On Drake, we'll note this from THE ATLANTIC:
But
the project’s musical vacuity is matched only by the curious obscenity
of its existence. The long-teased project, so lengthy and overproduced
as to seem inspired by the work of Quentin Tarantino, marks Drake’s
first official one-on-one collaboration with the man who famously
assaulted Rihanna. Already, the video is being framed as a kind of lighthearted reconciliation gesture between the two men, who both dated the Bajan singer and reportedly fought each other
in 2012. This approach to coverage fails to account for the gravity of
either men’s actions in the lead-up to the alleged fight and in the time
since. Drake has very publicly declared his love for Rihanna; in choosing to collaborate with Brown, he now publicly aligns himself with the man who battered her.
It
may be tempting to write the collaboration off as a purely commercial
decision, but “No Guidance” marks the latest in a series of dubious
ethical choices Drake has made in both his music and his personal
dealings. Earlier this summer, a young woman in New York reportedly filed a grievance
against her own attorney, whom she alleges worked against her best
interests after she hired him to represent her in a sexual-assault case
against Drake. Hip-hop media have reported the $350,000 settlement paid
to her as Drake being “off the hook,” or as a matter of salacious gossip. (Drake has said the allegations of rape, and of pregnancy, were false and initially filed a fraud lawsuit against the woman.)
Last September, weeks before his 32nd birthday, Drake made headlines when the Stranger Things actor Millie Bobby Brown told Access Hollywood
the pair have a close friendship. “I love him. I met him in Australia
and he’s honestly so fantastic, and a great friend, a great role model,”
Brown, then 14, said. “We text—we just texted each other the other day
and he was like ‘I miss you so much,’ and I was like ‘I miss you more.’”
She added that he gives her advice about boys.
Brown’s comments, which she later insisted were evidence of a completely normal friendship, followed a rather strange summer for the rapper, whose June album Scorpion was marred partly by the Pusha T–driven reveal of Drake’s secret son, Adonis. On Scorpion, Drake confirmed the rumor and rapped several discomfiting lines about having fathered a child
with the former adult-film actor Sophie Brussaux. The record, studded
with thinly veiled misogyny, cemented the Canadian rapper’s position as
an archetypal Nice Guy; it insisted on the complexity of his emotions and the ultimate goodness of his moral fiber.
This type of posturing has largely inoculated Drake from serious criticism despite his close personal and professional relationship with the rapper Baka Not Nice (who pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman, and whose human-trafficking charges were dropped when the alleged victim didn’t want to testify). Drake’s charity-driven and feminist-adjacent flourishes have also distracted from his history of drawing close to young women, and from his casually sexist lyrics. His entire musical and digital persona is a carefully curated image
of goofy, nonthreatening masculinity. His name has become synonymous
with emotional rap; his face has launched a thousand memes. (I’ll admit,
I’ve found the shtick endearing
at some points in the past.) But the media’s broader inability—or lack
of desire—to convey the fact that men with Drake’s sensibility are
capable of harm is dangerous. It obscures the multiple ways that
gendered transgressions can occur, as well as the ease with which fans
continue to support the powerful men accused of them.
Friday, August 2, 2019. Tulsi Gabbard holds Joe Biden's old man balls for him and much more.
In the US, the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. 25 are vying for it, many of whom stand no chance.
US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, blew her chances on Wendesday night. Joe Biden's personal handmaiden made that clear in the debate but for those who are a little slow to pick up on reality, she clarified even more on Thursday. THE HILL reports:
Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) defended fellow White House contender Joe Biden after he addressed his record on the Iraq War, an issue that the former vice president faced criticism for during Wednesday’s presidential primary debate.
“He was wrong — he said he was wrong and he has apologized for it more than once,” Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, told Hill.TV on Thursday in response to why she wasn't more critical of Biden over the issue.
Vapid.
Let's all say a big f**k you to Tulsi because she's flipped everyone the bird.
She's not anti-war. She's a whore and she's an idiot.
"He was wrong and he said he was wrong."
What was he wrong about, Tulsi?
You want to play this game, let's play it but understand how it ends -- with you losing the election. I don't mean the presidential election, I mean the serious effort on the part of Democrats to defeat you and remove you from the House.
Tulsi is an idiot.
She served in Iraq and we would hope that meant she had some value or knowledge from that illegal war but the reality is she has none.
The reality is she knows nothing about Joe Biden's actions and is too damn stupid to realize how uninformed she is.
Tulsi has chosen to be Joe Biden's personal bitch. That's on her.
That choice demonstrates that she does not know how to hold the powerful accountable -- so much for fearless Tulsi, right? It demonstrates that she's an idiot.
Without any expertise or knowledge, she looks like a bigger joke onstage.
Tulsi never speaks of the Iraqi people, does she?
