Blog Betty (Thomas Friedman is a Great Man was an online novel)

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

GLAAD's nominees for Outstanding film -- streaming or TV

Ann's writing about one category of nominations by GLAAD and she thought I might want to grab this category:

Outstanding Film — Streaming or TV

“Anything’s Possible” (Prime Video)

“B-Boy Blues” (BET+)

“A Christmas to Treasure” (Lifetime)

“Crush” (Hulu)

“Do Revenge” (Netflix)

“The Fallout” (HBO Max)

“Fire Island” (Hulu)

“The Holiday Sitter” (Hallmark)

“Three Months” (Paramount+)

“Wildhood” (Hulu)

I loved pretty much everything on that list -- and was surprised to find out that I'd seen all of them. Who would I go with? DO REVENGE probably. It twisted and turned and was solid. But I'd be fine with almost any of the above winning.

Almost? Pretty much? FIRE ISLAND was mediocre. It stole a Jane Austen book and failed to do anything with it. Just grabbed the plot. That's not what Amy Heckerling did with CLUELESS. It dragged repeatedly. The casting left much to be desired. And, in 2022, I expect a romantic comedy with 30 something adults playing 20 somethings to feature more than a chaste kiss for the main couple. It was dull in spots and it did nothing (a) to advance LGBTQ+ storytelling and (b) nothing with the source material.

I would be kinder to it; however, when BROS came out, twinksters in love with FIRE ISLAND took to Twitter to slam BROS and lie that FIRE ISLAND was more inclusive.

No, it wasn't. There was only one woman in the cast (Margaret Cho). I'm not remembering Black characters or Latinos. I'm remembering Asian Twinks and the White man they loved.

BROS not only had racial and ethnic diversity, it also had lesbians, trans persons, bisexuals, non-binary, as well as gay males. It was diverse.

FIRE ISLAND was something to applaud back in 1996 -- it's along the lines of IT'S MY PARTY.

And yesterday I wrote about Diana Ross. Kat wrote about "Madonna " so check that out please.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Wednesday, January 18, 2023. The Australian government says 'enough is enough' as Joe Biden continues to persecute Julian Assange, Iraq gets ready to face Oman in the Arabian Gulf Cup, Richard Branson's airline faces a huge fine, and much more.

Starting with Julian Assange.

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

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

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

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

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

Eric Lichtblau (GUARDIAN) observes:

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

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

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

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

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

At SALON, Ben Cohen writes:

Barack Obama refused to indict Assange because of the "New York Times problem": If Obama were to indict Assange for publishing truthful information, he'd have to indict the New York Times as well. But Biden has now affirmed Trump's contention that publishing the truth is a crime. Assange is being charged under the Espionage Act of 1917. That law is controversial enough when prosecutors use it to target whistleblowers, but it has never been used successfully against a publisher. What Biden is really saying by indicting Assange is that the U.S. government can lie to the public, conceal its criminal behavior and then destroy those who would dare seek the truth.

The Justice Department has charged Assange for receiving and publishing truthful, newsworthy information leaked by whistleblower Chelsea Manning, but has never charged any of the military or government officials whose wrongdoing was exposed.

It is the 21st-century version of killing the messenger.

No one was harmed by Assange's reporting, unless you count the bruised reputations of politicians who were caught breaking the law, lying or concealing misconduct. Experts testified in British court proceedings that Assange went to extreme lengths to help protect both his sources and people who might be harmed by the disclosure of sensitive information. Instead of investigating the wrongdoing that WikiLeaks exposed and punishing those who broke the law or covered it up, the government has focused on attacking whistleblowers and the journalists who work with them.

Yesterday, on DEMOCRACY NOW!, US House Rep Ro Khanna was asked about Julian Assane:

AMY GOODMAN: And let me ask you about Julian Assange. There’s going to be a tribunal at the end of the week at the National Press Club. Many major news organizations are calling for the Biden administration to drop the charges against him. He faces 175 years in prison in the United States, if extradited, tried and found guilty. The New York Times, The Guardian, El País, Der Spiegel have called for these charges to be dropped, that freedom of the press is at stake. Do you join in that call?

