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

Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Mercury

Mercury, the forgotten planet. To me anyway. I was always obsessed with – in this order – Saturn, Mars, the Moon and now non-planet Pluto. But I am really glad the we are going to explore Mercury. METRO reports:

Humans will soon get a closer look at Mercury – and this is the spacecraft that’s helping us to further understand our solar system. BepiColombo will experience blistering temperatures exceeding 350C when it begins its seven-year journey to the planet later this year.

It is hoped that its mission will provide researchers with new data about the planet, which remains relatively unexplored despite being among earth’s closest neighbours. While the real BepiColombo is being readied for its mission, this near exact replica, standing at more than 6ft tall, is now on display in the Science Museum in London.

THE LONDONIST adds:

This mighty, metallic beast is called BepiColombo, and it's now on show at the Science Museum.
The space probe stands over six metres (20 feet) tall — loftier than just about anything else in the museum's Wellcome Wing.
BepiColombo will launch towards Mercury in October 2018. The machine standing in the Science Museum is an exact engineering replica — used to stress test the probe's systems. Visitors can get a close look at its workings, and learn more about the tiny planet it will explore.

That’s pretty cool.

Again, science was always my favorite subject in school but, goodness, so much more happens today than we had when I was in school.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Wednesday, May 16, 2018. Moqtada and the KDP are among the big winners in the national elections.

Reminder, the election results suggest the big winner was Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr.

‏Verified account @AJEnglish

With over half the votes counted, powerful Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has emerged as the leading contender in the Iraq elections aje.io/drn3n

6 replies64 retweets56 likes

The results seem to have surprised many.

AB‏ @ranaA3939 May 13

Replying to @htTweets

Strange! Firebrand Iraqi Moqtada al-Sadr formed the Mahdi Army in 2003 which was responsible for bloodshed on the streets on Basra and the shooting down of coalition planes.
He ordered killing of British n US army in Iraq. Now he might be the PM of Iraq.

2 replies1 retweet

Moqtada al-Sadr’s militia killed 2 of my soldiers and maimed others back in 2007.  Now it looks like he’s won Iraq’s latest election. This is The inherent risk of imposed democracy.
This is why we need to #SayNo to the next regime change!!

5 replies18 retweets27 likes

The results certainly surprised who wrote a 13 paragraph 'analysis' of the upcoming vote as Iraqis headed to the polls -- a 13 paragraph write up that didn't note Moqtada until the 13th and final paragrah.

Meanwhile SPUTNIK posts a piece insisting that the results of the election are a victory for Iran. However, AL-MONITOR, looking at the same results, notes the coverage in Iranian media which does not embrace the narrative the Iran won in the elections:

The Reformist Shargh newspaper wrote that the surprising results of the Iraqi elections may signal a greater Saudi influence in Baghdad.

“The recent proximity of Muqtada al-Sadr to Saudi Arabia has led the Sairoon Alliance to be partly considered as a group backed by the Saudis and … to some extent means greater influence of Saudi Arabia [in Iraq] compared to its regional rivals,” wrote Shargh on May 15, adding, “Sadr's supporters are opposed to Iranian influence and are vehemently anti-American.”

Describing Abadi as a figure who has the support of both Iran and the United States, Shargh wrote, “Even though Abadi achieved significant domestic and international success through the victory over Daesh [Islamic State], he failed to overcome economic problems, and this caused him not to achieve the results he expected in this election.”

Explaining the factors behind Sadr’s victory, the Reformist daily noted, “Muqtada al-Sadr, who has lately shifted his policies and turned to Riyadh, took advantage of combating corruption in his competition with his rivals and also maintained his own traditional supporters. … Now he can form the biggest Shiite electoral coalition and play a key and strategic role in electing the [next] prime minister.”

Moreover, Qasem Mohebali, former director-general of political affairs of the Middle East in Iran's Foreign Ministry, told the moderate Entekhab news site on May 15, “Perhaps the reason for [Sairoon] Alliance’s attraction for the Iraqi people was Muqtada al-Sadr's nationalist slogans like ‘Arab Iraq.’ On the other hand, the corruption of the previous governments was also impactful in turning people away [from the other groups].”

Meanwhile, conservative Tasnim News Agency reported on May 15 that Sadr is seeking to reach a coalition with Ammar al-Hakim's Hikma (National Wisdom Movement) and Iyad Allawi’s Iraqi National Alliance Coalition to form a “technocrat” government.

Jonathan Steele (MIDDLE EAST EYE) notes:

Sadr's alliance with the Communists is being described in much media and diplomatic analysis this week as "surprising". But its strength has been clear for a long time. In an interview with me last year - one of his rare encounters with a foreign journalist - Sadr outlined the positions that became the bedrock of his electoral campaign, along with candidates for the Communists and other secular groups: a strict clampdown on corruption, an end to sectarian quotas in handing out government jobs, the disbanding of all militias and their merging with the Iraqi national army, no intervention by Iraqi forces or militias across the border into Syria, and reconciliation between Shia and Sunni religious, political and community leaders.

Iran and the US

He even dared to say that once IS had been defeated, he wanted Iranian forces and the Americans to leave Iraq. While he called the Americans "invaders", he was diplomatic enough to call the Iranians "friendly forces" - but his message that both sides should leave Iraq was bold. It went well beyond anything that Abadi or Ameri would say or want.

No wonder that Tehran has publicly declared it will not allow Sadr to take power or play the decisive role in the government that will be formed after this weekend’s elections. "We will not allow liberals and communists to govern in Iraq," Ali Akbar Velayati, the senior adviser on foreign affairs to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in February.

Joyce Karam (THE NATIONAL) observes, "The main loser from the Sadrists’ comeback could be former prime minister Mr Al Maliki. Back in 2012, Mr Al Sadr formed an alliance with Ayad Allawi in an attempt to overthrow the then prime minister and Mr Al Sadr's Mahdi Army fought a war with Iraqi security forces under Mr Al Maliki in 2008." Just how unpopular Nouri al-Maliki is was certainly revealed in the outcome. The US puppet was installed by the US government twice -- 2006 and 2010 -- despite never winning an election. In fact, the 2010 results were overturned by then-US President Barack Obama when Nouri lost. (The US negotiated Erbil Agreement gave Nouri a second term in 2010 after the voters refused to.) More than any other politician in Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki has become the symbol of corruption. And corruption -- as real polling demonstrated in the lead up to the election -- consistently ranked as either the first or second most important issue among likely Iraqi voters. Nouri even tried to align himself with the militias (PMF) in the hopes that this would help him win votes. It did not happen.

Hayder al-Abadi, Iraq's current prime minister, ran on "I defeated ISIS, all by my short, fat self." And that wasn't enough for him to win. He appears to have come in a distant third. Worst of all, he came in fifth in Baghdad. Fifth. That's a rejection of Hayder. He came into office in 2014 (installed by the US) insisting that he would fight corruption. But he never did. He also, in October of 2014, announced that the Iraqi military would stop shelling civilian homes in Anbar Province but that didn't happen either. Nothing happened on Hayder's watch that he could brag about.

B-b-b-ut he defeated ISIS!

No, he didn't. ISIS remains active in Iraq. ISIS has a brief morphing in Iraq where they were able to hold territory (such as Mosul) but that wasn't ISIS's original goal. Their goal is to inflict terrorism via violence. They continue to pursue that goal and, despite Hayder's claims to the contrary, ISIS continues to be successful in achieving their goal of terror.

Hayder misread the room and thought his empty boasts would be enough when they were only meaningless words from a politician that had already made many promises but achieved nothing.

The US State Dept is starting a whisper campaign that Moqtada will side with Hayder so Hayder can have a second term -- that is what the US government wants. But there's no indication that this is what Moqtada would want or support. Watch the press to see who presents that US government created rumor as word that's supposedly developing in Iraq -- it's not brewing in Iraq. They hope they can plant it in Iraq and have it pick up speed but it's a US created rumor with no current basis in fact.

Moqtada's win is news.

But another win that took place is news as well.

‏ @RebasaBarzani

KDP, the heart of Kurdish nationalism.

KDP has won with majority of votes in Kurdistan Region. KDP also got most votes in Iraq as a single party, while all others are alliances. 

KDP will always be number one in KRI, because of Hewlêr. President Barzani always proud of Hewlêr. 

0:09

739 views

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The KRG. The KDP. You may remember that it was over for the Barzanis and the KDP. That is what all the US gas bags told us. In September Massoud Barzani, then-KRG president, delivered on the promise to let the Kurds have a say about what they wanted for their future. A non-binding referendum was held asking the Kurds whether they wished to remain a part of Iraq or to go from semi-independent to fully independent. Over 92% of the voters voted for full independence.

This surprised some gas bags in the US -- demonstrating just how deeply stupid they were.

The response after the non-binding referendum was to attack Barzani and swear that the KDP had slit their own wrists and that it was over for them -- US gas bags had that response.

In what world?

As we pointed out repeatedly, this was something the Kurds wanted -- to vote on this -- and the vote demonstrated that they wanted independence (which everyone in the world should have already known).

Baghdad retaliated against the Kurds. And the US gas bags then gassed that this was part of the proof that it was over for the KDP. No. As we noted, the attacks from outside would only bind the KDP closer to the average Kurd. And it did.

As we wind down, let's note

Stars and Stripes‏Verified account @starsandstripes 1 hour ago

For newly-engaged Cillia Edwards, being deployed to Iraq  meant she’d have to say yes to the dress from an online store and that her fitting would be with the on-post tailor in Erbil stripes.com/news/bride-to-… via @DRauda_Stripes

2 retweets11 likes

The following community sites updated:

Thomas Friedman is a Great Man

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

More on Kanye

I stand by my defense of Kanye West and that Black people need to talk ("Good for Kanye") – among ourselves in the larger society about what it means and who we are.

Some people have other ideas. Some I disagree with. Some I am appalled by.

I disagree with one but I do see the points being made. Nick Barrickman (WSWS) offers:

Contrary to this racialist nonsense, why should it surprise anyone that West, a man possessed of a reported net worth of over $145 million (and whose wife Kim Kardashian has her own net worth of $150-$175 million and “has monetized fame better than any other,” according to Forbes), is self-absorbed and out of touch with social reality?
Like many other contemporary performers, hip hop or otherwise, West has been praised far out of proportion to his merits. Claims as to his being the 21st century’s ”most important artist of any art form, of any genre” were simply absurd. Such commentary is merely the crass worship of money and success in the guise of music criticism.
Despite the current denunciations of West coming from nearly every quarter, few have seen it fit to hold the rapper’s musical output up for criticism. The general tone of the commentary remains reverential in regard to West’s “musical genius,” merely regretting the recent turn he has taken in his political views.
West’s statements and actions are thoroughly in keeping with his musical persona. In reviewing 2013’s single “New Slaves,” the WSWS suggested that “derisive laughter might be the most fitting response” to West’s self-pitying claim of being oppressed by over-zealous jewelry salesmen. On “Blood on the Leaves,” a song that lifts substantial portions of a well-known rendition of the anti-lynching song “Strange Fruit,” West complains about his inability to obtain preferred seating at a professional sports game due to fear of being seen by an ex-girlfriend (a dilemma he compares to South African apartheid)!
In any event, as noted, there is immense dishonesty in the comments of various media commentators, who are primarily angered that West has temporarily ditched the Democratic Party and identity politics. West, for example, tweeted recently, “Obama was in office for eight years and nothing in Chicago changed.” His embrace of Trump notwithstanding, the comment is quite accurate.
African American journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates leads the parade of outraged hypocrites. Coates’ sycophancy toward Barack Obama while in office became something of a legend. Recently, in a pretentious, rambling, empty article in the Atlantic, he decried West’s cozying up to Trump, as though there were anything to prefer in his own abject toadying to the previous resident of the White House.
Coates’s reactionary claim is that West aspires to be white: “West calls his struggle the right to be a ‘free thinker,’ and he is, indeed, championing a kind of freedom—a white freedom, freedom without consequence… freedom to be proud and ignorant; freedom to profit off a people in one moment and abandon them in the next… a conqueror’s freedom, freedom of the strong built on antipathy or indifference to the weak.”
Who is Coates, a well-heeled media figure, to posture as a defender of “the weak”? In 2016, Coates penned an unabashed love letter to Barack Obama, proclaiming the president of drone assassination, Wall Street bailouts, budget cutting, unlimited spying and police militarization as “the best of black people, the ultimate credit to the race, incomparable in elegance and bearing.”

So there's that.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Tuesday, May 15, 2018. All the votes have still not been counted and released but it appears that Moqtada al-Sadr has maintained his lead.

Saturday, Iraq held elections and terms like "shocking" have been tossed around ever since. Simon Tisdall (GUARDIAN) explains:

The unexpectedly poor showing of Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s prime minister, in parliamentary elections has dealt a blow to US influence in the country. It was a poor return for American backing for the Baghdad government’s drive to extirpate Islamic State and regain lost territory.
But the bigger loser may be Iran, whose allies in Iraq’s Shia militias known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces were pushed into second place by Moqtada al-Sadr, the veteran nationalist. Put simply, Sadr believes Iraqis should run Iraqi affairs – not Washington, not Tehran and not their proxies.

‏Verified account @Joyce_Karam

#Iraq Elections Results so far:
•Muqatada Sadr 54
•PMF 44
•Abadi 39
•Maliki 25
•Allawi 22
Absentee, military, displaced votes, not out yet. In another hour

4 replies62 retweets45 likes

So far? Elections were Saturday. Sunday was one day after, Monday was two days after and today is three days after. Remember the hype that the electronic machines used in the voting would mean that the results were known in two days. Tom Barnes (INDEPENDENT) notes, "The country's electoral commission released results for 10 of the 19 provinces on Sunday evening, but has given no indication as to when more returns would be announced."

And after Moqtada, who came in second? CBS and AP note:

An alliance of candidates linked to Iraq's powerful Shiite paramilitary groups was in second. The alliance is headed by Hadi al-Amiri, a former minister of transport with close ties to Iran who became a senior commander of paramilitary fighters in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist group.

From last night's THE NEWSHOUR (PBS):

Nick Schifrin:
In second place, the Iranian-backed Hadi Al-Amiri, and in third place, the U.S.-backed current Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi. In a national address, Al-Abadi called on Iraqis to respect the results.

Haider Al-Abadi (through translator):
We are ready to work and cooperate on forming the strongest government for Iraq, free of corruption, hateful confessionalism and unsubjected to a foreign agenda, a government which is capable of preventing a return of terrorism and keeping the country away from sliding into marginal conflicts.

Nick Schifrin:
For four years, Iraq’s been fighting ISIS, but the vote was remarkably peaceful, and defined by bread and butter issues. Iraqi unemployment is soaring.
The country needs $80 billion of reconstruction. Two million, mostly Sunnis, are displaced. But turnout was low, and skepticism high. Some Baghdad residents are skeptical this political upset can upset a corrupt system.

Government of Iraq‏Verified account @IraqiGovt 6m6 minutes ago

Iraqi families are at the heart of building an inclusive & peaceful Iraq   #InternationalDayofFamilies

0 replies0 retweets0 likes

What does the future hold? No one knows but many are guessing.

‏Verified account @vali_nasr

Abadi will likely lose leadership of his own party to Maleki, then all three of top leaders (Sadr, Amiri and Maleki) would be opposed to US presence to #Iraq 

0 replies8 retweets6 likes

Nouri al-Maliki in control of the party? That would be Dawa. And without being prime minister, what is his power base? Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Nouri have often been in conflict and al-Jaafari has a real power base. Nouri's base is rather small since he was ousted as prime minister back in 2014. Don't forget the the whisper promises his lackeys had to resort to -- Nouri doesn't want to be prime minister again! -- ahead of the elections as they attempted to gain votes.

Again, al-Jaafari has a base. With Nouri and his history of corruption and abuse, you sort of get the idea he could be knifed in Tahrir Square and no one would seriously pursue an investigation into the crime.

That doesn't mean Nouri couldn't be in charge of Dawa again -- it just means a lot of things would have to break his way.

What is known is that Nouri has no fixed position. He will sell out any belief of any person (remember his own spokesperson who fled the country after Nouri blamed him for the corrupt Russian deal?). So the notion that Nouri is anti-American overlooks the reality that (a) he's partnered with the US many times and (b) play on his paranoia or offer him money and he'll do whatever he's told to do.

‏Verified account @AJEnglish

Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr alliance set to win Iraq's elections in remarkable comeback aje.io/my2y2

2 replies15 retweets18 likes

Based upon what is known Moqtada's followers are celebrating.

‏ @HeshmatAlavi

Supporters of Muqtada Sadr in Baghdad celebrating his coalition's victory in #Iraq's recent elections and seen here chanting:
"Iran, out, out (Iran get lost), Baghdad forever free"
#Iran
#IraqElections2018

0:22

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Show this thread

James Cogan (WSWS) offers his analysis of the results which includes the following:

The largest bloc in the parliament, with 54 seats, will be the “Alliance of Revolutionaries for Reform.” This highly unstable grouping is led by the Sadrist movement that follows bourgeois nationalist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the Stalinist Iraqi Communist Party (CP). It won solid support in the working-class suburbs and slums of Baghdad and other major cities.
The bloc is wracked by contradictions. The Iraqi CP, in line with its history of collaboration with imperialism, fully supported the 2003 US invasion and occupation. Sadr’s movement, which has its main base of support in the poorest working-class areas of Baghdad, initially opposed it. In 2004, Sadr called for armed resistance and his Mahdi Army suffered heavy losses in pitched battles with American and British forces in Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Karbala, and other cities in the majority Shiite provinces of Iraq.
Sadr continued to verbally oppose the US occupation on Iraqi nationalist grounds but his movement turned to sectarian violence against Sunni-based forces in 2006. The Mahdi Army was blamed for some of the worst atrocities that forced a large proportion of the Sunni population of Baghdad to flee their homes into segregated cantons. After 2007, the Sadrists largely called off resistance and joined the jockeying for parliamentary power, including by taking ministries in the Shiite-dominated occupation governments at various times.
Sadr formed the alliance with the CP in 2016, based on seeking increased positions and privilege through common denunciations of the appalling poverty that faces the working class. Under conditions of growing US-Iranian tensions, Sadr also ramped up nationalist condemnations of Iran’s influence over the Shiite parties of Iraq, accusing Tehran of seeking to take over the country and its resources.
Outgoing Prime Minister Abadi has indicated he is prepared to hold talks with the Sadrist bloc over the formation of a new regime. Fatah, however, has said it opposes any role in the government for parties like the CP that advance a nominally secular perspective. This stance appears to be intended more to pressure Abadi and other political groupings to exclude the Sadrists and their anti-Iranian position.
It is entirely conceivable that US agencies will respond by encouraging a bloc between Abadi, Maliki and the Sadrists. While Sadr is presented in the establishment media as “anti-American,” he has demonstrated in the past his willingness to collaborate with the US to protect or advance the interests of the layer of the Shiite elite that he represents.

The following community sites -- plus BLACK AGENDA REPORT -- updated: