Mikey Likes It!: 2022-03-20

Saturday, March 26, 2022

Idiot of the week

First off, Jimmy Dore.

I had Idiot of the Week already picked out and then came the above nonsense.

Clearly the idiot of the week is the press. They're whitewashing Hitler to sell the war on Russia.

They're whores. They are aboslute whores. Hitler killed millions. He wanted to destroy the Jewi -- eradicate them from the face of the earth, the Roma, the gay people. He was a crazed, insane, murderer. And the press wants to tell you that he wasn't that bad?

You get the feeling that if Hitler were invading Poland right now, Chuck Todd and the others would be telling you that this was actually good news for Poland.

They're whores and they're idiots.

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

Friday, March 24, 2022. About the only good world news today, Mad Maddie Albright remains dead.

Apparently something needs clarification. It's up here before -- many times over. But some whiners to the public e-mail account insist that 'poor' Mad Maddie Albright was done wrong by me yesterday in the snapshot. If so, I'm fine with that. I don't give a damn about her. But I'm not sure that she was done wrong. 18 years this iste has been up. 16 years, I've wanted to wind it donw.

Can't.

Because pretty much everyone walked away from the Iraq War -- the western press certainly did. The same whores who helped sell the Iraq War.

Bloggers pretended to care. Panhandle Media -- send money! send money! -- pretended to care. Congress pretended to care. All those people were apparently pretending.

I think they were suprised, politicians -- for example, by how strong the mood was against the Iraq War. But they saw it as a way to win eletions so they pretended to give a damn. When REupblicancs controlled the White House and both houses of Congress, the illegal war was wrong and must end immediately.

Then Democrats were put in charge of Congress (both houses in the November 2006 elections) and then the Congress and the White House (November 2008 elections) and wtihdrawing all US forces became a forgotten cry.

All the fake asses went away. Someone -- maybe Fiorella Isabel on THE CONVO COUCH -- this wee,k made the point that certain Republicans look ridiculous when they start saying that these generic centerist Democratsin Congress are "Communists." And I agree and get that point 100% but it's also true that Leslie Cagan is a Communist and she did everything she could to elect Democrats. She wasn't, it turned out, at all concerned about the Iraq War. She just grandstanded on that to drum up votes for the Democratic Party. That's why she and her group United For Peace and Justice immediately folded up their tent days after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. The war hadn't ended. The media wasn't even pretending that it had at that point. But there was Leslie shutting down her cong game. While it's ridiculous to think Nancy Pelosi, for exmaple, might be a Communist, as some Republicans do, it's equally ridiculous that some Communists in American dedicate their lives to whoring and diverting for the Democratic Party.

If Leslie dies while this site is active? We'll probably remember her about as 'nicely' as we did Mad Maddie.

Because this iste isn't about Amerrican crooks and con artists. From the start, we've tried to highlight the Iraqi people. And you, an American (idiot/) might feel that Mad Maddie got treated unfairly with words I offered yesterday. However, the Iraqi children who suffered under sanctions -- many of whom died -- had to endure a lot more than mere words and for a lot longer than one day.

Children suffered because of Mad Maddie Albright. Some died. Some started off life with a struggle that she imposed.

We weren't the only ones noting the truth about Mad Maddie. But because enough people in the US were telling the truth, western media wasn't able to do their usual photo-shopping of the truth. Mad Maddie will probably still get her week of tributes that all crooks in the US political class get but NEWSWEEK and others are being forced to note that she was very proud of her part in the murder of Iraqi children via crippling sanctions.

As for your prayers you'll offer for my soul? I think we can probably all use some prayers, thank you. But I also think if you're torn and upset over the death of an 84-year-old woman who bragged that the death of at least 500,000 children was "worth it," someone whom even Colin Powell had to admonish (the US military is not a toy), someone who partenred with The Baker Group in 2004 to skim off millions from Iraq, then you're either a saint who cries for the death of each and every person or else you're priorities are incredibly screwed.

Here's Mad Maddie.

The Iraqi people suffered and continue to suffer. Mad Maddie is noted by Patrick Martin (WSWS) but he notes it's impossible to review her entire rap sheet:

Even more significantly, Albright became chair of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in 2001 and held that position until her death. The NDI is an arm of the capitalist state, CIA-financed to promote pro-imperialist political forces and to subvert any radical or oppositionist trend that might threaten US corporate interests in countries around the world.

In that capacity, Albright was deeply involved in every crime of the US military-intelligence apparatus in the first two decades of the 21st century, from Afghanistan to Iraq to Ukraine. The celebration of her life and work by the corporate media, and by Democratic and Republican politicians alike, is a demonstration of the bipartisan consensus that anything goes, no matter how undemocratic and bloody, in the defense of the profits and worldwide global interests of the American financial aristocracy.

Let's stay with garbage for a moment more. From Albright to another American who needs to buy a damn clue: Little Sammy P.N. Cook who is 'ceo' of his own sandbox entitled SanityDesk. He's surfaced online to inform the world that Urkaine, which he just left, is worse than it was in Iraq.

Really?

