Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Graham Elwood, CNN, RICK & MORTY

First up, Graham Elwood.



Now a question.  


Am I the only one who feels like Jeremy Renner looks like Clay Aiken?

Back to Joe Biden's latest scandal.  CNN reports:

But now, under a special counsel investigation, they face the possibility of fresh searches that potentially risk the politically explosive uncovering of more documents as a rampant new Republican House majority whips up the storm. Biden, meanwhile, is growing increasingly frustrated over his plight, according to new CNN reports.

The stakes could not be higher for the president as he struggles to get a grip on the situation. In the short-term, the documents flap has drowned out a run of favorable events, including a moderate cooling of inflation, that he hoped to use as a launchpad for a reelection bid he is expected to announce soon. The clumsy White House public relations strategy over around 20 documents squandered any hope of drawing a sharp line between Biden’s cooperation with the authorities and Trump’s months of resistance and obfuscation over his haul of hundreds of pages of classified material.

Joe needs to get his act together.  He's not the only one.  You think it's time to end RICK & MORTY?  I have no idea.  And I have no idea what's up with these sickos.  Maybe it stems from people trying to act like it's okay to chat with registered sex offender Scott Ritter on their YOUTUBE programs?  

I like this idea for keeping the show going.  The dad really has been a funny character.


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


Tuesday, January 17, 2023.  Iraq beats Qatar and moves on to the finals, Brett McGurk is the social disease that will not go away, Greenpeace calls out the jet-set at Davos and more.


Iraqis turned out in Basra yesterday to watch Iraq's soccer team take on Qatar. 







ARAB TIMES notes, "Iraq qualified for the final of the 25th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup, after defeating Qatar 2-1 on Monday. Ibrahim Baish broke the deadlock in 19th minute, but the hosts lead did not last long as Qatari’s Amr Siraj scored the equalizer few minutes late. Iraq increased the tempo after Qatar equalizer but were wasteful in front of goal on numerous occassions. Ayman Hussein gave Iraq the lead and the winning goal in the 43rd minute to delight of the vociferous home crowd."  Chenar Chalak (RUDAW) notes:


Iraq last reached the final of the Gulf Cup in its 21st edition in 2013, where they lost 2-1 to United Arab Emirates after extra-time.

The tournament, held in Iraq’s southern city of Basra, began earlier this month with eight teams from the Gulf taking part in the prestigious competition. The only time Iraq hosted the Gulf Cup was in 1979, from which the Iraqi team emerged victorious.

Despite the country’s constant state of political instability and disunity, the Iraqi population’s special connection to the sport of football has managed to unify the people at times of major regional and international tournaments, coming to the support of the national team regardless of their humble results.


Next? ARAB TIMES explains, "Hosts Iraq will meet Oman in the final of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup in Basra on Thursday, after both teams recorded narrow victories in Monday’s semi-finals."


While Iraqis were celebrating, a virus returned to their country: Brett McGurk.  The man who's been chipping away at Iraq's independence since Bully Boy Bush occupied the White House returned to Iraq because no matter how much you fail, you can never fail too much if you're an American destroying Iraq. 


The President of the Kurdistan Tweeted:



Not really sure why you need an American to discuss "relations between Baghdad and Erbil" or Iraq's "role in defeating ISIS."  Nor how Brett could help on the latter since he's not military . . . 


Sinan Mahmoud (THE NATIONAL) notes:


Brett McGurk, the US National Security Council's co-ordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, arrived in Baghdad on Monday on an official visit to strengthen relations with Iraq.

Mr McGurk, who was joined by Special Presidential Co-ordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security Amos Hochstein, met Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani.

“The meeting focused on discussing the overall relations between Iraq and the United States and ways to strengthen and develop them at various levels and fields to serve the interests of the Iraqi and American peoples,” said a statement issued by Mr Al Sudani's office.


In other news, Sinana Mahmoud (THE NATIONAL) reports:


Iraq will seek support from the international community at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos to help to put the nation back on its feet.

Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, who is leading his country’s delegation to the Swiss winter resort, says he will encourage world leaders to invest in Iraq and support its post-war reconstruction efforts.


On Davos,  Greenpeace issued the following:


Amsterdam, Netherlands – As lobbyists, corporate bosses and political leaders head into the World Economic Forum 2023 (WEF), new analysis commissioned by Greenpeace International reveals the ecological hypocrisy of its attendees. While the WEF claims to be committed to the 1.5°C Paris Climate Target, its attendees arrive in droves of private jets. 

