A&E'S TROUBLED BUT POPULAR TV SHOW DUCK DYNASTY CONTINUES TO MAKE HEADLINES OVER THE SUSPENSION OF ONE 'CAST' MEMBER DUE TO HIS LATEST ROUND OF HOMOPHOBIC REMARKS.
NOT EVERYONE'S OFFENDED BY THE HOMOPHOBIA, HOWEVER. YESTERDAY, CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O DECLARED THAT THE FAMILY "SEEMS LIKE A PRETTY FUN BUNCH."
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Iraq was slammed with violence again today. Mu Xuequan (Xinhua) counts, "At least 46 people were killed and 100 others wounded in violent attacks in Iraq on Thursday, including a wave of bombings against Shiite pilgrims, police said." Let's note Iraq Pictures December 17th Tweet.
Pilgrims from across Iraq & around the world gathering in the holy city of #Karbala to mark the 40th of Imam Hussain pic.twitter.com/H9o5tCz7ZJ
Pilgrims from across Iraq & around the world gathering in the holy city of #Karbala to mark the 40th of Imam Hussain pic.twitter.com/H9o5tCz7ZJ
National Iraqi News Agency reports a Samarra roadside bombing left three federal police wounded, a Balad roadside bombing claimed 1 life and left a second person injured, an armed exchange in Ramadi left two people dead, 1 person was shot dead "in the Baladiat area east of the capital Baghdad," a Mousl attack left 1 police officer shot dead and three more injured, a Baaj roadside bombing claimed 1 life and left three more people injured, 1 police officer (working as a bodyguard for a judge) was shot dead in Shura, a Ysifiyah ("south of Baghdad") suicide bomber took his own life and the lives of 6 pilgrims with thirty-five more injured, a Latifiya roadside bombing left 4 pilgrims dead and twenty more injured. and a Dora suicide bomber took his own life and the lives of 17 people with thirty-five more injured.
Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) notes the Dora suicide bombers' death toll has risen to 18 and that a Bahgdad home invasion late last night left two parents and their two children dead (the father had been a Sawha). Also on the Dora bombing, Reuters notes, "A former Reuters reporter, Muhanad Mohammed, and his son were among those killed in the blast, a family member said." Ammar Karim and WG Dunlop (AFP) add, "Among those killed in the blast was Muhanad Mohammed, a journalist who had worked for both foreign and Iraqi media, one of his sons told AFP. He was the seventh journalist to be killed in the country in less than three months."
Since they spoke to his son, it would have been nice if they could have quoted the son.
But, hey, yesterday we were calling AFP out for not speaking to the families of journalists. Today, they did. They just forgot to quote the family member. Baby steps, baby steps.
April 13, 2011, Muhanad Mohammed was one of the reporters questioning NATO's General Richard Shirreff.
Q: Muhanad Mohammed, Reuters: Do you think the mission of NATO has success in Iraq? In spite of, as I hear, they have only trained 1,000 from the Oil Police? Do you think this number compares with the dangers outside Baghdad, that they will be able to protect all?
A: My answer very firmly is yes. The NATO mission has had success and is continuing to be successful, and I would like to particularly pay tribute here in Camp Dublin to the efforts made by the Carabinieri. Now you mention the Oil Police training, that has only been going on for six months or so, and in that relatively short time, as you say, 1,000 have been trained with many more to come.
Muhanad Mohammed covered many topics for Reuters. When parliamentary elections were going to take place in January 2010, he broke the story that the head of the Independent High Electoral Commission, Faraj al-Haideri, was calling for a delay. The elections would be shoved back to March 2010. He often, for example, reported on Parliament. He reported on the ridiculous 'magic' wands that could (not) determine whether a bomb was present. January 23, 2010, he reported that members of Parliament are calling for an end to use of the 'magic' wands. Much of what the world understood of Iraq in 2010 can be directly traced to his reporting for Reuters. His work had a real impact whether people knew his byline or not, his work registered. We noted his work for Reuters many times and his work certainly shaped our understanding of Iraq. I would hope that Tim Cocks or Reuters itself would issue a statement or Tweet on Muhanad Mohammed's passing. If they do so tomorrow, we'll include it in the snapshot. He worked for Reuters in 2009 (and possibly earlier) on through at least 2012.
AFP's Ammar Karim did Tweet about the passing:
Ammar karim
I have lost new journalist friend who killed today in suicide attack south #baghdad RIP Muhanad mohammed :( pic.twitter.com/wUYebQ3yzz
-
@ammar_afp omg noooo -
@aseellife yes Aseel I just spoke to his son, and he inform me that, it was big shock to me :( -
@ammar_afp why? How what happened? Pls it can't be true -
@aseellife it is true my dear unfortunately this is life in Iraq, what do expect with all the crazy violence ... -
@ammar_afp sad news... Sorry for ur loss, be safe! -
@ammar_afp Sorry for your loss and big respect for all (citizen) journo's in Syria and Iraq -
Big respect for journos in I&S "
@ammar_afp journalist friend died 2day in suicide attack#Baghdad Muhanad mohammed :( pic.twitter.com/ZAeACPuRhT -
@ammar_afp@wgdunlop i just cant believe it.. But have no option just to believe..God bless him..
Muhanad Mohammed frequently covered the eight-month political stalemate that followed the 2010 parliamentary elections such as on June 12, 2010 when he reported that the Council of Ministers' office was the location of a meeting between Ayad Allawi and Nouri al-Maliki whose political slates came in first and second respectively in the March 2010 elections.
Today, Curtis Ohlers (Majalla) reminds people of that time period and its effects on Iraq today.
Iraq’s political decline and sectarianism resurfaced most visibly after the 2010 Iraqi elections. The results rendered a narrow defeat of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition (SLC) by the Iraqiya coalition. Iraqiya was a Shi’a and Sunni coalition headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and joined by then Deputy Prime Minister Rafie Al-Issawi’s National Future Gathering. The Iraqiya victory required Maliki to establish a government with Sadrist elements under the Iraqi National Alliance to remain in power. Given Maliki’s decision to use military force against Sadrist militias in 2008, there was resistance to such a coalition.
The political conflict led to a nine-month negotiation in which the Maliki government maintained power, until the signing of the Erbil agreement. The Erbil agreement left Maliki as the prime minister, but established limitations of the prime minister’s power, incorporated power-sharing arrangements including the allocation of top security posts, and called for the creation of the National Council on Strategic Policies (NCSP) to be headed by Allawi.
Neither the power-sharing agreement nor the NCSP ever came to fruition under the Maliki government. Additionally, there are accusations that Maliki not only failed to reduce the powers of the prime minister, rather further centralizing it under his government. Examples include current attempts to control independent government bodies, such as the Independent Higher Electoral Commission, the Integrity Commission, and the central bank, by placing them under the Maliki-led Council of Ministers. He is also accused of appointing high-level army and police commanders without the required constitutional approvals.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Kat's Korner: Beyonce -- the fake ass feminist who..."
"Bombings, shootings, it's Nouri's Iraq"
"Iraq and the American electorate"
"Janell Hobson is a Gender Traitor"
"Ant-Man"
"Promote violence against women? You're a whore"
"Ms. magazine needs to close shop"
"Beyonce"
"the sad ms. magazine"
"The Out of Touch President"
"Yeah, Beyonce's a whore"
"Ms. magazine endorses violence against women"
"The spying"
"Iraq snapshot"
"All of his lies"
"THIS JUST IN! SO MANY LIES!"
