How did Mary Pickford make Hollywood?
One way was by becoming one of the country's earliest stars. She was born in 1892 in Canada. To make money, she and her siblings began performing in plays. Mary was the most talented one and she ended up on Broadway and part of a respected theater group but her mother talked her into doing some movies (then filmed in New York) by talking about how it would help the family with expenses. Like most theater actors of that time, she looked down on movies.
At Biograph, she worked with DW Griffith and fought with him because he was manipulative. (She and Lillian Gish were friends before they ever made a movie. Among the things he tried to do was pit them against one another and Mary told him off, "I don't care for the way you direct me. I never have. If you were a real director you wouldn't have to try to turn me against Lillian to get a good scene. Why don't you think of a more honest way of directing me?"
He responded by physically attacking her. And Mary responded by walking out on Biograph Films. She ended up with Adolph Zukor's Famous Players films and make three hits right out of the gate: "In the Bishop's Carriage," "Caprice" and "Hearts Adrift" -- from 1913 to 1914. And Mary Pickford was now a star.
Then came "Tess of the Storm Country" which made her a star around the world. She was a hit in this film twice. First in 1914 and later in 1922. I'll come back to that. Other big films followed like "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and "The Poor Little Rich Girl" and "Daddy-Long-Legs." She was a pioneering silent film actress as well as a popular one and they both go to the fact that she acted naturally.
The book explains how acting was a series of poses that actors were trained to do, grab the heart, etc. And the good actors executed the poses. But Mary's mother, from the moment Mary went onstage, would tell her that she had to be believable. And she'd tell Mary when she didn't believe her on stage. So Mary developed as an actress who tried to act naturally which was completely against the 19th century acting style but quickly became the style of the new century.
And she became more than a pioneering actress. She wanted creative control and couldn't get it with Zukor so she went with First National Pictures for two years before co-founding United Artists. She, her husband Douglas Fairbanks, silent genius Charlie Chaplin and her former director DW Griffith were United Artists. And she was even more successful with "Pollyanna" in 1920 making over a million. She married Douglas Fairbanks in 1920 and the two were swarmed in England where they went for their honeymoon.
"Suds" would become a classic (from this period) and "Little Lord Fauntleroy" would be a huge hit at the box office. It was during this period that she re-made her successful "Tess of the Storm Country."
If the film was going to make money, she wanted it to be for her company. She brought Ernst Lubitsch to Hollywood films (he directed her hit film "Rosita" and she had to explain that it was her money, her production company and she was the lead in the film and she was the film's producer, so, yes, she was getting the ending in the script he had signed to direct whether he wanted that ending or not).
She started the Motion Picture Relief Fund which to this day provides care for film workers. She helped found the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (the Oscars). And she won an Oscar for Best Actress for 1929's "Coquette" -- a film with sound. She'd successfully crossed over to sound. So did her husband Douglas Fairbanks. Their marriage was falling apart but they made the successful film "The Taming of the Shrew" (also a sound picture). The next released Pickford film was "Kiki." It was not a hit. There were no more films for her though she tried for some roles and was offered others that she turned down (Norma Desmond in "Sunset Blvd" being the biggest role she turned down). She hosted a radio show (celebrity talk, the angle was it was supposed to be you the listener at Mary's table with her and her dinner guests) and wrote some columns for the "New York Journal." And then focused soley on her role as a producer at United Artists.
Her life was very interesting. And the book is as well. I strongly recommend it.
"Iraq snapshot" (The Common Ills):
Friday,
August 31, 2012. Chaos and violence continue, war resister Kimberly
Rivera appeals publicly to remain in Canada, Barack lies that the war is
over, the US press whores whatever's left of their name to lie for him,
the Telegraph of London (however) reports that British and US forces
have killed over 3,000 Iraqis in the last two years alone (no, the war
hasn't ended), Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani calls for the security
forces to stop the increase in assassinations across Iraq, the UN and
Human Rights Watch call out the executions the Iraqi government is
carrying out, Jill Stein focuses on real issues in her campaign for the
presidency, and more.
"My
biggest fear is being separated from my children and having to -- having
to sit in a prison for politically being against the war in Iraq,"
declared Kimberly Rivera in Canada this afternoon. Yesterday,
Kim Rivera was informed that the Canadian government planned to deport
her by September 20th. Today, Kim took part in a press conference with War Resisters Support Campaign's Michelle Robidoux. Here's a transcript of the video the Toronoto Star has posted.
Michelle
Robidoux: We are calling on the government not to deport this family.
We think it's unfortunate that this government and, in particular, the
Minister of Immigration [Jason Kenney] has seen fit to intervene in a
process that should that should be fair and impartial by putting forward
Operation Bulletin 202 which directs immigration officers to red flag
the cases of US soldiers like Kim Rivera who are applying for status in
this country and to label them criminally inadmissable.
Kim
Rivera: If you want to know my biggest fear is being separated from my
children and having to -- having to sit in a prison for politically
being against the war in Iraq which I had experience in. Without that
experience, I know that I would not have come to the decision I had made
to leave and also be here in Canada for people to know that experience
which I had spoken many of. So the only thing that I guess I can really
ask is that all of my legal applications that I applied be considered
and my agency application also get a decision. That's pretty much all I
have.
Michelle
Robidoux: It's a matter of public record that Canada did not
participate in the Iraq War, that two motions were passed in Parliament
calling on the government to allow war resisters to stay in Canada and
that also there have been a number of federal court and federal court of
appeal decisions which are upholding the arguments that war resisters
have made that they face differential punishment if they're returned to
the United States, that they are punished more harshly for having spoken
up against the war.
Kim
took a great personal risk and did so for what she believed in. Once
in Canada, she spoke out when the issue needed her. She didn't try to
turn herself into a celebrity. If you ever read her blog on Liveblog (I
can't find it there anymore), you know she was focused on her family
and on her kids and she was trying to teach them ethics and how to lead a
solid life.
Kim's someone I would be friends with. She's someone I would make a point to go up and hug when I saw her in church on Sundays. She's a regular person like you or me and that came out in her blog where, like me, she'd write about food or about her kids.
And now this woman who was so glad and so grateful to be in Canada and so wanting to become a Canadian citizen may be forced out of the country.
Kim is not a person who tried to grab the spotlight. She's just a mother who couldn't live with returning to what she saw in Iraq, couldn't live with herself if she returned. And she also had to make sure that whatever did happen, it kept her family together. Canada was the best possible answer and I just can't believe that Canada's going to force her to leave.
Kim's someone I would be friends with. She's someone I would make a point to go up and hug when I saw her in church on Sundays. She's a regular person like you or me and that came out in her blog where, like me, she'd write about food or about her kids.
And now this woman who was so glad and so grateful to be in Canada and so wanting to become a Canadian citizen may be forced out of the country.
Kim is not a person who tried to grab the spotlight. She's just a mother who couldn't live with returning to what she saw in Iraq, couldn't live with herself if she returned. And she also had to make sure that whatever did happen, it kept her family together. Canada was the best possible answer and I just can't believe that Canada's going to force her to leave.
Casey Irvin (Torontoist) explains,
"While on leave in 2007, Rivera came to Canada to avoid a second tour
of duty in Iraq, a war with which she had become disillusioned. Rivera
lives here with her husband and their four children (the two youngest
were born in Canada). The family and their lawyers are looking into
their options, but Rivera probably faces jail time if she goes back. " Jeanette Torres (ABC News Radio) notes
that "Robin Long and Clifford Cornell, two American war resisters
deported to the U.S., wound up facing year-long jail sentences because
they refused deployment to Iraq." Patty Winsa (Toronoto Star) reports:
On
Friday, the quiet Texan spoke out for the first time after learning
this week from the Canada Border Services Agency that she had been given
a negative pre-removal risk assessment and must leave the country by
Sept. 20.
"I'm just a bit overwhelmed. I
don't want to face reality. I respect Canada's law. I'm going to take it
one step at a time so I don't have a meltdown," said Rivera, who was
surrounded by supporters and peace activists. "But it's is very
difficult."
Rivera said quietly that she
hoped her application for permanent residency status on humanitarian and
compassionate grounds, which she made in 2009, would still be
considered.
Charmaine Noronha (AP) adds
that Kim "stepped away during a press conference Friday when she became
visibly upset" and quotes Kim's attorney Alyssa Manning stating, "The 6
percent of (war) deserters who are punished through incarceration
include service personnel who have been publicly outspoken about their
criticisms of the Iraq war while AWOL. The government has failed to
assess that risk that Kim faces and that needs to be considered." Alexandra Posadzki (Canadian Press) continues,
"Manning said federal officials failed to consider the fact that Rivera
has been outspoken about her opposition to the Iraq war when they
evaluated her assessment."
Kim and the man now trying to force her out of Canada, Minister Kenney, have met. Here's a trasncript of the video.
Minister Kenney at the University of Toronto
March 18, 2009
Michelle Robidoux: Hello my name is Michelle Robidoux. This is Kim Rivera.
Kim Rivera: (Shaking his hand) Hi.
Jason Kenney: Hello.
Michelle Robidoux: We're just absolutely desperate and we're just sort of pleading with you. If there's anything you can do to stop the petition. The family has been here for almost two years.
Jason Kenney: Okay.
Michelle
Robidoux: She's an Iraq War resister who has refused to fight in Iraq,
who has refused to continue to fight in Iraq. And we know that you
have the ability to do something to hopefully help this family in
distress. They are in considerable distress. We know there's an arrest
warrant for her for deporation. She will be arrested when she crosses
the border when she's forced out next week. So we're just asking for
your intervention. Some compassion for this family --
Pleae call Peter Van Loan, Minister of Public Safety: 1-877-738-3748 or 613-996-7752.
Jason
Kenney: Okay. Well, actually, it's-it's the Minister of Public Safety
that deals with removals, not me. If you want to send me the
particulars on the case . . .
Michelle
Robidoux: Absolutely. But the -- the humanitarian situation she's in,
she did apply for humanitarian compassionate consideration and we're
just desperate trying to --
Jason
Kenney: Okay. I'm sorry ma'am because I'm not aware of your particular
case because we receive thousands of applications for agency and
they're generally dealt with by department officials but --
Michelle Robidoux: She faces deporation next Wednesday.
Jason
Kenney: But if you send me the particulars, I will have my office look
into it. I'm afraid I'm late for my next thing. Thank you.
The War Resisters Support Campaign notes:
Canada's
Parliament has adopted two motions calling on the federal government to
allow war resisters to stay in Canada. But Minister of Citizenship and
Immigration Jason Kenney has publicly labelled Iraq War resisters as
"bogus refugee claimants". In July 2010, he issued a bulletin to all
Immigration Officers requiring them to red-flag applications that
involve US war resisters, labeling them as 'criminally inadmissible'.
Amnesty
International Canada and former Immigration and Refugee Board Chair
Peter Showler have called for Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
Operational Bulletin 202 to be rescinded because it "fails to recognize
that military desertion for reasons of conscience is in fact clearly
recognized as a legitimate ground for refugee protection" and it
"misstates the law and seeks to intrude on the independence of both IRB
members and Immigration Officers."
He
told them it wasn't his department in March of 2009. Then he issued
orders in 2010 and now he's trying to force Kim out of Canada. Is it
his department or not? Is any grown up in the Canadian government or is
Kenney just allowed to make up whatever rules he wants?
An upcoming event, next week, in Toronto is planned:
Please attend an emergency community meeting to support U.S. war resister Kimberly Rivera and her family!
WHEN: Wednesday, September 5, 7:00 PM
WHERE: Parkdale United Church, 171 Dunn Avenue, Toronto
WHY: STOP THE DEPORTATIONS!
When Kimberly Rivera saw with her own eyes the devastation of war, and the trauma it inflicts on children and families, she followed her conscience and refused to go back. Instead, she and her husband and their (then) two children came to Canada.
Since that day in 2007, the Riveras have been fighting to live their lives in peace. But despite the widespread support of the Canadian people for U.S. war resisters, and despite two votes in Parliament calling on the government to let war resisters stay, the Harper Government continues to target war resisters for deportation.
Kim and her family - which now includes two children born in Canada - now face deportation on September 20. In the U.S., Kim faces court martial, jail time, and a felony conviction that will follow her for life. All for the "crime" of refusing to participate in the invasion, destruction, and occupation of Iraq.
Kim stood up for peace at great risk to herself. Now we must stand up for Kim, and for other war resisters who face the same struggle. Please join the War Resisters Support Campaign for an emergency community meeting to support the Riveras, and to call on Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to stop the deportation.
Please share this information with your friends and neighbours. We hope to see you there!
In peace and solidarity, the War Resisters Support Campaign
WHEN: Wednesday, September 5, 7:00 PM
WHERE: Parkdale United Church, 171 Dunn Avenue, Toronto
WHY: STOP THE DEPORTATIONS!
When Kimberly Rivera saw with her own eyes the devastation of war, and the trauma it inflicts on children and families, she followed her conscience and refused to go back. Instead, she and her husband and their (then) two children came to Canada.
Since that day in 2007, the Riveras have been fighting to live their lives in peace. But despite the widespread support of the Canadian people for U.S. war resisters, and despite two votes in Parliament calling on the government to let war resisters stay, the Harper Government continues to target war resisters for deportation.
Kim and her family - which now includes two children born in Canada - now face deportation on September 20. In the U.S., Kim faces court martial, jail time, and a felony conviction that will follow her for life. All for the "crime" of refusing to participate in the invasion, destruction, and occupation of Iraq.
Kim stood up for peace at great risk to herself. Now we must stand up for Kim, and for other war resisters who face the same struggle. Please join the War Resisters Support Campaign for an emergency community meeting to support the Riveras, and to call on Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to stop the deportation.
Please share this information with your friends and neighbours. We hope to see you there!
In peace and solidarity, the War Resisters Support Campaign
While
Kim fights for her family, US President Barack Obama fights for
re-election. If only Kim Rivera had a pack of Devin Dwyer's to lie and
whore for her. ABC News' Devy, still so excited about sprouting pubes, can't be bothered with things like reporting.
When not rubbing his fingers in the tangle of his new downy growth and
then sniffing his fingers, Devy assumes reporting is transcribing what
Barack said and transcribing what Barack's "top aides" told him.
There's no attempt at facts, there's not an even attempt to get a
response from any of the other presidential campaigns. No, Devy, a
response the Romney campaign gave on Wednesday is not what members of
the press do when printing new attacks made on Friday. Less fingers on
yourself, more attention on your job.
Devy
quotes Barack stating, "I told the American people that all our troops
would be out of Iraq by the end of" and Devy adds" [2011]." Don't
general studies majors learn math?
You'd think
since Devy's always got his fingers next to his nose, he could also use
them to count. Barack promised -- in those tent revivals that gave the
Cult of St. Barack such tingles -- that all troops would be out of Iraq
sixteen months after he was sworn in. He was sworn in January 2009.
How many months does Devy think is in a year? It's 12, Devy, twelve.
So what he promised was 2010. By the first fourth of 2010. Not the end
of 2011.
What you did was not
reporting, Little Devy, and sorry to drop this in the midst of your
horny frenzy, but ALL the US service members have not returned home nor
are they all out of Iraq. Earlier this month, when US General Martin Dempsey, Chair of the Joint-Chiefs of Staff, visited Iraq, RTT reported,
"More than 225 U.S. troops, seven Defense Department civilians, 530
security assistance team members and more than 4,000 contracted
personnel are currently in the office at the Iraqi government's
invitation."
225 still in Iraq. Over 15,000
moved into nearby Kuwait -- and the Senate Foreign Relations Democratic
half issued a report stating those troops needed to stay for several
more years to ensure that Iraq is 'stable' -- in fairness, the report
[PDF format warning] "The Gulf Security Architecture: Partnership With The Gulf Co-Operation Council" did advocate dropping the number down to 13,000. (Refer to the June 19th snapshot.)
is
it really that hard for Devin Dwyer to stop self-pleasuring and start
reporting? Devy quotes White House spokesperson Jay Carney declaring his
"surprise" that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney did not includ
"the 70,000 men and women who are serving in Afghanistan" in his
acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention yesterday.
I'm
more shocked that a sitting president stood in front of service members
today and lied that all US troops were out of Iraq. I'm also appalled
that this fact is vanished from the press.
Kathleen Hennessey (Los Angeles Times) at least offers
some perspective, "Two years ago, as he declared the end to a long and
divisive war, President Obama promised troops he would not be taking a
'victory lap.' On Friday, the president allowed himself something of a
brief victory dance." But perspective would also include that after
Barack gave his August 31, 2010 speech, when the Iraq War 'combat
operations' 'ended' and it was rechristened Operation New Dawn ("now he's soaking in it," as Isaiah noted), 66 American service members died in Iraq, 38 of whom even the Pentagon classifies as dead from hostilities.
Those
deaths are perspective as well and how very sad and telling about the
whore class trying to pass itself off as a press corps that they don't
have the decency or common sense to even acknowledge those deaths.
The
Iraq War has not ended. But when you keep head in the sand (and Devin
keeps his hand in his pants), you may miss that. Remember this from Monday's snapshot: "Dar Addustour reports 5 British citizens were arrested in Baghdad yesterday -- they did not have passports or i.d. on them."
Golly gee, why would any British people be in Iraq? The war 'ended,' right?
Sean Rayment (Telegraph of London) reported last night:
More
than 3,500 insurgents have been "taken off the streets of Baghdad" by
the elite British force in a series of audacious "Black Ops" over the
past two years.
It
is understood that while the majority of the terrorists were captured,
several hundred, who were mainly members of the organisation known as
"al-Qa'eda in Iraq" have been killed by the SAS.
The
SAS is part of a highly secretive unit called "Task Force Black" which
also includes Delta Force, the US equivalent of the SAS.
Wow. The war's 'over' but Iraqis are being killed by Brits and by the US Delta Force. Killed and captured.
In
'sovereign' Iraq this takes place. The war's not over and only a
dishonest whore would ever claim otherwise. Barack has ended nothing.
David Swanson went into the belly of the beast, a Barack rally, to call out the continued War Crimes and assaults on liberty. David Swanson (War Is A Crime) reports:
Three
of us went into the event. I had tickets, which were free and which the
campaign could barely give away, while back in 2007 Obama had sold out
the same venue. We didn't go in so as to spend hours in the hot sun just
to hear an Obama speech like the one he'd given the day before in
another town which we could have watched on Youtube. Thousands of people
did that. We went in to disturb the war.
We
wanted to shout. But what could we shout? We were only three. We were
not near the front. (I recommend taking 10 to the front of one of these
events if you can. You'll own the place.) We would have to be loud and
clear. We couldn't mention the kill list which would be like mentioning
UFOs to these people. We couldn't mention Social Security because they
pretend Obama's not threatening it. We couldn't mention peace because
people would think it was a pro-Obama chant. We decided to say this: Get
out of Afghanistan! End the sanctions on Iran!
Here's how the Washington Post's blog reported on that:
"Protesters drown out Obama"Posted by Amy Gardner on August 29, 2012 at 3:58 pm
"CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — An outdoor political rally erupted into a moment of chaos as protesters drowned out President Obama's speech at a downtown amphitheater here — and then the rest of the crowd drowned out the protesters. It was unclear what the protesters were saying, but several members of the crowd said a few minutes later that they heard 'Get out of Afghanistan!' The shouts prompted a flurry of Secret Service activity, and they also prompted an enthusiastic crowd of more than 7,000 to shut down the protesters with two cacophonous chants: 'Four more years!' and 'O-ba-ma!' Obama couldn't continue for a long moment, but when the noise finally died down, he said: 'I couldn't hear what those young people had to say, but that's good that they got involved.' To the rest of the crowd, he said: 'Don't just chant! Vote!'"
Obama
was pretending the crowd was all young people. He'd tried to speak at
the University of Virginia which had turned him down, but he gave his
speech as if he were there. The crowd didn't shout us down till we'd run
out of breath. They were not nearly as fast as Republicans are with
their "U-S-A! U-S-A!" In fact, they seemed tremendously proud of
themselves when they managed to discover that they could yell "O-BA-MA!
O-BA-MA!" Voting, in the pretense of those in power, constitutes more
activism than chanting or any other activity. Don't just hold teach-ins,
vote! Don't just occupy the square, vote! Don't just risk your life to
expose injustice, vote! If Bradley Manning had just voted, that would
have been the last full measure of devotion.
As
to the flurry of Secret Service activity, an Obama campaign guy started
standing next to us, and a mean possibly drunk guy started shoving and
threatening us. After various additional disruptions of the war (not the
peace) by us, the Obama guy called the local police over who asked us
to leave, and asked for our names, etc., to tell them to the Secret
Service. The police had earlier refused numerous requests by the Obama
staff and volunteers to evict our poster demonstration. The police had
mentioned freedom of speech. The local media, as well as the police,
were surprisingly decent. The Obama campaigners, on the other hand,
would have exiled us all to Gitmo if they'd been able, and if they
weren't suffering under the misconception that it's been closed.
WMC Live with Robin Morgan
is the new radio talk show that airs live on DC's WPWS (1480 AM) on
Sundays from three to four p.m. -- and streams live online -- audio and video.
Sunday
is the second show and her guests will include US House Rep "Eleanor
Holmes Norton on the election, Jodie Evans (CODEPINK) from the
conventions; El Diario's Erica Gonzalez on Latina politics; author Ariel
Levy on books and vaginas." If you missed the first episode of the
radio show from the Women's Media Center, you can stream it at the link
and, because WMC understands the need for being inclusive, the
transcript is here.
Realizing that a stream doesn't reach every computer user -- due to
platform or connection issues or due to hearing issues -- WMC plans to
transcribe each broadcast -- which will also allow for a very strong
archive.
Who listened live on
Sunday? As Robin noted at the top of her broadcast, "And a special
welcome to the international family online from (that I know of) Brazil,
Egypt, Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, the Philippines, South Africa,
Spain, the United Kingdom, and the pioneering feminists in Kurdistan."
In the KRG, women have achieved a lot in the last few years by fighting for what is needed. As Human Rights Watch noted earlier this week, there are still things to be done:
The
practice of female genital mutilation continues in the Kurdistan region
of Iraq a year after a landmark law banning it went into effect because
the Kurdistan Regional Government has not taken steps to implement the
law. The Family Violence Law, which went into effect on August 11, 2011,
includes several provisions to eradicate female genital mutilation
(FGM), recognized internationally as a form of violence against women.
The
regional government has begun to run awareness campaigns, train judges,
and issue orders to police on the articles of the law dealing with
domestic violence. But it apparently has not taken similar steps to
implement the FGM ban, Human Rights Watch found. Between late May and
mid-August, 2012, Human Rights Watch spoke with over 60 villagers,
policemen, government officials, lawyers, and human rights workers in
the districts of Chamachamal, Choman, Erbil, Penjwin, Pishdar, Rania,
Soran, Shaqlawa, and Sulaimaniya about the problem.
"The KRG parliament took a huge step forward when it passed the Family Violence Law," said Joe Stork,
deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Authorities now
need to begin the difficult process of putting a comprehensive plan in
place to implement the law, including informing the public, police, and
health professionals about the ban on FGM."
In June 2010, Human Rights Watch issued an 81-page report, "They Took Me and Told Me Nothing: Female Genital Mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan,"
which urged the Kurdistan Regional Government, parliament, civil
society, and donors to take steps to end the practice. The report
described the experiences of young girls and women who undergo FGM and
the terrible toll it takes on their physical and mental health. The KRG
parliament passed the Family Violence Law in June 2011.
In
the recent interviews, Human Rights Watch spoke with more than 20
villagers who had daughters in the age range when FGM is traditionally
performed – between ages 4 and 12. Some said they were no longer
intending to have the procedure performed on their daughters, as a
result of awareness campaigns conducted by representatives of
nongovernmental organizations who had visited their villages, but a few
said they planned to have the procedure done. None had seen any action
or awareness efforts by the government.
"Okay,
so there's a law now, so people don't talk about it as much now, but if
people in my village or another village want to have it done to their
girls, they can easily still do it secretly," said a woman from Rania.
This week, Iraq has executed at least 26 people. Today Human Rights Watch noted:
Human Rights Watch has previously documented the prevalence of unfair trials and torture in detention, particularly in national security and terrorism-related cases.
"There
is no doubt that Iraq still has a serious terrorism problem, but it
also has a huge problem with torture and unfair trials," said Joe Stork,
deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "The lack of
transparency around these convictions and executions, in a country where
confessions that may have been coerced are often the only evidence
against a person, makes it crucial for Iraq to declare an immediate
moratorium on all executions."
Human Rights
Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because it is
unique in its cruelty and finality, and is plagued with arbitrariness,
prejudice, and error.
Iraqi authorities rarely announce executions beforehandand have not made public the total number of executions in a given year, Human Rights Watch said.
An
August 30 statement released by Iraq's parliament said that members of
the Human Rights Committee had met on the previous day to discuss "a
mechanism for slowing down executions." Members told Iraqi media that
they had contacted Justice Minister Hassan al-Shimmari to inquire about
concerns expressed this week by politicians and nongovernmental
organizations that executions of about 200 prisoners now on death-row
were being accelerated in anticipation of the passage of an amnesty law
currently before parliament. Al-Shimmari denied these claims.
On
August 29, Human Rights Watch spoke with two Justice Ministry officials
as well as a guard in a prison run by the ministry and an inmate
currently in another facility. All said that hundreds of inmates had
begun hunger strikes on August 28 in Baghdad's Taji and Rusafa prisons
to protest the recent executions and concern about the alleged plan to
accelerate other executions. According to the inmate, guards had told
prisoners about such a plan in the days preceding the latest executions.
Human Rights Watch could not confirm the existence of such a plan.
Carol J. Williams (Los Angeles Times) notes, "Iraq has long featured in the dubious ranks of the Top Five countries
carrying out the most executions each year. In 2011, China led
Amnesty's list with executions estimated at more than 1,000, but it also
eliminated the death penalty for 13 crimes that previously could draw
the ultimate punishment. Iran acknowledged executing at least 360
people, followed by Saudi Arabia with 82 reported executions, Iraq with
68 and the United States 43." The UN News Centre adds:
The
United Nations agency tasked with defending human rights voiced renewed
concern today over the sudden spate of executions in countries around
the world following the recent use of capital punishment in Gambia,
Iraq, and South Sudan.
"We urge all
States, who have not yet done so, to introduce – or reintroduce – an
official moratorium on the use of the death penalty aiming to abolish
it," Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), declared in a briefing to the press in Geneva.
Violence continued today in Iraq. Alsumaria reports that there was an armed Baghdad attack in which 1 person was shot dead and one person was kidnapped in Kirkuk (the police managed to rescue the victim after seven hours). All Iraq News notes an assassination attempt on a cleric in Baghdad -- the cleric survived, the driver was shot dead and one person was shot dead outside a Baghdad mosque. Kitabat notes
that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called in his sermon today for the
security forces to stop the escalating assassinations taking place in
Iraq.
In terms of the US presidential election, we're interested in the two presidential campaigns made up of four women. The four: Jill Stein has the Green Party's presidential nomination and her running mate is Cheri Honkala and Roseanne Barr has the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party and her running mate is Cindy Sheehan. Click
here to sign a petition calling on Ms. magazine and Women's Media
Center to cover her campaign and the other female candidate for
president Roseanne Barr's campaign. Over 250 people have
signed onto the petition so far. Some sign and leave comments and we
noted some of the comments in Sunday's "Women Win When Women Run: The conversation Roseanne and Jill are inspiring"
at Third -- and "women win when women run" is a theme that repeats in
the comments with several people signing noting that theme or expanding
on it.
While Jill Stein continues to focus on
issues, Roseanne's campaign can't find any. Part of coverage is
analysis and the analysis I'm offering for Roseanne's campaign right now
is not positive.
Roseanne's on a one-woman
public hatred tour. I'm deeply disappointed in a number of people
including one friend who was going to get a rave review for her new show
from Ava and I but now we're on the fence about whether or not we're
even going to cover it. You do not accuse people of wanting to kill
other people, Ellen Barkin. That is disgusting and it is appalling.
And you're ensuring that your career in TV will be as dead as your film
carreer was when the 90s started. Somewhere, somehow, you and a bunch
of other actors forgot the first rule: To have a career, you need an
audience. It's fine and dandy to take a polticial stand for something.
It's antoher thing to pour on hate and distortions. Clint Eastwood,
who I know and do not care for, does not want to kill anyone, certainly
not a politician. Ellen Barkin crossed a line.
(And
Clint gave a great speech. I would have preferred not to have seen it
but I said "Hold on" and stopped dictating to go and stream it since I
was stating that Clint would not threaten to kill anyone. Clint gave a
great speech. He stumbled once that might not have been intentional.
But the speech was great. He wasn't dottering and only the dumb and
foolish would say that. What Clint did was steal a page from Jane Fonda.
Something we all should do. She is the most effective speaker and one
of her standard tricks is to start off nervous, hesitant and, as she
speaks, grow more sure in her delivery. That allows the audience to
witness a transformation and have it be due to beliefs. In other words,
the effective speech sells the beliefs as strength. Clint didn't do as
well as Jane -- again, she's the best speaker alive. But he's
obviously borrowed a page for her book and, yes, his speech was
effective. You can stream it at the Washington Post.) (And on Jane, this week she's blogged about her latest film role.)
Roseanne
is doing the same as well. And NBC's not backing her new show.
They're making that decision right now. NBC won't back it, none of the
networks will. Because she's going beyond political into hateful. To
have a career in the performing arts, you're going to need an audience.
When you go around trashing people, making up disgusting claims about
your peer group (as Ellen did to Clint), you destroy everything. I'm
all for taking stands, I'm all for calling out and I can be bitchier
than anyone but when you accuse someone of wanting to kill, you've
crossed a line and what's really sad is you are so far gone into a world
of hatred that you can't even see that. And if you are trying to help
Barack Obama, you're hatred Tweeted is of no help to him. It saddles
him down with an ugly hatred that his campaign is not engaging in. You
desire to pollute the world with hate is harming you, harming your
career and harming Barack's chances at re-election. You really need to
rethink your actions.
And the hatred of women needs to stop right damn now. This is inexcusable:
I'd totes dip a pinky or two in Paul Ryan's wife's bleached asshole (she obvs bleaches her asshole). #RNC—
Jason Biggs (@JasonBiggs) August 30, 2012
As is this:
Those
are only two of the Tweets that are unacceptable. They do not help
Barack Obama. They do not help anyone. They are why the basic cable
network is now considering dropping Jason Biggs. His film career is
over. As a sitcom star, he struck out. (Though he wasn't the problem
in that sitcom and was actually funny and appealing.) Now all he has is
voice work. When you are on thin ice, Jason, you do not jump and
down. Those statements were repugnant and offensive. That you can't
grasp that says there is something seriously wrong with you. Maybe it's
temporary and you need to get out in the world. Maybe it's something
more serious and you need therapy. But there is no excuse for what you
have Tweeted -- and it's more than just those two Tweets. You need to
stop and you need to stop now. Not only does it hurt Barack, your hero,
but Barack will be called upon to apologize for your actions. He may
or may not take that step to distance himself. But you are distracting
from the campaign. If for no other reason, that should cause you to
cease and desist. But, repeating, your comments are offensive and they
are sexist. There is not an excuse for them. They need to stop.
Roseanne
needs to find her way back to focusing on issues. If she can't, she's
accomplishing nothing and hurting the Peace and Freedom Party. She said
she was running to raise issues. So, Roseanne, when is your big mouth
going to be used to tackle an issue other than smoking pot? Is that all
you have? If that is all you have, the Peace and Freedom Party will
distance itself from you -- there were already efforts underway to make
that happen. How would it feel to be the first presidential candidate
whose own party publicly rebukes them?
I noted
months ago here that I would not vote for Roseanne because she's
governed by fear. I know Roseanne and I like her as a person and as an
artist. But I don't back putting fear into the White House or our
election cycles. I could end up voting for Jill Stein who continues to
run a campaign based on issues. (At this point, my plan is still not to
vote for that office.)
Jill Stein took her campaign to Maine. Deidre Fulton (Portland Phoenix) reports:
After
her public speech, I asked her what it's been like trying to convince
people that we're at a tipping point in terms of breaking the endless
(and fruitless) back-and-forth between the two establishment political
parties. She likened her experience to being a "political therapist,
helping people get out of an abusive political relationship." There will
always be excuses as to why people should continue voting for status
quo candidates, why they should stay within the confines of a system
that isn't helping them, and in fact may be hurting them.
"The politics of fear has delivered all the things we were afraid of" Stein said.
What's that adage about being insane? Doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result every time?
Perhaps its time to try something new, before we all lose our minds.
During
a series of campaign stops in Maine, Stein gave the keynote address
during a Green Party rally in Monument Square. Local Green Party
candidates for the state legislature and school board.Stein
said it's time to take back people's jobs, their health care and their
educations. She said people want to take back their democracy."It needs fixing at every level," she said. "It won't get fixed ... unless it's challenged."Stein, who lives in Lexington, Mass., has a long history of activism and political involvement outside her work as a doctor.
It was during the discussion on the debt ceiling last year that Stein became more involved with the Green Party. She said both political parties made proposals to cut the debt that dismantled programs like Medicare and Medicaid and removed the social safety net.
Attached to the Stein ticket as vice president is Cheri Honkala -- a renowned anti-poverty activist based in Philadelphia.
It was during the discussion on the debt ceiling last year that Stein became more involved with the Green Party. She said both political parties made proposals to cut the debt that dismantled programs like Medicare and Medicaid and removed the social safety net.
Attached to the Stein ticket as vice president is Cheri Honkala -- a renowned anti-poverty activist based in Philadelphia.
While
Roseanne continues to wallow in hatred, Jill's talking about issues
including how her own outlook was transformed and about ballot access. Scott Bernarde (Patch) speaks with Dr. Stein and reports:
As
a mother of young kids and a doctor in a clinic, she saw the epidemic
of chronic diseases descend on this generation's children.
"It took becoming a mother to feel the incredible vulnerability of our future, and to take it personally," said Stein.
Diabetes, obesity, ADHD and others were among her biggest concern. Some even hit close to home.
"To
learn that we have effectively poisoned our own nest," she said, "not
only the air, but the food that we're eating, and that it has
fundamentally contaminated the womb, drives home the imperative to
protect it all."
It
was that realization that became the catalyst for her political career.
While she is on target to be on 45 separate state ballots, she recently
learned that she will not appear on the Georgia ballot. Georgia has "the
most antidemocratic ballot in the country," according to Stein.
Instead, she is encouraging a grassroots write-in campaign.
While Roseanne spews hatred and loses focus and wastes time, Jill's campaign is focused on reality. Craig Lyons (Portland Daily Sun) reports:
Green
Party presidential candidate Jill Stein said she recognizes that it's
unlikely that a third party can take the White House but at least
another presence in the election can turn attention to the voters who
are fed up with the current policies of the two major parties.
"We're
in at a unique breaking point moment right now," said Stein, during an
interview with the Daily Sun. "People are ready to turn that breaking
point into a tipping point."
Jill
Stein has to work for coverage and is getting it. Roseanne's a
household name and the press has a natural interest in her as such but
the only press she's getting is about how hateful she's being. It's not
highlighting any issues, it's not helping anyone -- including
Roseanne. November's not that far away, has she already tossed in the
towel and lost interest in her own campaign? Those are tough words.
I'd really prefer not to have to write them. But I don't whore for
anyone. And Roseanne needs to get her act together. (Cindy Sheehan is
not top of the ticket. She is the running mate. But, yes, Cindy is
focusing on issues. Roseanne is the distraction. The plan for today
was actually to highlight the Roseanne-Cindy ticket with an interview
Cindy did but Roseanne's appalling behavior is the story of the day for
the Roseanne-Cindy ticket. And it will remain the story of the day
until she stops this nonsense and starts talking about issues.)