Klara Maria Schenk, transport campaigner for Greenpeace’s European mobility campaign, said:

“Europe is experiencing the warmest January days ever recorded and communities around the world are grappling with extreme weather events supercharged by the climate crisis. Meanwhile, the rich and powerful flock to Davos in ultra-polluting, socially inequitable private jets to discuss climate and inequality behind closed doors. Davos has a perfectly adequate railway station, still these people can’t even be bothered to take the train for a trip as short as 21 km. Do we really believe that these are the people to solve the problems the world faces?”

The research, commissioned by Greenpeace International and conducted by Dutch environmental consultancy CE Delft, found that during the week of last year’s World Economic Forum 1,040 private jet flights arrived and departed out of airports serving the Swiss luxury ski resort Davos, with about every second flight attributed to the meeting. 53% were short-haul flights below 750 km that could have easily been train trips, with 38% flying ultra short distances of under 500 km. The shortest flight recorded was only 21 km. Countries with the highest number of arrivals and departures out of Davos airports included neighbouring countries Germany, France and Italy.[1]

Researchers found that all private jet flights to and from airports serving Davos during the World Economic Forum 2022 caused a total of 9,700 tonnes of CO2, equivalent to the emissions of about 350,000 average cars in a week. Researchers attribute a majority of these to private flights undertaken by WEF participants. Climate-damaging emissions from private jet flights quadrupled during the one week of the meeting compared to the weeks before and after the event.

“Given that 80% of the world’s population has never even flown, but suffers from the consequences of climate-damaging aviation emissions, and that the WEF claims to be committed to the 1.5°C Paris Climate Target, this annual private jet bonanza is a distasteful masterclass in hypocrisy. Private jets must be consigned to history if we are to have a green, just and safe future for all. It’s about time our political leaders start to lead by example instead of producing hot air in secret meetings with big business,” added Schenk.

Private jets are not regulated in the EU, even though they are the most polluting mode of transportation on the planet per passenger kilometre.[2] For the first time, in 2022, several EU countries have started to push for an EU-wide regulation of private jet emissions. Greenpeace is calling for a ban on private jets and short-haul flights with train alternatives in the EU.

The issue of private jets garnered global public attention last year after several public figures faced criticism for taking ultra-short trips by private jet. The analysis released by Greenpeace International comes days before political and business leaders head into Davos to attend the 2023 World Economic Forum, with its self-proclaimed goal of wanting to tackle climate change and other “ongoing crises” calling for “bold collective action”.

ENDS

Notes

[1] The basis of the analysis by CE Delft is data on private jet flights to and from airports in the vicinity of Davos, including the airports of Zürich, Geneva, Altenrhein, Dübendorf, Samedan, Friedrichshafen, and EuroAirport Swiss. The data of private jet flights has been provided by aviation analytics company Cirium. To determine the number of flights during the week of the World Economic Forum 2022 (May 21 – 27), researchers compared the flights in the WEF week with the flights in the weeks before and after. The CO2 emissions of all flights in the WEF week were calculated using the Eurocontrol Small Emitters Tool.

[2] According to a study by Transport & Environment, private jets are 5 to 14 times more polluting than commercial planes (per passenger), and 50 times more polluting than trains. In 2018, 50% of all aviation emissions were caused by only 1% of the world’s population.

Contacts

Klara Maria Schenk, transport campaigner, Greenpeace CEE, spokesperson for Greenpeace’s EU Mobility For All Campaign: klara.schenk@greenpeace.org, +43 664 881 72267

Marianne Lämmel, Communications Lead, Greenpeace CEE, EU Mobility For All campaign: marianne.laemmel@greenpeace.org, +43 664 881 72 245 

Follow @greenpeacepress on Twitter for our latest international press releases




The following sites updated:




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The idiot Joe

Starting with Graham Elwood.


"I'm the dog who gets beat/Shove my nose in s**t"?  I had no idea what song that lyric was from, sorry.  Did you?


Okay, I am with C.I. regarding Joe Biden's mishandling of classified documents.  It happened.  Where does the buck stop?  With him.  His defense currently is, as C.I. pointed out Friday, 'woopsie!'  Claiming he wasn't aware that he had them is worse than claiming he knew he had them.  These were supposed to be secure.  If he's too senile or dumb to know he has top secret documents, they never should be released to him to begin with.  It goes to the reality that he's too old to be president, that he's losing awareness and that he needs to be shown the door.


Senior Columnist for The Daily Beast, Matt Lewis, argued on MSNBC’s Morning Joe Monday that “momentum” is swinging away from the Democrats due to President Joe Biden’s classified documents debacle, which he warned is beginning to look to the American people like a cover-up.

Lewis made his remarks after co-host Mika Brzezinski quoted from his recent article titled, “Democrats Quickly Got Tired of Appearing Competent.”

“’Their streak of being the competent party was bound to screech to a halt at some point,’” quoted Brzezinski.

“I’m crying,” she added, still laughing from an earlier joke.

Brzezinski continued reading from Lewis’s piece and then turned to her co-host Joe Scarborough




 and commented:

And Joe, this is where I just wonder if there is more to it. When they first discovered the documents, they should have been transparent. The question is, why weren’t there? Why wasn’t there transparency? Did the DOJ or the National Archives or was there some concern that they should do a full search and then see what they have and then share it? I think it’s a mistake. Right. But I wonder why that decision was made from the get go, Right. Not to say something.

“I don’t understand. And that’s why I’m asking why the staff did what the staff did. Matt Lewis. You know, this isn’t like Donald Trump putting his arms around all this, going, ‘mine, mine, mine,’” Scarborough continued.

Joe's an idiot.  Each day he makes it worse for himself.

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

Monday, January 16, 2023.  Iraq gears up to face Qatar as the Arab Gulf Cup continues, US troops to remain in Iraq, the CIA doesn't feel they have to follow the laws or to face legal review, the war on the LGBTQ+ community continues, and much more.


Excitement in Iraq as the Arab Gulf Cup resumes today with Iraq facing off against Qatar.  






Meanwhile, Chenar Chalak (RUDAW) reports:

A bus carrying football fans from Dhi Qar to Basra collided with a truck on Monday, resulting in at least six dead and 22 others injured, according to a statement by Dhi Qar’s health directorate. 

Dhi Qar Deputy Governor Faisal al-Sharifi told Rudaw that the accident occurred due to the dense fog that is clouding the province at the moment.

MEHR NEWS AGENCY says the number killed has risen to 15 with eleven more injured.


In spite of that unfortunate accident, the excitement continues ahead of the game.




They celebrate as the news comes out the US troops are not leaving Iraq.  REUTERS reports, " Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani defended the presence of U.S. troops in his country and set no timetable for their withdrawal, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Sunday." Robert Tollast (THE NATIONAL) explains:


In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr Al Sudani said that the “elimination of ISIS needs some more time”, when asked about the US troop presence, which has been authorised by the Iraqi government to train the Iraqi army since 2014.

About 2,500 US soldiers remain in Iraq, from a high of over 5,000 during the war against ISIS between 2014 and 2018. The small contingent was deployed to Iraq following a withdrawal of US forces in 2011 after eight years of occupation. At its peak, the force numbered 170,000 in 2007, when Iraq was beset with sectarian violence and fighting between international coalition forces and insurgents.

Chenar Chalak (RUDAW) notes, "The PM’s statement comes despite repeated demands from Iran-backed political groups in Iraq calling for terminating the presence of the foreign forces, including from within the Coordination Framework -of which Sudani is a member-."  ALJAZEERA notes, "His statements underlined the difficult tack the prime minister has sought in his dealings with the US and with Iran, which, beyond having substantial sway in domestic Iraqi politics, is also a key provider of natural gas and electricity to the country. The prime minister hailed Iran and Iraq’s close economic and security ties during a visit to Tehran in November."


Eight years of the US fighting ISIS and it still it continues.  One year away from a decade.  Still it's used as the excuse to continue the ongoing Iraq War.  All these years later.

Reminder, DEMOCRACY NOW! has a special event this week:

On Jan. 20, Democracy Now! will live-stream the Belmarsh Tribunal from Washington, D.C. The event will feature expert testimony from journalists, whistleblowers, lawyers, publishers and parliamentarians on assaults to press freedom and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Watch here live at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 20.

Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman and Srecko Horvat, the co-founder of DiEM25, will chair the tribunal, which is being organized by Progressive International and the Wau Holland Foundation.

