Saturday, November 13, 2021

A penguin

Have you heard about the penguin?



NPR reports:

A beach in Christchurch, New Zealand, had an unexpected visitor this week — a penguin that had traveled 3,100 miles from its native Antarctica.

The bird is known as an Adélie penguin and is the classic black and white tuxedo-looking one. This instance appears to be only the third time that an Adélie penguin has come up to New Zealand's shores.

The first sighting was a dead penguin found in 1962; a live bird was spotted in 1993. 


THE NEW YORK POST notes,  "Named “Pingu” by charmed locals, he’s just the third Adélie penguin ever found on New Zealand, the BBC reported. The breed lives only on the Antarctic peninsula — at least 1,864 miles away."  Austrailia's ABC adds:

Rescuers were stunned to find the penguin was an Adélie.

Tests revealed that it was underweight and dehydrated and it has since been given fluids and fed via a feeding tube.

Rescuers said Pingu would be released onto a safe beach on Banks Peninsula.

"This beautiful Adelie penguin came all the way from Antarctica," Mr Singh told Newsflare.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

 Friday, November 12, 2021. Still not official results from the October 10th election as tensions remain high.



BBC NEWS notes the tensions in Iraq -- and that these tensions have been going on for weeks, since the October 10th elections.



And, yes, there is still no official, final result for the October 10th elections.  Anna Foster observes in her BBC NEWS report above, "It feels like the next big flashpoint we'll be when those results are finally announced."

"A drone crashed down on his [Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kahdimi] house."


Not quite as alarmist as so many have pimped it -- including Joe Biden.  David Gardner's column for THE FINANCIAL TIMES OF LONDON reads like he was wetting his pants while he wrote it.  Maybe his shaking in fear explains his loose grip on reality?  That would explain nonsense like this:

 

The Iraqi paramilitaries had a good run after the Sunni jihadis of Isis erupted back into Iraq in 2014 and swept aside a national army hollowed out by corruption and sectarianism despite billions of dollars in US aid and training. They joined up with the more than 100,000-strong Popular Mobilisation Forces, blessed by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s spiritual leader, as Isis pressed south towards Baghdad and the Shia shrine cities of Najaf and Kerbala. They claimed credit for halting the jihadist drive and for later seizing back disputed territory from Iraq’s self-ruling Kurds. But they did not dissolve their power structures, even taking control of the PMF as successive governments struggled to rein them in.


I'm sorry, what?  You're going by the disgraced NEW YORK TIMES journalist who was eating with the militias, being taken home to their parents home and supposedly putting out for them while she was raving over them in that paper of misrecord.


Other than her crazy ravings -- that we called out in real time (while others were praising her lies -- that reality doesn't exist.


Mosul.  Not a success story but let's pretend it is.  What drove ISIS out?  The same people that let them escape to Syria.  The US government.  


If you don't get that, maybe stay out of the conversation.


Mosul is in ruins -- physically in ruins.


From ISIS?


No.


From the militias?


No.


From the Iraqi military?


No.


From US war planes that bombed Mosul repeatedly.  Those bombings -- and the offer of passage to Syria -- is what led ISIS to finally leave Mosul. 


I'm sorry did Rukmini con you on that too?  THE NEW YORK TIMES removed her from the beat because of her lies.  She was reassigned (finally) to education.  Check out her Twitter feed and you'd never know it.  It's hilarious to read that feed for a 'reporter' who is supposedly covering US education.  


Mosul is in ruins and it is in ruins because it was bombed over and over and over.  That was US war planes.  The argument is that they were driving ISIS out.  ISIS occupied Mosul, they seized control of the city in 2014.  In June of 2015, in July of 2016 it's declared liberated by then-Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi.  Mosul remains in ruins.  


ISIS didn't leave Iraq.  Many in Mosul went to Syria.  And even THE NEW YORK TIMES reported on it (Eric Schmidt and Rod Norland were the reporters):


 But that American line in the sand was wiped away with a telephone call last Friday from Russian military headquarters in Syria to American headquarters in Baghdad. Russia asked the United States to remove aerial reconnaissance over the convoy, which both sides knew would allow the convoy to proceed.

The request was part of what the military calls “deconfliction,” a process to make sure the Russian-backed Syrian forces and the American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces do not inadvertently attack one another while both are trying to battle ISIS.


The militias were on the ground in Mosul.  You can find video news reports of them . . . yelling at women in Mosul, ordering them no how to dress or how not to dress, accosting women on the streets of Mosul.  You can find plenty of that.  SO I would never deny that they were on the ground.  I did -- in real time -- question the wisdom of them being in that area considering the ethnic and religious beliefs of the militias -- the same ethnic and religious bleiefs that were now dominant in Baghdad and had made the bulk of Christians in Baghdad flee to Mosul for sanctuary before ISIS took over.  They terrorized the people of Mosul.  It's what militias do.  They enforce by terror.


Let's stop pretending that the victory in Mosul was due to those amazing militias.  And let's get honest that the so-called 'victory' that happened in 2016 is an abject failure when, in 2021, Mosul still ies in ruins.


Don't worry though, the oil-rich government of Iraq continues to beg the world for money to repairs Mosul.


Just as that government doesn't want to spend money to make the lives of Iraqis across the country better, it doesn't want to spend money to improve Mosul.  No, all the money that can be grabbed will continue to be shoved into the pocket of crooked politicians and officials.


Anchal Vhora (ORF) offers a look into Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr:



A firebrand Shiite cleric and America’s old foe, Muqtada al-Sadr, has emerged as the strongest political leader in Iraq after his bloc garnered the highest number of seats in the general elections last week. He backed the Sairoon list of candidates who scored a total of 75 seats—20 more than the last elections in 2018.

Muqtada al-Sadr, 47, is the son of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, who was a stalwart opposition figure in Iraqi politics during Saddam Hussein’s time and was allegedly assassinated on Hussein’s orders.

Soon after America’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, Muqtada capitalised on the family name and formed a militia called Mahdi army to challenge the American troops. The same militia was also accused of massacring Sunnis at one point in a sectarian conflict.

Over the last several years, since he disbanded the militia and formed what he called ‘peace brigades,’ the cleric has brandished himself as a nationalist—opposed to both American presence and Iran’s influence exerted by militias and political groups that it backs. Sadr has also gained support amongst communists and Sunnis in the country by promising jobs and an end to corruption.

Soon after the results were announced, Sadr addressed the concerns of the masses regarding economic deterioration of the war-ravaged country, whilst the political elite squabbled over personal gains and split them on sectarian bases.

“It is the day of the victory of reform over corruption. The day of the people’s victory over occupation, normalisation, militias, poverty, injustice, and enslavement,” he said. “It is a day when sectarianism, ethnicity, and partisanship were defeated. It is the day of Iraq and we are the servants of the Iraqi people.”

While Sadr’s candidates increased the tally, Iran-backed Fatah Alliance faced a drubbing in the elections. It saw its parliament seats reduced from 48 in 2018 to between 12–14 this time.

Fatah Alliance, also referred to as the Conquest Alliance, is a coalition of Iran-backed militias called Hashd al-Shaabi or the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) which fought the terrorist organisation, ISIS, and later became a part of Iraq’s army. In 2018, Fatah was formed to fight elections with the idea of converting gains in the battlefield into success in the political arena. It is led by Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr organisation, the most powerful militia backed by Iran.


Well, she tried to offer a look at him.  You can't blame her for his thin resume which, other than "Daddy's boy who inherited his role," doesn't really contain much.


Mohanad Hage Ali offers, at Carnegie Middle East Center, this take:


Indeed, the recent elections in Iraq may represent a cautionary tale for Hezbollah. There, Iran’s allies lost seats, something that Nasrallah certainly does not want to replicate in Lebanon. That could well push Hezbollah to ensure that the country takes a rain check on its democratic process, or what’s left of it, come March of next year.


We'll wind down with this from BURN PITS 360 


We'll always keep our oath to fight for our veterans...

Friend -- first off, Happy Veterans Day and we thank you for supporting our organization and keeping in touch with us. When we talk to veterans, many don't consider themselves heroes, but simply doing their duty as Americans. We here at Burn Pits 360 beg to differ -- they are our heroes. Which is why we started this organization over a decade ago in our home, to which it has grown to national levels because of supporters like yourself, Jon Stewart, Jon Feal, and the countless volunteers and advocates that we work with on a daily basis.


Burn Pits 360 Volunteers strategizing in Washington DC

Veterans Day is much more meaningful to us because of the many who stand with us in our fight to improve the lives of those who have served. If you would like to continue supporting our efforts, please consider making a contribution to our organization today. 

BREAKING: PRESIDENT BIDEN ANNOUNCES EFFORTS TO SUPPORT VETERANS SUFFERING FROM BURN PITS -- BUT IT ISN'T ENOUGH.
 
11/11/21
 
Today on this Veterans Day, President Biden announced his efforts to "better understand, treat and identify medical conditions suffered by troops deployed to toxic environments."

Biden's efforts include:
  • Developing and testing a model for establishing service connection.
  • Adding new presumptive conditions.
  • Applying new model to review evidence of service connection for rare respiratory cancers and constrictive bronchiolitis.
  • Improving data on individual exposures.
  • Raising awareness of VA benefits related to military exposures.
  • Expanding training for VA and non-VA providers.
  • Establishing network of specialized providers and call center.
  • Extending eligibility period for VA health care.
While we are encouraged to see President Biden take steps today to improve the lives of our veterans suffering from burn pits exposure -- this isn't enough and we're running out of time.

Just recently, we lost our good friend Staff Sgt. Wesley Black -- who was featured on the panel for Jon Stewart's Apple + TV Show, "The Problem With..." -- and numerous veterans like longtime Burn Pits 360 advocate and veterans like Will Thompson (pictured below) are running out of time also because the United States Government wants to be in a never ending cycle of "improving their understanding" of the issue rather than taking direction action based off the data and science already proven by numerous epidemiologist and medical experts, as well as the countless death of our veterans.

Veterans won't continue to be used as political pawns for politicians to flaunt around for their political careers. We need life-saving action for veterans NOW!
Thank you for your continued support and we hope you and your loved ones enjoy and celebrate our veterans today.

All our best,
Your friends here at Burn Pits 360
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Thursday, November 11, 2021

Science grab brag

 Science post.  John Grant (DAILY BEAST) reports:

Alongside advances in space exploration, we’ve recently seen much time and money invested into technologies that could allow effective space resource utilization. And at the forefront of these efforts has been a laser-sharp focus on finding the best way to produce oxygen on the moon.

In October, the Australian Space Agency and NASA signed a deal to send an Australian-made rover to the moon under the Artemis program, with a goal to collect lunar rocks that could ultimately provide breathable oxygen on the moon.

Although the moon does have an atmosphere, it’s very thin and composed mostly of hydrogen, neon and argon. It’s not the sort of gaseous mixture that could sustain oxygen-dependent mammals such as humans.

That said, there is actually plenty of oxygen on the moon. It just isn’t in a gaseous form. Instead it’s trapped inside regolith—the layer of rock and fine dust that covers the moon’s surface. If we could extract oxygen from regolith, would it be enough to support human life on the moon?


So that's interesting.  I always think of oxygen on another planet humans might settle in to be made by a machine -- like in TOTAL RECALL (the 80s film, not the remake)..  Certainly would be safer if certain objects there could produce (or help produce) oxygen.  


And interesting describes this from PHYS.ORG:

A new international study carried out by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) has examined the distribution of biomass across all life in the oceans, from bacteria to whales. Their quantification of human impact reveals a fundamental alteration to one of life's largest scale patterns.

         As policymakers assemble in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change Conference, there is growing recognition that on the environment are going global and growing urgent. However, gaining a quantitative perspective on these impacts has remained elusive.

Scientists from the ICTA-UAB in Spain, the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Germany, Queensland University of Technology in Australia, Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and McGill University in Canada have used advances in ocean observation and large meta-analyses to show that human impacts have already had major consequences for the larger oceanic species, and have dramatically changed one of life's largest scale patterns—a pattern encompassing the entire ocean's biodiversity, from bacteria to whales.                                                                                     

Lastly, I don't see this as science.  It's from the British tabloid THE MIRROR and it just made me laugh:


 A child genius claims to be an alien from Mars that was reincarnated in human form after his species were wiped out in nuclear conflict - and he wants to warn us of the battle.

Boriska Kipriyanovich, now 24, has been baffling experts since they learned of him in 2017, and now a video of his ominous claims has sparked fresh panic online.

From an early age, he has been telling people about his previous life on Mars - where he lived among an alien civilisation that was ravaged by war and then a nuclear catastrophe.

Boriska said he was a pilot among the aliens, and that he travelled to earth in 1996 and was then 'reborn' as a human child - and wants to warn us of an upcoming battle.

Okay.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

 Thursday, November 11, 2021.  Burn pits get some media attention and the count goes on in Iraq over the so-long-ago October 19th elections.


Barbara Miller (Australia's ABC) reports:


Julie Tomáška knew that living in the shadow of a burning waste dump the size of football field couldn't be good for her.

How could she not?

"No matter where we were, no matter how the wind shifted, we were smelling and kind of breathing in the smoke and the soot from these burn pits ... 24 hours a day," she said.

The burn pit was the inescapable backdrop to life on the Balad air base in Iraq for Staff Sergeant Tomáška and her colleagues from the Minnesota Air National Guard during her two tours of duty in 2005 and 2007.

The pits were used by the US military across Iraq and Afghanistan to dispose of pretty much anything – styrofoam plates from the canteen, electronics, chemicals, classified materials, contraband and even bombed-out vehicles.

When the flames died down, jet fuel was used as accelerant.

"It permeates everything and there's a layer of soot on everything," Julie Tomáška said.

At the time, Sergeant Tomáška and her colleagues deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom would joke about it.

"You sort of have a morbid sense of humour in a situation like that," the now 42-year-old said.

"We sort of stepped back and said, 'Well, this is really going to come back to bite us.'"

Years after she returned home to Minnesota, the prophecy came true when Julie Tomáška was diagnosed with deployment-related lung disease.

Specifically, she's been told she has a range of conditions, including constrictive bronchiolitis, chronic pleuritis, and pleural fibrosis.


First off, BURN PITS 360 is a good resource for this issue.  Over the years, we've heard of veterans like Bethany Bugay who developed chronic myelomonocytic leukemia due to exposure to the burn pits while serving in Iraq.


There have been numerous hearing.  Let's drop back to the November 6, ,2009 snapshot:
Rick Lamberth and L. Russell Keith were two of the four witnesses appearing before the Democratic Policy Committee today, for a hearing into burn pits led by Committee Chair Byron Dorgan.  Also appearing as witnesses were Lt Col Darrin Curtis and Dr. Anthony Szema.  At the start of the hearing, Chair Dorgan explained, "This is the twenty-first in a long series of hearings that we have held in the Policy Committee to examine contracting waste and abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. A number of these hearings have focused on substantial abuse which have put out troops lives in danger.  Some focused just on waste and some on fraud. Today we're going to have a discussion and have a hearing on how, as early as 2002, US military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan began relying on open-air burn pits -- disposing of waste materials in a very dangerous manner. And those burn pits included materials such as hazardous waste, medical waste, virtually all of the waste without segregation of the waste, put in burn pits. We'll hear how there were dire health warnings by Air Force officials about the dangers of burn pit smoke, the toxicity of that smoke, the danger for human health.  We'll hear how the Department of Defense regulations in place said that burn pits should be used only in short-term emergency situations -- regulations that have now been codified. And we will hear how, despite all the warnings and all the regulations, the Army and the contractor in charge of this waste disposal, Kellogg Brown & Root, made frequent and unnecessary use of these burn pits and exposed thousands of US troops to toxic smoke." 

That's from Chair Dorgan's opening remarks and you can [PDF format hearing warning] click here to read his prepared remarks (the above is what was stated which differs slightly from the prepared remarks).  You can also visit the Democratic Policy Committee's home page for more information and streaming video of today's hearing should be up there as well. (If it's not up already, it will be up by Monday.)


Now let's go to the November 10th snapshot of that year:



KBR's burn pits were the subject of a hearing, see Friday's snapshot, by the Democratic Policy Committee.  Senator Byorn Dorgan chaired the hearing. Video is posted at the Democratic Policy Committee website. And Kat's "Democratic Policy Committee" went up Friday. Sunday, at Third, we noted some of the testimony the committee heard but that Staff Sgt. Steven Gregory Ochs and Staff Sgt. Matt Bumpus did not testify at Friday's hearing. They couldn't because both men are dead. October 8th, Ochs' sister Stacy Pennington testified to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on behalf of her brother and her family and on behalf of Bumpus and his family.


Stacy Pennington: Both of these brave soldiers you see before you dodged bullets, mortar attacks, roadside bombs and suicide bombers. Eventually their tours of duty would take their lives. The ultimate sacrifice for a soldier, for his country, is death. However, their deaths did not show up in the manner you may assume. In Balad is the site of the infamous enormous burn pit that has been called by Lt Col Darrin L. Curtis, USAF and Bio-environmental Engineering Flight Commander, as "the worst environmental site" he had ever visited. Staff Sgt Ochs and Staf Sgt Bumpus were both stationed in Balad and war, as strategic as it is, followed them home. Death lay dormant in their blood and waited for them to return safely home and into the arms of their loved ones. Like every silent ticking bomb, it eventually exploded. On September 28, 2007, just months after Steve's return home from his third tour, he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, also known as AML. He spent the next ten months as a patient -- more like a resident -- at Duke University Hospital. Doctors at Duke said his aggressive form of AML was definitely chemically induced and, like Steve, both agreed it was due to the exposures he experienced while in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the doctors refused to go on record citing as the reason that they could not prove it. The aggressive AML that Steve endured was similar to bullets ricocheting in the body causing torturous pain. The graphic images embedded in my mind are of Steve's last screams for air as he was rushed into ICU. Steve waved goodbye to my husband. Steve, with very little strength, said, "I love you, sis" and my mom kissed his forehead and said, "We will see you when you get comfortable." Five minutes later, while in the ICU waiting room, the nurse came in to tell us Steve went into cardiac arrest and they were working on him now. My mom ran into ICU -- fell to her knees as she realized her son was dying. Screams filled the air as we begged God to keep Steve here with us. We know Steve heard us as tears were in Steve's eyes. Doctors and nurses pumped on Steve's chest trying to revive him. But I knew immediately he was gone. His spirit that surrounded my dear, sweet brother was gone. We were left alone with Steve's body for hours as we were all in pure shock. My mom looked upon my brother's face and wiped away the tears puddled in his eyes. And at that very moment, our lives were changed forever. Steve died on July 12, 2008. Two weeks later, on the opposite of the coast, Staff Sgt Bumpus would succumb to the same fate. For Staff Sgt Matt Bumpus, the ticking time bomb exploded with a vengeance on July 31, 2006. Matt was rushed to the hospital by ambulance with acute appendicitis. In Matt's own words, I quote, "The next thing I remember is hearing that I had been diagnosed with AML." Doctors declared that there was chromosome damage due to exposures he must have come in contact with while in Iraq. Matt ended his prestigious service to the Army one short year before the war zone chemical warfare showed signs of its presence. As if this was not enough suffering, Staff Sgt Bumpus' family was met by the VA with harsh claims of denial to benefits. This battle continues to this day as Lisa, Staff Sgt Bumpus' wife, is left alone with two small children to raise with no VA or military benefits for her family. The aggressive assault of the AML in Matt's body was taking claim. Jo, Matt's mother, recalls the haunted look in Matt's eyes as he revealed to her that the AML invasion was back. Matt's mother will never forget the discouragement and sadness that overwhelmed Matt as the realization that promises he made to his wife and children to provide for his family, to love and protect them, and that his sacred word would be broken. He knew now that the battle was over and he would be leaving his family behind. Tuesday, July 29, 2008, Matt once again entered the hospital with fever and septic infection that discharged throughout his body. Doctors notified the family that it would just be days before his demise. Matt was heavily sedated as the pain and incubation was unbearable. Nate, Matt's ten-year-old son, bravely entered his father's hospital room to lay on his daddy's chest as he said his final goodbye. Nate curled up by his dad and cried and cried. Despite Matt's heavy sedation, Matt too was crying. Matt, being a devoted Christian, appropriately passed away on a Sunday morning, surrounded by his wife, mother, father and sister as they expressed to Matt their everlasting love. They, too, were in shock and stayed with Matt's body as the realization overwhelmed them that Matt would not be going home. Matt died on August 3, 2008.


Hearing after hearing, and nothing ever gets done.


VOX recently wrote what looked like a slam piece on Jon Stewart.  I know Jon and like him as a person.  I think his comedy is funny.  But the glorification of him that took place?  Sadly, misplaced.  And we called it out at THIRD.  So the notion that we might need to examine Jon doesn't bother me.  I think it would be better to examine the media's coverage of Jon.  Jon's Jon.  He's who he always has been.  


The VOX piece -- no link to trash -- blames young people.  I'm sorry, what?


Did young people explain Dana Milbank?


Have we all forgotten "angry bitch beer"?  His beverage choice for Hillary Clinton?  


The problem is not -- and never was -- Jon being Jon.  It was the media and how they responded.  It was the very clear destruction of journalism that followed.  That's not Jon's fault.  He's a comedian.  That was the whole point in his comments on CNN's CROSSFIRE.


But because Jon is funny others thought they were too.  Dana Milbank?  The only time he's ever been funny was when he thought he was funny.  Yes, the notion that Dana has a good sense of humor is a laugh getter.  


And he and THE WASHINGTON POST weren't content to do journalism.  No, they needed to do comedy.  Which is how you got that sexist and horrible "angry bitch beer" video posted to THE WASHINGTON POST's website.  

Jon's Jon.  He is not the problem.  His popularity is not the problem.  


He maybe bears some responsibility for having a gift that makes it look so easy and leads idiots in the news media to think that they can do what he does.  They can't.  Most importantly, they shouldn't be trying to do what he does.  Not grasping that is one of the many reasons that the media remains in the toilet.


While VOX hissed at Jon recently, I had to wonder, what issues has VOX ever led on? 


I know they're a party organ for the Democratic Party.  I know they're not a real news outlet. Everything is done through the filter of what will get votes for the Democratic Party.  It's why THE WASHINGTON POST cut Ezzie Kelin free to begin with -- well, one of the main reasons.  A calculation was done.  Was his latest scandal worth keeping him.  The latest scandal was the Journo-list scandal where he and other journalists plotted on how to cover Barack so that he'd get the Democratic Party nomination for president in 2008.  And the problem was that Ezzie had yet again embarrassed the outlet.  And he had no real reason to be there.  He was only hired because he was popular and a 'new media' star.  Why, since he was so popular, wasn't that translating to clicks for THE POST?


Good question.  Ezzie was like an actor who slept with a certain male director and ended up on the cover of VANITY FAIR with a big push as the next big star only to then disappear.  Those male 'celebs' never were celebs.  They were created and pushed by the media.  When revealed to be hollow bunnies, they were forgotten and tossed aside.


That's basically Ezzie.  He wasn't that popular.  He was created.  Largely by the incestuous cluster-f**k at CJR's online site.  They did their daily blog 'reports,' remember/  Those weren't reports.  Those were them doing reach arounds to their friends.  It was a circle jerk.  And it gave the appearance of popularity but outside of the let's-all-link-to-each-other-and-not-disclose-that-fun-night-in-the-hot-tub (true story, Ezzie and some boys had a fun time in the hot tub) it didn't reach anyone.


The circle-jerk was able to create a buzz but that's all they were able to do and that made outsiders think these men (it was always men) were popular but they never were.  And that's why Ezzie was never able to deliver.  


It's all these years later and his outlet is tearing down Jon Stewart.  For what Jon did or does?  No, they're trying to blame the media's problems on Jon.  The media's first step would be for various talking heads to grasp that they are not comedians.  Stop trying to amuse the world -- there are entertainers who are trained in that.  Your job is to address serious issues.  Stop thinking you can turn MSNBC into THE DAILY SHOW.  Stop thinking that and stop trying to do it.


On his new APPLE+ series, Jon is still championing issues like burn pits.  




Help me out with what VOX has spent their time with over the years because, despite claiming to be a news outlet, they really have nothing to show for it.


Courtney Kube (NBC NEWS) reports:

The Biden administration will announce a series of actions Thursday to help veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other contaminants while serving overseas, including making it easier for vets to prove that they were exposed and pushing to find links between exposure and potentially deadly diseases, administration officials said.

The open-air pits were common at U.S. military bases during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dangerous materials from electronics and vehicles to human waste were regularly doused in jet fuel and set ablaze, spewing toxic fumes and carcinogens into the air.

A senior administration official said the issue is personal to President Joe Biden. Biden has said he believes his son Beau died of cancer that was linked to exposure to burn pits during his deployment to Iraq.

"He volunteered to join the National Guard at age 32 because he thought he had an obligation to go," Biden said at a Service Employees International Union convention in 2019. "And because of exposure to burn pits, in my view, I can't prove it yet, he came back with stage 4 glioblastoma."

In August, the Department of Veterans Affairs began processing claims for veterans suffering from asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis based on exposure to the pits.


We'll note this Tweet.

Rest In Peace, Wes. You made a hell of a difference. After a terminal colon cancer diagnosis linked to his exposure to burn pits in combat zones, retired Staff Sgt Wesley Black became a tireless advocate for post 9/11 veterans. He passed away Sunday. He was 36.
8:24 AM · Nov 9, 2021


In case the CNN video doesn't show up in the Tweet above, here it is below.





And, below, you can see Jon speaking this week on the issue.



I'm not really getting what VOX has ever put their weight behind other than churning out the vote for the DNC.


Turning to Iraq, THE NEW ARAB offers up a Joe Show video commenting on the October 10th elections and the possible meanings.  And, for any wondering, the recount is still ongoing.  Maybe someday soon there will be a final and official tally of the votes?  Don't hold your breath on that.  The word is that certain candidates are already preparing judicial challenges.


In the Tweet below, there's video of Nouri al-Maliki -- former prime minister and forever thug -- noting there can be no do  over with the election.


Former #Iraqi PM Nouri al #Maliki says there is no point in new #elections in #Iraq because he admits voter turnout recently was only at 20% #failedstate
11:32 AM · Nov 10, 2021


His comments are in response to various groups, such as the Hashd militia, calling for a redo on the elections.



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