The Daily Jot

Tuesday, September 21, 2021

THIS JUST IN! JOE HAS A RESPONSE! IF HE CAN JUST WAKE UP!

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

MILLIONAIRE SCIENTIST ELON MUSK INSULTED U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AFTER THE PRESIDENT FAILED TO CONGRATULATE MUSK ON HIS RECENT ALL CIVILIAN CREW ON A SPACE MISSION. ASKED WHAT HE THOUGHT OF BIDEN'S NOT CONGRATULATING HIM, MUSK DECLARED "HE'S STILL SLEEPING."

INFORMED OF THE COMMENT, THE WHITE HOUSE REQUESTED THAT THESE TWO REPORTERS -- MUST CREDIT -- ARRIVE AT THE WHITE HOUSE AND TAKE DOWN "THE PRESIDENT'S RESPONSE WORD FOR WORD. NO SHENNANIGANS FORM YOU TWO AND NO MALARKEY."

WE WERE LET INTO THE OVAL OFFICE JUST AS THEY WERE GIVING THE PRESIDENT HIS '"VITAMIN" SHOT. INSTALNTLY, HIS CHEEKS TURNED ROSEY AND HE DID A CARTWHEEL DOWN ONE SIDE OF THE ROOM. SITTING DOWN IN HIS CHAIR, BIDEN LOOKED AT US AND SAID, "SHOOT!"

SO WE QUOTED MUSK'S COMMENT TO HIM AND THE PRESIDENT GREW ANGRY AND ENRAGED DECLARING, "HOW DARE HE@! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS! I'LL TEACH HIM -- ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!"

LOOKING UP FROM OUR NOTEPADS, WE SAW THAT BIDEN HAD FALLEN ASLEEP. A CIRCUMSPECT JEN PSAKI SHOOK HER HEAD SADLY AND SAID, "THOSE BOOSTER SHOTS GET HIM HYPED FOR LESS AND LESS TIME LATELY."

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Starting with false promises. The Iraq War has been filled with them. These included the 'progress' claims -- we dubbed them Operation Happy Talk as far back as 2004 and noted that every claimed "turned corner" just led back to the same spot. Recently, it became acceptable to note that the American people have been lied to over and over with claims of 'progress' in Afghanistan but they still can't note that reality about Iraq in the corporate press.

Instead, every insipid claim is treated as reality -- even though the lies are now recycled and should be prompting a sense of deja vu if not outrage.

A few people have e-mailed the public e-mail account (common_ills@yahoo.com) insisting that we are not covering the big story about US troops leaving Iraq. Big story? You mean empty garbage?

Because that's what it is.

US troops will leave Iraq, the claim goes, after the elections. (US President Joe Biden insisted in July that it would by the end of the year.)

That would be?

After. The. Elections.

Now if you read coverage of the upcoming Iraqi elections where the reporter has spoken with some Iraqis, you will find some talking about their apathy and talking about how promises are made every election cycle and nothing ever changes, some will note that their streets haven't been paved in years, some will note the continued electricity shortages . . .

The US government was selling the claim to the press and it didn't get the traction it needed so Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi has taken to letting the empty words fall out of his mouth.

He is the point of the claim or, rather, his getting a second term.

The US is backing Mustafa for prime minister in the October elections. The boast/claim (lie) is intended to increase his number of votes. "Look! He's getting US troops out of Iraq! Let's vote fo him!"

He's doing nothing of the sort. Which is why we haven't wasted a great deal of time on this garbage But we're not the only ones catching on.

Yesterday, we noted Dave Phillips's report for THE NEW YORK TIMES

A taut line of soldiers crossed the sprawling Army post’s parade ground in the afternoon, hoisting flags draped with a rainbow of streamers from past deployments: Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Korea, Germany, France, Civil War battles and even skirmishes with Plains tribes on horseback.

“Present colors!” a sergeant yelled. The soldiers turned and dipped the flags toward their commanding colonel, who stepped forward and carefully wrapped each one in camouflage sleeves.

At that very moment — 1:29 p.m. Mountain time on Aug. 30 — the last U.S. military plane took off from the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.

American flags across the country had been lowered to half-staff to honor the 13 U.S. troops killed there by a suicide bomber. And at the front gate of Fort Carson, women set out 13 pairs of boots and 13 cold Bud Lights as a memorial.

But the ceremony on the parade ground was not marking the end of America’s war in Afghanistan. The 4th Infantry Division’s 1st Stryker Brigade was wrapping its flags to mark the beginning of its latest deployment. It was going back to Iraq.

Although the mission may have dropped from public attention, the United States still has boots on the ground in the other nation it invaded in the wake of 9/11. About 2,500 U.S. troops are in Iraq now, the embers of what was once a scorching and divisive war, now carefully scattered to protect a few strategic bases. For the next nine months, roughly 2,000 soldiers from 1st Brigade will take over much of that duty.

US troops are not leaving.

The qualifier? "Combat troops." It's a weasel word and one that various generals rejected with regards to the withdrawal of 'combat troops' under then-President Barack Obama.

Barack Obama ran for the presidency in 2008 claiming that, if elected, he'd have US troops out of Iraq in ten months. Check the archives, I'm not in the mood to spoon feed. Among other things we noted in 2008 about this claim? Samantha Power getting fired from the campaign because the BBC was about to air her interview where she revealed this wasn't a promise and that Barack would decide what to do after he got elected.

This was when Barack was hammering Hillary over the Iraq War. That interview could have been very damaging. Fortunately, Whore John Nichols was present to lie yet again. When Barack's campaign was reassuring the Canadian government that NAFTA was staying, that talks on trade were just empty words to get votes, along comes Whore John Nichols. Where does a whore take his wares? Amy Goodman's DEMOCRACY NOW! of course. This is where, after all, the conspiracy kooks proclaimed that Wes Clark wasn't really running for the nomination, that it was part of a Clinton conspiracy and that, at the convention, Hillary would be declared the nominee -- even though she wasn't campaigning that year. They told a lot of lies on that program.

So Whore John Nichols knew to go there for his lie. He was working on a new story, he explained, it would blow the AP scoop (about Barack and Canada) out of the water. It wasn't Barack, no, he was as pure as as a teen with a chastity pledge. It was Hillary! AP got it wrong, it was Hillary! And he had sources and his expose would be published shortly!

It was never published because it never existed. I saw recently that someone -- Katie Halper? -- had John Nichols on. We didn't highlight that clip. We don't highlight lying whores. John also wrote a book about impeaching Bully Boy Bush. It had just come out when Nancy Pelosi declared impeachment "off the table" should Dems take control of the House in the 2006 elections. John stopped promoting it. He's a whore and if you think I'm angry about it, you should talk to the people at the publishing house of that book. There's no term I could apply to John that they haven't already.

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"THIS JUST IN! WHAT ABOUT THE ELVIS SIGHTINGS!"

Monday, August 30, 2021

THIS JUST IN! WHAT ABOUT THE ELVIS SIGHTINGS!

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

CBS NEWS PRETENDS BRAVERY AS IT REPORTS ON THE NUMBER OF U.F.O.S SEEN IN U.S. AIRSPACE. BUT, AS NEWS LEGEND DAN RATHER POINTS OUT, "THEY REFUSE TO TACKLE THE REALLY CONTROVERSIAL STORY: ALL THE SIGHTINGS OF ELVIS."

ASKED WHY HE NEVER EXPLORED THE TOPIC HIMSELF IN HIS YEARS OF HOSTING CBS EVENING NEWS, RATHER TOLD THESE REPORTERS, "I WAS IN THAT LIFELONG BATTLE WITH THE TRUTH AND IT JUST CONSUMED. MY ADDITICTION TO LYING MADE MY LIFE UNMANAGEABLE. WELL THAT . . . AND HAVING TO CO-ANCHOR WITH CONNIE CHUNG."

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Sarah Chayes is the person who should be on the talk shows passed off as news programs is you're going to talk Afghanistan. Amy Goodman made a few seconds for Sarah yesterday. Yes, that is a criticism. Not really sure why she gets short changed to bring on Jeremy Corbyn or, for that matter, any politician. She was on the ground in Afghanistan for years. She is a trained journalist so she knows how to speak in such a way that the audience understands her -- meaning she's not tossing out references that will go over the heads of listeners or viewers -- if she's referencing something, she's explaining it. But while Sarah knows about journalism, Amy still struggles with comprehending the term. Here's an excerpt of the brief segment:

SARAH CHAYES: And I was on the ground, you know, starting about — I was in Kandahar maybe a day or two after the city fell, meaning the Taliban regime at the time fell. And well into 2002, there was basically no one home at the U.S. Embassy. There just was nobody there. People would rotate in on two-week deployments. No one spoke a local language. We couldn’t figure out what was going on. And it wasn’t until later that I realized that, by early 2002, personnel were all pivoting already to Iraq. So, I think that’s the first thing you have to understand.

And secondly, that, therefore, the U.S. personnel that it was — that Afghanistan matters were largely left to were members of the CIA. And they had a history in the region which really involved a very close partnership with the Pakistani military intelligence agency, the ISI. And what I came to understand is that the Taliban did not emerge spontaneously in Kandahar, as we often hear. And this is work that I did over the course of years, interviewing both ordinary people who lived in Kandahar and lived across the border in Quetta, Pakistan, as well as some of the main actors in that drama, who became friends of mine. The Taliban were concocted across the border by the Pakistani military intelligence agency and sent across the border. There was a negotiation process — and we’re talking 1994 now, 1993 and 1994 — with the local mujahideen commanders. And that process was, in fact, led by none other than Hamid Karzai. So, when I learned that in the early 2000s, I was pretty gobsmacked, because I realized that sort of the individual that the United States government had chosen to lead a post-Taliban Afghanistan was the very person who had brought the Taliban into Afghanistan in the first place and who had served as their ambassador-designate to the United Nations, as late as 1996.

And so, I would — you know, I would just raise some questions with what Obaidullah was telling you, because his family retained very close links with the Pakistani military intelligence agency throughout. And I found myself almost smiling when he said, “How do I reconcile the two me’s? And maybe that’s a way that Afghanistan can reconcile its own internal divisions.” And I want to say, “Boy, I’m sorry, but that’s called being a double agent.” And I really think that that family, in particular now — I can’t speak to him, because I don’t know him personally, but the family right now is playing precisely the role that he was playing on your air, which is to present a kind of moderate and acceptable facade in order to get the international community to reengage and open the money spigots once again.

NERMEEN SHAIKH: If you could just clarify, what do you think the alternative is? What do you think the international community should be doing?

SARAH CHAYES: Reserving judgment. And I certainly do agree that the money spigot is the only leverage that the international community has left. But I also think that the role of the Pakistani military government in all of this really needs to be taken into account. And it’s one of — I mean, I have, and have had, a number of very consistent criticisms of the way the United States has handled this from the start, the first being this absolutely inexplicable, I want to say, persistent relationship with Pakistan, when the Pakistani government, as I say, organized the Taliban in the first place, organized the Taliban resurgence, harbored Osama bin Laden, and, you know, in the midst of all this, provided nuclear technology to Iran and North Korea. I mean, it’s just difficult to quite understand why that country continues to be considered an ally.

And then, secondly, of course, was the behavior of those Afghan leaders that we, the United States, kind of put forward toward their own citizens, and the role of U.S. officials and U.S. development organizations in reinforcing and protecting and enabling, I mean, just an unbelievably corrupt and abusive governmental system, so that, you know, my Afghan friends, who were not in university — they were ordinary villagers in and around Kandahar — they just didn’t know what to make of it. It was like, “Look, the Taliban shake us down at night, but the government shakes us down in the daytime.” And so, I would say that, in my experience, even among very conservative Kandaharis, it was not so much an ideological issue. It was not so much that the United States was an invading country, at least certainly not in the first years. My neighbors were saying, you know, that they were sick of being abused by their own government, and they were sick of the international or Western role in propping up that government, and they wanted a government that was acting in their interests. And that was where their frustration with the Western engagement came from.

When she refers to Goody's other guest Obaidullah Baheer, Sarah's being rather kind. Not only is he questionable because of his family, he's also questionable because of his links to the CIA which will, no doubt, make Amy come under even more scrutiny for how she allowed foundations to purchase DEMOCRACY NOW! with grants and how the show that has made her millions has become an outlet for US government propaganda.

Obaidullah Baheer is not an honest broker and, were Democracy Sometimes an honest broker, they never would have had him on. He works through the panic talking points that demonstrate that the US intel community is still at war with the presidency. And Goody Whore is right there serving along side them while posing as a journalist.

Sarah has much to say. I doubt I would agree with 100% of it but (a) I would be interested in hearing it and (b) I would surely reflect on anything I disagreed with her on. It's a shame that she's brought on for what was little more than a soundbyte. But she can't be counted on to stick to the script so she clearly will not be given the airtime that her expertise warrants.

Where I think we would disagree would be on the issue of Joe Biden's actions this month. And I will give her the compassion award (I'm not being sarcastic) without even hearing her remarks. I'm not a compassionate person in the face of an emergency. I'm practical -- and you can say "cold" (people turn to me in an emergency) -- and I don't see this ending differently no matter what plans were made or taken. The airport was bomed yesterday, there was gunfire, there was this, there was that.

And?

Andrea Mitchell's practically having an orgasm on air as she tries to spread fear.

But the reality is that this is what happens. This is what would happen. 3,000 more US Marines on the ground on Thursday? They might have mitigated some of the violence, they might not have. They might have increased the violence as a result of their presence, they might have become targets as a result of their presence.

I want Andrea out from behind a desk from now on when she's on air because I honestly don't trust where her hands are when she starts her frenzy fear nonsense.

If you look at the situation coldly (and I can be very cold, no question), there's not much that 'fine tuning' could have done to change what's taking place and it's probably best if Americans can admit to that. Best for this moment and best for our future.

Another huge talking point for Andrea is the Americans trapped! Trapped! Trapped in Afghanistan!

So let's note this from the US State Dept briefing Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave on Wednesday:

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good afternoon. I’d like to give you all an update on the situation in Afghanistan and our ongoing efforts there, particularly as they relate to U.S. citizens, and then I’m very happy to take your questions.

Let me begin with my profound appreciation for our diplomats and service members who are working around the clock at the airport in Kabul and at a growing number of transit sites to facilitate the evacuation of Americans, their families, citizens of allied and partner nations, Afghans who have partnered with us over the last 20 years, and other Afghans at risk. They are undertaking this mission under extremely difficult circumstances, with incredible courage, skill, and humanity.

Since August 14th, more than 82,300 people have been safely flown out of Kabul. In the 24-hour period from Tuesday to Wednesday, approximately 19,000 people were evacuated on 90 U.S. military and coalition flights. Only the United States could organize and execute a mission of this scale and this complexity.

As the President has made clear, our first priority is the evacuation of American citizens. Since August 14th, we have evacuated at least 4,500 U.S. citizens and likely more. More than 500 of those Americans were evacuated in just the last day alone.

Now, many of you have asked how many U.S. citizens remain in Afghanistan who want to leave the country. Based on our analysis, starting on August 14 when our evacuation operations began, there was then a population of as many as 6,000 American citizens in Afghanistan who wanted to leave. Over the last 10 days, roughly 4,500 of these Americans have been safely evacuated along with immediate family members. Over the past 24 hours, we’ve been in direct contact with approximately 500 additional Americans and provided specific instructions on how to get to the airport safely. We will update you regularly on our progress in getting these 500 American citizens out of Afghanistan.

For the remaining roughly 1,000 contacts that we had who may be Americans seeking to leave Afghanistan, we are aggressively reaching out to them multiple times a day through multiple channels of communication – phone, email, text messaging – to determine whether they still want to leave and to get the most up-to-date information and instructions to them for how to do so. Some may no longer be in the country. Some may have claimed to be Americans but turn out not to be. Some may choose to stay. We’ll continue to try to identify the status and plans of these people in the coming days.

Thus, from this list of approximately 1,000, we believe the number of Americans actively seeking assistance to leave Afghanistan is lower, likely significantly lower.

So we're talking less than a thousand people. One more point, these bobble heads on TV screeching that we don't leave anyone behind. That's actually a slogan of the US military. It has nothing to do with private US citizens who elect on their own to go into a war zone to make money.

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"THIS JUST IN! JOE BIDEN FOLLOWS THE NEWS!"

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

THIS JUST IN! JOE BIDEN FOLLOWS THE NEWS!

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

ADMINISTRATION SOURCES REVEAL THAT THIS MORNING AT THE WHITE HOUSE, JEN PSAKI BRIEFED PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN ON AFGHANISTAN, "MR. PRESIDENT," SHE SAID, "AP IS REPORTING '"TALIBAN PRESS ADVANCES'.''

"JEN," THE PRESIDENT RESPONDED, "I DON'T CARE FOR JOURNALISTS EITHER BUT IT'S NOT FAIR TO COMPARE THEM TO TERRORISTS. MEANWHILE, I JUST HEARD JERRY O'CONNELL'S REPLACING SHARON OSBORNE! I THOUGHT SHE'D BE WITH OZZY FOREVER. IF I WERE JERRY, I'D BE A LITTLE WORRIED. I MEAN, OZZY ONCE BIT THE HEAD OFF A BAT. WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE HE MIGHT BITE OFF."

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

In Iraq, the people are still reeling from a fire that appears to be caused due to a lack of government oversight and regulation probably due to corruption. Ruth Sherlock (NPR) notes, ''Flames swept through outbuildings of the al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in the southern city of Nasiryah on Monday that had been set up to isolate those sick with COVID-19. Patients became trapped inside, with rescue teams struggling to reach them in time." From yesterday's snapshot:

The death toll continues to rise. It was 66 when I started dictating this snapshot a few minutes ago and it's already increased again. Rafid Jaboori Tweets:

Death toll in a #COVID19 hospital fire in southern #Iraq rises to 70. In April 100 people were killed in another hospital fire in #Baghdad . Health minister resigned back then but no overhaul of safety rules & precautions seems to have taken place

7:07 AM · Jul 13, 2021

And the death toll has continued to rise since yesterday's snapshot. Aqeel Najim and Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) explain, "The death toll in a fire at a hospital treating coronavirus patients in southeastern Iraq has risen to at least 92, according to health officials." BBC NEWS adds:

Arrest warrants have been issued against 13 people, local media report.

Privately owned news site Shafaq News reports that the list, issued by the Dhi Qar Integrity Investigation Court, includes the province's health chief Saddam Sahib al-Taweel.

PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi earlier ordered the arrest of the head of the hospital, and said the fire was "a deep wound in the conscience of all Iraqis".

Stopping for something else. The Rendon Group. Remember them? They lied and sold the Iraq War. People pay money for their 'help.' They're a bunch of idiots. I say that not just because I am and remain opposed to the Iraq War, I say that because they make themselves a laughingstock. Less than 40 minutes ago, they Tweeted the following:

Rendon #Daily is up https://rendon.com/13jul21-global-overnight-overwatch-report/

 w/ news on Cuba's most significant protests in decades continue to provoke responses by powers both domestic and abroad; > 50 people died in a hospital fire in Nasiriya, Iraq; Tigrayan forces seized another major city in Ethiopia & more

13JUL21 Global Overnight Overwatch Report - The Rendon Group

Key Storylines AFRICA:  A spokesman for the Tigrayan forces told AFP that they seized Alamata, the largest town in the southern Tigray region of 

6:56 AM · Jul 14, 2021

By this morning it was already 92 at some outlets (others are saying "over 100") and Rendon is Tweeting 50. 50. It was over 60 when I dictated yesterday morning's Iraq snapshot. You'd have to be an idiot to pay them -- sorry, Pentagon.

The previous fire in April resulted in no real change -- obviously. It should have led to inspections on every hospital in Iraq. It should have led to increased oversight. Hospitals should have been forced to install fire sprinkler systems and fire alarms (Neither were at al-Hussein Teaching Hospital.) It should have led to public trials. But nothing really happened and many believe that will be the case again. This frustration is why some family members turned on the police the night of the fire.

Martin Chulov (GUARDIAN) reports:

Angry residents in the city of Nasireyah torched two police vehicles and demanded accountability for family members who had died in the fire on Monday at the Al-Hussein teaching hospital. Iraq’s president, Barham Salih, claimed that corruption at the hospital, which was ravaged by flames, had also been a factor.

Failures of Iraq’s bloated and often inefficient public sector have often been highlighted by citizens who claim the state delivers little despite reaping huge revenues from oil production. Scenes of flames and smoke belching from the sanctuary of hospitals – twice in three months – have been a particularly visceral symbol of the government’s shortcomings.

AP reports:

Overnight, firefighters and rescuers — many holding flashlights and using blankets to smother small fires — searched through the ward. As dawn broke, bodies covered with sheets could be seen laid out on the ground outside the hospital. Distraught relatives searched for traces of their loved ones amid charred blankets and belongings.

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