Tuesday, December 18, 2012

THIS JUST IN! DON KUSLER LIES FOR LOVE!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE


DON KUSLER IS CLEARLY BRAIN DEAD AND SHOULD BE EUTHANIZED. 

WE MAKE THAT SWEEPING STATEMENT BASED ON ONE COLUMN HE WROTE.

THESE REPORTERS BELIEVE HE WOULD AGREE WITH THE CONCLUSION BECAUSE, AFTER ALL, HE TOOK A VICTORY OF LESS THAN 4% AND HAILED IT AS A "MANDATE" AND INSISTED THAT REPUBLICANS HAVE TO GO ALONG WITH CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O TO DO RIGHT BY THE VOTERS.

THE REALITY IS THAT 47.28% OF THOSE VOTING SIDED WITH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY'S PRESIDENTIAL TICKET.  THOSE 47.28% AMERICANS MUST BE REPRESENTED.

MORE REALITY IS THAT 48.84% OF AMERICANS VOTING, VOTED FOR SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE CELEBRITY IN CHIEF. 
THAT'S RIGHT, WHEN YOU INCLUDE THIRD PARTIES AND "OTHER," YOU ARE LEFT WITH THE FACT THAT 1.16% IS THE LAUGHABLE FIGURE BARRY O 'WINS' BY.

BARRY O HAS NO MANDATE -- UNLESS DON KUSLTER'S PLANNING ON TAKING HIM TO THE INAUGURATION.  IF SO, NO RUFIES, DON, NO RUFIES.



FROM THE TCI WIRE:



 
Iraq was slammed with violence today.  Al-Shorfa notes that "Iraqi security forces raised their alert to the maximum level on Monday."   AFP observes today's "violence comes after a string of attacks killed 19 people and wounded 77 yesterday."  Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) also notes today is the "second day of deadly attacks." Kitabat sees today as one when terror spreads across Iraq.     AFP counts 48 dead and UPI counts over one hundred injured.  Emily Alpert (Los Angeles Times) offers, "The explosions are a sign of the tensions simmering in Iraq nearly one year after the exit of U.S. troops. No armed group immediately said it was responsible for the attacks, according to news service reports, but outside analysts say mounting violence has been fueled by spiraling tensions in the Kurdish north and as Sunni Arab militants try to reassert control across the country."
 
 
Today's violence included car bombings, roadside bombings, sticky bombings, mortars and shootings.  Alsumaria reports a Ramadi car bombing claimed 4 lives and left seven injured and the photo shows blood flowing in the street while a double bombing in Tuz Khurmato left 5 dead and twenty injured.  All Iraq News adds that, en route to Samarra, a bus carrying Iranian pilgrims was targeted with a car bombing resulting in eleven of them being injured (it was a suicide car bombing -- the driver of the car is dead).  Reuters notes four bombs went off in Baquba resulting in 1 death and five people being injured.  Al Bawaba reports an armed attack to the west of Tikrit that left 1 police officer dead and three more injured and that a car bomb then went off killing 4 more people and injuring two more police officers.  Al Bawaba also reports, "Three Iraqi soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Al-Buslaibi village near Baghdad while on patrol, according to the military."  BBC News emphasizes a truck bombing outside Mosul which resulted in 7 deaths in a Shabak village, "The Shabak, who number about 50,000 and live between the Mosul plane and Baashiqa, have their own distinct language and belief system."  Al-Shorfa notes that the Ministry of Defence is boasting that they stopped a bombing targeting power transmission towers in Diyala.
 
 
 
Baghdad, 17 December 2012 – The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) for Iraq, Mr. Martin Kobler, strongly condemned the attacks that have claimed dozens of lives across Iraq since yesterday, in many cases targeting civilians.
"The attacks in the disputed internal areas further aggravate the tensions there," Mr. Kobler said. "I call on all parties to engage in inclusive dialogue and to urgently work on defusing the situation to prevent an escalation.  The United Nations stands ready to facilitate if requested to do so."
Mr. Kobler extends his condolences to the families of those who were killed and his wishes for the speedy recovery of those who were injured.

 
As Mohammed Tawfeeq noted, Sunday was a day of violence as well.  Iraq Body Count counts 17 dead on Sunday.  Reuters noted that a Jalawla car bombing claimed the lives of 2 Peshmerga recruits and left twelve more injured including Cerwan Mohammed Ameen who states, "I woke up later to find myself in the hospital and I saw my friends near me."  That was only one of many attacks in Iraq today.  Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) reported that and also an armed attack on a Tarmiya military checkpoint which claimed 3 lives and left four people injured."  Alsumaria reported a Kirkuk bombing and mortar attack left 8 dead and that the number injured is fifty-two, that a Kirkuk sticky bombing claimed the life of 1 police officer, a group of school children were kidnapped in Alrfieat, a Riyadh armed attack left one Sahwa injured, assailants stole 400 million Iraqi dinars from a Kirkuk bank, a Baji car bombing injured four police officers, a Qasim al-Khayyat roadside bombing  injured a police officer and the brother of the Governor of Diwaniyah was shot dead.  Of Kirkuk, Xinhua observes, "The oil-rich city has been the center of contention for recent weeks. The central government established a new operation command to cover the disputed area, which angered the Kurdish regional government who later sent reinforcement troops to the area, causing a military confrontation. The tension was then defused by President Jalal Talabani under whose mediation the two sides agreed to withdraw troops."
 
 
Citing the questionable Iraqi Ministries of Defense, Health and Interior,  Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) notes 166 people died in Iraq last month.  Iraq Body Count counts 116 killed in violence this month through yesterday.  if you add that to today's figure of at least 48 dead, you get 164.  So at the half-way point of the month, the reputable death toll (that would be Iraqi Body Count) is two short of the government total for last month.
 

The prolonged days of violence come as Al Mada notes Iranian media is reporting that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (the highest religious authority in Iraq) has warned Nouri that he is dangerously close to setting off a war inside Iraq and has called on him to stop making statements that could further inflame tensions between Erbil (capital of the Kurdish Regional Government) and Baghdad.
 
 
Along with violence, the weekend brought additional bad news.  Saturday, The Iraq Times reported that cable channel Baghdadi was surrounded by the Iraqi military on Friday and they forced everyone out and then shut the station down.  They also noted that Nouri ordered the closure.  The Iraq Times reported that Iraqiya spokesperson Maysoon al-Damalouji declared that Nouri is attempting to rebuild the Republic of Fear (a reference to the days of Saddam Hussein) and decried the closing of Baghdadiya TV.
 Today Wael Grace (Al Mada) reports Nouri took to Facebook to insist that he closed Al Baghdadi as a result of "financial irregularities."  He maintains that there are fees for transimission that were not paid.    Nouri is said to have taken offense at their coverage of his Russian arms deal and his handling of the Central Bank.  Earlier the Ministry of the Interior had attempted to fall on the sword.  Al Rafidayn reports they issued a statement Saturday saying it was their decision and that of the court's to close the station.  Of course, Nouri is in charge of the Ministry of the Interior.  They have no minister because Nouri never nominated anyone for Parliament to vote on.

Today the Journalistic Freedoms Observatory issues a statement noting their deep concern over press freedom in Iraq and they call on Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi to open an investigation immediately into the closure of satellite channel and radio station Al Baghdadi.  The press organization states that the Parliament is the body responsible for ensuring the future of democracy in Iraq and the future for freedom of expression.  They see the closure of the satellite TV channel and radio station as another means to reduce the role of media in Iraq and to prevent the exposure of corrutpion.  They decry the use of armed forces on the station and the forced departures of the employees from the building.


Al Mada reports the National Union of Iraqi Journalists is also protesting the closure and saying it represents a reduction of freedom of the press and liberty.  Moqtada al-Sadr is a cleric and movement leader with a significant bloc in Parliament.  Hiwa Osman (Rudaw) weighs in noting:
 
Whoever advised the premier to order the closure should be sacked.  But then, Maliki may have to sack himself, because in all likelihood he probably listened to his own advice, adding yet another blunder to his long list of blunders.
The decision lacks common sense, and gained nothing but more disgrace for a leader who has shown that he possesses only a single trait of leadership: Authoritarian rule – of a type that no longer has any place in Iraq.
Since the closure, social media pages have been chattering with praise for Baghdadiya and vitriol for Maliki, who is being likened to the ousted dictator Saddam Hussein. In order to silence the criticism about him on Facebook, maybe Maliki should consider clamping down on Iraq's 2.5 million Facebook users, or perhaps on the Internet itself.
The number of Baghdadiya viewers spiked after Maliki's order, with many viewers watching to learn about the premier's move. Even though Baghdadiya can no longer report from Iraq, it continues to report on the country from its Cairo headquarters and other venues. Maliki, in contrast, has no powerful medium to explain his side of the story.
 
 
MP Hussein al-Mansouri is with the Sadr bloc and he tells Wael Grace (Al Mada) that the closure was the result of the reporting the channel did on the corruption in the Russian arms deal.

Nouri's a tyrant.  And among the scandals he faces is the reports of abuse in Iraqi prisons.  Al Mada is reporting that Martin Kobler, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy in Iraq, is stating that UNAMI receives daily reports about abuses taking place in Iraqi prisons and that, in the next few days, they plan to issue a statment on the matter.  It's just one scandal after another for Nouri and his attacks on the press will not stop the truth from coming out.


People leaving comments at the Iraq Times article about the closure note Sabah al-Saadi had revelations about Nouri to make and they see the closure as a way to silence him.  As the week drew to a close, MP Sabah al-Saadi found himself suspended by Nouri's State of Law. That has not silenced him.   Ayad al-Tamimi (Al Mada) reports that today he accused Nouri and his staff of stealing public money and abusing power.  Citing documents noted in an Office of Financial Supervision report, al-Saadi says that, in the last six years, Nouri has managed to steal $42 million.  Kitabat notes that the accusations were made at a press conference held in front of Parliament.


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