David Greene: From the outside, it seems like you and your wife love your social media presence. Some people might be surprised to hear you feeling regret.
We do, but there is a psychic cost to it, because you deal with a certain amount of negativity as well.
And what do you make of that argument? People are saying, "Look, we prefer you stick to your music."
If you don't agree with my politics, the best way to love me is to just not follow me on Twitter. Honestly. Because I'm going to talk about politics on Twitter, but you can enjoy my music without even reading my Twitter.
You okay with someone who reads a tweet and decides, "I don't agree with his politics, I'm not gonna listen to his music ever again?"
I think that's their choice. If they found out how many of their favorite artists were probably more liberal than them, then their music collection will start to suffer! But it's fine — everybody makes their own choice. and I make my own choice to speak. I don't have to, and I know there's some cost that might be associated with it, but I do it anyway.
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End of excerpt.
So his answer is: Keep buying my music but ignore my Twitter feed?
But that's stupid.
On his Twtitter feed he's insulting and rude.
To group of people including those who might be buying his music.
Even more important, on the last album, he tried to inject politics.
It was embarrassing as I noted in the review.
I like John Legend.
But I don't need to know his 'politics.'
He mistakes human kindness for politics.
It's not that I disagree with his stance, it's just he expresses it so poorly.
In song and in speaking.
And at the end of the day, no one's looking to him (or the laughable Bruce Springsteen) for political answers.
It's too bad he couldn't make a solid album last go round.
He'll soon be scraping for fans.
Because his music has a sameness to it.
And because he's also running off fans.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Friday, February 3, 2017. Chaos and violence continue, it all continues. Day after day.
US House Rep Seth Moulton Tweets:
US House Rep Seth Moulton Tweets:
Seth Moulton
“We thought we were partners with our American friends, and now we realize that we’re just considered terrorists."
They're not considered to be terrorists.
But they should be.
The Iraqi forces followed orders from Nouri al-Maliki on the day after the US military did their drawdown. What were those orders?
Tanks encircling the homes of Sunni leaders.
They followed orders in the dawn raid on a Sunni member of Parliament's home that left his brother dead.
These are the reasons that the US government -- among the reasons -- is in violation of the law -- domestic and international -- for supplying Iraq with weapons and money.
That's before we get to the fact that current Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi brought the Shi'ite militias into the Iraqi forces despite their past history of abuse and the current history as well.
What does the general think is happening to Sunni boys and young men fleeing Mosul?
They're being rounded up by the militias.
They're disappearing.
That means torture or death.
I don't think US President Donald Trump's 90 day moratorium on accepting some Iraqis equals what's being done to the Sunnis right now in Iraq in a supposed 'liberation' effort.
Some?
The Trump administration amended its visa ban to allow emigration by the families of Iraqi interpreters nyti.ms/2kYWskJ
And by the way, we noted former primer minister (and forever thug) Nouri al-Maliki and current prime minister Hayder al-Abadi because they ran and run the country.
In a poor attempt at humor, Donald Fagin posts, at THE HUFFINGTON POST, a fictional commentary that mistakes the ceremonial post of president of Iraq with that of president of the United States. I guess beating your wife doesn't allow you much time for an education or a fact check.
Domestic abuse is homegrown terrorism and should be treated as such.
Sadly, more and more THE HUFFINGTON POST sees itself as community service for various offenders.
George Galloway
To say it's worse to revoke a visa than bomb Muslims is ridiculous. They hate Trump that's why
Sarah Abdallah
Unbelievable how far Obama's cheerleaders will go to defend his every action. Get over it, hypocrites. Your man is a war criminal.
It's a pity that Obama's "regime change" wars did not move liberals to protest the same way Trump's refugee ban did.
Back in August of 2014, the US government began bombing Iraq daily.
The bombings continue.
Yesterday, the US Defense Dept announced:
Strikes in Iraq
Bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft and rocket artillery conducted five strikes in 19 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIL staging area.
Near Mosul, four strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units and an ISIL staging area; destroyed three fighting positions, two vehicles, two vehicle bomb factories, a tunnel entrance, a supply cache and a weapons cache; and damaged a supply route.
Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.
On these daily bombings, REUTERS reports, "Eleven civilians were killed in four separate air strikes by the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria between Oct. 25 and Dec. 9, the U.S. military said on Thursday."
In Basra today, ALSUMARIA reports, hundreds of Iraqis turned out to protest in the dispute over a waterway between Iraq and neighboring Kuwait.
Such disputes are not umcommon for neighboring countries.
And Iraq shares borders with Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
On Iran . . .
Donald J. Trump
Iran is rapidly taking over more and more of Iraq even after the U.S. has squandered three trillion dollars there. Obvious long ago!
Hayder al-Abadi has responded that Iran is not in control of Iraq.
Others would beg to differ, many would differ over what control means.
Certainly, Iran has seized land from the border it shares with Iraq. That has caused tensions in Iraq.
Patrick Cockburn of THE INDEPENDENT has long insisted that Iran chose the 2010 prime minister of Iraq (no, it was the US government and the Iranian government together).
Iranian militias run freely in Iraq.
THE NEW YORK TIMES has reported on increased control of Iraq by Iran for over ten years now in one one report after another.
For over ten years now, the US government has decried Iran's influence in Iraq.
(And we've noted that as a bordering neighbor, of course Iran will have some impact in Iraq.)
In the last year, Nouri al-Maliki has made repeated visits to Iran in what Iraqi political observers see as his attempt to be renamed prime minister.
Former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani was kept in office for a year after the stroke, despite being unable to walk or speak, due to his wife Hero's efforts with the government of Iran.
And Abdulrahman al-Rashed (AL-ARABYIA) argues in a new column:
The new US President Donald Trump criticized his predecessor Barack Obama several times. He said that Obama has left Iraq an easy target for the Iranians, squandering $3 trillion efforts deployed by the US to build an allied Iraq.
The leadership of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards brags about not costing the Iranian treasury any money on foreign military activities in Syria and Iraq, because it depends on the Iraqi treasury that has become its financial portfolio and under the control of pro-Iranian groups after marginalizing the authorities of current Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
Meanwhile, ALSUMARIA reports roads to Baghdad's Tahrir Square were cut off in an attempt to halt today's protest
The following community sites updated:
Andrea Mitchell
