Saturday, October 30, 2021

John Woo

Not doing science tonight, sorry.  


I get to start dating.  My daughter's off in college, my sons are out of the nest.  


I tried dating after my daughter was born.  She was about two at the time.  And I dated a guy who loved movies.  He loved kids too, but he really loved movies.  He was a good guy but he moved from Atlanta to Knoxville because of a job.  He wanted me and my kids to go with him but I just couldn't see that.


Probably a mistake. Regardless, he was a very good guy.


I dated twice after him.  They were not good guys.  They didn't beat me or anything.  But they couldn't handle kids.  And that's why I stopped dating until I was done raising kids.


I bring that up because?


John Woo.  We loved, that first guy I dated, we'll call him Knoxville, John Woo movies.  We loved everything John Woo did.  After Brian de Palma's first MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, we thought John Woo's was the best and I still think that.  


We loved John Woo's ONCE A THIEF (both films -- and we liked the TV series).  We loved BROKEN ARROW, FACE/OFF and PAYCHECK.


So I'm really excited by this news:


A bountiful American Film Market just got even better. Buyers are buzzing about Silent Night, the first U.S. action film in decades to be directed by the iconic Chinese filmmaker John Woo. Joel Kinnaman will star in an film that will tell a loud action tale, without a word of dialogue.

Sources tell Deadline the story is basic, as a normal father heads into the underworld to avenge his young son’s death. The film is in negotiations to be financed by Capstone. John Wick’s Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee, Christian Mercuri and Lori Tilkin are producing and Capstone’s Ruzanna Kegeyan is overseeing with Joe Gatta. Other casting is underway.


That's so great.  And I love Joel Kinnaman (THE KILLING was great).  


This should really be something.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

 Friday, October 29, 2021.  As the myth-based coverage of Moqtada continues from US 'press' outlets, we offer some reality.



Heaven help us, the world deserves better.


You can't follow what passes for commentary without thinking "The world deserves better."  I'm reminded of this with the garbage FOREIGN POLICY has published -- is that redundant?  FP just publishes garbage and has been since around the time of Susan Glasser's brief tenure at the head of the magazine.  It's garbage.  


So they want to weigh in on Iraq and they can't find anyone obviously.  So they go with . . . Anchal Vohra.  Scratching your head?  A lot of us are.  Those of us who know her work certainly are.  But, reality, most people are scratching their heads over "Who?" They'd be right to.


But Anchal's problem for those of us who know her work is she doesn't cover Iraq.  She's a paid journalist.  In three years, she has filed two reports on Iraq -- don't count her b.s. "Syria and Iraq" that is never about Iraq, whether it's her or anyone else, they write about Syria and toss in a tidbit about Iraq.  Anchal does the same with her "Lebanaon and Iraq" coverage.  She's in Beirut and she largely covers Israel. 


She's not an expert on Iraq and it shows.  Over and over.  


And I get it, most people have pulled their staff from Iraq.  You need someone to write a column, what are you going to do? 


Well, I don't know, maybe get an Iraqi journalist in Iraq to write it?  How about that?


It beats bringing on Jane Arraf -- which MSNBC did recently and Ava and I were kind and avoided weighing in on that nonsense.  Jane has no opinion worth sharing.


She's at THE NEW YORK TIMES now.  But you may know her from THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NPR, ALJAZEERA or, most infamously CNN.


She's been in Iraq forever.  Including under CNN. 


If you're thinking, wait, wait, I don't know that name -- you're right.


Because she doesn't break news.


Never.


Ever.


She learned that at CNN.  


As Eason Jordan revealed in April of 2003 ("The News We Kept To Ourselves," NEW YORK TIMES), CNN didn't report from Iraq.  They covered what the Iraqi government (run by Saddam Hussein) wanted covered.  They avoided anything embarrassing (such as reality) because it might get them kicked out of the country.


That's why you don't know Jane Arraf.  She's 'covered' Iraq since the 90s.  And she never saw anything.  


Nothing.


Abu Ghraib?  Nope.  Innocent civilians being killed?  No.


I should be fair.  She did briefly see the deaths of civilians.  Briefly.  When she was new on Twitter.  But those deaths never made it into her print or radio coverage.  Even when she was an eye witness.


Because Jane was trained under "The News We Kept To Ourselves."  


Someone who is now on her fourth decade covering Iraq and she's never had a scoop, never had a memorable piece of journalism.  


That is, by the way, how she keeps getting hired.  They hire her, all these outlets, knowing that she'll churn out boring copy that never informs so it never alienates.  She takes up space and let's them check off 'covered' on their list.

Back to Anchal.  At FOREIGN POLICY, she pens the non-thought piece (a musing? fan fiction?) entitled "Muqtada al-Sadr is the United States' best hope in Iraq."


Iraq is a land of orphans and widows.  The war continues and will hit the 19th anniversary mark next March.  The media age in Iraq is 21-years-old.    By way of contrast, in the US, the median age is 38.1-years-old.  Why the stark difference?  Because the war killed over a million people.  Because it turned the country into a land of orphans and widows.


And yet Anchal's writing about the Iraq election from the stand point of . . . the US?


Never accuse most journalists of having a sense of purpose -- the vast majority don't even provide context today.  


FOREIGN POLICY pretends it informs readers -- but informing readers requires telling them what's happening, not shaping articles to suit policy -- that's called propaganda at worst and press releases at best.  Thanks, Anchal, for making it clear that there is no informing from FP, just indoctrination.  


Let's move over to Brooking to quote from a new piece by Ranj Alaaldin:


Muqtada al-Sadr’s victory is an example of strategic acumen within a movement that continues its transition from insurgency to government, propelled by a yearning for respite and leadership, and by rampant destitution within Iraqi society. Almost 32% of Iraq’s population could soon be impoverished. But it is precisely this despair that has resulted in the emergence of a protest movement that considers Sadr and his militia to be part of the problem, and complicit in the bloodshed that has engulfed the country, including violence against protesters. In its electoral debut, the bloc representing the protesters, Imtidad, secured 10 seats out of 329, a remarkable feat for a movement that is subjected to systemic assassinations and contested the elections amid unprecedented voter apathy.


In that one paragraph, Rani presents more reality than Anchal does in her entire essay.


The clear choice in Iraq was Moqtada, Anchal lies.  No, dear, with at least 52% of voters sitting out the election, the clear choice was something other than what is being offered.  


As for the claim that Moqtada was a choice over the militias, what world do you live in?


Firsly, we've got the reality that the militias were disenfranchised since most could not vote (the bulk of the militia members were excluded from early voting on October 7th by a 'ruling' from the electoral commission and the bulk of the militias were deployed on October 10th to provide security -- October 10th being the election day).  That claim keeps getting made and it's not accurate.  


I loathe the militias and, had this been a fair election and the turnout the same, I'd be the first to trumpet this as reality.  But it's not reality.  And even to me, someone who loathes the militias, it's obvious that the militias were disenfranchised (and this may have been done on behalf of the US government, two US State Dept friends turn strangely coy on the topic while a third tells me I'm on the right track).

Secondly, Moqtada has his goon squad.  He is not apart from the militias.  He's a bit of an egomaniac who can't get along with others.  What>  You thought he was just Iraq's version of Richard Simmons in a large caftan?


Thirdly, huh?


Moqtada wasn't on the ballot.  NOr is it his political party that won all the seats that they apparently did -- final results are still not in.  


Iraq election body soon to announce final results after recount


Are we forgetting that the same empty-minded press covered Moqtada not participating in the election?  


It wasn't news.  We noted here that a member of his political party e-mailed to correct that coverage.  The members were still running whether Moqtada was boycotting the election or not.  They had already filed their paperwork.  


Moqtada wasn't a candidate.  He's never been.  When he said he was boycotting, that was not pulling his party or members of the alliance he's strung together.  That was he wasn't going to vote and was calling on others not to.  And then the US government used our tax dollars to buy him off in August and Moqtada came out in favor of the elections.


That's not the first time that Moqtada's received a gift from the US.


His supposed anti-American position is not as strong as it once was.  It's hard to bite the hand that feeds you.


Anchal gushes -- did she mistake FOREIGN POLICY for TEEN BEAT? next up, "Moqtada Shares the 10 hottest things about men!" -- that only Moqtada can bring Iraq "the sort of change the country needs."


Strange, he's not at one with the protesters.  No, he declared war on The October Revolution.  After this movement started in the fall o 2019, Moqtada leapt onto the bandwagon once he saw how popular it was.  But Moqtada is always about Moqtada.  And the protesters -- Shi'ites, just like Moqtada is -- weren't going to take orders from any political elite.  So, within four months, Moqtada was publicly attacking them (and his goons were attacking them with more than words).  Then he saw the backlash and tried to hop back on board then hopped back off.  And then? He got permanently shoved aside.


Why?


Motada attacked the girls and women participating.  And he stated that they should not be allowed to protest with me.


See, Moqtada's all about the men.  Moqtada's only happy when he's around men.  Make of that what you will (and many do) or just le that closet door remain closed, it's your choice. (Or put Moronic Mars on the case of Knock Down That Closet Door, Mary.)


The October Revolution wasn't having it.


And they mocked him.  They didn't just call him out.  They mocked him.  And Iraqi Shi'ites saw this and it just made the movement even more popular.  


Moqtada can't make the changes necessary when he opposes them.


That's for starters.  Second, he's not going to be prime minister.  


He may -- or may not -- be a 'kingmaker' but that won't put him in the seat of power.

And the kingmaker . . .


I don't feel like redoing it, let's just grab two Saturdays ago and re-post:

---------

If you need to reach is 163, then 73 isn't really that close

Coming on two weeks after the election, Iraq still struggles and still has no prime minister or even a prime minister-designate.  Yet we are all supposed to pretend.  Which is how we get dreck like Thomas O'Falk (ALJAZEERA) report:

Muqtada al-Sadr remains one of Iraq’s most influential political figures and plays a pivotal role when it comes to the country’s future. He is currently considered the kingmaker, but it remains unclear if he can form a government with stability.

In the latest elections, al-Sadr’s party obtained 70 of a total of 329 parliamentary seats – a significant increase compared with the result of 2018, when his movement won 54 seats.

Despite this election result, al-Sadr did not run as a candidate for Iraq’s prime ministership.

The reason is relatively simple and founded in al-Sadr’s political strategy, Ruba Ali Al-Hassani, postdoctoral researcher at Lancaster University & Project SEPAD, told Al Jazeera.


Moqtada is a kingmaker?


He may become one.  At present?  He's not.  He's part of a stalled system.  And while Moqtada dithers and is unable to pull together an alliance, you better believe Nouri al-Maliki is working on putting together an alliance.  Or did we all forget 2010?


Nouri's State of Law bloc came in second to Moqtada's bloc.  Do we really think what happened in 2010 can't happen again?  Or are we just ignorant of recent history?  Or maybe we just discount Nouri's drive?  If it's the latter, we're wrong to do so.


It's amazing how little attention is being given to Nouri.  AL-MONITOR is one of the few outlets to emphasize the success Nouri had in this election:


Political parties affiliated with Iraqi militias faced significant defeat, while their ally Nouri al-Maliki earned a remarkable victory al-monitor.com/originals/2021


At the US government funded Carnegie Endowment for Peace, Harith Hasan writes:


On the one hand, mainstream parties such as those of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, the speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi, and the former president of the Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani, appeared to be the main winners. On the other hand, there was more room for independents and newcomers to win a greater number of seats in the latest elections than during any of the previous elections, and they actually would have won more had the turnout been higher.


I believe that last sentence should be ''they actually MIGHT have won more had the turnout been higher."  Or has Carnegie dumped analysis for psychic readings?  Is this Carnegie Endowment or Carnac The Magnificent's Endowment For Peace?






More problems, Harith writes:


Election results have shown a considerable shift in the balance of power in favor of two competitors—Sadr and Maliki. If anything, Sadr’s gains—projected to be 72–75 seats—reflect his having an organized party. It is not that Sadr’s base has expanded significantly; the opposite may be true given that the total votes he received in this election appear to be less than what he received in the previous one. But the Sadrist movement has turned itself into an effective electoral machine, skillfully taking advantage of the new electoral system and fully using its voting power. The Sadrists were also helped by the low turnout, well-managed coordination between different levels of their organization, and the clarity of their political identity.


No, Moqtada does not have "an organized party."  Only one political party got more than 30 seats and that was the KDP (Massoud Barzani is the leader of that political party which is based in the Kurdistan).  


Hasan writes:


The other good performer among Shia voters was Maliki, who is projected to win 35–37 seats, after winning 25 in the last election. While there is a large gap between him and Sadr in terms of seats, the fact that he outperformed Fateh, an alliance of Iran-allied groups and paramilitaries that won 48 seats in the previous election, surprised many observers. Fateh is projected to win about 20 seats this time, and it appears that Maliki picked up most of those the alliance lost. Indeed, the power gained by Fateh and allied paramilitaries after 2014 was in part the outcome of the fragmentation of the coalition Maliki had formed when he was a prime minister.

Maliki’s fortunes have now been revived because he fielded strong candidates and appealed to Shia voters who associate him with a strong Shia-leaning state rather than one dominated by militias. The former prime minister also attracted votes from social categories that benefited from his government’s lavish spending on employment and patronage when oil prices were at their highest.

The first reaction to Sadr’s large win was the decision of the losers, led by Iran-allied groups, to rally around Maliki. But this time it is the former prime minister who is in the driver’s seat. Simultaneously, Fateh rejected the election results due to suspected voting irregularities, and allied armed groups threatened to intervene. The escalation in their rhetoric could quickly deteriorate into street clashes or armed conflict with Sadr’s supporters. More likely, this escalation, perhaps accompanied by limited confrontations, is intended to force Sadr to accept a power-sharing agreement with an alliance that includes his Shia rivals. Ultimately, among the main aims of Fateh-linked groups is to ensure the continuation of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella of paramilitary groups led by Iran-linked militias, the continuation, also, of the pro-Iran groups’ influence over key leadership positions within the PMF, and limited governmental oversight over the PMF.


Moqtada does not have enough seats by himself currently to be declared prime minister-designate.  Some of what passes for 'reporting' in western outlets is not reporting and it is not factual.


As for Nouri's 'new' 'fortunes' and the surprise so many have over them?  Nouri's a thug and we've long noted that here.  Didn't stop us from noting last spring that his image was on the rise and that he would likely do very well in these elections.  You're only surprised and see this as a new development if you're surprised and weren't paying attention.  Mustafa has been a disaster for the Iraqi people.  This, in turn, has made a lot more look fondly on Nouri than had previously.


That is not an endorsement from me for Nouri al-Maliki.  A) I don't vote in Iraq.  B) I don't care for Nouri al-Maliki.  


However, noting that support was again building for Nouri was noting what was happening -- not what I wanted to happen, not what predicted would happen but what was actually happening.


It's a shame that so many outlets in the west are surprised by Nouri's victories.  It's a shame because it underscores how useless and uninformed so much of their work in 2021 has been when it comes to Iraq.


This lavish praise for Moqtada -- like the earlier lavish praise for Mustafa -- is unwarranted and not at all factual.


73 seats?


Hmm.


That might mean something if you needed 74 seats in Parliament to be declared the prime minister-designate.  


But, missing from all the hagiographic pieces the western media's filing on Moqtada, the reality is that you need 163 seats.


73 is a long way from 163.


And two weeks on yet Moqtada still appears to struggle forming deals, partnerships and alliances.  They missed reality ahead of the election and now, after the election, the same outlets still struggle to comprehend reality.  Moqtada may indeed end up pulling off the hat trick.  However, at his present, not only has he not done so, he's shown no indication that he has the ability to do so.

---------


End of repost.


Get it?


73 is not 163 and Moqtada is having a very difficult time assembling support.  


The militias -- the ones furious with Moqtada -- have met with Nouri al-Maliki.


I said he would ty to assemble a coalition and he is.  That's what last weekend was all about for any who paid attention.  


73 is a long way away from 163 -- especially when you're as polarizing as Moqtada has been.


He may end up a kingmaker.  He may not.  But the media keeps lying that he is already one and they're not paying attention to the other things going on.  



 



The following sites updated:





Thursday, October 28, 2021

Science grab bag

Just a science grab bag tonight Tariq Malek (SPACE) reports:



A major solar flare erupted from the sun on Thursday (Oct. 28) in the strongest storm yet of our star's current weather cycle.
The sun fired off an X1-class solar flare, its most powerful kind of flare, that peaked at 11:35 a.m. EDT (1535 GMT), according to an alert from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), which tracks space weather events.
The flare caused a temporary, but strong, radio blackout across the sunlit side of Earth centered on South America, the group wrote in an statement. NASA officials called the solar eruption a "significant solar flare," adding that it was captured in real-time video by the space agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory.


Wow. Wonder what the next big one will be? Wonder also what else is out there? Turns out, maybe another planet. Zoe Christen Jones (CBS NEWS) reports:



NASA says a group of scientists may have discovered signs of a new planet beyond the Milky Way. The potential discovery could be the first-ever planet found in another galaxy.
The potential planet, which is unnamed and roughly the size of Saturn, was spotted in the spiral galaxy Messier 51, or what's known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, about 28 million lightyears away from the Earth, according to NASA.
Researchers made the discovery with a NASA telescope, called the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and by using a new technique to search for planets known as the X-ray transit method. Exoplanets, which NASA defines as planets outside of our solar system, are difficult for astronomers to detect.


If true, that would be so cool. But this next item, from AP, isn't cool at all:



U.S. health officials have changed their definition of lead poisoning in young children — a move expected to more than double the number of kids with worrisome levels of the toxic metal in their blood.
The more stringent standard announced Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention means the number of children ages 1 to 5 considered to have high blood lead levels will grow from about 200,000 to about 500,000.
Some experts think the change was overdue. The CDC last changed the definition nine years ago and pledged to consider an update every four years. But work on a revision hit obstacles during the Trump administration, said Patrick Breysse, who heads the CDC's National Center for Environmental Health.
Children can be exposed to lead through bits of old paint, contaminated dust, and — in some cities — drinking water that passes through lead pipes. The metal accumulates in the body, and at very high levels it can damage organs and cause seizures.


There's no excuse for that. None at all. The government has failed us yet again.

 


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, October 28, 2021.  Still waiting on election results . . .




Let's start with this video report from ALJAZEERA.



Iraq voted October 10th.  It's October 28th.  The final count?  Still waiting.


Ooh, I'm waiting
Ooh, still waiting
I'm just a fool
Ooh, I'm a fool
I'm just a fool to keep waiting
To keep waiting
-- "I'm Still Waiting," written by Deke Richards, recorded by Diana Ross for her EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING album (and a number one hit in the United Kingdom)

Still waiting.  At this rate, we'll be listening to Diana's long awaited studio album THANK YOU (drops November 5th) before the final results of Iraq's election are in.


For any who've forgotten, Iraq's electoral commission made a point to make a promise -- one no one was asking for -- that they'd have the votes all counted and the tallies released . . . October 11th.  It's now October 28th.  Still waiting. 

The recount taking place right now is focusing on 300 ballot boxes.  Should any significant differences be found, it would trigger a much wider recount.  


Still on the elections, BAS NEWS Tweets:

Protests continue in the Iraqi capital to reject the results of the parliamentary election held on October 10, media reports said. #Iraq | #Baghdad | #IraqElection2021

The results, or 'results,' are contested at this point.



Iraq’s next elected officials in Nineveh aim to present a unified front in parliament that represents the Sunni governorate, a member of the Taqadum Coalition told Rudaw on Tuesday.

“We will try to unify the vision of Nineveh candidates this time so that we go to the Iraqi parliament as a strong Nineveh parliamentary lobby” with a single vision, Muzahim al-Khayat said at an interview with Rudaw’s Bestoon Khalid on the sidelines of the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) forum in Erbil.

The coalition aspires and seeks to build an “institutional civil administration” in all its sectors in Nineveh, he added.

Iraqis headed to the polls in an early vote on October 10. The election was held in response to Tishreen (October) 2019 protests complaining of corruption and ineptitude among the ruling class and political system. Turnout was a record-low 41 percent, reflecting voter disillusionment and mistrust in the country’s political system.


Mosul is the capital of Nineveh.  Mosul is among the cities seized by ISIS in 2014.  It was occupied by the terrorist organization for years before they lost their hold on it.  ISIS was not, however, vanquished from Iraq.  From yesterday's snapshot:


Starting in Iraq, REUTERS reports, "Islamic State militants killed 11 people including a woman on Tuesday in an attack on a village in Diyala province, east of Iraq, the country's Joint Operations Command said in a statement."  Is it ISIS?  It may be.  ISIS has never been vanquished.  And the reasons ISIS took root in Iraq were never addressed.  If the issues continue to go unaddressed, ISIS will actually grow stronger.  AFP notes, "The attack on Al-Rashad in Diyala province left "11 dead and 13 wounded", a local security source said."  In a Tweet, Barham Salih, president of Iraq, states this was a cowardly attack   He calls for stronger borders and backing of the security forces.



Hundreds of villagers have fled their homes in Iraq’s eastern Diyala province amid rising fears of another violent sectarian conflict breaking out there following an Islamic State (ISIS) attack earlier this week. 

On Tuesday night, ISIS attacked the al-Rashad village in Sharaban (Muqdadiya) town in Diyala, killing 15 civilians and wounding many others. 

Al-Rashad’s population is primarily Shiite Muslim. Reports indicated that local villagers took up arms and attacked the nearby Sunni-majority village of Nahr al-Imam in retaliation the following day. They reportedly killed a dozen people and set fire to houses. 





The attacks come despite the fact that Iraq has been actively arresting IS leaders over the last few months. The deputy leader of IS, the group's finance chief and many other prominent commanders are among those killed or arrested by the government.

After the Diyala attack, tribal men from the victims' families attacked the nearby Sunni village of Nahr Al-Imam, accusing them of betrayal and siding with IS.

According to security officials who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, approximately 3,000 fighters from the Bani Tamim tribe (from which the victims hail), supported by Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), surrounded the village of Nahr Al-Imam from all sides. They also destroyed and burned villagers' gardens and houses with bulldozers.

Many villagers escaped from the area and called on the government to protect them. Some were able to seek refuge in the mosques of Baquba, the capital city of Diyala, leaving all their belongings behind. This could lead the Sunni tribes to retaliate against Bani Tamim members and eventually to a tribal conflict within the Diyala province.

 
The militias are now part of the government security forces.  Were they acting on the orders of the Baghdad-based government?  (No, they weren't.)  When does the punishment come for this action?  When does someone show leadership and not cowardice?  The militias never should have been folded into the security forces.  Never.  But they were.  They better be broguht to heel or forget a better Iraq.  

Clearly, Mustafa al-Kahdimi can't control them and is too scared to try.  (Not after they circled his home last spring.)  He's a coward.  And now the militias openly attack a village and nothing will be done.

Let's note this Tweet:

The US & International community are silent on the ethnic&sectarian cleansing in Iraq . Bader militias and Iranian backed militias committed crimes against Sunnis in Diayla today.They are desperate after the poor results in the election&creating chaos to justify Hashed presence!
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The US & International community are silent on the ethnic&sectarian cleansing in Iraq . Bader militias and Iranian backed militias committed crimes against Sunnis in Diayla today.They are desperate after the poor results in the election&creating chaos to justify Hashed presence!
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And this one.

Almost all civilians from Alimam village - Muqdadyia, Diayla fled their village to seek refuge in the surrounding villages. They are hosted in mosques and schools etc . Hadi AlAmiri and Qassim AlAaraji visited the aftermath of the attacks but did nothing the stop them.
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Terrorist organizations carry out terror -- hence, the name.  The security forces are not supposed to do the same.  A line was long ago crossed and the world doesn't want to acknowledge it apparently.  So the suffering continues and does so with a global shrug.  

US forces do not need to be on the ground in Iraq supporting a government who allows its own security forces to terrorize a village.



 Turning to the US, where was Fauci?  NEWSWEEK reports:

A homeless Iraq War veteran's service dog was allegedly tased by police while her owner was being arrested for panhandling, leading to a series of events that ended in the dog's death.

Gastonia, North Carolina police officers encountered veteran Joshua Rohrer and his dog Sunshine, who was trained to help him cope with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his time in the Army National Guard, after responding to a call about alleged panhandling.



Witnesses told WCNC in Charlotte that police officers got violent with Rohrer shortly after arriving at a median on October 13 where the veteran and his dog were seated.

“The cop demanded his identification,” stated witness Justyn Huffman. “He couldn’t move fast enough, so he reached into his pocket for his ID. He was slammed against the automobile. He was placed in handcuffs.” Sunshine, according to Huffman and two other witnesses, jumped into action and bit one of the officer’s boots. Sunshine was allegedly hit with a stun gun by an officer, leading her to flee with one of the prongs still attached to her body.

“‘Don’t shoot the dog!’ we’re yelling from the rooftops. ‘Don’t shoot the dog,’ says the narrator “Huffman stated. “‘My dog! My dog!’ exclaimed [Rohrer]. They dragged him behind the police car and slammed him down on the pavement.” The 911 call that led to the confrontation was made public by police. A lady can be heard on the conversation asking if it’s “legal for an adult to be standing on the junction with a dog asking for money,” claiming that the scenario is “bullcrap,” and accusing Rohrer of “using the dog to gain money.” Rohrer, who fought in Iraq and Kuwait from 2004 to 2005, told Military Times that he was not panhandling but had accepted money without asking for it. He claimed that the police confronted him and arrested him “aggressively.”


I'm confused.  Homeless veterans?  Barack Obama pledged to end homelessness among veterans and we have a working press in hte US.  Surely, if he broke that promise, the press would have held him accountable, right?

(Wrong.  They made excuses as they always did.)



The following sites updated: