Carly Simon is a one-of-a-kind artist. She's a legend. That's her above performing her first hit, "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be."
Clive Davis threw a Zoom party to raise money for the United Way. Guess who his surprise guests of performers included? Carly Simon:
Like all Clive’s dinners, the performers were all kept secret. So when Carly Simon turned up live from her barn on Martha’s Vineyard with a band, I was verklempt and so were the 400 plus other guests who were logged on. And Carly’s big surprise was that her band included one of our favorite actors, Tony Shalhoub, on guitar. The rest of her outfit included son Ben Taylor, David Saw, and John Forte. They kicked off with an old song called “It So Easy Then” from Carly’s “No Secrets” album, and then hit a home run with a gorgeous, flowing, “Anticipation.” Carly said she was singing in a lower key than she did in 1971, but she was sure radio ready. A triumph! (She should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by now!)
WACH57 notes:
Governor Henry McMaster used music to describe and thank his Accelerate SC team Tuesday, using the lyric's from Carly SImon's 1977 hit "Nobody Does It Better."
That's from PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE. The song is "With A Few Good Friends." Which leads into ROTOSCOPERS interviewed composer Carl Johnson:
Piglet’s Big Movie you worked with Carly Simon for the songs. What’s that like working with a collaborator for a film?
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to work with Carly Simon directly on Piglet’s Big Movie. She had written the songs long before I was hired. In an animated feature, the songs are usually written while the script is being written. The composer for the underscore isn’t hired until many months later when the animation has been finished. At that point, it was my job to incorporate the melodies from her songs into my underscore to make the whole thing sound like a unified work. I did get a call from her as we were mixing the score and she said how pleased she was with how it was all sounding. That was the closest I got to meeting her!
Related, many people think Carly and Michael McDonald sat down together and wrote "You Belong To Me." No. Michael wrote the music and sent the music to her. Carly and Michael never even met before "You Belong To Me" was recorded.
Marcia Buhl (BUFFALO NEWS) writes about the times we're living in and nots Carly's "Anticipation:"
In Carly Simon’s powerfully evocative lyrics, “we can never know about the days to come, but we think about them anyway,” she’s singing about the universal experience of an-ti-ci-pa-tion. The story goes that awaiting a date with Cat Stevens prompted these memorable lines.
For my mother and her 10 siblings growing up in rural Michigan, the buildup and excitement to Christmas wasn’t simply for those modest gifts under the tree but for the rare oranges they would find in their Christmas stockings. That kind of charged expectancy, a pleasurable tension, otherwise known as anticipation, is part of the reason we get out of bed each morning.
The last couple of months mandating a “pause” on all normal activities reminded me just how significant anticipation is in our lives, in both large and small ways. My preschool neighbors have had to set aside that antsy, jumping up and down experience of anticipating the next day’s field trip, birthday celebration, seeing Ms. Sandy, their teacher, or even those fish in the fish tank at their school.
Here's Carly performing "Anticipation" in 1988.
Brian Dowd (MARTHA'S VINEYARD TIMES) interviews Seth Meyers and look whose name pops up:
There’s all those different, cool dreams people can bid on; what would you bid on? A peanut butter sandwich with Carly Simon? A walk-on role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm”?
A peanut butter sandwich with Carly Simon would be pretty outstanding. She was going to have a concert in New York City in March that I was going to host that unfortunately got pandemic-canceled, so yeah, a peanut butter sandwich with Carly Simon.
I feel like there’s enough people on Martha’s Vineyard that have connections to the Red Sox, you know, I wouldn’t ask for much, just maybe start at center field for like a weekend. Obviously not against the Yankees or something, but let’s say the Orioles. I’d love to get like 12 to 15 at-bats, just to get my timing down. I think it would be very unfair if they would judge me on just one or two trips to the plate.
Lou Fancher (SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE) reviews Ian Zack's new biography of Odetta:
His subject’s tremendous influence and importance in music history are obvious in words spoken or written by generation-spanning artists including Bob Dylan, Carly Simon, Joan Baez, Tracy Chapman, Rhiannon Giddens, Miley Cyrus, and more. Belafonte favorably compared her voice to that of orator and bass-baritone singer Paul Robeson and said, “Her voice is enormous. And the depth and range of it is never-ending.” About her physical appearance, Belafonte told CBS executives, “She’s a Nubian Queen. She is the mother of history, of all of Africa.”
Here's Carly performing "Anticipation" in 1971.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Starting in Syria where hundreds took part in a demonstration in Aleppo to protest Turkey's continued bombing of northern Iraq.
Dropping back to yesterday's snapshot:
This morning, Zhelwan Z. Wali (RUDAW) notes the Turkish government is yet again claiming that they targeted terrorists, however . . . :
PKK-linked Firat News Agency claimed the strikes targeted a refugee camp and a hospital.
“ The Turkish state has launched a wave of air raids in southern
Kurdistan, northern Iraq tonight. The strikes targeted several positions
in the regions of Qandil, Maxmur (Makhmour) and Shengal (Sinjar),
including a refugee camp and hospital,” it said.
Makhmour camp hosts more than 12,000 Kurdish refugees who have fled persecution by the Turkish state, largely in the 1990s. The camp has a governing council and an armed force, the Makhmour Protection Units, established in 2014 when Islamic State (ISIS) militants attacked the area. The units are believed to have ties to the PKK.
Bedran Pirani, co-mayor of the Makhmour Camp Municipality, told Rudaw that strikes near the camp left several children unconscious, who were then rushed to hospital.
"The airstrikes lasted an hour from 12:10am to 01:10am. They were a large number of unmanned drones and jets hovering overhead," Pirani said.
Makhmour camp hosts more than 12,000 Kurdish refugees who have fled persecution by the Turkish state, largely in the 1990s. The camp has a governing council and an armed force, the Makhmour Protection Units, established in 2014 when Islamic State (ISIS) militants attacked the area. The units are believed to have ties to the PKK.
Bedran Pirani, co-mayor of the Makhmour Camp Municipality, told Rudaw that strikes near the camp left several children unconscious, who were then rushed to hospital.
"The airstrikes lasted an hour from 12:10am to 01:10am. They were a large number of unmanned drones and jets hovering overhead," Pirani said.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) condemned on
Monday the Turkish airstrikes against suspected positions of the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in several areas in northern
Iraq.
A JOC statement said that 18 Turkish warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes late on Sunday night on refugee camps in Sinjar, some 100 km west of Nineveh's provincial capital Mosul, and Makhmour, about 60 km southeast of Mosul.
The Turkish warplanes also flew over the areas of al-Kuwayr, Erbil and al-Shirqat, with 193 km deep inside the Iraqi territories, the statement said.
The JOC described the Turkish airstrikes as "provocative act and is inconsistent with the good-neighborliness in accordance with international conventions and is a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty."
Iraq called on Turkey to stop the violation of Iraqi territories and said that it is "fully prepared for cooperation between the two countries to control the security situations on the common borders," the statement added.
A JOC statement said that 18 Turkish warplanes carried out a series of airstrikes late on Sunday night on refugee camps in Sinjar, some 100 km west of Nineveh's provincial capital Mosul, and Makhmour, about 60 km southeast of Mosul.
The Turkish warplanes also flew over the areas of al-Kuwayr, Erbil and al-Shirqat, with 193 km deep inside the Iraqi territories, the statement said.
The JOC described the Turkish airstrikes as "provocative act and is inconsistent with the good-neighborliness in accordance with international conventions and is a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty."
Iraq called on Turkey to stop the violation of Iraqi territories and said that it is "fully prepared for cooperation between the two countries to control the security situations on the common borders," the statement added.
When will other government join the
Iraqi one in condemning the terrorism that Turkey continues to carry
out? When will Turkey be forced to respect Iraq's sovereignty?
The
Turkish government calls it Operation Claw-Eagle, the world should be
calling it what it is: terrorism. And it continues daily including
today. This morning, THE JERUSALEM POST notes:
Turkish aircraft and Iranian artillery targeted the town of Haji Omeran
in the Erbil Governorate of Iraq on Tuesday, according to Sky News
Arabia.
Haji Omeran is located along the Iran-Iraq border in northeastern Iraq.
The
district mayor of Haji Omeran, Farzang Ahmed, told Rudaw that Iranian
artillery has targeted Iranian Kurdish opposition groups in the area
before, but that Turkish strikes on the area were unheard of.
"We suspect that the two sides are in coordination,
because this is the first time that Turkey has bombed this region,"
said Ahmed to Rudaw. "This region is frequently and every year under
Iran's shelling, on the grounds that they are targeting Kurdish
opposition parties."
This
is terrorism. The US government remains silent. The world remains
silent. Day after day, year after year, Turkey violates Iraq's
sovereignty and terrorizes people who live in northern Iraq. Hiwa Shilani (KURDISTAN 24) reports:
The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday announced that it
had summoned the ambassador of Turkey in Iraq and handed him a complaint
memo condemning the violation of Iraqi sovereignty and its airspace
after recent Turkish airstrikes in the Kurdistan Region.
A statement from the foreign ministry announced that Iraq had “summoned” Turkish Ambassador Fatih Yildiz “against the backdrop of the Turkish bombing that affected a number of regions in northern Iraq, causing terror to the population, and spreading panic among them.”
“Ambassador Abdul Karim Hashim met the Turkish ambassador and delivered him a protest note, which included the Iraqi government’s condemnation of violations of the sanctity, sovereignty, and Iraqi airspace.”
A statement from the foreign ministry announced that Iraq had “summoned” Turkish Ambassador Fatih Yildiz “against the backdrop of the Turkish bombing that affected a number of regions in northern Iraq, causing terror to the population, and spreading panic among them.”
“Ambassador Abdul Karim Hashim met the Turkish ambassador and delivered him a protest note, which included the Iraqi government’s condemnation of violations of the sanctity, sovereignty, and Iraqi airspace.”
Twitter is more alive than the corporate media.
The Terrorist Turkish strikes in Iraq reflected Turkey's underestimation of international law and its relations with its neighbours
All of us condemned Turkey’s airstrikes on several areas of northern Iraq as part of a pattern that had become a cause for concern, The strikes represent an attack on Iraqi sovereignty and are taking place without coordination with the government in Baghdad.
Help Iraqi refugees to reach safety by delivering their voice to the whole world to rescue them from the 4to8 years of harsh wait in the host countries(like Turkey).
Tell countries to receive their files to save their future..
They lost everything in Iraq&during the long wait.
May
7th, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi became prime minister of Iraq. June 10th, he
took a press gaggle to Mosul. John Davison of REUTERS published his report on June 11th. Today, Alissa J. Rubin (NEW YORK TIMES) offers her report:
Mr. Kadhimi
is in many ways a Western-style leader. He has a message for every
event, and he stayed on schedule through a 12-hour day. His chief of
protocol ensured that everyone with him was constantly supplied with
disinfectant gel.
But nothing could prepare Mr. Kadhimi, 54, for the anger and grief that people called out to him every chance they got.
Among his first stops were the Mosul Museum, its collection hacked to pieces by ISIS, and the Al Nuri Grand Mosque, a renowned Iraqi landmark with an intricately carved leaning minaret.
The wind blows
through the lower part of the mosque now, which was badly damaged in the
fighting., During the Islamic State takeover of Syria and Iraq, the
militant leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi declared himself the group’s caliph
from its pulpit.
If ever there were a
place where the stones have voices, it is Mosul. The destruction is
almost audible. Whole blocks are piles of debris, chunks of concrete are
massed three and four stories high, and clinging to them are shacks,
tacked together out of scrap metal and canvas. This is what passes for
homes today in Mosul.
The prime
minister only glimpsed this chaos as he swept through the city in a
motorcade of cars and army vehicles, tearing down streets emptied of
people to ensure his safety.
It's
been a little over a month. Not seeing much change. Not seeing any
effort to get moving on holding elections -- that is the primary job he
is tasked with. His is not supposed to be a four year term. He is
supposed to quickly set a timetable for elections.
Human Rights Watch Belkis Wille just offered a look at censorship in Iraq (here) and we noted it yesterday. Today, we'll note Paul Aufiero's interview with Belkis about the report:
What is different about this moment in Iraq?
In October 2019, a massive protest movement hit the country, with millions of people in the streets. Young people in the center and south of the country came together through a non-sectarian lens to call for basic human rights for all Iraqis, regardless of ethnicity, language, or belief. Their demands and the wave of protests they sparked forced Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to resign in November, marking the first time popular protests in Iraq led to a change in power.
In October 2019, a massive protest movement hit the country, with millions of people in the streets. Young people in the center and south of the country came together through a non-sectarian lens to call for basic human rights for all Iraqis, regardless of ethnicity, language, or belief. Their demands and the wave of protests they sparked forced Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to resign in November, marking the first time popular protests in Iraq led to a change in power.
In May, a new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi,
took over. Al-Kadhimi is a former journalist and went into exile under
Saddam Hussein. When he came back to Iraq, he became the head of the
Iraqi National Intelligence Service. Since becoming prime minister, he
has been vocal about tackling some of the most difficult and sensitive
human rights issues in Iraq, which is quite incredible. So with this new
leadership, there is an opportunity to realize one of the loudest
demands of protesters: that authorities reengage with the public.
This is also one of the first times since 2003 where the violence in the country has diminished to the point that Iraqis can start talking about things not related to war. The country has endured years of conflict, through the United States-led invasion and occupation, a civil war, and the Islamic State (also known as ISIS). Now Iraqis can finally demand politicians engage in issues affecting their human rights not through the lens of national security.
But there is another story taking place alongside this. What does your report describe?
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, those he oppressed have been interested in opening the country in terms of elections and free speech. But things took a turn in the opposite direction over the last decade. Authorities have dealt with critics not only through violence, which we have seen when protesters were beaten and killed, but also through campaigns using laws to prosecute speech they don’t like, intimidating people into silence.
Who is being targeted in this campaign? Why?
In the autonomous Kurdistan Region in the north, like in Baghdad-controlled areas, there is almost no money for independent media, so most of the outlets are funded by one of the two main Kurdish political parties, or smaller groups. Journalists working for the outlet of one party are often sent to cover protests instigated by that party in territory controlled by another and are sometimes arrested or beaten by Kurdish security forces, or even killed. And prosecutions against journalists are also happening in Kurdistan along political lines.
This is also one of the first times since 2003 where the violence in the country has diminished to the point that Iraqis can start talking about things not related to war. The country has endured years of conflict, through the United States-led invasion and occupation, a civil war, and the Islamic State (also known as ISIS). Now Iraqis can finally demand politicians engage in issues affecting their human rights not through the lens of national security.
But there is another story taking place alongside this. What does your report describe?
Since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, those he oppressed have been interested in opening the country in terms of elections and free speech. But things took a turn in the opposite direction over the last decade. Authorities have dealt with critics not only through violence, which we have seen when protesters were beaten and killed, but also through campaigns using laws to prosecute speech they don’t like, intimidating people into silence.
Who is being targeted in this campaign? Why?
In the autonomous Kurdistan Region in the north, like in Baghdad-controlled areas, there is almost no money for independent media, so most of the outlets are funded by one of the two main Kurdish political parties, or smaller groups. Journalists working for the outlet of one party are often sent to cover protests instigated by that party in territory controlled by another and are sometimes arrested or beaten by Kurdish security forces, or even killed. And prosecutions against journalists are also happening in Kurdistan along political lines.
But this is happening across the country, also in Baghdad and the south.
Authorities are using vague legal provisions to target journalists,
activists, and frankly, anyone posting criticism on social media,
including people writing on their own Facebook pages. This should not be
illegal.
In Baghdad, the penal code has provisions that broadly deal with defamation. You could be prosecuted if you say anything that “insults” an Arab country or someone in power, for example. But there is no definition of what constitutes an insult, so these provisions are extremely opaque. Another set of provisions deals with incitement, and authorities use these against people they claim posted something online that could either incite someone to carry out a criminal act or threaten national security. But there is no standard for what this means in practice.
And in addition to being arrested, a lot of these people are getting threatening messages on their phones saying, “You’re next. We’ll kill you if you keep writing about this [topic].” And there is a systemic problem in Iraq where if those receiving threats go to the police, the police do nothing to protect them.
What penalties do people face if found guilty of these vague charges?
Depending on the provision someone is charged under, they could face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to about US$800, or both. And some say security forces beat them while interrogating them. But what is interesting is that we documented very few cases where someone is forced to serve an actual prison sentence. Authorities are clearly not interested in filling prisons with these people. I suspect that the point of these prosecutions is to intimidate people so much that the next time they want to post something critical of the government on Facebook, they don’t. It’s about harassment and silencing.
In Baghdad, the penal code has provisions that broadly deal with defamation. You could be prosecuted if you say anything that “insults” an Arab country or someone in power, for example. But there is no definition of what constitutes an insult, so these provisions are extremely opaque. Another set of provisions deals with incitement, and authorities use these against people they claim posted something online that could either incite someone to carry out a criminal act or threaten national security. But there is no standard for what this means in practice.
And in addition to being arrested, a lot of these people are getting threatening messages on their phones saying, “You’re next. We’ll kill you if you keep writing about this [topic].” And there is a systemic problem in Iraq where if those receiving threats go to the police, the police do nothing to protect them.
What penalties do people face if found guilty of these vague charges?
Depending on the provision someone is charged under, they could face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to about US$800, or both. And some say security forces beat them while interrogating them. But what is interesting is that we documented very few cases where someone is forced to serve an actual prison sentence. Authorities are clearly not interested in filling prisons with these people. I suspect that the point of these prosecutions is to intimidate people so much that the next time they want to post something critical of the government on Facebook, they don’t. It’s about harassment and silencing.
In the course of your research, were there any cases that particularly stood out to you?
One man, Haitham Sulaiman, is a 48-year-old protest organizer based near Baghdad, who got involved taking on corruption in Iraq. In early April, after hearing that the local health department might be making exorbitant profits off the cost of paper masks amid the Covid-19 pandemic, he posted the allegation on Facebook and called on authorities to investigate. The next day, intelligence officers from the Ministry of the Interior came to his house and left a warning that he had to stop writing about corruption. A few days later, four men in plain clothes arrested him and took him to the intelligence office, where they beat him and forced him to sign a document saying the Iraqi protest movement of 2019 had been bankrolled by the US. They then charged him under the penal code for willfully sharing false or biased information that “endangered public security.”
Another woman, “Amal” (not her real name), has protested corruption in Basra for years, been openly critical of different political parties online, and had posted videos of herself protesting in 2018, at the time of large-scale protests in southern Iraq. Around that time, while at home one night, she saw three masked men open gunfire on her house. She fled the city with her children but came back three weeks later. A few days after returning, an armed man came to her house and threatened that if she didn’t leave with her family, they’d all be killed. She has since fled the country.
What hope does the new government offer to address these issues?
The first thing the government should do is institute legal reforms and amend the penal code and other problematic laws to limit the abusive impact of these vague provisions. Security forces should investigate threats and acts of violence against journalists, activists, and social media critics.
But the prime minister, having seen the power of the country’s protests firsthand, should send the message down through Iraq’s government structure that he will no longer put up with those who abuse their powers to go after people who said something they don’t like, and will punish them. And maybe for the first time in Iraq’s history it’s possible this could happen.
We'll close with this from US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard:
More than a million of our brothers and sisters who served in the military are suffering every day as a result of being exposed to toxic burn pits during their time overseas. This is the Agent Orange of our post-9/11 generation of veterans. Yet, the Department of Defense and the VA have so far failed to ensure every veteran and servicemember dealing with health issues related to their exposure to these toxins gets the care and benefits they deserve.
This is why I’ve introduced H.R.7072 — the SFC Heath Robinson Burn Pit Transparency Act — and other legislation to prevent another generation of veterans from suffering in the way that our brothers who served in Vietnam did.
Heath Robinson was one of too many servicemembers who deployed to the
Middle East, only to come home and fight another battle — for Heath, a
3-year battle with lung cancer. A father, husband, and patriot, he
recently lost that battle with cancer and died as our nation's leaders
failed to acknowledge the link between his diagnosis and his toxic burn
pit exposure.
This is an egregious failure to those who serve. Our veterans deserve better. Their families deserve better. Our veterans deserve care, compensation, and disability benefits.
It is too late for some like Heath, but more are suffering and more need help. Congress must act now.
One man, Haitham Sulaiman, is a 48-year-old protest organizer based near Baghdad, who got involved taking on corruption in Iraq. In early April, after hearing that the local health department might be making exorbitant profits off the cost of paper masks amid the Covid-19 pandemic, he posted the allegation on Facebook and called on authorities to investigate. The next day, intelligence officers from the Ministry of the Interior came to his house and left a warning that he had to stop writing about corruption. A few days later, four men in plain clothes arrested him and took him to the intelligence office, where they beat him and forced him to sign a document saying the Iraqi protest movement of 2019 had been bankrolled by the US. They then charged him under the penal code for willfully sharing false or biased information that “endangered public security.”
Another woman, “Amal” (not her real name), has protested corruption in Basra for years, been openly critical of different political parties online, and had posted videos of herself protesting in 2018, at the time of large-scale protests in southern Iraq. Around that time, while at home one night, she saw three masked men open gunfire on her house. She fled the city with her children but came back three weeks later. A few days after returning, an armed man came to her house and threatened that if she didn’t leave with her family, they’d all be killed. She has since fled the country.
What hope does the new government offer to address these issues?
The first thing the government should do is institute legal reforms and amend the penal code and other problematic laws to limit the abusive impact of these vague provisions. Security forces should investigate threats and acts of violence against journalists, activists, and social media critics.
But the prime minister, having seen the power of the country’s protests firsthand, should send the message down through Iraq’s government structure that he will no longer put up with those who abuse their powers to go after people who said something they don’t like, and will punish them. And maybe for the first time in Iraq’s history it’s possible this could happen.
We'll close with this from US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard:
More than a million of our brothers and sisters who served in the military are suffering every day as a result of being exposed to toxic burn pits during their time overseas. This is the Agent Orange of our post-9/11 generation of veterans. Yet, the Department of Defense and the VA have so far failed to ensure every veteran and servicemember dealing with health issues related to their exposure to these toxins gets the care and benefits they deserve.
This is why I’ve introduced H.R.7072 — the SFC Heath Robinson Burn Pit Transparency Act — and other legislation to prevent another generation of veterans from suffering in the way that our brothers who served in Vietnam did.
| LEARN MORE ABOUT H.R. 7072 |
This is an egregious failure to those who serve. Our veterans deserve better. Their families deserve better. Our veterans deserve care, compensation, and disability benefits.
It is too late for some like Heath, but more are suffering and more need help. Congress must act now.
| LEARN MORE ABOUT H.R. 7072 |
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