Little Sammy Junior, you were with the US military in Iraq. It was probably a lot easier for you -- for anyone -- in Iraq with the US military than it is for anyone in Ukraine. But don't confuse you entering that contury armed and with other people who were also armed with what it was like -- what it still is like -- for an Iraqi in Iraq. You reek of entitlement and of stupditiy. You really should learn to measure your remarks when you're trying to create yourself as someone smart enough to offer analysis. The Iraq war didnt make you an expert on anything and you're the one who is constantly proving that fact.

You need the press and 'experts' like Little Sammy to sell your wars. At BLACK AGENDA REPORT, Jacqueline Luqman explains:

A “newspaper of record” is a major newspaper with a large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative. In this country, that newspaper has been the New York Times. It is believed that librarians began to refer to The New York Times (NYT) as the “newspaper of record” in 1913 when it became the first U.S. newspaper to publish an index of the subjects covered in its pages. Regardless of how it became known as the authoritative source for editorial and news content, it is time that we stop calling the NYT the “newspaper of record” now, especially during this conflict in Ukraine.

The NYT’s March 18th digital headline reads: “130 Rescued from Mariupol Theater, Official Says.” Beyond the headline and under the section, “Here are the latest developments in Ukraine,” more details are provided:

“At least 130 survivors have escaped the ruins of a theater that was nearly leveled in a Russian attack in the embattled southern city of Mariupol, a Ukrainian official said on Friday, but hundreds remained unaccounted for in the wreckage. The city was one of the many under withering missile bombardment across Ukraine as Ukrainian forces continued to frustrate Russian troop advances.”

There is more in this section about the millions escaping Ukraine and the “withering Russian attacks” on the theater. But there is not one word about the neo-Nazis which, in the case of the city of Mariupol and that theater, is a very important part of the story. In fact, the Azov Batallion , an openly Nazi paramilitary group that was consolidated in 2014 to fight against “pro-Russian separatists,” captured the city of Mariupol in 2014. To be clear, those designated “pro-Russian separatists” are the people who, in protest of the US-backed fascist coup in 2014 and in demand of their democratic rights, voted to secede from Ukraine and rejoin the Russian Federation.

It is true that we focus a lot on the neo-Nazis in this conflict. It is not because they are the only and major problem in the conflict. But the lack of reporting on them in US media is disturbing. Aren’t Nazis supposed to be the bad guys? You would think it would be easy for journalists of such a “reputable” publication such as the New York Times to report on the neo-Nazis who took over and now control the city of Mariupol. But no.

Even The Guardian - the British newspaper of note, with at least some standing - reported on the fascists controlling Mariupol back in September 2014 . The reporter focused the article on individual members of the battalion, particularly one man named Dmitry ( not his real name) who is quoted at the beginning of the article saying, “I have nothing against Russian nationalists or a great Russia, But Putin's not even a Russian. Putin's a Jew." The article continues:

“...there is an increasing worry that while the Azov and other volunteer battalions might be Ukraine's most potent and reliable force on the battlefield against the separatists, they also pose the most serious threat to the Ukrainian government, and perhaps even the state, when the conflict in the east is over. The Azov causes particular concern due to the far right, even neo-Nazi, leanings of many of its members.”

Actually, the good ol’ USA Today reported on the neoNazi problem in Ukraine, too, back in 2015. They didn’t even use the term “neo-Nazis;” They used “Nazis.” In the article, a drill sergeant named Alex is interviewed. The accompanying picture shows Alex laughing with an Azov Battalion patch on his jacket. Alex, according to the article,

“...admitted that he is a Nazi and said with a laugh that no more than half his comrades are fellow Nazis. He said he supports strong leadership for Ukraine, like Germany during World War II, but opposes the Nazis' genocide against Jews. Minorities should be tolerated as long as they are peaceful and don't demand special privileges, he said, and the property of wealthy oligarchs should be taken away and nationalized. He vowed that when the war ends, his comrades will march on the capital, Kiev, to oust a government they consider corrupt.”

The article, however, goes on to dismiss Russia’s concerns about these Nazis at their border in eastern Ukraine, claiming: Russian media exploit such statements to describe the brigade in this port city in eastern Ukraine as a bunch of thugs who menace the population yet are embraced by Ukraine's national government.” But it is these same Nazis who would go on to wage war against and kill mostly ethnic Russian people for the next 8 years.

It takes a lot of lies to encourage hatred and promote war. You have to promote hate -- all repressive governments grasp that and work towards it. If they can make someone hateful enough -- some outsider -- then they can justify the failures of their own -- the failures to improve the lives of their own citizens. Remember that as US President Joe Biden keeps trying to normalize food shortages. The only response to food shortages in the US is "Vote the bums out." That's reality. We pay millions in tax dollars each year and food shortages? Joe Biden was never up to being president. BAck to the latest war of choice . . . The edtiroial board of WSWS notes:

In a meeting with the US Business Roundtable ahead of the summit, Biden pointed to the long-running plans that are being put into practice.

“You know, we are at an inflection point,” Biden said. “It occurs every three or four generations. As one of the top military people said to me in a secure meeting the other day, 60 million people died between 1900 and 1946.”

He added that “now is a time when things are shifting... There’s going to be a new world order out there, and we’ve got to lead it.”

The phrase “New World Order” has a long and bloody provenance.

On September 11, 1990, US President George H.W. Bush gave a speech entitled “Toward a New World Order.” He declared, “The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period.”

As in the present crisis in Ukraine, the United States maneuvered to have Iraq invade a neighboring country to provide a pretext for war plans long in the making. The Gulf War triggered an eruption of US militarism that continued through the wars in Yugoslavia, the “war on terror” and the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the US overthrow of the Libyan government, and the years-long destabilization campaign against Syria.

Biden’s “New World Order” involves the transition from 30 years of wars and interventions in the Middle East and Central Asia, which have killed more than 1 million people, into a conflict targeting Russia and China, which raises the specter of a Third World War waged with nuclear weapons.

The headlines in the capitalist press expose the reckless war mania that has swept over the ruling class, bringing behind it the affluent middle class. “NATO Plans to Ramp Up Forces on Eastern Flank,” blared the New York Times. Another article in the Times stated that “both Russia and the United States have nuclear arms that are much less destructive—their power just fractions of the Hiroshima bomb’s force, their use perhaps less frightening and more thinkable.”

David C. Gompert, a former acting director of national intelligence under the Obama administration, wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that the US “has more survivable, accurate and reliable offensive nuclear forces that could further decimate Russia’s strategic deterrent on the ground. Whatever Russian missiles survive such disarming strikes would be picked off by US missile defense systems.”

The Putin regime, confronted with the failure of its plan for a limited war in Ukraine that was aimed at pressuring NATO to negotiate on its security concerns, is trying to escape the trap into which it was lured by resorting to nuclear saber rattling. The world could face a dystopian crisis that ends in a “big nuclear explosion,” former Russian president and Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday.

The interaction of NATO’s recklessness, fueled by a series of intersecting domestic crises, and Russia’s desperation has created an extraordinarily explosive situation.

This dangerous escalation must be opposed through the development of a mass anti-war movement, based on the international working class.

There is a growing movement of workers throughout the world against social inequality and exploitation. The consequences of the war drive are fueling protests and strikes over soaring inflation and mass poverty.

Moving to Iraq . . .

Let's again note this from ARAB WEEKLY:

Partisan and personal loyalties have decided the fate of Iraq's presidency and premiership, despite all previous vows by populist leader Moqtada al-Sadr to base his nominations for leadership posts on the national interest only.

Instead, Iraq seems to be moving away from a system of political quotas to one based on the accommodation of various players, if not indeed, plain nepotism.

Sadr chose to nominate Riber Ahmed, the Kurdistan region’s interior minister and director of the office of party leader Massoud Barzani, for the position of president of the republic. He has also nominated Mohammad Jaafar al-Sadr, one of his cousins, to serve as the country’s prime minister.

Iraqi political analysts said that Sadr, who had claimed to be motivated by a desire to free himself from the yoke of the pro-Iranian Shia Coordination Framework, has fallen under the control of Massoud Barzani and accepted his conditions. These included endorsing the latter’s nominee for the presidency of Iraq, despite the fact that the candidate is virtually unknown to most Iraqis. Moreover, Ahmed will have a hard time filling the shoes of a figure of the stature, connections and overall record of the incumbent Barham Salih.

Analysts said that by agreeing to be swayed by the game of political accommodation and by choosing a relative with no political record nor experience as nominee for prime minister, Sadr has shown he is no different from the rest of the political players who have assumed leadership positions in the country since the 2003 US invasion. His opposition to quotas, nepotism and his advocacy of the “national majority” now ring hollow, they add.

Three days before the appointment of a new president for Iraq, the tripartite alliance (the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Sadrists) announced the formation of the largest bloc in parliament under the banner of “Saving the Country”. The new alliance officially announced the nomination of Riber Ahmed for president and Mohammad Jaafar al-Sadr as prime minister.

To be fair to Moqtdaq, he is backing a choice for prime minister that is different -- since it's hiw own cousin. But nepotisim really wasn't what the Iraqi people were wanting. He could argue back that without nepotism, he'd still be a cleark at an Iranian hotel, hiding out from his many enemies in Iraq.

Today, right now, these events are unfolding. And the western press is too busy selling war on Ukraine to take the time to notice just how awful life is for the Iraqi people and how they have a government that doesn't represent them and doesn't even offer the pretense that it does.

Let's wind down with this from Ajamu Baraka (BLACK AGENDA REPORT)::

Images of burnt flesh from napalm bombs, wounded and dead soldiers, scenes of U.S. soldiers burning the simple huts of Vietnamese villages, eventually turned the public against the war in Vietnam and produced the dreaded affliction, from the ruling class point of view, known as the “Vietnam syndrome.” This collective Post Traumatic Stress Disorder made it impossible for the public to support any foreign military involvement for years.

It took the rulers almost three decades to finally cure the public of this affliction. But the rulers were careful.

The brutal reality of what the U.S. was doing in Afghanistan and Iraq was whitewashed. That is why the images now being brought to the public by the corporate media are so shocking. It has been more than two generations since the U.S. public was exposed to the horrific images of war.