Members of the tribunal include:

Stella Assange, partner of Julian Assange and member of his defense team

Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower

Noam Chomsky, linguist and activist

Jeremy Corbyn, member of U.K. Parliament and founder of the Peace and Justice Project

Chip Gibbons, policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent

Kevin Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof

Margaret Kunstler, civil rights attorney

Stefania Maurizi, investigative journalist, Il Fatto Quotidiano

Jesselyn Radack, national security and human rights attorney

Ben Wizner, lead attorney at ACLU of Edward Snowden

Renata Ávila, human rights lawyer, technology and society expert

Jeffrey Sterling, lawyer and former CIA employee

Steven Donziger, human rights attorney

Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief, WikiLeaks

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editorial director and publisher, The Nation

Selay Ghaffar, spokesperson, Solidarity Party of Afghanistan

Betty Medsger, investigative reporter



US President Joe Biden continues to persecute Julian and, for those who've forgotten, Julian's 'crime' was revealing the realities of Iraq -- Chelsea Manning was a whistle-blower who leaked the information to Julian.  WIKILEAKS then published the Iraq War Logs.  And many outlets used the publication to publish reports of their own.  For example, THE GUARDIAN published many articles based on The Iraq War Logs.  Jonathan Steele, David Leigh and Nick Davies offered, on October 22, 2012:



A grim picture of the US and Britain's legacy in Iraq has been revealed in a massive leak of American military documents that detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.
Almost 400,000 secret US army field reports have been passed to the Guardian and a number of other international media organisations via the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The electronic archive is believed to emanate from the same dissident US army intelligence analyst who earlier this year is alleged to have leaked a smaller tranche of 90,000 logs chronicling bloody encounters and civilian killings in the Afghan war.
The new logs detail how:
• US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished.

• A US helicopter gunship involved in a notorious Baghdad incident had previously killed Iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender.
• More than 15,000 civilians died in previously unknown incidents. US and UK officials have insisted that no official record of civilian casualties exists but the logs record 66,081 non-combatant deaths out of a total of 109,000 fatalities.

The numerous reports of detainee abuse, often supported by medical evidence, describe prisoners shackled, blindfolded and hung by wrists or ankles, and subjected to whipping, punching, kicking or electric shocks. Six reports end with a detainee's apparent deat



The Biden administration has been saying all the right things lately about respecting a free and vigorous press, after four years of relentless media-bashing and legal assaults under Donald Trump.

The attorney general, Merrick Garland, has even put in place expanded protections for journalists this fall, saying that “a free and independent press is vital to the functioning of our democracy”.

But the biggest test of Biden’s commitment remains imprisoned in a jail cell in London, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been held since 2019 while facing prosecution in the United States under the Espionage Act, a century-old statute that has never been used before for publishing classified information.

Whether the US justice department continues to pursue the Trump-era charges against the notorious leaker, whose group put out secret information on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, American diplomacy and internal Democratic politics before the 2016 election, will go a long way toward determining whether the current administration intends to make good on its pledges to protect the press.

Now Biden is facing a re-energized push, both inside the United States and overseas, to drop Assange’s protracted prosecution.


But what the US government is fighting right now is to avoid CIA actions being examined by a court of law. Kevin Gosztola (SCHEER POST) reports:

The Central Intelligence Agency and former CIA director Mike Pompeo notified a federal court in New York that they intend to push for the dismissal of a lawsuit that alleges that they were involved in spying against attorneys and journalists who visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Ecuador’s London embassy.

Both the CIA and Pompeo maintain that the “allegations in the complaint do not establish a violation of the Fourth Amendment [right to privacy].”

In August 2022, four Americans who visited Assange in the embassy sued the CIA and Pompeo in his individual capacity: Margaret Ratner Kunstler, a civil rights activist and human rights attorney; Deborah Hrbek, a media lawyer, represented Assange or WikiLeaks; journalist John Goetz, who worked for Der Spiegel when the German media organization first partnered with WikiLeaks; and journalist Charles Glass, who wrote articles on Assange for The Intercept.

The filed complaint alleged that as visitors Glass, Goetz, Hrbek, and Kunstler were required to “surrender” their electronic devices to employees of a private company called UC Global that was contracted to provide security for the embassy. What they did not know was that UC Global “copied the information stored on the devices” and allegedly shared the information with the CIA, and Pompeo allegedly authorized and approved the action.

Security contractors required the attorneys and journalists to leave their devices with them, which contained “confidential and privileged information about their sources or clients.”


In other news, Ashley Iasimone (BILLBOARD) reports:

Maren Morris got emotional as she fulfilled a “decade-long dream” of serving as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race.

The country star appeared on Friday’s (Jan. 13) episode of the series and that night tweeted: “I’ve done some cool s—. #DragRace is rivaling it all. Getting my jacket framed next to my Grammy. It is DONE.”

In a post-episode Untucked clip, Morris was teary-eyed as she spoke from her heart to the room.

“Coming from country music and its relationship with LGBTQ+ members, I just want to say I’m sorry,” Morris said. “And I love you guys for making me feel like a brave voice in country music. So I just thank you guys so much for inspiring me.”  

Armando Tinoko (DEADLINE) adds:


  Morris has been standing up for the LGBTQ+ community within the country music industry for quite some time. In 2022, she called out country singer Jason Aldean’s influencer wife Brittany Aldean after making comments about the transgender community.

Brittany then made an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show where they called Morris a “lunatic” after “The Middle” singer referred to her as a “scumbag human” and “Insurrection Barbie.”

However, Morris turned the narrative around and started selling a t-shirt that read, “Lunatic country music person,” and ended up raising over $100k for the transgender community.


Jordan Robledo (GAY TIMES) quotes Mistress Isabelle Brookes replying, "Just you being here shows that you’re an ally."


The stupidity of people like Jason Aldean's wife always surprises me.  No, I don't mean for failing to define herself.  She's the second wife and she'll hold onto that title until Jason finds his third wife.


I'm referring to income.  I'm referring to career.  I've never abused my fans by telling them how to vote or by insulting them.  Jason, at one point, had some gay fans.  He may still.  But I have no idea why the appendage is trying to run them off or allowed to.

There are a lot of gay men and women into country music.  Randy Travis wouldn't have had a career without them.  Those 'hunky photos' were catering to gay men, not to straight women and Lib Hatcher used those photos to cement a foundation for Randy. And gay men took up Randy before anyone.  

You need your fans.  You don't have a career without them.  You shouldn't take them for granted and you certainly shouldn't hurl hate at them.


But there's a lot of hate out there today.  Including in a city of Kentucky.  Julia Sandor (WKTY) reports:

There’s been vandalism and hateful posters throughout downtown Lexington.

Members of the LGBTQ+ community see things like this far too often.

It’s something Catherine Taylor, with the Lexington Pride Center, said won’t change them.

“We respect other people’s belief systems, but at the end of the day when you threaten somebody because you don’t agree with what they’re doing, that’s a problem,” Taylor said.

The Lexington Pride Center makes it a point to talk about these issues in the community.

They host a “heart to heart” where people get together to talk about things that happen, like the placement of the hateful signs in downtown Lexington.

“It’s a way of connecting with people that are going through the same things who are LGBTQIA identifying because it is scary,” they said.

They said it feels like they’re constantly on guard, never knowing what could happen next.


And they're right to be concerned when so many are expressing hate and getting away with it.  If you missed it, some on the 'left' are working overtime to pretty up hate merchant Marjorie Taylor Greene -- very glad that THE VANGUARD refused to praise that nut job but there are many -- including Glenneth Greenwald -- who have no ethics and who are trying to make her their party hag.  Sad when MSNBC has more bravery than Glenneth:


MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart on Sunday confronted GOP House candidate Leon Benjamin Sr. over a 2011 Facebook post in which he likened those in the LGBTQ community to people who are “sick,” have bipolar disorder and are addicted to drugs and alcohol.  

“You started this conversation by saying you were ‘running to be a bridge.’ You used the word unity. How is that being a bridge? How is that being a unifier for the 4th Congressional District of Virginia, that most likely has LGBTQ people in that district?” Capehart asked in an interview on his “The Sunday Show.” 


MEDIAITE has posted video of the exchange.  Robert Tann (SUMMIT DAILY) reports on efforts in Summit, Colorado:

[Superintendent Tony]Byrd stood by the district’s commitment to equity and inclusion, adding: “We have a district theme of ‘we belong.’ We want every single student to feel included in our system, and the LGBTQ community is one of many communities that don’t feel included.” 

The October resolution, which did not legislate any new policy outside of what was already established in the district’s equity policy, came as a response to concerns that the Colorado State Board of Education could vote to keep omissions it made to references about LGBTQ people as well as communities of color and other groups in its social studies standards for public schools. 


The following sites updated:


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Thursday, January 12, 2023

Graham Elwood, THE GOLDBERGS, Don't Run Joe and the awful Ezra Miller

Starting with Graham Elwood.


 THE GOLDBERGS?


Oh, no.  Just no. 


I can't take much more of this Adam.  I really can't.  I'm about to bail on the show.

Erica and Geoff were apparently spending too much time together because he was going to her mommy group.  He thought it was a parent group.  She enlisted Barry to try to get him out of it.  There were jokes in there and it was a good story.


But then Adam.  A failure and a whiny one.  I just can't.  He needs to grow the hell up.  I don't stop watching.  Maybe I'll just start muting when it's Adam's storyline.

Okay now for a press release:

For Immediate Release – Thursday, Jan. 12th, 2023

Full-Page Ad on Capitol Hill Calls for Primary Challenger to Biden

The Hill newspaper today published a full-page ad in its print edition calling for a progressive Democrat to step forward with a primary challenge to President Biden, who has said he intends to run for re-election.

The ad, which appears under a big “Help Wanted” headline, says that a “historic position” is available for an “articulate and principled Democrat willing to show political courage on behalf of party and country.”

The notice goes on: “Qualifications include a record of progressive advocacy, effective leadership and proven integrity. Capacity to withstand intensive pressure from corporate interests and the Biden White House a must.”

The complete full-page ad, as it appeared in The Hill, is posted here.

The ad was placed by the Don’t Run Joe campaign, which is sponsored by the activist group RootsAction. The organization’s co-founder Jeff Cohen said Thursday: “A healthy political party requires healthy political debate about its future. President Biden should not be enabled to coast to renomination without such a debate, especially in light of recent polling that shows most Democrats don’t want him to seek a second term.”

Recent polls by CNBC and CNN found that nearly 60 percent of Democrats nationwide do not want Biden to be the party nominee in 2024.

“A presidential nomination should not be a coronation,” RootsAction national director Norman Solomon said. “Voters in the Democratic presidential primaries next year should not simply be told to rubber stamp a choice handed down from on high.”

For further information, contact RootsAction cofounders:
Jeff Cohen, jeff@rootsaction.org, phone/text (914) 388-1431
Norman Solomon, norman@rootsaction.org, phone/text (415) 488-3606

For background, see the Don’t Run Joe website and Frequently Asked Questions.

###

Contact: info@rootsaction.org | Learn more at our FAQ

That was mailed to the public e-mail address for THE COMMON ILLS.  I grabbed it to post here because I do not want Joe to run for re-election.  We need someone who can lead.  Inflation is Joe.  The lack of seriously addressing climate change?  Joe.  We need a future to work towards.  Joe has no vision, he can't lead.  I'd love it we could get some nominees who weren't over 70.


Joe needs to just go away.  He's not the only one. Ezra Miller's going to plead guilty in court on the burglary issue -- guilty to trespassing.  And they are still going to release THE FLASH movie?  Nothing says "Take the kids to the superhero film" like "starring the actor who just pled guilty to a crime."  DISCOVERY-WARNER BROS-HBO MAX is killing hundreds of projects but this nightmare they let stand?  We can't get BATGIRL, we can't get Patty Jenkins directing another Wonder Woman film, we can't get Henry Cavill as Superman but we can get jail bird Miller as The Flash?  



They should have redone the scenes with Grant Gustin.  This is their own mess  


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


Thursday, January 12, 2023.  A major event will take place next week in defense of Julian Assange and The First Amendment, in Iraq a trial is taking place today on corruption, and much more.

Starting with this announcement from DEMOCRACY NOW!:

On Jan. 20, Democracy Now! will live-stream the Belmarsh Tribunal from Washington, D.C. The event will feature expert testimony from journalists, whistleblowers, lawyers, publishers and parliamentarians on assaults to press freedom and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Watch here live at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 20.

Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman and Srecko Horvat, the co-founder of DiEM25, will chair the tribunal, which is being organized by Progressive International and the Wau Holland Foundation.

Members of the tribunal include:

Stella Assange, partner of Julian Assange and member of his defense team

Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower

Noam Chomsky, linguist and activist

Jeremy Corbyn, member of U.K. Parliament and founder of the Peace and Justice Project

Chip Gibbons, policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent

Kevin Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof

Margaret Kunstler, civil rights attorney

Stefania Maurizi, investigative journalist, Il Fatto Quotidiano

Jesselyn Radack, national security and human rights attorney

Ben Wizner, lead attorney at ACLU of Edward Snowden

Renata Ávila, human rights lawyer, technology and society expert

Jeffrey Sterling, lawyer and former CIA employee

Steven Donziger, human rights attorney

Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief, WikiLeaks

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editorial director and publisher, The Nation

Selay Ghaffar, spokesperson, Solidarity Party of Afghanistan

Betty Medsger, investigative reporter



US President Joe Biden continues to persecute Julian and, for those who've forgotten, Julian's 'crime' was revealing the realities of Iraq -- Chelsea Manning was a whistle-blower who leaked the information to Julian.  WIKILEAKS then published the Iraq War Logs.  And many outlets used the publication to publish reports of their own.  For example, THE GUARDIAN published many articles based on The Iraq War Logs.  Jonathan Steele, David Leigh and Nick Davies offered, on October 22, 2012:



A grim picture of the US and Britain's legacy in Iraq has been revealed in a massive leak of American military documents that detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.
Almost 400,000 secret US army field reports have been passed to the Guardian and a number of other international media organisations via the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The electronic archive is believed to emanate from the same dissident US army intelligence analyst who earlier this year is alleged to have leaked a smaller tranche of 90,000 logs chronicling bloody encounters and civilian killings in the Afghan war.
The new logs detail how:
• US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished.

• A US helicopter gunship involved in a notorious Baghdad incident had previously killed Iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender.
• More than 15,000 civilians died in previously unknown incidents. US and UK officials have insisted that no official record of civilian casualties exists but the logs record 66,081 non-combatant deaths out of a total of 109,000 fatalities.

The numerous reports of detainee abuse, often supported by medical evidence, describe prisoners shackled, blindfolded and hung by wrists or ankles, and subjected to whipping, punching, kicking or electric shocks. Six reports end with a detainee's apparent deat



The Biden administration has been saying all the right things lately about respecting a free and vigorous press, after four years of relentless media-bashing and legal assaults under Donald Trump.

The attorney general, Merrick Garland, has even put in place expanded protections for journalists this fall, saying that “a free and independent press is vital to the functioning of our democracy”.

But the biggest test of Biden’s commitment remains imprisoned in a jail cell in London, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been held since 2019 while facing prosecution in the United States under the Espionage Act, a century-old statute that has never been used before for publishing classified information.

Whether the US justice department continues to pursue the Trump-era charges against the notorious leaker, whose group put out secret information on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, American diplomacy and internal Democratic politics before the 2016 election, will go a long way toward determining whether the current administration intends to make good on its pledges to protect the press.

Now Biden is facing a re-energized push, both inside the United States and overseas, to drop Assange’s protracted prosecution.


Lee Camp spoke with Stella Assange about the risks and persecution Julian continues to face for revealing the truth.



As you listen to Stella describe the inhumane conditions Julian's being held in, you really have to ask yourself why does Joe Biden continue to persecute Julian?  Eric Zuesse (DISSIDENT VOICE) observes, "Julian Assange has been imprisoned by the UK on the demand by the U.S. for over a decade now, though never convicted of anything, but ONLY because he was the world’s most effective champion against censorship and for international democracy and personal accountability. To call either of these countries a democracy is to lie, and to insult the very term 'democracy'."





Okay, now we're going over to Iraq.  There's an issue that we've been ignoring -- my choice to do so.  We'll go into why in a minute.  AL-MONITOR reports:

Iraq has not apologized to Iran after several Iranian parliamentarians slammed Iraq for using the term "Arabian Gulf" as it hosted the 25th Gulf Cup in Basra and asked for an apology.

Alireza Salimi, a member of the Board of Directors of the Iranian Parliament, attacked Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani and the leader of Sadrist Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, for what he termed a hostile action.

“I advise the Iraqi prime minister and Muqtada al-Sadr to apologize and stop these kinds of contentious actions that are against the interests of the two nations and create disputes between the two nations,” Salimi said according to Iranian media reports. 

Observers and experts, however, said Iraq has so far ignored the complaints because it does not want to become embroiled in a diplomatic dispute with Iran, especially as Baghdad is playing a key role in achieving rapprochement between regional countries, most notably Saudi Arabia and Iran. 

While Baghdad has not officially commented on the “Arabian Gulf” dispute, the Sadrist movement, led by influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, rejected Tehran’s summoning of the Iraqi envoy. 

Leading member of the movement, Issam Hussein said on Wednesday that Tehran is not justified in summoning the envoy. 

Moreover, he noted that the move gives Iran’s supporters in Iraq the “green light” to criticize the naming of the tournament. 

He remarked that Iran is “greatly bothered” by the rapprochement between the Iraqi and Gulf people. 

It fears that this rapprochement could develop into an increase in tourism and later development in economic and investment, he added. 


First, as a US citizen, I don't have an opinion on which of the two names Iraq chooses to use for the competition.  Second, I'm not Condi Rice. 

The US government has too often seen Iraq and Iran as twins or as potential twins.  They are neighboring countries.  As we have noted for years now, they will have many disagreements -- and have had many disagreements.  They may act together but they will also act in opposition.

Condi Rice, whenever things were going the way she wanted between Iran and Iraq (at odds) or at any time (like when Moqtada's influence was ebbing) would insert herself into the process.  It was stupid to begin with because the disagreement then becomes with the US.

We're noting it now to explain to all those e-mailing why we aren't obsessing over this news and to again remind that neighbors will always have frictions.  The two countries are not twins.  They aren't individual nations that share a border and will work together on somethings and not work together on other issues.  When government officials in the US fret over Iraq and Iran it's as though they're still addicted to the domino theory.

The above disagreement is not a US issue.  I don't plan to comment on it and say someone's right and someone's wrong, it's not my business and I don't see how it helps.  If outlets from the region choose to run columns or editorials, we may note those.  But this is something that needs to be between those two counties.  And, if that really makes you butt hurt because -- like Condi -- your goal is to drive a wedge between Iraq and Iran, grasp what Condi never could, a chorus of US voices is just going to turn attention towards the US and make it the target of frustration.  So let it play out for that if you just can't support the notion that we don't need to stick our nose into everything.



I picked the morning paper off the floor
It was full of other people's little wars
Wouldn't they like their peace
Don't we get bored
And we call for the three great stimulants
Of the exhausted ones
Artifice brutality and innocence
Artifice and innocence

-- "The Three Great Stimulants," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on DOG EAT DOG



The trial of an adviser to the Iraq ex-Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Khadhemi on embezzlement charges will take place today.

The suspect is likely Haitham al-Juburi, who has been charged in a wider corruption scandal surrounding the disappearance of $2.5 billion worth of tax revenue. It is the biggest corruption of the previous al-Kahdimi governemnt, involving businessmen and former high-ranking officials. Al-Juburi has already returned $2.6 million, a mere fraction of the total loss.

The scandal has angered Iraqis, many of whom are dealing with poverty, decaying infrastructure, unemployment and a near total absence of public services. Corruption has long been at the core of Iraqi politics. It a serious challenge to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and his new government, having vowed to lead a crackdown on corruption. The country ranked 157th out of 180 in Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index in 2021.



Mustafa's adviser?  Let's drop back to last month when  Louisa Loveluck and Mustafa Salim (WASHINGTON POST) reported:


Kadhimi, who left office in October, came to power in 2020 after mass anti-corruption demonstrations felled his predecessor. His government’s high-profile campaign to tackle graft in one of the world’s most corrupt countries drew widespread international encouragement.

Central to the effort was a series of highly publicized night raids in late 2020 on the homes of public figures accused of corruption, conducted under the authority of the Permanent Committee to Investigate Corruption and Significant Crimes, better known as Committee 29. The architect of the raids was Lt. Gen. Ahmed Taha Hashim, or Abu Ragheef, who became known in Iraq as the “night visitor.”

But what happened to the men behind closed doors was far darker: a return to the ugly old tactics of a security establishment whose abuses Kadhimi had vowed to address. In more than two dozen interviews — including five men detained by the committee, nine family members who had relatives imprisoned, and 11 Iraqi and Western officials who tracked the committee’s work — a picture emerges of a process marked by abuse and humiliation, more focused on obtaining signatures for pre-written confessions than on accountability for corrupt acts.

Those interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters or, in the case of detainees and their families, to protect their safety.

“It was every kind of torture,” one former detainee recalled. “Electricity, choking me with plastic bags, hanging me from the ceiling by my hands. They stripped us naked and grabbed at the parts of our body underneath.”

In at least one case, a former senior official, Qassim Hamoud Mansour, died in the hospital after being arrested by the committee. Photographs provided to The Post by his family appear to show that a number of teeth had been knocked out, and there were signs of blunt trauma on his forehead.

Allegations that the process was riddled with abuse became an open secret among diplomats in Baghdad last year. But the international community did little to follow up on the claims and the prime minister’s office downplayed the allegations, according to officials with knowledge of the issue. Although a parliamentary committee first revealed the torture allegations in 2021 and Iraqi media have raised the issue sporadically, this is the fullest attempt yet to investigate the claims and document the scale of the abuse.


We'll wind down with this Tweet:




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