Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Justin Raimondo

 7 hours ago
Totally sick for the past three days —but still writing my column. New one out tomorrow.
3 replies25 likes
 
 



I just wanted to take a post to say that Justin Raimondo has been a very important voice for me.  He is fighting cancer and that is tough but so is he.

There are a limited number of people I respect.  If you cut my family off the list, probably half of it's gone right there.

The people I do respect are people like Justin or C.I. who have stood up for what's right regardless of who they had to call out.

Justin is antiwar and he's not going to change that belief because of who's in the White House or what myth the corporate media is pimping.

There was a time when I thought Medea Benjamin was someone like that.  Then she and CodeStink decided it was more important to promote Barack Obama than it was to promote peace.  Amy Goodman pretended like she believed in truth telling -- then she got her Ford Foundation money and started selling the war on Libya.  Over and over, people have been huge disappointments.

Justin hasn't.

And that doesn't mean we have a mind meld.  I can disagree with him.  But when I do, I can still get where he's coming from because he is consistent and has a solid core that he never loses.

I wish him all the best in his battle and I hope he knows there are a lot of us out here who trust him and count on him.  My life is better because of Justin Raimondo and I just wanted to take a post to appreciate him publicly.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Wednesday, May 30, 2018.  The nonsense never ends.  Far too many participation trophies have been handed out and far too little accountability has taken place.


They think they know what they're talking about -- because someone put a gun in their hand.

But they don't.

 May 28
Iraq War veteran Pat Ryan is running for Congress. He’s calling for an assault weapons ban: “The weapons that I carried in combat for 27 months should not be on our streets. Period.”
413K views
0:16 / 1:02
0:46
413K views
1,363 replies5,482 retweets19,248 likes
 
 


Tell you what, Patty Cakes Ryan, when you get smart enough to grasp that you shouldn't have been carrying those weapons on the streets of Iraq or even been in that country, maybe then you'll have something to share.

Right now?

You don't know a damn thing.  Doesn't mean you won't get elected -- ignorance is one of the chief qualifications for Congress.

Iraq didn't attack the US.  The US did attack Iraq.

It'd be great if the Tammy Duckworths and Patty Cakes Ryan and Vote Vets would grasp that they really owe Iraq an apology and need to stop scratching their nuts in public.  


We noted Anne Sexton last night in "Anne Sexton: THE COMPLETE POEMS" and this is her poem "The Firebombers:"


 We are America.
We are the coffin fillers.
We are the grocers of death.
We pack them in crates like cauliflowers.

 The bomb opens like a shoebox.
And the child?
The child is certainly not yawning.
And the woman?
The woman is bathing her heart.
It has been torn out of her
and because it is burnt
and as a last act
she is rinsing it off in the river.
This is the death market.

 America,
where are your credentials?



Tammy and her fellow nut scratchers who feel the need to go on and on about Iraq?  It's about time they started speaking about "Abeer."  They're the ones so proud of what took place in Iraq.  That would include killing and maiming civilians.  It would also include Abeer:  Abeer Qassim Hamza was murdered on March12, 2006 in the town of Mahmoudiyah along with her parents Qassim Hamza Raheem and Fakhriya Taha Muhasen and her five-year-old sister Hadeel Qassim Hamza. Originally, an investigation into their deaths pegged the killer or killers as "insurgents."


14-years-old and gang raped by US soldiers.  14-years-old, gang raped by US soldiers while she hears her parents and her sister killed in the next room by, yes, US soldiers.

I'm sorry, where was #MeToo and Mira and Ashley and all the other fake assees -- especially Ashley who worked both sides of the street when securing jobs but now is astounded that anyone would have ever propositioned her.

Apparently the only lives that matter are forty-something faded starlets who never had the talent they thought and whose efforts to park their work on their boobs -- natural and enhanced -- didn't work out quite the way they thought it would.  No, Mira, no one needed to see you try to play Marilyn Monroe.  You were called out in real time.  At best, you were quirky.  At worst, your looks were kind of repulsive.

But it's all about you, Mira, right?

Not about a 14-year-old girl who was gang-raped by US soldiers.  It was five of them but many observers feel the only one who was forced to pay was Steven Green -- who also happened to be the only one who was out of the military and the only one tried in civilian courts -- as we all know "military justice" is a joke.

Iraq is a country that has been destroyed by the United States.  It had no Weapons of Mass Destruction.  It did not attack the US.  And that the Tammy Duckworths think they can scratch their nuts in public and act like they've accomplished something?

Oh, honey, no.

No.

You destroyed a country.  You were ordered there by the failure of  a government we have here in the United States.  I get that.  And I am sympathetic to you for it.  But stop with your tales of heroism because there are none.  The Iraq War is a crime.  Stop acting like you've got something to brag about.  My heart breaks for you in the abstract but that doesn't mean I act stupid and pretend like you've done something that we need to applaud.

Your government sent you to destroy a country.  That's nothing to brag about.


The US government used chaos -- planned chaos -- to destabilize and destroy Iraq.  The rights of women were destroyed as the US put in charge fundamentalists and cowards.


Picking up on a topic from yesterday's snapshot, the attempts to steal the vote by screaming fraud.  MIDDLE EAST ONLINE explains:

Close to three weeks after parliamentary polls, confusion reigns in Iraq as allegations mount of election fraud even with negotiations to form a government well underway.
Since the May 12 victory of anti-establishment electoral lists, long-time political figures pushed out by Iraqi voters hoping for change have called for a recount -- with some even calling for the poll results to be cancelled.
Iraqi authorities have agreed to review the results, but have yet to take any concrete measures.
Experts say claims of fraud are more likely to stem from frustrated outgoing politicians, rather than any major electoral manipulations in a country determined to turn the page after a brutal three-year fight against the Islamic State group.



The results were surprising to those who repeated the garbage of the US government.  Hayder al-Abadi was a leader!  Iraq had been saved by him!

The votes made clear that wasn't the case.  In fact, collectively, the Iraqi people sang Shania Twain.



Media whores peddled US government lies and assumptions as fact in the lead up to the Iraq War.  That's why they were so shocked.

It's being a Tammy Duckworth and looking at Iraq from far away while imposing your values on the people.

The reality is Hayder allowed the US, Turkey and many other countries to bomb Iraq.  That's nothing that Iraqi people are going to applaud and you really have to have your head up your ass to think otherwise.

Why is this site the only one that can ever ask, "If this happened in the US, would we be thrilled?"

Because instead of common sense, so many operate from the belief that 'those people' should be grateful for whatever we (the US) decides to do.  After 15 years of non-stop war on Iraq, we're apparently still that collectively stupid.

'Liberation' was spun by many in the western media but spin couldn't conceal that Anbar is under siege, not liberated.  There is no liberation.  Mosul remains destroyed and haunted.


 2h2 hours ago
In 2017, conflict forced 11.8 million people to flee their homes. Over half of those displaced were in these 5 countries. - Syria: 2.9 million - Iraq: 1.4 million - South Sudan: 857,000 - Philippines: 645,000 - Central African Republic: 539,000 via
4 replies41 retweets37 likes
 
 






There was nothing that Hayder delivered on.  Lives were as bad as they were before he became prime minister (before Barack Obama made him prime minister in 2014).

All elections are local but all the so-called experts in the US couldn't grasp that and thought the Iraqi people would vote not their own interests but what the US thought they should care about.

That's not just stupid, that's not just insulting, it's harmful.

MEMO notes, "Iraqi leader Muqtada Al-Sadr yesterday rejected meddling by both Iran and the United States in the next government which is being formed in the country."  As well he should.  Neither supported him, first of all.  Second, its the will of the Iraqi people that resulted in his victory, that's who he better please and better focus on.

RUDAW reports, "Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi rejected foreign intervention in government formation talks, condemned the electoral commission’s statement of an impending civil war, and said he wouldn’t mind another term."





I'm sure Hayder al-Abadi wouldn't mind another term but that's not what the Iraq people wanted, is it?  Last time the US overruled the Iraqi people in an election?  2010.  They rejected Nouri al-Maliki.  The US wanted Nouri (Samantha Power convinced Barack that Nouri would bring 'stability' which would allow US goals to advance to the front of Iraq).  Barack overturned the votes of the Iraqi people (via The Erbil Agreement) and installed thug Nouri for a second term.  By June of 2014, even Barack had to admit publicly that Nouri was responsible for the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq.

Despite bluster and bravado, the US government holds neither a patent on wisdom nor even a basic grasp on common sense.  This has been repeatedly demonstrated in the Iraq War.

The US would love to have Hayder for another four years.

He did nothing for the Iraqi people but the US government has never been about improving Iraqi lives.  There's propaganda they offer ahead of going to war with Iraq and there's the US government actual actions ever since the start of the war.  It's never been about helping Iraqi people or improving anyone's lives.  It has been about attempting to push an oil & gas law (one Iraqis don't favor but the US government wants).  It has been about putting despots in charge.  It has been about destroying the Iraqi people's way of life.  It's a land of widows and orphans.  Do the Tammy Duckworths honestly believe they accomplished one damn thing to be proud of?

If so, they need professional help.

Hamza Mustafa (ASHARQ AL-AWSAT) reports:
 
Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission has warned of a potential civil war after the Iraqi parliament decided on Sunday evening to cancel some of the parliamentary elections results and manually recount 10 percent of the votes.
The head of the commission, Riyad al-Badran said that the failure to comply with the official poll results could have dire political repercussions.
On Monday, Iraq’s parliament decided to annul the expatriate vote and recount about 10 percent of all ballots cast due to evidence of fraud.
Poll results from major displacement camps in the Anbar, Salaheddine and Diyala provinces were also canceled.


As Jamal al-Asadi points out, the actions of Parliament are illegal and the courts are the rightful avenue for any determinations.

 


The following community sites -- plus The ACLU and PACIFICA EVENING NEWS --  updated:


Posted by at

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Of all the nonsense

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Ghosts of Films Past"went up Sunday.


the ghosts of films past


If you missed it, Roseanne Barr compared a politician to someone in the film THE PLANET OF THE APES and the whole world came to a stand still.

ABC cancelled her show.

Because Valerie Jarret is a poor, defenseless maiden.

She's not someone who took part in the drone war, she's not someone with blood on her hands.

No, she's someone who farts rainbows and burps sunrises.

What a load of crap.

Is Roseanne -- or was -- Tweeting something racist?

I don't know.  I grew up in Boston, we told plenty of people -- friends and foes -- of all races that they were gorillas or apes or chimps or dogs or what have you.

It wasn't the end of the world.  I looked like something.  I can't think now.  Tony, when you read this, call me and remind me what I was compared to in high school because I can't remember.

The daily outrage.  The outrage machine.

It's consuming Roseanne Barr now.

 10 hours ago
I wrote on the original "Roseanne" where we used to denounce nativism, racism & homophobia. Nauseating to see what she's become. Looking forward to continue not watching this show.
111 replies735 retweets4,050 likes
 
 


Danny Zuker wants to Tweet?

The little bitch who stole Christopher Guest's whole mockumentary to make MODERN FAMILY.  That's hilarious -- especially since I know what Ava and C.I. were already planning to write next Sunday.  It's about MODERN FAMILY and it's not going to be pretty.

Nor should it be.

Danny Zuker needs to crawl back in his hole.  And, by the way, MODERN FAMILY really sucks this last season.  And the ratings are in decline because of it.


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:

 
Tuesday, May 29, 2018.  Memorial Day saw a record number of fools Tweet and demonstrate that the connection between actual thought and Tweeting is non-existent.



Another Memorial Day has passed and, with it, the usual stupidity.


 13h13 hours ago





Someone might want to teach the idiot how to make a bicep.  But she a manly gal, isn't she?   She Tweeted attacking Trump for his deferments that kept him from serving in Vietnam.

Yes, she is that stupid.  And that filled with hate.
You can ride high atop your pony
I know you won't fall
'Cause the whole thing's phoney.
You can fly swinging from your trapeze
Scaring all the people
But you'll never scare me
Bella Donna
And we fight for the northern star
No speed limit this is the fast lane
It's just the way that it is here
And you say I never thought it could
 -- "Bella Donna," written by Stevie Nicks, first appears on Stevie's album of the same name.
 
 
Come in out of the darkness. 
Pit Stank Kris seems unaware of how far her tar brush smears.  Donald Trump got deferments, yes.  So did Bill Clinton.  So did a whole lot of people.
And deferments?
Those aren't the problem.
The illegal war on Vietnam -- built around LBJ's Gulf of Tonkin lies -- are the problem.  Sorry that Pit Stank Kris is too dumb to grasp that.
She wants tos lame Donald Trump in a way that right-wingers slammed Bill Clinton and she doesn't get how vile and disgusting she is?  Pit Stank Kris, put that arm down, none of us need to smell your stank.  Bar of soap would help wash your odor away but nothing can educate you because you are so very damn stupid.
And so many in the 'resistance' are.  There are Tweets praising Barack.  Is that the Barack who spied on the AP?  Is that the Barack who carried out wars?  Is that the Barack who killed American citizens with drones, who killed innocent foreigners with drones, who attacked more whistle-blowers than all the presidents before him combined?
Is that the Barack you refer to?
Replying to 
Bush was bad, so we got Obama, a great man. Since Trump is sooo bad, imagine what a great president we will get next.
0 replies0 retweets0 likes




Steven's a real idiot -- and not just because any man that looks like him should never post a shirtless photo to his Twitter feed.

Steven's a real idiot to use Memorial Day to praise Barack.


Dropping back to July 9, 2011:

 Earlier we were mentioning the little scamp Ali al-Lami who was killed a few weeks back. A terrorist, in fact. The US military held him for awhile. They held others with the Shi'ite thug group the League of Righteous. They're responsible for the deaths of 5 American service members. Maybe more. But 5 they are known to have killed.

And Barack let their leader and some of his followers go in a deal in the summer of 2009 -- a deal that the families of the 5 fallen soldiers were not consulted on or even given a heads up to -- because Barack didn't want to be president of the United States. That was too small for Barry. He needed -- his ego needed -- a world stage. So when the British needed something to get their 5 citizens kidnapped by the League freed, Barry said, "Screw dead Americans who were killed doing a job their government ordered them to do, I'm going to free the League -- this rag-tag group of killers -- because I don't give a damn about the safety of Iraqis and because I want to get in good with England."

So Barry released them and, as usual from Princess Tiny Meat, his 'grand gesture' fell quickly. Because the addiction to the Kool-Aid was still so high in 2009, let's drop back we'll drop back to the June 9, 2009 snapshot with the realization that some who looked the other way in real time will now be outraged:
This morning the New York Times' Alissa J. Rubin and Michael Gordon offered "U.S. Frees Suspect in Killing of 5 G.I.'s." Martin Chulov (Guardian) covered the same story, Kim Gamel (AP) reported on it, BBC offered "Kidnap hope after Shia's handover" and Deborah Haynes contributed "Hope for British hostages in Iraq after release of Shia militant" (Times of London). The basics of the story are this. 5 British citizens have been hostages since May 29, 2007. The US military had in their custody Laith al-Khazali. He is a member of Asa'ib al-Haq. He is also accused of murdering five US troops. The US military released him and allegedly did so because his organization was not going to release any of the five British hostages until he was released. This is a big story and the US military is attempting to state this is just diplomacy, has nothing to do with the British hostages and, besides, they just released him to Iraq. Sami al-askari told the New York Times, "This is a very sensitive topic because you know the position that the Iraqi government, the U.S. and British governments, and all the governments do not accept the idea of exchanging hostages for prisoners. So we put it in another format, and we told them that if they want to participate in the political process they cannot do so while they are holding hostages. And we mentioned to the American side that they cannot join the political process and release their hostages while their leaders are behind bars or imprisoned." In other words, a prisoner was traded for hostages and they attempted to not only make the trade but to lie to people about it. At the US State Dept, the tired and bored reporters were unable to even broach the subject. Poor declawed tabbies. Pentagon reporters did press the issue and got the standard line from the department's spokesperson, Bryan Whitman, that the US handed the prisoner to Iraq, the US didn't hand him over to any organization -- terrorist or otherwise. What Iraq did, Whitman wanted the press to know, was what Iraq did. A complete lie that really insults the intelligence of the American people. CNN reminds the five US soldiers killed "were: Capt. Brian S. Freeman, 31, of Temecula, California; 1st Lt. Jacob N. Fritz, 25, of Verdon, Nebraska; Spc. Johnathan B. Chism, 22, of Gonzales, Louisiana; Pfc. Shawn P. Falter, 25, of Cortland, New York; and Pfc. Johnathon M. Millican, 20, of Trafford, Alabama." Those are the five from January 2007 that al-Khazali and his brother Qais al-Khazali are supposed to be responsible for the deaths of. Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Robert H. Reid (AP) states that Jonathan B. Chism's father Danny Chism is outraged over the release and has declared, "They freed them? The American military did? Somebody needs to answer for it."

Agreed. Not only did Barry betray the fallen, he demonstrated yet again no one should trust him at the adult table by himself. His 'big' deal resulted in only one living British citizen released. Three corpses were released.


That's not someone you honor on Memorial Day.  Danny Chism was right, "Somebody needs to answer for it."

But Memorial Day comes along and the failed and stunted rush out to flash their ignorance.  They really should be ashamed.

Killers of US troops, terrorists, were in US custody and Barack made a deal and released them -- made a deal with terrorists.

That's outrageous and it's outrageous that so many idiots didn't bother to pay attention in real time.

Barack is not your friend.  75 million and counting?  Your friend doesn't make 75 million and counting while serving the public interest.  That's not how it works.

You are a bunch of stooges who seem to think that taking the opposite position Donald Trump has qualifies as deep thought and introspection.  It doesn't.


That's a reality.

American citizens are betrayed repeatedly, used like toys to fight wars that have nothing to do with American interests.  But Donald Trump's int he White House so all the extremely stupid of the faux left step forward to share that they can parrot what the right wing said when Bill Clinton was president.

Kevin Basl (ANTIWAR.COM) points out:


“How do you motivate men and women to fight and die for a cause many of them don’t believe in, and whose purpose they can’t articulate?”
That’s what Phil Klay, author and U.S. Marine Corps veteran, asks in an essay published this month in The Atlantic. Unfortunately, he points out in a recent New York Times op-ed, “Serious discussion of foreign policy and the military’s role within it is often prohibited” by what he calls “patriotic correctness.”
In a well-functioning democracy, Klay argues, citizens must debate and question how their elected officials employ their military, an organization which ought to represent the values of the people. But it seems many Americans remain unconcerned about the wars the United States is currently fighting (at last count, we’re bombing at least 7 countries) though they foot the bill both in tax dollars and lives.


People like Pit Stank Kris should be ashamed but they lack the self-awareness to feel shame.

The Iraq War continues, not that the laughable 'resistance' gives a damn.

Others do give a damn.


 11h11 hours ago
I was a senior in HS when George HW Bush announced US military action in Iraq. Today, I'm 45, have three kids of my own, and we're still using military force in that country. In countless other countries too. Time we stop endless war.
107 replies2,014 retweets7,608 likes






Exactly.  When we cover a Congressional hearing Beto's at, we always quote him for the basic reason that he's not posturing.  He speaks to basic truths.

The Iraq War continues.


Mohammed Ebraheem (IRAQI NEWS) reports, "Two Iraqi policemen were injured Tuesday in a bomb blast in Kirkuk, a security source was quoted as saying."  KURDISTAN 24 adds, "At least one person was killed and seven wounded following an explosion near a girls’ school in the province of Diyala, a security source said on Tuesday." Last night, Margaret Griffith (ANTIWAR.COM) noted, "At least 21 people were killed, and five were wounded in recent violence. Forty-three bodies were recovered:"


The Iraq War continues.  Wednesday, the UN's Jan Kubis will 'brief' the UN Security Council on Iraq.  It's a worthless briefing.  At the height of Nouri al-Maliki's government and militias killing boys and men suspected of being gay, the 'briefing' didn't even acknowledge that was happening.  It never does.  Nor does anyone ever ask a question.

What sort of briefing is that?

No one asks one damn question.  Jan will read his statement.  There will be a brief pause.  Then some representative of the Iraqi government will read a statement.

And that's it.

No discussion, no questions.

And both statements are already available in printed form.

It's going through the motions, it's not monitoring anything.

This passes for 'monitoring' and 'engagement.'  It is neither.  It is avoidance of responsibilities.   And it allows for the war to continue.


Meanwhile, it's time for more whining and foot stomping in Iraq.  May 12th was when elections were held.  Pouty babies can't accept the results.  It's 17 days later and we get this:




 21h21 hours ago
Great News. Finally the parliament decides to recount 10% of the . The meeting is the greatest success for the anti-fraud coalition in and other parties in the provinces. Now half of says thay the elections were rigged.
 
0 replies3 retweets14 likes




Oh, great, more delays to forming a government.

Because, goodness knows, what Iraq needs more of is a government that does nothing.

AL ARABIYA reported Sunday, "Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court has rejected a request to cancel the country's recent parliamentary election results over allegations of voting irregularities. This comes after to an absence of a quorum led the Iraqi Council of Representatives to fail on Sunday for the third time to hold a scheduled meeting to pressure the Electoral Commission to reverse the results of the recent elections."

But now Parliament wants a partial recount.  Partical recounts are the most discredited -- it always looksl ike areas are being cherry picked.

The longest from election day to formation Iraq has taken was eight months -- a record at the time.  It's since been replaced as the longest time between elections and formation in the world but maybe this is the year Iraq can reclaim the title?



Kat's "Kat's Korner: 44/876 is the perfect summer album" went up Monday and Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Ghosts of Films Past" went up Sunday.


New content at THIRD:




Lastly, maybe Pit Stank Kris and others can actually care next Memorial Day about those being betrayed by the government -- like the veterans exposed to burn pits.






Donate to Burn Pits 360
Burn Pits 360 Needs You!  The success of our mission depends on the generosity of individuals like you.  We ask you to consider a monthly donation to help us advocate for our community and its needs.
 
Connect with us on Facebook
Burn Pits 360 is community of veterans with burn pit-related illness, their families, and advocates with the common goal of exposing the harms of toxic burn pit exposure and obtaining benefits and policy change. Join us. Like us onFacebook!

Copyright © 2018, Burn Pits 360 Veterans Organization, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
Burn Pits 360 Veterans Organization
201 N. 4th Street
Robstown, TX 78380




Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)