In the 1960s the rulers inadvertently allowed themselves to be undermined by the new television technology that brought the awful reality of imperialist war into the homes of the public. Now, the ruling class operating through its corporate media propaganda arms has been effectively using Ukraine war propaganda, not to increase Anti-war sentiment but to stimulate support for more war!

Incredibly also, the propagandists are pushing a line that essentially says that in the name of “freedom” and supporting Ukraine, the U.S. public should shoulder the sacrifice of higher fuel and food prices. This is on top of the inflation that workers and consumers were already being subjected to coming out of the capitalist covid scandal that devastated millions of workers and the lower stratums of the petit bourgeoisie.

But the war, and now the unfair shouldering of all of the costs of the capitalist crisis of 2008 - 2009, and the impact of covid by the working classes in the U.S., amounts to a capitalist tax. It is levied by the oligarchy on workers to subsidize the defense of the interests of big capital and the conditions that have produced obscene profits, even in the midst of the covid crisis and now, the Ukraine war.

These policies are criminal. While the U.S. continues to pretend that it champions human rights around the world, the failure of the state to protect the fundamental human rights of the citizens and residents in the U.S. is obvious to all, but spoken about by the few, except the Chinese government .

For those who might think that the Chinese criticism of the U.S. is only being driven by politics, and it might be, just a cursory, objective examination of the U.S. state policies over just the last few years reveals a shocking record of systematic human rights abuses that promise to become even more acute as a consequence of the manufactured U.S./NATO war in Ukraine.

The following sites updated:

Friday, March 25, 2022

THE GOLBERGS blew the chance to save the show

First up, Jimmy Dore.

Something to watch for.

I watched THE GOLDBERGS Wednesday night (on ABC). Bev was in love with DYNASTY and she would watch with her three kids -- Adam, Erica and Barry. And she ended up in a clash -- like Krystal and Alexis -- with longtime frenemy Jane -- they even ended up swinging at each other after they fell into a pool. Why? Jane was trying to get closer to Mike and, to Beverly, it looked like Jane was trying to take over the company.

They made up and Bev taught Jane how to cook.

There were multiple laughs.

But then there was Adam. The baby needs to grow up guy that's supposed to be starting college. He's so hideous. It's irritating to watch. And he and Dave Kim were going to be roommates in college but then he got convinced he could do better. Dave Kim ended up with some nephew or cousin of Enrie Hudson's (GHOSTBUSTERS). Then they made up and now will be roomines.

Yes, that's what the show needs for another season: More of Adam refusing to grow up.

For a brief moment, there was a chance the show could have been worth watching in another season.

Jed.

That's the name of the weird character that Adam was originally pitched as a roommate. It actually allowed Adam to be funny. Jed was so weird that Adam almost seemed normal.

But they passed on that characgter and I don't think I can watch another season if Adam's the lead character. I just can't. I'm done with it. He was too immature for a junior high kid. He's just sick as a young adult.

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

Thursday, March 24, 2022. Moqtada al-Sadr wasnt his inexperienced relative to be prime minister of Iraq as Mad Maddie Albright slips away to that special place in hell that she spoke so often of.

We're live on the Blood Runway, awaiting the latest arrival. Look, there he is, Mad Maddie! She's sipping throug purgatory as she heads straight to hell. Mad Maddie! Mad Maddie! Can you stop a moment to speak to us!!!

Madeleine Albright :Yes, what is it?

Is there anything you'd like to say to our viewing audience?

Madeleine Albright : Just that I've always believed that hate is eternal and if you spend your life focused on that, you can do a lot real damage and kill a lot of innocent people. The only wasted life is a life dovted to love and peace.

Some people consider you a buthcer.

Madeleine Albright :: A butcher? No, a utcher does much more honest work. I'm an excutioner. I am a destroyer. I used my time on earth ensuring others wuffered and I'm really, really proud of that. My only real regret is that I couldn't have killed more.

Mad Maddie could you speak up, some people in purgatory are starting to boo.

Madeleine Albright : Yes, and I hear them. All I can say is you hate me, you really, really hate me. It makes all I did worth it to feel so much hate and repulsion.

What are you most grateful for?

Madeleine Albright : A lifetime of destrution. Probably right after that would be the press..I've always insisted, ''Give me a whorish press and I can kill millions." They whored for me while I killed Iraqi children. They whored for me out of office. Kisses to Katrina vanden Heuvel who ran Naomi Klein's GUARDIAN report on James Baker profiting off the Iraq War but refused to let THE NATION run the article about me profiting off the Iraq War. Katty, you cheap whore, let's bump one last time when you join me in hell! But seriously, even now the press whores for me, even in death. They won't hold me accountable. They'll talk about me being the first -- and theyll shortchange me. "The First and The Worst!" -- that's how I always billed myself. Give me the credit I'm due!!!!

Last question, Mad Maddie, what are you wearing?

Madeleine Albright :: It's my 100% pure civilian coat, made from the skins of many of the actual children I condemned to death. All murders matter but there's something especially soft and warm about knowing that your kill was a child, you know what I mean? Now excuse me, I have to go. The Haliburton wing of Hell has a strict check-in policy and I don't want to lose my suite. Tell Condi [Rice] to keep giving Hank [Kissinger] all the love that I did and, Dick [Cheney], I know you'll be joining me soon!

Madeleine Albright has left the earth. The whorish press is attempting to sweep up and conceal the mess she left behind. Some will insist don't speak ill of the dead but did Mad Maddie follow that practice regarding the Iraqi children she killed?

No.

From Elaine's "Mad Maddie leaves this earth:"

Madeleine Albright died today. Do not worry about the former Secretary of State. As she long noted, there is a special place in hell . . . for people like her.

She infamously said there was a special place in hell for women who didn't help other women. Since she took pleasure in the deaths of so many Iraqi girls (and boys) you can be sure her destination is already booked and they have a room ready.

"We think it was wroth it." That's her infamous remark from 60 MINUTES when Lesley Stahl asked her about the crushing sanctions she oversaw as part of Bill Clinton's administration -- sanctions that led

Liz Sly (WASHINGTON POST) noted in 2017 that a more recent study had found that it wasn't 500,000 children who died.

But that was what the figure was thought to be when Mad Maddie was asked. And she said it was worth it.

She was a bloody thirsty War Hawk. Unlike the bulk of the deaths she caused, she lived to the age of 84. She profited off of the Iraq War. She was a merchant of death. I hope she will be very warm in her after-life. Very, very warm.

Margaret Kimberley Tweets:

Former secretary of state Madelyn Albright said killing 500,000 kids was "worth it." I watched the interview and thought she'd find a way not to answer, obfuscate, blame Saddam, or change the subject. Nope. She went all in. Killing kids was ok with her. Now she's dead. Oh well.

Ajamu Baraka Tweets:

Madeline Albright was a criminal like her boss Bill Clinton. If there was real justice in the world they both would have found themselves in the dock for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

9:12 PM · Mar 23, 2022

In Iraq, the political stalemate continues. October 10th elections were held. The country still waits on a president and prime minister all these months later. ARB WEKKLY reports:

Instead, Iraq seems to be moving away from a system of political quotas to one based on the accommodation of various players, if not indeed, plain nepotism.

The buffon the western press called a "kingmaker" is revealed as the fraud so many of us already knew he was. In fact, the western press itself was smarter about Moqtada in 2004 than they are now (excepting Paddy Cockburn who was always an idiot when it came to Moqtada -- then and now).

March 25th is when Parliament is set to meet next and they should be voting on the issue of president. There are dozens of nominees. After the president is voted on, the next step would be for the new president to name a prime minister-designate. That person would then have 30 days to form a Cabinet. It's supposed to be a full Cabinet. No one's ever been held to that. They should be. It's the only measure you have to meet to move from prime minister designate to actual prime minister. The point of the test is to demonstrate that you will be able to govern. And the more empty Cainet spaces a designate has had, the harder it was for them to govern once they were prime minister. So the test does serve a prupose.

We'll wind down with a few more Tweets regarding the thankfully dead Mad Maddie:

madeleine albright confronted by an ohio state university student in 1998 on why the US continues to bomb iraq while selling weapons to israel used on palestinians. her response is accusing the students in the room of defending saddam hussein

1:47 PM · Mar 23, 2022

To you, that was a beloved child, your progeny, the fruit of your loins, the synthesis of you and your beloved spouse, the herald of a brighter future after decades of gloom -- to Madelyn Albright, it was a small price to pay to show Saddam a line in the sand.

3:35 AM · Mar 17, 2022

The following sites updated:

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

SUPERMAN & LOIS

Here's Jimmy Dore.

SUPERMAN AND LOIS? It was a great episode.

FIrst off, Jonathan keeps protecting his girlfriend. He won't tell that the drugs he was caught with (that give you super powers) were his girlfriends. People are mad at him including Clark Kent. Why? Since Jonathan won't say anything about the drugs it's assumed that he was drugging throughout the football season so they've now 'lost' all the games they had won.

The older man that she was selling the drugs for comes lookng for her. (Her? I can't remember her name. I don't like her. She knows what Jonathan's going through and she's willing to hang him out to dry to save herself.) So Jonathan gets into a fight with the guy to save her. Remember the drugs give you super powers. So the guy is just beating the crap out of Jonathan. Jordan shows up and saves his brother. Doing so means that Jordan blows Sara off. He wasn't keen on going to meet up because, while she's his girlfriend, he didn't want to hang out with her while she was with the girl she kissed at camp over the summer.

Jordan asked Jon why he didn't tell him qbout whqt was going on. And he says he didn't want to pull him in any deeper. I was really hoping that Jordan would come forward and tell Lois and Clark what was going on. I get that Jon can't. And it's sad that his parents don't get that he's trying to be noble and show character. He's also about to lose it over how Clark's treating him. Lois warned clark that he needed to end the cold treatment really soon and that it was enough.

What else?

Crazy Cult Lady Ally is crossing the universes with her followers but that military guy who imporisoned Superman and has now gone rogue betrayed her to help himself. Superman showed up in time to save Chloe, one of Ally's henchmen and Ally. But no one knows if Lucy Lane (Lois' sister) was pulled through (and killed). It's assumed she was and Lois and their father Sam are very upset.

Cult Lady is in US military custody.

Turns out Lucy is alive. She tells Sam and Lois that she went there but then left and she didn't have her cell phone so she couldn't call anyone and had to walk from the mine to her apartment. They're happy Lucy is alive and they make plans to have brunch tomorrow. Sam takes Lucy home and he's trying to talk her into coming to his place where she'll be safe and has icecream like she used to love when she was a little girl and . . .

He looks bad. Then he looks at her. He says you put something in the coffee.

Yep.

She didn't try to cross over into the other universe because she was the backup plan. If anything went wrong, she would drug her father, grab his i.d. card and break Cult Lady out of military prison.

Except for Kyle and Lana, that's about it. Lana asked Kyle to help her prepare for her debate (she's running for mayor). Her opponent is going to raise Lana's marriage ending because of Kyle's affair. He helps her rehearse her responses.

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

Wednesday, March 23, 2022. The cerafully crafted narrative on Ukraine continues to unravel and a major report is released chornicling the persecution of the LFBTQ community in Iraq.

Every day, JUS President Joe Biden and the White House lose a little more control of the narrative regarding Ukraine. Every day the action becomes less popular. Every day, people realize how much they've been manipulated I said "people," that doesn't include Amy Schumer. After all, there's a reason we don't let her on the furniture.

Dan Cohen (MPN) reports on how the whole effort has been sold to the public by numerous public relations firms:

Since the Russian offensive inside Ukraine commenced on February 24, the Ukrainian military has cultivated the image of a plucky little army standing up to the Russian Goliath. To bolster the perception of Ukrainian military mettle, Kiev has churned out a steady stream of sophisticated propaganda aimed at stirring public and official support from Western countries.

The campaign includes language guides, key messages, and hundreds of propaganda posters, some of which contain fascist imagery and even praise Neo-Nazi leaders.

Behind Ukraine’s public relations effort is an army of foreign political strategists, Washington DC lobbyists, and a network of intelligence-linked media outlets.

Ukraine’s propaganda strategy earned it praise from a NATO commander who told the Washington Post, “They are really excellent in stratcom — media, info ops, and also psy-ops.” The Post ultimately conceded that “Western officials say that while they cannot independently verify much of the information that Kyiv puts out about the evolving battlefield situation, including casualty figures for both sides, it nonetheless represents highly effective stratcom.”

Key to the propaganda effort is an international legion of public relations firms working directly with Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to wage information warfare.

According to the industry news site PRWeek, the initiative was launched by an anonymous figure who allegedly founded a Ukraine-based public relations firm.

“From the first hour of war, we decided to join the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help them distribute the official sources to show the truth,” the nameless figure told PR Week. “This is a hybrid war: the mix of bloodily struggling fight with a huge disinformation and fake campaign lead by Russia [sic].”

According to the anonymous figure, more than 150 public relations firms have joined the propaganda blitz.

The international effort is spearheaded by public relations firm PR Network co-founder Nicky Regazzoni and Francis Ingham, a top public relations consultant with close ties to the UK’s government. Ingraham previously worked for Britain’s Conservative Party, sits on the UK Government Communication Service Strategy and Evaluation Council, is Chief Executive of the International Communications Consultancy Organisation, and leads the membership body for UK local government communicators, LG Comms.

Everyone sang from the same hymnal for a reason and it wasn't because they were citing facts. It would be interesting to know how many celebrity 'influencers' were paid off to share tehir deeply, held and long standing beliefs that all developed about six weeks ago.

The man heading the neo-nazi government in Ukraine continues to step in it and track it all over their well laid plans. Richard Medhurst reviews how his propaganda has gone off script.

The reality is getting out. And that's why you see the Whoopi Goldbergs losing their s**t on air. The narrative has collapsed. And is collapsing.

The truth is out there and people are catching on. Be cute if all the liars who delibertaely lied -- for money, to egg on war, whatever -- got held accountable. They won't. But we cand ream.

Binoy Kampmark (DISSIDENT VOICE) notes:

The Ukraine War is now making Russian citizens, at the behest of various quarters, undertake acts of purification in various foreign theatres. They are being told to engage in crude demonstrations of loyalty (or, in some cases, disloyalty). Admit you hate Putin, and you can attend a tournament to earn your crust.

UK Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston has taken a keen interest in this daft effort, hoping to encourage the organisers of Wimbledon, the All England Law Tennis Club (AELTC) to take a more severe approach to players from “pariah states” as long as they do not include such angelic wonders as Saudi Arabia. Before a select parliamentary committee, Huddleston noted that, “Many countries have agreed that they will not allow representatives from Russia to compete. There are also visa issues as well. When it comes to individuals, that is more complex.”

Complexity and Huddleston do not get along. “We need some potential assurance that they are not supporters of Putin and we are considering what requirements we may need to try to get some assurances along those lines.”

Tennis player Daniil Medvedev and his colleagues are facing the prospect that not engaging in public denouncement of the Kremlin will be insufficient to enable them to compete. They are already not permitted to compete under the Russian flag, and they are being told that a Russian winning Wimbledon would be unpardonable for the glorious British tournament. Their country has already been banned from competing in team events such as the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King tournaments.

And The Queen of Lard Amy Schumer is trying to get the Academy to put this on stage? She doesn't nknow about art, she doesn't know about fitness, she doesn't know about comedy. All of her commentar sare driving viewers away. SHe needs to shut her mouth now. She has not been given a post that tells her she can speak on behalf of the Acadmey. She is entertaining at the Oscars as a co-host. That is all. Knowing her, she won't provide much entertainment.

This was a huge mistake to make her a co-host and everything she's done in the last two weeks has made that obvious. She is turning off potential viewers and that's not why she was hired. She was hired. Grasp that. She's working there. She's not nominated for anything. Probably never will be. But she thinks she can use this post -- mis-use it -- for her own personal politics? No.

Turning to Iraq,, a major report has been issued by Human Rights Watch and IraQueer regarding the ongoing targeting of LGBTQs (and those thought to be) in Iraq. The report is entitled "Everyone Wants Me Dead’: Killings, Abductions, Torture, and Sexual Violence Against LGBT People by Armed Groups in Iraq," Rasha Younes (Human /rights Watch) notes:

In February news circulated that a 23-year-old transgender woman, Doski Azad, had been killed by her brother in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. I read the news, having just concluded my research on armed groups’ killings, abductions, torture, and sexual violence against LGBT people in Iraq, and thought, how can LGBT people get justice and accountability when they can be killed and abused with impunity, even in their own homes?

Over the past six months, I interviewed 54 LGBT Iraqis who have survived harrowing violence at the hands of Iraqi armed groups and the police. Some of them also had intimate knowledge of other LGBT Iraqis who had been killed or disappeared by armed groups due to their gender presentation or perceived sexual orientation.

Our new report documents 8 abductions, 8 attempted murders, 4 extrajudicial killings, 27 instances of sexual violence, 45 threats to rape and kill, and 42 cases of online targeting by armed units within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), groups nominally under the prime minister’s control since 2016, against LGBT people in Iraq. In eight cases, abuses by armed groups and police were against children as young as 15. In thirty-nine cases, the victims were able to identify the armed group behind the attack against them.

The numbers are most likely much higher. The attackers are known. Yet, as with so many killings and disappearances in Iraq, the perpetrators have not been held accountable.

Many of the people I interviewed were young enough to have just graduated from high school, yet the fear and isolation they described stretched as far as they could remember. Most had never spoken to anyone about what had happened to them. I found myself on several occasions setting aside my interview questions and just talking to them. I listened to a 27-year-old gay man describe how his boyfriend was tortured in front of him. “Then they shot him five times,” he said.

From the summary of the report:

The Iraqi government has failed to hold accountable members of various armed groups who in recent years have continued to abduct, rape, torture, and kill lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, with impunity. The cyclical nature of abuses against LGBT people, emanating from the family and stretching into every aspect of their public life, renders any “suspicion” of homosexuality or gender variance a cause for potential violence, which not only results in the death of LGBT people but makes their lives unlivable.

This report is focused on killings, abductions, torture, and sexual violence against LGBT people by armed groups in Iraq. It is based on 54 interviews with LGBT Iraqis who have survived violence and discrimination by state and non-state actors, based primarily on their gender expression and presumed sexual orientation.

Human Rights Watch, supported by the Iraqi LGBT rights organization IraQueer, documented eight cases of abductions, eight cases of attempted murder, four extrajudicial killings, twenty-seven cases of sexual violence—including gang rape—forty-five cases of threats to rape and kill, and forty-two cases of online targeting by individuals who identified themselves as members of armed groups against LGBT people in Iraq. In eight cases, abuses by armed groups and state actors, including arbitrary arrest and sexual violence, were against children as young as 15. In thirty-nine cases, individuals were able to identify the armed group behind the attack against them.

The public nature of the abuses documented, mostly occurring in broad daylight in the streets, coupled with their chilling intentionality, signal the climate of impunity afforded to perpetrators. The arbitrary nature of the attacks demonstrates that individuals are targeted as part of a larger scheme to intimidate those who do not adhere to normativity and to punish aberration. The Iraqi state’s failure to tackle the discriminatory social norms that underpin violence against LGBT people, as well as its reinforcement of these standards by way of promoting an anti-LGBT discourse through ‘morality’-based policies, contribute to fueling violence against individuals perceived as non-normative.

The abuses documented in this report, including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture, and killings, are not unique to LGBT people. Other ordinary Iraqis also face these forms of violence. But in the case of LGBT people, the violence emanates from and is exacerbated by their gender expression or perceived sexual orientation.

LGBT people across Iraq face routine violence from security officials, who verbally abuse and sexually assault them, arbitrarily arrest them, and detain them. Security forces also physically, verbally, and sexually harass people at checkpoints whom they perceive to be LGBT.

LGBT people can be arrested under a range of vague provisions of the penal code aimed at policing morals and public indecency and limiting free expression. Human Rights Watch documented 15 cases of arrest by security forces of 13 LGBT people in Iraq. In June 2021, police in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) issued arrest warrants based on article 401 of the penal code which criminalizes “public indecency” against 11 LGBT rights activists who are either current or former employees at Rasan Organization, a Sulaymaniyah-based human rights group. As of March 2022, the case remained open pending investigation, though authorities had not detained the activists.

Most of the arrests of LGBT people documented in this report had no legal basis, even under Iraqi law Individuals stopped at checkpoints and subsequently arrested were rarely charged or convicted in accordance with the law. LGBT people arrested reported being forced to sign pledges stating that they had not been subjected to abuse and being denied access to a lawyer. The conditions of their detention included being denied food and water, the right to access family and legal representation or obtain medical services, as well as being sexually assaulted and physically abused. One 18-year-old gay man said he was subjected to a forced anal exam when he was 17 years old. Another 18-year-old gay man said officers attempted the same when he was 17.

Twenty-seven of the fifty-four LGBT people Human Rights Watch and IraQueer interviewed said they had experienced sexual abuse and violence by armed groups, including unwanted touching, rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, and forced anal examinations.

Human Rights Watch also documented cases of digital targeting and online harassment on social media and same-sex dating applications by armed groups against LGBT people. As evident from the accounts of those interviewed by Human Rights Watch and IraQueer, the offline consequences of digital targeting are long-lasting. Individuals targeted reported being forced to change their residence, delete all social media accounts, change their phone numbers, and in some cases flee the country for fear of being monitored, blackmailed, and entrapped by armed groups.

The accounts documented detail a cycle of abuse, including a pattern of attempting to hunt LGBT people down to perpetrate harm against them, amounting to structural violence against them. The combination of hypervulnerability, loosely defined “morality” clauses, and the absence of domestic violence and anti-discrimination legislation and reliable complaint systems, are formidable barriers that impede LGBT people’s ability and willingness to report abuses they suffer to the police, or file complaints against law enforcement agents, creating an environment in which police and armed groups can abuse them with impunity.

Forty out of the fifty-four LGBT people whom Human Rights Watch and IraQueer interviewed reported experiencing extreme violence at least once by family members, almost always by male relatives, for their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. Such violence included being locked in a room for extended periods; being denied food and water; being burnt, beaten, raped, electrocuted, attacked at gunpoint, subjected to conversion practices, and forced hormone therapy; being subjected to forced marriages; and being forced to work for long hours without compensation. Unlike the KRI, Iraq has no domestic violence legislation, instead its penal code allows for violence against women and children.

Each of the LGBT people whom Human Rights Watch and IraQueer interviewed reported experiencing harassment in the streets, ranging from verbal abuse to being attacked at gun point. Lack of access to protective mechanisms limits LGBT people’s mobility to a debilitating extent and deters them from seeking redress for abuses committed against them. Children facing violence from family members or others may be completely isolated, with nowhere to turn for safety.

As a result, many LGBT people said they felt they were forced to hide who they are to stay alive. Those who could not or did not wish to conceal their identities described a form of self-imposed house arrest, by which they refrained from leaving their homes at all, due to fear of harassment and the possibility of being stopped at checkpoints or targeted by armed groups. Sixteen LGBT people interviewed by Human Rights Watch and IraQueer said they attempted suicide at least once.

All 54 LGBT people interviewed for this report said that they would not report a crime committed against them to the authorities, either because of previous failed attempts where the complaint was dismissed or no action was taken, or because they felt that the blame will be redirected at them due to their non-conforming sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions.

The Iraqi government is responsible for protecting Iraqis’ right to life. Iraqi authorities should investigate all reports of armed group or other violence against people targeted due to their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, prosecute, fairly try, and appropriately punish those found responsible, and publicly and expressly condemn all such violence. The government should take all appropriate measures to end torture, disappearances, summary killings, and other abuses based on sexual orientation and gender expression and identity, and compensate the families of all victims of unlawful killings and survivors of serious abuse.

Iraqi security forces should stop harassing and arresting LGBT people on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender expression and instead ensure their protection from violence. Iraq should introduce and implement legislation protecting against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Human Rights Watch and IraQueer also call on states providing military, security, and intelligence assistance to Iraq, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, to urge Iraqi authorities to investigate allegations of abuses by armed groups and the role of their own assistance in these alleged violations. These states should suspend military, security, and intelligence assistance to units involved in these violations and explain any suspension or end to military assistance publicly. These states should continue to suspend assistance until the government adopts measures to end these serious human rights violations.

This is ongoing. And that's why we call it out and that's why we call idiots on our side (the left) who try to glorify a terrorist who targets LGBTQs in Iraq. Let CODESTINK go down that road all by their lonesome. I'm not joing them to walk among the homophobes and mourn their passing. People like the 'poet' and general they publicly mourned over and over have terrorized the LGBTQ community and we won't mourn trash like that. We'll side with the people, with the LGBTQ. Not their attackers.

The following sites updated: