the bombing, by my late husband, photographer .
 
 
 
Iraq’s humanitarian crisis is one of the biggest in the world. 8.2M people currently need humanitarian aid, says the UN. That includes 1.2M children below 5. - 2.4M are close to food insecurity - 2.3M don’t have regular water and sanitation - 2.6M children aren't in school
 
 
 
  • The Iraq War began 16 years ago today. Since then, the war and related violence has: - Killed 205,000+ civilians, says - Killed 4,400+ U.S. military - Displaced millions of people Today, 2 million Iraqis, including 900,000 children, are internally displaced.
     
     
     
  • I voted against the war in Iraq. Sadly, much of what I feared in fact did happen. I don't want to see it happen again.
     
     


    Today, on the 16th anniversary of the illegal Iraq war, which was based on lies and led to 100s of 1000s of deaths, it’s astonishing to see how many supporters of that war still have powerful positions in government and in the media, and how many have become stars of
     
     
    Iraq💔
     
     
    I'm an Iraq War Veteran who served 12 years ago. It should be over! Our country’s military has been in a permanent state of ever-expanding conflict for over seventeen years. Veterans call it the “Forever War.” Together, we can end it.
     
     
  • If you vote for the country to go to war, you should have to serve in the front lines in that war. I served in the U.S. Army, fiercely opposed the Vietnam War, helped end the draft. never served and still saw fit to send this country's kids to Iraq
     
     
    the war in iraq is now old enough to ask the war in afghanistan to buy it cigarettes
     
     




    The following  sites updated:





  • Rachel Maddow -- Professionally paid liar

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    Grand Wizard Deceives Audience About


    That grand dragon would be Rachel Maddow. She really destroyed her career with non-stop lying about Russia.


    1. : Robert Mueller Has Delivered His Report to Attorney General. reports there will be no further indictments. Which means... just had a nervous breakdown on air for three years.



    RachelMaddow is all fake smiles as she tries to claim the Russia "bombshell" wasn't a big fat nothing burger. I almost feel bad for her, but this is what happens when you waste TWO YEARS ignoring real issues hurting Americans.



    If the Mueller report exonerates Trump, RachelMaddow is going to do that night's show in black funeral attire and her producers will have to provide her fresh kleenexes throughout. By the 30-minute mark she'll start babbling incomprehensibly and need to be carted off the set




    1. MSNBC’s RachelMaddow looks like a pretty big fool now that the Russia Collusion investigation is over doesn’t she?
    2. Very rough night at MSNBC. RachelMaddow looks like she’s going to cry. Chris Hayes glasses are all fogged up.

    If had a drop of of shame, she'd be announcing her resignation tonight.




    She is the Jussie Smollett of the 'news' media.


      Retweeted
    Don't be confused. Everyone knew there was no collusion with Russia, that was not the point. The objective was to use Russiagate to strengthen repressive state apparatus & ensure Trump didn't really threaten interests of finance capital & transnationals.



    Exactly.


    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Friday, March 22, 2019.  Tragedy hits Iraq yet again.




    The death toll has continued to rise in the ferry sinking yesterday in Iraq.  Less than a half hour ago, Hamdi Alkhshali, Nada Altaher and Tamara Qiblawi (CNN) updated the death toll to 92 and they note, "Among the victims were at least 12 children, according to health ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr. Of the nearly 150 people who were on board, about 60 are missing, said Mosul Mayor Zuhair al-Araji."


    Heartbreaking! CCTV camera shows the moment the ferry, carrying more than 150 people, capsizes in . At least 90 peope are dead and more than 20 are missing. 54 people were rescued.


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    REUTERS reveals that the pleasure cruise turned deadly was supposed to take the passengers on board "to a man-made island used as a recreational area by families" and quotes Mosul's Civil Defense Authority Husam Khalil stating the boat "can normally carry 50 people.  There were 250 on board before the incident."



    So according to the safety guidelines, those ferries cud actually hold up to 50 persons not over 100! Welcome to Iraq, where money matters more than human lives 🤷🏻‍♂️





    NPR's Sasha Ingber explains:

    The flat-bottomed boat, which operates from a platform at an amusement park in the once Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul, capsized, throwing hundreds of passengers in the river near the shore. Many people couldn't swim.
    Mosul Mayor Zuhair Araji said the vessel had "reached its capacity," causing it to succumb, according to Kurdistan24.
    The mayor says he had warned the owners last week that the boat needed repairs.
    The vessel did not appear to have life vests on board, according to authorities.

    And the water level had also reportedly risen in recent days from rains, snow melting off nearby mountains and developments at the Mosul dam. Authorities had alerted people to be cautious.


    When money is worth more than peoples lives!




    Farid Abdulwahed and Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) add, "An Interior Ministry official said 94 people were killed in the accident, which residents said was the worst in recent memory. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations."



    So sad: An overcrowded ferry capsized in the Tigris River near Mosul, killing at least 92 people during Nowruz and Mother's Day celebrations on Thursday, officials said. Among the victims were at least 12 children, according to health ministry


    s lighting candles on Tigris river in and all across Iraq in solidarity with the ferry victims.

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    Arabia Offers Condolences to over Ferry Sinking





    The Russian government issued the following:


    Condolences to President of Iraq Barham Salih


    Vladimir Putin conveyed his condolences to the President of the Republic of Iraq Barham Salih over a ferry crash and the loss of human life.


    He'll need more than just condolences.  ASHARQ AL-AWSAT reports that Salih visited Mosul today forllowing Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi's visit -- Mahdi "ordered an investigation . . .  [and] declared three days of national mourning."  What they don't report is how the photo op went bad.  The ceremonial president of Iraq expected applause and got protests.



    Iraqi President Barham Salih attempts to calm angry protestors following capsized ferry incident


    4:00
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    The ferry of Mosul has affirmed that the Iraqi collective mind has been reconstructed out of the sectarian and nationalistic context, leading to new solidarity and interactions in Iraq's social geography. Politicians can not invest in this accident from sectarian perspective.


    The ferry that yesterday sank in Mosul has provoked the resentment and grief of Iraqi people. The innocents we lost there were victims for the chain of corrupt process hitting Iraqi state. No for corruption.


    president of Iraq in


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    Angry people in pelt President Barham Salih's vehicle a day after a ferry sank in the Tigris killing around 100 people






    The Iraqi people are still waiting for a government that makes them a priority.  Their anger is both justified and understandable.

    In the US, a presidential election will take place in 2020.  Currently, there are six women vying for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.   This is a record.  Here they are with their three most recent Tweets (we are not counting pinned Tweets).


    Ten minutes until on ! Don't miss it!


    I had the best time showing and around Troy, NY and definitely beating them at bowling. Watch on tonight!



    Thanks to so many Iowans who helped us kick off the first week of our official presidential campaign! Be back soon.





    Education has the ability to empower our children and improve their path in life. We have a responsibility to ensure our teachers are respected, earn dignified wages, and have quality health care, benefits, and every resource they need to do their job.


    It is unconscionable that Americans across the country have mountains of debt from medical bills. We must address our crumbling health care system and pass Medicare for All.



    Today in 1965, about 3,200 marchers set out to complete the journey from Selma to Montgomery. By the time they reached Montgomery, they were over 25,000 strong. Their determination and courage led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act.




    If you'd like to help those affected by flooding in the Midwest, here are several ways to pitch in:


    It doesn't take an expert in information security to know that this is just sloppy. My bipartisan legislation would make sure that you get to decide what's done with your data and that these companies are held accountable when they mess up.


    Congrats to the U of M Gophers in the first round of the NCAA! Gophers, Gabe Kalscheur pull off NCAA tournament surprise, beat Louisville in opener.







  • When asked my views on immigration, I let it rip…


    2:14
    3,785 views


    Thank you, John!



    Here was my Town Hall with WMUR in New Hampshire ...





    I’ve said it before, I’ll keep saying it: ban roundup! It’s long past time we stopped relying on corrupt corporations with a profit incentive to fund science telling us their chemicals are “safe.” Victims shouldn’t have to go to trial to get the truth.


    Another example of Trump and Netanyahu putting their own political interests ahead of the interests of our respective countries. Will escalate tensions and likelihood of war between Israel/US/Syria/Iran/Russia. Shortsighted.



    May the colorful celebrations of Holi around the world remind us all to let go of our bad habits, renew our will to do good, and be kind to one another regardless of our differences.






  • . is right: cheated its customers & broke the law. CEO Tim Sloan should be fired – but instead he got a $1 million raise last year. It's obscene. The only way we're ever going to stop these scandals is to hold executives personally accountable.


    Non-compete agreements rig the system against workers. They reduce bargaining power, stifle competition, and hurt workers striving for better opportunities. I'm joining to urge the to crack down on these harmful contracts.


    When I heard reports that Patrick Shanahan may have worked to promote his former employer , I took action and investigated. Government officials should work for the people – not big defense contractors.




    The following sites updated:





  • Time for a real investigation

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    From THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER:

    Sen. Lindsey Graham said Monday he intends to uncover whether there was any wrongdoing by the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton’s campaign now that special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe found the Trump campaign did not conspire with the Russians.
    Graham said he wants more answers on the “shady behavior” of Democrats and Obama administration officials during the 2016 presidential campaign.
    “When it comes to the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] warrant, the Clinton campaign, the counterintelligence investigation, it's pretty much been swept under the rug except by a few Republicans in the House. Those days are over. Going forward, hopefully in a bipartisan fashion, we’ll begin to unpack the other side of the story,” Graham said at a news conference.

    The senator should uncover what happened.

    Donald Trump was spied on by the US government as he ran for president.  That is a major violation.  Hillary's hands are far from clean.  I believe this goes all the way up in Barack's administration -- and, yes, that means all the way up to Barack.

    I believe people should lose security clearances and they should go to prison.

    Let's start with Hillary.


    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

     
    Monday, March 25, 2019.  The Iraqi government tries to smooth over outrage following the ferry tragedy last week --  a tragedy that has now left at least 120 dead.



    Yesterday, ALJAZEERA noted:

    People are angry in Mosul.  Protesters are calling the Iraqi president and other government officials "thieves."  They say the government has failed to keep a check on the safety of ferries and how they are operated and they want justice for the victims.  




    This as the death toll for last week's tragedy has risen to 120.

    Friday's snapshot noted the fallout over the sinking of the ferry which led to protesters calling out Iraqi President Barham Salah to his face.  AFP explains, "Scores of protesters swarmed Iraq’s president and the governor on Friday, forcing them to leave the site of the accident. The crowd threw stones and shoes at the governor’s car, which sped off hitting two people, one of whom was taken to hospital. Dozens of students held a silent protest on Sunday on the campus of the university of Mosul, dressed in black to mourn the victims." Alissa J. Rubin and Falih Hassan (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

    In a rare show of deference to the anger of Mosul citizens over government abuses, the Iraqi Parliament on Sunday voted overwhelmingly to remove the province’s governor, citing accusations of corruption, self-dealing and negligence.
    Although Mosul citizens had pleaded with the central government to remove the governor for more than two years, it was only after a ferry disaster brought angry citizens into the street that senior political figures decided to act.


    They note that Nuafal Hammadi "had held the job since 2015."  They fail to note how the previous governor departed or that this was not the first government effort to remove Hammadi.

    December 28, 2017, KURDISTAN 24 reported:

    Following the no-confidence vote by the Nineveh Provincial Council against the governor, and the Iraqi Prime Minister’s decision to freeze his duties, a Kurd was appointed the acting governor.
    On November 1, the Nineveh Provincial Council in majority vote decided to sack the province’s governor, Nofal Hammadi over alleged corruption and damaging public property.
    However, Hammadi refused to step down and continues to function as the governor of Mosul. 

    And eleven months earilier, THE DAILY SABAH had reported:

    Governor of northern Iraqi province of Nineveh Nofal Hammadi was removed from office Wednesday by the provincial council.
    "Nineveh provincial council made a decision to remove the governor in absentia," a Nineveh councilman Hassan al-Sabawi said.
    The removal efforts have been going on for two years.  Yet some see the latest events as happening 'quickly.'  For example . . .
    A couple of updates on the aftermath of Mosul's ferry tragedy last week to follow; background is contained in the thread posted below.
     
     
    Didn't take too long?  
    "Although Mosul citizens had pleaded with the central government to remove the [Ninevah] governor for more than two years, it was only after a ferry disaster brought angry citizens into the street that senior political figures decided to act."
     
     
    Many would disagree with the assertion that it didn't take long.

    The previous governor was Atheel al-Nujaifi. For those who missed it, he was also removed from office. KURDISTAN 24 explained, "The Iraqi Parliament in May 2015 removed Nujaifi from his post as the Governor of Nineveh following the fall of Mosul and the province into the hands of the Islamic State (IS) in mid-2014."

    منذ اكثر من ٦٠ سنة يوجد في الموصل واجبات معروفة للمحافظ وهي رئاسة لجنة الفيضان وهذه اللجنة تضم مدير الري ومدير البلدية والقائمقام ومدير الشرطة والدفاع المدني .. وأنا استحدثت قسم خاص بالبنية التحتية وإدارة الكوارث وألحقته باللجنة .. ومع بداية موسم الربيع تراقب اللجنة كميات الماء الواردة إلى الموصل وتأثيرها على السداد وتراقب ايضا رفع المرافق السياحية في الغابات للمنشآت التي قد تعترض مجرى الماء او تؤثر على حياة المواطنين .. والمعتاد ان الجزيرة السياحية يتوقف العمل فيها قبل ان تصل كميات الماء ١٠٠٠ متر مكعب في الثانية .. ويوم امس كان الإطلاق ١٤٠٠ متر مكعب
    وفي الربيع يتذكر أهل الموصل انني كنت أقوم بجولات نهرية والبعض يتصورها ترفيهية ولكنه سياق سبقني اليه المحافظون قبل الاحتلال وهو تفقد مجرى النهر من داخله والاطلاع على الالتزام بتعليمات الفيضان .
    ولكن مع الأسف الإدارة الموجودة لا تعي أهمية التنسيق بين تلك الدوائر .. فمدير الري ليس لديه سلطة على البلدية ولا المرافق السياحية ومدير البلدية يحتاج حلقة الوصل مع الري ولايعرف ماهي استعدادات الدفاع المدني ..
    السبب الحقيقي هو عدم استيعاب ادارة المحافظة لاهمية سياقات العمل والخبرة المتراكمة بالإضافة إلى المكاتب الاقتصادية التي تمنح المستثمرين نفوذا يتجاوز طاقة صغار الموظفين .

     

    In his post, al-Nujaifi explains that the Nineveh officials were supposed to work together -- governor, mayor, chair of the flood committee, etc. -- and that the island the ferry was supposed to go to should have been ruled off limits based on existing rules regarding the water level.

    If al-Nujaifi is correct, those are pretty important points and they are points that are not being conveyed in the reporting on the disaster.  The points go to the government failures which are far more responsible for the events than the media is allowing as it instead presents the ferry owners as the ones solely responsible.

    While the death toll has now risen to 120, there are said to be over fifty passengers still unaccounted for.




    Rubin and Hassan also report on an attitude towards those protesting.


    “We must end all these signs of anger,” one of the new leaders of Nineveh Province said, referring to the demonstrations, protest tents and marches set up in Mosul after a ferry disaster killed at least 97 people.

    Rubin and Hassan note:


    One of General al-Jabouri’s leadership partners, Mr. al-Khayat, conveyed a tough message to the provincial government’s department heads: Cut out the corruption, focus on citizens’ needs, show up at your jobs and report back every day.
    “The citizens want to see you on the ground,” he said, adding, “The city is on edge and the situation is tense, and everyone needs to be available to provide services. The bridges need to be fixed, the electricity delivery needs to be increased.”


    Mosul and Basra have both been home to protests against the government and its failure to provide for the needs of the Iraqi people.




    See all of my kindness
    Is taken for weakness
    Now I'm FourFiveSeconds from wildin'
    And we got three more days 'til Friday
    I'm tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'
    I swear I wish somebody would tell me
    Ooh, that's all I want



    MOSUL EYE reports:

    In the afternoon of Thursday March 21, a cable ferry with a capacity of fifty and apparently made from a portion of an out-of-service military floating bridge was packed with 287 people, mostly children and their mothers intending to cross the Tigris River to the small island. The U.S. military gave equipment to the Iraqi security forces like floating bridges, which are usually fastened in a chain. On this day, the ferry was supposed to have been guided by cables on each side for what should have been a quick three-minute trip across the river.
    [. . .]
    The currents were especially heavy as the gates to the Mosul Dam had been opened just days before the incident, sending torrents of water downstream and causing a higher than normal water level. The Mosul Dam Administration had informed Tourist Island’s operator that opening the gates could cause parts of the island to be submerged, and that it should be closed during this period. Apparently, his instruction was not heeded.
    Most of the women and children aboard the capsized ferry couldn’t swim. Images painful to watch show them bouncing up and down as they tried to keep their heads above the water. The River Police that patrol the Tigris River do not usually travel with emergency evacuation and recovery equipment. The Fire Department arrived on the scene with limited ability to help, as their officers are not trained in water search and rescue operations, also couldn’t swim, and were without life vests or rafts. Further, the Iraqi military helicopter that was sent could not deploy its people on a rescue mission, as its propulsion further stirred the currents and only moved the drowning bodies, especially the small children, faster downstream. Instead, local fishermen who had boats on the river and knew the area’s intricacies, acted fast and rescued many people who were brought to nearby hospitals with various injuries. Around fifty persons were rescued this way. When they arrived, children were covered with blankets rather than being treated immediately, resulting in more deaths. The progressive deterioration of Iraq’s health system has been well documented, and hospitals are chronically short of supplies, medication, equipment, and qualified medical staff, especially in paediatric care. At least 100 people are confirmed dead, with many more missing and likely never to be found. 


    Gilgamesh Nabeel (AL-MONITOR) observes:

    While some accused the ferry operator of ignoring the authorities' warning of the rising water levels as the Mosul Dam gates had been opened, many others came out to protest against the corruption in the city.
    "It was a turning point that awakened Ninevah's young people to cross the fear barriers," said Akram, "We expressed our discontent with the governor, called him a corrupt and asked him to leave without hesitation."

    [. . .]
    Akoub had gone to the scene of the disaster, accompanied by Iraqi President Barham Salih, in a convoy of vehicles, but was blocked by the angry victims' relatives. Akoub was reported to have run over two people with his car while he was trying to flee from stones thrown at him by protesters. Two people were injured.
    "It was a peaceful protest. We called it to bring the touristic area's administrators to justice," said Mahmoud Jum'a, a university student from Mosul, "The governor arrived smiling and smoking a cigar. This provoked the people who approached his car. He drove it and started threatening us before he ran over two young men. He continued to run over them. It is equivalent to [an attempt of] intentional murder."
    These violent scenes bring to mind the protests in Basra and raised concerns of a backlash that could destabilize Mosul, a city still in ruins after a nine-month battle to liberate it from the Islamic State. 

     
    Bahram Salih was not well received in Mosul on Friday.  He was seen as part of the problem and part of the corruption -- part of a system that does not serve the people and does not hold crooks accountable.  As if to prove those accusations accurate, he posed for the following.



    Salih Receives al-Maliki and Discuss the Latest Political and Security Developments
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    Bahram recieves former prime minister and forever thug Nouri al-Maliki.  Why is he 'received'?  He should be in prison.  He's corrupt, he's stolen millions from the Iraqi people, he is the reason ISIS rose in Iraq.  He was prime minister when Mosul was seized by ISIS.  Any part of that should be enough to warrant his political shunning.  But there's Bahram playing footsie with Nouri.


    The sinking of the streets of the city of Mosul, north of Iraq with rainwater, reflects the reality of the poor services in the city.
     
     



    The tragedy with the ferry is a result of corruption and the people have every right to demand changes.


    Jussie remains guilty as sin

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    So there is no real justice, as we learned today.  Jussie Smollett's connections let him walk after the hoax he pulled.  Tiana Lowe (Washington Examiner) observes:


    Acting on behalf of the Smollett camp, attorney Tina Tchen reached out to Foxx after Smollett's arrest to get her to drop the case and punt it over to the FBI. Crooked fixers masquerading as lawyers make immoral requests all the time, but Tchen is no mere Michael Cohen. She's BFF's with Rahm Emmanuel's wife and former chief of staff for none other than First Lady Michelle Obama. Not only did Foxx attempt to comply with this request, lobbying Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to drop the case, but she and Tchen began their machinations weeks before formal charges were even filed against Smollett. In essence, Foxx worked overtime to corrupt a criminal investigation, setting the stage for higher-ups to give Smollett a pass nearly a fortnight before she officially "recused" herself. Foxx's meddling perturbed the police so badly that the police union's president notified the Justice Department to investigate her conduct.
    More than four weeks elapsed between the night Smollett alleged that two MAGA-hatted Trump supporters attacked him — that's backwoods Chicago for you! — and the day of his arrest. In January and February of this year, as police spent time investigating Smollett's hoax, there were 44 homicides, 214 shootings, and 253 shooting victims in the city of Chicago. In the specific interval of time between Smollett's hoax and arrest, 20 people in Chicago were murdered. That was time the police could have spent protecting Dejon Irving, a 1-year-old black boy shot in the head by a Chicago gang member, or Ninaa Edwards, who died at the hands of fatal domestic violence. Instead, thanks to Smollett's lies, law enforcement spent that time investigating a person who didn't even exist.
    To make matters worse, the overwhelming majority of Chicago's homicide victims are black. In the past 365 days, nearly 60 percent of victims were black, more than 8-in-10 were men, and almost all were young. You want to bet that any of those victims' families can get the Obama bros to phone up Foxx to rig the law for them? I doubt it.

    On CNN, I caught Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's press conference and was glad to see he was bothered by what has taken place.  We should all be bothered.  C.I. has rightly stated all along that certain things were unknown and would need to be decided in a court of law.  But what was known?  Jussie lied.  He said two White men attacked him.  We know that was a lie.  Jussie knew it was a lie when he said it.  He knew his attackers.  Let's say that his attackers weren't paid to attack him.  That we might need the court for.  But the two confessed to being the attackers.  They are Nigerian.  He lied. 


    Rahm said the $10,000 did not compensate for the time and effort of the police.  From Deadline:



    A visibly angry Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson dismissed Jussie Smollett’s latest insistence on his innocence and decried the prosecutors’ dismissal of criminal charges against the Empireactor as, in Emanuel’s words, “a whitewash.”
    Johnson said, as bluntly as he has before, that Smollett conducted a “hoax” to further his own financial gain.
    Emanuel lambasted Smollett as selfishly exploiting hate-crime laws for his own personal gain. “He took those laws and turned them inside out and upside down,” the mayor said, repeatedly reminding reporters that a grand jury heard the case and brought the charges against Smollett.



    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Tuesday, March 26, 2019.  The tragedy of the ferry is far from the only problem facing northern Iraq (bridges, the dam issue, etc) and don't whine about 'disengagement' if you can't get honest about the fact that the US has no ambassador to Iraq currently.

    Mohammed Jasim Awad.  A name that should be known wider than any of the puppets the US government has put in charge of Iraq.  Natash Ghoneim (AL JAZEERA) reports on him in the video below.



     Last week's tragedy with the ferry found the 24-year-old Mohammed volunteering to help with the rescue efforts and managed to retrieve eight bodies.  Moahmmed was one of the two volunteers who drowned.

    What caused the Mosul ferry to capsize? KirkukNow reveals more about the Mosul disaster. Click on this link:
     
     


    Chaos and confusion as Mosul struggles to come to terms with ferry disaster
     
     

    "The governor and all corrupt officials must be put on trial ... We are fed up of being mistreated and marginalized," said protester Isra Mohammed.
     
     



    Mosul had the ferry disaster last week.  For years, they've needed to address problems with the dam.  Actual leadership might have allowed that to be addressed.


    German Government is prepared to provide Export Credit Finance for the rehabilitation of Dam . Delegates at the Iraqi-German Business Forum are told that a permanent solution to the dams problems has been found and waits to be implemented.
     
     


    There's a new problem emerging in the north.  RUDAW reports:

    Flash flooding has further weakened a temporary bridge over the Little Zab River which separates federal Iraq from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, leading to fears it could collapse at any moment. 

    The steel bridge was only recently built to replace the original structure destroyed in fighting between Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga in October 2017.

    Damage caused by heavy freight traffic has been further exacerbated by the torrent of water passing under the bridge as flash flooding swells the Little Zab.

    Heavy rains have caused serious damage to farms, homes, and infrastructure across the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.



    Bridge linking Iraq to Kurdistan Region ‘may collapse at any mom via
     
     



    That's far from the only bridge issue in Iraq these days.

    continues to monitor the impacts of the heavy rains throughout . [: Daradoien bridge between Sulaymaniah – Kalar; photo via Rast Press: ;
     
     
  • : Heavy rains cause floods, close schools. Several neighborhoods have been affected by heavy rains in Mosul, and the DoE announced a day-off for schools. Bridge has been closed for vehicular usage. Reportedly, none of the camps have been affected
     
     
  • • Alnasr Bridge is closed. • Alhurriyya Bridge still closed. • Qanatir Bridge is still closed. • Suwais Bridge has just been closed. • Qayyarah Bridge has just been closed.
     
     
    : All Kirkuk districts reported heavy rains since 23 March. No flooding/ damage have been reported so far. However, there is concern that a bridge in Hawiga may collapse any time. Civil defense forces are responding.
     
     
    : Sulaymaniyah experienced heavy rains since 24 -25 March. No flooding or damages reported so far; camps have not been affected by the rain. district concerned that river could burst its bank any time. Civil defense forces are responding.
     
     
  • : the Governor announced alert re expected floods induced by the recent heavy downpours. In this connection, the Governor ordered evacuation of some villages to avoid civilian casualties.
     
     
  • : reportedly 20 families have been evacuated from Al-Hwaidi in Qurna District due to floods. Other areas in Basra affected by the floods include Al-Seeba and Al-Faw Districts, south of Basra. JCMC and Basra crisis cell are meeting today to evaluate the situation
     
     
  • : reportedly, the reopening of tributaries / feeders from Iran towards Shat al-Arab river have damaged soil dams in areas north of Basra close to Shat Al-Arab river, leading to inundation of vast agricultural area.
     
     


    These issues go unaddressed because Iraq has a government led by thieves more concerned with how much money they can steal than how to help the Iraqi people.  The corruption is bred into the puppet system.

    Over at THE GUARDIAN, selling the Iraq War continues.  Yes, boys and girls, the bible of New Labour sold the Iraq War.  B-b-b-but the Downing Street Memoes!  They were never covered by THE GUARDIAN, to this day, they were never covered.  In England, New Labour supported the Iraq War and the Conservative Party did not which is why Rupert Murdoch's TIMES OF LONDON published The Downing Street Memo and not THE GUARDIAN.

    Alia Barhimi is a self-styled 'expert' and, at THE GUARDIAN, she offers what she thinks passes for 'expertise' today:

    It is unlikely Iraq will turn the page on its recent history of toxic sectarianism, as the leaders of notorious Shia security forces such as Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq and the Badr Organisation are now embedded in the parliamentary system. Baghdad is also pushed further towards the embrace of Iran by Trump’s disengagement from the region, as symbolised by President Rouhani’s tour of Iraq this month.

    Oh, look, another half-wit managed to insult Donald Trump.  She has no actual knowledge -- fools usually don't.

    Is Donald Trump disengaging from the region?  We're talking Iraq.

    Donald Trump nominated a US ambassador to Iraq back in November of last year (Matthew Tueller).  At the start of this month, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee finally held a hearing.  They have still not voted on the nomination.  The US has no ambassador in Iraq currently.

    B-b-but Douglas Silliman!

    He left.  Long ago.


    My thoughts as I depart Baghdad.
     
     


    It's about to be April and there's still no US Ambassador to Iraq.

    Is that not clear enough for Alia?  That's not Donald Trump dragging feet or 'disengaging.'  That's the US Senate.  And this has been going on for months.

    Human filth like Alia Barhimi know they can whine about Trump to the equally uninformed.  She doesn't have to write anything original or of value or even factual.  And this is passed off as 'insight.'  She argues for continued war, that is all she ever argues for.  Human filth.

    There's far more honesty, insight and facts in Tim Black's column for SPIKED:

    So while Iraq was freed of its portion of the caliphate over a year ago, it remains under the control of a dysfunctional, corrupt state, its quasi-legitimacy derived as much from the extensive network of Shia patronage and ‘jobs for boys’ it provides, as from the painfully inconclusive elections it holds – elections, it is worth noting, in which few Iraqis now vote. It means the Iraqi state, hand in hand with its Iranian backers, benefits a section of Iraq’s Shia majority while disenfranchising the Sunni minority. So a state-linked, often state-employed, section of Iraqi society, with assorted militias protecting its interests, enjoys the benefits of Iraq’s still substantial oil revenues, while vast swathes of largely Sunni Iraq subsist amid a failing infrastructure.
    Even now, over 15 years since the US-led invasion devastated the nation, water and electricity supplies, especially in southern Iraq, can be intermittent. ISIS didn’t come from nowhere; it came from here, from a fractured post-Baathist, post-2003 Iraq. And there is every reason to think that the substantial, ethnically inflected grievances that gave it a foothold in local populations, can do so again.  



    New content at THIRD:


    The following sites updated:





  • The reality of Jussie Liar Smollett

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    Okay, I've streamed about twelve reports and read about sixty. 

    Here's the Jussie Smollett white wash as I see it.

    A crooked deal was made -- and I would guess it goes back to Michelle Obama's former aide and the handiwork of state attorney Kim Foxx.  The deal would normally require that Jussie admit guilt.  I believe he may have.  And that's why they sealed the records.

    With the records sealed, Jussie just knew he could lie yet again.  Lie and lie some more.  So he holds his press conference where he pretends that he is innocent and he and his attorneys claim he was cleared of the charges.

    He was not cleared.  That's what has come out.  They knew he was guilty.  They say that his community service and giving up that $10,000 counts.  It doesn't mean crap.

    He didn't expect that the Mayor wouldn't play along or that the chief of police would speak to the press.  He certainly didn't expect that the police would release their evidence -- evidence which shows he was guilty as hell.

    Kim Foxx is as trashy as her bad weave.  You can tell she eats nothing but grease just looking at her but that bad weave takes the cake.

    Jussie is guilty and hopefully the feds will put him away and no calls from Michelle Obama's former chief of staff will save his ass then.


    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Wednesday, March 27, 2019.  The Mosul ferry disaster might be the first of many Iraq disasters this spring, what do you do when you sack a governor and he refuses to leave, and much more.



    Join the vigil to remember the victims of the ferry disaster. The vigil will be held on Thursday 28th March, 6.30pm - 7.30pm at Trafalgar Square in . Everybody is welcome to join the UK's community and show their respects. It's being organised by .
     
     



    Last week's tragedy in Iraq left at least 120 dead.  What will the next tragedy be?  It's a question worth asking considering the government refused to follow the policies in place that should have prevented the ferry from even being on the water last week.  It's a question worth asking as Basra faces rising water.




    Water level is still increasıng in the area of "Saybah" in Basra, and people are demanding to take the necessary action before the occurrence of disasters in the area and villages. .
     
     
    Large agricultural areas have drowned in Basra south of Iraq due to the floods .
     
     



    Flooding?  In the city where clean water is something the government's unable/unwilling to provide.

    Unicef reported last year at least 50,000 children fell ill in Basra due to the province’s lack of basic services and toxic water. Iraqi authorities are now being called on to avoid a health crisis


    That was among the reasons that protests started in Basra last July.  Over 100,000 (official Iraqi government figure) were hospitalized for drinking the water.

    Half of all households in are at risk from drinking contaminated water. In spite of the attention that last year's protests and illnesses in Basra brought to the problem, it seems that weak governance is impeding efforts to address it.
     
     
    The situation for children in continues to deteriorate- tells me how 4 year old girl fell ill after coming in contact with contaminated water in new waves of protests expected as summer nears.
     
     


    High water levels in creates this massive foam. Local government warns against potential floods along ShatAlAlarb basin. Some villages were already evacuated. Check the videos!
     
     



    The western press may not be talking about it but others are and this is a known in Iraq -- a known that is not being addressed.  The government remains non-responsive to the people.

    When it is a misfortune and when is it an injustice?

    Political theorist Judith N, Shklar grappled with that issue in THE FACES OF INJUSTICE. She noted:


    When is a disaster a misfortune and when is it an injustice? . . . If the dreadful event is caused by the external forces of nature, it's a misfortune and we must resign ourselves to our suffering. Should, however, some ill-intentioned agent, human or supernatural, have brought it about, then it is an injustice and we may express indignation and outrage.


    Grasp that any misfortune that arises in Basra due to the flooding will not be a misfortune, it will be an injustice.  There has been more than enough time to address this.  The government continues to ignore it.

    The government doesn't do much of anything, do they?  They sacked the governor of Nineveh Province over the ferry disaster.  Or 'sacked' him.

    Dropping back to Monday's snapshot:

     Alissa J. Rubin and Falih Hassan (NEW YORK TIMES) report:

    In a rare show of deference to the anger of Mosul citizens over government abuses, the Iraqi Parliament on Sunday voted overwhelmingly to remove the province’s governor, citing accusations of corruption, self-dealing and negligence.

    Although Mosul citizens had pleaded with the central government to remove the governor for more than two years, it was only after a ferry disaster brought angry citizens into the street that senior political figures decided to act.


    They note that Nuafal Hammadi "had held the job since 2015."  They fail to note how the previous governor departed or that this was not the first government effort to remove Hammadi.

    December 28, 2017, KURDISTAN 24 reported:



    Following the no-confidence vote by the Nineveh Provincial Council against the governor, and the Iraqi Prime Minister’s decision to freeze his duties, a Kurd was appointed the acting governor.
    On November 1, the Nineveh Provincial Council in majority vote decided to sack the province’s governor, Nofal Hammadi over alleged corruption and damaging public property.

    However, Hammadi refused to step down and continues to function as the governor of Mosul.  

    So they actually sacked him in 2017 and he refused to step down?  Interesting.  You don't suppose he might respond in a similar way today, do you?

    Nawfal al-Akub says he is the legitimate governor of , describing the Crisis Cell formed by the government as unconstitutional. Al-Akub has been sacked from his post after parliament voted to remove him following the ferry incident.
     
     


    So he is again refusing to step down.

    Hmm . . .


    Arrest warrant has been issued against former Nineveh Governor Nawfal al-Akub.
     
     


    Oh, they're going to arrest him.  Like they did Atheel al-Nujaifi?

    If you just asked "who?," then you may be a member of the western press.  Atheel was governor of Nineveh.  He was sacked.  (Replaced with the current governor who refuses to be fired.)  And then?  Well he's Sunni.  So the Shi'ite-based government issued an arrest warrant for him like they do for so many Sunni officials (most infamously with Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi -- Atheel, by the way, is the brother of another Sunni Vice President of Iraq, Osama al-Nujaifi).  He was arrested when?  Never.  All these years later, never.

    Arrest warrants are little more than threats in Iraq.  For years, the puppet government, at the request of the US government, held one on Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr.  The warrant is probably sill around today but it has no legal standing at this point and everyone's long ago grasped that arresting Moqtada would result in rioting and unrest.

    Will the arrest warrant be executed on the current I-am-staying governor?

    History would indicate "no."  However, don't put the Magic 8 Ball down just yet.  Adil Abdul-Mahdi isn't have much luck with anything these days, is he?

    Like US President Donald Trump, Mahdi likes to pretend that ISIS is over in Iraq.  Even though this week saw an attack using suicide bombers (three).  It's not over and what it might morph into next is even scarier.

    He likes to pretend he can govern.  But he still does not have a full Cabinet.  More to the point, the security posts of Minister of Defense and Minister of Interior remain vacant.  What happened the last time they were vacant?  Oh, right, ISIS rose and seized Mosul.  He was supposed to have a full Cabinet by the end of October.  He did not.  He promised it would take place in the next month.  Don't know about you, but my calendar shows November to be the next month after October.  Then he said it would be in the new year.  April is a week away and the posts are still vacant.

    He's failed to address corruption.  He's failed to address the protests of the people in Basra or anywhere else.

    A big for-show arrest might boost his image.  So don't rule out an arrest completely.

    Let's wind down with this from Burn Pits 360:

    Join us in Washington D.C. on April 30th

    Dear friend and supporter,

    We want to invite you to our 2019 Burn Pits Congressional Briefing: The Way Forward - Health & Compensation Benefits on April 30th. It is necessary that we ensure our federal legislators are fully briefed and educated on the issue of burn pits, health affects from exposure, current proposed legislation, and more. This is a prime opportunity for them to hear directly from healthcare experts, veterans, and our personal stories on the issue so that better informed decisions can be made when it comes to deciding the fate of our veterans.

    Our goal is to fill the room with supporters and advocates so that our federal legislators know that this issue is to be seriously considered. The event is free and open to the public -- and includes lunch! We hope you can join us for this important event and continue to be a part of our advocacy. RSVP HERE.

    DATE: April 30, 2019
    TIME: Doors at 11:30AM
    LOCATION: US Capitol Vistor's Center, First St NE, Washington, DC 20515
    I'll be completely honest -- we need your support on this. We are need to raise funds to pay for operational expenses in order to ensure our briefing is a success. Can you chip in $20 right now so we can meet our fundraising goal? 
    In addition to the briefing, we will be holding our 2018 Burn Pits Lobby Day on May 1st. Join us as we "storm the Capitol" and speak to Members of Congress and Senators on the importance of their support on this issue and proposed legislation. More details to follow on Lobby Day.

    Thank you for your continued support and please feel free to email us at burnpitadvocates@burnpits360.org if you have any questions or concerns.

    Best,
    Eric Holguin
    Gov't & Public Affairs
    Burn Pits 360 Veterans' Organization


    The following community sites updated:



  • Disaster Jussie

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    "When you commit a crime, don't write a check," joked Barkley during an appearance on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Wednesday, though Smollett was granted a nolle pros, which basically means his case has been dropped.
    Colbert asked Barkley to weigh in on Smollett's case, given the eyebrow-raising remarks he made about it during TNT's NBA halftime show on Feb. 21.
    “I think that we all lose. I think my black friends, my gay black friends, I think they lose because there’s all repercussions when you’re a minority. There’s always a double standard. You have to understand that and accept that. For every black, gay person out there, we lost. And it’s unfortunate," Barkley said. "I don’t know that kid, I wish him nothing but the best ...but you always have to look at the bigger picture."
    The 56-year-old acknowledged there are other gay kids out there struggling and claimed Smollett's case damaged what he called an already "tenuous" relationship between the black community and police.


    Jussie is a disaster.


    President Donald Trump says that his FBI and Justice Department would be reviewing Jussie Smollett's case after state prosecutors decided to drop charges against the actor for lying to police about an alleged attack. Mr. Trump called the situation an "embarrassment to our nation" in an early morning tweet on Thursday. 
     
    They also note that the City of Chicago has notified Jussie that they are billing him for $130,000 to cover the costs of investigating his hoax.


    Read Marcia's "F Jussie and F Taraji while we're at it," and Betty's "Taraji Henson? Bye, trash, bye" and Stan's "Pull the plug on EMPIRE already."




    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

     
    Thursday, March 28, 2019.  The nation honors one of the fallen while Medea Benjamin disgraces herself on Iraq yet again.

    June 1, 2007, at the age of 31, Staff Sgt Travis Atkins was killed in Iraq.

    President Trump presents a posthumous medal of honor to Army Staff Sgt. Travis Atkins, who died tackling a suicide bomber in Iraq nearly 12 years ago. The President presented the Medal of Honor to Atkins' son, Trevor Oliver.
    2:22
    33.3K views
     
     


    Search results
    Staff Sgt. TravisAtkins, who died shielding his team from a suicide bomber in Iraq in 2007, received a posthumous Medal of Honor today. His father, Jack Atkins, reflects on how fellow soldiers described his son. More tonight on .
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    9,724 views
     
     
    Today, President Trump presented a posthumous Medal of Honor for U.S. Army Staff Sergeant TravisAtkins to his surviving son. In June 2007, while serving in Iraq, Atkins tackled a suicide bomber, shielding three of his fellow soldiers from the explosion:
     
     



    Join us when the posthumously presents the to Staff Sgt. TravisAtkins, today, March 27 at 4 p.m. EST. Here's his story:
     
     


    Moments ago, presented the to the son of Staff Sgt. TravisAtkins, who gave his life saving his fellow Soldiers. Here's Travis's story:
     
     


    We are humbly reminded of the invaluable cost of freedom. Staff Sergeant TravisAtkins, United States Army, receives the posthumously today through his family. We honor SSgt Atkins. His last actions were made to save the lives of his teammates. God Bless our troops.
     
     
    We are here today to award America’s highest military honor to a fallen hero who made the supreme sacrifice for our nation – Staff Sergeant TravisAtkins...
    20:09
    671K viewers
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    From the White House press release:

    East Room
    4:15 P.M. EDT
    THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Please.  Thank you.  And thank you — please, sit down.  Please.  Thank you, Chaplain Solhjem, Vice President Pence — thank you, Mike — members of Congress, and distinguished military leaders.  We are here today to award America’s highest honor to a fallen hero who made the supreme sacrifice for our nation: Staff Sergeant Travis Atkins.  Please join me in welcoming the entire Atkins family to the White House.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)  Thank you very much.
    Joining us to accept the Congressional Medal of Honor on behalf of Travis is his son, Trevor.  Thank you very much, Trevor.
    We’re also grateful to be joined by Travis’s parents, his mother Elaine, as well as his father Jack, who served as an Army paratrooper in the Vietnam War.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
    Also here with us is Travis’s sister Jennifer, along with his uncle, Sumner, and cousin, Douglas.  Both are military veterans of great distinction, I might add.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)
    To the entire Atkins family: We can never measure the true depth of our gratitude or the full magnitude of your loss, but we can pay everlasting tribute to Staff Sergeant Travis Atkins — his truly immortal act of valor.  It was indeed.  Thank you.
    We’re also joined for today’s ceremony by Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist.  Thank you, David.  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — somebody who is doing a fantastic job — General Joseph Dunford.  Thank you, General.  Thank you, Joe.  Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Paul Selva.  Paul, thank you.  Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper.  Mark — thank you, Mark.  Army Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley.  Thank you, General.  Thanks, Mark.  Chief of the National Guard Bureau, General Joseph Lengyel.  And Sergeant Major of the Army, Daniel Dailey.  Thank you.  Thank you all.  Thank you very much.  Great people.  They’re doing an incredible job.  I have to say that.
    Thank you as well to Senators Steve Daines and Jon Tester.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Jon, thank you.  And Representatives Jim Banks, Greg Gianforte, Elise Stefanik, Pete Stauber, and Michael Waltz.  Thank you all.  Thank you, fellas.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
    And, finally, we are privileged to be in the presence of five previous Medal of Honor recipients: Ty Carter, Harvey Barnum, William Swenson, Ronald Shurer, and Brian Thacker.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)  Brave people.  Thank you.
    Today, the name of Staff Sergeant Travis Atkins will be etched alongside of the names of America’s bravest warriors and written forever into America’s heart.
    Travis grew up on a farm in Bozeman, Montana.  He was also and always most at home in the middle of the wilderness.  He loved the wilderness.  He loved to camp and to fish and to hunt.  And he loved to race that snowmobile, as you know.  Right?
    After Travis graduated high school, he worked as a painter and mechanic before he joined the Army at the age of 24.  In March of 2001, his parents went to his basic training graduation ceremony at Fort Benning, Georgia.  When they reunited with their son, he told them, “This basic training was the best time I’ve ever had in my life.”  In other words, he loved it.  (Laughter.)
    Travis quickly excelled in the Army.  He was offered a number of different assignments, but always he chose the infantry.  He loved the infantry.  That’s where he wanted to be, defending freedom on the frontiers with his fellow foot soldiers, and they were all his great friends.
    In 2003, Travis served on his first deployment in Iraq with the historic 101st Airborne Division and participated in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
    After he completed the harrowing deployment, Travis returned to civilian life.  But not for long.  The fact is he was bored.  You know that.  He was very bored.  He wanted back in.  As his mother Elaine has said, Travis “loved the Army and he loved everything about being with the troops.”  He just loved it.
    In 2005, he re-enlisted and joined the legendary 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, New York, where he [I] was honored to visit last year.
    In August of 2006, Travis left his second deployment to Iraq.  He was stationed in a hotbed of terror and terrorist activity known as the “Triangle of Death.”  Not a good place.
    On the morning of June 1st, 2007, in a town outside of Baghdad, Travis and his three-man squad received a report that several suspected terrorists were walking toward an intersection nearby.  Nothing good was going to happen.  They all knew it.
    Travis directed his squad immediately to the location.  When they arrived, he got out of the Humvee and walked toward the two suspicious men.  And he knew right from the beginning.
    As Travis began to search one of the insurgents, the man resisted and became totally violent.  Travis engaged him in hand-to-hand combat.  As Travis wrestled to get the enemy’s hands behind his back, the man began to reach for something, and Travis knew what it was.  He realized the man was wearing a suicide vest.
    Just as the terrorist was about to set off the deadly explosives, Travis wrapped his arms and his entire body around him and threw him to the ground, away from his troops, who were right next to him.  He put himself on the top of the enemy and he shielded his men from certain death.  The terrorist detonated his suicide vest and Travis was instantly killed.
    In his final moments on Earth, Travis did not run.  He didn’t know what it was to run.  He did not hesitate.  He rose to the highest calling.  He laid down his life to save the lives of his fellow warriors.
    In so doing, he embodied the deepest meaning of the motto of the 10th Mountain Division: He “climbed to glory.”  Now Travis is looking down from above on all of us — on all of his fellow warriors, on his great family — wrapped in glory, the loving glory of Almighty God.
    We’re grateful to be joined by the three squad members that Travis saved: Private First Class Michael Kistel.  Michael. Where are you, Michael?  Thank you.  Please, stand.  Stand.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Specialist Travis Robertshaw.  Travis, where are you?  Travis, thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Travis.  And Specialist Sand Aiyo.  Sand, thank you very much.  Good.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Appreciate it.
    Today, we are privileged also to be joined by more than 50 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division, including those who served alongside Travis — knew he was brave from day one.  They really loved him.  They wanted to be here.  Would you please stand?  (Applause.)  Thank you very much.  Thank you for being here.
    Your lives of service do honor to our country, to Army values, and your fallen brothers-in-arms like Staff Sergeant Travis Atkins.  And he’s looking down.  He loves you all.
    Just a few days before that June morning when Travis left on his last mission, he called his son Trevor to wish him a very, very special eleventh birthday.  Trevor didn’t know that he would speak to his dad for the last time.
    But in the 12 years since, he’s always known that his father gave his life for our nation and for our freedom.  He knew that his father was a hero right from the beginning, long before today.  Trevor has said that he wants our nation to remember his dad as “the best father and best soldier that anyone could ask for.”
    Trevor, that is exactly how we’ll — your Dad will be remembered.  He will be remembered truly as “the best father” and he will be remembered as the best soldier.  You can’t get better than the Congressional Medal of Honor.  You just can’t.  So thank you very much.
    And I’d like you to come on up.  Please come up.  (Applause.)  Please come up.  Please.
    Your father’s courage and sacrifice will live for all time.  And every time we see our stars and stripes waving in the sky, we will thank our great Travis and we will think of every American hero who gave their last breath to defend our liberty, and our homeland, and our people, and our great American flag.
    Now, I’d like to ask the military aide to read the citation.  And I would also like, perhaps, in honor of your father, perhaps you could say just a few words.  Would you like that?  Please.
    MR. OLIVER:  Thank you, everyone, for being here, first off.  It’s an absolute honor to have every single one of you here.  It’s something that I can’t really put into words.  It’s something that’s surreal.  And I still — I still haven’t fully accepted it yet.
    So, just all over appreciation for his men.  Everything you have said to me over the last few days has meant the world to me, and it changes my life every, every day.
    That’s — the medal is something that I take very — a lot of pride in, but it’s the words that are the real prize and what really means the most to me.
    And, when it comes to my dad, he always had the funniest stories about you guys.  And seeing you guys throughout — I was a young kid, but he let me know.  (Laughter.)
    And — no, I just — I feel so close with you and to him every — every story I get to hear.  And I’m just — I’m glad that you got to enjoy his love and his energy.  Thank you.
    THE PRESIDENT:  Beautiful.  Thank you.  (Applause.)
    MILITARY AIDE:  The President of the United States has awarded, in the name of Congress, the Medal of Honor posthumously to Staff Sergeant Travis W. Atkins, United States Army.
    Staff Sergeant Atkins distinguished himself by conspicuous acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 June, 2007, while serving as a Squad Leader with Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
    While manning a static observation post in the town of Abu Samak, Iraq, Staff Sergeant Atkins was notified that four suspicious individuals, walking in two pairs, were crossing an intersection not far from his position.  Staff Sergeant Atkins immediately moved his squad to interdict them.  One of the individuals began behaving erratically, prompting Staff Sergeant Atkins to disembark from his patrol vehicle and approach to conduct a search.
    Both individuals responded belligerently toward Staff Sergeant Atkins, who then engaged the individual he had intended to search in hand-to-hand combat.
    When he noticed the insurgent was reaching for something under his clothes, Staff Sergeant Atkins immediately wrapped him in a bear hug and threw him to the ground, away from his fellow soldiers.  Maintaining his hold on the insurgent, he pinned him to the ground, further sheltering his patrol.  The insurgent then detonated a bomb strapped to his body, killing Staff Sergeant Atkins.
    In this critical and selfless act of valor, Staff Sergeant Atkins acted with complete disregard for his own safety, saving the lives of the three soldiers who were with him and gallantly giving his life for his country.
    Staff Sergeant Atkins’s undaunted courage, warrior spirit, and steadfast devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and the United States Army.
    (The Medal of Honor is presented.)  (Applause.)
    END

    4:32 P.M. EDT



    Let's move to a different topic: Garbage.  Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies have written it and many sites will publish it.  I just was told we did this here.  Did we?  We do a lot here and Ava and I've long covered the campaign websites of candidates.  I'm disclosing we did it here -- don't remember it this go round but there's a lot going on offline these days -- in case anyone needs an out for this critique I'm about to offer.  They've done garbage.  Let's use Joe Biden as an example, from their bad writing:

    Although Biden has yet to throw his hat into the ring, he is already making videos and speeches trying to tout his foreign policy expertise. Biden has been engaged in foreign policy since he won a Senate seat in 1972, eventually chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for four years, and becoming Obama’s vice president. Echoing traditional mainstream Democratic rhetoric, he accuses Trump of abandoning US global leadership and wants to see the US regain its place as the "indispensable leader of the free world."
    Biden presents himself as a pragmatist, saying that he opposed the Vietnam War not because he considered it immoral but because he thought it wouldn’t work. Biden at first endorsed full-scale nation-building in Afghanistan but when he saw it wasn’t working, he changed his mind, arguing that the US military should destroy Al Qaeda and then leave. As vice president, he was a lonely voice in the Cabinet opposing Obama’s escalation of the war in 2009.
    Regarding Iraq, however, he was a hawk. He repeated false intelligence claims that Saddam Hussein possessed chemical and biological weapons and was seeking nuclear weapons, and therefore was a threat that had to be "eliminated." He later called his vote for the 2003 invasion a "mistake."
    Biden is a self-described Zionist. He has stated that the Democrats’ support for Israel “comes from our gut, moves through our heart, and ends up in our head. It’s almost genetic.”
    There is one issue, however, where he would disagree with the present Israeli government, and that is on Iran. He wrote that “War with Iran is not just a bad option. It would be a disaster," and he supported Obama’s entry into the Iran nuclear agreement. He would therefore likely support reentering it if he were president.
    While Biden emphasizes diplomacy, he favors the NATO alliance so that "when we have to fight, we are not fighting alone." He ignores that NATO outlived its original Cold War purpose and has perpetuated and expanded its ambitions on a global scale since the 1990s – and that this has predictably ignited a new Cold War with Russia and China.
    Despite paying lip service to international law and diplomacy, Biden sponsored the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which authorized the US to lead the NATO assault on Yugoslavia and invasion of Kosovo in 1999. This was the first major war in which the US and NATO used force in violation of the UN Charter in the post-Cold War era, establishing the dangerous precedent that led to all our post-9/11 wars.
    Like many other corporate Democrats, Biden champions a misleadingly benign view of the dangerous and destructive role the US has played in the world over the past 20 years, under the Democratic administration in which he served as vice-president as well as under Republican ones.
    Biden might support slight cuts in the Pentagon budget, but he is not likely to challenge the military-industrial complex he has served for so long in any significant way. He does, however, know the trauma of war firsthand, connecting his son’s exposure to military burn pits while serving in Iraq and Kosovo to his fatal brain cancer, which might make him think twice about launching new wars.

    On the other hand, Biden’s long experience and skill as an advocate for the military-industrial complex and the US’s militarized foreign policy suggest that those influences might well outweigh even his own personal tragedy if he is elected president and faced with critical choices between war and peace.


    The Iraq War is largely ignored in their crappy piece.  In the above it's reduced to he voted for the war.  Wow.  That's all Joe did?

    I like Joe and have known him for years.  He didn't get cut any slack in 2007 and 2008 when he was running and I haven't cut him any slack as he amps up another run.

    He was over Iraq for eight years.  Barack couldn't put Hillary in charge of Iraq -- even though the State Dept was given control of Iraq in his first term.  Why?  She'd publicly called Nouri al-Maliki a thug (she was right) in an April 2008 Senate hearing.  Nouri was then the prime minister of Iraq.  Barack put Joe in charge.

    Once in charge, Joe oversaw many disasters and this would most infamously include the US government (via The Erbil Agreement) overturning the 2010 election that saw Nouri pushed out.  Nouri refused to step down.  For eight months, he refused.  He brought the country to a standstill.  It was a political stalemate.  The White House decided to back Nouri.  They negotiated The Erbil Agreement -- a legal contract that was little more than a horse trading agreement.  Nouri gets a second term and in exchange Nouri will do X,Y and Z for the other political blocs.  Of course, Nouri never honored his part of the contract.

    But Joe was part of that.  When the politicians then tried to do a no-confidence vote to get Nouri out of power, it was Joe that pressured then-President Jalal Talabani to tank the vote (which Jalal did).

    Don't pretend that you're covering Iraq or war and peace and you don't meantion one damn thing that Joe Biden oversaw with the occupation of Iraq.

    For Medea, the Iraq War ended the minute Barack was elected.  She whored  and there's no other word for it.  Even today, this passes for bravery and honesty on her part:

    But neither Obama nor Trump has seriously tried to end our "endless" wars or rein in our runaway military spending.

    Obama’s opposition to the Iraq war and vague promises for a new direction were enough to win him the presidency and the Nobel Peace Prize, but not to bring us peace. In the end, he spent more on the military than Bush and dropped more bombs on more countries, including a tenfold increase in CIA drone strikes. Obama’s main innovation was a doctrine of covert and proxy wars that reduced US casualties and muted domestic opposition to war, but brought new violence and chaos to Libya, Syria and Yemen. Obama’s escalation in Afghanistan, the fabled "graveyard of empires,” turned that war into the longest US war since the US conquest of Native America (1783-1924).



    "Obama's opposition to the Iraq war and vague promises for a new direction . . ."  I'm sorry, Medea and whatever man you're writing with now -- don't we all love how the whore, for all of her pretense at woman power, is forever writing with men? -- what happened with Iraq?

    The war continues.  Even with him out of office, Medea can't get honest about that.  She whored for Barack because her gal pal Jodie Evans was a bundler for Barack.  CODEPINK did not disclose that during the 2008 election -- despite Jodie being its cofounder and director.  They were actively bird dogging Barack's main opponent, Hillary, they were heckling her and 'forgot' to disclose that they were not independent, they were not impartial, they were working to get Barack elected.

    Medea, take your whore ass somewhere else.  Barack is out of the White House and even now you can't get honest about him and Iraq.  That's probably why you won't deal with what Joe did to Iraq AFTER he voted for the Iraq War.   Lies and more lies from Medea.  As we noted in "The War Whores" at THIRD:

    5) Medea Benjamin. I Need Attention Benjamin spends a lot of time screaming for attention.  She just doesn't care about Iraq.  (Which might be a good thing considering what she tried to do to Afghanistan in 2009.)  She made that clear in the middle of a 2007 hunger strike for Iraq when she suddenly switched her focus to Palestine.  She's forever dropping Iraq as though the war long ago ended when it didn't.  Medea scrambled her brain on something.  Maybe it was drugs?  Maybe she was tortured by the CIA -- during the infamous pie-ing?  Maybe she just couldn't handle the foul body odor of Jodie Evans?  Whatever it was, something pulled her focus and she's little more than a dabbler these days -- one who lacks the focus even to Tweet.  As Margaret Kimberley (BLACK AGENDA REPORT) observed in 2014:



    If there were a prize awarded for truly stupid twitter posts, Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin should win with these words, "Obama spoke with Raul Castro yesterday. The ice is melting. Mojitos for all!" It is difficult to know where to begin in analyzing such nonsense. [. . .] As for Benjamin, anyone whose response to a foreign policy decision includes references to a cocktail should be ignored now and forever. 






    The following sites updated:





  • Kim Fox gets rebuked, Empire's ratings get even worse and Jussie may be hauled into civil court

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    From The New York Post:

    Jussie Smollett‘s TV drama crashed and burned Wednesday night, when 3.97 million viewers tuned in – the lowest ratings in the show’s history, according to TVLine.

    Stan covered that last night in "Viewers continue to stay away from EMPIRE."


    Also in trouble is the ridiculous Kim Foxx.  She's been rebuked by the Illinois Prosecutors Bar Association.


    1. IPBA Statement on Jussie Smollett Case Dismissal



    She has maintained that people are "emotional" and what she did was normal but the association doesn't see it as normal and they're all prosecutors.

    Kim Foxx is a liar who needs to be removed from office.

    And Jussie's got more trouble.  From TMZ:



    The City is now demanding he pay $130k for the overtime required to investigate the now-infamous "attack." A City official sent Jussie a demand letter, but his people have already rejected the request, saying the only person owed anything is Jussie -- as in, an apologyfrom the Mayor and Police Superintendent.
    This has now set up a courtroom showdown, and sources connected to the Mayor tell TMZ ... they will absolutely file a civil case to get the money. Under the law, the City can actually collect 3 times the actual amount owed as a penalty -- meaning around $390,000.
    If Jussie fights it in court, his "attack" case will be fully litigated. A judge will have to decide if the attack was fake before deciding whether Jussie is required to pay. What's more, the judge would only have to rule that it's more likely than not -- 51/49 percent -- that Jussie faked the attack. That's a much lower standard of proof than a criminal case, which requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt for a conviction.
    Now here's the hard part for Jussie. If a judge rules the attack was fake, it gives the honchos at "Empire" all the ammo they need to say he's fired, despite the fact the State's Attorney has dismissed the criminal case.
    And, to add insult to injury, if Jussie loses the case but refuses to pay the judgment, the City can execute on the judgment, and that would include garnishing wages and freezing bank accounts -- including his "Empire" salary.

    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Friday, March 29, 2019.  The puppets need US forces on the ground in Iraq -- they always have.


    Christian Caryl (WASHINGTON POST via GULF NEWS) reports:


    “If you ask me, is the Iraqi government bureaucracy successful? Absolutely not,” Iraqi President Barham Salih said in an interview.
    “Is the Iraqi state succeeding? I think there are some prospects for this country to be moving in the right direction. But the legacies of the past, the problems are really, really monumental.”

    He spoke at length on the need to fight a deeply entrenched culture of corruption in the bureaucracy, the government’s failure to provide basic public services such as water and electricity, and the challenge of preventing a [ISIS] revival.

    Good little puppet.  Barham was chosen by the US.  When he went to Mosul last Friday, he found out that puppets may be propped up by foreigners but they are not beloved by the Iraqi people.  The US government props him up and the US press treats him like a real president.  He's not.  It's a ceremonial position.  With Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the actual leader of Iraq, being such a disaster (and also being installed by the US), the focus really has been on Barham for the US press.

    The puppet wants the US to ''remain active'' in Iraq.  And why wouldn't he?  This is the man who, in the same article, grandly declares, "Every time I go out of the presidential palace in Baghdad—and I do try to go out as often as I can—I do see normalcy coming back, more and more."

    "Every time I go out of the presidential palace in Baghdad --"  Does it get more of the people than that?  (That was sarcasm.)  A puppet propped up in a cushy life, so out of touch that he doesn't even grasp how "Let them eat cake" he comes off.

    And that cushy lifestyle?  He has it because of the US government and the troops on the ground ensure that the Iraqi people do not rise up against their corrupt government.  That's always been the concern whether it was late spring 2006 and the Green Zone was almost penetrated by the Iraqi people or whether it was summer 2014 and Barack Obama fretted that Baghdad might be seized and controlled by ISIS.  The puppet government must be kept in place.

    Jerrod A. Laber (INDEPENDENT) observes:

    President Trump has promised repeatedly to end “endless wars,” during both his campaign and his tenure so far in office. Despite this rhetoric, endless — and, frankly, pointless —wars are, sadly, still the American norm.
    Two more Americans were just killed in Afghanistan — a war that the Trump administration realises needs to end, but seems in no hurry to actually do so. In December 2018, Trump announced that all US troops would be withdrawn from Syria, only to later rescind that declaration in favour of a small force of 400 to 1,000 troops to stay behind indefinitely, complementing the more than 5,000 troops in Iraq, who are there to satiate the administration’s obsession with Iran.

    Soldiers who were children when the Afghanistan war began are dying. It’s well past time to bring all of our troops from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq home.
    [. . .]
    We assume that American soldiers die in defence of our rights and freedoms, as they protect us from existential threats. We thank veterans for their service and revere the dead as martyrs. By and large, we never dig deep into why they actually fight and die. After all, no grieving mother wants to think her child gave their life for nothing. But in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, that’s exactly what’s happening. 

    US troops remain in Iraq because the puppet government has not taken root.  It was always a doubtful project.  The US repeatedly ignored Iraqis who had lived in Iraq to instead install cowards who fled the country and only returned after the US invaded.

    As we have repeatedly noted, if the US was invaded and the invaders installed cowards who had fled the US, we wouldn't support those people.

    That's before you factor in the chips on their shoulders that so many of these cowards bring along.  Nouri al-Maliki was paranoid -- so paranoid that the CIA file on him recommended he be made Prime Minister because his paranoia would make him easy to control.

    On this recommendation, Bully Boy Bush installed him as prime minister in 2006 and Barack Obama gave him a second term in 2010 (via The Erbil Agreement) after the Iraqi people had voted him out.

    Grasp that, not just the democracy aspect.  Grasp how much hatred or indifference -- or both -- the US government truly has to the Iraqi people.  Nouri's paranoia was of epic levels -- to the point where his sanity is in question.  But the US government -- represented by a Republican and then by a Democrat -- was perfectly happy putting a rabid dog in charge.

    Maybe they kidded themselves, for a moment or two, that they had two hands on the leash and could pull him anytime they wanted to.  In the first term, Bully Boy Bush saw the rise of the secret prisons and torture centers under Nouri.  He didn't yank the leash.  In the second term, Barack saw Nouri attack rival politicians (attack -- send the Iraqi forces to raid their homes), attack journalists who covered the protests (in one case, to round them up and torture them -- and this was reported by NPR and THE WASHINGTON POST -- while THE NEW YORK TIMES filed a shameful non-report), attack the protesters, etc.  And Barack didn't yank the leash either.

    The US government put a rabid dog in charge of Iraq and the Iraqi people suffered but it was 'worth it' to the US government because this plant has to take, the roots have to go deep and, until they do, US troops will remain in Iraq.  That's the position of our so-called representatives.

    It's never been about democracy.  You don't value democracy by overturning election results as Barack did in 2010.  You don't instill faith in the ballot box by using The Erbil Agreement to nullify the votes of the Iraqi people.   `



    Missy Ryan (WASHINGTON POST via NATIONAL POST) notes retiring US Gen Joseph Votel feels that ISIS is not defeated (it's not) and he frets over US disengagement.

    Why does the US have to protect Iraq from ISIS?

    In what world does that make sense?

    Yes, Nouri's forces fled in 2014 when ISIS took over Mosul.  Atheel al-Nujaifi was governor of the province then and he has given a very detailed account of how Nouri's forces folded and fled.

    The Iraqi forces would not fight to protect Mosul from ISIS taking over.  They took over in June of 2014.  When did they leave?  Later that year?  The next year?

    ISIS remained in charge of Mosul until July of 2017.

    Why is the US supposed to help?

    A government that allows Mosul, one of their biggest cities, to be controlled by ISIS for three years?  And grasp that this wasn't three years of fighting.  Mosul was allowed to be controlled from June of 2014 with no real effort at liberation until October of 2016.

    Grasp that.  It's important.  It goes to the reality that a puppet government has no real support.

    Every other year, we're told that Iraqi forces need training -- US training.  In what world?  The issue isn't the training, the issue is the lack of support for the puppet government.  That's why so many fled Operation Knight's Charge in 2008 (the Baghdad-based government's assault on Basra).  The Iraqi forces saw huge desertion rates during that battle.

    There is no real government for the Iraqi people to be vested in.

    And the plan is for US troops to remain in Iraq until this puppet government or the next one or the one after finally takes root.




    The kind or blind can say that this is done with 'good intentions.'  Good or not, it's still stupid because it's been done over and over and it has still not taken root.

    Vogel hints and pretends it has -- to Missy Ryan, yes, but in the last Congressional hearing we covered as well -- where he noted it was his last time appearing before the Committee -- and thank heaven for that because maybe the next person in charge will be a little smarter?

    Or maybe that's my stupidity for not grasping that smart never enters into efforts by the US government to control other countries.

    As'ad AbuKhalil (NEW AGE) observes:

    IT HAS been sixteen years since the US invasion of Iraq of 2003. The event barely gets a mention in the US press or is any longer part of American consciousness. Iraq remains a faraway land for most Americans and the remembrance of the Iraq war is only discussed from the standpoint of US strategic blunders. Little attention is paid to the suffering and humiliation of the Iraqi people by the American war apparatus. Wars for Americans are measured in US dollars and American blood: suffering of the natives is not registered in war metrics.



    6 women are seeking the 2020 Democratic Party presidential nomination.  This is historic and will be historic regardless of the candidate -- female or male -- who eventually wins the nomination.  We'll note their most recent three Tweets and for any concerned about the order, it is rotated each time.




    The teacher pay gap is a national failure that’s holding America back. Our country has failed to give teachers the resources they deserve. My plan would provide a $13k raise for the average teacher. I am committed to this fight for our teachers and our future.
     
     
    Betsy DeVos wants to give teachers guns — I want to give them a raise.
    0:35
    145K views
     
     
    I was raised by a mother who taught us that if you see a problem, you don't complain about it. You do something about it. That's why I'm running for president. We have to stand up and fight for our American values.
     
     




    The people of Flint, Michigan still have to rely on bottled water. All across America, communities face challenges when it comes to access to clean drinking water. We must invest in our water infrastructure now.
     
     
    🎶Back in town-ow-own🎶 
     
     
    That’s why I’m calling for a major investment in our roads, highways and bridges.
     
     




  • When in Congress, former Congressman Dennis Kucinich championed the creation of a US Dept. Of Peace.Where the State Dept. handles international peace efforts, the Dept of Peace will handle domestic peace issues. Now is the time. Join me in making it happen
     
     
    Here is the citizen campaign call about reparations with professor William Darity and Kirsten Mullen
     
     
    A handbook for revolutionary love...
     
     



  • I’m glad Tim Sloan got canned, but let’s be clear: if he broke the law, he should go to jail like anyone else. My Ending Too Big to Jail Act would make sure that bank executives can be held personally responsible for their banks’ cheating.
    2:04
    246K views
     
     
  • I kept pushing the Fed to maintain the growth cap on until Tim Sloan was gone. and I told the and to use their power to fire him. Because the millions of Americans who got scammed deserve real accountability.
     
     
  • But kept getting caught cheating – on mortgages, car loans, money laundering, and loans to service-members (just to name a few). All the while, Tim Sloan kept trying to scam regulators into thinking the bank had reformed. But we weren’t fooled.
     
     



    President Trump just finished his rally, where he made it clear Michigan is a top target in 2020. He and his allies will spend millions to try to turn it red. We're not going to let him. There couldn't be more at stake—join me in fighting back!
     
     
    We must secure our borders effectively and fight terrorism relentlessly. But let's be clear: Attacking immigrants and asylum seekers, throwing babies in cages, coddling white supremacists, building a pointless wall—these things aren't just immoral. They also make us LESS safe.
     
     
    Women and men should make equal amounts of money for doing equal work. What a concept.
     
     




    . Happy birthday! Thank you so much! This is so kind of you. Look forward to seeing you tomorrow for your show!
     
     
    Mueller reported Trump did not collude with Russia to influence our elections. Now we must put aside partisan interests, move forward, and work to unite our country to deal with the serious challenges we face.
    1:57
    533K views
     
     
    49,624! Thank you to everyone reaching out to your friends and family, being a voice for peace in your community. It takes all of us, together.
     
     


    The following sites updated:







  • Jokes for Jussie

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    It's a parade of Jussie jokes.  First, Chris Rock threw it down Saturday at the NAACP Awards saying, among other things, it was "Jessie" now, that the "u" had been for respect.  From CNN:

    They said no Jussie Smollett jokes," Rock said. "I know. What a waste of light skin, you know? You know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be outta here, (expletive) running Hollywood.
    "What the hell was he thinking? From now on I ain't never gonna (say) no Jussie -- you're a Jessie from now on. You don't get the 'u' no more. That 'u' was respect. You don't get no respect from me."

    Here's Chris Rock.




    Although Fox has stood behind their star, releasing a statement earlier this week that said “Jussie Smollett has always maintained his innocence and we are gratified that all charges against him have been dismissed,” the NBC late-night sketch comedy series had the team behind the show (played by Kenan Thompson, Ego Nwodim, Kate McKinnon and Mikey Day) taking a difference stance: telling his manager (played by episode host Sandra Oh) that they no longer wanted to work with her client.
    “Jussie Smollett was a victim,” Oh said, pleading to Thompson’s Lee Daniels that she had represented him during his entire career, and although he was two hours late to this meeting, she knew he had a valid reason. But her tune changed by the end of the sketch.

    Chris Redd reprised his portrayal of Smollett in the sketch, bursting through the door in a “Make America Great Again” hat and saying he got attacked again.

    “Don’t worry, I got some hits in, too. I’m still the gay Tupac,” he said.
    When Oh pointed out that “no one knows what that means” and no one was believing him now, Redd’s Smollett pulled out a “bag of clues,” saying he was only alive because he “fought back, because I’m the gay Mike Tyson.”

    Here's Saturday Night Live.




    Tracy Morgan sat down with The Tonight Show host and fellow Saturday Night Live alum to talk about his latest gig: a new role on Empire. “Contractually, all I have to do is fake a hate crime,” Morgan said with a straight face. Obviously, Morgan did not really get a role on Empire, he was just taking a dig at Jussie Smollett and the story about his alleged assault that has been fueling headlines lately.

    While Fallon did his signature giggling, Morgan exclaimed “Jussie!” and let out his own laugh to defuse the situation. “You don’t buy that story?” Fallon asked.
    “Nah man,” replied Morgan. “First of all, racist people don’t be jumping nobody in the polar vortex.”
    This was followed by more of Fallon’s giggles. Morgan said that racist people don’t watch Empire and that it was too cold for the attack and that racists like to be “racist in the spring.”

    Here's the video.



    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Tuesday, April 2, 2019.  Oh, Joe.  Another day of "Oh, Joe."  Can we really endure 19 months of "Oh, Joe" and still see Dems take back the White House?

    Yesterday, Neil Vigdor (HARTFORD COURANT) reported a second woman had come forward to state that former US Vice President Joe Biden had creeped her out with inappropriate behavior as well:

    A Connecticut woman says Joe Biden touched her inappropriately and rubbed noses with her during a 2009 political fundraiser in Greenwich when he was vice president, drawing further scrutiny to the Democrat and his history of unwanted contact with women as he ponders a presidential run

    "It wasn't sexual, but he did grab me by the head," Amy Lappos told The Courant Monday. "He put his hand around my neck and pulled me in to rub noses with me. When he was pulling me in, I thought he was going to kiss me on the mouth."
    Lappos posted about the alleged incident on the Facebook page of Connecticut Women in Politics Sunday in response to a similar account by former Nevada legislator Lucy Flores, which comes as Biden is considering a 2020 run for president. Flores accused Biden of kissing her on the back of her head in 2014, when she was a candidate for lieutenant governor.

    The response to Lucy Flores and Amy Lappos has been very telling.

    Meghan Weight Gain McCain wants you to know that Joe is wonderful, wonderful and nothing bad ever happened to her.  She reminds me a lot of Chastity Bono -- I'm talking the pre-Chaz days.  Chastity never did a damn thing but ride the family name -- just like Weight Gain McCain.  And Chastity also felt the need to weigh in, remember?  Mel Gibson was not homophobic, Chastity insisted even though everone knew Mel was homophobic.  How did Chastity know he wasn't?  Because he was never that way around her.

    In other words, while around the gay daughter of the legendary Cher, Mel Gibson was appropriate.  That proved only that he acknowledged some boundaries, not that he wasn't homophobic.

    Alyssa Milano, the ultimate fake ass, rushed forward to insist Joe never did anything to her.  Hey, Alyssa, Joe never did anything to me either.  Bob Filner never did anything inappropriate to me (though many other women can't say the same).  John Grabby Hands Edwards is the only one I can think of who did anything inappropriate to me -- politician wise, the most recent after him would be a TV star at the height of his TV fame who seemed to think he owned the world and anything -- or anyone -- in it.

    I've also seen some, no offense (well maybe a little offense intended), butt ugly women on Twitter -- especially a nurse -- who insist that Joe never did anything to him.  Joe's pattern, please remember, is attractive women.  If you're butt ugly, he didn't feel the need to nuzzle against you.

    Two women are sharing their truths.

    And the response?

    Well, there's Mika who flirted and f**ked her way to cohosting MORNING JOE who wants to know if she can discuss that one of the women supported Bernie Sanders in 2016?  Of course you can discuss that Mika and we can all discuss how you cheated on your husband to sleep with your equally married co-host and how trashy that was and remains.  We can also continue to discuss the betting pool on when you two split and how many other women Joe sleeps with in the meantime.

    I've seen some people on Twitter -- who I'm sure are well meaning (that's meant sincerely) -- who have wondered recently if Elizabeth Warren, as she pursues the party's presidential nomination will end up getting "the Hillary treatment."

    I'm sure they don't mean gushing press and Andrea Mitchell attempting to police her peers on the campaign.  That's 2016.

    I think the mean 2008.

    You can like Hillary Clinton personally or not but hopefully you can agree that what happened in 2008 should never have happened and never needs to happen to a woman again.  "Iron my shirts!"  She was heckled with that and people -- pundits and hosts on TV, especially MSNBC -- found that funny.  Nothing was too far for them to go.  They giggled over Hillary "nutcrackers."  They smeared her in every way possible.  They lied about her -- Bill Moyers, Jesse Jackson Jr. and Dr, Kathleen Hall Jamieson -- on PBS.  Click here for a 2008 look back at some of the sexism.  Grasp that while this took place, FAIR and its radio program COUNTERSPIN -- supposed media watchdogs -- ignored everything until Hillary was called a "bitch" on TV (on CNN) and then they quickly rushed over it not even identifying the person who had called her a bitch on air (here for Ava and I in real time).


    Again, you can like her or not, but hopefully you grasp that what was done to a woman in 2008 was unacceptable.  Some of us called it out in real time and that's why we always look puzzled when the 'brave' girls (girls, not women) emerged in 2016 to scream 'sexism!' at things that really weren't sexism and marveled over the fact that these middle-aged girls (Debra Messing, Patty Arquette, Alyssa, etc) didn't say s**t in 2008.

    Now two women are speaking and someone like Alyssa has the chance to make up for her hideous silence in 2008.  But she can't because she is hideous.  Remember, I supported Illeana Douglas when she told her story about Leslie Moonves.  Did you not notice that Alyssa never gave Illeana so much as a Tweet of support?  She never gave her any support.  Because Alyssa was trying to sell a show to a CBS property (THE CW) and she didn't think Leslie Moonves would be toppled so she was going to keep her mouth shut.  That passes for 'bravery' among the cowards.

    What's interesting is that the 'bros' -- men and women -- are back.  They're part of the laughable 'resistance.'  And they're trashing these two women who have come forward.  They were part of the trashing of Hillary in 2008.  They giggled over the attacks on Hillary and now they launch their own attacks.

    Two women say they were made uncomfortable by behavior that was clearly inappropriate.

    So they rush -- and Alyssa does this too -- to tell us that Joe meant no harm.

    I love Bob Filner.  When women came forward to talk about what he had done to them?  I didn't say, "Oh, he meant no harm!"  I didn't shove my nose into their conversation.  They had things they needed to air and they needed to discuss and they had every right to do so.

    Instead of letting the two women (and I think there will be a few more) discuss what happened to them and all of us addressing it on those terms, you've got the 'resistance' attacking them, laughing at them, mocking them.  I'm really bothered, for example, by a comedian who thinks he's sexy (he's really not) and thinks he can have an audience on the left while he mocks these women and makes light of what was done to them.

    No, it is not acceptable to go behind a woman, grab her and smell her hair.

    That's not professional and it's not acceptable.

    And women that Joe has done this too have every right to speak their truth and we long ago should have been addressing this.  Joe's intent doesn't matter.  And he did this as a high ranking US Senator and as the Vice President so, instead of mocking women, we should be discussing the power issues and how Joe's actions were seen publicly and ignored or made into jokes.

    It's inappropriate.

    One idiotic 'resistance' member hissed on Twitter that "no candidate will be perfect.''

    Joe's actions border on assault.  That's not an extreme read on it.  Women with less access to power were made uncomfortable by his refusal to honor accepted boundaries, by his invasion of their space and by his hands on their body.  That's assault, I'm sorry if the law wasn't taught at your community college.  For those of us who studied the law, however, it's very clear that what Joe did was assault.

    And wanting a candidate who didn't assault someone is very different from wanting someone who is "perfect."

    And if you're a Joe supporter, you should especially close your mouth right now.  You need to see if he has the strength to address this in such a way to silence it because, if he doesn't, it is going to be an issue later in any campaign.

    'Well Trump's a pig so it will be a battle between two pigs!'

    Well 2015 was The Year of the Ass and, in 2016, when voters were forced to choose between two asses, they went with Trump.

    Joe Biden needs to address his actions.

    He was perfectly comfortable doing what he did in public.  He should be able to talk about it.  And when one of his sons was publicly humiliated, I weighed in here (I know Joe and, yes, I like Joe) noting that we all fall down but the test is how we dust ourselves off and get back on our feet.  Joe later echoed that (which is fine, I'd said to him personally and not just posted it here).  Okay, Joe, put those words into practice.  Do what you said your son needed to.  And if you can't, you should not be running.

    I'm bothered by so much of the way this dialogue is taking place.  That includes trying to reduce this to a 'woman's issue.'  Oh, he groped but he did this for women so it's okay -- that seems to be a talking point.  No, it's not okay.  More to the point, this is a conversation about power.  And women often do not have the power so it's very easy to make this a gendered conversation.

    However, on two campuses yesterday discussing Iraq, this issue kept coming up.  It's not a gendered issue.  Not by the comments I heard.  It's an issue about the abuse of power and there are women and men who have experienced and/or observed that type of issue.


    Joe voted for the Iraq War.  He was also over Iraq for the administration when ISIS rose in that country.  Barack couldn't put Hillary in charge because she'd rightly called Nouri al-Maliki a "thug" in a public Senate hearing in April of 2008.  Nouri was a thug.  He was also prime minister of Iraq.  So, once he was elected, Barack couldn't put Hillary in charge of Iraq and instead went with Joe.  Joe's actions as vice president including selling the overthrow of the 2010 election (Nouri lost but Joe advocated for him to remain prime minister).  Joe supported the corrupt regime of Nouri al-Maliki, someone who terrorized the people of Iraq while stealing their money.  Corruption is epidemic in Iraq.

    Ammar Karim (AFP) explains:


    Nationwide horror over the March 21 capsizing of the overloaded riverboat in the northern city of Mosul, which claimed 100 lives, mostly of women and children, has given way to a clamour for provincial officials to be put on trial.
    Graft is endemic across Iraq, not only in the city the Islamic State group controlled for three years before their expulsion in July 2017.
    The country ranks among the world's worst offenders in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index.
    Since 2004, a year after the US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein, a total of $218 billion has vanished into the pockets of shady politicians and businessmen, according to parliament.
    That is more than Iraq's GDP.
    Few officials have been brought to account, and amnesties have allowed many to evade justice, only partially repaying the stolen funds.
    For the past week, the cry of "corruption is killing us" has been ringing across Mosul.

    & I seem 2 agree on many things re#Iraq.In his latest article on ferry, he writes in Arabic what may roughly translate to, "removing 1 or more officials frm power will yield zero change in the wider corruption network involving both militias and politicians"
     
     


    Fear of corruption disrupts the reconstruction of liberated cities, and influential investors take advantage of the opportunity, by
     
     


    Quotations : The occupation of Iraq produced a distorted political process, marked by corruption and sectarianism.
     
     


    ISIS is not gone in Iraq.  They have morphed and will continue to morph. Saturday, NPR's MORNING EDITION featured a conversation about Iraq:

    KORVA COLEMAN, HOST:
    Last week, President Trump and Syrian democratic forces claimed victory over Islamic State in Syria. But what exactly does that mean? Syria's neighbor, Iraq, may provide some answers. Victory over ISIS was declared there in 2017 after U.S.-backed forces regained control of Mosul. Mara Redlich Revkin, a fellow at Yale Law School's Center for Global Legal Challenges, has spent a lot of time there. She says life after ISIS involves a lot of criminal trials against people suspected of joining or aiding the group. She's witnessed some trials.
    Revkin told me about a man named Khaled. He worked at a slaughterhouse that ISIS took control of, leaving him with a choice - stay at the job and work for ISIS or leave and face retaliation.
    MARA REDLICH REVKIN: Khaled, like many residents of Mosul, decided that cooperation was the only way to survive. So he continued working in the slaughterhouse. He claimed that he was never trained. He never received combat training or used a weapon or participated in any military operations on behalf of the group. But nonetheless, three years later, when Iraqi security forces, supported by the international coalition, recaptured Mosul, he was 1 of more than 90,000 people who have been detained on suspicion of association with the group. And he was arrested solely on the basis of testimony from a secret informant who had apparently witnessed him pledging allegiance, even though Khaled insisted that this pledge was involuntary and coerced.
    So, you know, during the trial, I saw him explain that his work consisted only of feeding and caring for animals at the slaughterhouse. But nonetheless, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison after a trial that lasted less than 30 minutes. And the judges actually told him that he was lucky to receive such a lenient sentence because the crime for which he was convicted, which was membership in a terrorist group, generally brings capital punishment.
    COLEMAN: A lot of post-ISIS life is figuring out who was or who was not involved in ISIS and bringing the appropriate perpetrators to justice. This is done mostly through courts?
    REVKIN: Yes, it is. And it's happening both in federal Iraq and in the Kurdish region. The primary legal instrument for a prosecution is the 2005 anti-terrorism law which is very harsh and also very quite vaguely worded. So Article 4 requires the death penalty for anyone who has, quote, "committed, incited, planned, financed or assisted a terror act" - and a life sentence for anyone who covers up such an act or harbors those who perpetrated it. And the harboring language is particularly important because this has been used as justification to prosecute a lot of family members of alleged Islamic State affiliates.
    So if you are the wife or child or a mother or father of an Islamic State fighter and living in the same house as that person, does that mean harboring? I think a lot of courts and Iraqi judges I've talked to would say yes. Another element of this law is the definition of a terrorist under Article 2 as anyone who has organized, chaired or participated in an armed terrorist gang.
    And a word like participation is just so incredibly broad. And when you think about what that means in the context of a place like Mosul, where the Islamic State controlled the entire economy, had a monopoly on violence and then was also controlling borders and entry and exit, does it mean that anyone paying taxes there was participating? Or if you sold food to an Islamic State fighter, did that make you a participant and therefore a terrorist?

    Corruption and ISIS are linked.  It's one of the issues, corruption, that gave rise to ISIS in Iraq.  An unresponsive government attacks its own citizens and ISIS rises in Iraq.

    Barack may think his refusing to take Nouri's post-2012 election congratulatory phone call (he fobbed the call of on Joe Biden, refusing to speak to Nouri himself) was some sort of punishment but it wasn't.  His embrace of Nouri in 2010 set the stage for the rise of ISIS.  And that's something a candidate Joe Biden will have to answer for.



    New




    The following sites updated:




  • Jussie Smollett and Lori Loughlin

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    An e-mail asks why I'm not focusing on Lori Loughlin "the way you are Jussie Smollett."  What Lori did was wrong and likely deprived someone of merit from the spot her daughter got in college.  I don't consider that minor, to be honest.  I also don't consider it as outrageous as what Jussie did.

    I'm a parent.  I would hope that I wouldn't do that with either of our children.  But I can't say that I wouldn't.  I certainly won't pretend that temptation would never be there.  So that may be why I'm less appalled.  I also think Lori Loughlin has been humiliated over this.  No one's going, "Oh, the truth will prevail!  She will be innocent!"  We all know she did it and we're not disputing that.

    Contrast that with Jussie.  He lied.  Not as a parent.  He didn't lie to help someone else.  He presented himself as our ally in social justice and then he lied.  He lied and his lie was hideous and revolting.  He pretended he was attacked when he wasn't.  He said two White men attacked him when he hired the attackers and knew them and they were from Nigeria.  He took that lie and ran with it.  He lied about it from the concert stage.  He lied about it to the press. Most famously, he lied about it on ABC.  A lot of people stuck up for him.  I have not made fun of Don Lemon and do not intend to.  He is a friend of Jussie's and he stuck up for him.  And when he realized Jussie had lied, he backed away.  I have no problem with Don Lemon.  Taraji?  That woman knows he lied and continues to lie for him and stick up for him.  I have a big problem with her.  Ava the director?  Couldn't care less.  She's a lousy director and she's a lousy Twitter user. 

    But Jussie lied and his lie made a fool of a lot of people who stood up for him because what he said happened (his lie) was hideous.  No one should have that done to them.  And it wasn't done to Jussie, we know now.  But people like Don Lemon, out of a good heart, stuck up for Jussie and I will never blame someone for having a good heart.  The people who now stick up for him?  I have no use for them.

    Jussie got off through some illegal deal with Kim Foxx.  That's outrageous.  To say he didn't hurt anyone?

    Read the above again.  Did I ever say Lori didn't hurt anyone?  No, I did not.  Someone was denied admission because of what she did, someone of merit.

    By the same token, Jussie's actions hurt a lot of people including people the police should have been looking for instead of Jussie's mythical attackers.  So there's that.  But I am very angry about Jussie.  He used people.  He took advantage of people.  He staged a hate crime and that is disgusting. 

    Even now, he refuses to get honest.  I have no respect for him.  If he had gotten honest and asked for forgiveness, it would be different.  I do believe in forgiveness.  But instead of doing that, he just dug himself deeper.  That's on him.  He's elected to stick with the lies and that's on him.

    On Jussie, please read "Jussie was never 'cleared'" at THIRD.  I helped with it but the big work on it was really Ava, C.I. and Betty who mapped it out ahead of time about the points we needed to hit.  It's a strong piece and Stan and I had fun working with them and Marcia on it.



    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Wednesday, April 3, 2019.  As former Vice President Joe Biden prepares to announce his run for the presidency, two more women step forward.

    And now there are four.  THE NEW YORK TIMES reported late yesterday that two more women have stepped forward to complain about Joe Biden groping them. Then 19-year-old Caitlyn Caruso was groped   Elaine offered an example of how the hideous Alyssa Milano might try to spin that:

    Hagtress Alyssa Milano will, no doubt, show up to defend Joe Biden again.  Probably insist, "Yes, he touched Caitlyn's leg but he did so at 'an event about sexual assault' and we have to give him credit for attending the event!  That's the important thing!"



    For years, we have had to endure the image of the wife standing next to the politician husband as he minimizes his actions.  Apparently, these days the Alyssa Milanos will rush forward to volunteer for the job.

    The second woman is DJ Hill who explained that Joe's hands were slipping down her back when her husband stepped in to stop it.

    RT CBSThisMorning: Four women are coming forward about former Vice President Joe Biden, saying he touched them in a way that made them feel uncomfortable.


    5:30
    323 views



    Four women have now come forward and there are more women considering coming forward.  Applause for all four who have come forward.  This is not a conversation that America has ever wanted to have -- and judging by the offensive remarks of Alyssa Milano and others (Weight Gain McCain, for example), it's a conversation that the country will be forced to have.  Boys will be boys and Biden will be Biden appears to be the position so many of them are taking.

    In contrast to the willfully stupid, Jessica Valenti (MEDIUM) observes:


    Those who believe this is simply a matter of misunderstanding must then fundamentally not trust women. But women have been dealing with these interactions since, unfortunately, before puberty. We are the utmost experts in what they mean — what’s appropriate and what’s demeaning.
    I also wonder how many men would be fine with a boss who rubbed their shoulders while deeply inhaling the back of their head. The truth is that if men had to deal with a fraction of the indignities women are expected to endure, they would revolt.
    The effect of these seemingly minor infractions is one that women know all too well: Every shoulder rub and unwanted kiss tells us how little our personal space, privacy, and dignity really mean. Women are reminded of our place again and again and again. And then, when we’re told it’s all in our heads, we’re reminded one more time.




    It’s telling that Biden has constructed his defense around the claim that he never had the “intention” of causing women discomfort. He’s placed the burden of reckoning on the recipients of his actions, the women who mistook his friendly gestures as invasive and unsettling. But good intentions that forge ahead, time after time, with no regard for the unique circumstances of each situation are no longer good—they’re careless. Any leader might occasionally offend women or step out of line in physical interactions with them. But he’d do so in spite of his sincere best efforts, not because he seemingly didn’t care enough to try. 



    It's really clear and it's really basic -- unless you're an enabler like Alyssa Milano.  If you're an enabler, you Tweet crap like this.

    4. Joe Biden’s response that he never meant to make anyone uncomfortable and that he'll listen and learn from anyone who says otherwise is exactly the leadership we need to build a culture where women are heard and are equal.




    "Listen and learn''?  He and his wife both called the Carters to get Stephanie to write that piece she wrote which, yes, is dismissing Lucy Flores.  But more to the point, he's 76-years-old and has been doing this forever.  There have been articles about it, there was Samantha Bee's infamous 2015 skit about it on THE DAILY SHOW.  At what point do we stop saying, "Oh, if only the women involved had expressly told him . . ."  No, it's his behavior and it's always been inappropriate.  He's gotten away with it and he knows he has.  He's only 'addressing' it now -- hiding behind women's skirts -- because he wants to bury it before his big "I am announcing I will seek the Democratic Party's presidential nomination" moment later this month.

    He has shown no leadership on this issue.  He has ignored it and only responded when forced to.

    I guess Alyssa's 'busy' schedule of doing nothing doesn't allow her time to brush up on issues or information.  She's got that bit part in the NETFLIX series everyone hated, remember?  She's so busy.  She's trying to punish the Georgia film industry these days but if she was serious she could announce that she won't go to Georgia to film INSATIABLE anymore, couldn't she?  She could take a stand if she wanted to but she doesn't want to give up her bi part as the middle-aged side piece.  She knows her talent is minimal and her future job prospects even more so.


    Link to headline article

    Some just don't get it.  Like this one:

    Stop this insanity. If Joe Biden or anyone else sexually assaulted you, by all means please file charges. No matter when it happened. But if someone, touching you, male or female, makes you "uncomfortable," say something... to them...at the time. Even your cheek pinching grandma.



    Randi's all about the women -- provided they're men in dresses wearing dresses for laughs.  She didn't really write a part for Sally Field into MRS. DOUBTFIRE, did she?  Just a stereotypical nag.  Well there are always women who will hate themselves and write that into their work.  Congratulations, Randi, may you soon become the man you always wanted to be -- right after you kill Mommy -- that was the point of MRS. DOUBTFIRE, after all.  And THE TOOTH FAIRY.  Let's not forget that.  Or that her body of work is all about rebuking women.  Yet she thinks she can step up and we're all supposed to listen?  Write another bad 'comedy,' Randi, channel your rage over being a woman into that -- again.

    In the real world, and in the stories being shared, women explain that they were being groped by the Vice President of the United States and didn't believe they had any power.

    But worry no more!  Randi's busy writing SISSY'S BIG MOVE.  Vin Diesel, desperate to get his 'high strung' and 'distant' ex-wife back, learns that his wife was groped by the CEO of her company and didn't feel she could speak out.  So Vin dons a dress and becomes Sissy McMatthews -- a sassy and brassy new hire from the south who shows how a man -- posing as a woman -- would handle it and -- as in all of Randi's works -- saves the day because -- in Randi's works -- that's what men do.  And his ex-wife, she'll take him back and feel more kindly towards the kitchen -- it's a Randi script which means it writes itself!  Go, Randi, go! And take your violet and blue mornings with you.




    Joe voted for the Iraq War.

    I feel like really if you set aside all the charges about Joe Biden then you’re left with a guy who greenlit the Iraq War while chairing the foreign relations committee, has apologized for his earlier work chairing judiciary, and was known as a top ally for credit card companies.




    The Iraq War continues.   The never-ending wars continue.  The Defense Dept budget is a sink hole and Americans have less and less to show for their way of life as a result.


    From David DeGraw:
    Google has once again pulled my new report from their search results. This is the second report on whistleblowers being silenced that they have censored. The first report eventually got relisted after making noise about it on social media. Let's see what happens with this one...

    Please help spread the word on Twitter here and Facebook here.
    Get the full 45-page report in PDF format here and as MS Word doc here.

    ~*~

    As you can see from these extensive reports, I have been working hard to uncover vital information on this critical National Security issue. All of this work is done independently and it is 100% reader-funded. If you appreciate my work and want to see more of it, now is the time to step up in support.
    Very Grateful for all the much needed support,
    ~ David
    Please forward this e-mail to friends >>
    Social Media Links: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
    ~*~
    If you appreciate my work, please subscribe or make a one-time donation. Every dollar helps keep me reporting...
    Here's a section of David's report:

    Blow the whistle on fraud and the Defense Contract Audit Agency will accuse you of being a mentally ill terrorist.

    When you look into Whistleblower cases, there are many reoccurring themes. To get a more in-depth understanding of what whistleblowers are up against, in one of the very rare cases when American taxpayers were able to get justice, Kirk McGill, who was a Senior Auditor for the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), blew the whistle on a $433 million contract.
    After spending over two years battling against many retaliation attacks, which led to his demotion, involuntary transfer, unpaid suspension, character assassination and eventual resignation, McGill summed up his nightmare in dealing with the DOD IG, the office that handles DOD whistleblower complaints, by saying:
      "A number of my colleagues and superiors told me that attempting to contact DOD IG as a whistleblower was futile, and they have been proven totally correct."
      "It is clear that DOD IG is either one of the most incompetent investigative agencies in the history of that profession, or is deliberately being obtuse."
      "As noted repeatedly, DOD IG was told in a disclosure that DCAA IRD [Internal Review Directorate] was compromised."
      "Yet, despite this fact, DOD IG continued to refer complaints to IRD as if nothing was wrong. In doing so, DOD IG handed the very people that were retaliating against me, related to the whistleblower disclosures, specific details of the allegations I was making against them."
      "Even Inspector Clouseau would recognize that something is wrong with this picture."
    After the DOD IG referred McGill's case to the DCAA IRD, the DCAA IRD then engaged in a series of highly scandalous actions in attempts to discredit and silence McGill. They even falsely accused him of being a terrorist who wanted to blow up the Capitol Building, and they also made false accusations that he was mentally ill.
    A Wikipedia page featuring information about McGill's case was vandalized and derogatory comments smearing his reputation were added to the website. The IP address that made those "edits" to the Wikipedia entry came from internal DCAA servers.
    In addition to all of that, McGill's social media accounts were hacked.
    Keep in mind, this all happened to a Senior DOD Auditor for the Defense Contract Audit Agency who was vindicated after multiple Congressional hearings.
    As a military spending auditor, in this case alone, McGill saved American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, and this is how the DOD IG and Defense Contract Audit Agency, who oversee trillions of tax dollars, tried to silence him.
    It took McGill over 10,000 hours of work, two trips to Washington D.C. and incredible personal costs — while under constant intimidation and retaliation attacks, which ultimately led to him resigning — to eventually get justice for American taxpayers.
    How many people in the military have the time or money needed to pull that off?
    McGill's heroic battle featured common obstacles that many DOD whistleblowers face. In a letter to Congress, McGill further highlighted the DOD IG's systemic failure to protect whistleblowers:
      "DOD IG closed this allegation without discussing the matter with me directly in any way. It then either closed or referred every complaint (with two exceptions) right back to DCAA-IRD.
      "I do not believe that any faith can be placed in DOD IG if it passes the buck to the very people accused of the misconduct in question, putting them on notice of exactly what they are accused of, and who did the accusing."
      "Frankly, DOD IG's conduct is, in and of itself, worthy of Congressional attention and possible action; no whistleblower with two brain cells to rub together would trust the DOD IG after this conduct, and that should seriously concern the Congress that relies on such whistleblowers to uncover Executive Branch misconduct."
    Not surprisingly, with the DOD IG working in partnership with agencies and officials who are being accused of corruption and crimes, there are now a record number of whistleblowers who have been retaliated against and silenced.
    ~ This is an excerpt from my latest extensive report, which takes an in-depth look into critical systemic breakdowns throughout the whistleblowing process.
    This excerpt was posted to Facebook here.

    (Read Full Report Here)

    ~*~



    Money for destruction but not to help people.


    1. We need a to take the trillions of dollars spent on regime change wars and the nuclear arms race and invest them to meet the needs of the American people. Otherwise, we can't even ensure our most vulnerable communities have clean water following a disaster.



    In other developments . . .

    The majority of Provincial Council members have voted for autonomy, head of the council revealed & adding that they also have sent an an official letter to PM Adil Abdul-Mahdi and the Independent High Electoral Commission for support.






    The following sites updated:





  • Jay Conner can't stop head sniffing Jussie Smollett

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    EMPIRE is still struggling in the ratings.   Serves them right.  They should have fired notorious hoaxer Jussie Smollett.  Some outlets are trying to insist the show is rebounding!  It's up 10%!

    Well, it was at a record low so let's not like a tiny increase is a hit.  And it's up 9% but lie by 1% if it makes you feel better.  From The Futon Critic:



    Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
    +20.00% - Whiskey Cavalier
    +14.29% - Single Parents (vs. 3/20/19)
    +11.11% - Star
    +9.09% - Empire
    0.00% - Survivor: Edge of Extinction
    0.00% - Modern Family (vs. 3/20/19)
    0.00% - SEAL Team
    -8.33% - Chicago Fire
    -8.33% - The Goldbergs (vs. 3/20/19)
    -9.09% - Chicago PD
    -11.11% - Schooled (vs. 3/20/19)
    -16.67% - Chicago Med
    -20.00% - Million Dollar Mile
    -33.33% - Jane the Virgin



    Meanwhile crazy Taraji P. Henson is going around telling people that Jussie will be back on season six.

    He'll be back?

    Doesn't Fox first have to announce that the show is being renewed?  And Fox hasn't announced that yet.

    The Grio reports on Chicago's new mayor and Jussie:


    Chicago’s new mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot is tackling the Jussie Smollett controversy head-on just a day after being elected into office and she isn’t letting the Cook County State’s Attorney off the hook for dropping the 16-count felony charges against the Empire actor.
    Lightfoot, who made history as the first Black woman and the first openly gay woman elected to the office of mayor in the third-largest U.S. city, expects the state’s top prosecutor Kim Foxx to provide a full explanation that offers more insight into her decision to suspend prosecuting Smollett in an alleged fake hate crime attack, reports The Wrap.
    “The State’s Attorney’s office here which made the decision unilaterally to drop the charges has to give a much more fulsome explanation,” Lightfoot said during an interview with Craig Melvin on MSNBC Wednesday.
    “We cannot create the perception that if you’re rich or famous or both that you got one set of justice — and for everybody else it’s something much harsher. That won’t do and we need to make sure that we have a criminal justice system that has integrity.”




    Meanwhile, Jay Conner is an idiot.  Writing for The Root's Grapevine, he actually typed the following today:


    As we’ve previously reported:
    Dismissing the fact Smollett has been cleared of all charges, the mayor is seeking $130,000 owed to the city, still accusing the actor-singer of an alleged hate crime hoax.
    “The police are right now finalizing the cost that was used, police resources, to come to the understanding this was a hoax and not a real hate crime,” said Emanuel, according to the Chicago Tribune. “What we spent. The corporation counsel, once they have it finalized and feel good about the numbers, will then send a letter to Jussie Smollett and his attorneys, trying to recoup those costs for the city.”

    Well, true to his word,


    Jay Conner lies and lies big.  They didn't report that, they misreported it.

    Jussie was not cleared of anything.

    We covered that all last week here and, at THIRD, we did it in "Jussie was never 'cleared:"


    Jussie Smollett has neither been “found innocent” nor “exonerated” for filing an untrue police report that he was the victim of a hate crime, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said in a commentary she wrote Saturday for theChicago Tribune.
    “There was considerable evidence, uncovered in large part due to the investigative work of the Chicago Police Department, suggesting that portions of Smollett’s claims may have been untrue and that he had direct contact with his so-called attackers,” Foxx wrote.



    He was not found innocent. he was not exonerated.  So when Jussie claims he was "cleared," he was not.




    When Taraji P. Henson declares, "Thank God the truth prevailed," she's got a loose grasp on the facts.



    Jay Conner's a damn fool and a damn liar.



    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

     
    Thursday, April 4, 2019.  More women come forward to speak about Joe Biden groping them, Joe offers a justification and much more.



    On sale now via ActBlue. Creepy Joe 2020!





    Former US Vice President and former US Senator Joe Biden released a video announcement yesterday.  We'll get to it.  I don't have time to watch every video in the world and rarely do.  If I'm watching the news, I'm 'watching,' meaning I'm reading and listening.  I'll watch if it's something Ava and I'll be covering at THIRD, otherwise, I am multi-tasking.  I bring that up because several videos were mentioned yesterday by college students we spoke with about the war.

    Joe Biden is a natural topic in these discussions.  He's planning to announce that he's running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.  In typical Gaffe Prone Joe, he actually already announced last month only to grasp his words moments after he said them and then pull them back.  Can't have spontaneity, everything must be part of the master plan!

    Joe Biden supported the Iraq War as a US senator. He promoted the concept of splitting Iraq into three sepearate governments -- a federation.  While Barack Obama was president (January 2009 through January 2017), Joe Biden represented the US government on and in Iraq.  Barack put him over Iraq.

    So any discussion of ongoing wars is going to include Joe.

    But Goping Biden has been the topic the students ha e raised all week.  Yesterday was pretty much the same except several students wanted to discuss specific videos, videos of Joe with children.  I had not seen those videos before.  Boundary-free Biden needs to grasp right now -- whether he runs for president or not -- that his hands do not belong on little girl's chests.  In two different videos, a person could argue that it looks like he's rubbing/touching the girls' nipples.  Is he doing that?  I hope to hell not.  But the videos do beg that question.

    From this day forward, he needs to never again touch a little girl's chest while 'supporting' their parents in some form.  It is disgusting and it is outrageous.  There is very real anger at Joe Biden this week and his little video yesterday did not help him.

    I will say here what I said to the students who showed the videos.  I have known Joe to be a nice person.  I have never heard a whisper about him and any child -- male or female.  I have known him to be a good parent to his sons.  I would be surprised if Joe had any intention to do anything untoward to children.  But those videos are gross and that behavior is not 'presidential.'  He needs to stop touching little girls to begin with but his hands do not ever, ever need to go to a little girl's chest again.  It is gross and it is disgusting.

    I also explained that former US House Rep Bob Filner (also former mayor) is someone I still have great love for.  I was shocked when the women came forward to speak against him.  I said when they came forward that they had every right to speak and be heard.  They spoke of a Bob I did not know.  And I thought I knew him very well.  As I've noted here many times, that moment made really clear that if we're not there we need to shut up.  I am very glad that I wrote what I did before Bob confessed.  I am glad I didn't Alyssa Milano him -- cover for him and insist that he couldn't be guilty because blah blah blah.  As I know Joe, he couldn't do anything to children.  But I'm not around Joe twenty-four seven and watching the videos the students showed -- CSPN footage on one -- I do understand how someone could interpret them the way the bulk of the students did.

    Joe needs to do a sit down interview and the interviewer needs to show him video of his hands on the chests of little girls, of his hands moving around on the chests of little girls.  And Joe needs to state he will never touch that area on a little girl again.  This is so grotesque and so outrageous.  And disgusting.  It is uncomfortable to watch.  And no one should have to watch it because it never should have happened.

    Here is the video Joe released yesterday, via NBC NEWS.




    He doesn't need "to make a human connection" with children.  He needs to keep his hands off them.

    In the two minute video, he speaks a lot about himself and offers a hell of a lot of justifications.

    He does not, however, manage to utter the words "I'm sorry" or "I made a mistake and I apologize."

    I find the video to be utter crap.  Joe needs a better team if they think that was gong to cut it.  It's not going to.

    Joe keeps presenting himself as the champion of women and Alyssa Milano's howring whatever is left of her I-was-a-TV-celebrity-decades-ago reputation on this.  Joe is not a champion of women.  He failed women in the Thomas-Hill hearings.  I can remember a woman who will not -- will not! -- be endorsing Joe publicly, I can remember her crying in the halls of Congress over Joe's behavior with a Bully Boy Bush Supreme Court nominee (who was then confirmed).  I don't care how many times some bra-less airhead Alyssa insists otherwise, Joe is not a champion of women.  A champion of women does not do to Anita Hill what Joe did.  And a champion of women does not have one or two pieces of legislation to point to.  Not when they've spent decades -- decades! -- in the US Senate.

    Prior to this issue -- the groping -- becoming a focus, Joe was on his Non-Apology Tour.  He was talking about Anita Hill and how he wronged her.  Or hinting around it.  But he didn't say the words "I'm sorry."  Just like he didn't offer an apology in that two minute video.

    Caitlyn Caruso is one of the four women who have publicly spoken out about Joe's groping.  


    As Biden considers launching a presidential campaign for 2020, Caruso said his “mistreatment of Anita Hill” is what people should consider when it comes to determining whether he’s qualified to run.
    Amid the Me Too movement, there has been renewed criticism of Biden’s handling of law professor Hill’s testimony during the 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Clarence Thomas. Biden has expressed regret for the treatment Hill received at the time, although Hill has called this insufficient because he did not directly address his own role in the matter.  

    “If we’re really centering sexual assault survivors, we have to make sure we recognize why he made this whole movement of ‘It’s On Us,’” Caruso said, referring to Biden’s initiative aiming to end sexual assault. “What is he making up for? And that is his mistreatment of Anita Hill in ’91.” 

    Before the groping became a focus in the press, people were already calling Joe out on his refusal to apologize to Anita Hill.

    Come on . Just CALL Anita Hill and then GO TO HER HOUSE and APOLOGIZE to her FACE. The longer you wait the worse it gets.







    Wednesday’s video didn’t significantly depart from that “hey, I’m just like this” defense. And it’s unlikely to convince many of those who have criticized Biden for his behavior that Uncle Joe should be forgiven for bringing creepy and inappropriate invasions of personal space that were condoned in his youth into 21st century politics. But the video serves its purpose brilliantly. It was written and filmed for his base, the disproportionately older Democrats who might identify more with a well-meaning man caught in the crossfire of fast-changing social norms than with the people trying to change them.      


    And the four women who have come forward?  It's now seven.  Rebecca Falconer (AXIOS) explains:


    Another 3 women came forward to say they had uncomfortable encounters with former Vice President Biden, The Washington Post first reported Wednesday night, bringing the total number of accusers to 7.
    Details: Vail Kohnert-Yount, Sofie Karasek and Ally Coll told WashPost Biden had touched them in ways that made them feel uncomfortable.

    Sophie Weiner (SPLINTER NEWS) notes:

    In response to the video Biden posted earlier today, in which he said he will change his behavior, Kohnert-Yount emailed the Post.
    “I appreciate his attempt to do better in the future, but to me this is not mainly about whether Joe Biden has adequate respect for personal space. It’s about women deserving equal respect in the workplace,” she wrote.


    We've had to spend every day this week on Joe Biden.  It fits, he's one of the reasons the Iraq War started and certainly a reason it continues.  His behavior is important for that reason alone.  In addition, I'm a feminist so that makes it important as well.  But those of you buying into Alyssa Milano's warped view better grasp that I'm not in a bubble.  I knew Donald Trump was going to win the election and said so in September.  I knew that because I was not in the bubble.  I'm not laying around my pool ll day.  I am out in the country speaking out against these never-ending wars to various groups and I'm hearing what they are saying.

    The video Joe made is going to do very little because he's already taken a hit and what he needed was a video that included an apology.  This is a very real issue and it is not going away because of his video yesterday.  If you think that, you're in for some surprises.

    If Joe declares he's running, the issue may be put on hold because he's forced to answer serious questions about his role in the rise of ISIS -- chief among them, supporting Nouri al-Maliki for a second term (when ISIS took hold) after the Iraq people voted Nouri out of office (the US-negotiated Erbil Agreement overturned the vote of the people).



    Search results
    What the US needs to do in order to prevent a new ISIS in Iraq





    ISIS is a bigger issue today than it was when Joe was vice president.  The world has a more clearly defined view of the terrorist organization.  Biden's role in its growth is not a non-issue.

    In other news . . .


    Saudi Arabia gives Iraq $1 billion grant: state TV citing minister





    When you think of the poor countries where people starve it is flat out offensive that Iraq is getting a billion dollar grant.  More offensive is that oil-rich Iraq needs that money -- or the people do -- because Iraqi officials keep stealing the money of the people.

    Joe Biden was a US Senator and he was a vice president and yet he mainly advocated backing every fraud and theif in the Iraqi government.  (We attended the hearing where he didn't do so and it was the most poorly attended hearing -- by the press -- I've ever been at.  If Joe declares, we will be touching on that earlier reporting a lot.)


    The following sites updated:





  • Don't trust her

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    Democracy Now! and Amy Goodman are both full of it.  It's good to see them called out.

    1. Amy are you now in alignment with the "Western alliance"? I know you understand that most of us from global South see NATO as an instrument of imperialist white supremacy. Folks ask why Amy didn't bring those of us who were protesting NATO on the show.
    2. Amy Goodman, why are you bringing people on your program who provide legitimacy to NATO? Why do you continue to side with the liberal bourgeoisie on these issues? What is going on with Democracy Now?



    Why? Because she's a fake ass.  That became clear when Barack became president.  She offered nothing but excuses and a blind eye for him.  And she championed the war on Libya with one-sided pro-war coverage.

    She is not to be trusted.  She has demonstrated that repeatedly.


    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

     
    Monday, April 8, 2019.  Flooding in Iraq, Moqtada's back, more US troops to be deployed to Iraq and Cobra Joe mocks the women he made uncomfortable.


    how have recent changes in water management in southern Iraq influenced the severity of the recent floods?
     
     


     
     


    : Iraqi Red Crescent: Displacement Of More Than 270 Families From Their Houses That Affected By Floods In Salah Al-din Districts
     
     



    Heartbreaking video of a woman in south Iraq bewailing the loss of her annual crops due to severe flooding.
    1,329 views
    0:07 / 0:36
    0:29
    1,329 views
     
     




    The flooding in Iraq continues -- with no US media coverage.  ALSUMARIA has a photo essay here.  They have a video here and note that the Baquba orchids could be at risk.  RUDAW notes:


    High water from heavy rains and overspill from Dukan Dam has swept away tourism infrastructure along the Little Zab River. Further downstream, hundreds of people have been evacuated and aid agencies report problems accessing flooded areas.

    Water in the Dukan Dam reservoir reached the bell-mouth spillway this week, for just the second time since the dam was constructed in 1959. Riverside streets are flooded and the town of Dukan has told people to avoid the area.

    “We have instructed people not to use the road until the water level decreases. The manager of the dam in coordination with Baghdad and Erbil is releasing the dam's water. It’s them giving the orders and we are here on full alert,” Mayor Sirwan Sarhad said.

    The high waters have also brought snakes.



    The European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations notes, "The recent floods along the Tigris River and its effluent overflow have caused displacement of people and damage across several areas of Iraq, with Salah governorate being the worst hit. As of 8 April, according to Iraqi Red Crescent, at least 270 families have been displaced in Salah, while 60 houses have been flooded. For the next 24 hours, moderate rainfall is forecast over central-western regions of the country."


    In other news, ALSUMARIA reports that Shi'ite politician Ayad Allawi has given conditional support to the call for Basra to become a semi-autonomous province.  Allawi also noted his support on his Twitter feed.


    is ailing from corruption and this epidemic must be ended. Although in principle we do not oppose regionalism, there must: be solid institutions in place to protect the respective authorities; laws to control their performance; and their powers must be ratified.
     
     
    هل سيعالج انشاء الاقليم اساس المشكلة ويضع حداً لسوء التخطيط والادارة وهدر المال من حيث المبدأ، لا نُعارض إقامة الإقليم شرط وجود مؤسسات رصينة تحميه وقوانين واضحة تضبط اداءه وتحدد صلاحياته المكلومة بحاجة اليوم لعملية عاجلةتستأصل الغدد السرطانية التي خلفها وباء فيها
     
     


    Ayad Allawi led Iraqiya in 2010, the year it won the elections.  Nouri al-Maliki, having lost, refused to step down as prime minister.  An eight month political stalemate ended with the US negotiated Erbil Agreement which gave Nouri a second term that he did not earn.  The will of the voters was thwarted and then-Vice President Joe Biden told a stupid analogy about Ireland (that was stupid and non-applicable).  If the US government ever wanted democracy in Iraq, it would have backed the 2010 election results.  Instead, they backed Nouri and saw the rise of ISIS in response to Nouri's actions.

    While Allawi is backing the independence of Basra (conditionally), Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr is not.  After several months in Lebanon, Moqtada has returned to Iraq and he's calling out Basra's call to become semi-independent of the Baghdad-based government -- semi-autonomy similar to the KRG.



    The speech of Iraqi leader Al- Sayyid Muqtada Al-Sadr about (the callers for regions) on 7/4/2019 تغريدة الزعيم العراقي السيد مقتدى الصدر اعزه الله حول (دعاة الاقاليم) .. الاحد 7 / 4 / 2019


    The speech of Iraqi leader Al- Sayyid Muqtada Al-Sadr about (the callers for regions) on 7/4/2019 تغريدة الزعيم العراقي السيد مقتدى الصدر اعزه الله حول (دعاة الاقاليم) .. الاحد 7 / 4 / 2019



    Saturday, REUTERS reported:

    Iran’s top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iraq on Saturday to demand U.S. troops leave “as soon as possible”, during a visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi that showed off Tehran’s strong influence in Baghdad despite U.S. pressure.

    RUDAW noted:

    Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iraq’s Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi to remove US forces from Iraq as soon as possible and to reject closer relations with Tehran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia.

    “You should take necessary measures so that the US will withdraw its troops from Iraq as soon as possible; because in any country where US maintained an enduring military presence, the process of expelling them became more complicated and problematic,” Khamenei told the Iraqi PM, according to a statement on his website.

    There are roughly 5,200 US troops stationed in Iraq – officially invited back by the Iraqi government in 2014 to advise and train local forces in the fight against the Islamic State group (ISIS).

    Shiite parties in Baghdad which enjoy close ties with Tehran have persistently called for a full US withdrawal, accusing Washington of treating Iraq like a colony



     This as Matthew Cox (MILITARY TIMES) reports:


    The Army will deploy the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, out of Fort Wainwright, Alaska, to replace the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team in support of Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq, according to another news release.

    "We are privileged to be joining the international coalition that will defeat ISIS and set conditions for increased regional stability," Col. Matthew Brown, commander of the 1st SBCT, said in the release, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. "The Arctic Wolves are trained, equipped and exceptionally well led. ... The brigade has readied itself for any mission."


    Staying in the US, Joe Biden, on Friday, mocked those who felt uncomfortable with his groping.




    .: In most cases if you're a public figure being accused by women of inappropriate touching the last thing you want to do is make any kind of joke about inappropriate touching. Joe Biden today made two."
    6:16
    37.8K views


    So the notion of consent is now to be mocked?


    Same reason he's drawing out the announcement of his presidential run. Forcing people to wait is a power move. It's about showing that you can get away with stuff other people can't.
     
     
  • I think Biden touches women in weird and unsettling ways for the same reason he made trolling jokes about it later: It's a power move and he gets a rise out of little displays of dominance that people, especially women, can't do anything about.
     
     
  • Biden keeps insisting that people are objecting to handshakes and hugs. But, as we see in this video, the woman is very happy to shake his hand. It's when he tries, like a weird creep, to grab her face that she flinches.
     
     



    Link to headline article

    Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet reacts to former Vice President Joe Biden joking about physical contact in his first speech since allegations he made women uncomfortable: "I do not think anyone should make jokes about it"
    1:01
    163K views
     
     




    The men who are bothered by the response to Biden should be asking themselves why their desire to hug women without asking trumps women’s desire to feel respected.
     
     
  • Again, it’s this idea that women are only allowed to complain about the “monsters.” That anything not rising to the level of rape or violence is unimportant.
     
     
  • “Why are we talking about this thing that women care about and impacts their daily lives?”
     
     
  • This this this
     
     
  • When women talk about the every day indignities we face - the too close hugs, the shoulder rubs - a huge hurdle is the fear that we'll be accused of overreacting. That we'll be laughed at. Biden is proving that fear correct.
     
     


    New content at THIRD:

    Green

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    1. To ensure Free Speech and security, I guess I need to put my website on an Iceland server. The only country left where speech is really free??
    2. To ensure Free Speech and security, I guess I need to put my website on an Iceland host. The only country left where speech is really free??


    Cynthia McKinney, former US House Rep. and the 2008 Green Party presidential debate.  In 2020?  No one knows yet but Dario Hunter is seeking the nomination.


    Link to headline article



    1. If not my vote will go to of the
    2. U.S. presidential candidate Rabbi Dario Hunter, on his Building Bridges Tour through Israel-Palestine, meets with Hadash campaign manager Reem Hazzan in Haifa. Which party is Dario Hunter a member of? The Green Party of the U.S., of course.
    3. Probably Ian Schlakman but close 2nd is Dario Hunter, of the Dems (a political party I hate) Gravel followed by Gabbard



    1. Dario Hunter& Ian Schlakman are the 2 Green Party candidates I'm interested in so far, there are 3 possibly 4 candidates in that race total. If the DNC lets Gabbard or Sanders get the nomination I'll consider them, wish Gravel wanted the Nom-he's closer to Schlakman in platform.


    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Tuesday, April 9, 2019.  Iraq gets some attention from the US press as a 'fact checker' attempts to attack Beto O'Rourke,  fat ass Jill Filipovic goes all nasty on Tulsi Gabbard, and much more.


    Our thoughts are with the families of the three service members killed today in Afghanistan.






    Three more lives lost in the endless wars.

    That's the reality and reality scares a lot of people.  The laughable Glenn Kessler at THE WASHINGTON POST is scared by these remarks by Beto O'Rourke:


    “And then if we really mean it, if we really mean it, we will ensure that this country does not start yet another war before every peaceful, diplomatic, nonviolent alternative is explored and pursued. And those wars that we ask our fellow Americans, these service members to fight on our behalf, 17 years and counting in Afghanistan, 27 years and counting in Iraq, let’s bring these wars to a close and bring these service members back home to their families, to their communities and to their country.”
    — Former congressman Beto O’Rourke (D) in El Paso on March 30, 2019

    “Do we really want to fight wars forever? Twenty-seven years in Iraq, 18 years, almost, in Afghanistan and counting with no definition or strategy or end in sight. Trillions of dollars we are spending to fight and to rebuild countries that we’ve invaded.” 
    — O’Rourke in Ames, Iowa, on April 3
    “Given what others are already sacrificing in this country, men and women who are deployed right now in wars that have gone for 17, 27 years in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

    — O’Rourke in Storm Lake, Iowa, on April 5


    Glenn sets out to destroy Beto because that's what Glenn does.

    Liars keep wars going and there's no bigger liar in the world than Glenn Kessler.  He disputes the timeline that Beto offers -- though he does note it's the same one the Air Force's vice chief of staff Gen Stephen W. Wilson has offered in Congressional testimony.

    Little Glenn knows so much better than everyone, doesn't he?

    Which is why his timeline includes -- oh, wait, it doesn't include the sanctions during the Clinton presidency that killed over a half million.



    Mad Maddie Albright, taking a moment from feeding on the bones of the dead to declare that "the price is worth it."

    It's a funny sort of timeline that fails to note the long, long war the US government has carried out on Iraq.

    Of course, Glenn being the whore he is, he pretends that troops left in 2011.

    They didn't.

    Dropping back to the December 12, 2011 snapshot:

    US House Rep Ron Paul: Well -- well I want to -- extend the tax cut, because if you don't, you raise the taxes.  But I want to pay for it.  And it's not that difficult.  In my proposal, in my budget, I want to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from overseas.  The trust fund is gone.  But how are we gonna restore it?  We have to quit the spending.  We have to quit this being the policemen of the world.  We don't need another war in Syria and another war in Iran.  Just get rid of the embassy in Baghdad.  We're pretending we're coming home from Baghdad.  We built an embassy there that cost a billion dollars and we're putting 17,000 contractors in there and pretending our troops are coming home. 
    Yes, a lot of people want to pretend things are different than they actually are. It was an important point -- made by someone who truly was against the Iraq War.  And one of the few functioning members of the press noted that on yesterday's Meet The Press (NBC).
    Ted Koppel: The point is Ron Paul was almost right last night.  You remember, and it was one of the overlooked points in the debate, he spoke of the 17,000, he spoke about civilian contractors who are still in Iraq.  We do have 17,000 people still in Iraq.  They're not all civilian contractors, but a great many of them are.  You've got a consulate in Basra, a consulate in Erbil.  The one in Basra is just less than 20 miles from the Iranian border; 1,320 Americans down there.  They are rocketed two or three times a week. They are about as vulnerable as any Americans have been since 1979 at the embassy in Tehran.  And if they were to be frontally attacked, and I'm suggesting that that's not unlikely at all, you're going to see the U.S. military come back in.  Because, while the ambassador said, "No, no, no, we're going to rely on the Iraqis to do the job," there is no way that the U.S. military will wait for the Iraqis to save those Americans, and they're going to need saving.
    Also on Meet The Press, they highlighted a small segment of an interview Ted did with US Ambassador James Jeffery as part of a report to air tonight on Rock Center (NBC):
    MR. KOPPEL:  I realize you can't go into it in any detail, but I would assume that there is a healthy CIA mission here.  I would assume that JSOC may still be active in this country, the joint special operations.  You've got FBI here. You've got DEA here.  Can, can you give me sort of a, a menu of, of who all falls under your control?
    AMB.  JAMES JEFFREY:  You're actually doing pretty well, were I authorized to talk about half of this stuff.
    Yes, the CIA will still be there (and in a new subdivision in Turkey) and so will Special Ops.  And this has been addressed.  But there aren't a lot of grown ups in the press.  When Ted left Nightline, it wasn't just that program that suffered, it was the quality of news.
    Rock Center airs tonight at 10:00 pm. EST and Pacific, 9:00 pm Central.  Rock Center's Tom Bettag notes of Ted Koppel's report tonight:
    But is America really leaving? Many people have the impression that the U.S. presence -- and U.S. government spending -- is finally ending in Iraq.  Koppel makes it clear that this is far from the truth.
    He tells the story of some 16,000 people who will be left behind. Koppel and his team obtained extraordinary access to the U.S. embassy, the largest embassy in the world, with a footprint the size of Vatican City.  He also traveled to the U.S. consulate in Basra, which faces regular rocket attacks from Iranian-funded militia.
    For them, it isn't over; it's just about to begin.

    So grown ups should tune in to Rock Center tonight on NBC.

    It's a little late in the game for the self-declared fact checker Glenn Kessler to pretend that Ted Koppel and his reporting never existed.  But liars lie.

    Awhile back, Beto was a press darling.  Less so today.  What changed?  He's speaking about real issues.  This is the second wave of press attacks on him regarding Iraq.  If Beto would be part of the war machine, the press would give him the sloppy, open mouthed kiss they do Joe Biden.  While the press enthusiasm wanes, Beto is reaching voters.  There's more enthusiasm for him than any other candidate besides Bernie Sanders to the groups we're speaking to.  Will be heading to campuses in the south over the next few weeks and it will be interesting to see if he has support there as well.  But he is very popular with college students and one of the reasons is because he talks seriously about issues like the never-ending wars.

    Our infrastructure is crumbling. We need leadership that puts , to end regime change wars, the new Cold War and arms race, and keep the money in people’s pockets and/or rebuild our country’s bridges, airports, roads, sewer lines, etc.






    US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard is correct that we can't pour all the money into these endless wars and still be able to take care of the infrastructure here at home.  Tulsi is also running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.








    Tulsi has a following on campuses.  It would be larger -- and will probably increase with the debates -- were some not so eager to smear her.


    Hilarious. wrote a whole column about how young female candidates aren't taken seriously, whereas young male candidates like 37-year-old Mayor Pete get celebrated. She brings up Tulsi, but only to dismiss her. Tulsi is the same age as Pete







    Jill's not really a feminist.  She's a whore and a lot worse. I need to disclose, as I have noted many times before, that she asked Rebecca for links and promised them back but never delivered.  That's a whore, that's a bitch, that's a liar.  If I were Cher, I'd trot out the c-word.  I have no respect for her.  While people were protesting the Iraq War what was Jill doing?  Oh, yeah, her elitist ass was on a beach posting bikini photos of herself.  Oh, Jill, you're a woman, that doesn't make you a feminist.  You've never addressed war and peace in any serious context.  You're the ESQUIRE do-me feminism of the 90s, push-up bra supplied on demand.

    She's not going to take Tulsi seriously because Tulsi stands for real issues and Jill stands for nothing.  Post some more T&A photos, Jill!  That's about what you can handle as you pose as a feminist.

    If your scope of the suffering women endure does not include war, you're really not a feminist.  In fact, I doubt you have a fully functioning brain.  In any war zone, women and girls suffer even more.

    She's a homely piece of trash who should have her jaw fixed before posing for attempted beauty shots.  She's completing her in depth series on tipping.  Yes, first world problems, that's all the fake ass can manage.  War and peace?  Her brain doesn't function on that level.

    People say I'm a bitch -- I agree, by the way -- but I'm a bitch who has used her time online to focus on serious issues.  I'm appalled frequently by the fact that so many other feminists online think doing a gossipy and glossy pop culture scope means they've done heavy lifting.  They haven't.

    (I'm also aware that a lot of serious feminist bloggers left the online world in 2008 due to the attacks on all of us who called out the sexism aimed at Hillary.  I understand that was upsetting to many.  It didn't bother me because I don't seek out support and love.  On any set, I'm always  more comfortable if the director hates my guts than if he or she likes me. I can do my work there -- or online -- just fine if I don't have to worry about the expectations of others.  But a lot of women left because of the abuse and the threats of 2008.  I miss many of them -- especially Delilah Boyd.)

    A lot of women -- Jill and Samantha Bee, to name only two -- are working overtime to assist in the smearing of Tulsi.  She just finished her latest National Guard rotation a few days ago -- I guess that's how Samantha, Jill and the others 'honor' those who serve?

    Tulsi is real and that is what her supporters respond to.  The smears have made some people hesitant to support her but that's fine, we're early in the process and efforts like those have a way of forming stronger bonds between the candidates and their supporters.

    (It's called campaign politics -- poli sci, Jill, study it some time.)

    Still waiting for the US press to cover the flooding in Iraq.



    : Responding to the needs of the Directorate of Health in Missan following recent floods that hit the area, World Health Organization w/ generous support of donors, sent a consignment of emergency kits & medical supplies to support the Directorate 👉


    Though the end of winter and start of spring have brought seasonal floods here since ancient times, this spring has been severe in some areas of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan. ▶ NASAEarth






    Though the end of winter and start of spring have brought seasonal floods here since ancient times, this spring has been severe in some areas of Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Afghanistan.


    Iraq: Iraq: Floods - Mar 2019 -





    Press reports:The actions taken by the government in Iraq to hinder the flood in (Wasit) &(Missan)south of the country;are not practical especially after opening a gap west of the Tigris River on the pretext of absorbing the water;which will cause sinking of the villages there.









    Let's wind down with this from the Center for Constitutional Rights, about the Abu Ghraib trial being suspended:


    Judge Brinkema issued an order April 3 suspending our April 23 trial date; CACI is seeking an expedited appeal of the ruling that this for-profit contractor doesn't get "derivative sovereign immunity" for grave breaches of law.
    The next step is an expedited briefing in April and May, before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals – the 5th time this case goes to appellate court. We have fought to keep this case alive over the last 11 years of litigation. Our clients deserve justice and redress.
    Survivors deserve to have their stories heard and to see CACI held accountable for its role in torture and other human rights violations at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Justice requires truth and accountability. We will continue to fight. Stay tuned.
    Head to our case page for more information.
    The Center for Constitutional Rights and Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute pen joint submission to UN Special Repporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
    The Center for Constitutional Rights, in partnership with the Human Rights in the U.S. Project of the Columbia Law School (HRI), sent a submission March 29 to Professor Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.
    The submission is in response to the Special Rapporteur's request for input regarding what is known as the "Recognition, Institutionalization, and Accountability Framework" (RIA Framework) for Economic and Social Rights, a framework that outlines three crucial ingredients for the protection of social and economic rights to be realized: recognition, institutionalization, and accountability.
    In February, he asked for public input about what conditions and institutions have contributed to the success or stood in the way of the protection of economic and social rights for those living in poverty conditions.
    Our submission touches on four points: (1) how the lack of legal recognition and institutionalization of economic and social rights marginalizes individuals living in poverty; (2) recent federal efforts to penalize and deny permanent immigration status to individuals who seek basic social protections (i.e., the proposed public charge rule, which we oppose); (3) some promising local initiatives as a result of grassroots organizing; and (4) suggested actions to improve recognition and protection of economic and social rights, even in the absence of constitutional and legal recognition of these fundamental rights.
    The document can be read in full on our website.
    Upcoming events: "The Women of Cancer Alley" Freedom Flicks screening and more
    "The Women of Cancer Alley"
    Reminder to visit our website to stay up to date about our upcoming events. This month we’re excited to invite you to join us for two events:









    The following sites updated:





    People wise to Amy Goodman

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    I highlighted Ajamu Baraka's Tweet earlier this week but I just read the thread and it's got a lot of comments worth reading, so check it out.




    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

     
    Wednesday, April 10, 2019.  Remembering who launched fake news in the 21st century.


    Why is Congress voting to make it harder & more expensive for Americans to do their taxes? Follow the money. Special interests, PACs, & corporations continue to purchase legislation like this. It's time to put people over PACs, country over corporations.







    He is noting this article by Justin Elliott (PROPUBLICA) which opens:

    Just in time for Tax Day, the for-profit tax preparation industry is about to realize one of its long-sought goals. Congressional Democrats and Republicans are moving to permanently bar the IRS from creating a free electronic tax filing system.
    Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee, led by Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass.passed the Taxpayer First Act, a wide-ranging bill making several administrative changes to the IRS that is sponsored by Reps. John Lewis, D-Ga., and Mike Kelly, R-Pa.
    In one of its provisions, the bill makes it illegal for the IRS to create its own online system of tax filing. Companies like Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, and H&R Block have lobbied for years to block the IRS from creating such a system. If the tax agency created its own program, which would be similar to programs other developed countries have, it would threaten the industry’s profits.

    And we're opening with Beto again because of that hideous 'fact check' by Glenn Kessler (see yesterday's snapshot).

    The US government has been at war with Iraq through several administrations.  Beto noting this had Glenn in a tizzy.  It was time to whore and Glenn whored big but did so in a way that should make clear that the task of fact checking is far beyond his abilities.

    He confuses a drawdown with a withdrawal.  Having done so with regards to 2011, he then has Barack Obama sending troops back into Iraq in 2014.  Poor Glenn, as Nanci Griffith notes, it's a hard life wherever you go (first appears on her album STORMS).





    Glenn, the 'fact' checker, says Barack sent US troops back in when?  2014.  Strange though, Tim Arango (NEW YORK TIMES) reported September 25, 2012:


     
    Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq on training missions. At the request of the Iraqi government, according to General Caslen, a unit of Army Special Operations soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with intelligence.        


    Glenn whored big time.  On the Press Slut Meter (Glenn, a colleague of yours came up with that yesterday -- you should thank him), we'll give Glenn four dildos and a large, vibrating egg.

    Glenn isn't up to the task of fact checking but he rushed in because Beto was talking truth, that the current, ongoing war is a part of a larger war with Iraq that has gone on throughout one administration after another.  And you can be sure the Iraqi people are aware of that.  Glenn manages to be not only dishonest but also xenophobic.  Quite the hat trick, Glenn.  He disgraces himself and, as we've seen many times before when the press disgraces itself on Iraq (see the disgraced Micheal Kinsey trying to downplay The Downing Street Memo), it's attempting to distract the American people from the reality of the war.

    Grasp that the current wave of the war, which began with the 2003 invasion, could not have happened without the US press selling the Iraq War with one lie after another.  If you missed it War Whore Christiane Amanpour declared this month that journalism was being hurt by charges of fake news.  Whores like Christiane make those claims a lot -- they don't own up their Iraq War coverage -- which was nothing but fake news -- but they make those claims a lot.

    War whore enough and you'll be employed by CNN, ABC and PBS.  And you can use your posts -- as she has -- to advocate for war -- as she has.

    There was never any accountability for the lies the press told to start the Iraq War.  Judith Miller was made the sacrificial goat but she wasn't the only problem and, let's remember, Judith believed the lies herself.  Many who knew better repeated the lies.

    There was no reckoning for those lies, for that press failure.

    And Glenn shows up this week to lie about Iraq and will probably get away with it because that has been the pattern.  Hell, he'll probably be rewarded for it because that has been the pattern.  Lie about Iraq and you will have a long, long press career.

    Beto is running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination and talking truths about Iraq is resulting in some really ugly press.  (See March 30th's "Beto talks Iraq and Edward-Isaac Dover is in a tizzy.")  The truth must not be told on Iraq.  Were it to be told, the press whores might be held accountable.  Amanwhore couldn't hop on her high horse and blather on about how 'fake news' charges hurt her profession.  No, you stupid idiot, what hurts your profession is the whoring you've done.  And you deserve every criticism and more, people are dead because of your whoring.

    THE NATIONAL INTEREST notes:

    The war’s financial and human costs have been astronomical. Brown University’s “Costs of War” project contends that the United States spent over $800 billion in direct war appropriations in Iraq through 2016, with billions more having been requested since. Nearly eight thousand U.S. servicemembers and Department of Defense contractors were killed, with another thirty-two thousand wounded. Several hundred more NATO troops have perished alongside U.S. forces, amid the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and security personnel that were killed in combat and from war-related causes. In total, the death toll likely surpasses half a million.

    In Iraq, the flooding remains an issue.


    PM : We are monitoring closely developments in areas of Iraq affected by recent floods, and have mobilised resources to assist the communities impacted and help them recover. We are also acting to channel much of the flood waters to reservoirs.


  • PM holds his weekly press conference in Baghdad, briefs media on measures to support areas affected by recent floods, combating corruption and Iraq’s foreign relations.





    AFP reports:

    Iraq's water ministry sought on Tuesday to quell fears that dams could collapse, as the country's main water reservoirs reach or near capacity after a very wet winter.

    "We are in control of the dams and reservoir levels", said water ministry spokesman Aoun Diab.

    "We are not worried about their safety or stability," he told AFP.


    Weeks of rain — compounded by melting snowcaps in neighbouring Turkey and Iran — have almost filled Iraq's four central reservoirs and swelled its two main rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates.

    The Dukan reservoir in the northeast is holding more than its seven billion cubic metre capacity, with excess flowing out, Diab said.






    The following sites updated:




  • Empire struggles

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    So Modern Family did well last night with 4.8 million viewers. But everyone did not do so well:

    FOX | Empire (3.8 mil/1.1) and Star (3.2 mil/0.9) returned to series lows in the demo, with the former also drawing its smallest audience ever. 


    They really need to cancel Empire. Between Jussie Smollett and his hoax and Taraji P. Henson's tired ass and crazy eyes dragging everywhere to promote this movie bomb or that, the show's over. It's a soap opera and it has lost the huge audience it used to have. It's going into the sixth year and that means new contracts and raises. They really need to give it the axe. It probably won't do well in syndication -- prime time soap operas have not done well. Even Scandal's not doing well in syndication. Five seasons is enough, they have no storylines left.

    Boo Boo Kitty and Andre's first wife? The show really can't survive without them and hasn't. That was the height of the show, when Anyka (Boo Boo Kitty) was stalking Dre's pregnant wife and when she killed her? That was the biggest moment on the show. Nothing else has lived up to that. Stunt casting has not helped. The show runs on fumes.


    Probably one of the biggest problems with the show is Taraji. Has no one noticed that? It's a sausage fest. There are no regular female leads since Boo Boo left the show (she's now on The Gifted). And every season we get Cookie in love. It never adds up and it's really kind of insulting even for a soap opera. The show feels so last decade and there's a reason for it. It's a family of male low lifes arguing over who's going to be the worst.

    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Thursday, April 11, 2019.  Journalist Julian Assange has been arrested this morning in England as part of a continued attack on the press led by the US government.


    BBC NEWS reports:



    Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange has been arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London.
    Mr Assange took refuge in the embassy seven years ago to avoid extradition to Sweden over a sexual assault case that has since been dropped.
    The Met Police said he was arrested for failing to surrender to the court and following a US extradition request.



    The persecution continues.  This is an attack on the press and an attack on free speech.  Julian Assange is an Australian citizen.  Will the US government next go after Australia ABC's Kathy Bolwen and Robbie Buck?  What is the end point?  What is the drawn line?

    The ACLU released the following statement:

    APRIL 11, 2019
    NEW YORK — London authorities today arrestedWikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in relation to an extradition warrant on behalf of U.S. authorities.
    Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, issued the following comment in response:
    “Any prosecution by the United States of Mr. Assange for Wikileaks’ publishing operations would be unprecedented and unconstitutional, and would open the door to criminal investigations of other news organizations. Moreover, prosecuting a foreign publisher for violating U.S. secrecy laws would set an especially dangerous precedent for U.S. journalists, who routinely violate foreign secrecy laws to deliver information vital to the public's interest.

    Some reaction on Twitter:

    Replying to   

    The warrant is in regards to his work with Chelsea Manning, and the war crimes exposed. Chelsea was a U.S. Soldier, reporting on U.S. Crimes. How is that stolen by a "foreign advisory" ...? doesn't hack anything- it reports on information given to them.





    ‘Julian Assange exposed great crimes & now great crime committed against him’ - George Galloway — RT UK News
    If is holding more truth bombs, let them loose now!!!






    The government starts a multi million dollar war based on lies and engages in horrific war crimes and the guy who exposed it is the one in trouble. You’re living under an extremely rigged and corrupt system.











    Julian Assange arrested
    So much 4 . Injustice writ large is a symbol of  decline of democracy. Once were heroes. Australia govt did nothing! .


    Replying to  

    Julian Assange denunció al mundo las violaciones a los derechos humanos realizadas por EE.UU. en su invasión a Iraq y Afganistán de ahí la importancia de garantizar su vida e integridad. El Ecuador de Moreno no lo protegió. Aprendamos de la Historia






    I am in shock to see Julian Assange in the condition he is. A honourable man who disclosed the war crimes of the American army in Iraq and Afghanistan.






    Assange has been arrested in relation to a US extradition request for "conspiracy with Chelsea Manning" for publishing Iraq War Logs, Cablegate, Afghan War Logs,





    Julian Assange: The WikiLeaks Iraq War Logs.Greatest Data Leak in US Military History



    didn't just expose a few US war crimes in   &
    Not even dozens. Nor hundreds. It exposed thousands of war crimes committed by the rogue US state.

    The criminals go free, while is kidnapped









    Julian Assange of Wikileaks exposed the war crimes of the occupation in Iraq. The Apache crew shown here murdered the innocent like it's some sort of Playstation game.  The helicopter crew and G Bush should be arrested not Assange.



    He released the FACT that the US Army was bombing hospitals in Iraq and afterwards the troops laughing about it. If anything the US should arrest the Bush + Cheney gouvernement. But they aren’t for human rights






    In Iraq, the flooding continues to be a problem.





    Historic water levels at Iraq reservoirs and dams: officials – FRANCE 24







    AFP reports:

    In Samarra, north of Baghdad, water is being diverted into the natural reservoir at Tharthar Lake in amounts unseen in decades, said dam chief Kareem Hassan.
    "Today, the Tharthar barrage is seeing the highest levels of water passing through in its history," Hassan told AFP.
    "We haven't seen such levels pass through the structure since it was founded in 1956, so 63 years."
    The Dukan dam in the northeast also "had not witnessed water levels this high since 1988," said manager Hama Taher, calling on people living nearby to leave.




    Electricity posts in Iraq are made out of metal poles instead of wood, and many people die during floods when approaching them for higher ground. This Iraqi man is better than the government, he spends his own money to wrap every electricity post in his area to prevent deaths.









    Flood Displaces 5,000 Families in South of Iraq -





    Torrential rain triggers floods in , 21 killed, thousands evacuated



    0:18

    7,639 views







    The floods appear to have caught the Iraqi government yet again by surprise.  Even though this is seasonal, even though there were warnings weeks in advance (and we noted those here).  Does Iraq have an acting prime minister?  A functioning one?

    Abdul Mahdi still has not filled the security posts in his Cabinet.  He was supposed to have done that in October.  He got a pass -- despite the Iraqi Constitution.  Then it was, 'he'll fill those spots in a few weeks.'  That was six months ago.


    THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER's Jamie McIntyre observes:

    OPERATIONS CONTINUE TO ELIMINATE ISIS: The ISIS caliphate is history, but the battle to eliminate the terrorist group continues in Iraq and Syria. The U.S.-led coalition, officially named Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve, no longer conducts regular briefings, but it does issue a bi-weekly “strike summary,” which shows plenty of bombing is going on along with ground operations as ISIS continues to pose a threat in both countries.

    “Between March 24 - April 6, the U.S. and its coalition partners conducted 52 strikes against nearly 100 targets in Syria and Iraq,” according to the latest CJTF-OIR release.

    “In Syria, CJTF-OIR conducted 29 strikes consisting of 53 engagements, engaged 28 [ISIS] tactical units, and destroyed 72 vehicles, 17 fighting positions, 15 supply routes, and three vehicle borne improvised explosive devices,” said the summary. “In Iraq, CJTF-OIR conducted 23 strikes consisting of 45 engagements, engaged three [ISIS] tactical units, and destroyed seven tunnels, four supply routes, two buildings, two caves, one command and control center, and one compound.”


    Seems like a Minister of Defense would be necessary right now.  Last time the Ministry of Defense position was empty and the Ministry of Interior position was empty, what happened?  The rise of ISIS.


    The following sites updated:





















  • Questions for Kim Foxx

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    Kim Foxx is under pressure still for her nonsense with regards to dropping charges against Jussie Smollett -- after Michelle Obama's former staffer asked her to.  CWB Chicago has some questions that need to be answered:


    Why not give fulsome, honest answers to a few simple questions that are on many minds:
    • What was the basis for seeking an “emergency” hearing to resolve the Smollett case? 
    • Why were CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson and his department not given a heads up that charges were going to be dropped? 
    • Why did Foxx’s lead attorney on the case not object to the immediate sealing of the Smollett case records? 
    • Court researchers found that every other similar false report case handled by Foxx’s office since she took office resulted in a guilty plea. Why was Smollett's case the first to be handled differently?
    • If deferred prosecution was the prosecutor’s goal, why did her office not follow state guidelines for such actions, requiring Smollett to maintain a clean record and perform a specific amount of community service over several months or more? 
    • Why did she continually say that she had “recused” herself from the case due to potential conflicts of interest, only to later reveal that she never actually recused herself?  
    • Why did she resurrect the "recusal" talking point even after admitting that it wasn't factual?
    • Why, after she and her top lawyers insisted for days that the case was winnable and the police investigation solid, did Foxx write a newspaper op-ed in which she said the evidence was weak?

    Is Kim Foxx just as crooked as Jussie?  We will see.

    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Friday, April 12, 2019.  Lie about Iraq and get promoted or hired (Kevin Drum got hired by MOTHER JONES), tell the truth and get arrested like Julian Assange.


    Yesterday, the founder and publisher of WIKILEAKS, Julian Assange, was arrested in London.  Why?

    That's a multi-answer.  Some have cried "treason!"  Julian Assange is an Australian citizen, as such he cannot commit treason against the United States.  He is a publisher and the news he publishes makes the powerful uncomfortable.


    For the US government, the first extreme bit of discomfort came on Monday April 5, 2010, when WIKILEAKS released  military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two REUTERS journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh.  Not only was the US government responsible for that attack, they were responsible for the lies and the coverup that followed.  When WIKILEAKS published the video, the truth was known.


    Legal scholar Jonathan Turley (USA TODAY) explains:

    He is our property.” Those celebratory words of Sen. Joe Manchin (D, W.V.) came on CNN soon after the news of the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. It was a sentiment shared by virtually everyone in Washington from Congress to the intelligence services. Assange committed the unpardonable sins of embarrassing the establishment — from members of Congress to intelligence officials to the media. And he will now be punished for our sins. Despite having significant constitutional arguments to be made, it is likely that he will be stripped of those defenses and even barred from raising the overall context of his actions in federal court. What could be the most important free speech and free press case in our history could well be reduced to the scope and substance of an unauthorized computer access case.

    Moreover, he was doing something that is usually heralded in the media. He disclosed a massive and arguably unconstitutional surveillance program by the United States impacting virtually every citizen. He later published emails that showed that the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Hillary Clinton lied in various statements to the public, including the rigging of the primary for her nomination. No one has argued that any of these emails were false. They were embarrassing. Of course, there is not crime of embarrassing the establishment but that is merely a technicality.


    WSWS observes:

    For its part, the establishment media, which functions as an arm of the state, has jumped in to support the attack on Assange.
    On Thursday evening, the editorial boards of the New York Times and the Washington Post issued statements supporting Assange’s extradition. “The government charged Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, not with publishing classified government information, but with stealing it,” declared the New York Times, adding, “The administration has begun well by charging Mr. Assange with an indisputable crime.”
    The Washington Post was even more open in its support of the Trump administration’s campaign against Assange, declaring “Mr. Assange’s case could conclude as a victory for the rule of law, not the defeat for civil liberties of which his defenders mistakenly warn.”
    “Mr. Assange is not a free-press hero,” declares the Post. “Unlike real journalists, WikiLeaks dumped material into the public domain.” By the Post’s definition, the only “real journalists” are those that self-censor at the behest of the Pentagon.

    These newspapers, which once published the Pentagon Papers, are nothing but apologists for US imperialism. One can only imagine the howls of outrage that would issue from the media if it was the Russian government that had carried out the forcible seizure and arrest of a journalist and critic of its foreign policy!



    US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard, who is seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, Tweeted the following:


    Assange Arrest: The message is clear. To journalists and all Americans, if you try to take away our power, you will pay a high price.
     
     
    The purpose of arresting is to send a message to the people, especially journalists, to be quiet and don’t get out of line. If we, the people, allow the government to control us through fear, we are no longer free, we are no longer America.
     
     
    The arrest of is meant to send a message to all Americans and journalists: be quiet, behave, toe the line. Or you will pay the price.
     
     


    In their daily brief this morning, Human Rights Watch notes:



    The extradition of Julian Assange from the United Kingdom to the United States for alleged computer-related crimes could have dangerous implications for journalists in the digital age.


    I'm not at all surprised by this.


    Anonymous Message To The Captors Of Julian Assange
    1,376 views
    2:20 / 2:20
     
     


    If anyone in the US government is, that goes to their own stupidity.

    This was not a smart move.

    In the early stages of the war following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Condi Rice couldn't shut her damn mouth about Moqtada al-Sadr.  He was really nothing at the time.  Her constant attacks -- and she always verbally attacked him when he was becoming inconsequential -- built him up.  It gave him the spotlight he needed, it gave him the US government as his attacker for the world to see.  It helped build Moqtada into the leader that he is today.

    People never understand, they never grasp it.  Let's move to music for a second.  Stevie Nicks has one of the most devoted fan bases there is.  And the reason for that is not just her talent (though her talent is immense), the reason also includes the non-stop attacks on her by music critics in the seventies who didn't like women (that's male critics as well as females desperate to fit in) and mocked her and slammed her -- ROLLING STONE was one of the worst offenders.  Those attacks had a response -- Stevie's base saw the attacks, knew they were unfair attacks and they were bonded closer with Stevie against the attackers.

    Julian Assange stands for something and the US government is attacking that: freedom of information, freedom of speech, the right to consent in a democracy.  This was a stupid move.  A lot of people have been angered.  There will be fall out.

    I would worry most immediately, if I were the US government, about people with access to information because they work for the US or some government with access.  This goes to who they are and what they are.  Are they deceptn people?  That's what they'll struggle with.  You're inviting a lot more disclosures by persecuting Julian Assange.

    Then there are the groups like Anonymous who have already posted their intent.

    This was not a smart move in any way at all.  Continuing to persecute him is not a smart move.

    The smartest move in the world would have been for the US government to say, "We don't want him."  Letting Julian return to normal life would have sent a message that he was no great threat.  Instead, the US government is targeting him and that sends the message that he's a threat.  Why?  Because he exposed the truth.  So, therefore, the truth is a threat.

    A lot of people are going to be wrestling with that, a lot of people with access to a lot of information.



    Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love.
     
     


    That's a struggle that Noam's pointing out.  An internal struggle and an internal dialogue and I'll be that a lot of people are going to be having it over the coming days.

    Julian Assange committed no crime.  He did expose crimes.  And, thing is, he still can.  He's often spoken of an insurance policy -- of unreleased items that could go public.  It would be interesting if they did.

    He exposed the truth on Iraq -- where the US government was overseeing the murder of civilians and journalists.

    People wrongly say he exposed it to the Iraqis, he didn't.  The Iraqi people knew better than anyone what was happening in their own country -- which is why they have called for all foreign troops out of their country forever and a day now.  What the Iraq War exposures did was expose the truth to the outside world.  There was no more pretense the way there was with the April 8, 2003 US attack on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad that left two journalists dead -- TELECINCO's Jose Couso and REUTERS Taras Protsyuk.  Former Sgt Adrienne Kinne has revealed that the Palestine Hotel was on a list of US targets before the hotel was shelled.

    The US government has never worried about what the Iraqi people think -- which is why they have never fought for 'hearts and minds' in Iraq.  But they do care how the world sees them.



    Any person with a SOUL should strongly CONDEMN the detention of and the VIOLATION of freedom of speech. Stand for this hero persecuted by the US and UK government for bringing to light what THEY wanted to keep from us. SHAME on all of those who let this happen.
     
     



    The following sites updated:




  • Jussie

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    Jussie Smollett lied and the charges were dropped Julian Assange got arrested for telling the truth



    Doesn't that say it all?  Well doesn't it?

    Meanwhile, douchebag continues to lie to anyone who will still listen..


    While in Hawaii Jussie Smollett is seen having tense call regarding his hate crime hoax, "Ryan, Ryan... you have to believe me. I did not do this the charges were dropped, I got off"
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    He's just a liar now.  He should be serving a sentence or doing community service for probation.  Instead, he's trying to live it up.


    Jussie Smollett spotted looking carefree in Hawaii






    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Monday, April 15, 2019.  What is the point of the militias in Iraq?  That question is being asked.


    Justin Thomas (THE NATIONAL) ponders one aspect of the Iraq War:


    Around 4,000 years ago, a craftsperson fashioned a black stone to look like a resting duck. The object is beautiful, the duck’s neck curves back towards its tail feathers, and the detail in the eyes and beak speak to real artistry. Beyond aesthetics, this object was also used as some kind of weight, giving it a function in the story of humanity as well. This elegant stone bird went missing 16 years ago this month, along with around 15,000 other artefacts of similar beauty, cultural significance and historical importance.
    The looting of the National Museum of Iraq on April 10, 2003, has been described as “cultural genocide” and “one of the worst acts of cultural vandalism in modern times”. If we also add to this the looting of Iraq’s archaeological sites and then add Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan to the equation too, we get a creeping sense of the magnitude of this problem. We might even get the sneaking suspicion that we are losing our memories. For what are antiquities if not tangible representations of who we were and, indeed, who we are?
    In the 1950s at McGill University, Dr Ewen Cameron, an eminent psychiatrist, developed a treatment he called “psychic driving”. Central to his procedure was an attempt to erase patients’ memories and start again with a blank slate. Through the use of intensive electric shock therapy and a powerful cocktail of psychiatric drugs, Cameron partially succeeded in wiping away patients’ past recollections. The treatment, however, didn’t work; if anything it made patients’ initial symptoms worse. Memory loss is rarely a good thing, and the loss of antiquities on the scale seen in recent decades is like psychic driving on a national level.


    Naomi Klein's "Baghdad Year Zero" (HARPER'S MAGAZINE) noted the shock therapy aspects of the US plan for Iraq in many ways but it did not note the wiping out of the historical achievements and memories.  It's worth considering whether or not this was also an intended consequence.

    Meanwhile, Mina Aldroubi (THE NATIONAL) reports:

    Iraqi populist Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr condemned the Tehran-backed Shiite militias' support towards victims of flash flooding in Iran.
    A convoy of 50 vehicles carrying member of the militias, also known as the Hashed Al Shaabi, arrived in western Iranian provinces that were severely affected by the flash flooding, Iranian news agency Tasnim reported on Sunday.
    "Iraqis come first," Mr Al Sadr said on Twitter, adding that there are many areas in Iraq that are at risk of flooding from torrential rain.
    "Since there are those who have provided relief to affected areas in Iran, it is our duty to intensify our efforts to provide relief to our people in Iraq," he said.
    The Hashed Al Shaabi was formed in 2014 to assist Iraqi forces defeat ISIS but are accused of exploiting its position and human rights breaches.


    Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr is correct on this.  Iraq's been flooded as well.  The international media has elected to focus solely on Iran but Iraq's been flooded as well creating displaced persons.



    Disable the official permanence in the governorate of #sulaymaniyah, and a number of districts of the governorate of #erbil - northern #Iraq-؛ due to the floods.
    Image may contain: people sitting, outdoor and water



     That's from March 31st.   We've been noting this for weeks now.  Saturday, Pam Wright (THE WEATHER CHANNEL) reported:

    After weeks of heavy rains, historic water levels at Iraq's reservoirs are threatening dams, prompting the evacuation of thousands.
    The heavy rain and melting snowcaps from Turkey and Iran have nearly overtopped Iraq's four main reservoirs, while the Tigris and Euphrates rivers continue to rise.

    Residents near the Dukan dam in the northeast were told to leave their homes as water levels reached heights not seen since 1988.



    Meanwhile, downstream in Samarra Satellite imagery from
     
     




     Hashed Al Shaabi?  They're on the Iraqi payroll.  The previous prime minister, Hayder al-Abadi, put them on it, made them officially part of the Iraqi forces.  If they're being paid by the government of Iraq and the Iraqi people are in need of assistance, as Moqtada points out, the Iraqi people should be their focus.

    Moqtada's not the only one calling out the Hashed al-Shaabi.  MENAFN reports:

    Members of Hashd al-Shaabi must break up, emphasized Iraq's former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, head of Al-Wataniya coalition, in a statement.
    According to the former prime minister, "the mission of the Hashd al-Shaabi has ended after victory against the [ISIS] terrorist group."

    Allawi further presented a plan for members of the paramilitary force to become members of the Iraqi police or military forces.

    He added "the dissolution of Hashd al-Shaabi is a move to turn Iraq into a civilian state."



    promised to dissolve , a militia force commanded by the Quds Force in Iraq. Now, they entered Iran to remain safe from dissolution. Gaddafi also brought in mercenaries from Chad to kill civilians. They're not here to help!!
     
     

    IRAQ— calls for disband Popular Mobilization Forces and empower Iraq army.
     
     



    Still on the topic of the militias, Margaret Griffis (ANTIWAR.COM) reports an event that took place Sunday, "In Mosul, clashes between police and militia members took place, when the police stopped the militiamen from crossing their checkpoint. The police said that the militiamen had no duties in the area. Two policemen were wounded."


    Meanwhile, publisher Julian Assange remains under attack.

    This war on wikileaks initiated by democrats to defend actions of past republican government. If you arrest you have to arrest + how ru trying to get him on Iraq and Afghanistan leaks involving manning? What's worse? A war based on lies or leaking info?
     
     
    Julian Assange"s struggle is yours too! This video from Iraq , revealed by WikiLeaks, shows the killing of civilians and journalists. Let's Stop the extension of Julian Assange to USA.
    675K views
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    1:13
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    This is what Julian Assange and Wikileaks are 'guilty' of, exposing the murderous exit of the US military assault on Iraq . States do not have the right to kill willy-nilly. Whistle blowers do us all a service
     
     



    Nick Gillespi (REASON) offers:

    Regardless of how you feel about Assange as a person, there’s no question that WikiLeaks, founded in 2006, has been central to starting a salutary era of forced transparency, a time when state and corporate actors have much more trouble keeping secrets. Forced transparency is bigger than WikiLeaks, of course. It’s one of the defining dynamics of our time, riding the same technological wave that gave us Napster and other innovations that disperse power and information in all sorts of unauthorized ways. But let’s give credit and praise where it’s due. The world is better for the fact that it’s harder than ever for governments to keep their own secrets.
    Early exposés by the organization included documents from the Church of Scientology and East Anglia University’s Climate Research Unit. In 2010, the organization came into its own by publishing a trove of documents given to it by Chelsea Manning, then an Army intelligence analyst. Among the things that came to light:
    • graphic video of a U.S. Apache helicopter killing Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists;
    • 90,000-plus pages of military memos, now known as the Afghan War Diaries, that showed that the Taliban and the Pakistani government were in regular contact and that civilian casualties were far greater than the U.S. officially acknowledged;
    • 400,000 pages of documents about the war in Iraq, including revelation of 15,000 unreported civilian deaths and brutal reprisals by Iraqi forces;
    • diplomatic cables that showed a wide gulf between the U.S.’s public positions and private analysis.


    In the US, US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard has defended Assange.  She is seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.


  • Trump’s criticism of Rep is complete hypocrisy. Trump says “WE WILL NEVER FORGET (9/11)!” Yet it is Trump who’s been acting as al-Qaeda’s big brother and protector in Syria, and turned America into the prostitute of AQ's biggest supporter—the Saudis
     
     
    My flight delayed from LAX for hours because Chicago is covered in snow. Winter is coming. In April. Are you ready? – at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
     
     
    What a historic comeback! Congratulations, Tiger.
     
     
    Trump is shamelessly trying to foment religious bigotry against ⁦& all Muslims, based on the horrendous actions of a few individuals claiming to be Muslim. This is the very definition of religious bigotry & Trump is fomenting it for political gain. Dangerous & sad
     
     
    I met a mom whose son was born with a heart defect. The fear of being unable to afford sudden, major heart surgery has shaped this family’s life in many tragic ways. I promised this mom that I’ll fight for her son and all Americans to make Medicare for All who want it a reality.
     
     
    Insulin is overpriced and it’s killing Americans. Between 1997 and 2017, Big Pharma increased the price of insulin over 1,000%. People are dying because they can’t afford insulin.
     
     
    The foreign policy establishment and military industrial complex wage one regime change war after another under the guise of humanitarianism—wars that INCREASE the people’s suffering and devastation in those countries, and strengthen jihadists like al-Qaeda.
     
     
    Assange Arrest: The message is clear. To journalists and all Americans, if you try to take away our power, you will pay a high price.
     
     
    The purpose of arresting is to send a message to the people, especially journalists, to be quiet and don’t get out of line. If we, the people, allow the government to control us through fear, we are no longer free, we are no longer America.
     
     
    The arrest of is meant to send a message to all Americans and journalists: be quiet, behave, toe the line. Or you will pay the price.
     
     




    She is one of six women seeking the party's presidential nomination.


  • Marianne on reparations from her CNN Town Hall Tonight: "This country will not heal until we take a serious moral inventory… Racism is a character defect. Let’s fix this. Let’s solve this."
     
     
    Marianne knocked it out of the park on her CNN Town Hall tonight. She got to show America the powerhouse that she is. Please help us spread her message far and wide by donating to the campaign. It takes millions of dollars and we need your help.
     
     
    "On guns: I support 2nd amendment rights, however we know they were talking about a well organized militia. We don’t have gun safety legislation because it cuts in to the short term profits of gun manufacturers. That is immoral. That is obscene." Marianne live on CNN Town Hall.
     
     
    “Economic good does not come from corporate moguls dropping crumbs; it comes from every single American unleashing our dreams.” Marianne live on CNN Town Hall.
     
     




  • Happy Patriots’ Day, Massachusetts – and good luck to everyone running in the ! Our Commonwealth & our country are cheering for you today.
     
     
    My bill would let millions of Americans simply sign and return a pre-filled tax form, and require the IRS to create a free online tax preparation and filing service – making easier and cheaper for everyone.
     
     
  • Every year, taxpayers waste too much time and money on tax preparation. And low-income and minority taxpayers are hit the hardest, according to a new report that and I requested:
     
     
  • Filing your taxes is complicated and expensive. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Congress should pass my Tax Filing Simplification Act, which I’m re-introducing today.
     
     



    I’m really proud of what our team and this community have built so far—and we're just getting started.
     
     
    Why not train the next generation in the STEM jobs we need to strengthen our economy and combat climate change? Why not invent our way into the future?
    0:57
    29.6K views
     
     
    As a Senator who represents 9/11 victims, I can't accept any minimizing of that pain. But Trump's dangerous rhetoric against is disgusting. It’s a false choice to suggest we can’t fight terrorism and reject Islamophobic hate at once—a president should do both.
     
     
    Happy 103rd birthday, Beverly Cleary! Thank you for creating iconic characters who were adventurous and brave, unruly and unstoppable all at once—and expanding our idea of what a girl can be.
     
     


    Our oceans are warming. Glaciers are melting. Sea levels are rising. Climate change is real and we must act now. That’s why I support the Green New Deal.
     
     
    We will strengthen the middle class and ensure Medicare for All is a reality. We will fight for all Americans and make our democracy work for the people. Chip in today to join the fight.
     
     
    Black women are facing a maternal health crisis. The only way to solve this is to speak the truth and act: This is a public health crisis. Thank you, Reps. Adams and Underwood for fighting to make sure Black women are heard.
     
     
    I am sick and tired of Republican politicians restricting women’s access to reproductive health care, especially abortion. We have got to build a coalition of Americans who will fight to ensure women get the care they need.
     
     


    Article on my visit to Iowa ethanol plant. The oil waivers from this administration didn’t stop w/EPA Secretary Pruitt leaving. The problem for midwest continues w/dozens of RFS waivers given to cos. like Chevron& Exxon. As President I would change that.
     
     
    Donald Trump is coming to Minnesota tomorrow — tune in now to Amy’s press conference:
     
     
    Exactly! Flora and pharma: A better landscape on prescription drug costs begins to bloom.
     
     
    Thank you to for a great conversation this evening....climate change, democracy, infrastructure, student loans...we covered it all. Great crowd and a warm welcome in Colorado. Be back soon!
     
     

    Jussie the "washed up actor"

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    Document dump in the case of liar and hoaxer Jussie Smollett.


  • The most telling text from SA Kim Foxx to her ASA after dropping charges against : “Just wish I could have anticipated the magnitude of this response and planned a bit better!”
  • (5/5) On the day Kim Foxx drops the charges on she laughs over Supt Johnson’s confusion: “Eddie just called...Lol! He’s a the police recruit event. Needed to know how to answer questions from press...He was told we were just dropping the charges.”
  • (4/5) Foxx ASA responds: “I’ll get with Risa [Lanier] and Jim. With him taking over we can take a hard look at how we charge the cases and get it to something that covers what needs to be covered without being excessive and ultimately pointless.
  • (3/5) More from Foxx on : “On a case eligible for deferred prosecution I think it’s indicative of something we should be looking at generally. Just because we can charge someone doesn’t mean we should.” (Cont)
  • (2:5) Foxx: “Sooo....I’m recused, but when people accuse us of overcharging...16 counts on a class 4 felony becomes exhibit A. Pedophile with 4 victims 10 counts []. Washed up celeb who lied to cops, 16. (Cont).
  • Thread: (1/5) Newly released texts and emails show SA Kim Foxx was very much involved in case and not at all “recused”. Foxx and her staff paid very close attention to all media reports written about the case, sharing articles via text.



    1. Also, the day before Smollett was arrested, a senior staffer opined— a week after Foxx had announced her recusal— that Foxx did not have authority to have a subordinate take on her duties; if she recused herself, a special prosecutor had to replace her.
    2. In 2002, under State's Attorney Dick Devine, R. Kelly was charged w/21 counts of child pornography, for 1 tape of a single victim— was not unusual under Foxx's predecessors, for defendants in high-profile cases to be charged with dozens of counts (and then most dropped at trial)
    3.   Retweeted
      State's Attorney's Office drops massive trove of Jussie Smollett documents in response to public records request: 178 pages of text message screenshots; 3,655 pages of emails— and a 36-page log of emails that were not public... because of court order sealing Smollett records
    4. The indictment was kind of weird: Smollett got charged for every statement he made that detailed a specific crime (assault, hate crime, etc) to the cop who took his report, then got charged again each time he made the same statements to the detective who investigated the case.
    5. Here, Foxx opines to a staffer that the 16 felony counts against Jussie Smollett were "overcharging" when the indictment for the "washed up actor" was compared to R. Kelly "a pedo with 4 victims."



    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

     
    Tuesday, April 16, 2019.  Neera Tanden thinks she can bully Bernie Sanders out of the race when, in fact, it's Neera that needs to be shown a forced vacation.



    BACKSTORY: In 2008, set up what she thought would be an easy interview for with Shakir, then editor of . But Faiz asked about the Iraq War. Later, Neera punched him & asked “Who the f— do you think you are?”





    Neera Tanden is a deceitful liar who works overtime to trick the American people.  For example, Hillary Clinton's e-mails (and servers) were a real story in her last run.  Neera and her assholes (include Alyssa Milano, failed actress, on that list) think they're cute going "but her e-mails."  They're nothing cute about them (and Alyssa's lop-sided breasts speak to a very cheap woman unable to afford good plastic surgery).  Neera plays dumb for public consumption but, as her e-mails demonstrated, she was freaking out over the e-mails and over Hillary's poor response to it (which included an ever-changing story).  I don't have a lot of respect for people who are paid to share their opinions and turn out to be liars about what they think.  (That includes Katha Pollitt who slammed Sarah Palin which would be fine if that list-serve didn't exist showing that she actually throught Sarah gave a good speech and was expressing how scared of Palin she was.)

    If you're paid to express your opinion, the American people have every right to assume that the opinion you are expressing is your own.  Neera's a cheap hustler and proof that someone born trash never really makes it beyond that status?  Possibly.  When not physically attacking Shakir, Neera uses her time to cover up for workplace assault.  As Sarah Mimms (BUZZFEED) reported last year:.

    Two days after BuzzFeed News unveiled allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation at one of the nation’s top liberal think tanks, the Center for American Progress's president, Neera Tanden, met with staff to restore confidence in the organization’s ability to handle the issue and ensure that employees feel safe.
    But during the meeting Wednesday afternoon, Tanden named the anonymous victim at the center that story — a revelation that a CAP spokesperson said was unintentional — and what began as a tense meeting became what three staffers in the room described as a textbook example of the organization’s failures to appropriately handle sexual harassment cases.


    Neera's exposing the victim should have led to her immediate resignation.  But Neera doesn't live in a functioning world.  She lives in a world where everyone knows her public utterances are lies, a world where she can physically assault someone (Shakir should have filed charges) and a world where she further attacks women preyed on in the work place.  She's a predator.

    Elizabeth Williamson and Kenneth P. Vogel (NEW YORK TIMES) report:



    Ms. Tanden now leads the Center for American Progress, Mr. Shakir runs Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign and the enmity between the two camps burst into the open last weekend. Mr. Sanders, angry about a video produced by ThinkProgress that ridicules his new status as one of the millionaires he has vilified on the campaign trail, sent a scorching letter to the center’s board, accusing Ms. Tanden of “maligning my staff and supporters and belittling progressive ideas.”
    The blowup is another reflection of the ideological divisions among Democrats, this time between a legacy Clinton organization and a liberal wing trying to move the party to the left to harness the energy of millennials. Mr. Sanders’s team remains convinced that the Democratic establishment worked behind the scenes to deprive him of the party’s nomination in 2016; his campaign has cast the group as beholden to corporate interests set on thwarting him in 2020.



    Can we get a video of little Neera on food stamps?  Begging for crumbs?  And hold that against her today because lying has made Neera very wealthy.

    More to the point, can someone show Neera the door?  Supposedly, Democrats aren't supposed to be attacking candidates.  But Neera's letting her petty grudges infect the campaign for the Democrats to retake the White House.  Someone long ago should have explained to Neera a few basics -- such as, you're ugly, you smell and troll dolls really don't make for good public figures.  She really needs to be shown the door.  Assaulting Shakir should have been the final step in 2008.  Instead, she's been allowed to infect the party for over a decade since.

    Bernie Sanders is doing just fine despite the attacks Neera's launching in her desperate bid to be petty and vengeful.

    As noted in "Bernie sets a new standard (Ava and C.I.)," Bernie did a town hall on FOX NEWS last night.  The enthusiasm shown on television was echoed by students on the campus we watched the broadcast with.  He addressed multiple issues including Medicare for All.   Stream the videos below if you missed the town hall.







    Stream and grasp that he made appeals on issues, not a cute little self-narrative -- the way this week or last week's press darlings tend to do.  Bernie spoke of real issues and note the response to that.

    The latest polling shows Bernie in the lead.  That's meaningless (he said as much himself in the town hall).  It's 2019 and the election will be in November 2020.  Most people aren't following the race yet and a lot of names need to be vetted still.  But, at this point, Bernie is the front runner.

    From the article in THE TIMES:


    Still, Ms. Tanden’s mother, Maya Tanden, says that her daughter “can be very aggressive.”
    “She’s not going to let anyone rule over her,” she said, “and she has loyalty to Hillary because Hillary is the one who made her.”
    “Those Bernie brothers are attacking her all the time, but she lets them have it, too,” Maya Tanden said. “She says Sanders got a pass” in 2016, “but he’s not getting a pass this time.”


    Neera should be shown the door for her mother's comment, "She says Sanders got a pass but he's not getting a pass this time."  That statement makes clear that Neera is working to destroy Bernie's candidacy.  Neera needs to be shown the door.  The American people deserve a debate on real issues, not some petty grudge f**k from an ugly troll whose compromised herself repeatedly by the donations she's taken (included from the UAE).

    Neera Tanden PUNCHED Bernie Sanders' now-campaign manager in the chest. I REPEAT!!! Neera Tanden PUNCHED Faiz Shakir after he asked Hillary Clinton a question about the Iraq War back in 2008. I'm "shook," as the kids say.





    In Iraq, the flooding continues to be an issue.

    Iraqi Red Crescent: Increasing the number of affected families due to the to more than 4700 families.





    10 Iraq provinces could announce state of emergency due to floods | RTNews24 Read more





    The Iraqi government's response has been slow and minimal.  And this water was anticipated.  We were noting it here when it was expected to be a problem but wasn't yet one.  Where was the Iraqi government response?  We saw none.  We saw, for example, one private citizen wrapping exposed wires to prevent electrocution but we didn't see the government do anything to address that problem.

    The flooding in Iraq is not a new development.  And, in some areas, the flooding is the result of the refusal to repair the public infrastructure.  Sadr City, for example, floods mainly due to the the public system which does not anticipate the rains and therefore results in standing water -- some knee deep, some chest deep.

    The Iraqi government should have addressed these issues long ago.

    KURDISTAN 24 reports:

    A senior Chinese delegation visiting Iraq recently expressed their country’s readiness to contribute to the rebuilding of areas destroyed during the war with the Islamic State.
    China is one of Iraq’s largest trade partners, from which it imports many products including electronics and construction material. Early this week, a senior delegation from the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) arrived in Baghdad and met with a number of Iraqi officials.

    A statement by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry affirmed the Chinese delegation met with the Undersecretary of Legal Affairs and Multilateral Relations, Hazem al-Yusufi.


    Forget the loans the Iraqi government has taken out (loans they should not have taken out, as Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani pointed out in real time), they get donations all the time.  And where does the money go?  Over and over, it does not go to the people or to improving their lives.  Iraq has allowed corruption to drain away billions in public funds.

    Let's wind down with this from the Center for Constitutional Rights:



    Contact: press@ccrjustice.org

    April 11, 2019, New York – Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement concerning the arrest in London of journalist and WikiLeaks media publisher Julian Assange for purposes of extradition to the United States:
    Mr. Assange’s arrest and possible extradition to face charges related to an alleged conspiracy with Chelsea Manning to publish documents that exposed corruption and criminality by numerous private businesses, tyrants, and countries worldwide is ultimately an attack on press freedom.
    The arrest sets a dangerous precedent that could extend to other media organizations such as The New York Times, particularly under a vindictive and reckless administration that regularly attacks journalistic enterprises that, just like WikiLeaks, publish leaked materials that expose government corruption and wrongdoing. This is a worrying step on the slippery slope to punishing any journalist the Trump administration chooses to deride as “fake news.”
    It comes in the backdrop of even further cruelty toward and imprisonment of Chelsea Manning, who continues to defend the integrity of her heroic decision to act as a whistleblower and expose U.S. government atrocities it committed in Iraq.
    The United States should finally seek to come to terms with the war crimes in Iraq that it has committed rather than attack and imprison those who sought to expose the truth of it.  
    The Center for Constitutional Rights, with its former President Emeritus, the late Michael Ratner, has represented Mr. Assange and WikiLeaks in connection with possible extradition and criminal prosecution for alleged Espionage Act violations arising from the publication of U.S. diplomatic cables.



    The Center for Constitutional Rights works with communities under threat to fight for justice and liberation through litigation, advocacy, and strategic communications. Since 1966, The Center for Constitutional Rights has taken on oppressive systems of power, including structural racism, gender oppression, economic inequity, and governmental overreach. Learn more at ccrjustice.org.

    New content at THIRD:





    The following sites updated:





  • Princess David Cay

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    1. Make sure to wear your gear tomorrow, everybody
       
    2. It's amazing that Rosenstein, who plotted to "wear a wire" in the Oval Office and extra-legally remove the president, is still holding office
    3. I'm throwing a Mueller Report party tomorrow. Live music, drinks, and dancing.


    Let's all make a point to remember the whores that lied and pimped a nutty conspiracy theories -- whores like David Cay Johnson -- oops! Did I misspell princess' name?  Little Princess David Cay.  Go read Ruth's "F**k off, David Cay Johnston a woman hating piece of crap who thinks he can boss us around."

    Princess David Cay pimped the lie of Russian conspiracy.  No one need take princess seriously again.  Princess lied.  Princess David Cay tricked people.  It should have been two years of accountability for Hillary and that lousy campaign.  Instead, it was crazy talk from crazy people like Princess David Cay.





    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Wednesday, April 17, 2019.  War Hawk Neera Tandem rounds up her fellow War Whores to defend her from journalism.



    Neera Tanden is causing a stink yet again.  She's Tweeted that her mother is a stupid idiot who doesn't understand either the press or how a phone works -- hanging up was not an option because her foreign mother is so stupid and NYT was just so evil to the old woman.  That's what Neera says anyway.  Neera's mother is no delicate flower and if she can handle the stink off Neera, she can handle anything.  (By the way, non-stop phone calls saying, "She really does stink, doesn't she?"  Yes, no joke, she does.  And for people like myself who have a strong sense of smell, she's been offensive for years.  Soap and water, Neera, daily.)  And Neera's little War Hawk buddies from the Democratic Party are rushing to prop her up including the joke that is Paul Krugman.  Paul, you are a joke.

    Here's a typical Tweet.  See the problem?


    I thought the tone of the his story was weird because he was so clearly outraged for Bernie. Just as bad, if not worse, no one at the NYT edited or asked Vogel to rewrite it. Ken Vogel once requested Chelsea Clinton’s school transcripts, using an FOIA form.




    His story?


    Elizabeth Williamson and Kenneth P. Vogel (NEW YORK TIMES) reported that story.  Over the years in the US, we've come to expect that women's work is disappeared but if you ever think that's just done by men, grasp that women contribute as well -- women like Amy Mullen who write women like Elizabeth Williamson out the story.

    I'm also not sure why Amy Mullen's is grasping the pearls over Kenneth Vogel asking fo Chelsea's transcripts.  He's in his early forties so Chelsea was clearly an adult. It appears he requested that as Hillary was making her second run for president.  That's perfectly fine and Amy Mullen is just a pathetic drama queen who's going to throw anything out there in her lust to protect her beloved Neera.

    Faux feminism.  If it weren't for faux feminists, the US might not have any at all.  Faux feminists are just concerned that women get into spots that men hold.  They're not concerned with real feminist issues.  They're break the ceiling gals who want the status quo because they're too limited to imagine anything better.

    Hold on though, we're not done with the stupid f**ks.

    The NYT story on Neera Tanden should never have brought her mom into it. And whether you agree with Neera's views or not, her aggressiveness is one of her biggest strengths and would be lionized if she were a man.







    Feminist Brian Fallon.  Really, "Aggressiveness is one of her biggest strengths and would be lionized if she were a man"?  Well he did work for Hillary so possibly that's where he learned that crap.  But, no, Brian, aggressiveness is not admired in anyone.  No one, in this day and age, says, "Thank goodness he's aggressive in the work force!"  No one says that you stupid idiot.

    Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, admitted to the NYT that she assaulted an editor at her own organization for posing a mild question about the Iraq War to Hillary Clinton.






    Brian, you know what you're really doing?  You're making a lot of us want to explore your boy Mayor Pete whose racism is well known in the community he represented.  So as his racist gentrification program becomes a story, remember you did your part to make it one by attacking a legitimate journalism article.


    Good summary.





    Oh, look, nutty Rosa Brooks.  Well of course.  Neera did send out that e-mail asking everyone to Tweet her defense and so we're seeing those who are compromised rush forward.  Rosa, for those who've forgotten, proposed that journalists be registered.  I'd settle for inoculated but Rosa has always been an Orwellian nightmare.

    She's a War Whore who has gotten by on her mother's reputation because she has no accomplishments of her own.  She's a cheap little whore who is either too much of a liar or too stupid to know history.  "Would you run an article about a male . . ."

    Oh, Rosa, you old dirty whore, stop pretending you are a feminist or that you know anything.




    Rosa, we get it, you're an old whore who tires easily.  But stop playing the 'woman' card because you're not a feminist and you have no grasp on history -- recent or otherwise.  You're just a dirty whore who came forward to defend a dirty whore named Neera.  May you both find an afterlife that is as destructive as what the two of you have done to the world.

    Oh, look, disgusting Gwen Ifill's cousin pops up to defend Neera.  Gwen, the dead closet case who made nice with Condi -- cooking with Condi, remember, will always be the ultimate media whore who laughed in real time when Iraqis were shot up by Blackwater, who made jokes about it on the air.  You'd think that would be enough to make the whole family leave public life.  But if you think that, you're giving more thought to it than that pathetic family ever did.

    NEW: Last week, reached out to reporters to pick apart ’ “Medicare for All” plan. * has its own plan, which, unlike Bernie’s, reserves a role for private insurance cos. (like those that have previously donated to ).






  • THANKS, MOM! says she’s not out to get & wants unity among Democrats. Neera’s mom, OTOH, says her daughter believes Bernie “got a pass” in 2016, “but he’s not getting a pass this time.”






  • BACKSTORY: In 2008, set up what she thought would be an easy interview for with Shakir, then editor of . But Faiz asked about the Iraq War. Later, Neera punched him & asked “Who the f— do you think you are?”


    THE POLITICS: ’ broadsides against seem designed to rally his base by casting the group as an avatar of the corrupt Democratic establishment that deprived him the 2016 nomination & to signal that he won't abide a repeat of 2016.



    The press that slobbers over War Hawk Pete (and ignores his racism and racist gentrification polices as mayor) chooses to ignore many other candidates including Marianne Williamson.  She had a town hall on CNN last Sunday.


    BASH: You have said that you want to create a Department of Peace Building, which you say would champion peace through mediation and diplomacy. How would that differ from the State Department?

    WILLIAMSON: Well, the State Department works with international issues. And I do believe that we need a far more robust relationship between the State Department and the Defense Department. I have great respect for the U.S. military. We all should and must. My father fought in World War II.

    And as I said, you know, you're the president. You're the commander- in-chief. But I see the military like the surgeon. If you're going to have surgery, you want to have the best surgeon. And I don't think anyone would doubt that in America has to have the best possible military.

    But at the same time, as I -- you avoid surgery if at all possible. Even Donald Rumsfeld, who was the secretary of defense for George Bush, said we also have to wage peace. General Mattis, before he left the Department of Defense, said if you're not going to fully fund the State Department, I'm going to have to buy more ammunition.

    I want a far more robust relationship between the State Department and the Defense, and I also want the moral leadership of our State Department back. When you're willing to -- for the sake of a $100 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, go along with support for a genocidal war that we know has starved tens of thousands of Yemenis, including all those children whose pictures are all over the Internet, when Mike Pompeo says, well, sometimes you can have strategic partnerships with people who do not share your values, no, you can't, Dana. It means you have sacrificed your values.

    So I want the moral principles, the moral core of American foreign policy back. People all over this world used to see the United States as a moral leader. I don't think they ever thought we had it perfect, but that we always tried, and they don't see that anymore. So I want a moral robust peace waging and peace creation on the part of the State Department. I want the moral principles that should be central to American foreign policy back.

    And then a Department of -- U.S. Department of Peace Creation has to deal with domestic issues. We have so many -- we have millions of American children living in chronic trauma. We have the most violent streets. We have domestic war -- war zones in this country. We need wraparound services, antitrauma, restorative justice, conflict resolution, domestic...


    Not really seeing Rosa Brooks, Paul Krugman or the other whores rushing to discuss anything of substance.  They do want to act as if interviewing a grown woman who picked up the phone and did not hang up is some sort of violation.  Well, they're silent on War Crimes as well, why should we expect any humanity from them at this late date?

    Today on NPR's MORNING EDITION, Jane Arraf reports on a youth movement in Mosul.



    Aleppo’s recognized 1350-year-old Umayyad Mosque that was almost completely destroyed by war in Syria was one of the oldest historical mosques that got destroyed.

    That's a more polite way of speaking about an issue that has touched off rage.  WHen I saw the Tweets on Monday night I wondered about it.  And then yesterday I heard what?  US student after US student talking about the tragedy.  And it is true that there had been no US attention and mourning for the things lost in the Middle East.  That's in part because Americans aren't taught about those historic buildings.  Mostly, we learn about them when they're destroyed, if we ever learn about them.  Those in the Arab world who feel that Notre Dame gets in one hour more attention and sympathy than the destruction of a major mosque does in six months are correct.


    The following sites updated:













  • It's time to cancel Empire

    Next: That fool Marcy Wheeler
    Previous: Princess David Cay
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    They just need to axe the show.  The ratings for Wednesday's episode?  Tied with the week before for a series low.  Not a season low, a series low.


    Jussie Smollett's offscreen antics have destroyed the show.

    And it's going to destroy Disney next.  They decided to buy Fox.  Empire is a Disney show now.  And Disney's promoting lying to the police, inventing a hate crime, paying people to attack you.

    They fired James Gunn for jokes.  Only under months and months of pressure did they hire him back. (He's the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy films.) 

    But lie to the police, go on TV and lie to the American people, fake a hate crime, do all of that and keep your job?

    That's not the Disney image.

    Apparently, they're willing to trash everything to save Jussie.

    If Empire had been smart, they would have fired him and done so a month ago. 

    The audience would have accepted that.  But instead, they did nothing and often defended the liar.  Which is why the show is now at an all time low, why half the viewers present at the start of the season have left. 

    It's aged poorly, the show.  It's time to cancel it, Jussie destroyed whatever was left of the show.


    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


    Thursday, April 18, 2019.  As Julian Assange is persecuted, notice the useless who can't defend him.



    Last Thursday, the founder and publisher of WIKILEAKS, Julian Assange, was arrested in London. Legal scholar Jonathan Turley (USA TODAY) has pointed out:

    He disclosed a massive and arguably unconstitutional surveillance program by the United States impacting virtually every citizen. He later published emails that showed that the Democratic National Committee and the campaign of Hillary Clinton lied in various statements to the public, including the rigging of the primary for her nomination. No one has argued that any of these emails were false. They were embarrassing. Of course, there is not crime of embarrassing the establishment but that is merely a technicality.


    For the US government, the first extreme bit of embarrassment came on Monday April 5, 2010, when WIKILEAKS released  military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two REUTERS journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh.  Not only was the US government responsible for that attack, they were responsible for the lies and the coverup that followed.  When WIKILEAKS published the video, the truth was known.

    The Iraqi people always knew the truth.  That's why they wanted all foreign forces (including the US) out of their country.  They lived with the violence on a daily basis.  What Julian did was publish something that forced an apathetic world playing on-the-one-hand-and-on-the-other to acknowledge what actually happened in Iraq.

    As US officials make gleeful comments (Senator Joe Manchin: "He is our property"), you'd expect to see more protest and outrage in the US.  What you see instead is trash revealing its true nature.  Margaret Kimberley (BLACK AGENDA REPORT) writes of the great do-nothings who can't speak up for Julian:

    This resistance is little more than a collective hissy fit from dead ender Democrats who insist on following a party that can’t even reliably stay in office.  They have spent the last three years railing against Trump but bite their tongues when he commits an act that reeks of fascist ideology.
    The kindest thing that can be said is that they have been hypnotized by a combination of Democratic Party and corporate media lies. It is very difficult to determine the truth in a culture saturated with all the deformities of an imperial state in panic mode. One has to act as a detective and know which web sites to read or whom to follow on social media in order to learn anything outside of the confines of state propaganda. Ever since election night in November 2016 the public have been subjected to a relentless campaign meant to deflect righteous anger away from the Democrats while furthering imperialist goals at the same time. 

    Julian Assange has become the poster child for the big lie. His leaks of Democratic National Committee emails are blamed for Hillary Clinton’s defeat. But there was no computer hack of the DNC at all. Assange received leaked materials from an insider and used Wikileaks to publish it.
    But that is only a partial explanation. The reality is far worse. Liberals are just as much true believers in imperialism as the right wing they claim to oppose.They are nothing if not consistent. When the Trump administration announced the coup attempt against the Venezuelan government the resistance didn’t resist at all.
    Instead they repeated talking points from the New York Timesand National Public Radio which labeled the elected Venezuelan president a brutal dictator. They didn’t question the United States claim of a right to undo the will of people in another country. Some gave wishy washy criticism of military intervention but none of them questioned an intervention which is fascist by any definition.
    These people will never defend Julian Assange. According to their world view he doesn’t deserve to be defended. He revealed government secrets, which runs counter to their support of the imperialist state, and they think he deprived them of a second Clinton presidency.


    The useless trash includes David Cay Johnston as Betty notes.  And let me be clear on something, the public e-mail was created for this site.  Anyone else can use it, fine, in the community.  But it's mine.  Not David Cay Johston's and he can stay the f**k away from it.  I've read his endless e-mail to Ruth (see Ruth's "F**k off, David Cay Johnston a woman hating piece of crap who thinks he can boss us around") and I'm not in the mood for liars.

    I try to be nice but I have been very clear that I am not a nice person.  When David e-mailed this site -- and, yes, piece of trash, David, you did -- I first wrote a blistering post.  Like the one about a neocon, I didn't publish it.  I'd spent sixteen hours on that post about Richard Perle.  Now that piece and the one responding to David were not published.  They were not trashed.  They were saved to draft.  They can be published at any time.

    I tried to high road it and just change a little bitch's spelling -- we pulled a quote from THE DAILY HOWLER and that quote had David's name wrong -- and even be kind enough not to say, "Can you believe this stupid ass has nothing better to do than police the internet looking for how his name is spelled?  Can you believe anyone could be so vain?  Who has that kind of time!"  I tried to be nice  and move on.

    But I'm not a nice person.  I don't need to hear from you, David.  Didn't need to hear from you to begin with.  Demi Moore is a friend.  Her name is not pronounced "Demmy." But she's not e-mailing everyone about how to pronounce her name.  Your life is so pathetic that if a "j" is left out of your last name, you hound everyone.  Grow the hell up.  No one gives a damn about you.  No one gave a damn about you when you wrote your boring pieces that were semi-fact based.  Certainly, now that you've gone off into conspiracy nonsense and made it your goal to whip up hysteria, no one gives a damn about you.  Martha and Shirley have been asked to delete anything you e-mail and to do it without reading it.  You are not going to hijack this community and you are not ever again going to lecture a woman who never needed a lecture from your fat ass to begin with.  Not in my public e-mail account, not in the community that I created.  Go f**k yourself, David, no one needs to hear from you.

    And let's be clear, ego maniacs like David?  They're more concerned with how their name got spelled than in standing up for Julian Assange.  That tells us everything we ever need to know about that piece of garbage.


    It's the garbage of David and his useless peers that are responsible for the Iraq War.  That's probably why they hate Julian.  Julian didn't lie and sell the Iraq War.  They and their outlets did (David once worked for THE NEW YORK TIMES).  They sold the war with lies to start it, they sold the war with lies to continue it.  Will anyone miss John Burns when he dies?  Nope.  He's just another cheap hustler who sold war.  The war that they sold continues -- as does the suffering of the Iraqi people.  Human Rights Watch notes today:

    (Erbil, April 18, 2019) – Iraqi officers have committed torture at a detention facility in Mosul at least through early 2019, months after Human Rights Watch reported on the abuses and shared information about those responsible, Human Rights Watch said today. The Iraqi government did not respond to two Human Rights Watch letters requesting an update on steps taken to investigate the allegations.
    “If the Iraqi government ignores credible reports of torture, it’s no wonder that the abuses persist,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “What will it take for the authorities to take torture allegations seriously.”
    In August 2018, Human Rights Watch published a report alleging the use of torture in three facilities under the Interior Ministry in and around Mosul. It was based on statements from two former detainees and the father of a man who died during interrogation. One former detainee, who was held at the Faisaliya detention facility for four months, provided Human Rights Watch with the names of four interior ministry officers whom he said he saw torturing detainees.
    Before publishing its report, Human Rights Watch sent detailed allegations including the names of the four officers implicated to the human rights adviser in the Prime Minister’s Advisory Commission. In February, Human Rights Watch wrote to Foreign Minister Mohamed Alhakim and the Interior Ministry Inspector General, Jamal al-Asadi, asking whether the government had investigated the Human Rights Watch allegations. Human Rights Watch received no reply to either letter.
    A former prisoner, whose name and identifying details have been withheld for his security, described what he saw at Faisaliya detention facility in early 2019.

    He said that guards took him to a section behind a metal door cut off from the rest of the cells on the evening he arrived. His description matched that of other former detainees who spoke to Human Rights Watch.
    He said he saw eight detainees standing naked. Four guards were throwing water at them from a bucket, after which they pushed the detainees to the floor one by one, lifted their legs, and placed their feet through two rope loops attached to a wooden stick to keep the feet in place. He said he watched as the guards took turns beating each of the detainees on their feet with plastic piping for about 15 minutes nonstop. He said that after the beatings, six of the detainees confessed to being affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS), with each negotiating the length of their membership they would confess.
    The guards used a form of “waterboarding,” referred to as al-safina (“boat” in Arabic) on the two detainees who had not confessed, he said. Five guards and an officer strapped each detainee in turn, still naked, onto an orange gurney and tipped it backward, so that the detainee’s feet were raised above his head and covered his face with a towel. For about five minutes, they beat each one with plastic piping while pouring water over his mouth.
    He said that the guards then bound the men’s hands behind their backs and suspended them from the ceiling using a hook and pulley, in a position referred to as bazoona (the word for cat in Iraqi dialect) for about one hour. He said the men had all confessed by around 2 a.m. and were taken back to their cell.
    An hour later, he said, when he and the 12 other detainees were in the group cell he shared lying down, three or four guards came in and stamped on them with their boots, while singing a well-known ISIS song.
    He named three of the four Interior Ministry officers overseeing that section of the detention facility, whom Human Rights Watch had identified in its August report. He also gave the name of another officer he said had overseen the torture. He said that all four officers directly participated in the torture.
    Iraqi judges, despite the extensive credible reports of torture in detention, routinely fail to investigate torture allegations. On April 1, 2019, Iraq’s High Judicial Council replied to a Human Rights Watch inquiry into the judiciary’s response to torture allegations, stating that a range of Iraqi courts had investigated 275 complaints against investigative officers by the end of 2018. The High Judicial Council stated that 176 of the cases have been “resolved” while 99 were still being addressed. The council did not indicate how many of the 176 cases were being further investigated or had been dismissed.
    Inspector General Jamal al-Asadi should promptly investigate the allegations at Faisaliya detention facility, including the officers implicated in past Human Rights Watch reporting
    Iraq’s High Judicial Council should issue guidelines on the steps judges are obliged to take when a defendant alleges torture. Judges should investigate all credible allegations of torture and the security forces responsible, and order transfers of detainees to different facilities immediately after they allege torture or ill-treatment, to protect them from retaliation. Parliament should pass the draft Anti-Torture Law, which would require judges to order a medical examination of any detainee alleging torture within 24 hours of learning of the allegation.
    Iraq’s foreign minister should also urge parliament to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, which would allow prison visits by the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention. Pending ratification, the government should commit to setting up a national unit to prevent torture, known as a national prevention mechanism, with the authority to inspect all detention centers in Iraq and to set up an effective complaint systems for authorities and facilities involved in detention and interrogations.
    The heads of the federal intelligence agency, NSS, and the new interior minister, once appointed, should issue statements to their subordinates prohibiting the use of torture and other ill-treatment, and making clear that they will punish those responsible. Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi should publicly condemn the use of torture by all law enforcement, security, and military personnel.

    “Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi’s government should demonstrate to the Iraqi people that it is serious about ending torture in Iraq’s detention facilities,” Fakih said. “Strong actions are needed.”


    Why is Human Rights Watch noting this?  I'm glad that they are.  My point here is where are the news outlets?  I don't mean repeating what HRW has documented, I mean why are they reporting this on their own.  When Ned Parker was at THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, he did serious reports like this.  But he was not the norm.  And when Ned was persecuted by the Iraqi government we saw that the David Cay Johnston's couldn't speak up for him anymore than they could speak up for Julian Assange.

    They can spend forever whining to anyone and everyone that a letter was left out of their name -- because, to them, this is the greatest crime.  They can't spend even a Tweet defending the Iraqi people who have suffered through never-ending wars.

    "Someone forgot a J in my name!" is the ultimate outrage to those useless types.



    Let's start winding down with this -- an event on Saturday:

     South Central Michigan Greens
    =============================
    Calhoun, Hillsdale, and Jackson Counties Local
    Peace, People, and Planet Over Profit


    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  April 10, 2019


    For more information:
    --------------------
    Monika Dittmann Schwab, Local Contact/SCMiGreens



    South Central Michigan Greens to Meet 1-3pm
    Saturday, April 20 at Jackson Coffee Company
    ============================================



    The South Central Michigan Greens local will hold its monthly meeting 
    1-3pm on Saturday, April 20 at the downtown Jackson Coffee Company (201 
    South Mechanic Street in Jackson).

    The meeting is an event on Facebook:


    The local serves Jackson, Calhoun, and Hillsdale Counties.  But anyone 
    who supports the Green Party platform of Peace, Planet, and People Over 
    Profit -- or wants to find out about the #realDeal, the Green Party's 
    decade-old original version of the Green New Deal -- is welcome to attend.

    We will discuss upcoming local activities and opportunities to get 
    involved -- including a pollution remediation proposal being started in 
    Jackson this spring, proposed natural-gas mega-plants in the area, and 
    this year's spring Labor History Walk in Marshall on Saturday, May 4, 
    the weekend after international Labor Day (May 1).

    Co-founder John Anthony La Pietra will report on a celebration of "the 
    other MLK Day" held April 4 at the Marshall District Library.  Local 
    officers and by-laws, and the results of the recent statewide membership 
    meeting March 16 in Muskegon, are also expected to be on the agenda.

    A map of the location is available here:


    For more details and news about the local, please visit its Facebook page:



    #  #  #


    The Four Pillars of GPMI:
        Grassroots Democracy
        Social Justice
        Ecological Wisdom
        Non-Violence
    For our Ten Key Values, add:
        Community-Based Economics
        Decentralization
        Feminism
        Future Focus/Sustainability
        Personal and Global Responsibility
        Respect for Diversity




    The following sites updated:


  • That fool Marcy Wheeler

    Next: Jussie the never ending nightmare
    Previous: It's time to cancel Empire
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    elizabeth warren

    That's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS  "She's Getting Desperate." 


    Speaking of idiots, Marcy Wheeler.

    1. One of 's illustrious colleagues is even a currently-serving Trump Administration official in the Defense Department. I'm assuming they're "BFFs"? Please pass along my best wishes to him, Marcy!
    2. In addition to her fantastical claim that she possessed explosive evidence of collusion and turned it over to the FBI, is also a Senior Fellow at an entity consisting of innumerable spooks, Defense Lobbyists, similar fun people. Sounds awesome!



    She really is a stooge.


    This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

     
    Monday, April 22, 2019.  We're again stuck addressing the bully that is David Cay Johnston.

    We'll get to Joe Biden in a moment, first David Cay Johnston.  For those who don't know him, he was never that well known, David had something of a career at THE NEW YORK TIMES.  It didn't end well.  As a friend at THE NATION reminded me this morning, it never ends well.  (David tried to write for THE NATION after his forced retirement from NYT and that didn't work out either.)  Today, whatever image he had is in tatters as he's made himself into a loony tune pursuing one conspiracy after another.  He would just be a portrait of poor mental health if he weren't also so pathetic and annoying.

    David wrote this site years ago.  Whining about the spelling of his name.  I, he insisted, had left the t out of his name.  I had done no such thing.  Bob Somerby of THE DAILY HOWLER had.  We pulled a paragraph from TDH.  David was a rude blowhard but then again he is a White man of a certain age (entitlement just wafts off him) so, no, it wasn't a surprise that he was so rude.  I shared the e-mail with some of his co-workers (he was at NYT then) and we all had a good laugh at his expense.

    I was kind. Well, I wrote a blistering response but then I was kind and didn't publish it (it still exists and could be published at any time -- and maybe it will if David doesn't go away).  I did notice then (and I confirmed it today) that Bob Somerby, who made the mistake if there was a mistake made (he was quoting a reader) never corrected it.  Again, to this day, Bob Somerby's never corrected it.

    This despite David's claim in an e-mail to Ruth (she published it in full, see "F**k off, David Cay Johnston a woman hating piece of crap who thinks he can boss us around") that he has notified Bob Somerby.  Bob might not be able to correct it today -- he's switched sites since then -- but he could have corrected it after it first appeared, if he was contacted, he may have felt the screeching and strident David didn't warrant a correction or he may have felt one missed letter was not the end of the world.

    David thinks it is and has smoe sort of notification system (I hope) when his name goes up.  Otherwise, he's just constantly Google-ing himself.  And he's that pathetic and desperate so maybe that is what he does.

    I just know he was rude to me and I tried to high road it.  I'm not the only one looking at the e-mails (except on Sundays) and this story has always been known in the community.  In our community newsletters, we talked about Harvey Weinstein and many other pigs long before the mainstream media found the stories.  David was just one more little piggie in the syte.

    Ruth's mentioned him at her site, in relation to this topic, many times over the years but he saw one post recently and had a fit.  So he decided to tell her she was wrong.  Because isn't that what every woman wants and needs?  A man to tell her she's wrong?

    And he couldn't just share that he thought she was wrong, he had to offer his resume.  All these never ending details that, quite frankly, are meaningless.  It was pathetic and I've been on the receiving end of a multi-page whine from Warren Farrell when feminism kicked his tired ass to the curb and he just knew he could convince a few of us to stand with him.  I thought Warren was the most pathetic and then I read -- in Ruth's post -- David's e-mail.

    In what world does a man think condescending endlessly to a woman, talking down to her, acting superior is going to result in her joy?

    David's shocked that Ruth responded to him "with vile language."  I didn't open the e-mails -- there are two -- but I can read the first line without opening them.


    David is a smug ass who thinks the world revolves around him.  Because, let's be honest, it used to.  As a straight, White man, he used to run things.  David, you poor fool, you're not running anything these days.  Not just because you're retired, please understand, but you're also not running anything because this isn't 2003.  Women have, as the cigarette add used to say, come a long way.  And we don't fret over you and your blustering.  You don't intimidate us. You especially don't intimidate Ruth, Betty or myself because we defended Hillary from sexist attacks in 2008, back when THE DAILY KOS was purging women and attacking women.  We didn't bat an eyelash at any of the rude or threatening e-mails.  We'd already been through it long before that.

    Your day is over.  Or, as Sylvia Plath once put it, "You do not do, you do not do, anymore black shoe [. . .]."  I'm sorry that it's such a shock to you that you can't bully women.  I thought you would have learned that long, long ago.  But, as many of your co-workers can attest, you don't learn very easily, do you?

    Last Thursday, I explained to you publicly that your e-mails would not be read and that you were not to use the public e-mail account.  It is not a place ofr limp and flaccid men to rage at women.  THE COMMON ILLS started as one site, my site.  And we sprung up as a community.  Mainly because this site values women, mainly because I don't let any man push me around -- many online bullies have tried.  I didn't come to feminism yesterday.  I wasn't surprised by all the men who showed up trying to be 'helpful' when the site started getting attention.  I wasn't surprised and I wasn't a fool.  Yes, men like David would have loved a centrist site where a woman minded her tongue and manners.  To which I say, f**k off.

    We built this community and we built it by standing strong.  We don't get bullied.  We don't buckle.

    I realize your life is pathetic and pretty much over.  Your name is a disgrace and you've made it such.  We will  not be bowing to your wishes.  Yes, you are sad and pathetic but, newsflash, David, I'm not your Mommy.  It' snot my job to burp you or wipe you or pretend like that awful finger paint drawing you just did shows promise.

    Yes, growing up, you expected women to cater to you.  That was a different time, thankfully.

    I mentioned Betty before.  Why bring Betty into it?  Because David's not content to just bother Ruth, he's going after Betty now as well.

    I've said it before, that e-mail account does not exist for you, David.  I get it, you're sick and in need of mental healthcare.  Your rage and anger is apparent.  So get the help you need but stop clogging up my e-mail account with your crap.  I don't give a f**k about you, I never did.  Stop harassing the women of this community.  Stop your attempts at male dominance -- and doesn't that describe the e-mail you sent Ruth?  It's exhausting to read, the whole point appears to be to exhaust her.

    David saw Betty's "David Cay Johnston is trash" and felt the need to correct her.  As an African-American woman, clearly Betty needs David to tell her what's what, right?  That's what he could have gotten away with a decade or two ago but it doesn't play that way today.   David has apparently not yet discovered Ann's "Princess David Cay,"Marcia's "Oh, hell no, David Cay Johnston, sit your tired ass down" or Rebecca's "dickless david cay johnston, the loony conspiracy nut."

    David never learned -- as a straight, White man, he never learned -- that it might be the smartest thing to just shut up.  Last Thursday, I said what I said and thought it was done.  There are so many issues that need to be addressed and focused on.  I thought, community wide, that's what we were going to do.  But here's David yet again, this time with two e-mails.

    And this notion that he will control the dialogue, he will control the conversation?  He's a sexist pig and it's that attitude that allows for the wars today to start and to continue, it's that arrogance and that desire to bully.

    We're not going to be nice about this anymore.  I have deleted --as I said I would last Thursday -- both of David's e-mails.  They will not be read.  Nothing he writes to the public account will be read.  He's a vain and pathetic bully who needs to learn (a) women will not be intimidated by him and (b) one letter missing from his name is not the end of the world.  It really shows you just how pampered he has been his whole life that he thinks a "J" being dropped out of his last name is the end of the world.




    Go away, Mr. Know It All David Cay, go away.



    Moving on.  Joe Biden.

    mayor pete and joe

    That's Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Joe Biden Sniffs Around Mayor Pete" which went up Sunday along with his "She's Getting Desperate."  Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the press favorite currently.  They have many press cycles to fill, there will be other favorites.  The press builds you up to have something to cover and then they tear you down for the same reason.  But Pete's at least eanred the press attention.

    Joe?

    A man who served far too many terms as senator and a gaffe prone vice president who was forever off message or ahead of the roll out.  He's acting as though his run is the Beatles getting back together.  That the whole country is clamoring for it.  The US, the world, in fact, would be just fine without a Joe Biden run.  And the vanity on men, what is up with that?  David Cay, Joe Biden.  If you're going to run, you should have announced some time ago.  There's no great clamor for you to run.  You are the past, the very distant past and We The People are focused on the future.


    Saturday brought news of another US service member dead in Iraq.



    WAVE 3 NEWS notes, "Spc. Ryan Dennis Orin Riley, 22, was from Richmond, Kentucky. He died April 20 from a non-combat related incident in Ninawa Province, Iraq."




    R.I.P to Ryan Riley who dead in Iraq
     
     
    A Kentucky soldier has died in Iraq. The Department of Defense says Spc. Ryan Riley died yesterday. His death was not combat related. Spc. Riley was from Richmond.
     
     
    Two U.S. servicemembers died in separate non-combat-related incidents overseas this weekend. Staff Sgt. Albert J. Miller of the 736th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron died in Qatar on Friday. Spc. Ryan Riley of the 101st Airborne died in Iraq on Saturday.
     
     
    SPC Ryan Riley, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, died on Saturday, April 20, 2019 in Ninawa Province, Iraq from a non-combat related incident.
     
     


    More on the KY soldier killed in Iraq. 👇



    Ryan's dead.  And Joe voted for the Iraq War.  And Joe supported it for years in the US Senate.  And Joe admitted it was pointless (yes, he did, we're the only one who covered that hearing and we will be dredging it back up the minute he announces he's running).  The Iraq War continues.  It continues because of Joe and it was started because of Joe.

    If Joe wants to announce his intent to run, the first words out of his mouth should be how he's going to end the Iraq War.


    If he can't tell the American people that, he's got no real reason to run.
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