Saturday, February 25, 2023

Chase Rice, Brad Paisley


That's Chase Rice.  "Bench Seat" is from his new album I HATE COWBOYS AND ALL DOGS GO TO HELL -- which I praised here.  It's a great album.

I like Brad Paisley and he was probably the first country artist considered 'new' back when I first praised him here. He's very talented and you can consider me a fan.  But . . . AP reports:



A year ago, country star Brad Paisley watched the news on television as Russian troops invaded Ukraine and, like many people around the world, he felt helpless at the images of people fleeing their homes.

“The world felt like it was in a new place that it hadn’t been in decades," the three-time Grammy winner recalls.


On Friday, the one-year anniversary of the war's start, Paisley is releasing a new song called “Same Here," featuring Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking proudly about his country and people.


That is garbage and deeply disappointing.  He can do a song for the people of Ukraine.  No problem with that at all.  But to the leader?  Stop sucking the penis of the powerful.  Honestly.  I thought Brad was more of a man than to worship some leader.  That's without factoring in Zelensyy's very troubling history.  I don't care if it was Macron or Trudeau or whomever.  Celebrate the people 100%.  Let's stop treating leaders as though they're heroes -- especially when their actions aren't heroic.  

That leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.  I really was not surprised when I learned that Brad had done a song for the people of Urkaine.  I was going to hunt down the video and highlight it here.  I thought, "That is so great that he's showing support for them."  And I Google for the video and the AP story pops up at the top of the search.

So no.  No video getting posted here.  I don't like encouraging people to worship human leaders as though they're God.  Don't approve of it, won't co-sign on it.

Remember, I'm trying to do another album review for Sunday.  It'll be Diana Ross SURRENDER which AMAZON was supposed to deliver January 27th but only just now arrived on Tuesday.


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


Friday, February 24, 2023.  The wars


Starting with the war on the LGBTQ+ community, let's note this report from QUEER NEWS TONIGHT on the over 120 anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in January by Republican politicians across the country. Over 120.



For a state-by-state look at these bills, you can refer to this page at the ACLU website.


They sold the Iraq War, now THE NEW YORK TIMES sells transphobia.  Josh Marcus (INDEPENDENT) reports:


Critics have long argued that theTimes is falling short in its LGTBQ+ coverage, particularly of trans kids, but the debate around the publication’s standards exploded into public view last week.

Thousands of Times contributors signed onto an open letterorganized by the Freelance Solidarity Project and delivered to leadership on 15 February, which voiced “serious concerns about editorial bias in the newspaper’s reporting on transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people.”

The letter accused the storied paper of violating its own ethical standards around neutrality by treating “gender diversity with an eerily familiar mix of pseudoscience and euphemistic, charged language, while publishing reporting on trans children that omits relevant information about its sources.”

The letter pointed to a recent article referring to a person seeking gender-affirming healthcare with the term “patient zero,” and another instance where a source’s affiliation with an anti-trans hate groups wasn’t mentioned.

The document noted with dismay that coverage by The New York Times has been cited by various GOP officials who are waging attacks on trans youth in court and in legislatures across the country; it argued that the Times was fueling a similar media-political feedback loop that saw previous generations demonise those with HIV/Aids and those who were gay.


You may remember the great Glenneth Greenwald snickering and pooh-pahing the letter.  It's because he doesn't know journalism.  He had some legal training -- not good legal training -- though I do love the story from those years about how he went on a transphobic rant when a group of friend proposed they see PARIS IS BURNING, it's so very Glenneth -- but he's had no journalistic training at all and he doesn't understand what it's about to this day.  

It's no surprise that Glenneth would join NYT in endorsing the attacks, that's how he made his pathetic name, after all, by joining NYT's war on Iraq.  That is his history. 

You'd think by now he'd put some effort into being a decent human being but you would be wrong.

And he runs with others who are, at best, disappointing.


Max Blumenthal is disgusting.  

He attacked Jaqueline Luqman on Jimmy Dore's YOUTUBE program -- with Aaron Mate nodding along.  He lied about her.

BLACK POWER MEDIA called his lies out.




He lies about her.



















He attacks Jaqueline Luqman with lies and then we see his followers throughout the thread  -- a bunch of White racists and Indian racists attacking her for her race.  And no one's supposed to notice that?

Let's pretend that at least one or two of Max's fans honestly do not get it and let's try to walk them through slowly.

If someone is racist, they aren't your friend.  It's not a can't-we-work-together-in-Congress Dem and Rep issue.  This is someone signing up for your destruction.  No, you cannot ask African-Americans to just try to get along with racists.  Do racists stay racist their whole lives.  No.  People can learn and they can grow.  But it's not the responsibility of an African-American to educate a White racist (or one from India).  Nor should anyone dismiss concerns of violence.  African-Americans have very good reasons -- historical -- for not electing to mix with racists.  You're too entitled and privileged if you can't see that on your own.  

And asking them to 'work together'?

How very Phyllis George of you, Max, how very Phyllis George.


Before Gayle King put CBS THIS MORNING on the map, the show was a joke for decades.  Never so much as when Phyllis George had her infamous moment.  Gary Dotson had just been released from prison after the woman who said he raped her, Cathy Webb, admitted she lied.  CBS just knew the thing to do was have them both on the program at the same time.  At the end of the segment, Phyllis suggested, "How about a hug?"  (CRAPAPEDIA is yet again wrong, she did not ask them to "hug it out" -- she did not use those words, nor would anyone have in 1985 -- so CRAPAPEDIA needs to take them out of quotes.  I would love it if I didn't have to dictate and anticipate e-mails at the same time.  But I did say, "Stop, look up Phyllis George on CRAPAPEDIA and tell me if they quote her."  They did.  They have it wrong.  Refer to Tom Shales, WASHINGTON POST report in real time -- May of 85 -- and if the link for it isn't there when this goes up, give me an hour or two -- we're doing Zooms -- and I'll have put it in myself.)



That's what Max basically wants, an African-American to give a racist a hug and then come work with him and the racists on his issue. 

That is disrespectful and its ignorant.  

And how dare you ask the oppressed to make nice with their oppressor.  On the face of it, Max should have realized how stupid this was.

Max and his ilk whine about both-side-ism all the time.  What's more both-side-ist than asking someone targeted with racism to work with a racist.  Civil rights and racism are not two equal views.  

Max chose to go with racists and transphobes and that's, sorry, because he is both.

That's why Anya Panya can't stop mocking trans persons online at her Twitter account.  It's why Max can't recognize that African-Americans are not his minions.  Just because he wants -- he says -- to avoid a nuclear war, doesn't mean they give up their own agency and their own beliefs to toe his line.  But when you don't see a person as a person due to their race, when you think you own their actions -- and, indeed, think you own them, that's racism.  Racism is also evident in Max's response to Jacqueline.  He attacks her because she won't do what he wants, he attacks her with lies and tries to ignite his White (and Indian) mob against her.  Max, you're doing everything but disclosing her address as you hand out white sheets.

It is not a good look for you. 


Once upon a time, Max, you were a very cute little boy who had the widest smile and the biggest heart.  If you've let the world beat that out of you, that makes me want to cry.   That's who I saw for years now when others picked on or attacked you and why I rushed to your defense over and over.  You are so much better than your current behavior indicates. You owe it to who you were to take a look at how you're behaving right now.  



Michael Anderson:  I was bartending that evening when the attack began.  I felt more terrified than I ever have before.  I ran for my life that night and hid -- praying and hoping the violence would end.  When I stared down the barrel of that gun, I realized I stood no chance against a weapon of that power, magazine capacity, and seemingly automatic firing rate.  While I prepared for my life to end in that moment, I prayed.  I panicked.  And I prayed some more.  God must have heard my prayers because two brave men stopped the shooter moments before he would have inevitably found me.  I saw my friend lying on the floor, bleeding out, knowing there was little to no chance of surviving the bullet wound.  I had to tell him goodbye while I continued to fear for my life, not knowing if the attack was truly over.


Michael Anderson from his Congressional testimony in December of last year -- see this snapshot -- describing what happened at Club Q.  The shooting left five people dead:

  • Daniel Davis Aston, 28
  • Kelly Loving, 40
  • Ashley Paugh, 35
  • Derrick Rump, 38
  • Raymond Green Vance, 22

The shooting also left twenty-five people injured.  We'll quote former US House Rep Carolyn Maloney from a US House Oversight Committee press release on that hearing:


“Last month, a person with an AR-15-style assault rifle entered Club Q—a nightclub that served as a haven for LGBTQI+ people in the Colorado Springs community—and opened fire on unsuspecting bar patrons and staff.  The attacker’s depravity robbed us of five innocent lives—Daniel Aston, Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, and Derrick Rump,” said Chairwoman Maloney in her opening statement.  “Let us honor them by recommitting to the bold action necessary to ensure that every person in the United States can experience the freedom to live authentically and safely—regardless of who they love or how they identify.”   


The great Glenneth, of course, rushed forward to insist that the shooter being non-binary meant that it wasn't homophobia.


It was shocking because you'd think if anyone would be an expert on internalized homophobia, it would be Glenneth.


As we noted then, it was very likely that the shooter was dealing with issues of homophobia -- whether the shooter was non-binary or not.  

John Russell (LGBTQ NATION) reports:


Detective Rebecca Joines testiftied that Aldrich ran a neo-Nazi website that featured a white supremacist training video glorifying mass shootings, posted an image of a Pride parade with a rifle scope trained on it, and used anti-LGBTQ+ and racist slurs while gaming. Joines said that while those who knew Aldrich were unaware that they identified as nonbinary, Aldrich had told them that their mother, Laura Voepel, was nonbinary and had taken them to gay bars. Aldrich’s defense showed a photo of Aldrich and Voepel at Club Q taken in August 2021.

Joines also testified that there was evidence that Aldrich planned to livestream the shooting.


We'll wind down with this from the one and only Jody Watley, the legend, the trend setter, the show stopper, the dance queen, the fashionista, the all around wonderful person, will be hosting her own program starting next month.  Reposting from Jody's site:

Jody Watley Celebrates Women’s History Month With New Radio Show

Jody Watley.

NEW ON EURWEB: HERE

“Check out Jody Watley! She is out here making boss moves. For instance, in celebration of Women’s History Month, the musical icon will host a new monthly 2-hour show exclusively on SiriusXM’s The Groove. The first guest will be Emmy winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Read the full story on Eurweb 


--------------


Adding to Jody's post, in case anyone needs a reminder, two videos.  "Real Love" and "Still A Thrill."






 




The following sites updated:






  •  
  • Thursday, February 23, 2023

    Send Abraham Payton to prison

    Earlier this week ("Blogger creeps and creeps who break privacy at the VA"), I noted an article Lonnie e-mailed me about.  Olivia Beavers (POLITICO) has a new article on the same topic:


    Two former House GOP candidates say the Air Force alerted them this month that their military records were improperly released during the midterm campaign.
    Sam Peters, a Republican who challenged Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) in November, and Kevin Dellicker, who fell short in the GOP primary race to take on Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), both received Feb. 8 letters from the Air Force notifying them that Abraham Payton of Due Diligence Group made “multiple requests” for their military personnel records last year.

    In both Peters and Dellicker’s cases, the Air Force identified Payton, a former research director for the Democratic group American Bridge, as having “inappropriately requested” copies of their records for “for the stated purpose of employment and benefits.”

    Peters and Dellicker are the fourth and fifth known recipients of Air Force letters regarding the records releases, which have sparked an investigation by House Republicans. They are joining Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) in seeking an additional investigation of any illegal activity that may have occurred surrounding the requests for their military records, a push first reported by POLITICO on Tuesday.




    Abraham Payton needs to be sent to federal prison.  No plea deal.  No slap on the wrist.  He lied to obtain forms -- "for the stated purupose of employment and benefits."  That's fraud and he knowingly misrepresented.  He needs to go prison.  A message needs to be sent to all political operatives that if you break the law, you go to prison.  


    At least three personnel files improperly released by the Air Force in the lead-up to last year’s midterm elections belonged to Republican House candidates, the result of an Democrat-funded investigative firm’s effort that the targeted lawmakers say went beyond dirty politics — and was criminal.

    The chairs of the Republican-led House Oversight and Armed Services committees said in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week that an internal Air Force audit had showed 11 files were improperly disclosed to Due Diligence Group, LLC between October 2021 and December 2022.

    Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.) and Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said the firm had “allegedly misrepresented itself in order to obtain access to the personnel records without authorization or consent.”






    I agree.  And any Democrat who did business with Due Diligence Group, LLC needs to publicly rebuke them.  This is outrageous.  

    I'm not a lawyer but I do wonder if the false claims act would apply in any way here:

    Many of the Fraud Section’s cases are suits filed under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 - 3733, a federal statute originally enacted in 1863 in response to defense contractor fraud during the American Civil War.

    The FCA provided that any person who knowingly submitted false claims to the government was liable for double the government’s damages plus a penalty of $2,000 for each false claim.  The FCA has been amended several times and now provides that violators are liable for treble damages plus a penalty that is linked to inflation

    In addition to allowing the United States to pursue perpetrators of fraud on its own, the FCA allows private citizens to file suits on behalf of the government (called “qui tam” suits) against those who have defrauded the government.  Private citizens who successfully bring qui tam actions may receive a portion of the government’s recovery.  Many Fraud Section investigations and lawsuits arise from such qui tam actions.

    The Department of Justice obtained more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments from civil cases involving fraud and false claims against the government in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2021.  More information about those recoveries can be found here and the 2021 FCA statistics can be found here.



    If so, it would appear any citizen could sue over this matter. 


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


    Thursday, February 23, 2023.  Iraq activists are under assault, Anya Panya and the faux activists from the weekend continue to be called out for their racism and transphobia, look who took a plea deal, and much more.


    We get busy and things get dropped all the time as a result.  I was planning, months ago, to announce news in a criminal proceeding.  It's several months old, the Justice Dept's press release, but I was talking to a veteran with a VSO yesterday and he brought up when Nancy Pelosi was Speaker of the House and shoved an unqualified and corrupt member of Congress down a committee's throat.  To give a little background, the VA was having one scandal after another.  The most recent one ahead of this shoving was the VA's failure to deliver the checks for veterans going to college.  Veterans had to pay it themselves or take out loans.  They knew it -- the VA knew it was going to happen ahead of the fall schedule.  And, as Christmas approached, some veterans still hadn't received their checks.  Their family holiday was on hold.  It was disgusting and it was disgusting the way the media walked away from the story long before it was over.

    The work of so many on that Committee -- Democrats and Republicans -- was important in fixing this issue for the veterans.  I especially would cite Stephanie Herseth Sandlin whose work on a House VA Subcommittee really helped get answers -- especially after the media had Baby-cried-the-day-the-circus-came-to-town and moved on.  

    The Committee worked as a team to help the veterans on this issue . . . with one exception.

    Wig woman.

    Bad wig woman.

    Corrine Brown.

    The Snuffleupgus of K-Street herself, "Can you tell me how to be crooked, how to be crooked on K-Street."


    From November 27, 2014, Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Corrine Brown:"



     

    There was Corrine explaining how she stayed up late nights eating and watching cable 'news' and FOX told her that this was the veterans fault and if those dumb veterans had done their paperwork right, there never would have been a delay and blah blah blah.

    She couldn't fix her wig, did we really not notice that over and over and over.  Con artist was blaming veterans to let the VA off the hook, even after testimony in Stephanie's subcommittee hearing revealed that the VA knew this was going to happen, was warned over four months before the start of the fall semester that it would happen.  But facts don't matter to a con artist.



    Over the uproar of many veterans, Speaker Pelosi decided her friend was just the crook to head the Democratic Party side of the  House Veterans Affairs Committee.  VSOs were begging for Tim Walz.  Walz was a member of the Committee, he was also a veteran.  Unlike Corrine, Tim spoke English.  

    But Pelosi installed her friend Corrine the Crook.

    Where's Tim today?  

    Serving his second term as governor of Minnesota.  Congratulations to him.

    And where's Corrine?

    From July 30, 2017, this is Isaiah's "Little White Devil." 




    She was serving too.

    Hard time in prison.  It was supposed to be five years but COVID panic allowed her to get an early release on April 22, 2020.  She then thought Florida voters were insane and would vote for her so she ran in the Democratic Party primary for a seat . . . and came in fourth.  But Corrine isn't just a convicted felon.  She's also a convict who doesn't want to go back to the big house.  A technicality from a lower court meant she was facing a second trial set for May of last year.    Which is why she entered into a plea deal right before then:

    Former Congresswoman Corrine Brown Pleads Guilty To Corrupt Obstruction Of The Administration Of The Internal Revenue Laws



    For Immediate Release
    U.S. Attorney's Office, Middle District of Florida
    Thursday, May 19, 2022


    Jacksonville, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Corrine Brown (75, Jacksonville) today pleaded guilty to engaging in a corrupt endeavor to obstruct and impede the due administration of the internal revenue laws. After accepting her guilty plea, Chief Judge Timothy J. Corrigan sentenced Brown to the time that she had already served in the custody of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, specifically two years, eight months, and nine days. Brown was also ordered to pay $62,650.99 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.

    According to the plea agreement, between October 15, 2009, and October 15, 2015, Brown caused her certified public accountant to file individual income tax returns for tax years 2008 through 2014 that did not include income associated with cash deposits into her bank accounts. During the same period, Brown also over-reported her charitable giving by inflating total gifts to charitable organizations and non-profit entities. Brown signed each referenced tax return under penalty of perjury, knowing that each one contained false information. In addition, Brown caused two Jacksonville non-profit entities to create letters that did not accurately reflect her donations so that Brown could use those letters during an IRS audit.  

    Brown was previously convicted by a federal jury for various offenses; after Brown’s appeal, her earlier conviction was vacated.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys A. Tysen Duva and Michael J. Coolican of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Michelle Parikh and former Deputy Chief Eric G. Olshan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section prosecuted the case.



    Crooked Corrine.  The felon.  




    That's who Nancy Pelosi put in charge for the Democrats on the House Veterans Affairs Committee.  Not Tim Walz, crooked Corrine, who suffers from both mush mouth and a nasty addiction to bad wigs.  Nancy 'knew' that was the right decision and she rejected the leaders of every VSO to put Corrine in charge.  

    From November 23, 2014, Isaiah's  "Let's Be Whats!"









    When they write about her legacy, Crooked Corrine should be a large chapter in THE BOOK OF NANCY.  And we should all wonder why Nancy refused to employ a veteran to be the head of the House Veterans Affairs Committee?  She chose a crook over a veteran.  That's her legacy -- that and being Speaker when ROE V WADE was overturned -- and failing to push for it to be codified in 2009 when she was also Speaker (running for president, Barack Obama lied that codifying ROE would be the first thing he would do as president).  


    I need to correct the idiot Anya Parampil.  When not expressing her transphobia or cozying up to the right wing, she likes to insist that she's smart.  Pretense.  She gave a bad speech on Sunday insisting that four presidential candidates were present.  Uh, no.  

    Anya The Transphobe apparently never learned to count.

    One.

    Not four.

    One.

    Use your fingers if you have to, Anya, but I'm pretty sure even you can count to one.


    Jill Stein was the Green's presidential candidate in 2012 and 2016.  The rest weren't presidential candidates.

    Tulsi Gabbard was not a presidential candidate.  She did not run for president.  You run for president, you're a presidential candidate.  Tulsi is a failed candidate for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.  Similarly, Ron Paul has run twice for a party's presidential nomination (Republican) and he has not won it.  Dennis Kucinich  also twice pursued a political party's presidential nomination and twice failed.  He's not really a presidential candidate.  A presidential candidate is on the ballot in the general election -- or running as a write-in nominee in the general election.  It's kind of like saying Tulsi or Ron or Dennis graduated top of their class in medical school when, in fact, they applied but were not accepted.

    While we're dealing with the transphobe Anya Parampil, let's note a few more things about her and her racist action.  She has a Tweet, by the way, where people have again called her out and she's whining that's she's tired of being called a racist and a transphobe.

    She's tired of it.

    I think the country's tired too -- of her racism and transphobia.  Let's note some of the responses.












    We could go on and on.  And I'm sure the truth hurts for Anya Panya.  


