Tuesday, February 09, 2021

Mary Wilson

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Lazy Dog Joe"


young pete



Mary Wilson passed away.  She was part of the Primettes which became the Supremes.  They were a foursome that whittled down to a threesome -- Mary, Florence Ballard and Diana Ross.  They became one of the biggest groups of the rock era.


They had 12 number one hits.  Mary didn't sing on a lot of them.  When she did sing, it was frequently just "oohs" and that sort of back up.  Every now and then, Mary and Flo provided what could be called call and response but mainly it was just back up and the vocals were so insignificant that they could be -- and later were -- done by anonymous back up singers without anyone the wiser.


Mary wanted to be a star and wanted to lead the group but she lacked the talent and the drive.


When Diana went solo, it would have made sense for Mary to become the front person.  Instead, a variety of women led the group while Mary remained in the background.


She had a lot of bitterness about how things worked out which was too bad because she really did have an easy ride -- getting paid for hit songs like "Love Child" and "Someday We'll Be Together" even though she didn't sing a single note on those songs.


Her jealousy led her to attack Diana repeatedly.  While borrowing money from Diana, of course.  She 'wrote' some really bad books that left out key details.


The one good thing?


In the new year, she gave some interviews -- she was hoping that the Supremes might be able to tour later this year -- where she seemed to have found peace and honesty.  She spoke of Flo leaving the group and for a change didn't lie and pin it on Diana.


Flo showed up drunk to too many concerts and she was also putting on way too much weight.  It wasn't working.  And when Flo was informed at the meeting at Berry Gordy's home, Flo's mother said that Mary didn't want Flo to leave and Mary responded that Flo wanted to leave.  So let's not pretend that Mary wasn't involved in it.


In the last months, as she pushed for a reunion, she'd also finally began calling Diana "Diana" in interviews and stopped belittling her.


So maybe Mary found some peace at the end.


I hope so.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

 Tuesday, February 9, 2021.  The US government's goal of spreading austerity continues, the Pope releases his schedule for his planned visit to Iraq next month and much more.



Jessica Miles (KSTP) reports of Carin Hanson:


"Leaving the kids at home is, it’s going to be different," Hanson said.

Hanson says she didn't have children at home during her first deployment 13 years ago. 

She now has an 11-year-old, an 8-year-old and a 3-year-old.

"For my older two I think they understand as much as they can at this point (about me leaving)," she said. "I don’t think that it’s sunk in to them quite yet emotionally or mentally what that’s going to mean."


Yesterday, she is one of the over 60 members of Minnesota's National Guard who will be deploying to Iraq and Kuwait.  David Schwarz (ST. CLOUD TIMES) notes, "The troops will next travel to Fort Hood, Texas, where they will join 75 soldiers from the Iowa National Guard for two months of training before leaving for their nine-month deployment." 


They're deploying to Iraq.  Why?


It's a question that no one is ever pressed on.  The illegal war hits the 18 year mark next month.  Why?


Back in August of 2005, NPR featured Cindy Sheehan in a nonsense segment where the 'interviewer' editorialized repeatedly:


ALEX CHADWICK: [. . .]  Cindy Sheehan. She is the woman who set up a peace vigil outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Her son, Casey, an Army specialist, died in combat in Iraq last year.

In the last month, Cindy Sheehan has become the face of the anti-war movement. She's demanding that the president meet with her, though she did see him in the company of other families last year. In a Washington Post/ABC News poll that's out today, 53 percent of those polled support Ms. Sheehan's demands for this meeting; 42 percent do not. Most also say her protest has not changed their views on Iraq. I spoke with Cindy Sheehan from Crawford yesterday.

What do you think of everything that's happened over this last month? You've become the center of a lot of attention.

Ms. CINDY SHEEHAN (Fallen Soldier's Mother): I think that it has really been a good thing because it's opened up a dialogue on the war, and people are putting their money where their mouth is. We've had thousands and thousands of people come from all over the world to be here at Camp Casey, and I think a peace movement has galvanized and something big has started here in Crawford.

CHADWICK: You've attracted a lot of attention from people who don't like what you're doing as well. There are complaints that you also misrepresent military families--that is, that many...

Ms. SHEEHAN: Well, I never said I spoke for every military family. I never said I spoke for every Gold Star family. I said I speak for me and my son. But we've had a lot of military families and Gold Star families here supporting me and standing behind me. You know, I don't begrudge them their freedom of speech or their freedom of expression or their freedom to peacefully assembly. I wish they wouldn't begrudge me mine.

CHADWICK: President Bush has said that he recognizes your right to do what you're doing, to be an activist, but that to get out of Iraq now would be to create a worse situation than exists now, that this would be a real step back.

Ms. SHEEHAN: Well, his invading a country that was no threat to the United States of America was a huge step back, and I believe our military presence there fuels the insurgency, and his justification for the war now is we have to continue killing Americans and Iraqis 'cause we've already killed so many, and I think that is the most insane and immoral reason to continue a war ever.

CHADWICK: Even people who are critical of the president--very critical of the president--say that you shouldn't just get out of Iraq, that the Iraqis just aren't capable of staving off this insurgency on their own and that for a stable, healthy political and national situation to develop in Iraq, Americans have to be there longer.

Ms. SHEEHAN: I disagree. We do not need our military presence there. Like I said, it's fueling the insurgency. And for us to think that we have to help Iraq rebuild their country, that's very arrogant and racist. You know, I've had a lot of Iraqis tell me, `You know, we were doing math and engineering before your civilization was even thought of. We've handled a lot of problems. We can handle these problems.' And we caused these problems; America caused the problems they're having now.

CHADWICK: America didn't cause the situation of Saddam Hussein.

Ms. SHEEHAN: Oh, we didn't? We propped him up and sold him weapons for years. We propped him up in his war against Iran, and I have to wonder for the rest of my life if my son was killed by a weapon that America sold to Saddam. Another thing is Saddam was a bad man. But that's not why the president told us that we were invading Iraq. He told us it was because Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that Iraq had something to do with 9/11, and both of those were lies. He never said anything about Saddam. He never said that we were going to spread freedom and democracy; it's just an ever-changing ephemeral mission. And now the mission is to kill more people because so many people have already been killed.


 In 2009, karma came for Alex Chadwick and his lying ass got fired from NPR.  "Even people who are critical of the president -- very critical of the president -- say that you shouldn't just get out of Iraq . . ."?  The series he was doing was supposed to present a variety of voices but it didn't and it had Alex editorializing the whole time.  There were many of us calling for US troops out of Iraq.  And wanting it now.  At one point, that's what the Out of Iraq Caucus in Congress stood for -- when they stood for anything.  Then in August of 2009, revealed as whores and abject failures, their leader Maxine Waters gave a b.s. speech insisting that they had called for troops out of Iraq but hadn't failed because, please understand, they never said when.


Huh?


Whore wants to say that the Out of Iraq caucus had no demands and she got away with it.  She's been whoring ever since when she should have been facing a reckoning for her failures and for her lying.


We couldn't get answer back then and we still can't.  Cindy wanted Bully Boy Bush to explain what "noble cause" her son died for.  Never got an answer.


The Iraq War continues and we still are not given an answer as to why.


Why are US troops still in Iraq?


Back in 2005, Alex The Whore Chadwick insisted US troops had to remain in Iraq because  "the Iraqis just aren't capable of staving off this insurgency on their own and that for a stable, healthy political and national situation to develop in Iraq, Americans have to be there longer."  How's that going?  Still the same story.  And it forever will be at present.  That's because a government and officials were imposed upon the Iraqi people.  There is no buy-in.  Cowards who fled the country in the 70s, 80s and 90s and only returned after the fall of Baghdad were made prime minister over and over.  Those cowards don't inspire trust.  They keep their dual citizenship -- the current prime minister is Mustafa al-Kadhimi and he has Iraqi citizenship and UK citizenship -- because they're never sure when they might have to bail on Iraq again.  But, hey, let's pretend these cowards can lead a country.


They can steal from the public trust.  They've nearly bankrupted the oil rich country -- a country that brings in billions and billions in oil revenues each year.  They're trying to start austerity measures at present -- long a goal of the US government which spent the bulk of the early years of this ongoing war trying to gut the rations program.  Because heaven forbid a government provide its people with the basics like rice, tea bags, flour, etc.  2021 may be the year the US government finally gets what it has long wanted -- to spread austerity throughout Iraq.


Not democracy.  It was never about democracy.  You don't see cowards who fled Iraq made prime minister over and over when you're trying to create a democracy.  You don't see the US government overturn the voters of the Iraqi people in 2010 with The Erbil Agreement if you're trying to create democracy.  You don't see Joe Biden visit Iraq to sell the overturning of the votes to various Iraqi leaders if you're trying to create a democracy.


Austerity.  That's what the US government always wanted to create.


Petrona Tweets:


The US is currently not spreading democracy anywhere in the global south that it claims it's doing. Nicaragua, Chile, Brazil, Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan etc. It's an endless thief of resources where they appointment their own people to power in this countries. They are causing harm
7:49 AM · Feb 9, 2021


Next month, the Pope is planning to visit Iraq.  If the visit takes place, he will be the first pope to visit Iraq.  It will also be, CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY points out, the Pope's first international trip since the COVID pandemic started.  VATICAN NEWS notes the schedule: 


Pope Francis' Apostolic Visit to Iraq begins on Friday morning 5 March when he departs from Rome and arrives at Baghdad International Airport in the afternoon.

Official Welcome and Visit with Civil Authorities

The official welcome ceremony will take place at the Presidential Palace in Baghdad followed by a courtesy visit to the President. Pope Francis will also meet with civil authorities and members of the Diplomatic Corps.

Meeting with Priests and Religious

As part of the schedule on Friday, the Pope will meet with Bishops, Priests, Religious, Consecrated Persons, Seminarians and Catechists at the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad.

Visit to Najaf and Mass in Baghdad

On Saturday, 6 March, Pope Francis will depart Baghdad for Najaf. Following a courtesy visit to the Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husaymi Al-Sistani in Najaf, Pope Francis will fly to Nassirya for an interreligious meeting at the Plain of Ur.

On his return to Baghdad in the afternoon, the Pope will celebrate Holy Mass at the Chaldean Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Baghdad.

Erbil and Mosul

On Sunday morning, Pope Francis will depart for Erbil. On arrival at the airport, he will be welcomed by religious and civil authorities from the region of Iraqi Kurdistan before continuing his journey by helicopter to Mosul. While there, he will recite a prayer of sufferage for the victims of war at Hosh al-Bieaa (Church Square).

Meeting with community in Qaraqosh

The Pope will again take a helicopter to Qaraqosh where he will visit the Qaraqosh community at the Church of the Immaculate Conception.

Holy Mass in Erbil

In the afternoon, Pope Francis will return to Erbil where he will celebrate Holy Mass at the “Franso Hariri” stadium. Following the celebration, the Pope will depart for Baghdad.

Departure

After a farewell ceremony on Monday morning, Pope Francis will depart for Rome. He is expected to touch down at Rome’s Ciampino airport later in the day.


Sura Ali (RUDAW) observes, "The pope's visit comes at a time when only a few hundred thousand Christians are left in the country.  Only 400,000 are estimated to remain in the country, down from 1.5 million in 2003."


THE WASHINGTON POST's Louisa Loveluck Tweets:


"For 30 minutes, all I did was write down names, including of boys as young as 10." The mass grave of the missing men and boys appears to have been discovered last week. english.alaraby.co.uk/english/Commen
@belkiswille
.



And from the same article, she highlights:


"I am losing track of the number of times I have documented allegations of killings in Iraq, only to read later that a mass grave was discovered right where the killings allegedly occurred. I cannot remember a single time where mass killings by Iraqi forces were investigated."



In the US this week, PBS's FRONTLINE is airing a program on Iraq:

Iraq's Assassins; Yemen's COVID Cover-Up

Allegations that Iranian-backed Shia militias are threatening and killing critics with impunity and targeting U.S. interests; how COVID-19 is worsening Yemen's humanitarian crisis.

Award-winning FRONTLINE correspondent Ramita Navai (Iraq Uncovered) investigates allegations that Iranian-backed Shia militias are threatening and killing critics with impunity and targeting U.S. interests. Also in FRONTLINE’s two-part Feb. 9 hour, a look at how COVID is worsening Yemen’s humanitarian crisis.



Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Lazy Dog Joe" went up last night.  The following sites updated:









Posted by at

Monday, February 08, 2021

They're not just melting, now they're bursting

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Lazy Dog Joe"


lazy dog joe


Our world is in crisis.  The seas are warming.  Glaciers are melting.  Melting?  Now we've got one bursting.  Doyle Rice (USA TODAY) reports:


At least 26 people are dead and 165 are missing after a flood hit northern India on Sunday. The flood was caused when part of a Himalayan glacier broke off and sent a wall of water and debris down a mountain, sweeping away everything in its path.

Rescuers on Monday were trying to rescue 37 power plant workers who remained trapped in a tunnel.

More than 2,000 members of the military, paramilitary groups and police have been taking part in search-and-rescue operations in the northern state of Uttarakhand.

The flood was caused when a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier snapped off Sunday morning, releasing water trapped behind it. 


Helen Regan, Swati Gupta and Vedika Sud (CNN) add:

The ecologically sensitive Himalayan region is prone to flash floods and landslides. Himalayan glaciers are also vulnerable to rising global temperatures because of man-made climate change.

As the ice melts, glaciers become unstable and start to retreat. Large glacial lakes can form, and when parts of the glacier in front of it break away they unleash the water trapped behind it causing an outburst of floods. A 2019 study found that Himalayan glaciers are melting twice as fast as last century, losing almost half a meter of ice each year.

 

We've only got one earth.  It's a damn shame Joe Biden doesn't care enough to save it.



"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

 Monday, February 8, 20201.  More US troops leave today for Iraq while Joe Biden has no policy to offer on that country but does continue to lie about his own Iraq experience.


The war never ends.  Ben Rodgers (KTSP) reported on Friday:


Sixty soldiers from the Minnesota National Guard will be deployed to Iraq and Kuwait. 

The soldiers from B Company, First General Support Aviation Battalion, 171st Aviation Regiment based in St. Cloud will deploy Monday. 


Those troops are leaving today.  Iraq?  It's a country that continues to fail to serve its own citizens.  Sura Ali (RUDAW) reports:


Fresh protests broke out in several provinces across central and southern Iraq over the weekend, with several protesters wounded, activists told Rudaw English on Sunday.

Demonstrations broke out in the southern city of Nasiriyah on Friday. Clashes took place between demonstrators and riot police where three protesters were wounded, local activist Muhammad Khayat, told Rudaw on Sunday. 

Protesters blocked the Hadarat Bridge in the city centre before returning to Habboubi Square, the city’s protest hotspot that has witnessed some of the bloodiest crackdowns on demonstrators since popular protests began in October 2019, calling for basic services and an end to corruption. 

"We receive threats almost daily on social media, but this will not prevent us from continuing to sit-in in Haboubi until our demands are met." Khayat said.

Activist Maytham al-Mufadhal, also from Nasiriyah, told Rudaw English that they demand authorities reveal the fate of the activist Sajjad al-Iraqi, who was kidnapped by an unknown party in September. 

"We received many government promises to reveal Sajjad's fate, but several months passed and the results of the investigation were not released. The sit-in continues until the fate of Sajjad is revealed," Mufadhal said.

Activists are often threatened, kidnapped and killed for their involvement in the protest movement. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi sent counter-terror forces to Nasiriyah to find Iraqi in September, claiming to know of his location, but he is yet to be found. 


NRT Tweets:

Protesters in Kut call for removal of governor, deputies For mismanagement and corruption #NRTnews #Kut #alNasiriyah #Iraq #Protest #Wasit #DhiQar


IRAQ AND MIDDLE EAST UPDATES Tweets:


Protests return to Wasit as youth burn tyres on the streets
Image
Image
Image
Image
6:57 AM · Feb 7, 2021



US troops are being sent to Iraq and kept in Iraq to prop up a US-created government there that does not recognize the rights of the Iraqi people and does not serve the Iraqi people.  


Najaf saw other actions on Saturday.  The cult of Moqtada al-Sadr attacked the people of Najaf on Saturday.  RUDAW reports:


Militia forces affiliated with Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raided a number of activists' houses in Iraq’s Najaf province on Saturday night, activists told Rudaw English. The raids came a day after a group of activists chanted slogans criticizing the cleric on the one year anniversary of the killing of tens of people by Sadr supporters. 

Activists on Friday held a ceremony to mark the one year anniversary of a massacre in Najaf’s Sadrayn square where Sadr supporters known as the "Blue Caps" stormed an anti-government protest camp. Twenty-three people were killed and more than 182 wounded, according to AFP.

Live rounds and petrol bombs were used against protesters during clashes, and their tents were burned or removed. Days later, Sadr announced the dissolution of the "Blue Caps" militia.

Video from the anniversary ceremony on Friday showed dozens of people gathered in the Writers Union Hall in Najaf, chanting slogans against the Sadrist movement and its leader. "No god but Allah. Muqtada is the enemy of Allah,” they shouted in clips that went viral on social media. 

The day after the ceremony, forces from the pro-Sadr Saraya al-Salam (the Peace Brigades) militia stormed the homes of four activists, terrorizing them and their families, according to Najaf activist Saif al-Mansoori. 


This follows Friday's action in Najaf.  Fadhel al-Nashmi (ASHARQ AL-AWSAT) reported, "Unidentified assailants attacked the headquarters of the Iraqi Communist Party in Najaf with Molotov cocktails, burning the offices despite causing no causalities."  It's related.  In the past the Communist Party partnered with Moqtada.  That partnership broke and last week they announced an alliance with the demonstrators.  Then their headquarters were bombed.


What's the plan, Joe, what's the plan?


There is none.  So he just avoids the topic.


He gave his 'big' speech on foreign relations last week.  Sheldon Richman (ANTIWAR.COM) observes:


Also among the no-mentions was Afghanistan. How can Biden give his first speech on foreign policy without discussing the country’s longest war? That is really remarkable. The names Iraq and Syria also do not appear in the speech. Amazing.



The 20 minute speech contained no mention of Iraq, as Dr. Abbas Kadhim pointed out in a Tweet:

 

There was no mention of #Iraq in President
@JoeBiden
's foreign policy today. The only Iraq-related policy was the decision to review the previous administration's plans for troops withdrawal from various AoRs. That will include Iraq and we'll see what the review result will be.
4:36 PM · Feb 4, 2021



In 2002, Joe Biden voted for the Iraq War.  


On Oct. 16, 2002, President Bush signed the Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution Joe Biden supported it and happily posed for this photo
Image
Image
6:48 PM · Feb 7, 2021


All these years later he has to 'familiarize' himself on Iraq before he can figure out a policy?  He has nothing to offer because he chooses to have nothing to offer.  And if he truly had any regret over his Iraq War vote, he would be compelled to make up for it now.  He's doing nothing because he doesn't now -- and never did -- give a damn.  That's why, when he threw out the Iraqi votes of 2010 via The Erbil Agreement, he went to Baghdad and gave puzzled Iraqis a lecture about Ireland -- a lecture that had nothing to do with them.


It's not like Joe can't talk about Iraq at all.  He can lie about it.  And he's been lying yet again.  Rudy Takala  (MEDIAITE) explains:

President Joe Biden on Thursday repeated a claim to a gathering of State Department employees that he once came under fire abroad.

“You have great personal courage. I’ve been with some of you when we’ve been shot at,” Biden told staff, without detailing the incident in question.

It’s unclear what specific incident Biden was referring to in his remarks, but in the past he has faced scrutiny for similar comments. Biden previously made the claim at a Democratic presidential primary debate in July 2007. “Number one, you take all the troops out,” he said. “You better have helicopters ready to take those 3,000 civilians inside the Green Zone, where I have been seven times and shot at. You better make sure you have protection for them, or let them die.”

He later clarified those remarks to say he was inside a building in Iraq’s Green Zone with a contingent of visiting senators that “rattled” as a result from a blast in 2005, and suggested the “shot” that had been fired was akin to mortar fire. “I was near where a shot landed,” he said. “No one got up and ran from the room — it wasn’t that kind of thing. It’s not like I had someone holding a gun to my head.”


Steve Nelson (NY POST) adds:


Patrick Campbell, then legislative director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told The Hill at the time, “Veterans don’t like it when people mischaracterize their service, people who overstate what happens to them. We have names for them.”

George Washington University professor Stephen Hess said in 2007 that the claim “fits into [Biden’s] profile, and that’s exactly why he should be terribly careful about statements that may not quite parse out or deconstruct under scrutiny.”

Biden has a reputation for gaffes and stretching the truth. He said incorrectly in 2008 “I am a hard coal miner,” and was forced to drop out of the 1988 Democratic presidential primary for plagiarism of speeches and a law school paper.


So he can talk about Iraq, he just can't tell any truths about that country.  Then again, Joe has an estranged relationship with the truth:


Jan 6, 2020 Dem Pres. candidate Joe Biden lied saying he opposed the war in Iraq from the very beginning. Sept 12, 2020 Joe Biden lies about his son dying in Iraq. Jan 4, 2021 Biden told State Dept employees he was shot at overseas. nypost.com/207cac6f-25f2-
3:57 PM · Feb 7, 2021



Caitlin Johnstone (ICH) observes:

When you oppose the horror that is western imperialism people try to paint you as a radical extremist who can’t just be reasonable and pragmatic about things, but really nothing could be further from the truth. There’s nothing “radical” or “extreme” about opposing the domination of the entire planet with relentless acts of mass slaughter to the detriment of the world’s most vulnerable populations, all because some sociopaths in DC decided that it is good and reasonable to inflict any amount of terror upon our world to preserve unipolar US hegemony. Opposing this is just basic human sanity.

People will act like you’re unreasonable and impossible if there’s not a single US politician you support.

“Not even Bernie?” they’ll ask. “Not even AOC?? What’s wrong with you?!”

If you are an anti-imperialist, being asked to choose a US politician you support is like being asked to pick a favorite Nazi. The US empire is the single most evil and destructive power on our planet right now and everyone on Capitol Hill is an imperialist facilitator of mass murder, yet you’ll be treated like an extremist moonbat if you don’t like any of them. The problem isn’t that an anti-imperialist has strange, impossible standards, it’s that they oppose an insane and murderous status quo which only elevates leaders who will advance that status quo.




New content at THIRD:




Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)