Is anyone else feeling that way?
I try to be upbeat and happy but I do just want to sleep these days.
I feel like I'm becoming Ann-Margaret in CARNAL KNOWLEDGE. Remember?
-
Bobbie : The reason I sleep all day is because I can't stand my life!
Jonathan : What life?
Bobbie : Sleeping all day!
She played Bobbie. Jack Nicholson played Jonathan. Her life was slipping away and all she could do was sleep. I fear I may get to that point.
Maybe I'm just being a drama queen?
This is from Dr. John Cline (PSYCHOLOGY TODAY):
Sleep is important in defense against infection and sleep is itself significantly affected by infection, whether due to bacteria or viruses. Sleep is definitely one of the things to be sure you get enough of during this challenging time along with all of the recommendations that have been made for protecting yourself against getting sick and for slowing the spread of the illness in society.
Since ancient times, the role of sleep in disease has been recognized and recommendations to get enough sleep or risk getting sick are common (Opp & Krueger, 2017). In the past few decades, scientists have begun to learn how this actually occurs. Significant evidence now shows that insufficient sleep has health consequences (Siobhan, Dorrian, Basner, & Dinges, 2017). Immune function changes in such factors as natural killer cell activity and interleukin-6 have been demonstrated for both sleep restriction and sleep deprivation (Siobhan et al, 2017).
And Dr. Lisa Medalie wrote this for the University of Chicago Medicine:
Anxieties related to loss of control and
uncertainty are understandable as we shelter in place during the
COVID-19 pandemic. While a natural fear response is par for the course,
too much anxiety can be problematic. Instead of spending time and energy
worrying, why not channel that energy into what you can control —
self-care. Focusing on sleep is a natural fit for working on self-care,
as we know that getting enough sleep can benefit your immune system.
People are spending every waking moment getting one last look at their screens (news updates, COVID-19 education, social connections). The blue light from these screens tells the brain to stop producing the sleep hormone melatonin, which can lead to trouble falling asleep.
Also, loss of daytime structure can upset nighttime sleep schedules. Inconsistent bedtimes and wake times can shift the pressure, or urge, to sleep, making ability to fall asleep less predictable.
Finally, depressed mood, more downtime and low energy can increase long napping, making it harder to fall asleep at night.
Create a sleep schedule. Figure out your sleep need (experiment with different amounts), then prioritize that amount of sleep each night. While six or nine hours can be appropriate for some adults, most need seven to eight hours. We are not obliged to late night social activities, so getting to bed "on time” is more realistic right now — take advantage of that.
Limit screen time at night. Turn off your devices one hour before bedtime. Leave your cell phone charging in the kitchen so you are not tempted to look at COVID-19 updates during the night.
Find time for you. Take the hour before bedtime as “me time” with no electronic engagement. Minimize conversations and calls during that hour. That's not easy, especially if you have young children at home, but it’s important. We all need at least one hour alone per day. Take a hot bath/shower, play soothing music, try a meditation app and read a book or magazine.
Minimize naps. Daytime sleep should be less than 30 minutes and before 2 p.m. If you have any trouble falling asleep, avoid napping.
Try breathing exercises. Use ten slow deep breaths to fall asleep and return to sleep. It should be a slow inhale through your nose for 3 to 4 seconds and a slow exhale through your mouth for 3 to 4 seconds.
Enhance your sleep environment. Make sure your bedroom environment is conducive to sleep. Keep the room temperature cool, try an eye mask or blackout shades, and use a white noise machine to block extraneous noise from the street or the hallway.
Gain control over stress. Many folks have less access to their usual coping strategies such as time with friends and going to the gym. Try new activities and hobbies — painting, writing, photography, indoor exercise videos, etc. Find ways to stay connected with friends and family through technology. Consider therapy if the stress feels unmanageable.
Structure your daytime schedule. Commit to daily activities (e.g., exercise, meals, socializing) at certain times to build structure to your days. This will support a regular bedtime and wake time. Set cell phone reminders to anchor your schedule, and as a reminder to turn off screens an hour before bedtime.
Can sleep help my immune system fight the coronavirus?
Ample sleep supports the immune system, which reduces the risk of infection and can improve outcomes for people fighting a virus. On the other hand, sleep deprivation weakens the body’s defense system and makes people more vulnerable to contracting a virus.Can sleep help improve my mood and productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic?
It's not easy to function at our best without easy access to our usual coping skills (e.g., social support, exercise, etc.) while sheltering in place. Adequate sleep can maximize your potential for having better days under these circumstances. Optimal sleep helps regulate mood, improve brain function, and increase energy and overall productivity during the day.Why are so many people having trouble sleeping while sheltering in place?
Elevated stress and an overload of information can keep the mind racing and elevate the body’s arousal system response, triggering insomnia.People are spending every waking moment getting one last look at their screens (news updates, COVID-19 education, social connections). The blue light from these screens tells the brain to stop producing the sleep hormone melatonin, which can lead to trouble falling asleep.
Also, loss of daytime structure can upset nighttime sleep schedules. Inconsistent bedtimes and wake times can shift the pressure, or urge, to sleep, making ability to fall asleep less predictable.
Finally, depressed mood, more downtime and low energy can increase long napping, making it harder to fall asleep at night.
What can help me sleep better during the coronavirus outbreak?
Sleep is crucial at this time. Here’s how changing habits can help improve your sleep:Create a sleep schedule. Figure out your sleep need (experiment with different amounts), then prioritize that amount of sleep each night. While six or nine hours can be appropriate for some adults, most need seven to eight hours. We are not obliged to late night social activities, so getting to bed "on time” is more realistic right now — take advantage of that.
Limit screen time at night. Turn off your devices one hour before bedtime. Leave your cell phone charging in the kitchen so you are not tempted to look at COVID-19 updates during the night.
Find time for you. Take the hour before bedtime as “me time” with no electronic engagement. Minimize conversations and calls during that hour. That's not easy, especially if you have young children at home, but it’s important. We all need at least one hour alone per day. Take a hot bath/shower, play soothing music, try a meditation app and read a book or magazine.
Minimize naps. Daytime sleep should be less than 30 minutes and before 2 p.m. If you have any trouble falling asleep, avoid napping.
Try breathing exercises. Use ten slow deep breaths to fall asleep and return to sleep. It should be a slow inhale through your nose for 3 to 4 seconds and a slow exhale through your mouth for 3 to 4 seconds.
Enhance your sleep environment. Make sure your bedroom environment is conducive to sleep. Keep the room temperature cool, try an eye mask or blackout shades, and use a white noise machine to block extraneous noise from the street or the hallway.
Gain control over stress. Many folks have less access to their usual coping strategies such as time with friends and going to the gym. Try new activities and hobbies — painting, writing, photography, indoor exercise videos, etc. Find ways to stay connected with friends and family through technology. Consider therapy if the stress feels unmanageable.
Structure your daytime schedule. Commit to daily activities (e.g., exercise, meals, socializing) at certain times to build structure to your days. This will support a regular bedtime and wake time. Set cell phone reminders to anchor your schedule, and as a reminder to turn off screens an hour before bedtime.
What else do I need to know about my sleep?
While sleep is important, try not to fret about it! Worrying about sleep just turns into more stress. Instead, just do your best to get to bed on time and follow these tips if there are problems. Remember to always come back to “controlling the controllables.” You can’t control the outcome of your efforts, only the efforts themselves.Can sleep help my immune system fight the coronavirus?
Ample sleep supports the immune system, which reduces the risk of infection and can improve outcomes for people fighting a virus. On the other hand, sleep deprivation weakens the body’s defense system and makes people more vulnerable to contracting a virus.Can sleep help improve my mood and productivity during the COVID-19 pandemic?
It's not easy to function at our best without easy access to our usual coping skills (e.g., social support, exercise, etc.) while sheltering in place. Adequate sleep can maximize your potential for having better days under these circumstances. Optimal sleep helps regulate mood, improve brain function, and increase energy and overall productivity during the day.Why are so many people having trouble sleeping while sheltering in place?
Elevated stress and an overload of information can keep the mind racing and elevate the body’s arousal system response, triggering insomnia.People are spending every waking moment getting one last look at their screens (news updates, COVID-19 education, social connections). The blue light from these screens tells the brain to stop producing the sleep hormone melatonin, which can lead to trouble falling asleep.
Also, loss of daytime structure can upset nighttime sleep schedules. Inconsistent bedtimes and wake times can shift the pressure, or urge, to sleep, making ability to fall asleep less predictable.
Finally, depressed mood, more downtime and low energy can increase long napping, making it harder to fall asleep at night.
What can help me sleep better during the coronavirus outbreak?
Sleep is crucial at this time. Here’s how changing habits can help improve your sleep:Create a sleep schedule. Figure out your sleep need (experiment with different amounts), then prioritize that amount of sleep each night. While six or nine hours can be appropriate for some adults, most need seven to eight hours. We are not obliged to late night social activities, so getting to bed "on time” is more realistic right now — take advantage of that.
Limit screen time at night. Turn off your devices one hour before bedtime. Leave your cell phone charging in the kitchen so you are not tempted to look at COVID-19 updates during the night.
Find time for you. Take the hour before bedtime as “me time” with no electronic engagement. Minimize conversations and calls during that hour. That's not easy, especially if you have young children at home, but it’s important. We all need at least one hour alone per day. Take a hot bath/shower, play soothing music, try a meditation app and read a book or magazine.
Minimize naps. Daytime sleep should be less than 30 minutes and before 2 p.m. If you have any trouble falling asleep, avoid napping.
Try breathing exercises. Use ten slow deep breaths to fall asleep and return to sleep. It should be a slow inhale through your nose for 3 to 4 seconds and a slow exhale through your mouth for 3 to 4 seconds.
Enhance your sleep environment. Make sure your bedroom environment is conducive to sleep. Keep the room temperature cool, try an eye mask or blackout shades, and use a white noise machine to block extraneous noise from the street or the hallway.
Gain control over stress. Many folks have less access to their usual coping strategies such as time with friends and going to the gym. Try new activities and hobbies — painting, writing, photography, indoor exercise videos, etc. Find ways to stay connected with friends and family through technology. Consider therapy if the stress feels unmanageable.
Structure your daytime schedule. Commit to daily activities (e.g., exercise, meals, socializing) at certain times to build structure to your days. This will support a regular bedtime and wake time. Set cell phone reminders to anchor your schedule, and as a reminder to turn off screens an hour before bedtime.
What else do I need to know about my sleep?
While sleep is important, try not to fret about it! Worrying about sleep just turns into more stress. Instead, just do your best to get to bed on time and follow these tips if there are problems. Remember to always come back to “controlling the controllables.” You can’t control the outcome of your efforts, only the efforts themselves.Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Joseph Kishore is running for the presidency of the United States. He is representing the SEP. At WSWS, he notes:
In the days after formally ending his campaign and endorsing Joe Biden, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has intensified his efforts to dragoon his supporters into backing the right-wing standard bearer of the Democratic Party establishment.
In an interview with the Associated Press published on Tuesday, Sanders slandered as “irresponsible” any of his supporters who do not campaign for Biden. “Do we be as active as we can in electing Joe Biden and doing everything we can to move Joe and his campaign in a more progressive direction?” he asked. “Or do we choose to sit out and allow the most dangerous president in modern American history to get reelected?”
There is widespread anger and opposition among workers and youth to Sanders’ craven capitulation to Biden in a livestreamed eventon Monday. Sanders’ response is to declare: “I believe that it’s irresponsible for anybody to say, ‘Well, I disagree with Joe Biden—I disagree with Joe Biden!—and therefore I’m not going to be involved.’”
As he did in 2016, but now under much more explosive social and political conditions, Sanders is exchanging his “political revolution against the establishment” for the thin gruel of “lesser evil” politics.
A few points in reply to Senator Sanders.
First, support for Biden means support for the social interests that he represents and the program that he is advancing. Biden, who was first elected to the US Senate from the state of Delaware in 1972, has spent nearly four decades as a faithful servant of the ruling class. He has an extensive record of support for war, austerity, capital punishment, and mass incarceration.
The present catastrophe caused by the coronavirus pandemic is the consequence of policies pursued by the ruling class and its representatives, Democratic and Republican alike, for decades, with Biden playing a critical role. Endless resources have been funneled into the stock markets and the military, while social infrastructure has been dismantled and inequality driven to record highs.
As a member and then chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden was one of the principal proponents of the US bombing of Yugoslavia (1999) under Clinton, and the US invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) under Bush. He voted for the Patriot Act and the expansion of illegal domestic spying after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, boasting that the legislation was modeled off a bill he had drafted in 1995.
Biden also voted for the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, a milestone in the deregulation of the banks, vastly increasing the ability of giant financial institutions to engage in speculation and plunder. In 2005, Biden aggressively campaigned for the overhaul of consumer bankruptcy laws, making it much harder for working class families to escape debt burdens.
As vice president under Obama, Biden oversaw the bailout of the banks in 2008-09 as well as the wars in Libya, Syria and Yemen. This was in addition to the continued occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and the vast expansion of drone assassinations as an instrument of US foreign policy.
Amidst all of this, nothing was done to prepare for a pandemic, despite repeated warnings from scientists and epidemiologists. The Democrats, no less than the Republicans, are responsible for the destruction of health care infrastructure and the criminal lack of stockpiles of ventilators, face masks and other critical equipment.
No wonder Bernie lost. What a loser. What an idiot and fool. No one worshiped Bernie. Those who supported him were supporting him because of the issues. Now with Joe Biden doing nothing to address issues such as Medicare For All or ending endless wars, Bernie comes along to hector. No one cares. He's a betrayer and he has no one to 'command.' The notion that he can lead sailed long ago and everyone knows he endorsed a man accused of rape. Yes, on CBS NEWS, he did note that Tara needs to be heard.
But apparently, she doesn't need to be heard before Bernie endorses Joe.
Tara spoke out weeks ago. Asked by CBS NEWS, Bernie has no opinion and states he doesn't know enough to weigh the accusation. So a man is accused of rape and Bernie doesn't know whether the allegation is accurate or not? Wasn't he required to make some sort of determination before endorsing Joe?
And does he get how offensive and out of it he looks when he says Tara deserves to be heard but -- by golly, by gum -- everyone better fall in line behind Joe Biden.
Sorry, Bernie, some of us care about issues like rape. By that, I don't mean some of us write rape fantasies down and publish them the way Bernie did, I mean that some of us believe you take a firm stand in support of survivors or nothing ever changes.
I'm also getting tired of the bully boys insisting that we must vote for Joe Biden -- you must do what you must do, you can't tell anyone what they must do -- and we have to because, well, look at Donald Trump. They want you to know that families are being destroyed by Donald separating families via his deportation policies.
Donald still hasn't deported as many people in his time as president as Barack Obama did at the same time in his presidency. There's a reason Barack was dubbed "the deporter in chief." I'm sorry that so many whores think we're going to be tricked and conned.
But let's set the deportation issue aside.
Families destroyed under Trump so we need Biden?
Barack and Joe bombed Muslims repeatedly.
What the you-must-vote-for-Joe group is really saying is: We need a president who kills people but does so over there, away from home, so we can pretend it's not happening.
That's what so many disgusting people have done, ignoring The Drone War, ignoring everything.
A Ruth Marcus is a disgusting, middle-aged to elderly type person who has accepted a world in which corruption and murder are the norm and they are carried out by whomever occupies the Oval Office. She's a tired hag who whored out any sense of responsibility long ago and wants to whore everyone else out.
But everyone else isn't an empty shell or waiting to take orders from bullies.
In an editorial, THE COLLEGIAN notes:
When The
New York Times finally did report Reade’s allegations on April 12, the
paper tweeted this: “We found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Biden,
beyond hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them
uncomfortable.” But they quickly edited the sentence, removing “beyond
hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them
uncomfortable,” because the Biden campaign told them to do so.
Any individual who is accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. But these cases — just like those of Blasey Ford, Ramirez, and Swetnick — should be respected, taken seriously, and investigated properly.
Last April, eight women, including Reade, publicly claimed that Biden assaulted them. But then, and now, the media has remained mostly silent.
In a Q&A, New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet said that the paper’s reporting on Kavanaugh was different than their treatment of Biden because Kavanaugh “was already in the public forum in a large way.”
Right, because being a presidential candidate, former vice president, and former senator is not “in the public forum in a large way.”
The media is choosing to silence Reade and protect Biden.
Maybe Biden and his supporters in the media should take his own advice: When a woman alleges sexual assault, presume she is telling the truth. If we’re going to #BelieveAllWomen, let’s believe Lucy Flores, Amy Lappos, D.J. Hill, Cailtyn Caruso, Ally Coll, Sofie Karasek, Vail Kohnert-Yount, and Tara Reade.
Any individual who is accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. But these cases — just like those of Blasey Ford, Ramirez, and Swetnick — should be respected, taken seriously, and investigated properly.
Last April, eight women, including Reade, publicly claimed that Biden assaulted them. But then, and now, the media has remained mostly silent.
In a Q&A, New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet said that the paper’s reporting on Kavanaugh was different than their treatment of Biden because Kavanaugh “was already in the public forum in a large way.”
Right, because being a presidential candidate, former vice president, and former senator is not “in the public forum in a large way.”
The media is choosing to silence Reade and protect Biden.
Maybe Biden and his supporters in the media should take his own advice: When a woman alleges sexual assault, presume she is telling the truth. If we’re going to #BelieveAllWomen, let’s believe Lucy Flores, Amy Lappos, D.J. Hill, Cailtyn Caruso, Ally Coll, Sofie Karasek, Vail Kohnert-Yount, and Tara Reade.
It's Michigan's oldest college newspaper and, as we've repeatedly noted over the last weeks, college newspapers have led on the Tara Reade story. There's a reason for that. They're not dead inside like Ruth Marcus. They didn't sell or whore their souls years ago. They still have integrity and the belief in a better world.
That's what the Ruth Marcus-Joan Walsh-Jessie Valenti-Michelle Goldberg crowd never gets. They didn't get in 2016 and they don't get it now. They don't speak to college students, they have no idea what's going on. In March, we had to move our talks to online encounters but we're still speaking to groups -- including college students -- and the Tara Reade issues is not going away. No matter how many paid whores show up to try to dismiss it.
Let's note another student paper, Boston's THE DAILY FREE PRESS, where Gabriella Aponte observes:
Dear mainstream media, are you playing favorites?
Let’s be clear. The media was absolutely right to report and verify the allegations against Kavanaugh and Trump and anyone else accused of raping and assaulting innocent women.
The problem, here, is that the mainstream media seems to have a way of prioritizing certain victims over others. Ford’s allegations instantaneously dominated the headlines for weeks, but what about Reade?
Reade’s allegations have barely made a dent in the news cycle and even the Time’s Up organization, formed to aid women in this kind of situation, wouldn’t help her. Time’s Up reportedly turned Reade away, not for a lack of evidence, but because she was accusing a public official, something that could impact the nonprofit’s tax-exempt status.
Once Reade was finally able to come forward with her full story, it took 19 days for the mainstream media to report on it. And when they did, they made it very clear whose side they were really on.
In its article entitled “Examining Tara Reade’s Sexual Assault Allegation Against Joe Biden,” The New York Times reported they “found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden, beyond the hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them uncomfortable.” The Times later deleted that portion of the paragraph, admittedly at the request of the Biden campaign.
Did they delete or edit any portion of their story at Reade’s request? No, I didn’t think so.
If that sly edit doesn’t convince you of favorable bias towards the Biden camp, just take a look at the article’s subheading.
“Ms. Reade, a former Senate aide, has accused Mr. Biden of assaulting her in 1993 and says she told others about it. A Biden spokeswoman said the allegation is false, and former Senate office staff members do not recall such an incident,” it reads.
Why would former staff members recall an incident they were never party to or never told about? Reade never claimed to tell those specific staffers about the incident and she admits there were no eyewitnesses to the assault. So why include this information — information that proves absolutely nothing — in the subheading, if not to undermine Reade’s story from the get-go?
Ruth Marcus and her unethical kindred have no idea of the conversations taking place across this country. Let's go back to the corporate media. At REAL CLEAR POLITICS, Mark Hemingway takes on NYT's Dean Baquet:
The allegations have been all over the Internet since March 25. Tara
Reade, who worked for Biden when he was a senator, alleges in 1993 Biden
pushed her up against a wall and digitally penetrated her without her
consent, while telling her, “Come on man, I thought you liked me.”
To address the growing criticism that the Times sat on the story for political reasons, the Times also published an interview with Baquet under the headline: “The Times Took 19 Days to Report an Accusation Against Biden. Here’s Why.” The headline promised an explanation, but the only thing the story delivered was humiliation for Baquet and his newspaper.
The Times’ recently hired media critic, former BuzzFeed Editor Ben Smith, asked Baquet some obvious questions about the paper’s coverage, including why the paper never hesitated to report on the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Here’s Baquet’s answer to that question in full:
His further equivocating didn’t help. Baquet stated that “Kavanaugh’s status as a Supreme Court justice was in question because of a very serious allegation.” But what constitutes a serious allegation when it comes to sexual assault? By almost any standard, Reade’s accusations against Biden are far more “serious,” not to mention more credible, than the accusations brought against Kavanaugh just a year and a half ago. For instance, no one disputes that Reade worked for Biden and had some contact with him. To this day, no one has presented any outside evidence Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, ever even met.
The four witnesses Blasey Ford named as being present at the party where Kavanaugh allegedly tried to assault her all refused to corroborate her story. Yet, The Washington Post, lacking any corroboration, rushed to print with Blasey Ford’s accusations, touching off a national firestorm.
The Times, at Baquet’s direction, quickly joined the frenzy. In the
interview on the Biden accusations, Ben Smith specifically asked Baquet
to justify the Times’ treatment of Kavanaugh. To his credit, Smith noted
that the Times also regurgitated additional -- and truly absurd --
claims that as a young man Kavanaugh had regularly participated in
suburban gang rape parties.
These lurid tales were spun by Julie Swetnick, who has history of being party to dubious lawsuits, and her now-disbarred lawyer Michael Avenatti, who at the time had been accused of numerous instances of fraud and has since been convicted of extortion. Yet, the Times reported the Swetnick allegations the same day they were made, even though their report noted “none of Ms. Swetnick’s claims could be independently corroborated.”
Baquet is probably correct when he asserted, “If you ask the average person in America, they didn’t know about the Tara Reade case.” But why is that? Although her allegations were aired extensively by conservative media and among the Bernie Sanders-supporting left, for weeks there was a near total blackout of the story by the legacy media, including the Times.
As the Washington Free Beacon recently noted, “Joe Biden has been asked 81 questions in over two hours' worth of media interviews since a former staffer in his U.S. Senate office accused him of sexual assault three weeks ago. He hasn't fielded a single question about the allegation.” If the average person doesn’t know about Reade’s allegations, it’s because gatekeepers such as Dean Baquet chose not to inform them.
To address the growing criticism that the Times sat on the story for political reasons, the Times also published an interview with Baquet under the headline: “The Times Took 19 Days to Report an Accusation Against Biden. Here’s Why.” The headline promised an explanation, but the only thing the story delivered was humiliation for Baquet and his newspaper.
The Times’ recently hired media critic, former BuzzFeed Editor Ben Smith, asked Baquet some obvious questions about the paper’s coverage, including why the paper never hesitated to report on the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Here’s Baquet’s answer to that question in full:
"Kavanaugh was already in a public forum in a large way. Kavanaugh’s status as a Supreme Court justice was in question because of a very serious allegation. And when I say in a public way, I don’t mean in the public way of Tara Reade’s. If you ask the average person in America, they didn’t know about the Tara Reade case. So I thought in that case, if The New York Times was going to introduce this to readers, we needed to introduce it with some reporting and perspective. Kavanaugh was in a very different situation. It was a live, ongoing story that had become the biggest political story in the country. It was just a different news judgment moment."The executive editor of the of the New York Times is actually arguing that Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination meant he was already subject to scrutiny, but Joe Biden’s presidential campaign is not a “public forum in a large way.” This is absurd.
His further equivocating didn’t help. Baquet stated that “Kavanaugh’s status as a Supreme Court justice was in question because of a very serious allegation.” But what constitutes a serious allegation when it comes to sexual assault? By almost any standard, Reade’s accusations against Biden are far more “serious,” not to mention more credible, than the accusations brought against Kavanaugh just a year and a half ago. For instance, no one disputes that Reade worked for Biden and had some contact with him. To this day, no one has presented any outside evidence Kavanaugh and his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, ever even met.
The four witnesses Blasey Ford named as being present at the party where Kavanaugh allegedly tried to assault her all refused to corroborate her story. Yet, The Washington Post, lacking any corroboration, rushed to print with Blasey Ford’s accusations, touching off a national firestorm.
These lurid tales were spun by Julie Swetnick, who has history of being party to dubious lawsuits, and her now-disbarred lawyer Michael Avenatti, who at the time had been accused of numerous instances of fraud and has since been convicted of extortion. Yet, the Times reported the Swetnick allegations the same day they were made, even though their report noted “none of Ms. Swetnick’s claims could be independently corroborated.”
Baquet is probably correct when he asserted, “If you ask the average person in America, they didn’t know about the Tara Reade case.” But why is that? Although her allegations were aired extensively by conservative media and among the Bernie Sanders-supporting left, for weeks there was a near total blackout of the story by the legacy media, including the Times.
As the Washington Free Beacon recently noted, “Joe Biden has been asked 81 questions in over two hours' worth of media interviews since a former staffer in his U.S. Senate office accused him of sexual assault three weeks ago. He hasn't fielded a single question about the allegation.” If the average person doesn’t know about Reade’s allegations, it’s because gatekeepers such as Dean Baquet chose not to inform them.
Of the press attacks on Tara Reade, Carl Beijer argues:
It’s at least worth noting, I think, how the Biden campaign has been working behind the scenes to
shape media coverage of the allegation. It’s worth noting how the last
few weeks of silence from these pundits could be read, to the cynical,
as a comms team saying “now’s not the right time” or “let’s see if this
blows over.” It’s worth noting how the timing of these articles,
released one after the other over three days starting on Monday, look a
whole lot like a messaging rollout. It’s worth noting that in 2016, Jessica Valenti was caught coordinating her coverage with the Clinton campaign, while Goldberg flat-out admitted it.
And it’s worth noting, in passing, how all three pieces are curiously
on-message: “we can’t know for sure what happened, but many of the
critics have bad motives, and [Valenti and Walsh assure us] we’ll vote
for Biden regardless.”
To my eye, the timing, the
messaging, and the actors all make this look a whole lot like a comms
operation — particularly since we know that Biden’s team has been working to shape the coverage.
In January, various members of Iraq's government were condemning foreign interference in Iraq. For some of the flakes in the US, it was time for applause. They took off from screaming that war on Iran was going to start in days -- still hasn't, by the way -- to applaud this condemnation of the US presence in Iraq. What they chose to ignore was that it was not just the US. Many politicians in Iraq were echoing what the protesters had been saying for weeks, that Iran also needed to stop interfering in Iraq. Is that part of the message why CodeStink, Margaret Kimberley and so many others elected to ignore the brave protesters who risked death and injury on a daily basis?
At any rate, Iraq's national sovereignty has long been undermined and it goes beyond just the US and Iran to include others -- like Turkey. Nouri al-Maliki was in his first term as prime minister -- that's how long this has been going on -- when he slammed Turkey for bombing northern Iraq. These bombings continue and they have expanded to also include Turkish troops on the ground in Iraq.
AP notes:
Turkish airstrikes targeting members of an outlawed Kurdish rebel group struck a refugee camp in northern Iraq and killed two refugee women, Iraqi authorities said Thursday.
The strikes, which took place Wednesday, were a violation of Iraq's sovereignty, Iraq's Foreign Affairs Ministry said.
The strikes on the Makhmour refugee camp were carried out by a Turkish military drone that was detected by Iraq's air defense, a statement from the ministry said. It expressed "condemnation in the strongest possible terms over these Turkish attacks" and said they also "constituted a serious violation of international humanitarian law."
Two refugee women dead because the government of Turkey thinks they can act as terrorists and bomb northern Iraq. They always insist that they are battling the PKK -- they insist this as they kill and wound civilians.
The PKK is one of many Kurdish groups which supports and fights for a Kurdish homeland. Aaron Hess (International Socialist Review) described them in 2008, "The PKK emerged in 1984 as a major force in response to Turkey's oppression of its Kurdish population. Since the late 1970s, Turkey has waged a relentless war of attrition that has killed tens of thousands of Kurds and driven millions from their homes. The Kurds are the world's largest stateless population -- whose main population concentration straddles Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria -- and have been the victims of imperialist wars and manipulation since the colonial period. While Turkey has granted limited rights to the Kurds in recent years in order to accommodate the European Union, which it seeks to join, even these are now at risk." The Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq has been a concern to Turkey because they fear that if it ever moves from semi-autonomous to fully independent -- such as if Iraq was to break up into three regions -- then that would encourage the Kurdish population in Turkey. For that reason, Turkey is overly interested in all things Iraq. So much so that they signed an agreement with the US government in 2007 to share intelligence which the Turkish military has been using when launching bomb raids. However, this has not prevented the loss of civilian life in northern Iraq. Aaron Hess noted, "The Turkish establishment sees growing Kurdish power in Iraq as one step down the road to a mass separatist movement of Kurds within Turkey itself, fighting to unify a greater Kurdistan. In late October 2007, Turkey's daily newspaper Hurriyet accused the prime minister of the KRG, Massoud Barzani, of turning the 'Kurdish dream' into a 'Turkish nightmare'."
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