Friday, September 28, 2018

Again on Kavanaugh



Cher's new album is one to check out.

What did you think of the Kavanaugh hearing?

I will not be intimidated into withdrawing...Your coordinated/well-funded effort to destroy my name & family will not drag me out. The vile threats of violence against my family will not drive me out. You may defeat me in the final vote but you'll never get me to quit. -Kavanaugh





I did like that.

The doctor testified.  I was hoping for something convincing.  Didn't hear it.

Continue to believe that the best argument against Kavanaugh would be what Senator Dianne Feinstein was hinting about earlier: he allegedly broke the grand jury rules.

That would be cause not to sit on the Supreme Court.


Among the problems with certain senators ignoring real issues for charges and accusations that cannot be proven?  Losing votes.  James Robbins (USA TODAY) explains:

To support their political assault on Kavanaugh, Democrats have been forced to take some controversial stances. For example, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, says there is no presumption of innocence for Kavanaugh because this is simply a “fact-finding” exercise. Democrats in general have rushed to the conclusion that Kavanaugh’s accusers are telling the truth, imposing a significant presumption of guilt on the judge. Senator Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, significantly expanded the issue when she said that “the men in this country” are “perpetuating all of these kinds of actions” and need to “shut up” and “do the right thing for a change.” 
But men are rightly concerned about Democrats normalizing the idea that raising 30-to-35-year-old charges with no hard evidence and no presumption of innocence can wipe away reputations and careers. Why would any man vote for a political party that is generating this toxic environment?
If Democrats win on Kavanaugh, these tactics will be become commonplace. Any man could find himself facing unprovable accusations automatically taken as fact, made by an accuser who spent “six days ... carefully assessing her memories and consulting with her attorney.” Imagine the impact on workplace disputes, divorce proceedings, or any situation in which a man might stand accused, rightly or not.



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


Thursday, September 27, 2018.  Confront the fake asses -- and is there a bigger fake ass than Barbra Streisand?


Love Cher to death but never felt the urge to emulate her use of the c-word.  That said, if ever someone earned the term, it would be Granny Streisand.  Some of you may not recognize her under that heavy wig and with all those fillers in her face, but that's Barbra Liar Streisand.  The EGOT winner?  No, she didn't win a Tony.  Broadway kissed her ass with a "Star of the Decade" award they made up for her and that they haven't given since.  She didn't win a Tony.  She got a special prize.

Rita Moreno?  She's an EGOT who won awards.

But Barbra's used being ugly as an excuse to shut down any criticism almost as much as she's used her gender.

'If you're a strong woman, they call you a bitch.'

Well, Barbra, they call you a bitch because you do bitchy things.  You, for exzample, steal Cher's role in A STAR IS BORN.  Or you go out of your way to treat Madeline Kahn like dirt on the set of WHAT'S UP DOC?  You've earned your reputation -- good and bad.  And that's why you're considered a bitch.

You're also a liar who really needs to stop recording.  Your new album?  Teams of dogs pulling sleds in the iditarod have less husky voices.


No one was ever nastier about their fans being gay than Babsie.  She called them "f*gs" and much worse.  They're the only ones who supported her career and that was how she rewarded them.  Not only do UP THE SANDBOX and FOR PETE'S SAKE exist -- both are homophobic -- but so does Babs visiting a film set and hissing "f**got" at Harrsion Ford in what she thinks is a funny bit.

No, it wasn't funny.

But Jason Gould being gay was karmic.  Nothing wrong with being gay.  But when the Phyllis Schafly of the left ends up with a gay son, that's karma.  And she is Phyllis.  She's such a liar that when she decided feminism was the blanket to cover her bitchy ways, she pretended she was one.  But those of us not born in 1999 are aware that she trashed feminism, that she wasn't a feminist, that UP THE SANDBOX (a huge box office disaster) was her response to feminism.  A huge box office disaster.  American women weren't going to pay to see themselves portrayed a pathetic wife who didn't work outside the home but did fantasize about her husband's lover being jealous.  Poor Barbra, I feel like another 'Streisand effect' is about to take place.

So, let's get the laughs going.



That's her new single.

It's hideous.  And it's so bad, you know she had to have written it.

Really written it.

Not just put her name to it so she could get publishing royalties.

Remember when she wrote her 'first' song.  She kept on and on about how great it was to write a song, "Evergreen."  She was so proud of herself.

Barbra, like Donald Trump, thinks if she says it, it makes it true.

Doesn't work that way for either eogmaniac.  And what Barbra forgot was that before "Evergreen," she'd taken songwriting credit.

But there she is -- check the videos, check the print reports -- promoting A STAR IS BORN -- where the crew hated her so badly, they mixed s**t with the mud so Barbra was rolling around in s**t.  And what's she saying, she just wrote a song!  "Evergreen!"  She felt so inadequate before that because all the other "girls" were writing songs.  But she wasn't able to.  Until "Evergreen."

So why don't you get honest and admit you didn't write the earlier songs you put your name to?

How do you sleep, Barbra?

Like a wealthy whore?

I don't like Barbra, I never have.  I've defended her from time to time because even monsters like her have a good side or two.

But she's the epitome of trash.  She always has been.  That she took offense at Madonna is hilarious because she was the worst.  She felt Madonna was trash but no one ever talked about Madonna smelling.  By contrast, she was "B.O. Barbra" -- and, no, Mike Wallace wasn't referring to box office when he would tell that story (over and over).  He meant body odor.  She had bad habits -- refusing to bathe -- before she finally landed on Broadway.  She stunk.

In her song, she's having a dialogue with Donald Trump.  It's hilarious on many levels and not just the fact that she's relating to him in what can only be described as sexually.  Why not?  They're both damaged goods who never recovered from bad childhoods.

It's also hilarious because Tire Kingdom long ago shut down but I can't imagine "Don't Lie To Me" over the p.a. system anywhere else.  Yes, it's that dated.

"How do you sleep?" asks Babs in the song forgetting that ripping off John Lennon deserves its own form of hell.  She really thinks she can get away with anything at this point.

Piss me off, Babs, I know all your dirt, remember, I had Kay fired from my set because I couldn't take another story about how awful you were.  Didn't disagree with your hair dresser, just didn't need to spend every day hearing about you.

It's difficult to identify the worst part of  "Don't Lie To Me" -- in part because there are so many awful things about it.  Love the tempo change with these hideous lyrics:


Kings and Queens
Cooks and thieves
You don't see the forest 
For the trees


That's like ISHTAR bad songwriting -- only those songs were supposed to be bad.


Yeah, Babas has been rising on my s**t list since she took to trashing Laura Nyro -- an actual artist, unlike Las Vegas Babs.  Laura, of course, gave Babs her second hit single -- at a time when she needed a hit badly because, as Clive Davis told her, the albums weren't selling and the kids didn't like her.  It was make it or break it time for Babs.  And "Stoney End" provided her with a recording career (had it not hit, she would have been dropped by Columbia -- and that decision was out of Clive's hands).  So how sweet of her, after Laura's died of cancer, to show up on a recent tour mocking the song.

But I probably wouldn't be writing any of this if she didn't write a song with these lyrics:

How do you sleep when the world keeps turning
All that we built has come undone
How do you sleep when the world is burning
Everyone answers to someone.

Did that bitch just say the world is burning?

Because it is and it has been.

Now maybe the woman dubbed Jewcifer by her YENTYL crew  (Jewish Lucifer, get it?  I don't but it was about what an ass she was and they came up with it after she made them sign  a statement swearing she was the best boss in the world) doesn't get the problem?

This is Barbra Streisand, after all, the woman who loathes Palestinians and basically all Arabs.  (Her films were banned in the Arab world starting with FUNNY GIRL.)

I loathe her but most people don't know it.  I don't make a point to note it.  I do try to give her credit when she deserves it.  THE SECOND BARBRA STREISAND album is a classic album.  Otherwise?  Like most Americans, if I want to hear music from that time period, I'm going to go with Diana Ross who doesn't have the anti-Arab nonsense and who also has actual hit songs -- none of which sound like the theme to a Linda Lavin sitcom.  In terms of film, she gave a strong performance in her last comedy and I would've voted for her if she'd gotten an Academy Award nomination.  Other than that?  This is the woman who still trashes WHAT'S UP DOC? -- the funniest film she has ever been in and an American classic.  Maybe when you've made FUNNY LADY, you've confessed that you have no taste.  (And those rooms, they're overdone.  She's never undestood simplicity and all she ever does is do a room in an overstylized version of how it would have been decorated ten to fifteen years prior.  She's a cookie cutter, she's not a designer.)

Joe Queenan did a very strong essay on how middle of the road and how disappointing all of Barbra's 'artistic' choices have been.


But, again, I usually bite my tongue. 


I don't bite it today because she's worried about the world burning.

"Stranger In A Strange Land."

That was 2005.  That was Babs trying to sing against war.

Now the Iraq War didn't end but, damn, didn't Babs' sudden interest end?  Why, yes, it did.  It's almost as though -- say it ain't so! -- Babs was attempting a comeback -- to the top forty (she failed) -- on the back of the Iraq War.

And I'm sorry to break it to the wealthy woman who hates Arabs but the world's been burning all this time for people in Iraq, in Yemen, in Afghanistan, in Syria . . .

And it's been burning with no attempt by her to leave her own private mall.

Now she wants the world to listen up, to hear her.

Why?

So she can demonstrate that she's lost her singing voice?  She could have it back.  I'm sure the man who taught her to sing could rescue it if he's still alive.  A qualified vocal coach could as well and I could explain it to her in one sentence.  Thing is, though, I do care about the Arab world and I'm not here to enable Yionism.


This album will come and go, yet another unmemorable release in Barbra's pedestrian discography.

It won't get airplay because she has no voice and she has no audience.

I don't get why women would support her.  Not today.  Jon Peters' actions were known -- widely known.  And it was full blown by the time Barbra moved in with him.  She was fine with it then and she was fine with it after they broke up.  She's no defender of women despite posing as one for the Kavanaugh press coverage.  When will Babs get honest?

I don't get the gay men who buy her albums still.  Her screaming "f**got" at Harrison Ford can be seen on YOUTUBE.  Yes, Jason being gay forced a change in her but is that really reason to continue to buy her albums?

Certainly, her voice isn't.  And I honestly think her Zionism doesn't work with most Americans.  We've matured as a country and aren't so knee jerk today.

I will not forget -- or forgive -- her use of the Iraq War to try to have a hit single.  If it had meant anything to her, if she'd protested the war or if she'd supported it, I could let it go.  But she just used it to try to make a buck.

And now she's telling TIME that she's friends with Colin Powell.  Okay, the bitch is worse than the c-word, much, much worse.  "Republicans who are decent people," she tells TIME of Colin Powell and the George H.W. Bush.


There is nothing decent about Colin Powell.  Even someone as educationally challenged as Barbra Streisand should know better.

Colin lied to the UN and lied to the world.

Her being friends with him -- and praising him -- proves her opposition to the Iraq War was a joke.

But she proves she's a joke.  Did anyone trash her more than Frank Rich?  One critic, yes.  They send him up in WHAT'S UP DOC?  But after that critic, it's Frank Rich.  And yet 'liberal' Babs has made her online life all about linking to and praising Frank Rich.  That's how stupid she truly is.


The Iraq War continues and that's a-okay with Barbra.  Threaten her beloved Israel and she'll show the fangs but kill Arabs and she's fine with it.

Government forces forcibly disappeared scores of Arab Sunni men in . That is no way to fight ISIS. A new report says more:


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HRW:

Iraqi military and security forces have disappeared dozens of mostly Sunni Arab males since 2014, including children as young as 9, often in the context of counterterrorism operations, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The 78-page report, “‘Life Without a Father is Meaningless’: Arbitrary Arrests and Enforced Disappearances in Iraq 2014-2017,” draws on research Human Rights Watch has published on enforced disappearances in Iraq since 2014, when Iraqi forces launched anti-ISIS operations, and documents an additional 74 cases of men and four cases of boys detained by Iraqi military and security forces between April 2014 and October 2017 and forcibly disappeared. The enforced disappearances documented are part of a much wider continuing pattern in Iraq. Iraqi officials have failed to respond to inquiries from the families and Human Rights Watch for information about the disappeared.
“Families across Iraq whose fathers, husbands, and sons disappeared after Iraqi forces detained them are desperate to find their loved ones,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Despite years of searching, and requests to Iraqi authorities, the government has provided no answers about where they are or if they are even still alive.”





Infograph
The International Commission on Missing Persons, which has been working in partnership with the Iraqi government to help recover and identify the missing, estimates that the number of missing people in Iraq could range from 250,000 to one million people, with the International Committee of the Red Cross stating that Iraq has the highest number of missing people in the world.
Human Rights Watch drew on research it has published on enforced disappearances since 2014, and carried out additional interviews from early 2016 to March 2018 with the family members, lawyers, and community representatives of the 78 currently identified as forcibly disappeared, as well as three who had themselves been disappeared and were subsequently released. Researchers reviewed court and other official documents relating to the disappearance cases.
Enforced disappearance is defined under international law as the arrest or detention of a person by state officials or by agents of the state or by people or groups acting with the state’s authorization, support, or acquiescence, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the arrest or to reveal the person’s status or whereabouts. The prohibition also entails a duty to investigate cases of alleged enforced disappearance and prosecute those responsible.
The enforced disappearances documented were carried out by a range of military and security entities, but the highest number, 36, were by groups within the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), units under the prime minister’s command, at checkpoints across Iraq. Witnesses said at least 28 of these were carried out by the Hezbollah Brigades.



HRW's Kenneth Roth Tweets:


Iraq is "disappearing" dozens of mostly Sunni Arab men under the guise of combating ISIS, ignoring the fact that such serious abuse helped give rise to ISIS in the first place and could revive its next incarnation.


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These abuses were ignored by the western governments -- including the US -- and that also helped give rise to ISIS.


So let's recap -- Barbra Streisand is all about targeting Arabs.  So skip her latest bad album and instead go with Cher's DANCING QUEEN album which is fun and lacks Babs' heavy pretensions.




The following community sites -- plus BLACK AGENDA REPORT -- updated:

























  • Wednesday, September 26, 2018

    Kavanaugh

    "Editorial: Stand up before the people or crawl out the door" is something I'm proud of being a co-writer of.  I'm real tired of this idea that someone can make an accusation and the accused can't defend themselves -- or they're 'attacking' the victim.  I'm also tired of accusers who think the whole justice system gets to be rewritten for them.

    When the two women came out against Julian Assange, C.I. wrote about how you criticize the women, you could question them, but you shouldn't attack them.

    That is what we need to be doing -- questioning absolutely.  No one should be given a free pass on their accusation.

    I'm not for Kavanaugh and I think Senator Dianne Feinstein is right to bring up issues like Kavanaugh possible violation of secrecy laws with regards to the grand jury.  If that's true, he's disqualified from serving on the Supreme Court.  If the issue she is raising turns out to be accurate, he can't sit on the Court because he has violated the laws regarding grand juries. 

    From USA TODAY:

    Former NBA player Chris Dudley said he regularly drank with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh while the two were classmates at Yale University, although he “never, ever saw him blacked out" drunk. 
    Dudley, a former Oregon gubernatorial candidate, pushed back against allegations sexual misconduct along with heavy drinking leveled against Kavanaugh by three women in recent days, including one woman from his time at Yale. 
    “I went out with him all the time," Dudley told the Washington Post.  "He never blacked out. Never even close to blacked out. There was drinking, and there was alcohol. Brett drank, and I drank. Did he get inebriated sometimes? Yes. Did I? Yes. Just like every other college kid in America.”

    So that's one person's opinion.  Factor it in, decide whether you believe him or not.  The second accuser is Deborah Ramirez:

    The New York Times had interviewed several dozen people over the past week in an attempt to corroborate Ms. Ramirez’s story, and could find no one with firsthand knowledge. Ms. Ramirez herself contacted former Yale classmates asking if they recalled the episode and told some of them that she could not be certain Mr. Kavanaugh was the one who exposed himself.

    So the second accuser admitted to some "she could not be certain Mr. Kavanaugh was the one who exposed himself."  But in public, she insists otherwise.  Sounds like she didn't have a strong accusation.


    Kavanaugh deserves the benefit of the doubt on all charges and accusations.  I think Feinstein is right to go after him on possible leaks that violated the grand jury rules.  That seems much easier to prove than a he-said/she-said debate.


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


    Wednesday, September 26, 2018.  Oh, that lovely free press that always sees the minority view of the rich and powerful, right?


    If you wonder why so many are attempting to destroy Jeremy Corbyn, look no further than today's speech.

    Britain's foreign policy is no longer sustainable, Jeremy Corbyn tells the Labour party conference. "No more reckless wars of intervention, like Iraq or Libya. It means putting negotiations before confrontation", he says. Watch live:



    Hesitate, even for a moment, to cheer endless war and you'll anger many.

    And, of course, a whorish press will help you out.

    A whorish press.  What did STARS AND STRIPES say in that pisssy little e-mail they wrote a few years ago?  They were upset with Ruth and what she'd written about their coverage.  They just report the facts, they insisted.

    Hmm?  I said they offered opinion in their journalism and Ruth was right to call them out for presenting opinion as fact.  They replied back that they never presented opinion as fact.


    ICYMI: Alejandra Juarez, the wife of an Iraq War veteran, was deported last month. She wants the world to know this is what deportation looks like. “Maybe if I tell my story I can help someone else,” she says.
     
     



    Before we get to the story, the photo's not available above.  It's a trashy woman who is not trying to claim that she lives in fear in Mexico and gives a false name and won't allow her picture to be taken.  I didn't think I could have less respect for Alejandra Juarez but there she is, in a photo, hiding her face by turning it and wearing large sun glasses.  In the story, she's explaining that she's a target and must conceal herself.  And there's her daughter . . . in the same photo . . . face fully visible.  I knew Alejandra was trash, I just didn't know she was trash that would risk her own daughter's life. 


    Clear the decks, America, we've just found Mom of the Year.

    And Diana Cahn, well she's going for biggest presstitute in the world.  Alejandra was not deported.  She was facing deportation and stated she would leave on her own.  That is publicly known.  What's not publicly known is that she doesn't live where she said she would in Mexico.  Cahn offers a sort of on that.  But here's reality, the spouses of US military members who had been deported?  They couldn't stand her and she had to move.  When that was passed on, I sat on it.  I wasn't planning to use it but if Alejandra's going to continue to make a spectacle of herself, let's talk about it.

    So the woman with the stick up her ass gets to the community and quickly makes clear that she's better than the others deported.  She makes that clear repeatedly.  They don't get why she's better -- she's not better -- but they get that she's an ass.  And they make it clear that they don't want her as a neighbor.

    What Cahn doesn't make clear is that Alejandra's still just about herself.

    That's why she had Anglo White support from celebrities but not support from the community that works on immigration rights.  She's not about immigration rights she's about rights for herself.  That's why she and her husband could -- and did -- support anti-immigrant Donald Trump for president.

    Cahn's a liar and a con and STARS AND STRIPES needs to issue multiple corrections for this awful article.  First correction, of course, is for claiming she was deported.  Facing deportation, she chose to leave.  Second correction?  They should state, "Diana Cahn is a whorish liar and we regret ever publishing her crap."  That's because Diana Chan's lies fail to tell readers that Alejandra was deported -- in the 90s.  And she was told it was a felony if she came back in.

    She chose to come back.  That's on her.  In 2013 -- also not mentioned in the article -- she was informed she would be deported.  She had five years to work on that.  She had five years to speak out for immigrant rights.  She had five years to vet politicians for the positions on immigrant rights.

    But, hey, she wanted to support Donald Trump.  Looks like she got what she deserved.  She really needs to close her mouth now.  Even now, it's all about Alejandra.  Even now.  /That's why she was forced out of the community she planned to live in.

    That was the only thing newsworthy about her story -- so, of course, Cahn  makes sure not to include it.  But then Cahn's not reporting, she's doing a press release for Alejandra.  She's typing up everything that woman says and presenting it as factual when the bulk of it is lies.  That's how you get fake news, boys and girls.  Whorish press members who don't do the work their profession requires.  They're stenographers.  Nothing more.

    For those who missed it, all US laws are supposed to be suspended for Alejandra because she's married to a man who served in Iraq.

    Iraq has enough liars in the press -- that's how they sold the illegal war.  The liars continue to lie.  Yes, that includes Patrick Cockburn who never met a Sunni he didn't hate.  Let's look at his latest bit of creative writing.


    Mr Abadi’s fate had been in the balance since he did unexpectedly badly in the general election on 12 May when his coalition came in third. 

    Unexpectedly?  By whom?  We knew here and said here that he had no successes to run on and that corruption was the biggest issue to voters -- we said that before the May 12 elections.

    So it wasn't unexpected to us.  Now maybe to two-bit whores who repeat -- as fact -- the desires of the US State Dept -- maybe to them it was unexpected.


    Security in Iraq has much improved since the defeat of Isis and over the last six months it has been the best since 2003.


    Based on what?  Western press reports?  Because kidnappings happen daily in Iraq -- and are covered by the local press -- but never make it into the western press.

    Based on what?  The United Nations?  The same cowardly group that stopped counting violence in Anbar because the Iraqi government objected?  The same cowardly organization that then stopped counting the deaths of police and security groups because the Iraqi government objected?

    At this rate, the already laughable UN issued monthly death toll isn't even worth noting.  We've skipped it for two months now and no one's complained.  Because it's not accurate and it doesn't try to be accurate.  It tries to please the Iraqi government.  Whose world, UN, whose world?

    Peaceful protests grew violent with 27 people killed as government and party offices, with the exception of Sairoon, were set ablaze as well as the Iranian consulate. 


    Oh, that's when they grew violent, Patrick Cockburn?

    Now might be a good time to remind everyone that Patrick's brother Alexander was a climate change denier and used COUNTERPUNCH to pimp that nonsense.  Now Alex loved to ride the high horse.  He went after Jason what's his name who had stated in a report that Karl Rove was about to be charged by a grand jury.  They had standards at COUNTERPUNCH, thundered Alex in a really dumb column, explaining how they'd never publish a Jason Leopold.  Except, as I reminded Alex over the phone, they had published Jason -- several times.  I could take Alex because you could confront him with something and, if you could make your point, he'd agree with you.

    Patrick lives in his own little world.  (I'm neutral on Laura Flanders -- trust me, I am being neutral -- and on Andrew.  On Andrew's little girl?  Someone has to pay for the family sins and it was my pleasure to help ensure that her career came to a standstill.)

    It's a strange little world.  In Patrick's world, things are only violent if institutions -- like a consulate -- is set on fire.

    When protesters are shot dead, that's not violent to Patrick.  When the internet is shut down to prevent the world from knowing of the violence, that's not violent to Patrick.  For the month of July and the month of August, protesters are wounded and killed and that's not violent.  But, come September, a consulate set on fire is violence, please understand, to Patrick, bullets that kill innocent protesters are not.



    Soad al-Ali, who has been involved in organising protests demanding better services in Iraq's Basra, has been shot dead by masked gunmen.
     
     


    Patrick won't see that as violent either -- no consulate was set ablaze.


    🔴Moments when gunmen assassinated Dr.Suad Al Ali, a civil and human rights activist in Basra, she was one of the participants in the protests earlier in the month.
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    Iraqi activist who helped organise Basra protests shot dead in broad daylight
     
     


    She's been assassinated because she chose to take part in the protests.  That's not violence to Patrick Cockburn.





    : Security forces responded harshly to protests in southern , killing over 50 demonstrators ⇒



    That wasn't violence, not to Patrick.  It's only violence if a consulate is set on fire.


    What a proud moment for the Cockburn family.


    A female activist has been shot dead in the southern Iraqi city of , which has seen violent anti-govt protests in recent weeks. Video posted online appears to show an unidentified man opening fire at Suad al-Ali as she gets into a car.
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    Suad al-Ali was involved in organizing protests demanding better services in Basra. Some attribute her killing to Iran. I recall that lists of activists who participated in the protests that hit Tehran's interests, were published in Iranian media.
     
     






    Iraqi NGO member and civil society activist assassinated today in - Dr Suad al Hili. - theres a worrying trend of targeted attacks on organisers and activists associated with Basra protests
     
     


    It is a worrying trend . . . unless you're Patrick Cockburn.


    Suad Al-Ali, the human rights activist who was killed in . Pics from . You can never bring to a nation, it is just born like a new brain cell!
     
     
     


    The real danger is the Patrick Cockburns.  They only sound the alarms, they only care, when an institution like a consulate is attacked.  They don't give a damn about people being attacked, about people being killed.


    Oh my lord.. Dr. Suad Al-Ali was murdered in broad daylight in central Basra today. She was a well-known Human Rights activist. May her soul rest in peace.
     
     



    When the people are under attack, always know that a Patrick Cockburn will helicopter in to . . . denounce them and protect the governments that oppress and threaten.




    Yesterday, protesters carried a banner with photos of PM Haider al-Abadi & former Operations Commander Jamil al-Shimmari, promising to legally pursue them for killing protesters. The banner also stated that Shimmari killed the young men who participated in .
     
     
    A powerful message from , today: The banner shows a hand-cuffed protester signing a promise in front of an arresting officer holding a bat; the promise note reads: “We will not shut up.”
     
     



    THIRD?  I think they're done.  It's explained in the editorial but Beth called saying she had a ton of e-mails asking what was going on?  Briefly, Ava and I finished our piece Sunday morning.  We did not want to take part in the editorial and told them to do without us.  The editorial has been the hold up.  Late last night, we agreed to be part of it and it was written -- 90 minutes, it took that damn long -- this morning.  There should be no more hold up.  Beth knows THIRD can run late as do most community members.  Their concern was the other sites.  I think the editorial and the argument over it is part of the reason.  A lot of people were getting upset.

    That's not why we agreed to do it.  We agreed because Senator Patty Murray made some dumb statements on TV.  That's not, "Oh, we" Ava and C.I. "are so much smarter than Patty!"  That's, "We've made those same dumb statements.  We're wrong."  So we agreed to take part in the editorial.




    We'll close with this from Senator Johnny Isakson's office:

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    Contact: Amanda Maddox, 202-224-7777
    Wednesday, September 26, 2018
    Marie Gordon, 770-661-0999
    Isakson: Peace Corps Reforms Headed to President’s Desk
    Legislation builds on Isakson’s previous ‘Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act’
    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., praised the Senate’s unanimous passage of bipartisan legislation he introduced to reform the U.S. Peace Corps by improving access to medical care for volunteers, strengthening accountability and oversight, and enhancing procedures to reduce the risk of crime where volunteers serve.
    The legislation, H.R.229, the Sam Farr and Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act of 2018, builds on previous reforms made by Isakson’s Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act to further protect volunteers. It passed the U.S. House unanimously on July 10, and after passing the Senate by voice vote on Monday, Sept. 24, it now heads to the president’s desk to be signed into law.
    “I appreciate my colleagues’ commitment to providing greater protection and safety for our Peace Corps volunteers whose work and goodwill produce results for both the communities they serve and the United States,” said Isakson. “I hold our Peace Corps volunteers in high regard, and I’m thankful that this legislation that honors the memory of Nick Castle has passed the Senate and will soon be signed into law.”
    The Sam Farr and Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act of 2018 is named in memory of Nick Castle, a 23-year-old Brentwood, Calif., volunteer who lost his life in 2013 while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in China. It was later determined by the inspector general that flaws in Castle’s medical care and in the response to his illness contributed to his death. The bill title also honors former U.S. Representative Sam Farr, who served as a congressman from California from 1993-2017 and was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer for two years in Colombia in the 1960s.
    Isakson’s previous Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act was enacted into law in 2011 and was named after the 24-year-old Georgia woman who was murdered in 2009 while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin. Upon learning of Puzey’s death and the circumstances surrounding it, Isakson has long fought for the rights of Peace Corps volunteers and justice for Puzey and her family.
    Isakson introduced an earlier version of the legislation on Jan. 10, 2018, with U.S. Senators Bob Corker, R-Tenn., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Chris Coons, D-Del. It passed the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations by voice vote on Feb. 7, 2018, as the Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act of 2018.
    The Sam Farr and Nick Castle Peace Corps Reform Act of 2018 was amended by the U.S. House and contains the following key provisions:
    Peace Corps volunteer support:
    ·         Ensures the Peace Corps hires well-qualified personnel capable of administering effective health care services for volunteers;
    ·         Provides the director the authority necessary to appropriately review and evaluate the performance of all current medical staff;
    ·         Requires the director to implement recommendations made by the Peace Corps inspector general and report progress to Congress; and
    ·         Extends existing health care coverage for service-related injuries through three months after volunteers return from service.
    Peace Corps oversight and accountability:
    ·         Provides volunteers with direct access to the inspector general;
    ·         Requires the director to notify Congress of the opening or closure of offices and country programs; and
    ·         Requires public disclosure of the results of volunteer surveys on satisfaction in each country in which volunteers serve, as well as the early termination rate.
    Crime risk reduction:
    ·         Requires the director make evidence and information regarding a volunteer’s death available to the inspector general in order to facilitate an independent review of such incidents;
    ·         Maintains records verifying each individual has completed the training required by the Peace Corps Act;
    ·         Provides applicants with information regarding crimes and risks to volunteers in the country in which they are invited to serve;
    ·         Permanently authorizes the Office of Victim Advocacy, first authorized by the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act; and
    ·         Extends and enhances other expiring programs, first authorized by the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act, that provide services to volunteers who have been victims of sexual assault.
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    AMANDA MADDOX
    Communications Director
    OFFICE OF UNITED STATES SENATOR JOHNNY ISAKSON
    131 Russell Senate Office Building | Washington, DC 20510
    phone: 202.224.3643 | fax: 202.228.0724
    Visit Johnny’s website to learn more about his work in the Senate and to sign up for his newsletter.