REP. RO KHANNA: Well, I have said that there’s a reason President Obama never brought charges against Assange. Whatever you think of his moral actions — and I have not defended those — I do not believe that you can bring charges against someone simply for publishing information. If there were actual evidence that Assange himself had deliberately sought and gathered classified information through illegal means, then that is different. But if the charges are based simply on his receiving this information and publishing it, that, in my view, affects the entire concept of freedom of press and has a chilling effect on publishers. And I have said that that is overbroad.

Baby steps? That's supposed to pass for leadership, Ro? And you want to move from your district to having the whole state vote for you? You're not earning my vote with what I consider the bare minimum a person should be doing. More bravery is being shown from the Australian government (finally). ANADOLU AGENCY reports:

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday urged the US and UK to close the extradition process against Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange, saying "enough is enough."

During an interview with ABC Radio, the Australian premier said his country's position on Assange is very clear, which he has communicated to the US and UK.

"I agree that enough is enough. It's time this issue was brought to a close," Albanese said, according to a transcript posted on his office’s official website.

"And I've made that very clear to the US administration and to the UK Government as well, that my view hasn't changed from the view I had when I was Opposition Leader, which is that it's time that this was brought to a close," he added.

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

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

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

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

Members of the tribunal include:

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

Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower

Noam Chomsky, linguist and activist

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

Chip Gibbons, policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent

Kevin Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof

Margaret Kunstler, civil rights attorney

Stefania Maurizi, investigative journalist, Il Fatto Quotidiano

Jesselyn Radack, national security and human rights attorney

Ben Wizner, lead attorney at ACLU of Edward Snowden

Renata Ávila, human rights lawyer, technology and society expert

Jeffrey Sterling, lawyer and former CIA employee

Steven Donziger, human rights attorney

Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief, WikiLeaks

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editorial director and publisher, The Nation

Selay Ghaffar, spokesperson, Solidarity Party of Afghanistan

Betty Medsger, investigative reporter

Meanwhile, the Gulf Cup is nearing its conclusion. Iraq hosted this year and Basra has been the site of much excitement as the world has celebrated the outstanding performance of Iraq's Lions.

Mustafa Salim (WASHINGTON POST) reports:

Sinbad, the legendary sailor from “The Arabian Nights,” rose from the darkness to greet the crowd. Lights and lasers danced across the stadium. For an hour, Iraqi musicians, dancers and actors took fans on a journey through thousands of years of Iraqi history. “We are a beacon to the world,” crooned popular singer Hussam Alrassam.

The spectacle on Jan. 6 marked the beginning of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup soccer tournament, hosted by Iraq for the first time since 1979 — as the country seeks to turn the page on decades of violence, instability and isolation.

[. . .]

The tournament, which is held every two years, features countries from the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman), in addition to Yemen and Iraq. Much as the recent World Cup in Doha, Qatar, served to introduce Persian Gulf culture to the outside world, the tournament in Basra gave many gulf citizens their first chance to experience Iraq.

For locals, it was a rare opportunity to watch international soccer in their own backyard and, just as importantly, to express national pride and regional solidarity.

“Despite the fierce competition between the gulf countries to win the championship, what matters to us in the first place is honoring our guests after a long absence,” said Hussam Muthana, 27, a Basra taxi driver. “We are neighbors and cousins, even if outside political circumstances have kept us apart.”

More than 50,000 gulf visitors have poured into Iraq over the past two weeks, according to Iraqi authorities, as the country eased border restrictions and granted free visas. They made their way to the southern port of Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, where they were welcomed with banners and gulf flags.

The article also features many outstanding photos so please check it out. Tomorrow, Iraq faces Oman.

Now, what's that? Is that the voice of Sandy Denny?

It's Sandy with Led Zeppelin. And is the late Sandy now laughing at the current plight of Richard Branson who dropped her from his label in the 70s? Phil Davies (TRAVEL WEEKLY) notes:

Virgin Atlantic has been fined more than $1 million for flying in restricted airspace over Iraq on services between London and India.

The penalty was imposed by the US Department of Transportation (DoT) for operating flights under a codeshare with US partner Delta Air Lines.

The US DoT, imposing the £1.05 million fine, said: “By carrying the DL [Delta] code on flights in airspace in which the FAA prohibits US carriers from flying, Virgin Atlantic operated in violation of the conditions of its statement of authorisation and in violation of federal law.”

THE NATIONAL adds:

The US transport department said Virgin Atlantic had told the agency the “prohibited overflights were inadvertent, caused by operational disruptions and loss of personnel due to the Covid-19 pandemic”.

Virgin Atlantic told the department that upon notification by the US government, “it immediately rerouted flights to avoid the airspace in question and informed its board and senior leadership of the issue”.

Virgin Atlantic also noted that it had invested in Sentinel by Osprey, an automated tool that “dynamically alerts airlines at the flight planning stage or operational stage, of any regulatory restrictions impacting their, or their codeshare partners’ flights”.

All the birds are leaving, Richard, they know it's time for them to go.

New content at THIRD:

The following sites updated:

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Diana Ross

Diana Ross will be at this year's Grammys and hopefully winning a Grammy for her work on THANK YOU. She is long overdue. Gilbert e-mailed and asked me if I was rooting for her (yes!!!!) and what 10 performances in the past I would have given her a Grammy for?

Really good question. I can think of a lot for her work with the Supremes, for example, and a lot for her solo work.

1) "Reflections" -- her vocal is so haunting

2) THE BOSS -- an amazing album -- no OFF THE WALL without THE BOSS

3) diana -- another amazing album -- no THRILLER without diana

4) "It's My Turn" -- Diana has sung some amazing ballads -- "Touch Me In The Morning," "Do You Know Where You're Going To," etc -- but she brought something extra amazing to her performance of this song

5) "Mirror Mirror" -- should have won best rock vocal -- as it was, it didn't even get nominated - instead, cabaret singer Pat Benatar won -- even Stevie Nicks would lose to the embarrassing Pat who has only grown sadder as she tries to drag her untalented husband along with her everywhere -- maybe she should return those awards

6) "Muscles" -- this song produced and written by Michael Jackson is pop perfection

7) "Chain Reaction" -- another moment of pop perfection

8) "Blame It On The Sun" -- one of Diana's best covers and one of the best covers of a Stevie Wonder song

9) "If We Hold On Together" -- from THE LAND BEFORE TIME -- don't be a three-horn, give Diana her props

10) "Endless Love" -- her epic duet with Lionel Richie -- to this day, no one has done the song better

I'm really hoping that she wins Best Traditional Pop Vocal at this year's Grammys -- like Kat, it's my musical wish for this year.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The President of the Kurdistan Tweeted:

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

Sinan Mahmoud (THE NATIONAL) notes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

On Davos, Greenpeace issued the following:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ENDS

Notes

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

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

Contacts

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

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

Follow @greenpeacepress on Twitter for our latest international press releases

The following sites updated:

Monday, January 16, 2023

MLK

I plan to note history and, today, I've got a good reason too. This:

The day was September 20, 1958. Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., then 29, was in a Harlem department store, signing copies of Stride Toward Freedom, his account of the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott which he led.

He was suddenly approached by a 42-year-old well-dressed woman, who asked him:

“Are you Martin Luther King?”

“Yes,” King replied, without looking up from where he was signing his book.

The stylishly dressed woman, who would later be identified as Izola Ware Curry, said: “I’ve been looking for you for five years,” and plunged a 7-inch, ivory-handled steel letter opener into King’s chest.

Curry had in her bra a loaded 25-calibre automatic pistol, which she wanted to use but was stopped before she could get to it, reported the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

She did not attempt to run but rather indicated: “I’ve been after him for six years.

She died in 2015 and was 98 years old. From WIKIPEDIA:

King went on a tour to promote his book, Stride Toward Freedom, soon after it was published. During a book signing at Blumstein's department store in Harlem, on September 20, 1958, Curry approached and asked him if he was Martin Luther King Jr. When King replied in the affirmative, Curry stabbed him in the chest with a steel letter opener.

An advertising executive for The Amsterdam News, a prominent Black newspaper, grabbed and restrained Curry. A well-meaning bystander reached out to pull the letter opener out of King's chest, but by this time New York City police officers Al Howard and Philip Romano had arrived upon the scene and acted quickly. They immediately recognized the risk of pulling out the opener and prevented the bystander from acting, then called Harlem Hospital to coordinate with doctors how to get King safely out of the store without risking having the knife be jarred. This included some subterfuge on the part of Officer Howard, announcing to the large assembled crowd that Dr. King would be taken to an ambulance arriving at the front of the store (and going there himself to wait, to maintain the ruse), while in actuality Officer Romano and others carefully carried him, still sitting in his chair, out the back.^[4]

Careful surgery was required to remove the blade.^[5] King wrote in his posthumously published autobiography that he was told that:

the razor tip of the instrument had been touching my aorta and that my whole chest had to be opened to extract it. 'If you had sneezed during all those hours of waiting,' Dr. Maynard said, 'your aorta would have been punctured and you would have drowned in your own blood.'^[6]

While he was still in the hospital, on September 30, King issued a press release in which he reaffirmed his belief in "the redemptive power of nonviolence" and issued a hopeful statement about his attacker: "I felt no ill will toward Mrs. Izola Currey [sic] and know that thoughtful people will do all in their power to see that she gets the help she apparently needs if she is to become a free and constructive member of society."^[7] He issued a similar statement on his return home, again stating that he hoped she would get help, and that society would improve so that "a disorganized personality need not become a menace to any man."^[8] On October 17, after hearing King's testimony, a grand jury indicted Curry for attempted murder.^[9]

At the time of her attack on King, Curry was also carrying a loaded Galesi-Brescia pistol, hidden inside her bra.^[10]^[11]^[12]

And let's stay on Dr. King for a moment more to note this from AP:

The Rev. Bernice King, who leads The King Center in Atlanta, said leaders — especially politicians — too often cheapen her father’s legacy into a “comfortable and convenient King” offering easy platitudes.

“We love to quote King in and around the holiday. ... But then we refuse to live King 365 days of the year,” she declared at the commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her father once preached.

The service, sponsored by the center and held at Ebenezer annually, headlined observances of the 38th federal King holiday. King, gunned down in Memphis in 1968 as he advocated for better pay and working conditions for the city’s sanitation workers, would have celebrated his 94th birthday Sunday.

Her voice rising and falling in cadences similar to her father's, Bernice King bemoaned institutional and individual racism, economic and health care inequities, police violence, a militarized international order, hardline immigration structures and the climate crisis. She said she’s “exhausted, exasperated and, frankly, disappointed” to hear her father’s words about justice quoted so extensively alongside “so little progress” addressing society's gravest problems.

“He was God’s prophet sent to this nation and even the world to guide us and forewarn us. ... A prophetic word calls for an inconvenience because it challenges us to change our hearts, our minds and our behavior,” Bernice King said. “Dr. King, the inconvenient King, puts some demands on us to change our ways.”

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

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

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

The fans of the Iraqi national team attended to the stadium 6 hours before the beginning of the Arab Gulf Cup semi-final match between Iraq and Qatar.

This video before 3 hours.#Iraq pic.twitter.com/ntfUljYfAn
— العراق_Iraq 🇮🇶 (@_Iraqi_Great) January 16, 2023

ICYMI: Sinbad the Sailor, the official mascot of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, holds position at iconic spots of the host city of Basra in Iraq pic.twitter.com/kMXlS6rTBL
— Breaking News (@feeds24x7) January 15, 2023

Meanwhile, Chenar Chalak (RUDAW) reports:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Members of the tribunal include:

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

Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower

Noam Chomsky, linguist and activist

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

Chip Gibbons, policy director of Defending Rights & Dissent

Kevin Gosztola, managing editor of Shadowproof

Margaret Kunstler, civil rights attorney

Stefania Maurizi, investigative journalist, Il Fatto Quotidiano

Jesselyn Radack, national security and human rights attorney

Ben Wizner, lead attorney at ACLU of Edward Snowden

Renata Ávila, human rights lawyer, technology and society expert

Jeffrey Sterling, lawyer and former CIA employee

Steven Donziger, human rights attorney

Kristinn Hrafnsson, editor-in-chief, WikiLeaks

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editorial director and publisher, The Nation

Selay Ghaffar, spokesperson, Solidarity Party of Afghanistan

Betty Medsger, investigative reporter

Eric Lichtblau (GUARDIAN) observes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In other news, Ashley Iasimone (BILLBOARD) reports:

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

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

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

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

Armando Tinoko (DEADLINE) adds:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The following sites updated: