Friday, July 31, 2020

Anissa Jones



That's Anissa Jones.  WIKIPEDIA says that interview above was Anissa's last TV appearance.

From the fall of 1966 to spring of 1971, Anissa played Buffy on FAMILY AFFAIR, a sitcom about a family made up of three children who went to live with their uncle and his butler Mr. French.  Buffy had a doll named Mrs. Beasley that was sold, at that time, in stores everywhere.

America was charmed by Buffy.  Throughout the seventies, FAMILY AFFAIR ran in syndication.  I wonder if people today, teenagers and children, still discover the show or not?

It's weird for me to watch the show now.

I can see episodes and remember things.  Like one episode I caught last year, reminded me of watching that episode with my grandfather.  I was sick and had been out of it all day.  Finally, my fever broke and I went to watch the show but I was still kind of weak and my grandfather scooped me up and I watched the show with him sitting in his lap.  I was amazed how strong that memory came back to me.  I really missed him all over again re-watching that episode.

When she was 18, Anissa, she passed away.  WIKIPEDIA notes:

Teen years[edit]

Jones believed she had been typecast. She enrolled in Los Angeles' Westchester High School and returned to a life outside the entertainment industry.[5]
Jones' parents had initiated a bitter divorce in 1965 and carried on a long feud over custody of Anissa and her younger brother, Paul. In 1973, custody of both children was awarded to their father, but he died of heart disease shortly thereafter.
While her brother went to live with their mother, Jones moved in with a friend and began skipping school. Jones was reported by her mother to the police as a runaway, was arrested and sent to juvenile hall, where she spent many months in state custody, after which she was allowed to live with her mother.
However, Jones soon began shoplifting and taking drugs. In 1975, she dropped out of high school altogether and briefly worked at a Winchell's Donuts shop in Playa Del Rey. She reportedly felt embarrassed whenever customers recognized who she was.
On her 18th birthday, on March 11, 1976, Jones gained control of her saved earnings from her work on Family Affair, about $180,000 ($808,737 today) as well as an undetermined amount, though in excess of $100,000 ($449,298 today), of U.S. Savings Bonds, both of which had been held for her in a trust fund. Jones and her brother Paul then rented an apartment together, not far from their mother.

Death[edit]

Shortly before noon on August 28, 1976, after partying in the beach town of Oceanside, California, with her new boyfriend, Allan "Butch" Koven, and others, Jones was found dead in a bedroom of a house belonging to the father of a 14-year-old friend named Helen Hennessy.[4]:28 The coroner's report listed her death as a drug overdose, later ruled accidental;[6] cocaine, PCP, Quaalude, and Seconal were found in her body during an autopsy toxicology examination. The police report also indicated a small vial of blue liquid next to Jones at the scene, which was never identified. The coroner who examined Jones reported she died from one of the most severe drug overdoses he had ever seen. Jones was 18 years old.[4]:28
Jones was given a small, private service. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.[6] She left $63,000 in cash and more than $100,000 in savings bonds when she died (equivalent to $732,356 today).
Six days after Jones's death, Dr. Don Carlos Moshos was arrested and charged with illegally prescribing Seconal to Jones,[7] among other drugs-for-profit charges from a concurrent undercover criminal investigation. An envelope with Moshos's business address was present at Jones' scene of death, specifying a drug found in Anissa's toxicology report (Seconal), its dosage (1.5 gr), quantity (50), and the recipient's last name (Jones). Moshos was charged with 11 offenses;[8] while awaiting trial, Moshos died on December 27, 1976, four months after Jones.[9] Although the murder charges were dropped before his death, Moshos's estate was sued by Jones's surviving family for $400,000; in July 1979, the verdict found him 30% liable and Jones 70% responsible for her death, and the resulting judgment was reduced to $79,500 ($357,200 today).
Anissa's father, John Paul Jones, died of heart disease, March 7, 1974, age 44. On March 15, 1984, Jones's brother, Paul, died of a drug overdose. He was 24 years old.[4]:29 Jones's mother, Mary Paula Jones, died in Detroit, Michigan of natural causes on January 14, 2012.


Let's note this E TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY on Anissa:



Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, July 31, 2020.  We look at various candidates running to be elected president of the United States this November.

Starting in the United States where the November presidential election looms.  The Democratic Party will begin their national convention on August 17th and wrap it up on August 20th if everything goes as scheduled.  The party platform -- which is meaningless though people vest so much into it every four years -- will be a bigger disappointment than usual as items like Medicare For All, which the bulk of the party supports but which the Joe Biden campaign sneers at, aren't on it.  




The only non-disappointment next month?  Finally, the endless game of who The Bachelor Joe will give his rose to  will end.

Tammy Duckworth?  Because a hot head is who we think makes a good president?  A conservative Democrat in the tradition of Zell Miller is who the country needs?  Tammy has no base and she produces no enthusiasm.  Joe already has an enthusiasm gap.  Picking Tammy would be as bad as picking Susan Rice who has never held elected office but has been in the public eye for decades and no one but the circle-jerk press has ever been impressed with her.  Picking Susan Rice, in fact, could be just the thing to rally Donald Trump's base.  

Kamala Harris brings enthusiasm, her supporters are fierce and would provide a rapid response team unlike anything Joe currently has.  Elizabeth Warren?  I don't think anyone doubts that she could serve as vice president and immediately step into the presidency if that was required.  (Joe has stated, alluding to his health and age, that his selection should be someone who could take over immediately if needed.)  If she takes it, does she compromise her own image?  It's more a possible threat to her future than to his.  Karen Bass?  She's a member of Congress, she's got spirit and personality.  She could bring much energy and interest to the ticket.  (I know Karen and I like Karen. Were I picking for Joe Biden, I would pick Karen.)  

Those are the real contenders.  No one believes a city mayor or Stacey Abrams is capable of being the president on a moment's notice.  They lack the gravitas and the experience.  Remember, Sarah Palin was a sitting governor when John McCain picked her as a running mate and the press still ridiculed her well before she was doing interviews.  

The person needs to be competent, yes, but they need to be more than that, they need to bring enthusiasm.  No one gives a damn about Joe Biden's campaign.  He doesn't stir enthusiasm.  The last two months, he's only really captured the press' attention over who he might choose as a running mate.  They've spent weeks and weeks speculating.

Why?

It's cheap journalism.  Doesn't cost them a damn thing.  Second, it's all that's interesting about Joe.

So to pick a Susan Rice or Tammy Duckworth would be an error -- possibly a fatal one.  The minute the woman is picked -- Joe has said it will be a woman -- the who-will-he-pick game is over and the nominee better be able, all by herself, to generate interest and enthusiasm.

It's a shame that Joe's been unwilling to seriously consider even one Latina for the position.  It's good that the long process allowed Gretch The Wretch to be eliminated (she was eliminated because of her husband, that's when she was dropped from consideration, when he was demanding special treatment right before Memorial Day weekend) as well as Amy Klobuchar.(over civil rights questions stemming from her time as a prosecutor).  

Kamala, Elizabeth and Amy all vied for the nomination.  All had at least one moment of friction with Joe during the primaries.  The only female who didn't?  Tulsi Gabbard and she was never even on his long list.  

Barring any upset, Joe will be declared the nominee of the Democratic Party next month.  Donald Trump, the sitting president, is expected to be declared the nominee of the GOP at their convention as well.  

We're going to stay with Donald for a moment.  We've been covering Vanessa Guillen's murder since July 1st.  Yesterday, the president met with her family.  Tom Vanden Brooks (USA TODAY) reports:

President Donald Trump met Thursday with the family of Spc. Vanessa Guillen, who disappeared from Fort Hood in April and whose remains were found earlier this month.
“It’s an incredible story. It’s a terrible story,” Trump said to the family in the Oval Office. “So we’re going to look into it very powerfully. We already have started, as you know, and we’ll get to the bottom of it. Maybe things can come out that will help other people in a situation like Vanessa. We’ll be in touch with you constantly.”
A funeral has not been held because Guillen was dismembered and relatives are awaiting her remains, the family’s lawyer, Natalie Khawam, told Trump. 
“If I can help you out with the funeral, I’ll help you out, financially, I’ll help you,” Trump said.

“I want justice for my Vanessa,” Guillen’s mother said through tears.
During the meeting, Khawam explained Guillen’s death to Trump and asked him to consider the circumstances surrounding it as the reason to pass the #IAmVanessaGuillen bill.
One of Guillen’s sisters said that the troops who are willing to serve and protect need protection, which is why they are asking for the bill.
Trump said the DOJ and the FBI are investigating the case.
“We are going to look into it very powerfully,” Trump said. “... We will get to the bottom of this.”
Guillen’s mother said her daughter is a part of history and she pleaded with Trump to join with the family and be a positive part of Guillen’s story.
During the meeting, Guillen’s family said they have not had a funeral, yet, because the military still has Guillen’s remains because the investigation is open.
Trump responded that he would help Guillen’s family with costs for the funeral should they need it, and he would intervene to help her family get the remains from the military in order for them to have a proper funeral in Houston.

Hopefully, her family will find justice and peace.

People talk about polling.  The polls are meaningless at this point.  They show Joe ahead?  Because Joe's buried himself.  Like Hillary Clinton before him, candidate Joe is someone America likes better when they don't see him.  Joe won't be able to hide forever.  There's also the issue of how polls work.  You have to have a free environment.  When the press is conducting polls and the press has already decided to issue value judgments (Trump = bad, Donald is a racist, etc), people are not going to feel they can answer honestly.  We noted that in 2016 and it's true today.  The polling was wrong in 2016.  It may very well be wrong today.  Michael Moore was booed and hissed for offering the cautionary note that it's too early to call Joe's presidency a sure thing; but Michael was right about that.  It is too early.  

In addition to Joe and Donald representing the corporate duopoly, there are other candidates in the race.

Gloria La Riva is the presidential candidate from the Party for Liberation and Socialism.



While Joe bumbles around in a daze, Gloria's protesting police brutality and evictions.  She travels to Portland to make her voice heard.  This week, Gloria has Tweeted about Jalil Muntaqim:

What a great livestream for brother Jalil Muntaqim today, in prison an unimaginable but real 49 years! He was in at 19, truly a crime against him and a crime against Black America. #CommutationNow! #FreeJalilNow! Call Gov. Cuomo
@NYGovCuomo
to commute: 518-474-8390
6:55 PM · Jul 27, 2020


If you're not part of the corporate duopoly, you have to fight for media attention and for ballot access.  David Wildestein (NEW JERSEY GLOBE) reports rapper, designer and social influencer Kayne West filed to run in New Jersey -- 800 signatures are required to make the ballot there and Kanye has 1,327.  David explains:

He is one of seven independent candidates who filed.
A New Jersey resident, Gloria Estrela La Riva of Harrison, filed 1,589 signatures to run as the Socialism and Liberation candidate.  She has designated Leonard Peltier as her running mate.
Also filing as independent presidential candidates: Rocky De La Fuente (Alliance Party); Don Blankenship (Constitution Party); Howie Hawkins (Green Party); Jo Jorgenson (Libertarian Party); and Bill Hammons (Unity Party).
Jo Joregenson is the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee.  Her team is currently working to get on the Wisconsin ballot (among other states) and they have until August 4th to gather the needed signatures.  On another stimulus package, her campaign issued the following this week:


GREENVILLE, S.C.; July 27, 2020—  Dr. Jo Jorgensen, Libertarian for president, has released the following statement, warning of the danger of another massive COVID-19 bailout bill being negotiated in Congress:
I’d advise you to hold on to your wallet, but it won’t do you any good so long as Democrats and Republicans remain in power. To fund their bailout bills, the Federal Reserve is printing trillions of dollars out of thin air, which will tap your wallet, whether you hang on to it or not.
Democrats want to spend another $3 trillion for so-called economic stimulus. Donald Trump wants to spend another $2 trillion. Joe Biden wants to spend $2 trillion just on green energy.

We may soon see another $2 trillion spending package signed into law.
That’s in addition to the $3 trillion that Democrats and Republicans spent on the C.A.R.E.S. Act and other stimulus bills just in the last four months.
And that’s on top of the $1 trillion deficit they created by spending far more than they took in for this year’s budget.
That comes to at least $6 trillion in new debt in less than a year. To put this in perspective, $6 trillion buys half of all the gold in the world, even at today’s high price per ounce.
Where do Democrats and Republicans get the money to pay for this?
They can’t borrow it, because the Federal Reserve has kept interest rates artificially low. At these low rates, they can’t find enough buyers of Treasury bills to fund the debt.
Instead, the Federal Reserve buys T-bills from the government by printing trillions of dollars out of thin air. Poof!
Why should counterfeiters bother to print fake bills that might be worth a few thousand dollars when they can work for the Federal Reserve?
But won’t someone have to pay for all this, you may ask? Yes — you!
Politicians will take your wealth in the form of inflation. Prices will rise, making your dollars worth less.
How much will they bleed from your wallet when this bill comes due? Six trillion dollars in new debt amounts to an average of $36,689 in new debt for every working American (including those who are seeking work).
That is to say, politicians’ reckless new spending this year alone will likely cost you, on average, $36,689 in inflation, along with other forms of loss, which include future tax increases, lower wages, cuts in government benefits, or a combination thereof.
What will you get for your $36,689 loss? That depends on who you are.
If you’re a “too big to fail” corporation, K Street lobbyists have your back. You’ll probably see billions.
If you’re fortunate enough to own stock in those giant corporations, you’re seeing a stock market rise, thanks to the Fed. If you’re in the richest ten percent, which own 81 percent of stocks, you just saw your net worth increase an average of $220,000 since the stock market bottomed out in March.
If you’re a small business, you may get a loan. But for many, it won’t be enough. The Partnership for New York City estimates that one-third of all the employers in that city will be closing their doors because of the pandemic shutdown. It’s not much better elsewhere.
And if you’re an average American worker, for your $36,689 loss, you might get back another $1,200 stimulus check and a few more weeks of unemployment benefits.
Sound like a good deal to you?
Under a Jorgensen administration, none of this would have happened.
Instead of quashing coronavirus testing early on, I would have enabled rapid, widespread testing by lifting all related FDA restrictions. With knowledge of who has the virus, those who were infection-free would have likely returned to work months ago.
The economy would be in far better shape; many jobs and businesses would be saved; and there would be no justification for massive government bailouts.
How do we get out of the mess that the Democrats and Republicans have created?
First, deregulate. We can take pressure off struggling businesses by relieving them of burdensome government regulations that waste their time and deplete their profits.

As president, I will go way beyond the deregulation we’ve seen under President Trump, which still leaves many businesses bogged down in miles of red tape. In many cases, it’s easier to put up a shingle in communist China than in the United States. That will end under my administration.
By making it easy to do business in our country, we can compete successfully in a worldwide marketplace. More jobs will result.
Second, cut taxes.
I will work to end the federal income tax, and with it, the IRS. If you’re an average American family, you’ll get back over $12,000 that you now pay in federal income taxes every year. When you’re allowed to keep the money you earn, your spending and savings will stimulate economic growth well beyond anything Congress can do.
Last, stop government overspending.
We must dramatically cut federal spending and resist all temptations for phony stimulus bills that cost most people much more than they will ever get back.
As president, I will cut total spending dramatically. I’ll bring our troops home and cut unneeded spending in the military budget, as well as every other area of the federal government.
Appropriations bills that fail to substantially reduce government spending, or that add a dime to the national debt, will be met with my veto pen.
And I will demand a full audit of the Federal Reserve, so every taxpayer can see the damage it’s doing to your dollars.
By forcing politicians to be financially responsible, we’ll put buying power back in your wallet — where it belongs.


Joseph Kishore is the presidential candidate from the Socialist Equality Party.



This morning Joseph Tweeted:


There is a little, though very little, commentary on the Trump admin's reference to journalists as "adversaries." A former Obama official called it "appalling and dangerous." But this is precisely the attitude of the Democrats toward WikiLeaks and Assange.

Ten years since WikiLeaks published the Afghan war logs
The documents provided the world’s population with an unprecedented insight into the first war crimes of the 21st century.


Yesterday, Joseph noted Gretch The Wretch:

The Democrats are just as terrified of the growth of opposition in the working class as Trump. And Whitmer is enforcing the back to work campaign in Michigan, including in the auto plants.



Howie Hawkins is the Green Party's presidential nominee.



This morning, Howie and his running mate Angela Walker appeared on NON COMPETE (above).

We're also going to note this interview from two days ago on THE SHARPE WAY.



We are mainly noting that for one reason.  Last week, Howie was falsely smeared as a War Criminal because he served in Vietnam.  We're not going into all that nonsense but I will repeat that I do not blame US troops who are sent into battle by the government.  The War Criminal is whomever sent them in.  A Steven D. Green who goes to Iraq and plots and carries out a gang-rape and mass murder is a War Criminal, yes.  Every US service member who went to Iraq or to Vietnam or Afghanistan or whatever is not a War Criminal.  I was offended that a sweeping claim like that was offered on a podcast.  The podcast was about trashing Howie so anything they could throw at him, they did.  THE SHARPE WAY, beneath their video notes:

Howie Hawkins is the original Green New Dealer, the first US candidate to campaign for a Green New Deal in 2010. When his draft number was called in 1972, Howie enlisted in the Marine Corps while continuing to organize against the Vietnam War. Howie was a co-founder of the anti-nuclear Clamshell Alliance in 1976. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was also a leader in the anti-apartheid divestment movement to end US corporate investment in the racist system of oppression and labor exploitation in South Africa. Howie moved to Syracuse in 1991 to develop cooperatives for CommonWorks, a federation of cooperatives that promoted cooperative ownership, democratic control, and ecological sustainability in the local economy. From 2001 to 2018, he worked as a Teamster unloading trucks at UPS. Now retired, he remains a supporter of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, US Labor Against the War, the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare, the Labor Network for Sustainability, and the Labor Notes network. www.howiehawkins.us www.facebook.com/runhowierun2020/ Support the show by liking and subscribing to all Sharpe Way Social Media: FB: The Sharpe Way with Larry Sharpe Twitter: @sharpe_way YouTube: The Sharpe Way Instagram: www.instagram.com/sharpe_way If you have the means, please support financially here: www.Patreon.com/SharpeWay

I did not know he was organizing against the Vietnam War.  Possibly, the two who trashed him did not know either.  I hope they both regret trashing him as a War Criminal and I hope that we will not hear that ludicrous claim again this year.

Yesterday, Howie's campaign released the following:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Keivn Zeese, Press Secretary
KZeese@HowieHawkins.US
303-996-6582

Hawkins Says HEAL Act will “spread the pandemic and deepen the economic collapse”

Urges Both Parties to Rewrite Bills So They Are Adequate for the Crises

The Green Party candidates for president and vice president, Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker have published Red Lines for COVID and Economic Recovery, which describes the Republican and Demoratic proposals as a danger to public health and the economy.
“The bill proposed by the Republicans will turn schools and workplaces into superspreaders in their communities. It fails to include the essential steps of rapid testing, hundreds of thousands of tracers, and fully-funded COVID treatment, which are needed to safely re-open the economy,” said Howie Hawkins. “The Democrats have put forward an inadequate bill and failed to alert Republicans to red lines that are essential in a successful bill. The two parties’ proposals will spread the pandemic and deepen the economic collapse.”
The campaign has published Red Lines For COVID and Economic Recovery. The Hawkins/Walker Red Lines will (1) Ensure the November Election, (2) Not Make Schools Super Spreaders for More Illness, (3) Protect Workers and Employers, (4) Stop the Pandemic, and (5) Stop Job Loss and Business Destruction.
“Failure to properly act now will mean more than 250,000 people in the US will be dead by Election Day and the economy will have sunk from a deep recession into a long-term depression. We will see mass evictions and foreclosures on levels never seen before along with record unemployment and rising poverty,” sad Hawkins. “By the time of the election, the fact that the two governing parties are presiding over failed state will be evident to all.”
# # # 

Wrapping up with Iraq, Shelly Kittleson (AL-MONITOR) reports:

Two Iraqi commanders were killed in attacks claimed by the Islamic State in Sunni tribal-dominated areas in the second half of July.
The first was just north of Baghdad in Tarmiya, where a sniper shot a popular general on July 17. The second came on July 29 near the western Anbar town of Hit, where the commander of the 29th Brigade of the Army’s 7th Division was killed.
The 7th Division seemed generally well liked among the local population in Anbar when this journalist accompanied it on operations to liberate western Anbar in late 2017. Many of its officers have received training from the international coalition.
On July 25, when a mukhtar from a village near Samarra in Salahhuddin province and members of his family were killed, parliamentarian Muthanna al-Samarraie, whose family also hails from Samarra, called for arming local tribes to deal with security threats themselves.
IS has long focused much of its efforts on attacking Sunni provinces and fostering insurgency in them.
Though tribes in Iraq’s Shiite-majority south are also important, Shiite anti-IS tribe-based militias do not exist in those areas as IS does not try to win over Shiite areas and IS attacks on them are rarer. Many from the south are instead involved in the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), including ones linked to Iran that claim to be fighting as part of a religious jihad and operate in Salahhuddin.
Iraq has a Shiite-majority population but much of the Anbar, Salahhuddin and Nineveh provinces, where IS held significant territory from 2014 until 2017, has a Sunni majority.
Salahhuddin Trial Sheikhs Council spokesperson Marwan al-Jbara, from the Jabouri tribe, told Al-Monitor via WhatsApp July 28, “We don’t need security reinforcements so much as involvement of locals in security-related decisions.”
The Jabouri tribe is one of the largest in Iraq and some local PMUs in Salahhuddin are largely made up of its members.
Sounds like they're calling for a return of Sawha, Sons (and Daughters) of Iraq, Awakenings.

The following sites updated:











Posted by at

Thursday, July 30, 2020

New music, Laurel Canyon and more

Okay, I don't know what I'm reviewing this weekend.  I just listened to an album that's coming out Friday.  C.I. was listening to it and I walked in to ask her something.  The album was jamming and I really liked the song.  I said, "Who is this?"  She said, it's _______.  And I figured it was from the 90s or something but it's an album that's coming out Friday. 

I like "Lucid Dreams" and "No Tomorrow" and the little girl vocals on "High Heels."

Anyway.  I'm not sure what I'm going to review.  I do promise to do at least one review but as I type this, I can hear some of you groaning, "Why did you promise?  Now that you've promised, we know you won't do it."

I have the worst image and I am the first to admit that I have earned it.  I procrastinate like crazy. 

Okay.  Please go read Elaine's "VANITY FAIR's Laurel Canyon article,"  I had missed the article until Elaine wrote about it.  Bonnie Raitt burned all of her good will with me when I read her comments.  I try to tell myself, she's a woman who boozed for years and now can't remember.  But Grace Slick hit the bottle hard and she still has her memory.

I also think it was stupid to include Bonnie in the article to begin with.  Laurel Canyon is a 'scene' from about 1966 through the end of 1972 -- if that long.

Bonnie's not part of that scene.  She doesn't even get to Laurel Canyon until late 1972.

She needs to just shut up.  Just shut up.  She doesn't know anything and she's blathering around like she's an expert.

There are experts speaking in the article: Joni Mitchell, Michelle Phillips, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Stephen Stills and Lou Adler are experts and they demonstrate it.

Bonnie's just trying to get some publicity for herself. 

I was embarrassed for her.

I just can't write another word about her, I can't stand her right now and I never had ill will towards her before.





Closing with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Thursday, July 30, 2020.  The heat explodes in Iraq and more.

Starting the US where a service member has returned from Iraq.





After nearly three days of travel, the final leg for Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Viviana Molina was down a flight of stairs.
Molina, back early from a six-month deployment in Iraq, surprised her husband, Grand Prairie police Officer Edgar Molina, by interrupting him in the lobby of police headquarters as he conducted an interview with the news media.
The Molinas worked together at the Grand Prairie Police Department until nine months ago, when Viviana enlisted with the Air Force.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many U.S. servicemen and servicewomen deployed overseas have been delayed in returning home.
“I got lucky and got to come home a week early,” Viviana Molina said.

Turning to Iraq where yesterday saw Baghdad reached its highest temperature in recorded history: 51.7 C (125 F).  Summers in Baghdad are always hot.   AP reporting in 2015:



AP reporting in 2016:




AP reporting in 2017:




AP reporting in 2018.




But despite yearly heatwaves, yesterday managed to break the record for all time hottest day in Baghdad.  


Baghdad had record breaking heat on Tuesday at 51.8C, today 49C is forecast, but for Basra in Iraq 53C is likely today, the all time record in Iraq is 53.8C
5:00 AM · Jul 30, 2020

RT's RUPTLY reported earlier this week on some how Iraqis attempted to stay cool by jumping into the Tigris River.




What most can't do is step inside to cool off.  That's because all these years after the launch of the 2003 US-led invasion, all these years of occupation, all these years of US-installed prime ministers have failed to deliver reliable electricity.  Matilda Coleman (UPNEWSINFO) observes, "With the state electricity grid failing, many households were relying on generators to power fridges, fans or air conditioning units, the machines adding a guttural hum to the city’s already-noisy streets."  THE NATIONAL notes:

Iraqi men cool off under a public shower at a street in central Baghdad, Iraq. EPA
Baghdad experienced its hottest day on record on Wednesday, as protests against a lack of basic services continued.
Power shortages, a common occurrence since 2003, led to the latest street protests as people struggled to keep cool.
Temperatures climbed to 51.7°C on Wednesday, surpassing a record high temperature of 51.2°C in the capital.
The protests began on Sunday night in Baghdad and several southern cities, and turned violent in the capital. On Monday, two men died after being struck directly by tear gas canisters that are typically fired in arcs over protesters and on less powerful trajectories.

And to explain how serious this is, let's include GULF NEWS:

Chronic power outages combined with low oil prices threaten Iraq's political stability, and Opec's second-biggest producer must act fast to boost electricity supply or face a new crisis within the next two months.
That's the conclusion of Fatih Birol, the head of the International Energy Agency, which advises the world's richest economies on energy policy.
Iraq faces a widening shortfall in electricity, due largely to a lack of investment in ageing power plants and networks, and the plunge in crude prices this year limits what it can spend to upgrade them. Baghdad must slash red tape and prioritize maintenance and spending on power facilities to stave off social and political turmoil, Birol warned.
'If there are not urgent and concrete steps taken for the electricity sector, we may well have major problems in the next two months in terms of electricity supply, he said in an interview. 'It may well lead to unrest within the country.
In a grim sign of what could come, security forces in Baghdad opened fire Sunday on protesters complaining about power cuts. 


Iraq is going through the summer heat (around 50 degrees) and the government decided to cut off the electricity for the people not to protest. Where’s the humanity? Families are suffering and the world is silent. All this in a country rich in oil... F**k the Iraqi government



Heartbreaking story! People in central and south of Iraq sleep inside their car to avoid the scorching heat as the #Iraqi government fails to provide electricity.
2:53 PM · Jul 29, 2020


In the US, is there anything more disgusting than right-wing Senator Tammy Duckworth.  She started her political career pretending to be liberal and knocking the actual leftist out of the Democratic Party primary.  But she lost the general because who the hell wants Tammy?  Rahm and others spent forever grooming her so she could appear 'electable.'  She votes like someone who was groomed and paid for.  She talks like a nutcase. 

Maybe because she is one?

She's spent the last years thinking up nicknames for Donald Trump -- I'm sure the people of Illinois are happy with that hard work -- as opposed to her working to improve their lives.  She's spat on the presidency because she's just trash.

That's all she's ever been and that's all she'll ever be.

Donald Trump did not serve in Vietnam.  Good.  I wish no American had gone to Vietnam.  But because he did not serve in the US military, Macho Manly Tammy has given him all these rude nicknames.  They're beneath her and they're beneath the office of the president.  

It's strange though, isn't it?, how she's trying to become Joe Biden's running mate since Joe also avoided service in Vietnam.  He had, you understand, 'asthma.'  Didn't stop him from playing sports in high school or college.  

Somehow, manly Tammy's not cupping her crotch, spitting on the ground and thinking up nicknames for Joe.

We bring up Freak Duckworth today because she went on ABC and started repeating claims about Russia putting a bounty on US troops in Afghanistan.  Long after the story has been discredited, there's Freak Tammy screeching at the top of her lungs, hiding as always behind her military time, and screaming that others are traitors.  In better days, say the 1950s or 1960s, people would be drumming her out of the Sentate.  Instead, she gets to play Joe McCarthy in drag.

At the start of this month, Joe Lauria (CONSORTIUM NEWS) explained:

The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday night that a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, which Donald Trump had demanded, has been put off until after the U.S. presidential election in November.
Maintaining imperial interests in Afghanistan seems to be one of the main reasons for the so-far uncorroborated, possibly cooked-up “scandal” known now as Bountygate.
Other motives appear to be the same twofer that was at the core of Russiagate: first, unnamed intelligence officials meddling in domestic U.S. politics, this time to undermine Trump’s re-election campaign; and, second, to even further demonize and pressure Russia.
The public has been subjected to daily morsels of supposedly factual stories meant to further deepen the plot. The first item dropped online on June 26 with The New York Times’ initial reporting on the say-so of “American intelligence officials.”
It seemed yet another attempt to launder disinformation through big media, giving it more credibility than if it had come directly from the security services. A discerning reader, however, would want more than the word of a bunch of spooks who make a living practicing deception. 
The “evidence” for the story that Russia paid the Taliban to kill U.S. soldiers came from interrogation of Afghan detainees. If the interrogations were “enhanced” the evidence is even more unreliable. 
For the record, Consortium News supports no candidate and has been a strong critic of Trump. But we see intelligence agencies’ insertion into domestic politics to be a greater threat than even eight years of Trump for the precedent it is setting. As spooks like to say, “Administrations come and go. And we’re still here.”

Tammy Duckworth is becoming a public embarrassment.  History will not look kindly on her nor will it approve of the silence of other Democrats in Congress who should have called her out long ago.


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