Wednesday, January 10, 2018

She humiliated herself


 20 minutes ago
Well. Left papers starting to look at Hillary.
 
 



Poor Hillary.  There are so many ways she could end up in legal trouble today.

I wonder what her life would be like if she had left the State Dept. in January 2013 and made that the end, no run for the White House in 2016?

She might not have sullied her reputation so.  She might not have destroyed her image.

But she lost a lot of people and I was one.

I really wish she'd never become Secretary of State.

2008, in loss, was still an accomplishment for her.

2016 was just humiliation.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Wednesday, January 10, 2018.  Another US service member has died in Iraq, another drawdown -- not a withdrawal -- is discussed, how some women hijacked the Golden Globes to turn the attention to their pet issues and not focus on assault and harassment -- and how they stripped male survivors out of the narrative, and more.


Yesterday afternoon, the US Defense Dept issued the following:


IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DoD Identifies Army Casualty

Press Operations
Release No: NR-008-18
Jan. 9, 2018 

 The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

Spc. Javion Shavonte Sullivan, 24, of Fort Mill, South Carolina, died Jan. 8 in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, from a non-combat related incident. Sullivan was assigned to the 16th Signal Company, 11th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas. The incident is under investigation.

For more information, media may contact Fort Hood Public Affairs at 254-287-9993 or 254-287-0106.



"B-b-but Barack pulled all US troops out of Iraq!!!!"

Sadly, some still pimp that lie -- some who are too ignorant to know better and some who just live to lie.



 41 minutes ago
Spc. Javion Shavonte Sullivan, who died Monday in Iraq, joined the Army to “make a better life for his family, fight for his country”
1 reply10 retweets18 likes








Chad Garland (STARS AND STRIPES) notes, "He is the first U.S. servicemember to die while supporting the anti-ISIS campaign this year, and the 22nd since Operation Inherent Resolve began in the fall of 2014."


22 US service members have died in the Iraq War since the bulk of the press lied that a "withdrawal" took place.  At the end of 2011, a drawdown took place.  There is a difference.  And while Barack Obama and the White House had the press spinning for it, the Defense Dept always used the term "drawdown."  With the exception of Ted Koppel, not one journalist rushed to tell you the truth about the US service members who remained in Iraq.

Interesting footnote to that, Ted did so on NBC and on NPR -- and two programs no longer air.  Kind of like the outlet that told the truth in the lead up to the Iraq War -- MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS -- is no longer around.  Running with the pack seems to lead to longevity which is why so few ever sticks their necks out.

This is from NBC's no longer airing ROCK CENTER -- we first noted it in the 12/12/11 snapshot:

MR. KOPPEL:  I realize you can't go into it in any detail, but I would assume that there is a healthy CIA mission here.  I would assume that JSOC may still be active in this country, the joint special operations.  You've got FBI here. You've got DEA here.  Can, can you give me sort of a, a menu of, of who all falls under your control?
 
 
AMB.  JAMES JEFFREY:  You're actually doing pretty well, were I authorized to talk about half of this stuff.


The only one still on the air that Ted discussed the topic on is NBC's MEET THE PRESS (12/13/11):


Ted Koppel: The point is Ron Paul was almost right last night.  You remember, and it was one of the overlooked points in the debate, he spoke of the 17,000, he spoke about civilian contractors who are still in Iraq.  We do have 17,000 people still in Iraq.  They're not all civilian contractors, but a great many of them are.  You've got a consulate in Basra, a consulate in Erbil.  The one in Basra is just less than 20 miles from the Iranian border; 1,320 Americans down there.  They are rocketed two or three times a week. They are about as vulnerable as any Americans have been since 1979 at the embassy in Tehran.  And if they were to be frontally attacked, and I'm suggesting that that's not unlikely at all, you're going to see the U.S. military come back in.  Because, while the ambassador said, "No, no, no, we're going to rely on the Iraqis to do the job," there is no way that the U.S. military will wait for the Iraqis to save those Americans, and they're going to need saving.


That was the drawdown at the end of 2011, it was not a withdrawal.

ALSUMARIA has reported that there will be a reduction of the number of US service members in Iraq shortly.

If the reduction happens, it will be another reduction.  All this time later, we've still not seen a withdrawal of US forces.



Earlier this week, John Perkins (INFORMANTION CLEARING HOUSE) observed:
Washington’s recently passed 2018 military budget was touted as $700 billion; however, it actually surpasses $800 billion when relevant sections of the State and Energy Departments and intelligence agencies are included. This is bigger than the combined military budgets of the next seven – nine (depending on how it is measured) largest countries. (1)
Where does that money go? Who profits from these expenditures? How many of our elected officials own stock in Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics and the other merchants of death, as well as the banks and Wall Street firms that finance them? (2)
You, Ken Burns, and I may think that we lost the Vietnam War. But investors in war profiteering corporations came to a different conclusion. They did then and they do now.
How stupid are they?
(1) https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-military-budget-components-challenges-growth-3306320
(2) http://www.businessinsider.com/the-top-9-biggest-defense-contractors-in-america-2016-5/#1-lockheed-martin-corporation-



War is big business.  It always allows filth to rake in millions in blood money.


  1.  Jan 8
Look. BP is now doing fine from oil. And one of BP’s Board members is ‘Sir’ John Sawers, former head of MI6, who in 2003 Iraq invasion/occupation was the UK's special rep in Iraq. It’s just amazing what is allowed to happen.

41 replies948 retweets726 likes







It's not the 99% getting rich off wars.  They're the ones sent to foreign countries but they're not the ones getting rich off the wars.




Changing topics, the Golden Globes again.  A discordant note was struck and I didn't even realize it until this morning (I sort through things in dreams, as noted many times before).


I missed an issue because I was so appalled by the glorification of the vile Kirk Douglas:


Women.

Time and again, we heard about women.

That was self-serving and victim-erasing.

I'm embarrassed for everyone who spoke -- including two friends.

Kevin Spacey isn't accused of assaulting any woman.

The victims of assault and rape are not just women and what took place was insulting and self-serving.  It's now morphed into "poor Michelle Williams."  Mark Wahlberg's not the problem.  She should have hired a better agent.  If a film has reshoots or goes beyond it's shooting schedule, you get that in writing and you get what you want.  And it's generally the easiest thing to get in a contract because the studio expects the director to stick to the shooting schedule.  This is not a gender issue -- that Mark got more money that Michelle for reshoots -- it's an issue about making the demands you need to make.  Joan Crawford accidentally saw Bette Davis' contract for WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?  She saw Bette was getting a better per diem and other benefits.  Joan, like Bette, was a woman.  It wasn't sexism.  It has to do with representation and also with hawk-eyeing the work you're paying your agent a commission to do.

Michelle is not going to get as much to make a film as Mark is currently.  He's established as the lead of several hit films and she's not been the lead in any hit film.  But she is an extremely talented actress and her agent should have demanded a hard out and a most favored nation clause.  If her agent had, the studio would have been forced to pay Michelle for the reshoots and pay her what they were paying Mark.

When FOX sued Elizabeth Taylor, it wasn't about the box office for CLEOPATRA.  It was about the fact that they didn't want to pay her what they owed her.  (This is when they tried to invoke a moral's clause, etc.)  Her contract stipulated what she would be paid for the scheduled shooting and what she'd be paid if shooting went over.  This is not a new issue.  Michelle was poorly represented and might want to consider new representation.


But if we could leave the issue of wage gap -- which always looks a little elitist when you're that far above poverty level -- don't mistake what happened at the Golden Globes with fighting for -- or even respecting -- the survivors of assault and harassment.

All victims are not women.  Anthony Edwards bravely came forward to talk about what happened to him.  It devalues Anthony and every other male survivor when we jabber away about women, women, women without ever acknowledging that anyone can be a victim.

To present the falsehood that the victims are women only and then to use it to whine about how many female directors this or wage that is nonsense.  It was embarrassing.

I firmly support equal pay for equal work, I champion women directors.  Those are important issues.

But if the topic for the night is assault and harassment, then you do not waste time on those two topics and get applause.  You should instead be called out for diverting attention from the issue on hand and also for stereotyping survivors.


We need to note this from WSWS:


Organizing Resistance to Internet Censorship: An online discussion with Chris Hedges and David North

On January 16, 2018, the World Socialist Web Site will video livestream a discussion on Internet censorship, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges and WSWS International Editorial Board Chairperson David North. WSWS reporter Andre Damon will moderate the discussion.

The webinar will explore the political context of the efforts to censor the Internet and abolish net neutrality, examine the pretexts used to justify the suppression of free speech (i.e., “fake news”), and discuss political strategies to defend democratic rights. Hedges and North will also field questions from on-line listeners.
Register Today!
The webinar will be streamed live by the WSWS on YouTube and Facebook on Tuesday, January 16 at 7:00 pm EST (midnight in London, 1:00am in Berlin, 3:00am in Moscow and 11:00 am January 17 in Sydney. Full Time Zone Conversions).

Chris Hedges is the host of RT’s On Contact and a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist who presently writes a weekly column for Truthdig. He is also the author of the bestsellers American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle and War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. Hedges has taught at Columbia University, New York University, Princeton University and the University of Toronto.

David North has played a leading role in the international socialist movement for forty-five years, and is presently the chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site and national chairperson of the Socialist Equality Party (US). His published works include A Quarter-Century of War: The US Drive for Global Hegemony; The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century; The Frankfurt School, Postmodernism and the Politics of the Pseudo-Left: A Marxist Critique; and In Defense of Leon Trotsky.

Andre Damon has written extensively on Google’s censorship of left wing, anti-war, and progressive web sites.
Government and corporations escalate Internet censorship and attacks on free speech
By Andre Damon
The year 2018 has opened with an international campaign to censor the Internet. Throughout the world, technology giants are responding to the political demands of governments by cracking down on freedom of speech, which is inscribed in the US Bill of Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and countless international agreements.
Bloomberg, the financial news service, published a blog post titled “Welcome to 2018, the Year of Censored Social Media,” which began with the observation, “This year, don’t count on the social networks to provide its core service: an uncensored platform for every imaginable view. The censorship has already begun, and it’ll only get heavier. Read more »
Register Today!
Share
Tweet
Forward
Socialist Equality Party | socialequality.com
Articles: Copyright © 2017 wsws.org, All rights reserved.





The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley -- updated:

Posted by at

Tuesday, January 09, 2018

Gravity and height

Did you see this story at NEWSWEEK:
Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai tweeted on Monday that according to new body measurements taken earlier in the day, he has grown 9 centimeters, or about 3.5 inches, since he arrived in space three weeks ago. "I’ve only been in space for three weeks and haven’t grown like this since middle/high school," he wrote. He joked that he's worried about fitting into his seat on the Soyuz capsule for the ride back to Earth.




Astronauts regularly grow in space—often as much as 2 inches—thanks to the microgravity experienced on the International Space Station. On Earth, the full force of gravity shapes our bodies during a day of standing or sitting, gently pushing down on the spinal column and shrinking our overall height. Overnight, as we sleep horizontally, the pressure of gravity on our spines weakens and we stretch out again, just a little bit. But in microgravity, a much more dramatic version of that overnight stretching takes place.




 
 

So, on earth, we get our height by growing but also by the earth's gravity.  So being space, they grow.

Wow.

But my big question is, back on earth after, do they slowly shrink back to size due to the earth's gravity or is that their new and forever height?

I'm sure if it's permanent you'd have a lot more people wanting to go into space -- especially guys.  I have never known on yet who didn't fudge his height by an inch or two.

But my guess would be -- I can be wrong -- that once you return to earth, earth's gravity will slowly take away the gains.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Tuesday, January 9, 2018.  The violence continues as the war continues, the US Defense Dept spins 'progress' in Hawija but the reality is different, Oprah Winfrey is seen as the latest savior but she can't run for president and easily win with her history, and much more.


Unable or unwilling to run on popular positions (Medicare for all), they instead rush to well known names to try to win offices.  Which is how we arrive at Oprah Winfrey for president -- a notion that many are currently pushing.  A really dumb notion on the face of it.

 Jan 8
Yes, Oprah Winfrey gave an inspiring speech at the Golden Globes last night. Oprah Winfrey also beat the war drums for the US invasion of Iraq.
175 replies2,814 retweets6,032 likes
 
 
Show this thread



Yes, she did.

So there goes a number of voters in the base.

But more to the point, there's video.

Oprah has no political experience.  To be a viable candidate for president, she'd need to prove that she's smart and qualified.

And then roll the clip, Oprah taken in by the lies of war.

Bad enough.  But check out that clip.

It's Oprah with Judith Miller.

And a member of Oprah's studio audience stands up and disputes the claims -- which we now know are lies -- and Oprah snaps back that this is the truth.

It wasn't the truth.

She's never held public office and she got the biggest decision of this century wrong.  And when an audience member tried to help her out, she refused to listen.

Oprah's our Hope-rah?

No, she's not.

Crack addict.

Was that her drug of choice?

I can't remember.

But she was on drugs and she has a personal narrative, "Look how rich I became!"  She just doesn't have a heroic narrative, "And I helped others by . . ."

Sexuality?

No one believes she's straight at this point.  She could run as an openly gay woman and could win.  But that joined-at-the-hip with Gail is not going to play if Oprah's going to continue to insist that they're just friends.

Can she be trusted?

Iraq questions whether she's fit for public office -- especially since she was still doing her show when the war went to hell and, strangely?, she never did an update -- hours and hours, weeks and weeks, years and years of shows and she never did a mea culpa.

But, worse, there's video.

James Frey?

That was his name right?

She had a writer on her show who made up his nonfiction book.

Instead of just letting it go with an apology to her audience, her apologizing to her audience, she brings Frey on and publicly shames him.

That doesn't show that she can be trusted or that she makes wise decisions.

Taken in by the lies of war, taken in by Frey . . .

She's enriched her own pockets but what has she done for others?

If you're as filthy rich as Oprah, that's an issue.

And what the American voters will see is that she built a school in another country . . . but did nothing for America's children.

Crack addict.

Closet case.

Ignorant on world affairs.

Easily tricked by con men.

This is someone who can successfully run for president?

"B-b-b-but she gave that (meandering) speech and said a lot of things -- she's a defender of women against the likes of Harvey Weinstein!"

You mean this Harvey Weinstein?



  1.  11 hours ago
and over the years.
9 retweets9 likes
 
 
 11 hours ago
and in 2014.
2 replies16 retweets9 likes
 
 




What did Oprah say about Harvey Weinstein?  When did her voice speak out against him?

I believe it was Sunday at the Golden Globes.

Don't believe she had anything to say until then.

So for months, she stayed silent about serial abuser and rapist Weinstein.  But, hey, isn't it great to see them cuddle in the photos above?

CNN and NBC are among the worst pimping the Oprah for president nonsense.

The only thing good about it is that new candidates need to be considered -- go away, Hillary -- and this helps that conversation.

But the notion that Oprah can win the presidency?

That would not be a glide to victory, it would be one of the hardest battles for the reasons above as well as many others.  (Not remembered now but Oprah was notorious in the 90s for pissing off single mothers with her comments.  Single mothers make up for a lot of voters.)


She sold the Iraq War.

I would argue that's enough reason for her not to run.

But if we're honest, that's the best reason for her to run.

Joe Lieberman, John Kerry, John Edwards, Joe Biden -- every Democratic presidential ticket since 2000 has had at least one person on it who would go on to support or did support the Iraq War.

It's all fun and games for some -- especially those who supported the Iraq War.

But their support had consequences.

 Jan 7
The Scotsmen who died looking for non existent chemical weapons in Iraq. Throw neo con liars in the dustbin of history.
5 replies47 retweets112 likes
 
 



Around the world, many people are dead as a result of the Iraq War.

Iraq itself remains destroyed.

The ongoing war hits the 15 year mark in two months.

It is no minor event.  And supporting that war was a craven and shameful position.


 17 hours ago
In tomorrow's National ... Cat Boyd on why we must teach our young people the lessons of the Iraq War
18 replies5 retweets15 likes
 
 



The image of Oprah, not the reality, would be a person making a statement similar to Cat Boyd.  But she can't do that because she supported the Iraq War and used her program to sell the war.




Her support will come from human trash like the neocons who lied and promoted the war.  Did someone say Bill Kristol?

 21 hours ago
Oprah: Pro-regime change in Iraq (see her Oct. 9, 2002 show).
292 replies472 retweets841 likes
 
 



Sadly, he's not joking -- nor is he known for having a sense of humor.  But the neo-cons will line up with Oprah.  She sells war.

This reality is being ignored but lazy trash ignores a lot.

Trash includes Khary Pene of the DNC.  He does a threat that's full of lies.  Barack didn't attack Hillary after he lost to her in New Hampshire!  Uh, he did too.  He used his surrogates to mock her.  Jesse Jackson Jr. was the most infamous.  So Khary's nothing but a lying piece of trash.  But if you doubt that, as part of his glorification of War Hawk Barack, he offers




We will end this war in Iraq. We will bring our troops home. We will finish the job -- we will finish the job against Al Qaida in Afghanistan. We will care for our veterans. We will restore our moral standing in the world.
7:29 PM - 8 Jan 2018
3 replies13 retweets55 likes
 
 


The Iraq War is not ended.  US troops remain in Iraq.

He had eight years but he left office with US troops still in Iraq.

How do you not know that?

Sunday night, David Burge (EL PASO TIMES) reported:
Soldiers from Fort Bliss’ 1st Armored Division have been in Iraq during a “defining moment” and have played an important role in helping with the defeat of the Islamic State extremist group, said leaders within the division.
“The 1st Armored Division, along with all our coalition partners, have been standing shoulder to shoulder, supporting the Iraqi government and all the Iraqi people in their fight against ISIS,” said 1st Lt. Carlos Valencia, the executive officer and acting commander for Headquarters Support Company, 1st Armored Division Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion.
About 400 soldiers from the 1st Armored Division’s Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion and Division Artillery deployed to Iraq in the summer. These soldiers have been serving in a mission command role and have been leading what is called the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command in Iraq.



Khary doesn't give a damn about the Iraq War which is why he can Tweet that nonsense promise by Barack without even grasping what a lie it became.




Turning to an issue we've been noting a lot in the last few weeks, the plight of Palestinians in Iraq.  Adnan Abu Amer (AL-MONITOR) covers the efforts to strip Palestinians of their rights:
The Arabi21 news website revealed Dec. 20 that Iraqi President Fuad Masum had approved Law No. 76 of 2017, which stripped Palestinian refugees living in Iraq of their rights and classified them as foreigners. The law came into effect after being published in the Iraqi Gazette.
The new law replaced Law No. 202 of 2001, issued by former President Saddam Hussein, forcing the Iraqi state to treat Palestinians as equals to Iraqis, with all privileges and citizenship rights, such as tax exemption, opportunities to work in government departments, and access to education and health care services.
Mohammed Mshenesh, a Palestinian researcher on refugee affairs, told Al-Monitor, “The most important issue with the new law is that it replaces the previous one that stipulated treating Palestinians as Iraqis. This is why Palestinians are worried about the future of those in Iraq who were already marginalized regardless of the law protecting them, which has now been quashed.”
Mshenesh added, “The new law will deprive Palestinian engineers, doctors and teachers the ability to become members of Iraqi trade unions," thus preventing them from practicing these professions, "and whoever wants to start a commercial project will have to comply with the foreigners law, which requires the presence of an Iraqi sponsor and the approval of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Interior. This will increase the Palestinians’ suffering and push the few left to leave Iraq.”


One of the great lies about the Iraq War was that it was about 'democracy' and 'liberation.'

The only ones liberated were Shi'ite cowards who rushed to return to Iraq after the US invaded in 2003.

Women?

They suffered huge losses.  The Palestinians did as well.

The only lives improved were the lives of those cowards who fled Iraq and then spent decades agitating for war -- for others to fight the battles of the cowards for them.

The lies never end.

Even today.

Let's go to the US Defense Dept and see if you can spot the lie in the claims of 'progress' issued yesterday:

 Recent developments include Iraqi forces securing more than 20 improvised explosive devices and bombmaking materials in Baghdad, Army Col. Rob Manning said.
Iraqi forces cleared 20 IEDs in operations near Bashika in Ninewah province. Security operations continue in and around Tal Afar, Manning said.
In Hawijah, Iraqi forces cleared more than 11 square miles and 32 villages. Iraqi forces also killed eight ISIS terrorists and destroyed 10 ISIS fighting positions and six tunnels, he added.

Catch it?

Hawija.  It's progress.

It's progress if you lie.

If you tell the truth, not so much.

XINHUA reporting on Hawija:

 Military operations targeting suspected Islamic State militants in a district of Iraq's Kirkuk have displaced almost 700 people since Thursday, said a UN spokesman said Monday.
Those displaced by the fighting in Hawija district are being transported to nearby Daquq displacement camp, where humanitarians are providing assistance, Stephane Dujarric quoted the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as reporting.
Humanitarian activities in Hawija have been paused for security reasons and will resume once military operations in the area conclude in the coming days, said the spokesman. 


Hawija's an example of progress the Defense Dept insists!

But, reality, humanitarian efforts have currently ceased and another 700 citizens have been rendered homeless.

That's 'progress'?

If you're a US reporter it must be because you're never going to question it judging by the universal silence from one media outlet after another.


And it was REUTERS, a non-US press agency, who reported earlier this week about refugees being forced to return to Anbar Province despite security risks:


 Jan 7
Aid workers say Iraqi security forces are forcibly returning civilians from refugee camps to unsafe areas in Anbar province:
2 replies37 retweets15 likes
 
 








The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley -- updated:


  • The Official Jody Watley Website
    Thought of The Day. Honesty and Loyalty Matter
    7 hours ago
  • Ann's Mega Dub
    She. Loves. Bread. She loves bread!!!!
    9 hours ago
  • SICKOFITRADLZ
    Michael and his brothers
    9 hours ago
  • Thomas Friedman is a Great Man
    Oh, Oprah, you're such a disappointment
    9 hours ago
  • Like Maria Said Paz
    Banana Pancakes
    9 hours ago
  • Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills)
    NBC NEWS said what?
    9 hours ago
  • Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude
    oprah's such a fake
    9 hours ago
  • Oh Boy It Never Ends
    JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
    9 hours ago
  • Mikey Likes It!
    Jake Tapper
    9 hours ago
  • Ruth's Report
    Trouble for Huma?
    9 hours ago

  • Trina's Kitchen
    Medicare for all -- it's doable
    9 hours ago 


    • Posted by at
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)