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

Monday, December 05, 2022

Sad and depressing

Saw something so depressing today: An interview with Billy Mummy. Remember him? He played the kid Will on the sixties show LOST IN SPACE. So he filmed three seasons and then they took an 8 week break. They never came back from the break. He was talking about how hard that was for him. He clearly created his own little world -- as kids will. He also wanted people to know that his parents invested his money well and that he was still acting. That was actually sadder than anything else. He couldn't act. It's why he doesn't work today.

These child actors have no sense of reality. Think Alyssa Milano. Like Mummy, she thinks she can act. She could never act. She was the worst of the three actresses to play Amy Fisher in TV movies and that's because she can't act. She did what was required of a child and got applauded for it -- like Mummy. But that's not acting. You can be kind and call it ''child acting.''

But it's why she can't act today -- as C.I. likes to point out, that's her fault, she could have studied her craft.

Billy Mummy was a child star of TV close to the original concentration of TV so I'll forgive his ignorance regarding his lack of talent. But those who came after could see that many people weren't working -- even very good looking performers like Maureen McCormack. For some like Milano not to grasp reality is really sad.

It's also pathetic that they think what they did in childhood is good enough in adulthood. It's not.

I an sure that is hurtful to them when they are at the end of their childhood but they really need to grasp reality by the time they hit their 30s. (Alyssa turns 50 this month.)

"Iraq snapshot' (THE COMMON ILLS):

Monday, December 5, 2022. A reporter harms his own story, more questions about the Talibanis, closet case Moqtada declares war on Iraq's LGBTQ community.

About 70 e-mails have come in asking why I'm ignoring the report regarding Twitter and censorship.

First, I've posted several videos about those Tweets. Like this one.

Second, Tweets. Not reporting.

The journliast has made himself a joke and legacy media is mocking him. If you care about the story, you don't set yourself up to be a joke.

Friday, he Tweeted.

He did not report. I've waited for him to come off his manic high, get some sleep and actually report. That still hasn't happened.

Tweeting is not reporting.

I love Cher. She Tweets. Love her singing, love her as a friend, in awe of her acting when she totally commits. But her Tweets?

Please.

I have issues, vision issues, yes, but also medical eye issues. I now have to limit the amount of screen time. I do not have time to scroll through over thirty Tweets and try to provide the context that the reporter was too lazy to do.

If he will stop partying and start reporting, I'm happy to note it. But stop pretending that he's reported. He's Tweeted. It's not reporting -- it's not even reading the headlines in a news break.

"An appeal for your patience." Sabby notes he said that online. If you want to break a story on Friday, break it on Friday. Report on Friday.

"Information.'' That's what he said he was posting. And that is what he post. It's not curated. It's not journalism. If he had worked at Twitter you could call it whistle-blowing.

He did an information dump and then he went away. Days later, there's still no report. Sabby in her video rushes to defend him.

I'm not attacking him. But I am making the very obvious point that Tweets are not reporting. This demanded a reporter, this topic, who could go through this information and explain what was going on, examples could be supplied, reporting could be done.

Equally true, if an agreement was made -- and one was with Musk -- then you disclose what the agreement was. That's basic when it comes to ethics.

He has been attacked by the media.

A lot of those attacks? He brought on himself. There are basics and the most basic of all basics? You have a report before you go public. That's how you avoid being scooped. Peter Baker isn't going to go on ABC THIS WEEK and tell viewers, "In a day or two, at THE NEW YORK TIMES, I'll have a great story for you about . . ." He writes the story before he promotes it.

You know who does the opposite way? Liars and whores. Like in 2008. Barack Obama was talking about the rights of unions and how trade deals harmed US employees. Then THE ASSOCIATED PRESS found out and reported that Barack's campaign was telling Canada not to worry, that this was just talk to get votes. That's when John Nichols goes on DEMOCRACY NOW! It turns out, John maintains, it was Hillary, it was all Hillary. St. Barack was innocent and still walked on water and Johnny 5 Cents would be reporting this at THE NATION.

There was no such report because John Nichols was lying. He was trying to provide cover for Barack until interest moved on to another story.

Those are the type of people who brag about stories before they're published.

If you want to be taken seriously -- or your work taken seriously -- you publish it and then you talk about it.

"I sincerely hope that Tara Reade can get some sort of justice," says Sabby Sabs.

Can we f**king focus?

Apparently, we can't.

Yes, Tara Reade came forward. Yes, she told the truth. She's an awful bitch but that doesn't change the fact that she was assaulted. It also doesn't have to do with the Tweets released on Friday.

Had the reporter issued a report, we might be better able to focus.

Instead it's nonsense -- it's ice cream left in the sun, melting with Sabby and others trying to scoop it up in their hands. And doing a lousy job. Why is she bringing in Tara? Well, she and Tara are friends, for one reason. Another bad behind the scenes move. But also because Sabby doesn't understand the information because the reporter didn't do the work required.

Some newbies are going to say 'reporter'? About 18 years ago, as a favor, I was asked not to name the reporter here ever. This was by someone who loves the reporter. I didn't. I haven't. He's popped up in videos but I haven't commented on him until now. When we interviewed Evan Bright ("Evan Bright Puts Big Media To Shame") about his coverage of Stephen Green's trial (March 12, 2006, Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi's parents Fakhriya Taha Muhasen and Qassim Hamza Raheem) and five-year-old sister (Hadeel Qassim Hamza) were taken into the parents' bedroom by US soldier Steven D. Green where they were murdered. Abeer was in the living room with Paul Cortez and James Barker who were gang-raping her. It is one of the most explosive of the War Crimes from the Iraq War.) , Evan brought up the reporter. After that, the big question was do we name the reporter -- due to my promise? Name but no comments are printed but Evan's, was my reply. That way I kept my promise not to discuss the reporter.

What the reporter has now done with Twitter goes to exactly why someone who loves the reporter would worry I would rip him apart. It's not up to standard and I know what's going on when reporting isn't taking place.

I can't evaluate the story or its claims because there is no story. The reporter has failed to file one. It's as though Woodward and Bernstein wrote, "There was a break-in at The Watergate Hotel and President Nixon was behind it. That is all. We're rushing off to snort coke and we'll be back in a few days with more." That's not reporting. Hell, it's not even good gossip.

The reporter needs to do his job which is to file a report. A series of Tweets is not a report.

Some of the criticism the reporter is now facing is of his own creation and could have been avoided if he'd done his job. Instead, he Tweeted on Friday and it's now Monday and we still have no report.

Staying with bad journalism, last week, we called out IRAQ OIL REPORT for its bad fluff piece on Bafel Talabani. From Thursday's snapshot:

Turning to Iraq, we're reminded that 'access journalism' is all about whoring. IRAQI OIL REPORT is an outlet that charges for its mediocre content. Despite charging for its content, it breaks no news, it produces nothing of value. So I generally ignore it.

But they decided to really whore this time. The interview Bafel Talabani with one soft ball question after another and pretend he's answering truthfully. They can't even get to truth in the 396 words of the preamble to the interview.

Lot of words to pretend Bafel's not part of the problem. The issues with Bafel go beyond he's PUK and the dominant party is KDP (PUK has still not rebounded from the lies of Jalal and Hero Talabani when they spent months defrauding the country and pretending that Jalal was healthy enough to govern as president of Iraq when, in fact, he couldn't speak and he couldn't move and, per the Constitution, he should have been removed from office). Bafel can't even get along with other member of the PUK -- and that includes his failure to get along with his own blood relatives.

At the start of November, Amberin Zaman (AL-MONITOR) noted:

The difference today is that not only are the parties at odds with each other, they are also mired in internal rivalries. Lahur Talabany, former co-chair of the PUK who led the Sulaimaniyah region’s intelligence services and the US-trained Counter Terrorism Group, was ousted by his cousins Bafel and Qubad Talabani last summer in a Byzantine power grab. It was the most overt manifestation yet of the intra-family feuds simmering in the Talabani and Barzani dynasties.

If you're still not getting it, check out the latest this morning from REUTERS:

On Oct. 7, shortly after Hawker Abdullah Rasoul set off in an SUV from his home on a leafy street in Erbil, a bomb ripped through the car, killing him and wounding four family members.

Rasoul was an intelligence officer, and a defector.

After nearly two decades with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a party dominated by the Talabani family, he moved to Erbil this year and switched sides, three security sources and a Kurdish source told Reuters.

When he was killed, Rasoul, 41, was helping the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the party ruled by the Barzani family that he had been keeping tabs on for years, the sources said.

The brazen assassination was captured by security cameras and the KDP released a 27-minute video about the killing, pointing the finger of blame firmly at the PUK.

The PUK has strongly denied the accusations, saying they are politically driven, but the killing has triggered a series of incidents that have strained the power-sharing arrangement.

Let's wind down with notorious closet case Moqtada al-Sadr. Moqtada al-Sadr is scum of the earth. He leads a cult and, over the years, the US press has decided to go soft on him and present as a leader (he's not) and a kingmaker (never) instead of as the cheap ass thug he actually is. He's flaunting his true colors again. Daniel Stewart (360 NEWS) notes:

"I vow to confront homosexuality or the LGBTQ community through ethical, peaceful and religious means, against this violation of the innate characteristics on which humanity is built," according to a statement accompanied by his signature and posted on Twitter by his spokesman Salé Mohamed al Iraqi.

The cleric has reiterated his message by calling for the creation of an abolition of the alleged law of homosexuality in Iraq because "it cannot be a door to generalize this affliction".

In reality, homosexuality has been legal in Iraq for 20 years because the country does not have a law explicitly criminalizing it.

However, it does have a regulation prohibiting "immodest acts," probably the one Al Sadr was referring to, which Human Rights Watch has described as a "vague provision that could be used to target minorities."

Poor, dumb and uneducated Moqtada. He can never by a religious leader above 'cleric' because he doesn't have the background and couldn't get it even when he ran off to Iran in 2007. Poor idiot Moqtada.

And, please don't forget, that two years ago, he explained 'the gay' caused other things as well:

And maybe those who've been stupid enough to promote Moqtada over the last three years could wake up to reality?

The following sites updated:

Saturday, December 03, 2022

BIG SKY and FIREFLY LANE

On the latest episode of BIG SKY (ABC, Wednesday night), Cormac found out from mom Reba that crazy Walter is his brother.

Who was Walter was what Jenny and Beau spent the episode trying to find out. Thanks to Cormac and Cassie, they knew.

Tonya and Donno were depressed. They weren't going to get any of the stolen money. The mob had cut them out since Paige was dead.

Walter has confessed to killing Paige. He didn't. He's lying so she can get away from the mob. Crazy Reba knows he's lying and she hunts down Tonya and Donno as they're getting ready to move on to other things and tells the Paige is alive. She's using them to find Paige to prove that her son's not a killer.

There hasn't been enough Cassie this season, by the way. I also miss Jerri who hasn't been on any episodes. Supposedly, this is because the actress was part of the QUEER AS FOLK remake on PEACOCK. There is no second season of that show (I liked it) so why is Jerri not back on BIG SKY?

I can't believe that this is the last season of FIREFLY LANE on NETFLIX. I streamed all the episodes they posted on Friday and there's a second half of this season -- I think it's supposed to start in June.

I could watch multiple seasons of this show. I really don't want it to end.

When the second half of season two starts back up in June, they will have 7 more episodes.

If you've never watched the show, it's about two lifelong friends Tully and Kate and the way life impacts them and their friendship.

It's got a lot of heart and it really hooks you. I'm very upset abuot the way it ends the first half of season two. It's a health crisis. And the one in the crisis tries to reach out to the friend but the friend's gone.

I don't want to do spoilers.

But this is a really great show.

"Iraq snapshot" (THECOMMON ILLS):

Friday, December 2, 2022. Persecution exists around the world -- including the US where so many work overtime to pretend they're fair while attacking groups of people.

Let's start with the deeply stupid. Notorious homophobe Jonathan Turley is back to sharing his increasingly warped and unfit opinions:

Justice Amy Coney Barrett is facing increasing calls to recuse herself from a major Supreme Court case due to her religion. These absurd demands say less about the ethics of Barrett than the bias of her critics, who have waged an unrelenting and vicious campaign against the jurist and her family.

At issue is 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis’ Dec. 5 argument. Even before the court granted review, I noted it could be one of the most important free-speech cases in history. It involves a web designer who declines jobs for same-sex marriages over her religious beliefs.

Liberal academics and pundits have decried Barrett’s participation in the case because she has been part of the Christian group People of Praise, which holds traditional views of marriage and homosexuality. The media are quoting former members calling themselves “survivors” saying the group holds views that make it impossible for her to judge the case fairly.

Impossible, that is, if Barrett is willing to discard every principle of legal and judicial integrity she has maintained her entire career.

It's not a free speech case, first of all. Tradeswoman Lorie Smith designs webs sites. She wants the government to give her an out so she never has to design for thoe 'icky' gays -- apparently Lorie's a closet case who fears proximity to equality will unleash her inner demons and immediately turn her into a muff diver if she's forced to treat all customers the same.

Jonathan lies -- because that's what he does now -- and writes that Coney Barrett (it is Coney Barrett -- those are two last names and Jonathan and others need to get that right) is being called out for being "part of the Christian group People of Praise, which holds traditional views of marriage and homosexuality." Let's leave aside Jonathan's misguided nothing of ''traditional'' -- he's a raging homophobe -- and focus on that claim -- all she did was belong to a group that holds beliefs.

Liar.

Stephanie Kirchgaessner (GUARDIAN) explains a detail Jonathan -- accidentally, we're sure -- omits:

They point to Barrett’s former role on the board of Trinity Schools Inc, a private group of Christian schools that is affiliated with the People of Praise and, in effect, barred children of same-sex parents from attending the school.

A faculty guide published in 2015, the year Barrett joined the board, said “blatant sexual immorality” – which the guide said included “homosexual acts” – had “no place in the culture of Trinity Schools”. The discriminatory policies were in place before and after Barrett joined.

The schools’ attitude, the former People of Praise members said, reflect the Christian group’s staunchly anti-gay beliefs and adherence to traditional family values, including – they say – expelling or ostracizing members of the People of Praise “community” who came out as gay later in life or their gay children.

“I don’t believe that someone in her position, who is a member of this group, could put those biases aside, especially in a decision like the one coming up,” said Maura Sullivan, a 46-year-old who was raised in the People of Praise community in South Bend, Indiana. Sullivan identifies as bisexual and recalls coming out to her parents, who were members of the People of Praise, when she was 19.

“They decided that I wasn’t allowed to be around my sister, who was 13 at the time, without them around, because I could ‘influence’ her in bad ways. Stuff like that. So I had a tenuous relationship with my family,” she said. “To be cut off from my family was the ultimate loss of community.” Sullivan and her parents, who are no longer members of the faith group, have since repaired their relationship, she said.

Questions about the People of Praise’s attitude toward LGBTQ+ members and their families, and Trinity Schools’ policies, have resurfaced because the supreme court will hear oral arguments on 5 December in the case of 303 Creative LLC v Elenis.

Jonathan Turley is not an honest broker. Her sitting on the board and doing so when it refused children because their parents were same-sex goes to why she should recuse herself. It's the equivalent of racial restrictive covenants that allowed 'traditional' people to refuse to sell their home to Jews, African-Americans, etc.

This isn't minor. And she should have to recuse herself.

Jonathan's confident that she can follow the rules.

Of course, Jonathan was confident -- even after DOBBS was leaked -- that ROE wouldn't be overturned.

And, of course, in that case Amy tossed aside precedent, five decades of precedent, to abuse the law and to 'honor' her 'religion.'

Jonathan's becoming a damn liar. He seems to have some grand purpose these days involving self-humiliation. It's sad and pathetic to watch him.

Amy sat on a board that discriminated against gay people and she did so only a few years ago. She didn't disclose this when she nominated for the Court:

Barrett has never publicly acknowledged her membership in the community since becoming a judge and did not disclose it during her 2020 confirmation. It was reported at the time that the People of Praise erased all mentions and photos of her from its website ahead of her meetings with lawmakers.

Had she made the disclosure, she wouldn't be on the bench now.

She's part of the reason it is now an illegitimate Supreme Court. Liars like Amy misled America to get on the bench and now are refusing to respect settled law so that they can instead attack the very fabric of America.

And there's Jonathan Turley lying for them.

By the way, Jonathan, don't think I'm forgetting that you've claimed this Lori Smith case is about freedom of religion, not freedom of speech. You left that out in this column, didn't you? Why? Because freedom of religion means that the American people are free of it and being free of someone imposing their religion means Amy and her history necessitate that she excuse herself from the case.

You've become so pathetic, Jonathan.

We're not done with the pathetic and stupid. Self-proclaimed 'radical feminist' Marissa Darlingh takes to FOX NEWS -- because that's what we feminists do, right? -- and whines that she's lost her job as a counselor at a public school and it's all so unfair. Marissa moans:

On April 23 of this year, a Saturday, on my own time, I delivered a very short, unscripted speech at a feminist rally denouncing the threat that gender identity ideology poses to the physical and mental health of my students. This rally was on the steps of the state Capitol, far away from my school district. For this I was fired from my job. This clear violation of my First Amendment right to free speech is why I am suing Milwaukee Public Schools and the MPS employees who were involved in my termination.

I have worked in a few different urban public school districts across the Midwest with hundreds of students who come to me with an array of experiences that shape their emotional lives. My politics have never interfered with my work or my relationships with students, their teachers or their families. After I spoke out in April, a top-down investigation began of my fitness to serve in my role as a school counselor. Ostensibly, this was because I said the words "f--- transgenderism" and for expressing my personal belief that a child cannot be born in the wrong body.

Yeah, you should have been fired.

Your statements mean you can't do your job.

You're working with children. They may go through a period where they think they are trans or they may, in fact, be trans. And your statements indicate that they can trust you and that they will not receive rational care.

Your statements removed you from your job because you declared to the world that you are not impartial.

You can't continue in your job having made that statement. You're a liability to the school.

As a counselor -- and even one as woefully uneducated and unprepared as you -- should grasp that these type of statements create walls between yourself and those you are supposed to be helping.

You screwed up. The school was within their rights. They hired a person with the expectation that the person would be able to address the various issues the student body might have. Instead, they got you declaring "F**K transgenderism." With that statement alone, you created a problem for the school and the student body you were supposed to serve.

You are supposed to counsel. Students have problems and difficulties are supposed to believe you will be fair and help them. Your statements were offensive and prejudicial. The school did what you forced them to do -- find a counselor who could serve all the students.

Let's stay on this topic for a moment more to include something cut earlier this week.

Charlamagne The Odd.

And The Stupid.

Lenerd does not like the term "transphobic" and went to FOX NEWS to lament about -- well nonsense. The truth needs to be slapped upside his head. He's an idiot. Tulsi Gabbard went on TV citing 'statistics' on this huge wave of surgeries being done on children. Idiot that he is, Lenerd bought into it.

Was Tulsi lying? She's an idiot so she was probably just sporting her stupidity or maybe her cult leader, Guru Chris, told her to say it. Who knows? Who cares?

But we pointed it out once this week, let's point it out again: A parent or a guardian has to okay surgery on a minor (unless the minor is an emancipated minor).

Get it? Tulsi didn't. Lenerd does either.

"Things like that bother me. . . . Like I'm transphobic because I feel like I', you know, just using a little common sense here."

A little?

Try none.

You've fallen for the media spin and lies.

Again, a 14-year-old's not walking into a doctor's office saying, "Get out the knives."

It doesn't work that way and never has.

If someone under 18 is having gender reassignment, that's been discussed as a family matter and Lenerd really doesn't need to be injecting himself into what a family's decided about surgery.

Lenerd's a real idiot because there is a science here and predates the 21st century. There are tests -- physical and mental -- that are done before a gender reassignment surgery.

Like Tulsi, Lenerd has made no effort to learn a damn thing. Tulsi's excuse is she never attended a real school. She went to her cult's school for two years and then was schooled by her parents for the rest of it -- homophobic cult members.

Lenerd should be striving for so much more. But, let's be honest, he's middle-aged and out of touch. He's COMEDY CENTRAL's idea of young.

He told FOX, "And I think that you're cheating those kids by not having the conversation." If they're kids, the conversation is taking place with their parent or guardian. Try to grasp that. "Like, let's all come to the table and talk about it" -- with you? Are you The Decider -- like Bully Boy Bush.

Lenerd, you are the idiot because you've bought into the lie that 12-year-olds are deciding by themselves -- and on a whim -- to have surgery. Next up, Tulsi 'reports' on a new craze with an 800% increase where 14 year olds are DIY-ing the gender surgeries themselves!!!!

"But you know, who am I to judge?" Lenerd asks at the end. Exactly: Who are you to judge? Especially when you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

Lenerd built a career around common sense. How very sad that it's now failed him.

Prejudice and persecution exist all over the world -- and needs to be combatted where ever it pops up. The editorial board of THE NATIONAL notes:

Christians in Iraq were persecuted by ISIS, which forcibly transferred them, seized their property and subjected them to sexual violence and other “inhumane acts”, a UN report has found.

An investigative team said they had collected evidence that strengthens preliminary findings that the extremist group committed crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Christian community after it seized about a third of the country in 2014.

The report on Thursday night to the UN Security Council said crimes also included enslavement, forced conversions and destruction of cultural and religious sites.

The team said they had identified leaders and prominent members of ISIS who participated in the attack and takeover of three predominantly Christian towns in the Nineveh plains north of Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul, in July and August 2014 ― Hamdaniyah, Karamlays and Bartella. It also started collecting evidence of crimes committed against the Christian community in Mosul.

ISIS fighters seized Iraqi cities and declared a self-styled caliphate in large areas of territory in Syria and Iraq in 2014. The group was formally declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year bloody battle that left tens of thousands dead and cities in ruins, but its sleeper cells continue to stage attacks in different parts of Iraq.

ISIS was not defeated. It's a terrorist group. By definition its goal is to disrupt and terrify. It somehow -- Nouri al-Maliki and his pathetic leadership -- managed to seize control of multiple cities in Iraq and try to 'govern.' That's what the pushback and battles ended. They never ended the actual terrorism and ISIS has continue its acts of terrorism.

Christians are only one of many persecuted in Iraq. Helen Fitzwilliam explains at Chatham House:

Malaeen Luqman was 13 years old when Islamic State militants kidnapped her family in a coordinated attack on the Yazidi homeland of Iraq’s Mount Sinjar in 2014. Separated from her mother and taken to Raqqa in Syria, she managed to escape to Turkey after 12 weeks of captivity.

Today, Malaeen is one of 16 women survivors scattered across camps in northern Iraq who are documenting the experiences and customs of the Yazidi people on camera, canvas and film to create a digital cultural archive. It is one of many initiatives to safeguard this fragile minority’s identity since Islamic State jihadis tried to erase their heritage by mass murder, sexual enslavement and the destruction of historic shrines and villages.

Considered heretics by the jihadis, 5,000 Yazidi civilians were killed when they refused to accept forced conversion following the onslaught. Some 2,700 Yazidi women and children remain unaccounted for. Though estimates vary, it is thought that Iraqi Yazidis numbered more than 600,000 when Islamic State embarked on what United Nations investigators have described as genocide.

Up to 40 per cent of Yazidis fled abroad. More than 200,000 are displaced and weary of living in displacement camps around Dohuk in northern Iraq. If they seek asylum in the West, the fear is that the memories and practices central to their culture and religion will disappear as well.

This esoteric peacock-worshipping sect has no holy book, and its sacred scriptures are passed on orally by a priestly caste of sheikhs. Yazidis do not accept religious converts and many elders have opposed writing oral traditions down or putting them online. Their syncretic faith combines elements of Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam, but as Gerard Russell remarks in his book Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: ‘The religion’s secrets have been kept well, even from its own followers.’

And FANACK notes:

The Kakaism minority lives as a non-missionary religious group in Iraq, a country known for its rich ethnicities and multiple religions. Kakaism is trying to preserve its identity amid the transformations and changes that the world and the region are witnessing. At a time when Iraq’s religious and ethnic diversity faces multiple threats, Kakaism has had its share of these pressures. Kakaists suffer from significant stresses that threaten their faith and existence.

Kakaism dates back to 3000 BC. While this sect is called “Kakaist” in Iraq, its followers in Iran refer to it as “Yarsanist,” meaning “lovers of the Creator.” The followers of this sect are not limited to Iraq and Iran, but their presence extends to Pakistan, India, Turkey and other countries.

Etymology

Researcher Abdulrahman Karim Darwesh traces the origin of “Kakaism” to the Kurdish word “Kaka.” This word means “elder brother who is compassionate, helpful, chivalrous, honest, supporting, responsible for the affairs of others, a caretaker and defender of the weak.” According to Darwesh, in some cases, this name is given to the father and grandparents in large families. The name “Kaka” is also given to public figures.

Researcher Jamal Rashid links the term “Kakaism” to the development of the historical roots of the Kurdish honorifics. According to Rashid, the common roots of the term have evolved to be interpreted by both Kurds and Kakaists.

Some believe the Kurds designated the term to Kakaists out of respect. Others believe that the name reflected their religious beliefs, which preach brotherhood among human beings and oblige them to call any human being by the word Kaka.

Based on the name, Iraqi historian Abbas al-Azzawi believes that Kakaism has become a spiritual bond around which Kakaists are united.

Some in Iran call Kakaists Ahl al-Haq or People of Truth. Other names include Men of Magnanimity, People of the Chain, and Yarsanism: Yar San, meaning friend of the sultan. Yarsanism in Persian and Kurdish also means “the beloved.”

We'll wind down with this from Restore The Fourth:

Restore the Fourth and the #StopShotSpotter Coalition have launched a petition to Demand the ShotSpotter CEO stop using faulty and invasive technology to track our daily lives for profit at the expense of our safety and privacy.

ShotSpotter sells faulty aerial gunshot recognition technology that at least 130 U.S. cities and towns are squandering money on. The 20-25 sensors per square mile they install stores vulnerable audio data for days at a time. Some state courts have ruled audio evidence from ShotSpotter sensors as inadmissible under wiretapping statutes.

ShotSpotter has reserved the right to own and sell this data with little oversight or regulation - including selling it to third parties and developing biometric surveillance devices. The sheer scope of ShotSpotter's operations guarantees that one of their devices could be outside your home, recording the conversations and activities of your daily life. These eavesdropping devices record everything they hear, even conversations at normal volume up to 50 feet away.

The fight against this mass surveillance infrastructure is growing. Just yesterday, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Detroit's community members against an $8.5 million expansion of ShotSpotter technology. It's not too late to join this fight for our right to privacy and sign the petition: Demand the ShotSpotter CEO stop using faulty and invasive technology to track our daily lives for profit at the expense of our safety and privacy.

Consider supporting the work we do by making a donation here.

The following sites updated:

Thursday, December 01, 2022

Will Smith and his lousy movie

Will Smith is garbage. He thought a crappy movie was going to rescue his career and make us all forget that he assaulted Chris Rock. Nope. WE GOT THIS COVERED notes the film's not winning people over. KTLA explains, "The movie has so far scored a 58% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with critics commending the story but slamming the execution of the heavy topic.'' THE DAILY BEAST adds:

Alas, Emancipation is doggedly one-note and formulaic, and it’s immediately apparent how one is meant to respond to every element of its story, as well as what that tale will eventually impart about intolerance, injustice and resistance. Such obviousness, in turn, leaves the film feeling both too leaden and easily digestible.

Nonetheless, those qualities, when coupled with a few long-winded speeches that put hammer to nail, also render it the sort of undemanding endeavor that attracts eager attention on Oscar night—even if its banned-from-the-ceremony leading man won’t be in attendance.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER notes:

Hampered by a spare and spiritless screenplay, Smith gives a performance marked by facial expressions, physical movement and a Haitian accent that struggles to shake its studied quality. A perpetual frown and scrunched eyebrows communicate the harshness of Peter’s life, while an erect pose displays an unwavering self-possession.

INDIWIRE gives it a C+. THE INDEPENDENT notes, "Emancipation never feels as if it’s truthfully telling the story behind the photograph. Or how one man’s pain became emblematic of an entire nation’s evil."

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, December 1, 2022. One scandal after another when it comes to the care that the US is supposed to be providing veterans, Iraq's oil returns are down, IRAQI OIL REPORT runs fluff for Bafel Talabani, and much more.

Starting in the US . . .

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS reports:

Former U.S. Army Sgt. Joel Gomez, 42, of Wheaton died Nov. 22 after developing pneumonia and kidney problems. Gomez, who had been living with quadriplegia since his wartime injury, was buried Tuesday at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.

He becomes one of more than 4,400 U.S. military members who have died from injuries suffered during the Iraq war, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Gomez’s spine was broken in two places in 2004 when the armored vehicle he was riding in plunged into the Tigris River during a combat mission to capture enemy soldiers.

Stacy St. Clair (CHICAGO TRIBUNE) explains:

Gomez had been forced to move into a nursing home a little more than a month before his death because his longtime caretaker, Elva Cuahquentzi, was stuck in Mexico dealing with an immigration issue. He developed pneumonia within a few weeks of arriving at the facility and was so frightened by the level of care, he asked a friend to call 911 and have him taken to a nearby emergency room.

He was admitted to Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park on Nov. 8 and diagnosed with pneumonia. He died in the hospital intensive care unit surrounded by his sister, niece, nephew and a close friend.

Equal parts heartbreaking and infuriating for his supporters, Gomez spent his last conscious days asking for Cuahquentzi and dreaming about returning to the accessible home built specifically for him by the Wheaton community.

Reporting on the funeral, St. Clair notes:

Mourners also paid tribute to Gomez’s longtime caretaker, Elva Cuahquentzi, who had returned home to Mexico to deal with an immigration issue and had not yet been permitted to return. Her departure forced Gomez to move into a nursing home last month, where he developed pneumonia within a few weeks of arriving at the facility and was so frightened by the level of care, he asked Masterson to call 911 and have him taken to a nearby emergency room.

Gomez spent his last conscious days asking for Cuahquentzi and dreaming about returning to the accessible home built specifically for him by the Wheaton community.

Cuahquentzi, 50, remains in Mexico awaiting word on her immigration application. Her son Emmanuel Perez, however, read a letter from her during the service. She described Gomez as her purpose in life and said she loved him as if he were one of her own children.

“Learning to love Joel was easy,” Cuahquentzi said in her letter. “Forgetting Joel will be impossible.”

Staying with poor care delivered to veterans, Ted Sherman and Susan K. Livio (STARS AND STRIPES) report:

New Jersey wants someone else to take charge of New Jersey’s troubled state-run veteran’s homes.

Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday ordered state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to seek an outside vendor “who can manage systemic changes and provide qualified, administrative staff to help lead these initiatives.”

The move comes after the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last week cut off federal funding for new admissions at the Veteran’s Memorial Home at Menlo Park after major shortcomings in care and deficiencies in pandemic infection control led to a declaration that residents at the nursing home in Edison were in “immediate jeopardy.”

CMS said on Tuesday that the facility was “currently not in substantial compliance,” threatening fines and other penalties, and warned it could see permanent termination of all Medicaid and Medicare funding by March if the situation at Menlo Park is not corrected.

How do you get to that point? How much corruption and how much failed leadership have to exist before you get to that point?

Two weeks ago, Lindy Washburn and Scott Fallon (NEWJERSEY.COM) reported:

As COVID raced through the state-run veterans home in Paramus at the start of the pandemic in 2020, an administrator watched with growing alarm as residents died, staff members fell sick and the facility ran short of masks, gloves, gowns and tests. Panic spread as quickly as the virus itself.

When the death toll climbed to six or seven a day at an institution that typically saw three or four resident deaths a week, that administrator became the whistleblower who called himself “vetkeeper.”

On April 8, 2020, using his pseudonym and an encrypted email service based in Switzerland, he contacted NorthJersey.com to report what he was seeing.

“Nearly 40 resident deaths since March 25,” he wrote. “Ten more residents positive, 47 waiting test results ... The public needs to know. I am on the inside. I will keep you posted.”

The first story of the deaths at the New Jersey Memorial Veterans Home at Paramus, based on information from “vetkeeper” and other sources, broke that evening. “Vetkeeper” arrived at work the next morning to find two news trucks out front, a helicopter overhead and the National Guard on the way.

But in many respects, it was too late. Nearly a third of the residents at the Paramus veterans home would die of COVID or presumed COVID. In all, more than 200 residents died at New Jersey’s two hardest-hit veterans homes — 86 from confirmed COVID in Paramus and 72 in Menlo Park, with another 47 at the two homes presumed to have died from COVID.

Now “vetkeeper” has decided to reveal his identity and say more about the veterans home. He is Dave Ofshinsky, former business manager and, for a brief period, assistant CEO for non-clinical affairs at the Paramus home, where he worked for 5½ years.

He says he is doing so out of frustration at what has not happened since that initial COVID crisis.

“Nothing has happened from the administration [of Gov. Phil Murphy] on this,” Ofshinsky said in a recent interview at his home. “When it was happening, the governor said there was going to be a ‘post-mortem. We’ll get to the bottom of this.’”

At the start of November, Amberin Zaman (AL-MONITOR) noted:

The difference today is that not only are the parties at odds with each other, they are also mired in internal rivalries. Lahur Talabany, former co-chair of the PUK who led the Sulaimaniyah region’s intelligence services and the US-trained Counter Terrorism Group, was ousted by his cousins Bafel and Qubad Talabani last summer in a Byzantine power grab. It was the most overt manifestation yet of the intra-family feuds simmering in the Talabani and Barzani dynasties.

Meanwhile Dilan Sirwan (RUDAW) reports:

Iraq in November earned a billion dollars less in oil revenues than it did in October, the country’s oil ministry announced on Sunday.

According to a statement from the ministry, Iraq in November exported over 99 million barrels of crude oil at an average rate of 3.3 million barrels per day and an average price of $82.4 per barrel.

The country’s total revenue from oil exports in the month was over $8.2 billion, falling nearly a billion short of October’s $9.25 billion revenue.

The drop in the country’s oil revenue comes despite the country claiming to have taken advantage of OPEC+ production cuts by maintaining export levels and increasing revenue.

“Iraq did not reduce its exports according to this reduction, but rather reduced domestic production and invested in the rising prices by stabilizing the export rate, a strategy that succeeded in achieving high financial revenues," deputy general manager of the Iraqi National Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) Saadoun Mohsen told Iraqi state media late last month.

So does that mean there's less money for the corrupt officials to steal? Or does it just mean, they'll increase the percentage that they steal to make up the difference?

The "heist of the century." Remember that? Revealed just weeks ago. $2.5 billion stolen.

The following sites updated: