I was hoping to write a review of Haim's new album over the weekend. I didn't. The good news is that when I woke up Monday morning, I knew what I wanted to say. Hopefully, I will have time to write it this weekend. On music, this is from SPIN:
In what’s been a terrible year, one of the few standouts has been Perfume Genius. The artists also known as Mike Hadreas released his latest effort, Set My Heart on Fire, wayyyyy back in April. Apparently being at home has allowed him to unearth some other material from his past.
In a tweet on Monday night, Hadreas revealed that he recently stumbled upon a nearly 10-year-old demo for “Rusty Chains.” What’s someone to do while at home and while in quarantine? Make a video for the alternative version.
“I found this demo from nearly ten years ago now, it really stirred something up in me so i made a video for it to share with you,” Hadreas said.
Here's the video in question.
Other news? Will Lavin (NME) reports:
A guitar signed by Led Zeppelin‘s Robert Plant and Black Sabbath‘s Tony Iommi is one of the highlights of a charity auction taking place next month.
The charity event put on by Julien’s Auctions will benefit MusiCares, the charitable foundation which provides aid to artists and music community professionals in times of need.
Taking place on September 9 live in Beverly Hills and online at juliensauctions.com, with advance online bidding starting on August 17, some of the items up for grabs include a Gibson SG Standard ’61 guitar in vintage cherry signed by Plant and Iommi, and a Paul Reed Smith limited edition Carlos Santana Abraxas SE limited edition guitar signed by Santana himself.
And check out Brianna Holt's essay at COMPLEX:
"My life and my work are very interlocked. That's partly why I like to keep my private life private,” Kate Bush said in 2005. Privacy is an integral part of the British pop star’s nature. She rarely updates her social media accounts, her latest published interview was in 2016, and her last tour was in 1979. When it comes to projects, Bush has always followed her own agenda. Her most recent album was released nine years ago and came six years after the album before that. In other words, being a fan of the singer-songwriter is a never-ending waiting game supplemented by diving into the 10 studio albums she’s produced so far. Bush’s extensive discography, which has been described as complex and ethereal, has the range to keep fans immersed, no matter how lengthy the waiting period.
Bush never intended on being a star in the limelight, which she’s been straightforward about since her early years. In 2011 she told The Sydney Morning Herald, "I kind of adopted a philosophy a long time ago that I wanted my work to speak for me. I don't really think of myself as a personality or a celebrity." She loathes the idea of promotion and only takes part so people know she’s created something new. Music has always been something she produced and never something that produced her. And like her music, her impact speaks for itself, keeping Bush’s name well and alive into her 62nd birthday.
For the last three decades, Bush has been crowned the queen of art-pop without ever winning a Grammy or touring after the releases of new albums. You won’t catch her in the audience at an award show or giving lengthy interviews on a talk show. In fact, it isn’t even certain where she is spending her time, but many fans assume she’s tucked away somewhere in South Devon. With her pioneering legacy of experimental sound, masterful storytelling, and unconventional lyrics and structure, Bush’s influence in the music industry has stretched across genres and borders. “Kate Bush has always been a typewriter in a renaissance," Boy George explained. "She appeared out of nowhere at the tail end of punk and sort of embodied the punk spirit by just being completely herself. She blew things apart with things like ‘Running Up That Hill’ because it defied the classic logic of pop.”
In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush began breaking barriers for women in
pop. Topping the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single
"Wuthering Heights," Bush became the first female artist to reach number
one in the UK with a self-written song. Additionally, and equally
impressive, she was the first British solo female artist to ever top the
UK album charts and the first female artist to enter the album chart at
No. 1. By her fourth studio album, Bush gained artistic independence in
album production, an uncommon circumstance for women in the music
industry during the ‘80s. “The big thing for me, and it has been from
quite early on, is to retain creative control over what I’m doing. If
you have creative control, it’s personal,” she told Independent in 2016. Her ability to work on her own agenda and release atypical work influenced many younger artists to do the same.
Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, August 10, 2020. Corruption continues in Iraq, the people continue to suffer, Moqtada's 100 day threat is due to expire this week, and much more.
MIDDLE EAST MONITOR ONLINE notes:
Hundreds of Iraqi protesters yesterday stormed Dhi Qar Governorate building in the centre of Nasiriyah province to protest against poor public services and corruption, the Anadolu Agency reported.
The agency quoted eyewitnesses as saying that tribes in the Al-Fahd district organised the protest, accusing officials of corruption and mismanagement.
Thousands of Iraqis and displaced persons suffer from poor public services, especially access to electricity.
Iraq is not a poor country struck with famine. It's an oil rich country and, certainly, various politicians have used their office to embezzle money. While the people suffered, various Iraqi leaders have gotten rich. Former prime minister and forever thug Nouri al-Maliki is only one example of someone who used the office to enrich himself and his family at the expense of the Iraqi people. And the corruption has led to the current situation. All of this comes as Baghdad hit a new record for all time highest temperature on Saturday. Natalie O'Neill (NEW YORK POST) noted,
Folks in Iraq aren’t hot on this weather trend.
Temperatures soared to a scorching 126 degrees in Baghdad last week — the hottest ever recorded in the city, according to a report.
The sweltering heat, which comes during the country’s hottest summer ever, sparked power outages that forced locals to endure the weather without air conditioning, Bloomberg News reported.
How does an oil rich country struggle with something as basic as energy production? Supposedly, the US war for oil did not beneift the US. S&P GLOBAL PLATTS maintains:
Iraq's energy ties with the US, which were supposed to yield oil deals following the 2003 invasion, have been whittled down to waivers to OPEC's second biggest producer to import Iranian electricity and gas, and avoid a political meltdown of the fragile Baghdad government, according to analysts.
US energy companies did not benefit much from the rule of the Coalition Provisional Authority -- the US-appointed entity that governed Iraq post the 2003 invasion until 2004 -- and they seem unlikely to gain a foothold in the oil sector of a country fighting a resurgent Islamic State, grappling with protests and facing financial collapse from low oil prices.
"The expectations of US policy-makers in the early years was that US companies would enjoy competitive advantage in a liberalized Iraqi oil and gas sector," said Raad Alkadiri, senior director at the BCG Center for Energy Impact.
"Iraq's sector has remained state-owned and state-guided, and US companies have been forced to compete in open licensing rounds. Various efforts by US Administrations (including the current Trump Administration) to engineer bilateral negotiations and to promote US company interests have come to naught."
The benchmarks imposed by the US -- and agreed to by Iraq -- included privatizing the oil. And, it should be noted, the US was never supposed to benefit from the war -- multi-national companies were supposed to benefit -- and many have.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, is scheduled to meet with US President Donald Trump shortly. Friday afternoon, the White House issued the following announcement:
President Donald J. Trump will welcome Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi of the Republic of Iraq to the White House on August 20, 2020. The visit comes at a critical time for both the United States and Iraq as we continue our collaboration to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS and address the challenges from the coronavirus pandemic. As close partners, the United States and Iraq will look to expand our relations across a range of issues, including security, energy, health care, and economic cooperation.
Saturday, Omar Sattar (AL-MONITOR) observed:
The heat wave in Iraq has raised the ire of citizens in the central and southern areas, pushing many to take to the streets once again. The popular protests in the squares had settled down due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the searing hot weather and declining hours of electricity supply have forced the new government to once again face the protesters.
Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government was only formed less than three months ago and is now in the middle of the process of activating electricity interconnection agreements with Gulf countries and speeding up the cooperation agreement with Germany's Siemens AG.
Although he inherited a mess, and is taking action to fix it, there is no quick fix and the political blocs opposed to Kadhimi have tried to harness the protests to undermine his government and drag it into a bloody confrontation with the protesters, especially in Baghdad, Dhi Qar and Basra.
Clashes between protesters and security forces have resulted in three deaths and 21 injuries, according to the Iraqi Human Rights Commission.
The same prime minister who can't protect the protesters is now demanding that Christians return to Iraq.
On Sunday, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, called for the return of Iraqi Christian immigrants to their country, especially after the defeat of the Islamic State [. . .].
Al-Kazemi received on Sunday, Patriarch Saint Louis Raphael I Sako, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch, and a number of bishops in Baghdad.
While Mustafa insists that the Christians should return to Iraq, it was just last week that Emma Reeves (PERSECUTION) noted:
The defeat of ISIS in Iraq came at the cost of strengthening militias. The pandemic has given many regional governments an opportunity to centralize authority. But Iraq’s militias have resisted similar attempts by Baghdad. For those observing this dynamic, it brings memories of a past filled with hardship and history of increased persecution.
During the early 2000s, these militias were at the forefront of Christian persecution, prompting the first immigration wave. “Christian immigration passed through three main stages,” explained a former resident of Baghdad to ICC. “The first was from 2005-2007, [the] second was in 2010 when some extremists attacked [a] church during Sunday mass and the third stage was in 2014 when ISIS attacked [the] Nineveh Plain.”
Will there be a fourth stage? Many hope not, but recent militia tension brings memories of the early 2000s.
Recently, Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Services conducted an unprecedented raid on a militia in Baghdad. The next day, the militia threatened retaliation. One militia member threatened Prime Minister al-Khadami, who ordered the raid, reportedly saying “you are smaller than attacking an office of our militia.”
The prime minister remains new to his office, after militia interference in the political system delayed the process for months. Untangling the web of militia control is a struggle and dangerous endeavor, but the prime minister’s early policies seem to indicate this is a priority. This has left Christians unsettled and skeptical of the prime minister’s ability to actually break down militia control.
“I can’t believe what al-Khadami is pretending to do. If you look back at previous prime ministers, al-Abadi or Abdul Mahdi, you will find similarity on the decisions, but none turn to actions,” said Ehab, a Christian from Baghdad.
He continued, “both Abadi and Abdul Mahdi took strict decision about militias having weapons, but again [nothing] came to reality. Having that history tells me not to believe al-Khadami and that all he is doing [will] not exceed a show.”
It is well-known across Iraq that the federal government has no power, and that the militias actually control the country with the support of neighboring Iran, a Shia country.
When assaults and massacres targeted Christians in Baghdad, many began moving to what city? Mosul. The first seriously targeted by ISIS. When ISIS was routed out of Mosul, the persecuted were now the victims of the militias. Last February, Xavier Bisits (AMERICA: THE JESUIT REVIEW) noted:
In the Nineveh Plains, near Mosul, Iraq, some 32,000 Christians live in areas controlled by Iran-backed militias. As tensions between the United States and Iran continue, Nineveh Christians hope for an end to the influence of Iran in their day-to-day lives.
With the liberation of parts of Iraq from ISIS in 2017, Iraq’s Syriac and Chaldean Christians returned home to two unwelcome developments. First, unsurprisingly, their homes had been burned, looted or destroyed by ISIS. Second, Iran-backed groups who helped defeat ISIS—known as Popular Mobilization Forces—now controlled the towns their ancestors had inhabited for more than a millennia.
Today, the largest Christian town, Baghdeda as it is called by Christians—it is also known as Qaraqosh—is surrounded by an Iran-funded militia. The second-largest town, Bartella, is controlled by such a militia. Both are around 20 minutes from Mosul, where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had declared the doomed ISIS caliphate in 2014.
This picture is complicated by a demographic shift also taking place in these communities—once largely Syriac Christian and now Shabak Muslim. The Shabak are primarily a Shiite minority who, like Christians and Yazidis, were persecuted by ISIS.
This demographic shift is most pronounced in Bartella, which sits on the crucial artery road between Erbil and Mosul. As recently as 2003, Bartella was 95 percent Christian. In the space of a decade, it has become majority Shabak, and members of this religious and ethnic community now control the town’s government and checkpoints into the city through their wing of the P.M.F., the Shabak Militia. Today, this militia receives arms, vehicles and money from Iran.
Amjad, 33, a Syriac worker in an electricity shop, complained of treatment as a second-class citizen by this militia. “Frankly speaking, if they had the chance, they’d take everything from us,” he said of the Shabak Militia. “If they have the chance to attack, they’d do more damage than ISIS did.”
Having done nothing to secure the safety of Iraqi Christians, Mustafa now insists that they return. On the topic of the militias, there's more shameful behavior but this time from a news outlet. Friday, THE INDEPENDENT published a major article written by Ghufran Younes. But? They only published it on their Arabic website. They refuse to publish this major report in English. Younes reports that the area near Falluja is infamous for its number of missing people -- missing as a result of the militias liquidation operations in Anbar Province. In June of 2016, Faiz al-Rikan explains, approximately 735 residents were abducted. A man whose three sons, ages 16 to 26, were abducted speaks of his sadness over his missing children. They are among The Disappeared. Since 2017, the High Commission for Human Rights has received complaints of at least 8,615 Iraqis being disappeared. Professor Anas Akram Muhammed sits on that commission and states that a national database is needed to track the disappeared and their numbers. The Commission works with the United Nations Development Program. The Iraqi Center for Documenting War Crimes' Omar al-Farhan states that Iraq is the top ranked in the world when it comes to the number of people who have been disappeared by government forces (including the militias).
In other news, ASHARQ AL-AWSAT reports on the escalating tensions between the protesters and one time movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr:
Tensions were high in Iraq’s Nasiriyah city between anti-government protesters and supporters of the Sadrist movement, led by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
According to activists, tensions broke out between protesters, who have been present at Al Habobi square for months, and Sadrists who arrived at the scene.
Activist Raad Mohsen said quarrels erupted between the two sides after Sadrists raised a poster of the movement’s leader during a demonstration demanding to bring the killers of protesters to justice, starting with Gen. Jamil Al Shammari.
Mohsen, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, confirmed that the protesters are used to holding at least one demonstration a week to reaffirm their demands, which include holding the killers of demonstrators accountable.
The raising of Sadr’s poster at the square prompted tensions, with activists explaining that images of party and religious leaders are prohibited at the square.
Though not noted by the press, or taken very seriously, this week will mark the end of the 100 days Motada al-Sadr gave Mustafa to fix everything. May 11th, Moqtada gave Mustafa 100 days to implement his promises. That 100 days ends this week.