Irag's all about her and her 'brothers and sisters.' The Iraqi people?
F**k 'em seems to be Tulsi's take.
Iraq didn't invade the US. Iraq didn't attack the US. The US -- people like Tulsi -- went over and invaded Iraq.
Iraqis died and continue to die because of this war.
When does Tulsi take any responsibility for that?
She loves to glorify herself as a veteran but she has no sympathies for the Iraqi people.
She was a fake ass and she exposed herself -- at the debate and now to THE HILL.
Anyone still pinning their hopes on her losing campaign is kidding themselves.
In this community, last night's roundtable for the gina & krista roundrobin found Beth providing the results of Thursday's poll and, in this community, Tulsi's support has dried up. She's dead in the water and she better enjoy this moment of press attention. It'll last a few more days.
It won't do a damn thing to improve her standing. Remember, after the June debate, the same press covering Tulsi now was ignoring her. But they were pimping Julian Castro, he was now going to be a top tier candidate, this was going to put him on the map.
I was in New Hampshire speaking to various groups -- and these were left groups -- and the press had a hard on for Julian that the people didn't.
So after the press fussed and fawned over him for nearly two weeks, how high did he go up in the polling? Not at all.
Tulsi's yesterdays news and someone needs to toss her out with the rest of the garbage.
She is an apologist for War Makers and War Criminals -- I'm referring to Joe Biden, for example, but others refer to Bashar al-Assad. And Tulsi meets with him -- which is fine -- but has a hissy fit when asked about it.
Can someone explain to the little girl that when you run for public office you have to explain your actions? And can someone explain to her that you don't make a bold move if you're not up to explaining it?
If she really believed in what she did, instead of whining like a titty baby, she should welcome the opportunity to talk about it each time it's asked.
Instead, she wants to whine. Yesterday MSNBC was mean to her, before that it was GOOGLE and before that it was George on ABC's THIS WEEK and before that . . .
What a little cry baby. She lacks the maturity for leadership.
In this community, Tulsi's followers are supporting or examining Bernie Sanders (52%) and Elizabeth Warren (48%) -- that's Beth's polling with a 4.9% margin of error. So basically the community is deciding between those two -- the community members who were Tulsi followers. The community also includes Greens and independents and Socialist and Communists and a few Republicans. How they'll vote or if they'll vote was not determined by Beth's poll. She only surveyed those who had made clear in previous polling that they were supporting Tulsi.
Meanwhile in Iraq . . .
In the US, the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. 25 are vying for it, many of whom stand no chance.
US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, blew her chances on Wendesday night. Joe Biden's personal handmaiden made that clear in the debate but for those who are a little slow to pick up on reality, she clarified even more on Thursday. THE HILL reports:
Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) defended fellow White House contender Joe Biden after he addressed his record on the Iraq War, an issue that the former vice president faced criticism for during Wednesday’s presidential primary debate.
“He was wrong — he said he was wrong and he has apologized for it more than once,” Gabbard, an Iraq War veteran, told Hill.TV on Thursday in response to why she wasn't more critical of Biden over the issue.
Vapid.
Let's all say a big f**k you to Tulsi because she's flipped everyone the bird.
She's not anti-war. She's a whore and she's an idiot.
"He was wrong and he said he was wrong."
What was he wrong about, Tulsi?
You want to play this game, let's play it but understand how it ends -- with you losing the election. I don't mean the presidential election, I mean the serious effort on the part of Democrats to defeat you and remove you from the House.
Tulsi is an idiot.
She served in Iraq and we would hope that meant she had some value or knowledge from that illegal war but the reality is she has none.
The reality is she knows nothing about Joe Biden's actions and is too damn stupid to realize how uninformed she is.
Tulsi has chosen to be Joe Biden's personal bitch. That's on her.
That choice demonstrates that she does not know how to hold the powerful accountable -- so much for fearless Tulsi, right? It demonstrates that she's an idiot.
Without any expertise or knowledge, she looks like a bigger joke onstage.
Tulsi never speaks of the Iraqi people, does she?
Irag's all about her and her 'brothers and sisters.' The Iraqi people?
F**k 'em seems to be Tulsi's take.
Iraq didn't invade the US. Iraq didn't attack the US. The US -- people like Tulsi -- went over and invaded Iraq.
Iraqis died and continue to die because of this war.
When does Tulsi take any responsibility for that?
She loves to glorify herself as a veteran but she has no sympathies for the Iraqi people.
She was a fake ass and she exposed herself -- at the debate and now to THE HILL.
Anyone still pinning their hopes on her losing campaign is kidding themselves.
In this community, last night's roundtable for the gina & krista roundrobin found Beth providing the results of Thursday's poll and, in this community, Tulsi's support has dried up. She's dead in the water and she better enjoy this moment of press attention. It'll last a few more days.
It won't do a damn thing to improve her standing. Remember, after the June debate, the same press covering Tulsi now was ignoring her. But they were pimping Julian Castro, he was now going to be a top tier candidate, this was going to put him on the map.
I was in New Hampshire speaking to various groups -- and these were left groups -- and the press had a hard on for Julian that the people didn't.
So after the press fussed and fawned over him for nearly two weeks, how high did he go up in the polling? Not at all.
Tulsi's yesterdays news and someone needs to toss her out with the rest of the garbage.
She is an apologist for War Makers and War Criminals -- I'm referring to Joe Biden, for example, but others refer to Bashar al-Assad. And Tulsi meets with him -- which is fine -- but has a hissy fit when asked about it.
Can someone explain to the little girl that when you run for public office you have to explain your actions? And can someone explain to her that you don't make a bold move if you're not up to explaining it?
If she really believed in what she did, instead of whining like a titty baby, she should welcome the opportunity to talk about it each time it's asked.
Instead, she wants to whine. Yesterday MSNBC was mean to her, before that it was GOOGLE and before that it was George on ABC's THIS WEEK and before that . . .
What a little cry baby. She lacks the maturity for leadership.
In this community, Tulsi's followers are supporting or examining Bernie Sanders (52%) and Elizabeth Warren (48%) -- that's Beth's polling with a 4.9% margin of error. So basically the community is deciding between those two -- the community members who were Tulsi followers. The community also includes Greens and independents and Socialist and Communists and a few Republicans. How they'll vote or if they'll vote was not determined by Beth's poll. She only surveyed those who had made clear in previous polling that they were supporting Tulsi.
Meanwhile in Iraq . . .
In Iraq, engineering is dying
We need job
#save_the_iraqi_engineers
Oil rich Iraq. Where the economy is dominated by oil and there are no jobs for engineers? Iraq which is a war torn country in need of rebuilding -- not just cities like Mosul but the entire infrastructure -- public works (sewage and gutters) repairs alone would save homes from damage from flooding -- not to mention cut down the numbers of deaths that come with the floods.
But there's no need for engineers? There's no jobs the Iraqi government can find or create for engineers?
The Iraq 'experiment' has been a failure.
At some point in the future, some neocon will float that as a reality but will pin it on the Iraqi people and say they just didn't want democracy enough or their values didn't merge with self-rule or some such nonsense.
Iraq is a failed nation.
That has nothing to do with the Iraqi people.
The corrupt government doesn't represent them and never has. That's why the puppet government that the US keeps trying to graft onto that country never takes hold.
It doesn't help that the US keeps choosing cowards who fled Iraq decades before to be prime minister. No one wants to be ruled by someone who fled the country. It especially doesn't help that when an election takes place, there's no effort to conceal the farce. 2010, Iraqis go to the polls and vote Nouri al-Maliki out and then Barack Obama and Joe Biden overturn their votes via The Erbil Agreement and Nouri gets a second term wherein he gives birth to ISIS via his thuggery.
Last month, Senator Chris Murphy insisted US troops must remain in Iraq and that the US must fix what they broke. Chris either doesn't understand reality or chooses to ignore it. The US government has never wanted to 'fix' Iraq. It's wanted to control the country. The US decision to give Nouri a second term gave Iraq ISIS. That's on the US government. The best thing the US could do would be to get out of Iraq and let the Iraqi people control their own destiny. That would, after all, be democracy but, despite being elected to Congress, our representatives don't seem to actually support democracy. Like the Founding Fathers who needed the Electoral College to control the American people, the representatives in both houses of Congress fear the will of the people and feel the need to 'manage' it.
We'll note this:
THE FACES BEHIND THE OIL AMERICA WENT TO WAR FOR
Photo report by David Bacon
Equal Times, July 5, 2019
Despite the geopolitical importance of Iraq's oil, and the central role that oil played in its invasion by a US-led coalition in March 2003, 16 years ago people in the US and Europe knew very little about the workers who made the world's second biggest oil industry function. In October 2003, the US photographer David Bacon went to Baghdad to learn how the occupation was affecting Iraq's workers and unions. At the Daura Oil Refinery and at other factories in Baghdad, he documented the lives of workers. In 2005 he returned to Iraq, this time to Basra, where he photographed and interviewed oil workers and the leaders of their union.
See the report in Equal Times at
https://www.equaltimes.org/the-faces-behind-the-oil-america?var_mode=recalcul#.XR8UAehKg2w
Equal Times is a trilingual (English, French and Spanish) global news and opinion website focusing on labour, human rights, culture, development, the environment, politics and the economy from a social justice perspective. Located in the heart of Europe, we are supported by the 200 million-member International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
The following sites updated:
