Tuesday, May 11, 2021

John Mulaney

I've noted before that I am a big fan of John Mulaney. I like funny people (also love Nate Bargatze). I noted before when John went into rehab that I hoped all went well. He's out of rehab and he and his wife Anna Marie Tendler are divorcing.
 

I don't need to know details of his personal life but an e-mail ticked me off. Last time I wrote about John, he had just gone into rehab. And I wrote about it here noting that I hoped he was okay and would be okay. I got an e-mail from someone who pretty much used all caps throughout. I was slammed for acting like a drug addiction was no big deal and if it had been someone I didn't like, the e-mailer insisted, I would have ripped him apart.

No, not in that circumstance. I don't like Bully Boy Bush. He's a War Criminal. But if he came out tomorrow and said he'd slipped starting a year ago and was going into rehab, I wouldn't mock him.

If someone's active in their disease and not seeking help, I will mock if they have a fall down drunk in public moment. Otherwise, enemy or friend, I only have hope for you.

But before that woman e-mails again, yes, John's marriage appears to be over. That's sad but it can be very difficult to be married to someone who is an addict. My sympathies and prayers go to Ms. Tendler as well. I'm sure she doesn't want her life on blast -- especially when she's making such a difficult decision. Don't e-mail me about who made what decision, I don't need to peek through their blinders.

John's back doing stand up. I look forward to his next NETFLIX special.



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


Tuesday, May 11, 2021.  More assassinations in Iraq.


We'll open with this from IAVA:


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 5, 2021
CONTACT: press@iava.org

Washington, DC  — On May 5, IAVA Government Affairs Director Travis Horr, a U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) in support of the organization’s top legislative priority for 2021, establishing VA disability and healthcare benefits for veterans suffering from military toxic exposures like burn pits.

“The War Fighters Act is incredibly important landmark legislation which will create a presumption of service-connection for illnesses of veterans that have deployed since 1990, such as respiratory diseases or cancers,” said Horr at the hearing. “The TEAM Act will ensure that all veterans are able to access high quality VA care for any toxic related issues and the Veterans Burn Pits Exposure Recognition Act would concede exposure for all veterans that have served in areas where burn pits were used.” Horr and others called for passage of all three measures without delay. The full testimony can be found here.

At the start of the hearing, HVAC Chairman Mark Takano (D-CA) said that although the VA says that they need more research, “it is absolutely clear that we need to act now,” and he said that addressing toxic exposures is a top priority that he wants to advance this year. Takano’s position echoes that voiced the previous week by Senate Veterans Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT), who said he wants to see legislation this year. The VA was pressed for action and answers by Members from both parties who appeared to have grown impatient with the agency’s refusal to take positions on toxic exposure legislation being considered at both hearings.

Just days ago, IAVA joined with House and Senate sponsors of the Presumptive Benefits for War Fighters Exposed to Burn Pits and Other Toxins (Warfighters) Act, which will establish a presumptive service connection for VA disability benefits for those who are suffering toxic exposure injuries – a top legislative priority for IAVA. The Toxic Exposures in the American Military (TEAM) Act, which provides for VA health care for those exposed, is also a priority for IAVA this year.

IAVA is the voice for the post-9/11 veteran generation. With over 400,000 veterans and allies nationwide, IAVA is the leader in non-partisan veteran advocacy and public awareness. We drive historic impacts for veterans and IAVA’s programs are second to none. Any veteran or family member in need can reach out to IAVA’s Quick Reaction Force at quickreactionforce.org or 855-91RAPID (855-917-2743) to be connected promptly with a veteran care manager who will assist. IAVA’s The Vote Hub is a free tool to register to vote and find polling information. IAVA’s membership is always growing. Join the movement at iava.org/membership.

###


Sunday in Iraq (still Saturday in the US), activist Ihab Jawad al-Wazni was assassinated in front of his home in Karbala.  

This is a major story . . . unless you're counting on the US media or the US 'spokespeople' on Twitter, etc.  The rise of ISIS was not a surprise.  We predicated it was coming.  Not because of any crystal ball but because of paying attention and understanding rebellion, resistance and revolution.  ISIS was always going to arise and, under Nouri al-Maliki, it was going to flourish.  


Yet again, the US media and the people who made a name for themselves decrying the Iraq War aren't paying attention and aren't understanding the pressure cooker atmosphere right now.


ALJAZEERA's Simona Foltyn has covered the story.

Replying to
@SimonaFoltyn
5:24 PM · May 9, 2021


Here's the video if it doesn't show in the Tweet above.



Where is CodeStink?  Where are any of the people who stole your money by claiming to care about the Iraq War. Amy Goodman's a whore and that's now well known.  She took millions from PACIFICA when they couldn't afford it.  The scheme was overseen by her friend Leslie Cagen.  But think about all the attention from the media she got pretending to care about the Iraq War -- shed' go on Charlie Rose and other programs.  Think of all the money she begged for to cotninue the coverage of Iraq.  And yet she offered nothing. ; 


Nor did her guests.  In a previous pressure cooker moment, she brought on Raad Jarrar and he didn't know what the hell he was talking about and reality immediately slapped them in their faces.  Time and again, they ignore what's going on and then rush to play catch up when the corporate media covers it.


The corporate media hasn't covered the assassination -- not THE NEW YORK TIMES, not THE WASHINGTON POST, no one.


And Ihab's death is part of a wave of assassinations taking place in Iraq.


Sara J notes:


Assassinations in #IraqAfter2003 haven’t ceased. Today, Ahmed Hassan (an Iraqi journalist) in #Diwaniya & yesterday, Barak Hassan Al-Roumi (an #IraqiActivist) in Wasit have been assassinated. Yet, #US & EU would like the jig of elections to go on!
@Geneva4Justice
@WritesRights
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7:28 PM · May 10, 2021



WORKERS AGAINST SECTARIANISM Tweets:


The assassination of the activist Barak Hassan Al-Roumi in Wasit was-iraq.org Was
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7:18 AM · May 11, 2021



Again, what does it take for this wave of assassinations to get attention?

We'll note this thread from Amnesty Iraq:

 

Yet again, the
@iraqigovt
headed by PM
@MAKadhimi
fails to protect protesters and activists.To this day we are yet to see any justice for the victims and their families; perpetrators must be held accountable as the elections near. When will the bloodshed end?
5:15 AM · May 11, 2021



EhabWazni is one of tens of activists and protesters killed in cold blood in the context of the #OctoberProtests of 2019, as protesters take to the streets once again in #Karbala, #Misan, and #Diwaniyah demanding #accountability
5:14 AM · May 11, 2021


As Iraq prepares for elections, the silencing of protesters demanding #accountability continues with the killing of #EhabWazni, the attempt on journalist Ahmad Hassan’s life, and use of force against protesters. #IraqProtests #Iraq
5:13 AM


Now to deal with an issue that three e-mailed the public account (common_ills@yahoo.com) about.  Yesterday's snapshot I railed against people who just wasted your time and didn't deal with real issues.

The essence of the three e-mails: B-b-b-but you wrote about a sitcom!


"TV: Another bone headed move from AB" is written by Ava and myself.  We cover TV at THIRD.  Here I am covering Iraq every day.  There?  People are shocked right now, shocked that Bill Gates didn't give away all that money like he promised, they're shocked that is actions resulted in a tax break, they're shocked . . .


Why?


We covered that ridiculous 60 MINUTES 'report' by Charlie Rose that was blowing smoke up Bill's ass and we noted that this was nothing but a tax write off.  That was in real time.  Do you realize how long it's been since Charlie Rose's predatory behavior kicked him off television?


I can go into this at length if necessary but we've done hard hitting TV pieces.  We're planning on doing gay porn, by the way, on Sunday.  Ty, Ava and I were talking last week trying to pull together an edition and we came up with a theme and Dona said hold it so we can have it up for a full week.


There are a million things I could go on about but I'll leave it for that unless there are more e-mails.



The following sites updated:





Posted by at

Monday, May 10, 2021

Nancy Wilson music video and 2 interviews

 As I noted last time, Nancy Wilson's got a solo album that just came out.  


Here's an interview of her promoting the new album.




And here's another.



And here's a video for her song "You and Me."



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


Monday, May 10, 2021.  Another activist has been assassinated in Iraq.


Mustafa al-Kadhimi reigns over Iraq as prime minister while ruining the country as prime minister.  Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is a forever thug but he's getting some support on Arabic social media when contrasted with Mustafa.  As one noted on FACEBOOK, Nouri may have attacked the Iraqi people but he didn't let foreigners attack them.  Mustafa, by contrast, encourages the Turkish attacks on the Kurds in northern Iraq and the attacks on activists throughout Iraq.


That's not my endoresement of Nouri al-Maliki.  I'm noting what's becoming a growing attitude on the part of some (still a small group) on Arabic social media.  Only someone as inept as Mustafa could encourage a longing for Nouri.


Iran is up in arms.  Why?  A burned fence.




How awful!  A burned fence!!!!  Oh, goodness!  Nothing could be worse than a burned fence!!!


Except maybe that assassination of an activist.


What are we talking about?  Saturday night, "Ihab al-Wazini, another activist assassinated in Iraq."


Prime Minister Kadhimi vows that killers of latest activist to be assassinated will be tracked down & punished - Ihab Jawad al-Wazni was gunned down by killers on a motorbike - he was a leading figure in anti-government protests #ايهاب_الوزني #ٱلْعِرَاق
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11:55 AM · May 9, 2021


Mustafa vows, does he?  He vows a lot.  His lips flap around constantly.  He just never offers any action.   MEMO observes, "Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi has pledged to prosecute those involved in the killing of protesters and activists, but no perpetrators have been brought to justice so far."  Over and over, activists are targeted and killed, like something out of Pinochet's reign of terror in Chile.  And no one's ever held accountable.  Mina Aldbroubi (THE NATIONAL) notes other activists who have been recently assassinated:

One of the most prominent political commentators to be murdered was Hisham Al Hashimi, who was shot outside his Baghdad home in July 2020. His death dealt a huge blow to the country’s academic and civil society institutions.

Born in Baghdad in 1973, Al Hashimi was a well-respected expert who wrote extensively about ISIS and Al Qaeda, authoring three books. He advised current and past governments on terrorism and extremist groups.

Al Hashimi was also a strong supporter of the protest movement.

Prominent journalist Ahmad Abdessamad, 37, and his cameraman Safaa Ghali, 26, who had been covering anti-government protests in their home city of Basra, in the south, were shot dead in January 2020.

They were assassinated in their car, while parked near a police station.

Abdessamad was a vocal supporter of the protest rallies.

Jinan Madzi, a paramedic who treated wounded protesters, was shot dead during demonstrations in Basra the same month.

Riham Yaqoob, a doctor and female activist who became the face of the protest movement in Basra, was killed last August.

A few weeks after her death, the killing of another activist, Tahseen Osama, pushed protesters to take to the streets to demand that authorities find those responsible.

Salah Al Iraqi, who was well-known for taking an active role in rallies, was shot dead in eastern Baghdad last December.

In his last post on Facebook, Al Iraqi wrote: "The innocent die while the cowards rule."

Amjad Aldhamat was killed after walking out of a police station last October in his home city of Amara in southern Iraq.

He and another activist had been had been attending a meeting with police to discuss a planned protes.

As Aldhamat walked out, gunmen approached in a car with tinted windows and no licence plates and shot him dead.

Ali Jasb, a young rights lawyer, was kidnapped in Amara in October 2019 and nothing has been heard from him or his captors.

Jasb Aboud, the father of Ali Jasb, publicly accused a powerful Iran-backed militia of kidnapping his son, and sought to take its leader to court.

He was shot dead by gunmen in early March in Amara. 


There's a difference between Pinochet's reign of terror and today.  Back then, in the US we at least pretended to care.  Find the activist or even Twitter activist today that bothers to note these killings.  Let an Iranian general known for terrorizing Sunnis and LGBTQs in Iraq for years get killed by the US and Margaret Kimberley and the rest are lamenting him as Ghandi himself.  But let the people -- the actual people -- who need our support be assassinated and everyone's got their thumb up their ass and their lips sealed.


Identifying with the powerful of another government -- one that the US government does not like -- is not being a voice of the people or holding anyone accountable.  Stop pretending you are about the people if, after all the activists killed in Iraq, you can't even find a moment to fake a 280 character Tweet of 'concern.'


WSWS is obsessed with former US president Donald Trump -- former.  It's as though they can't function without their nutty conspiracy theories about the man who is thankfully gone from the White House.  They can obsess over him but they can't cover the Iraqi people.  For an outlet that has trashed JACOBIN repeatedly -- and the DSA -- as nothing but tools of the Democratic Party, they certainly sound like an echo of the Democratic Party with their constant Trump conspiracies and their defenses of Liz Cheney.  They can offer that garbage but they can't cover the targeting of the Iraqi activists.


Who do they think they are fooling?


They don't like the Kurdish government, the WSWS, so they fail to speak out on behalf of the Kurds.  That's not a new development.  That's been their position throughout the ongoing Iraq War.


Again, don't pretend you're holding the powerful accountable when your work is nothing more than defending the repugnant Liz Cheney -- daughter of a War Criminal, daughter who supports her father's War Crimes.  That's who WSWS wastes time on.  Can't defend the Iraqi people but, hey, Liz Cheney's getting some mean words aimed at her so let's rush in and save her.


It is appalling to grasp how pathetic we are on the left.  It is appalling to grasp that this is despite the fact that the internet was supposed to bring about so much.  Last century, if we were lucky, we had mimeograph machines and we did more with those than we do with the internet..


Time and again, the garbage we choose to focus on is helpful to no one but the powerful.  Cheerleaders for War Hawks, that's really all most of the outlets are today.


AL JAZEERA reported yesterday:



Protesters have burned tyres and blocked roads in the Iraqi city of Karbala after a prominent civil activist was killed by unknown gunmen.

Ihab Jawad Al-Wazni was killed in the early hours of Sunday near his home in the predominantly Shia city, according to a statement by the Iraqi defence ministry. No group claimed responsibility.

Al-Wazni, a leading figure in protests against the government in the city, was buried on Sunday morning.

Witnesses said hundreds of people took to the streets in Karbala in demonstrations condemning the activist’s assassination.

Protesters blocked a number of main roads in the city and demanded security forces find and identify al-Wazni’s killers, and threatened to escalate protests if the perpetrators were not exposed.


This morning, the outlet reports:


Protests are expected again in Iraq after demonstrators set fire to trailers belonging to Iran’s consulate in Karbala as anger spread over the killing of a prominent activist in the southern city.

Ihab Jawad al-Wazni, who was active in the organisation of the anti-government protests that swept Iraq in October 2019, was shot dead on Sunday outside his home by unknown assailants. His death sparked daylong protests in Karbala that saw demonstrators block roads and bridges with burning tyres.

[. . .]

Al-Wazni’s mother told Al Jazeera he had received numerous threats from paramilitary groups backed by Iran.

“The threats are coming from the militias. The militias are everywhere in the streets,” Samira Abbas Kadhum said. “They mingle with the protesters. They have a list that includes the names of all the activists. They will kill them one by one. Today they killed my son – and after two or three days another one will be killed.”


Please remember that the always ridiculous I-Need-Attention Media Benjamin tried to turn a pie-ing in 2007 into facing an execution squad but she can't say one damn word about Ihab.  If Medea were a real activist, wouldn't her sorry ass identify with Ihab as one activist to another?  Wouldn't she be able to relate -- even just a little -- enough to Tweet about him or co-write a bad column about him?


She deserved the pie-ing and I found it hilarious then and now.  INDYBAY covered it in real time:


Bakers without Borders and Co-optation Watch take action today at the US Social Forum to demand accountability from a self-appointed "spokesperson" whose actions further the commodification of resistance and sabotage our movement's sustainability and credibility. This person's actions benefit the NGO Industrial Complex at the expense of real democracy and solidarity.

In particular, we hold Medea Benjamin accountable for:

- Publicly siding with the police and municipal authorities against direct actions performed at the World Trade Organization protests of 1999.

- Administrative authority in an organization that hordes funds raised for community organizations in Guatemala

- Administrative authority in an organization that solicited the economic dependency of residents in Cuba and then abandoned the project, pushing the Cuban participants deeper into poverty.

- Acting as self-appointed spokesperson of the "American Left". One egregious example is publicly refusing to endorse a call by hundreds of Lebanese citizens for Israel to unconditionally withdraw from Southern Lebanon in the 2006 war, claiming that the American Left would not swallow such a demand.

- Exploiting and dominating movement space, resources, and publicity in the global justice and associated movements.


Medea stinks of fake assery and has for decades now.  


ALJAZEERA offers this video report on the assassination of Ihab Jawad al-Wazni.



Want to see garbage?  An outlet Medea loves is the Iranian government's PRESS TV.  This is how PRESS TV 'reports' on what has taken place:


Tehran has strongly condemned an assault against its consulate in Iraq’s holy city of Karbala, urging Baghdad to meet its commitments with regard to protecting Iran’s diplomatic missions in the Arab country.

“Unfortunately, last night, some individuals raided Iran’s consulate in Karbala, which the consulate immediately pursued through relevant authorities in Iraq,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said at a weekly press conference on Monday.

Khatibzadeh said Iran’s Embassy to Baghdad also followed up on the issue, and subsequently, Iraqi police and security forces dealt with the assailants.

On Sunday night, attackers attempted to set fire to the Iranian consulate, as they gathered outside the consulate burning tires and several trailers parked outside, according to police and videos circulating online.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the attack on its diplomatic missions in Iraq and, within the framework of the 1961 Convention, hopes that the Iraqi government will fulfill its obligations to protect and safeguard Iran’s diplomatic missions,” he added.

The spokesman said the Foreign Ministry sent Iran’s formal protest to the Iraqi Embassy in Tehran in a letter on Sunday night.


Where's Ihab's name?  It's also spelled Ehab Wazni but you won't find that name either.  Read on for 12 more paragraphs after the excerpt above and you will never find his name.  Let's not pretend PRESS TV is the ogre of the world but let's also stop pretending that it's the journalistic outlet to applaud.  It's as dishonest as any US outlet, stop pretending otherwise.


Suat Kilictas Tweets:

Iraqi activist murdered in Karbala governorate This Sunday, the country's Security Service said in a statement that "terrorist elements" killed Ihab Jawad Al-Wazni on Al-Haddad street in Karbala governorate.


Pina Akarturk Tweets:


Iraqi journalist, Ahmed Hassan, is in intensive care after being shot in the head just hours after activist Ehab al Wazni was killed outside his Karbala home


Vahid Yucesoy Tweets:


For scholars, analysts & anyone interested in the Middle East, the week has been awful a) Assassination of Iraqi activist Ehab Wazni b) Death of 68 Afghan school girls c) Decapitation of 20-year-old Alireza in Iran by his family for being gay How do you keep your sanity?
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8:47 PM · May 9, 2021



Good question.  But back to the issue of so-called journalists and activists on the left in the US, how do you ignore these things.  Don't you ever get tired of all the crap you churn out over and over?  Crap that's nothing more than Robin Leach's LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS masquerading as political critiques?  You have wasted your time and the time of so many others while repeatedly and intentionally ignoring, day after day, the actual victims.



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