    And here's a truth, they could have had two past presidential candidates participating in their fake action over the weekend.  Cynthia McKinney taped a video for them -- just like Roger Waters.  Now maybe Anya used too much time truing to strut on the stage?  Who knows?  But they refused to show it at the rally.  They did briefly post it to their website before pulling it down.  

    She's not a racist and it wasn't a racist event, they insist.  But the only African-American woman who was to speak was censored.   Cynthia was the 2008 presidential nominee for the Green Party.  

    Tell us again, Anya Panya, how you're not a racist and it wasn't a racist rally but Cynthia was removed from the program?  Former member of Congress, former US presidential candidate. 

    And everyone grasp that they decided to remove her after they were already under fire for the racist nature of their rally.  Grasp that.  Anya Panya better get used to being called a racist because she is one.  If she doesn't like being called that, she needs to do the work required to end her own internal racism.  She can start by publicly apologizing to Cynthia McKinney.  If she can't do that?  She's just a liar. 


    Anya works on the plantation -- see Ann's "Anya, do they give you bathroom breaks on the plantation?" and "Anya Parampil can't leave the plantation" -- because she's sleeping with the overseer Max Blumethal.  And she and Max have been lying about a lot of things.  


    BLACK POWER MEDIA calls them out for their lies and their racism.  




    Turning to Iraq,  Human Rights Watch notes the targeting of activists:


     Iraq’s environmental activists are facing threats, harassment, and arbitrary detention by government officials and armed groups, Human Rights Watch said today. 

    On February 16, 2023, leading Iraqi environmentalist Jassim al-Asadi was released after being abducted on February 1 by an unidentified armed group and held for more than two weeks. Al-Asadi said in a TV interview that he was subjected to “most severe forms of torture” using “electricity and sticks” during his captivity, and was moved from place to place. Human Rights Watch confirmed with his family that the voice in the interview is his. It appears he was released after intervention by the Iraqi government. Al-Asadi’s kidnapping is the latest in a string of acts of retaliation against environmental activists apparently intended to halt their advocacy.

    “Rather than taking decisive steps to solve Iraq’s critical environmental issues, Iraqi authorities are instead attacking the messenger,” said Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Decimating the country’s environmental movement will only worsen Iraq’s capacity to address environmental crises that affect a range of critical rights.”

    Government agencies have detained and prosecuted other activists for speaking out about environmental problems. Salman Khairalla, another environmentalist and co-Founder of Humat Dijlah (Tigris River Protectors Association), told Human Rights Watch that he believes armed groups and Iraqi officials are targeting key members of the environmental movement to silence them and send a threatening message to others.

    In November 2022, Human Rights Watch released a report documenting that Iraqi authorities have failed to ensure any accountability for state security personnel and state-backed armed groups responsible for killing, maiming, and disappearing hundreds of demonstrators and activists since 2019.

    Iraqi authorities should immediately hold accountable those responsible for extrajudicial punishments such as kidnapping, stop using the justice system to harass and retaliate against environmental activists, and drop all abusive legal cases against them, Human Rights Watch said.

    Al-Asadi’s brother told Human Rights Watch that al-Asadi was driving on the highway with his cousin on the morning of February 1 when two cars stopped him six kilometers south of the capital. Armed men in civilian clothes handcuffed him and forced him into one of the vehicles, taking him to an unrevealed location and leaving his cousin in the car on the side of the road. His brother said he did not know the motivation behind his brother’s kidnapping but that many government backers were not happy about his environmental activities.

    Al-Asadi is the founder of the local nongovernmental organization, Nature Iraq, which aims, “to protect, restore, and preserve Iraq’s natural environment and the rich cultural heritage that it nourishes.” Al-Asadi has appeared regularly in local and foreign media outlets to raise awareness of the threats facing the country's southern wetlands, including drought and loss of vegetation coverage.

    His brother said that the family reported the kidnapping to a National Security office in Baghdad and Iraqi security forces began investigating the case. The case reached the attention of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who assured the family “that there’s no armed force above the law and that everyone is subject to the authority and law of the state.” A few days later, Al-Asadi was released, but the reason for his detention and identity of the kidnappers have not emerged.

    Although the Iraqi government appears to have taken steps to intervene and secure al-Asadi’s release, in other cases Iraqi authorities themselves have been responsible for retaliation against environmental activists in response to their efforts to draw attention to human rights breaches linked to the country’s environment and climate.

    In late 2019, Iraqi authorities arbitrarily detained Salman Khairalla, another environmentalist, prompting the then-UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders to intervene to demand his release. After Khairalla was released on bail, he left Baghdad.

    Another activist, Raad Habib al-Assadi, head of Chabbayish Organization, an environmental organization, told Human Rights Watch that during the 2019 and 2020 droughts that struck Iraq, he criticized the Water Resources Ministry for its poor policies and responses to the worsening water situation. He said that he published basic information about the droughts in the marshes in Nasiriyah, such as how much the water levels were dropping. The ministry retaliated by taking him to court.

    On October 5, 2020, Dhi Qar Federal Court of Appeals ordered Habib to appear in court under Article 434 of Penal Code, which criminalizes insulting any person or imputing the reputation of another, and carries a penalty of up to one year in prison and/or a fine.

    A court acquitted him in February 2021, but ministry representatives subsequently filed a second case against him, under Article 229 of Iraq’s Penal Code, which criminalizes insults or threats to, “an official or other public employee or council or official body in the execution of their duties or as a consequence of those duties.” This “crime” is punishable by up to two years in prison or a fine.

    Habib told Human Rights Watch that the court also acquitted him of the new charges, with the final acquittal coming on December 10, 2022. But ministry officials continue to appeal the acquittal.

    Habib said he is forced to attend the appeal hearings to avoid prison and believes that ministry officials are drawing out the case to punish him. “Every Monday and Thursday I have to go to the court [to deal with the appeals],” he said. “But nothing happens when I go to court. I attend and then the appeal is delayed – one week or 10 days or 14 days. But if I don’t attend, the authorities can issue an arrest warrant.”

    He said ministry officials have offered to drop the case against him if he pledges to stop criticizing the ministry, but he has refused.

    “I did nothing wrong, I only shared information about the droughts in marshes and they treated me as a criminal,” Habib said. “I can’t travel or do anything because I have to go to the court every Monday and Thursday. The ministry officials told me, ‘We want to quiet you.’”

    “The Iraqi government’s muzzling of environmentalists who are trying to raise awareness around the country’s grave challenges is part of a broader attitude that sees civil society groups as threats rather than partners,” Coogle said.



    It seems clear that now is the moment of truth as it is time for Iraq to comply with American conditions as set out by US Ambassador Alina Romanowski and as discussed in Turkey and finalised in Washington.

    Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani has not hesitated to inform the leaders of the Coordination Framework that the honeymoon with the country’s Iranian neighbour is over. He warned that the time had come to jump from Tehran’s sinking ship, otherwise they would all drown because prevarication no longer works and everyone is under the microscope of Federal Reserve monitoring.

    The political system in Iraq has come under the supervision of the US Treasury, whose decisions are more consequential than those of the State Department and the Pentagon.

    Iran can no longer receive a single dollar from Iraq, while Iraqi banks that used to funnel dollars to Teheran are now threatened with closure and loss of assets.

    Sudani told his audience that any attempt to circumvent US restrictions would amount to playing with fire.


    Let's wind down with this from Defending Rights & Dissent:

     
     

     

    Australian publisher Julian Assange is a political prisoner. After being abducted out of the Ecuadorian embassy, he has languished in Belmarsh prison for nearly four years. In the intervening time, press freedom groups, major newspapers, and civil libertarians have all condemned the US’s unprecedented charges against Assange. After years of grassroots advocacy, now members of Congress are starting to speak out. But they need to hear your voice. 

    Take action!

    Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) is currently circulating a sign-on letter calling for Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop the charges against Assange. Other members of Congress can join the letter, but this is an issue that demands courage. They need to hear from you, their constituents.

    Will you write your members of Congress right now and ask them to join Rep. Tlaib’s effort? The future of the First Amendment is at stake!

    Take action!

    In solidarity,

    Chip Gibbons, Policy Director

     

     
     
     
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    Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "The Return of Diva Don" went up last night.  The following sites updated: