Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor:
Christian Bale, Vice
Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity's Gate
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
That's a very strong competition for Best Actor. Most years, it's usually a two person battle with the other three being lucky to be nominated and everyone knowing they won't win.
Who should win?
It's a four-way tie, honestly. The only one who doesn't deserve it is Rami Malek.
He's in a Bryan Singer movie -- strike one. He's declared he had no idea until recently about Bryan Singer's history of men stepping forward to say that when they were young men or boys that Bryan drugged them, raped them, you name it. Rami chose to weigh in when he should have kept his mouth shut because he looks like a liar and by looking like a liar he is a stand-in for all the people who have lied for Bryan Singer over the years, lied and protected him. Strike two. Strike three, he claims he did research on Freddie Mercury -- if he did, why didn't he demand that lies and factual errors be pulled from the project. Need a fourth strike: TV actor.
Willem Dafoe has given strong performances his whole career but this really is his best and so it would be fine for him to win. Christian Bale stretched in his role as Dick Cheney. I couldn't see him doing it until I saw the movie. He is awesome. Viggo Mortensen remains an actor of depth and has really delivered in GREEN BOOK. But with the Academy overlooking Bradley Cooper as a director, I wonder if that will create support for him for the acting award.
It's a tight race.
Best Actress:
Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
Glenn Close, The Wife
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Not impressed with Yalitza and I feel ROMA was good but not as good as some have made it out to be. (Remember, this is on NETFLIX so you can check it out for yourself.) I don't think Olivia Colman deserves more than a nomination, sorry. THE FAVOURITE really didn't impress me.
I would say it's between Glenn Close -- great in THE WIFE and long overdue for a win -- and Lady Gaga who surprised a lot of people with A STAR IS BORN. I would pick Glenn over Gaga. But I also think there's a chance Melissa McCarthy could win. CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? was a solid movie but she was excellent, not just solid.
I really think it will be Glenn and I think she deserves it. I also think this is the worst Best Actress contest of my lifetime. Two who I really don't think are that good and I think should not have been nominated. Every year, the Best Actress contains some I root for and some I don't but I can see the logic in the nominations even I don't care for them. There is no logic this year.
Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Wednesday, January 23, 2019. Let's look at the Kurds.
This morning, REUTERS reports, "A car bomb killed one soldier and injured at least two in a northern Iraqi town near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, the military and a security source said. The military said in a statement that a member of the security forces was killed. A security source told Reuters that at least two others were wounded."
Oil-rich Kirkuk is a dsiputed region. Both the Baghdad-based central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government claim it. Article 140 of the Iraq Constitution offers the measure to settle the dispute. But Article 140 has never been implemented -- despite the Constitution stating it must be implemented by the end of 2007. The Rand Corporation noted that the kick the can approach was creating more problems and that was over 12 years ago.
The war never ends and there are no victors -- though the recently released military report has resulted in non-stop stories noting that Iran is declared the winner. They've gone on and on about that in the last few days -- once the BUZZFEED 'report' on impeachment exploded Friday night. Friday morning, we were noting the reality of the report: It makes clear that puppets are put in place, which we knew, but that the debate then goes on about whether or not to keep them in place. The Bully Boy Bush administration talked repeatedly of whether or not they should remove Nouri from office -- and they installed him and they were in power only during Nouri's first term (2006 to 2010 -- May 2006 to November 2010).
This morning, REUTERS reports, "A car bomb killed one soldier and injured at least two in a northern Iraqi town near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk on Wednesday, the military and a security source said. The military said in a statement that a member of the security forces was killed. A security source told Reuters that at least two others were wounded."
Oil-rich Kirkuk is a dsiputed region. Both the Baghdad-based central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government claim it. Article 140 of the Iraq Constitution offers the measure to settle the dispute. But Article 140 has never been implemented -- despite the Constitution stating it must be implemented by the end of 2007. The Rand Corporation noted that the kick the can approach was creating more problems and that was over 12 years ago.
The war never ends and there are no victors -- though the recently released military report has resulted in non-stop stories noting that Iran is declared the winner. They've gone on and on about that in the last few days -- once the BUZZFEED 'report' on impeachment exploded Friday night. Friday morning, we were noting the reality of the report: It makes clear that puppets are put in place, which we knew, but that the debate then goes on about whether or not to keep them in place. The Bully Boy Bush administration talked repeatedly of whether or not they should remove Nouri from office -- and they installed him and they were in power only during Nouri's first term (2006 to 2010 -- May 2006 to November 2010).
"An American consensus across the political spectrum seems to exist that the 2003 Iraq War was a disaster, with no redeeming results. But what this consensus ignores is Iraq’s Kurds. Where would they be today without the US intervention?"
What would it be like for the Iraqi Kurds today without the US led war that began in 2003 and continues to this day?
Probably things would be a lot better. The US would be giving the Kurds financial support and military aid -- doing that to counter Saddam Hussein. It's doubtful that the US government would have gotten as in bed with the Turkish government as they did. They certainly wouldn't have needed the land for the CIA base in southern Turkey so they wouldn't have made as many concessions as they ended up doing to get that base.
Had an attack on the Kurds been carried out by Saddam Hussein, you can be sure that Kurds in the region would have poured into Iraq to defend their own -- and done so quicker than the US could have moved military units in to Iraq to aid the Kurds.
History demonstrates that the US government -- going back to the days of Richard Nixon, at the very least -- promises much to the Kurds but only delivers when they need the Kurds. They used them to antagonize Iran, for example, under Nixon. They never stand by the promises to the Kurds, they never truly support them. They even had them listed as terrorists -- still listed -- as late as Barack Obama's terms as president.
The Kurds have given a great deal over the years, they have received very little. Based on that, the Kurds would probably be better off today without the US-led war stating back in 2003.
That shouldn't be confusing. It's an opinion but the question was asked and, when we respond, we do well to base our call on what has taken place in the past.
It shouldn't be confusing but, for some people, many things are.
I will be paying close attention to Iraq.
The Kurds, Sunni, Shia, Jews are all a continued threat to Christians & Christian land. They all want to steal more land & while Shia have been great allies thus far, we'll see if it's all an act there or not. Leave Christians alone
I'm confused by this so-called Angel. A person can be Sunni, Shia or Kurd and be a Christian -- even in Iraq. The Shia crackdown on Sunnis who were alcohol vendors -- we do realize that those were Christian Sunnis, right? And we do realize that when Christians had to flee Baghdad due to violence, they tended to resettle in northern Iraq -- the Kurdish region? Do we not get that? Do we not know that there are many Kurds who are Christians?
Angel is creating a world where you are on this side of a line or you are on this other side of a line -- it's not that simple.
Let's go to the simple (WIKIPEDIA) so that the simple-minded might understand:
Kurdish Christians (Kurdish: Kurdên Mesîhî or Kurdên Xirîstiyan[3][4][5]) are Kurds who follow Christianity. Though the majority of Kurds adopted Islam in the Middle Ages, there were Kurdish converts to Christianity even after the spread of Islam. In recent years some Kurds from Muslim backgrounds have converted to Christianity.[6][7]
History[edit]
In the 10th century AD, the Kurdish prince Ibn ad-Dahhak, who possessed the fortress of al-Jafary, abandoned Islam for Orthodox Christianity.[8] In return, the Byzantines gave him land and a fortress. In 927, he and his family were executed during a raid by Thamal, the Arab governor of Tarsus.[9]
In the late 11th and the early 12th century AD, there were Kurdish Christian soldiers in the army of fortress city of Shayzar in present-day Syria.[10]
The Zakarids–Mkhargrdzeli, an Armenian[11][12]–Georgian dynasty of at least partial Kurdish[13][14][15][16][17] origin, ruled parts of northern Armenia in the 13th century AD and tried to reinvigorate intellectual activities by founding new monasteries.[18] At the peak of Kingdom of Georgia the family led the unified Armeno-Georgian army. Two brothers of this family, Zakare and Ivane Mkhargrdzeli led the army to victory in Ani in 1199.
Kurds who converted to Christianity usually turned to the Nestorian Church.[19] In 1884, researchers of the Royal Geographical Society reported about a Kurdish tribe in Sivas which retained certain Christian observances and sometimes identified as Christian.[20]
One of the most prominent Kurdish leaders in Iraqi Kurdistan, Sheikh Ahmed Barzani who was a brother of Mustafa Barzani, announced his conversion to Christianity during his uprising against the Iraqi government in 1931.[21]
Contemporary Kurdish Christians[edit]
The Kurdish-Speaking Church of Christ (The Kurdzman Church of Christ) was established in Hewlêr (Erbil) by the end of 2000, and has branches in the Silêmanî, Duhok governorates. This is the first evangelical Kurdish church in Iraq.[22] Its logo is formed of a yellow sun and a cross rising
up behind a mountain range. Kurdzman Church of Christ held its first
three-day conference in Ainkawa north of Arbil in 2005 with the
participation of 300 new Kurdish converts.[23] According
to one Kurdish convert, an estimated 500 Kurdish Muslim youths have
converted to Christianity since 2006 throughout Kurdistan.[24] A
Kurdish convert from the Iraqi military who claims to have transported
weapons of mass destruction also stated that a wave of Kurds converting
to Christianity is taking in northern Iraq (Iraqi Kurdistan).[25] Part of the English-language New Testament was first available in the Kurdish language in 1856.[26]
See also[edit]
References
Christianity is a religion. It's not an ethnicity.
On the Kuridstan Region, ALJAZEERA offers a video report today.
They note:
The first notable, historical mention of the Kurds is widely thought to be the Sharafnama, or The Book of Honour, by the medieval Kurdish poet Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in 1597. Written by a Kurd about his own people, Sharafnama arguably put Kurdish culture and history on the map.
A people who saw themselves on a par with Persians and Arabs had announced themselves to the world.
The Kurds originate from the mountain regions of the northern Middle East and currently number between 25 million and 35 million and occupy an area spanning the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia. They are the fourth largest ethnic group in the region - outnumbered by both Arabs and North Africans - and have a difficult relationship with other ethnic groups and countries in the region.
The Kurds have anticipated, negotiated, warred and waited to establish their own permanent state since the First World War and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. But they have been constantly disappointed, not least when Asia Minor was given to the new state of Turkey in 1923.
Staying with the Kurds for a bit more:
Who's he speaking of? Brett McGurk. Old Blue Balls himself. He always had time to cheat on whomever was his wife at the moment. He did a for-show stunt as the year wound down and some idiots applauded him. Because, apparently, the now 'left' thing to do is to praise the Bully Boy Bush minions that managed to hang on in government.
Former US Envoy Brett McGurk Admits Most ISIS Support Came Across Turkey-Syria Border.
No Kidding Sherlock! It came into Incirlik NATO airbase in Turkey.
theantimedia.com/us-syria-envoy…
#Syria Map from October 2015
If you don't get how vile he is, Christiane Amanwhore.
Watch my full interview with @brett_mcgurk, former special presidential envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition:
She used her position at CNN to repeatedly insist that the US go to war with Syria. This was advocacy journalism -- which CNN is not supposed to engage in. She's always been a nightmare which is why Nora Dunn played a parody of her in the film THREE KINGS. That was the real Amanwhore. She's a War Hawk married to a War Hawk. And America rejects her. That's why she's on PBS and CNN. When she had a job that depended on delivering viewers, ABC's THIS WEEK, she was quickly fired -- she couldn't deliver viewers. People, when they grab their remotes, didn't want to endure her.
The following community sites -- plus DISSIDENT VOICE -- updated:
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