Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Morgan Wallen, Madonna, The Hives, Maria McKee, Robbie Robertson, Post Malone

BILLBOARD notes, "Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” adds a 16th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The song breaks out of a tie with Harry Styles’ “As It Was” for the sole longest No. 1 run for a non-collaboration, while overall tying for the second-longest reign in the Hot 100’s 65-year history."  I can remember in the early 80s when it was big news that, for example, Diana Ross and Lionel Richie charted nine weeks at number one with "Endless Love," or Kim Carnes, also nine weeks, with "Bette Davis Eyes." And, during that same time period, Olivia Newton-John got ten weeks at number one with "Physical."


In other music news, CNN reports:


Madonna is feeling good. The singer has rescheduled the “Celebration Tour” dates she postponed following a health scare at her home in New York in June.

The queen of pop was hospitalized in the ICU due to a bacterial infection and was later discharged to continue recovering at home.   


The Hives have a new album, THE DEATH OF RANDY FITZSIMMONS, and NME's Rishi Shah loves it:


Elusive, faceless and frankly, a complete mystery, it appears Randy Fitzsimmons is no longer with us. “He wrote all the songs, which was very important”, The Hives’ bassist Nicholaus Arson re-affirmed to NME earlier this year, paying tribute to the fictional character who allegedly masterminded their entire discography. As with most statements made by the band, it’s crucial to the enjoyment of their work to not take things too seriously or literally.

Fitzsimmons’ demise, they say, held the key to the first record from the Swedish five-piece in over a decade, emerging from his ashes with a “soon to be award-winning album.” These were the words of frontman Pelle Almqvist, joking around with stadium crowds throughout a summer in support of Arctic Monkeys’ mammoth UK tour.

There’s no messing about on ‘The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons’, introduced via the riff-tastic lead single ‘Bogus Operandi’. There’s a similar anthemic nature to ‘Smoke & Mirrors’, a nostalgic mid-point on what’s otherwise a rapid-fire album. The prospect of sharing a stage with the Monkeys may well have rubbed off on ‘What Did I Ever Do To You?’, their own answer to ‘Do I Wanna Know?’ Armed with a strikingly similar riff, it’s as experimental as the quintet gets, with a lyrical randomness that’s straight out of Alex Turner’s book: “You have fallen / And broken your collarbone.” 

Every move they make feels purely instinctive, and that’s the beauty of it. 


"Robbie Robertson" passed away last week.  Writing about it, I noted "Nobody's Child," the song he wrote with Maria McKee.  This is the intro to VARIETY's interview with Maria about the passing:


If you remember that album, titled “Robbie Robertson,” you may also remember the music video for the first single, “Somewhere Down the Crazy River,” which co-starred singer-songwriter Maria McKee, who was fresh out of the band Lone Justice. As McKee laughs now, remembering how heated up it was: “You can’t un-see that video.” But although the chemistry that developed during the Scorsese-directed clip was real, there was more to their friendship and collaboration than just steam. McKee hadn’t seen Robertson since the late ‘90s when he passed away, but she maintained fond memories of him as a mentor and a gentleman. She got on the phone with Variety for an appreciation of Robertson that speaks to how much he loved listening to and interacting with young artists as an elder statesman. She also talked about what made the Band so influential in music history.


Lastly, NPR's TINY DESK CONCERT SERIES posted their latest concert today, it's Post Malone.




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


Tuesday, August 15, 2023.  The deceivers are all around -- the prime minister in Iraq, the failed 'feminist' Naomi Wolf, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ron DeSantis . . . 


Starting with Iraq, ASHARQ AL-ASWAT reports:


Iraq no longer required the presence of "foreign combat forces" on its territories to combat ISIS, announced Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Monday.

Sudani was speaking during a meeting with commanders of the Armed Forces and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), members of the Ministries of Interior and Defense, and the military forces that took part in the war against the ISIS terrorist organization.


PRESS TV quotes him saying:

"Today, Iraq does not need foreign combat forces, and we are conducting advanced dialogues in order to determine the form of future relationship and cooperation with the international coalition," he said.

“The Iraqis have become, after the liberation battles, more united than ever before… All Iraqis fought in one trench from all nationalities, religions, sects and components."


What a load of garbage.  His remarks, the prime minister himself. 

Do they need foreign troops?  No, they don't.  But he's not calling for them to leave.  And it was just last week that Iraq's Minister of Defense Thabit Muhammad al-Abassi was in DC meeting with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to discuss the new agreement as the DoD press release noted:


This meeting looks beyond the defeat of the Islamic State and is an outgrowth of a visit Austin made to Baghdad in March. "We are interested in an enduring defense relationship within a strategic partnership," said Dana Stroul, deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, during an interview last week.

Many officials are calling this an agreement on establishing a "360-degree relationship" -- meaning it would be a whole-of-government strategic partnership for years.


For years.

Years.


Foreign troops not needed but US troops to continue "for years."

Iraq's prime minister was lying to the Iraqi people.


And, as an aside, he did slip in that the Iraqi troops need training.  Ah, 'training.'  That's been an excuse forever and a day to keep US troops on the ground in Iraq, hasn't it?  They've been trained and re-trained and re-trained again.  

He made a big speech and it was meaningless.


A lot of fake ass make big speeches and try to trick people.  At SALON, Amanda Marcotte notes an example:




Considering how rapidly the right's "war on woke" is expanding, it was perhaps inevitable: Self-identified "mama bears" on a Texas school board are angry that a classroom had a poster showing people of different races holding hands. Last week, the school board in Conroe, Texas, a small city north of Houston, turned the right-wing mania for censorship into a dark parody of itself. At issue? A poster that seemed to imply that interracial friendship is possible. 

According to ABC 13 Eyewitness News in Houston, things started when school trustee Melissa Dungan declared that she had spoken to parents who were upset about "displays of personal ideologies in classrooms." When pressed for an example, according to the news report, "Dungan referred to a first grade student whose parent claimed they were so upset by a poster showing hands of people of different races, that they transferred classrooms."

"I wish I was shocked," Dungan said of the poster. "I am aware these trends have been happening for many years."

Some other members of the school board did, in fact, argue that there was nothing objectionable about such a poster. But Dungan was backed up by another trustee, Misty Odenweller, who insisted that the depiction of uh, race-mixing was in some way a "violation of the law." The two women are part of "Mama Bears Rising," a secretive far-right group fueling the book-banning mania in Conroe and the surrounding area. At least 59 books have been banned due to their efforts. 


When another trustee asked Dungan if she personally objected to an illustration of cross-racial friendship, she demurred, simply declaring that she was just trying to avoid "situations like that." Situations like what, exactly? She didn't say. Dungan's behavior is a perfect illustration of the "anti-woke" tap dance. The person alleging nefarious wokeness never admits to their own bigotry, instead pretending that they're reacting to "woke" people who are "pushing" an agenda, in this case through innocuous poster art. Of course, the entire premise of the argument is rooted in bigotry, as this example shows. It presumes that the feelings of real or imagined bigots who might take umbrage at such an image are of paramount importance, and that everyone else's freedoms must be curtailed to appease them. 




This is our fault, as a society.  Yes, a backlash is the natural response to progress.  But this backlash was egged on by silence and by deliberate silence in the case of some.  The reason that they have gotten as far as they have is because mainstream has tried to both-side it (and, in the case of THE NEW YORK TIMES, tried to one-side it).  That enlarged the opening.  And then you had 'trusted voices' who you shouldn't trust.  Naomi Wolf, we'll get to that nut case in a moment.  But I'm talking about the so-called leftists like Katie Halper and Aaron Mate and Max Blumenthal and his disgusting wife.  The people who'd rather do political 'actions' with Nazis and racists and homophobes and transphobes.  They're grifters and they can't call out their marks so they stay silent.  

If they'd stood up months ago, we'd have lost far less ground.

Standing up?

It is outrageous that a poster of children of different races holding hands is seen as something to ban.

See?  It's that easy and it's that clear.  But whether it was racists or homophobes attacking, the grifters didn't stand up because they were too busy whoring.

 

Now the work we have to do on the left is that much harder.

Discrimination is not socially acceptable but when we are silent, we give the give the impression that it is.  

As a result, we've made several steps backwards as a society.

These hate merchants need to be called out.

They're so emboldened that they're now going after integration.  Grasp that.  Grasp how hateful they are and how far back that they want to carry this country.


Hate merchants don't just hate one group.  Their hatred is interrelated -- something Laura Nyro was getting at with "Lite A Flame (The Animal Rights Song):"


It's like prejudice
For the color of your skin
Prejudice for a woman
Prejudice for an animal
Like the elephant of the plain




But the grifters who claim that they are on the left insisted that these issues were "identity politics" -- the usual dismissal of any rights that go beyond those granted to White men.  


We should have all been calling this out.  Those who refused -- and continue to refuse -- make it harder for our society.  But Aaron and Katie would, after all,  rather be silent and line their own pockets.  In a just world, they'd pay -- hugely -- for enabling the hate merchants with their silence.




And then there are the even worse.  Naomi Wolf knows better.  In fact, she was trying to make money not that long ago raising awareness of the historical attacks on gay people in the United Kingdom.  But she didn't know what she was writing and the book got pulped because she's that damn stupid.  She immediately begins hanging out with Moms For Bigotry -- which demonstrates just how little she actually cared about gay men or anyone in the LGBTQ+ community.  Back to Amanada for Moms For Bigotry:



Because of their tight link to the book-banning efforts, the relatively new but suspiciously wealthy group Moms for Liberty has received massive media attention in the past couple of years. Even so, the group's radical ideology has not really been covered in most mainstream news coverage, which tends to portray the Moms as a bunch of overzealous church ladies. As Flux editor Matthew Sheffield, Media Matters vice president Julie Millican and researcher Olivia Little explained in a recent "Theory of Change" podcast, however, underneath the facade of "Christian moms" is some startling far-right radicalism. 

For instance, while it was widely reported that a Moms for Liberty pamphlet from one branch was caught quoting Adolf Hitler, the group was able to spin that as a misunderstanding and a mistake. But at their summit a few days later, speaker Tiffany Justice yelled, "I stand with that mom" — the one who quoted Hitler — while the audience whooped its approval. 

Moms for Liberty has heavily promoted trainings for conservative activists on how to take over school boards, which ought to make clear how we should understand stories like this one, which just sound like a racist tantrum in a Texas suburb. These aren't random or isolated events — they're part of a large, well-organized and well-financed attack on public education across the country. Mama Bears Rising, the group that fueled the Conroe school board takeover, in unsurprisingly discreet about its connections to the larger national movement for censorship. But screenshots of online communications by local anti-censorship activists suggests that it's no coincidence that the books targeted for censorship in Conroe are the same ones that show up on book-ban lists across the country. Mama Bears Rising is drawing on the same playbook that's being disseminated nationwide through a well-funded network of Christian nationalist activists. 



That's who Naomi ran too.  Immunizations and masks were just too much for the ugly woman with the fraying hair -- can she not even afford a home hot oil treatment? -- and sent her running into the arms of the homophobic and the transphobic.  She really is pathetic.  

She thinks she's taking brave stands -- against chemtrails!!!! -- she's a nut case.  And when she was needed, she was more interested in standing with and covering for Moms For Bigotry  -- including insisting that, "as a Jewish woman," she wasn't bothered at all by the quoting of Hitler.

This needs to be documented, it needs to be remembered.  She has betrayed feminism.  Part of the 'left' may be willing to forgive her when she tries to come crawling back.  Those of us who are part of the feminist left should never forgive her.  She has done real damage, she has betrayed feminism.  This isn't minor.  She's this century's Warren Ferrell and should suffer accordingly.  Like Warren, she's aggrieved and convinced she's the victim.  Typical of narcissists, they always put their aspirations ahead of people truly in need and they never get beyond the second level on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. 

Moms For Bigotry are anti-free speech, they're anti-abortion, they're anti-LGBTQ+, they're anti-books and knowledge.  They fail every feminist test in the book and Naomi Wolf cannot make up for the actions she's taken.  She is not to be trusted today or ten years in the future.  And if she pops too many pills this week and dies, I won't give a s**t.  Or, as  Cass Elliot would say, "I wouldn't piss on her if she were on fire."

She knows better. She is working with Moms For Bigotry and others who are working to destroy the lives of women.  She knows that.  She knows what a struggle it was for all of us to get here and it doesn't matter to her.  It's more important that she be a 'celebrity' and 'noticed.'  That, for her, outweighs all the work we've done and the work women did before us.  She's Serena Joy and Aunt Lydia combined.


Also supporting Moms For Bigotry?  Robert F. Kennedy Jr.  Junior just can't tell the truth about anything, can he?





During an exchange with an NBC News reporter at the Iowa State Fair on Sunday, Kennedy said, “I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life," but added: "Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child." He then went on to say that he would support a national ban on abortion at 15-weeks or possibly 21-weeks, only for his campaign to later clarify that he does not, in fact, support any type of federal restrictions on the procedure.

“Today, Mr. Kennedy misunderstood a question posed to him by a NBC reporter in a crowded, noisy exhibit hall at the Iowa State Fair," his campaign said. "Mr. Kennedy's position on abortion is that it is always the woman's right to choose. He does not support legislation banning abortion."




For what it’s worth, he has expressed support for abortion previously. During a town hall in New Hampshire earlier this summer he said he was “pro-choice,” adding: " I'm not going be in a position, put myself in a position, where I am going to tell a woman to bring a child to term.”

But, as Republicans have learned, expressing any type of support for federal restrictions on the procedure could be deeply damaging to any 2024 candidate, as such restrictions at a state level, even in red states, has proven to be highly unpopular among Democratic, Independent and even Republican voters.


Elaine covered this last night in "Take a hike, Junior, take a hike:"

Please grasp that he decided to weigh in on the issue of women's reproductive health but didn't feel the need to do any studying before he weighed in -- I believe that is the text book example of "mansplaining."  Cheryl, take your moron home with you, it's time to get off the campaign trail.  USA TODAY notes that he's trying to walk back the comments.  Too late.  Too damn late.


And let's not what a liar he is.  The campaign's insisting he misunderstood the question.


You misunderstand the question then you say "yes" when you mean "no," or you don't hear the topic they were asking about so you're commenting on the automobile industry instead of abortion.  Misunderstanding the question does not result in the response Nicole noted:


During an exchange with an NBC News reporter at the Iowa State Fair on Sunday, Kennedy said, “I believe a decision to abort a child should be up to the women during the first three months of life," but added: "Once a child is viable, outside the womb, I think then the state has an interest in protecting the child." He then went on to say that he would support a national ban on abortion at 15-weeks or possibly 21-weeks, only for his campaign to later clarify that he does not, in fact, support any type of federal restrictions on the procedure.

 

He's such a damn liar.  

Did someone say Ron DeSantis?



I don't know who's more stupid: Ronald or CNBC.  They had an interview with Ronald where he lied non-stop -- that's not a surprise.  But what was a surprise was the the reporter was so stupid he tries to move Ronald along when Ronald's making DISNEY's case for them (for DISNEY).  Can he end the feud, he's asked?  No, he responds back because of DISNEY content.  That's really not the role of a governor.  And that really strengthens DISNEY's case.   But when you work for CNBC, you aren't paid for having brains.


In more bad news for Ronald, James Bickerton (NEWSWEEK) reports:


Ron DeSantis has slipped into third place in the race to be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, behind Donald Trump and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, according to a new poll.

The survey, by polling company Cygnal, found 10 percent of likely Republican primary voters have DeSantis as their preferred GOP candidate, against 53 percent for Trump and 11 percent for Ramaswamy. A spokesperson for the Ramaswamy campaign told Newsweek "he's just getting warmed up."


Don't worry, Ronald, for you, it gets worse.  Julia Manchester (THE HILL) reports:

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has surpassed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in the critical early presidential primary state of New Hampshire, according to a new Emerson College survey released on Tuesday. 

Christie leapfrogged DeSantis’s second place in the Granite State, garnering nine percent support. DeSantis’s support, on the other hand fell to eight percent from 17 percent in March. Christie’s one-point lead over DeSantis falls within the poll’s plus or minus 3.4 percent margin of error. 





The following sites updated:




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