Tuesday, May 30, 2023

THIS JUST IN! DI-FI AND PELOSI REACT!

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & THOMAS FRIEDMAN IS A GREAT MAN & ANN'S MEGA DUB -- THE KOOL AID TABLE  

FORMER FIRST LADY ROSALYNN CARTER, 95, HAS DEMENTIA THE CARTER CENTER EXPLAINED TODAY.


REACHED FOR COMMENT, 83-YEAR-OLD FREAK SHOW NANCY PELOSI SNAPPED, "HELL NO!  DEMENTIA ALONE DOES NOT QUALIFY HER FOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN'S SENATE SEAT!  WE ARE HOLDING THAT FOR ADAM SCHIFF!"


REACHED FOR COMMENT, SOON-TO-BE 90-YEAR-OLD SENATR DIANNE FEINSTEIN LOOKED OFF IN A DAZE AND MUTTERED, "I ALWAYS LIKE ROSALYNN CARTER.  SHE WAS SO GOOD AS WONDER WOMAN.

 

FROM THE TCI WIRE:


 


Yesterday, the following was broadcast by Q+A (Australia's ABC):


Jen Robinson is the blond woman in the orange dress in the video above.  She's one of Julian Assange's attorneys. 

Jen Robinson: We addressed a briefing room of MPs.  It was packed to standing room only.  And all of them said the importance of being in that room was not only because he's an Australian citizen and a the free speech implications of this case but because their constituents are on the phone calling for this to happen.  And so I think we now have unity in Australia but the question is what the US government does with it.  And the right thing to do with it is to drop the prosecution because what the United States is doing is prosecuting journalism.  It is criminalizing journalism practices.  It diminishes the moral authority of the United States to raise free speech concerns with any other government.  We've not got Russia using the US precedent, charging a WALL STREET [JOURNAL] journalist, Even Gershkovich, with espionage -- for the first time since 1987 -- off the back of what the US is doing to Julian Assange -- Chinese officials saying 'well don't raise Cheng Lei or other people imprisoned here because you guys are imprisoning Julian Assange.  It diminishes our ability to raise free speech concerns internationally.  But, at the core of it, this is an Australian citizen who is imprisoned for award-winning publications and it is wrong.  And history will look back on this.  And the question is how long we will allow this to go on?  It's already been long enough.

Julian Assange remains imprisoned and remains persecuted by US President Joe Biden who, as vice president, once called him "a high tech terrorist."  Julian's 'crime' was revealing the realities of Iraq -- Chelsea Manning was a whistle-blower who leaked the information to Julian.  WIKILEAKS then published the Iraq War Logs.  And many outlets used the publication to publish reports of their own.  For example, THE GUARDIAN published many articles based on The Iraq War Logs.  Jonathan Steele, David Leigh and Nick Davies offered, on October 22, 2012:



A grim picture of the US and Britain's legacy in Iraq has been revealed in a massive leak of American military documents that detail torture, summary executions and war crimes.
Almost 400,000 secret US army field reports have been passed to the Guardian and a number of other international media organisations via the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The electronic archive is believed to emanate from the same dissident US army intelligence analyst who earlier this year is alleged to have leaked a smaller tranche of 90,000 logs chronicling bloody encounters and civilian killings in the Afghan war.
The new logs detail how:
• US authorities failed to investigate hundreds of reports of abuse, torture, rape and even murder by Iraqi police and soldiers whose conduct appears to be systematic and normally unpunished.

• A US helicopter gunship involved in a notorious Baghdad incident had previously killed Iraqi insurgents after they tried to surrender.
• More than 15,000 civilians died in previously unknown incidents. US and UK officials have insisted that no official record of civilian casualties exists but the logs record 66,081 non-combatant deaths out of a total of 109,000 fatalities.

The numerous reports of detainee abuse, often supported by medical evidence, describe prisoners shackled, blindfolded and hung by wrists or ankles, and subjected to whipping, punching, kicking or electric shocks. Six reports end with a detainee's apparent deat



The Biden administration has been saying all the right things lately about respecting a free and vigorous press, after four years of relentless media-bashing and legal assaults under Donald Trump.

The attorney general, Merrick Garland, has even put in place expanded protections for journalists this fall, saying that “a free and independent press is vital to the functioning of our democracy”.

But the biggest test of Biden’s commitment remains imprisoned in a jail cell in London, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been held since 2019 while facing prosecution in the United States under the Espionage Act, a century-old statute that has never been used before for publishing classified information.

Whether the US justice department continues to pursue the Trump-era charges against the notorious leaker, whose group put out secret information on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, American diplomacy and internal Democratic politics before the 2016 election, will go a long way toward determining whether the current administration intends to make good on its pledges to protect the press.

Now Biden is facing a re-energized push, both inside the United States and overseas, to drop Assange’s protracted prosecution.









I'm seeing someone who is completely not helping Julian right now.  He considers himself a journalsit -- he's connected to the sewer that Max Blumenthal now resides in.  Someone who cares abou tthis piece of garbage should pull him aside and say, "Stop."  Because he's not helping Julian with what he's done in the last 24 hours.  

There's a detail about the case that came out in a hearing that we covered years ago.  And we covered the detail in real time.  We continued to mention it afterwards.  And then Michael Ratner asked me a few months later, what's the point of covering it now when Julian's a prisoner?

Michael was right.

It's a fact and it's a pertinent fact.  And we can debate it all we want when Julian's free.  But Julian is not free.  If you're trying to help Julian, the fact that someone has changed their mind -- for whatever reason -- and is saying Julian should be free?  Celebrate that.  Amplify that.  Don't get all bitchy and high and mighty.  That's not helping Julian. 


In fact, why not grasp that one member of the press changing their mind about Julian right now, if publicized and put out there, gives cover for others who maybe just went along with the pack mentality and who could now say, "Well like so and so, I've changed my mind.  Julian needs to be free!"


I know logic and rationality don't thrive in the sewer Max now resides in but someone has to have a modicum of sense -- even there -- and that's who needs to tell the person attacking a member of the press for changing their mind that this is not helping Julian.

Again, I've bit my tongue for years now on one thing.  And it's not a critique.  It's a legal point.  When Julian's free, I'll return to discussing it.  But right now is not the time.

That message will probably fly over Max's buddy's head.  There's no real hope for him.  Like too many of Max's associates these days, the man is a transphobe and is having a meltdown that The Museum of Jewish History noted that trans people were targeted by Hitler.  He's got a Tweet with the 'offensive' over this statement.  Here's what was issued by The Museum that so triggered Maxi's little friend:


Before 1933, Germany was a center of LGBT+ community and culture, with several renowned organizations serving and supporting trans and gender non-conforming people. Hitler’s Nazi government, however, brutally targeted the trans community, deporting many trans people to concentration camps and wiping out vibrant community structures. As transgender people are now increasingly targets of discriminatory legislation and hate, join the Museum for a program exploring these stories and experiences prior to and during the Holocaust.

This panel conversation features Dr. Anna Hájková, Associate Professor of Modern European Continental History at the University of Warwick; Dr. Katie Sutton, Associate Professor of German and Gender Studies, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics at Australian National University; and Dr. Bodie A. Ashton, a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at Universität Erfurt, with moderator Rabbi Marisa Elana James, Director of Social Justice Programming at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York.

Watch the program below.

MJH recommends

Recommended Resources
During the program, a number of resources were mentioned for further research. One of these was the book Trans Talmud: Androgynes and Eunuchs in Rabbinic Literature by Max K. Strassfeld. Another was the magazine The Third Sex which was printed in Weimar Germany from 1930-1932. We also recommend historian Jake Newsome’s series LGBTQ+ Stories from the Holocaust, where he shares the true stories of LGBTQ+ people in Nazi Germany.

Learn More About the LGBTQ+ Community in Pre-War Germany
Before WWII, Berlin was a center of life for the LGBTQ+ community. Robert Beachy’s book Gay Berlin chronicles the milieu that gave rise to the international gay rights movement, with key strides made for scientific research, advocacy, and visibility. Learn more in this conversation between Beachy and Eric Marcus, creator of the podcast Making Gay History.

Discover the Life of Eve Adams
Eve Adams was a rebel. Born to a Jewish family in Poland, Adams emigrated to the United States in 1912. She befriended anarchists, sold radical publications, and ran lesbian and gay-friendly speakeasies in Chicago and Greenwich Village. Then, in 1925, Adams risked all to write and publish a book titled Lesbian Love. In a repressive era, when American women had just gained the right to vote, Adams’ association with anarchists caught the attention of the U.S. Bureau of Investigation, leading to her deportation into the Nazis’ reign of terror, where she was sent to Auschwitz and killed. Learn more about Adams’ life in this Museum program.



If you're wondering, that is a year old.  But Max's buddies are slow readers -- whose lips move when they read just as their knuckles drag on the floor when they walk -- and they've only just now discovered The Museum's announcement.


The Museum is addressing events that actually happened.  You don't want to admit that it happened?  I guess that makes you a denier but, hey, you fondle the extreme right-wing with your writing, so you're in denial about a lot of things.  Here are some facts from Holocaust Memorial Day Trust:


By the 1920s, Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code, which criminalised homosexual acts, was being applied less frequently. Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science led the world in its scientific approach to sexual diversity and acted as an important public centre for Berlin lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender life. In 1929 the process towards complete decriminalisation had been initiated within the German legislature.

Nazi conceptions of race, gender and eugenics dictated the Nazi regime’s hostile policy on homosexuality. Repression against gay men, lesbians and trans people commenced within days of Hitler becoming Chancellor. On 6 May 1933, the Nazis violently looted and closed The Institute for Sexual Science, burning its extensive collection on the streets. Unknown numbers of German gay men, lesbians and trans people fled abroad, and others entered into marriages in order to appear to conform to Nazi ideological norms, experiencing severe psychological trauma. The thriving gay culture in Berlin was lost.

The police established lists of homosexually active persons. Significant numbers of gay men were arrested, of whom an estimated 50,000 received severe jail sentences in brutal conditions. Most homosexuals were sent to police prisons, rather than concentration camps, where they were exposed to inhumane treatment. There they could be subjected to hard labour and torture, or they were experimented upon or executed.

An estimated 10-15,000 men who were accused of homosexuality were deported to concentration camps. Most died in the camps, often from exhaustion. Many were castrated and some subjected to gruesome medical experiments. Collective murder actions were undertaken against gay detainees, exterminating hundreds at a time.

During the 1935 redrafting of Paragraph 175 in Germany, there was much debate about whether to include lesbianism, which had not been recognised in the earlier version. Ultimately lesbians and trans people were not included in the legislation and they were subsequently not targeted in the same way as gay men. In Austria, after Anschluss (the annexation of Austria into greater Germany under the Nazi regime), a similar debate led to the inclusion of lesbianism in the penal code. Lesbians suffered the same destruction of community networks as gay men. They were not allowed to play any role in public life and therefore they often experienced a double economic disadvantage.

After World War Two

After the war, the Allies chose not to remove the Nazi-amended Paragraph 175. Neither they, nor the new German states, nor Austria would recognise homosexual prisoners as victims of the Nazis – a status essential to qualify for reparations. Indeed, many gay men continued to serve their prison sentences.

People who had been persecuted by the Nazis for homosexuality had a hard choice: either to bury their experience and pretend it never happened, with all the personal consequences of such an action, or to try to campaign for recognition in an environment where the same neighbours, the same law, same police and same judges prevailed.

Unsurprisingly very few victims came forward. Those who did, even those who had survived death camps, were thwarted at every turn. Few known victims are still alive but research is beginning to reveal the hidden history of Nazi homophobia and post-war discrimination.




I guess that's uncomfortable because it won't help the extreme right-wing -- that group that Max and his buddies try to flirt with these days.  But it is what happened.  And what happened then has resulted in a lot of people being alarmed by what's happening right now.  But if Max Blumenthal called out attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, he couldn't grift to the extreme right-wing for money, now could he?

No, Maxi Pads needs his dollars.  Certainly more than he needs dignity, right?  Or self-respect?  


So following the end of WWII, LGBTQ+ people remained persecuted because of who they were which was too much for the delicate sensibiliteis of the US.  That's outrageous.  It's outrageous that reality was denied and it's outrageous that Max's roll-dog wants to lie about this community today.

But most of all it's outrageous that someone is so damn stupid that they'd rather rag on a reporter for coming around to supporting Julian then try to build support for Julian.  

That is what's needed.  I find Jen's words very encouraging but at present?  All they are right now: Words.  Julian remains imprisoned.  Max and his buddies do get that, right?





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    • "Tina"

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    "Tina Turner (1939 to 2023)"

    "Stupid Ron DeSantis is bad for business"

    "Jonathan Turley's got crush"

    "Marie-Claire Beaulieu: The Idiot Professor"

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    "George Polk"

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    "Lauren Boebert gets burned by AOC"

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    "Worst Cookbook of the 21st century"

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    "Baked Parmesan Yellow Squash in the Kitchen"

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    "Those with nothing to say about Tina"

    "They've ruined their reputation"

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    "Only thing worse than Turley? The thought of Turley having sex"

    "Hunter"

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    "The groundbreaker Tina Turner"

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    "A JOYOUS TRANSFORMATION: THE UNEXPURGATED DIARY OF ANAIS NIN, 1966 -1977"

    "An aging queen writes a bitter book about The Way We Were"

    "Hate merchant Riley Gaines"

    "The wrong people are dying"

    "An attack on President Joe Biden"

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    "Gay actor George Maharis has died"

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    "Short, fat and old -- Matt Damon wonders where the audience is"

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    "Jonathan Turley has a gift for Ron DeSantis"

    "THIS JUST IN! TURLEY LOVES DESANTIS!"


    Posted by at

    Monday, May 22, 2023

    THIS JUST IN! TURLEY LOVES DESANTIS!

    BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX & THOMAS FRIEDMAN IS A GREAT MAN & ANN'S MEGA DUB -- THE KOOL AID TABLE   

    ELON MUSK HAS BEGUN FLIRTING WITH SENATOR TIM SCOTT.  AFTER PLEDGING HIS EVERYTHING TO RON DESANTIS, THIS TURN OF EVENTS HAS LEFT MANY SURPRISED.


    AND NO ONE'S MORE SURPRISED -- OR OUTRAGED -- THAN DESANTIS FAN, TRANSPHOBE AND FOX "NEWS" WHORE JONATHAN TURLEY.  


    "THIS IS TRIGGERING ME!" SCREAMED TURLEY, TEARS STREAMING DOWN HIS FACE.  "RON IS ALL I KNOW! HE IS ALL I WANT!  I WANT HIS ARROW HEAD TO PIERCE MY LITTLE PRINCESS AND TAKE MY FLOWER!  HE WAS THE ONLY SHOT AT ANYONE TAKING MY FLOWER!  MY LITTLE NON-DISNEY PRINCESS IS SO WET!"


    FROM THE TCI WIRE:

    The American way?  I think all the dollars that could have supported that have instead been sent to Ukraine.  Barry Grey (WSWS) reports:

    At a press conference Sunday following the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, President Joe Biden called on Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to meet face to face to revive talks on a bipartisan plan to slash social spending in return for raising the nation’s debt ceiling and averting a default.

    Biden spoke after talks between a team of White House advisers and negotiators named by McCarthy broke off on Saturday. The entire debt limit and budget negotiation process has from the start been heavily stage-managed in an attempt to stampede public opinion.

    On Sunday, Biden repeatedly pointed to his proposal to cut more than $1 trillion in discretionary spending as part of a budget deal, making clear that his government is committed to imposing a new wave of austerity measures that will further undermine education, health care, housing, home heating assistance and other vital programs relied upon by millions of working class families.

    Biden announced that he would be calling McCarthy from Air Force One while flying back to Washington. Later on Sunday, McCarthy dropped his accusatory tone toward Biden, called the telephone call “productive” and said the two would meet face to face at the White House on Monday. He also said the negotiating teams for each side would resume their talks later on Sunday.

    What neither he nor the Republicans nor the corporate media point out is the direct connection between the new austerity drive and the ever-expanding cost of the US-led war against Russia in Ukraine. While Biden was in Japan, the US government announced that it had allotted another $375 million to arm Ukraine, part of a feverish escalation that includes providing the right-wing nationalist government in Kiev with F-16 nuclear-capable jets.

    In the barrage of propaganda over the supposed necessity to slash social programs to avert the nation’s first-ever default on its debt obligations—which, according to Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, could come as early as June 1—nothing is said about the role of military spending in driving up the debt.

    In fact, social spending as a percentage of GDP has declined sharply since 2011, when the last Democratic administration, headed by Barack Obama and Joe Biden, followed its multitrillion-dollar bailout of the banks after the financial crash of 2008 with the bipartisan Budget Control Act of 2011. That measure imposed a decade-long cap on discretionary spending, sharply reducing in real terms government outlays for education, health care and other vital social needs.

    Military spending, however, has exploded. Last year, the Biden administration allocated $113 billion for the war in Ukraine and enacted a record $1 trillion defense budget.


    How far in do you think the Soviet Union was on Afghanistan before the people realized that the sink hole was going to cost them their country?  From Boston University's GUIDED HISTORY:

    During the 1970’s, Soviet-American relations underwent a thawing period, known as the Detente. This period witnessed the cooperation of the two nations in space, strategic arms limitation talks (otherwise known as SALT), and multiple summits and discussions. This period was abruptly ended in 1979 when the Soviet Union, under the orders of its leader Leonid Brezhnev, led an invasion of Afghanistan after internal political tensions between the Afghan Communists and the Mujahideen rebels threatened the stability of the region.

    The historical significance of this event is mainly embodied in the collapse of the Soviet Union twelve years after the invasion of Afghanistan.  The war put immense stresses on the faulty, centralized economic system of the nation, and along with the radical social reforms set by Mikhail Gorbachev, led to the collapse of the nation. This war would be known as the equivalent to the Vietnam War for the United States, both in economic stresses brought upon by the war, and by the social discontent that it caused.


    Meanwhile, the American Taliban works in this country to destroy rights and democracy.  The Dodgers won't allow a drag group, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, to participate at a Pride event.  Why?  A right-wing group -- yes, it is right-wing, look at its board of advisors  --   The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is having a fit that this drag group dresses up as nuns -- and has done that for years,  Grasp that.  We tend to look amazed when, in other countries, people have hissy fits over cartoons or artistic renderings that send their religious idiots into states of violence.  But what's the real difference between that and attempting to disinvite this group to a Pride event?  There is none.  They are the American Taliban and they and their board of advisors -- Brent Bozell, Linda Chavez, Mary Ann Glendon, Alan Keyes, Tom Monaghan, and George Weigel -- pretend to want to protect children.  But they do nothing to protect them from priests.  

    The American Taliban is destroying the country.  

    Florida is the most obvious spot.  It's where the goon Ron DeSantis just cost the state 2,000 high paying jobs due to his never ending war on DISNEY.  On Saturday, The NAACP issued the following travel alert:

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

    May 20, 2023

    Contact: Chyna Fields cfields@naacpnet.org

    WASHINGTON – Today, the NAACP Board of Directors issued a formal travel advisory for the state of Florida. The travel advisory comes in direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis' aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools. 

    The formal travel notice states, "Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the state of Florida devalues and marginalizes the contributions of, and the challenges faced by African Americans and other communities of color." 

    "Let me be clear - failing to teach an accurate representation of the horrors and inequalities that Black Americans have faced and continue to face is a disservice to students and a dereliction of duty to all," said NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson. "Under the leadership of Governor Desantis, the state of Florida has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon. He should know that democracy will prevail because its defenders are prepared to stand up and fight. We're not backing down, and we encourage our allies to join us in the battle for the soul of our nation."

    The travel advisory was initially proposed to the Board of Directors by NAACP's Florida State Conference. NAACP's collective consideration of this advisory is a result from unrelenting attacks on fundamental freedoms from the Governor and his legislative body. 

    "Once again, hate-inspired state leaders have chosen to put politics over people. Governor Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida have engaged in a blatant war against principles of diversity and inclusion and rejected our shared identities to appeal to a dangerous, extremist minority," said Chair of the NAACP Board of Directors, Leon Russell. "We will not not allow our rights and history to be held hostage for political grandstanding. The NAACP proudly fights against the malicious attacks in Florida, against Black Americans. I encourage my fellow Floridians to join in this fight to protect ourselves and our democracy."

    Following Gov. DeSantis' so-called leadership in driving the state to reject students' access to AP African American studies course in March, the NAACP distributed 10,000 books to 25 predominantly Black communities across the state in collaboration with the American Federation of Teachers's Reading Opens the World program. The majority of the books donated were titles banned under the state's increasingly restrictive laws. The NAACP continues to encourage local branches and youth councils to start community libraries to ensure access to representative literature.

    The NAACP encourages Florida residents to join this effort to defeat the regressive policies of this Governor and this state legislature. Interested residents and supporters can visit www.naacp.org for additional information and updates. 

    ###


    The American Taliban is carrying out a war on democracy. 
     


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    "Oh, those extreme right wing women"

    "MY STATE NEEDS TO REJECT OUR LOUSY GOVERNOR"


    Posted by at

    Wednesday, April 26, 2023

    MY STATE NEEDS TO REJECT OUR LOUSY GOVERNOR


    AS SOMEONE BORN AND RAISED IN FLORIDA, I AM BEGGING YOU TO TELL RON DESANTIS TO STOP DESTROYING OUR STATE.

    THE IDIOT IS A WAR CRIMINAL WHO SHOULD BE BEHIND BARS.  INSTEAD HE'S GOTTEN TO BE GOVERNOR AND IS DESTROYING THE STATE.  NOW HE HAS YET ANOTHER LAWSUIT AGAINST DISNEY AND HE'S NOT GOING TO PAY THE BILL, WE ARE GOING TO PAY THE BILL.

    THIS IS BEYOND MADNESS.  WE ALL KNOW DISNEY IS THE REASON SO MANY PEOPLE VISIT EACH YEAR.  HE SHOULD BE ATTEMPTING TO WORK WITH THEM, NOT ATTACKING THEM.  


    AS A KID, DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANT TO GROW UP IN FLORIDA, HOME OF DISNEY?  AROUND THE COUNTRY, KIDS DREAM ABOUT GOING TO DISNEY WORLD OR TO CALIFORNIA'S DISNEY LAND.  WE HAD THE DESTINATION.  

    THANKS TO RON DESANTIS AND HIS BULLYING, WE COULD LOSE IT.  

    HE'S ALREADY DESTROYED OUR STATE.  HE HAS TURNED US INTO A LAUGHING STOCK OF THE COUNTRY.  WE LOOK LIKE BACKWARD HICKS.  HE'S ATTACKED PRIDE FESTIVALS AND DRAG QUEENS.  HE WAS NOT ELECTED TO BE THE MORALIZER OF FLORIDA.  HE WAS SUPPOSED TO IMPROVE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN AN ELECTED REPUBLICAN MORE ANTI-BUSINESS.

    HE HAS SENT US SPIRALING INTO DEBT WITH HIS FRIVILOUS LAWSUITS AND HE HAD DISGRACED US ON THE NATIONAL STAGE.  WE HAVE FAMILIES LEAVING THE STATE BECAUSE RON'S ACTIONS HAVE MADE THEM UNSAFE.  

    THIS IS NOT FLORIDA.

    ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  

    WE NEED TO MAKE CLEAR TO RON THAT HE'S NOT DOING THE JOB HE'S BEEN ELECTED TO AND THAT OUR BACKS ARE NOT HIS STEPPING STONE TO THE PRESIDENCY.  HE DID A BOOK TOUR AND NOW HE'S TRAVELING OVERSEAS.  WHEN DOES HE DO HIS JOB?


    AND GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY NEEDS TO MAKE CLEAR TO THEIR TRANSPHOBIC PROFESSOR JONATHAN TURLEY THAT HE IS NOT WORKING -- OFFICIALLY OR UNOFFICIALLY -- FOR RON DESANTIS.  HE'S EGGING ON A MONSTER AND I DON'T BELIEVE IT'S GWU'S POLICY TO EMBRACE WAR CRIMINALS WHO TORTURED PRISONERS AT GUANTANAMO.  BAD ENOUGH TURLEY'S A TRANSPHOBE BUT HE'S NOW ROOTING FOR A WAR CRIMINAL.  I HOPE EVERYONE REMEMBERS THAT WHEN APPLYING TO COLLEGES.  STAY AWAY FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE BRANDED A TRANSPHOBE OR A TORTURE ACCOMPLICE.


    HERE'S C.I.'S "Iraq snapshot:"


    Wednesday, April 26, 2023.  Threats again of attacks on US service members in Iraq, a US general uses a narrow time frame to try to claim victory (when it's probably weather related), Joe Biden declares he's running for re-election, and much more.


    Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, an Iraqi resistance group, has announced that it is prepared to expel American forces from Iraq if the United States decides to keep them in the country.

    "If Washington insists on not withdrawing its military forces from Iraq, the resistance groups are at the peak of their readiness to expel them from this country's soil," said Kadhim al-Fartousi, the group's spokesperson, in an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.


    You can check the timeline, it's today.  It just seems like a rerun because it is.  Over and over that threat is made.  It's as old as the Iraq War.  

    Still on Iraq, IRAQI NEWS reports:

    The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, confirmed that his country’s forces will not withdraw from northern Iraq and Syria at present, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.

    In an interview, Cavusoglu said that the withdrawal from northern Iraq and northern Syria means the cessation of the Turkish military operations against terrorism and allowing terrorists to get closer to the borders, and this poses a threat to Turkey’s national security.

    The Turkish Foreign Minister explained that the Turkish forces will leave a security vacuum if they withdrew from northern Syria, and that national security and border security are very important for Ankara.


    A security vacuum?  They're violating Iraq's national sovereignty by putting troops on the ground in Iraq and setting up military bases in Iraq.  But they think they're the ones in the right?  Weeks ago, they attacked a convoy in northern Iraq that included US military personnel.  Why?  Well as Cavusoglu makes clear later in his remarks, they don't trust the US.  Interesting.  

    Monday, the US State Dept held a press briefing with Major General Matthew McFarlane ("the commanding general of the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve") that's resulted in a lot of stenography but no reporting and certainly no analysis.


    "If you walk away with one thing tonight, I want it to be the progress we have made, our partners have made, and the coalition in support of them, in the campaign against [. . .] ISIS," the general declared and like good stews in the secretarial pool, they all did just that.


    He wanted people to know that ISIS holds "no territory."  Terrorist groups rarely do.  That's not their real motive.  Disruption is their motive.  The US government -- and lying generals -- still want to play like ISIS taking over Mosul was normal.  


    He then wanted to lie that ISIS "remains military defeated."  What does that even mean, you liar?  They're a terrorist organization.  As such, they're active or they're inactive.  You'd have to be a complete idiot not to grasp that.

    There's been a reduction in activity!!!!  And everyone ran with that.  

    He insisted, "Since the beginning of this year in Iraq -- so that's January 1st through the first week of April -- we've seen a -- recorded a 68 percent reduction in attacks when compared to the same period last year."

    That's so impressive . . . if you believe any lie you're told.  

    Ramadan just concluded.  Do  you know what his narrow period saw with regards to Ramadan?

    Fewer pilgrimages.  

    Why?

    The flooding.

    What marks the end of fasting (from sunrise to sunset) of Ramadan?  Eid al-Fitr.

    RUDAW reported on Saturday:

    Compared to previous religious and national holidays, the number of tourists visiting the main attraction spots in Erbil province has dropped due to the most recent flash floods and cold weather, according to local authorities. 

    Heavy rainfall and floods over the past weekend caused serious damage to resorts at Erbil’s tourist attractions and brought traffic to a standstill. As Muslims in the Kurdistan Region celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the number of tourists was lower than expected. 

    "The number of tourists that have come was not what we predicted due to two key reasons; first, final examinations, second, most recent floods... However, we believe, from after [Eid al-Fitr] the number of tourists will go back to normal as the temperature degrees increase," Laween Jabar, owner of a resort in Soran told Rudaw’s Andam Jabbar.  



    Hey, here's an idea for the US government:  The next time Iraq's hit by a bad sand storm and government offices have to close down, put Major General Matthew McFarlane back before the press the next day so he can claim victory again for a day where ISIS was inactive, take credit for that too.

    The press may be that stupid -- or that whorish -- the rest of us aren't.


    Yesterday, US President Joe Biden became the third candidate to declare that they were running for the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential nomination.  Immediately, Marianne Williamson had comments.  Ryan King (WASHINGTON EXAMINER) reports:


    Bestselling author and self-help guru Marianne Williamson blasted President Joe Biden's 2024 launch video and warned he can't energize younger voters.

    "I think that video was very out of touch, and that's what people are feeling," Williamson told the Hill's Rising. "I think an entire younger generation would stay home in droves in response to what that video is advancing as the administration's pitch to the American people."


    Hey, Marianne, what voice in your head told you that?  I don't know that I'd be calling anyone else out of touch if I were the candidate whose support evaporated the moment Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared he was also running for the nomination.  Disclosure -- and I'm not doing this every day -- I know all three.  I know Joe, I know Marianne, I know Robert.  If you talk crazy, I'll call you out.  I'm not afraid to smack you around.  Marianne got off easy in 2019 and got off rough.  Easy in that, she was part of a group of women running so we focused on that and, except for psychotic cult member Tulsi Gabbard, the women all got along.  Rough in that, when she called for everyone to send positive energy to defeat something (COVID, I don't remember), I thought about whether or not I wanted to write a piece on how positive thinking can be a form of prayer before deciding, "No, I really don't feel like writing something I don't believe in just because she's made a fool of herself."  


    With a smaller field, Marianne will have even more opportunities to make a fool out of herself.  She'll also have more opportunities to shine.


    But that would require Marianne learning to speak for Marianne.  RFK Jr. will face his own obstacles.  But he's speaking for himself.  His remarks are authentic to who he is.

    Marianne? "I think an entire younger generation . . ."

    Are you a younger generation, Marianne?  Why don't you speak for yourself or are you not able to?  You've got Peter Daou handling your campaign but are you listening to him?  You're not making statements that appeal to people.  If you want to be a critic, go for it.  We can use more.  But if you're a candidate, you need to learn to craft those soundbytes better.  This one is so bad, it's laughable.

    Joe was actually the reason I was going to cover the campaigns today.

    Some people just can't turn the offense meter off.  I don't like Donald Trump but go back and you will see that when I thought he was being misunderstood over a remark -- willfully or not -- I would weigh in.  I did not cover his Tweets.  I felt the media was obsessed with his Tweets and ignoring his harmful policies.

    But Joe Biden made comments about children.  And the offense industry got butt hurt over his comments: "Our nation's children are all our children."  

    This is nothing controversial but when you're one of those Jonathan Turleys paid to create outrage every fifteen minutes . . . 

    Joe grew up in a different time when the neighborhood children were everyone's children.  The adults watched out for all of them.  Equally true, only the most rabid would disagree with Hillary Clinton that it takes a village.  Joe's remark was not about stripping anyone of their rights as parents.  They were noting that children are our resources, our most treasured resources.


    There are many things going on to take actual offense over.  As I've said in other election cycles, if we're going to be this stupid, it's going to be a long election cycle.

    To drop back to Gen Z Marianne Williamson, I think this is a strategy that will appeal to many.  Here's Joe's announcement.











    Why do you need to vote for Joe again? The ad makes the argument that there are too many crazies out there (no, Marianne, he doesn't mean you) who are destroying our way of life and our democracy.  They think they can overturn established law.  They think they can destroy women's reproductive rights -- first with abortion and now with pills.  They think they can deny trans care to adults -- or, for that matter, to children whose parents have made the decision that trans care is needed.  They think they can attack LGBTQ+ members.  They think they can tell us what we can read.  They think they can tell us -- grown adults -- how to dress -- don't dress in the opposite gender or they'll arrest you.  

    And you think, on that last one, that I'm talking about drag queens and kings?  I am but I'm talking about more than that as well.  


    The head of the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) has issued a memorandum telling all employees to dress “in a manner consistent with their biological gender.” The revised dress code would not only force transgender people to present in a way that feels inauthentic, it could also be used to punish cisgender people who wear gender-neutral clothing.

    The memo, which experts say violates federal free speech and non-discrimination protections, is just the latest move by Texas Republicans to erase trans identities from the state.

    The April 13 memorandum, signed by Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller (R), was entitled “Texas Department of Agriculture Dress Code and Grooming Policy.”

    Miller’s two-page memo said that in order to “reflect the culture, dignity, and professionalism of the TDA… All employees are expected to comply with this dress code in a manner consistent with their biological gender.” The memo effectively revises the department’s former dress code, which didn’t mention “biological gender,” The Texas Observer noted.

    The new dress code requires employees to wear “traditional business wear, including Western business attire.” This includes button-down shirts for men and skirts or pants for women. The code applies to all work settings that don’t require uniforms or protective gear for agricultural fieldwork.

    Ladies, they don't just want to control our reproductive rights, they also want to control what we wear.  This is the American Taliban.

    If Marianne can't grasp that, she has no business running for office.


    Joe's a known quantity.  He can't change his brand.  He can't pretend to be something he's not.  So what he can he do?  He can present himself as a voice of sanity who is going to stand with Americans and tell the bullies to back off.  

    That's what the campaign's going to run on and it's a smart move.

    I believe former Senator Claire McCaskill was on Andrea Mitchell's show just yesterday talking about how the "Republican Party is worshiping at the alter of extremism."  She is correct.



    Now for those who believe I'm trying to steer people away from Marianne to Robert, let's do Robert.

    Robert, the American people want to stand behind you.  They'll accept your stands on vaccines.

    They will not accept you standing with crazy.

    There's a reason I'm not endorsing RFK Jr.

    I thought I would.  Then I saw him too tight with someone.

    Tucker?

    Mother Tucker was media, I could care less.

    But Robert, if you're going to stand with a registered sex offender, a convicted pedophile, you're going to watch your own campaign burn down into flames.

    You cannot survive that. 

    I'm sure some of the wack jobs are lying and telling you that you can.

    These same pieces of trash insisted that Scott Ritter -- the registered sex offender and convicted pedophile -- was not going to hurt their DC rally for 'peace.'

    But what happened there?

    Even the crazies had to back down and disinvite Scott Ritter.

    The media's not really paying attention to you, Robert, because they think "anti-vax" is going to take you out.  It's not.  It's who you are and it's not a surprise to anyone supporting you.

    You're standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a registered sex offender?

    Robert, that's not a dream of Camelot.

    Basic rule of politics, don't stand next to a child molester for a photo op.


    You're going to need to stop associating with crazies or you're going to hand your current lead over to Marianne.  I'm not joking on this.  Scott Ritter is going to run off support and if the media picks up on this relationship and runs with it, it could kill your campaign in a matter of weeks.  That's your warning.


    Marianne?  She doesn't suffer fools who harm what needs to be done.  Just the Scott Ritter relationship may be enough for some RFK Jr. supporters to go elsewhere.  If so, if Marianne will listen to Peter Daou, she can run a solid campaign.



    That's Marianne talking about issues which is what she needs to do if her campaign's going to have any real chance.





    Can we talk about John Stauber for a moment.  The hate merchant felt the need to reTweet Sean Ono Lennon.  Hmm.  He loves Sean but he hates Cher.  


    I'm sorry who actually did something with their life?  Right, that would be Cher.  Sean Ono Lennon is a 47-year-old man child who never learned self-grooming and he's the definition of a nepo-baby.  How many hits did he have?  Zero.  Cher, by contrast, charted 63 songs in the US.  Sean's had zero gold albums and zero platinum albums in the US.  Cher?  8 gold albums and 6 platinum (and multi-platinum) albums.  Sean has had two albums make it on to BILLBOARD's Top 200 albums (both made it to 153) while Cher's carried 44 albums onto BILLBOARD's Top 200.   Both also pursued acting careers.  I don't know if you'd consider the episode of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER or the episode of the original MELROSE PLACE Sean's 'acting high.'  But Cher carried three variety series.  She made films with Robert Altman, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jack Nicholson, Mike Nichols, Meryl Streep, Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci, Liam Neeson, Norman Jewison, Nicholas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Sandy Dennis, Karen Black, Kathy Bates, Lily Tomlin, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Chazz Palminteri, Stanley Tucci, William Friedkin, Peter Yates, Anne Heche, Rita Wilson, Sam Elliott, Laura Dern and Eric Stoltz  -- among others.   She's been nominated for two BAFTA awards, she's been nominated for six Golden Globes (and won three), won Best Actress at The Cannes Film Festival and been nominated for two Academy Awards (winning Best Actress for MOONSTRUCK).  Oh, and she's performed on Broadway.

    Cher worked for what she has.  Sean?  Nepo-baby who will be handed billions when Yoko passes away.  He's wasted his life.  If that seems harsh, let's compare him to his half-brother Julian.  Julian has a million selling album in the US to his credit and a gold one. In all, he took 3 albums onto BILLBOARD's top 200.  And he charted six songs in the US.  Unlike Sean, Julian didn't grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth.  Even so, he leaves behind a musical history.   Sean was handed everything -- he even had sleep overs with Michael Jackson -- but now, at the age of 47, he has nothing to show for it.

    Naturally, that's who John Stauber elects to celebrate.  Why?  Because they both hold the same vapid opinion.  

    I'll celebrate the people who work and not the idle rich who've had everything handed to them and gone on to do nothing with their lives.  John Stauber will just go on being pathetic.  It's the only card he has left to play.   And when -- and if -- Sean ever does anything with his lazy life, I might care what he thinks about Tucker Carlson but right now he's just a spoiled brat who has wasted his life.


    Harry Belafonte has passed away.  Activist, actor, singer, friend to the world.  His life mattered and he gave so much.  While fools and liars like Tucker Carlson cheered on the Iraq War, Harry called it out.  We'll wind down with this from David Bacon:



    HARRY BELAFONTE, PRESENTE!
     
    Harry Belafonte was a true people's hero. He opposed war and racism, and was a friend of revolutionary movements in Cuba and Venezuela. He was a radical activist, in the tradition of Paul Robeson, in whose footsteps he said he walked. In these photographs he came to Oakland on April 15, 2003, for a march and rally against the war in Afghanistan right after it started. He was unafraid to oppose U.S. wars and intervention, a true man of peace.
     
    Harry Belafonte, presente!
     
    Photos © by David Bacon
    To see the full set of photos, click here.




     

    WHEN WE SPOKE OUT AGAINST WAR -
    Unearthing the history of protest against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
    Photographs © by David Bacon
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/56646659@N05/52759801492/in/album-72177720306862427/
    Copyright © 2023 David Bacon Photographs and Stories, All rights reserved.



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