Wednesday, March 01, 2023

Graham Elwood, no more campaign surrogates!, Jake Johnson

Graham Elwood has a new video.



So March 2nd is tomorrow.  It'll be on ALL THINGS COMEDY.  I can't wait until tomorrow.

In other news, I propose an end to campaign surrogates -- specifically spouses.  Darragh Roche (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Senator John Fetterman's hospitalization appears to have left Democrats unprepared for choosing a potential successor if he chooses to resign from office.

Pennsylvania's Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro would be tasked with selecting someone to fill Fetterman's seat in the event of his resignation but Shapiro told NBC News on Monday that there's "no contingency plan."


Fetterman checked himself into hospital on February 16 to receive treatment for clinical depression but questions about his health have been rife since he suffered a stroke in May before the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary.



He wasn't fit for office.  And we had another Jill Biden type trying to cover for him and fool the voter.  He's not fit for office now.  He needs to resign.  He is not serving the people of his state.  It's time to lose the ego and resign.  I don't think people should be in the Senate in their 80s but when Ted Kennedy was my senator and was in poor health, at least he had an office staff that had been in place for years and could function without his hands on touch.  He died in office and should have resigned.  But he had an experienced office staff at least.  Fetterman's a first term senator who barely made it a month after being sworn into office before heading to a medical treatment center.  If he's got depression issues, we don't need a sad sack in the Senate.  He needs to resign. 



  Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical giant that has become virtually synonymous with the sky-high cost of insulin in the United States, pledged Wednesday to cut the list prices for its most widely used insulin products by 70%, a move that advocates and experts met with deep skepticism even as they welcomed its potentially significant benefits for some people with diabetes.

"Eli Lilly's price cut will help people," said David Mitchell, the founder of Patients for Affordable Drugs. "But it's the result of years of relentless pressure by diabetes advocates in this country and around the world."

In addition to cutting the list prices of commonly prescribed insulin products such as Humalog—which currently has a price tag of $274.70 per vial—Eli Lilly said it would impose a $35 cap on out-of-pocket insulin costs for people with private insurance who use participating retail pharmacies.

Eli Lilly, one of the three companies that dominate the U.S. insulin market, directed those without health insurance to a company website offering a $35-per-month "insulin savings card."

The company specifically pledged to slash the price of Lispro, Eli Lilly's generic insulin, to $25 a vial—years after lawmakers chastised the drugmaker for failing to make the lower-cost product widely accessible.

The changes are set to take effect in the coming months.

"This decision for affordable insulin shows the power of grassroots advocacy and organizing," Elizabeth Pfiester, executive director of T1International and a person living with Type 1 diabetes, said in a statement. "The T1International community has been taking action and asking insulin manufacturers to put patients over profits for years. In October, T1International and people with diabetes demonstrated outside of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, and shared a petition with thousands of signatures asking them to lower their list price of insulin." 


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


Wednesday, March 1, 2023.  The UN Secretary-General visits Iraq, Moqtada's forces occupy an abandoned area in Baghdad, Marjorie Taylor Greene and her pal Glenneth Greenwald remain jokes, and much more.



I know we've noted the 5,000 year old tavern recently discovered in Iraq several times in the last weeks but I don't believe we've noted a video report of it.  It is a big find and historically signficant.

Centuries ago, people gathered there.

Today?  

Moqtada al-Sadr's militia likes to gather in an abandoned building in Baghdad but the PMF is apparently attempting to root out of the building.









Meanwhile, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, is visiting Iraq today.






AFP notes, "UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Iraq for his first visit in six years Tuesday in a show of 'solidarity' after a drawn-out political crisis in the country."  Guterres' last visit to Iraq was in 2017.   Sinan Mahmoud (THE NATIONAL) reports:

“This is a visit of solidarity,” Mr Guterres said in a briefing with Mr Hussein after arriving at Baghdad International Airport.

“A solidarity with the people and the democratic institutions of Iraq and a solidarity that means that the United Nations is totally committed to support the consolidation of the institutions in this country.”

He said he was confident that “Iraqis will be able to overcome the difficulties and challenges they still face through an open and inclusive dialogue”.

Mr Hussein described the visit as important, praising the relations and co-operation with the UN special mission to Iraq and UN.

“We always thank the secretary general for his support to the political process and democracy in Iraq,” Mr Hussein said.


Moving over to the US, we're going to again note THE DAILY SHOW for Chelsea Handler's look at MTG.




Marjorie Taylor Greene: I have people come up to me and say crazy things to me out of the blue in public places that they believe because they read it on the internet.

Chelsea Handler:  Well if that's not the pot calling the kettle QAnon.  This woman thought 9/11 was a hoax, that the Clintons killed JFK Jr. and that Jews are in charge of space lasers.  But please, don't come at her with some crazy ideas -- she might believe them. 



MTG is still calling the kettle QAnon.  As Daniel Villareal (LGBTQ NATION) reports, Marjorie is whining that she was eating out and a woman and her son yelled at her:


“People used to respect others even if they had different views. But not anymore. Our country is gone,” she concluded. Last week, Greene called for a “national divorce” between blue and red states.

The last time the U.S. had such a division, it resulted in a 4 year civil war. The war killed over a million Americans, including soldiers, non-combatant civilians, and slaves.

In response to Greene’s tweet, [David] Hogg, now age 22, wrote a tweet directly tagging her Twitter screen name.

“@mtgreenee Man that sucks. I was attacked and screamed at in 2018 by an insane woman named Marjorie Taylor Greene. She had no respect for the privacy of me as an 18 year old school shooting survivor or my staff. She was self righteous, insane, and completely out of control,” Hogg wrote.


Ever notice that if Marjorie were a Drag King, she could impersonate Glenneth Greenwald?  It's the nose, right?  Maybe that's why he made her his hag?

The great Glenneth Greenwald has spoken -- or at least hissed -- Elizabeth Warren is a fool.  The thing about Glenneth and other foolish people is that they never realize they're foolish.  What prompted his fit?  The senator Tweeted the following:




Elizabeth Warren
@SenWarren
·
Feb 24
In the 1990s, America had 51 major contractors bidding for defense work. Today, there are only five massive companies remaining. Defense contracting should be reworked to break up the massive contracts awarded to the big guys and create opportunities for firms of all sizes.


Glenneth reTweeted a mocking of her and then added this:


Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
Replying to
@JordanUhl
Most Elizabeth Warren tweet ever.
5:20 PM · Feb 24, 2023
·
12.8K
Views



In the mocking thread they go on and on about weapons.

Is Elizabeth really the fool or are they?

Now we actually pay attention to Iraq so I'm fully aware that defense contractors do much more than just defense.  They're hired by the Defense Dept so they're contractors for the Defense Dept.  But they may be doing something as basic as cleaning, they be part of a construction project, they can do any number of things.  The Government Accountability Office has noted that service acquisitions account for a big portion of the budget and has stressed that oversight is greatly needed.  

Was Elizabeth the fool or was the fool all the people who were so stupid -- including Glenneth -- that they didn't realize how the defense contractors work?


Excelsior University notes:

The use of defense contractors stretches back to the American Revolution. During that war, the Continental Army was inexperienced and ill-equipped, so contractors provided food, clothing, horses, wagons, weapons, and even scouting services. Today, the Department of Defense still requires the help of defense contractors for the U.S. military.

A defense contractor is a business organization or individual who provides products or services to a government’s military or intelligence department. These products and services can include technical support, training, weaponry, aircrafts, vehicles, communications support, logistics, and electrical systems.







Defense contractors often play a major role overseas, where they provide deployed troops with services such as language interpretation, perimeter security, weapon systems maintenance, and supervision of other contractors. During past US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, they have often made up 50% or more of the entire DOD presence, including military personnel.



If it's all too confusing for you -- and if you're a fan of Glenneth, it probably is -- you can refer to this primer from the US Defense Dept on their contractors.  We'll note this since it's about Iraq:


In Iraq, armed and unarmed security contractors have been employed to provide services such as protecting fixed locations; guarding traveling convoys; providing security escorts; and training police and military personnel. The number of security contractor employees working for DOD in Iraq and Syria has fluctuated significantly over time, depending on various factors. As of the fourth quarter of FY2022, DOD reported 941 security contractor personnel in Iraq and Syria, none of whom were identified as armed security contractors. 


Glenneth truly is an idiot.

Glenn Greenwald
@ggreenwald
Replying to
@JordanUhl
Only thing missing was this diversity angle but, with a tweet that perfect, who can complain?




That wacky Glenneth taking time out from giving Marjorie Taylor Greene a dry hump to provide laughs on Twitter.  As for the diversity angle -- it's built into contracts with contractors.  Does it hurt when you're that stupid, Glenneth?

And, for the record, the Tweet fits in perfectly with other Tweets the senator's been offering:


Elizabeth Warren
@SenWarren
A study by
@BostonFed
found that corporations in the most concentrated sectors have been the most successful at expanding their profit margins on the backs of consumers. This is exactly why we need to enforce antitrust laws and increase market competition.
8:51 AM · Feb 27, 2023
·
112.4K
Views



Or are those concepts beyond your limited vision and, sadly, even more limited knowledge base?

Maybe Glenneth could get off Twitter for 24 hours and work on composing an apology to the Iraqi people for promoting the Iraq War that destroyed their country and killed over a million people?  

 





The following sites updated:




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