Oh Boy It Never Ends

Sunday, February 6, 2022

Woody Allen's new movie

Be sure to read Trina's "Peacemaker" about John Cena's new HBO show. I thought she did a really good job. She texted yesterday asking if I was going to write about it and I texted back no. I just didn't have anything to write about. I thought. Then my girlfriend and I went to AMAZON a little while ago and saw that, for sale, they had RIFKIN'S FESTIVAL. We bought it. We also bought Sandra Bullock's THE HEAT because it was on sale for $4.99. But we're going to watch RIFKIN'S FESTIVAL in a minute or two.

On the topic of TV, be sure to check out Mike's "SUPERMAN & LOIS." And on movies, check out Marcia's "Patsy & Loretta,"

Okay, we're going to watch Woody's new movie.

Going out with C.I.'s ''Iraq snapshot:''

Friday, February 4, 2022. Joe Biden kills children, a man in Iraq kills his sister. Hatred shouldn't make the world go round.

Starting with this from Human Rights Watch:

The Kurdish-led armed force in northeast Syria should ensure the humane treatment of all men and boys it has evacuated or recaptured from a prison that the Islamic State (ISIS) assaulted and held for several days, Human Rights Watch said today. The regional fighters and US and UK forces supporting them should assess whether their forces complied with the laws of war during operations to recapture the prison and take all feasible measures to protect civilians during operations to find ISIS members and escaped detainees.

ISIS fighters assaulted al-Sina’a prison in the Ghweran section of al-Hasakah city on January 20, 2022. The Kurdish-led armed force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), said it regained full control on January 30 following a battle backed a US-led coalition against ISIS that left more than 500 people dead. The prison held about 4,000 male ISIS suspects or family members, including 700 boys, most from Syria and Iraq and the rest from dozens of other countries. The foreigners had been unlawfully detained in dire conditions for nearly three years.

“The Syrian Democratic Forces began evacuating men and boys from the besieged prison days ago, yet the world still has no idea how many are alive or dead,” said Letta Tayler, associate crisis and conflict director for Human Rights Watch. “The detaining authorities in northeast Syria should end their silence on the fate of these detainees, including hundreds of children who were victims of ISIS.”

The SDF should immediately allow international humanitarian groups to visit the detainees it has evacuated or recaptured from al-Sina’a prison and provide them with essential care. They should make public how many detainees, including children, were killed, wounded, and evacuated during the battle to retake the prison.

The US-led coalition against ISIS said the detainees were being held at a more secure facility, which two sources told Human Rights Watch was a new, UK-funded prison near al-Sina’a. About 300 detainees were transferred on January 24 to Alaya prison in the city of Qamishli, the Rojava Information Center told Human Rights Watch, but it was not clear if they remained there.

As noted in Monday's snapshot:

I'm appalled by the report for anothe reason. NPR wants you to know that, in Syria, the [prison] seige was carried out in part by holding children. No one takes a moment to decry children prisoners. No one takes a moment to call out children being in the same prison as adults. It's just move on and skirt every damn issue in the world but pretend that somehow, for a few seconds this week, you covered Iraq and Syria and did a segment that didn't find the hosts chuckling at the end. ("We haven't heard what happened to the children . . . We don't know how many died," Sarah declares. Alright then. Thanks for the information -- or whatever you want to call that.

Why are children in prisons? Why were with they with adults? Why is the US government participating in holding children prisoners? This is outrageous. It was outrageous when it was just Syria. Now, the US government and its allies are openly participating in holding children in prisons.

It's outrageous and that an AP reporter thought it was acceptable to offer as an after thought ''we don't know how many died"? That is the heart of the story. Not the prison break itself but that children were in that adult prison and that children died. You're wasting everyone's time on nonsense otherwise.

Nonsense?

The White House issued the following:

Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation. I will deliver remarks to the American people later this morning. May God protect our troops.

###

Margaret Kimberley rightly Tweets:

This is BS. Poll numbers dropping, Ukraine hoax stalled, 2,000+ covid deaths per day. What to do? Easy. Find an Arab, claim he was an ISIS leader and kill him and his family. Later the story changed to say he blew himself up. Don't believe that either. #Bogus

9:47 AM · Feb 3, 2022

This is how bad things have gotten for Joe Biden, he's aping Bully Boy Bush and hoping that somehow this helps him look good.

ISIS is not followers with one mighty leader. ISIS exists to be a headless snake. Is the White House not getting that reality or are they hoping the American people are too stupid to grasp it?

Joe can't deliver and he's grasping at anything.

Elizabeth Hagedorn (AL-MONITOR) notes:

For survivors of the Islamic State massacre against Iraq’s long-persecuted Yazidi minority, the death of terrorist leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi brought some relief but little solace. More than seven years after al-Qurayshi oversaw a genocide against the Yazidis, countless other IS members go unpunished.

“There is more that must be done,” Yazidi activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nadia Murad said in a statement.

“The international community’s apathy towards these atrocities had left the community with little hope for justice and accountability. Until today,” she said.

President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that al-Qurayshi, also known as Hajji Abdullah, was killed during an overnight raid carried out by US special forces outside the northwest Syrian town of Atmeh. The reclusive IS chief died after detonating a bomb inside his residence that also killed his wife and children, US officials said.

Killing chilrend in a bombing? Targeting the wife? It's easy to say, "That's gangster policy." But, truth is, even the mafia shows more restraint and respect.

So if another country wants to go after Joe Biden? Jill Biden and Hunter and Dasher and Vixen were all killed in an attack on Joe, that would be okay?

No, it wouldn't but when the US acts in this manner, it's breadking the rules and its losing any high ground.

Who did Abu's children kill?

How old were they?

Press reports say six children were killed.

Joe Biden declared, "The horrible terrorist leader is no more."

Were the six children "horrible terrorist leader[s]" as well?

This should bother everyone. It should especially trouble Americans. The US military actions overseas keep drifiting back domestically -- not just weapons but also tactics.

So children are now targets. There is no justice, just vengeance and destruction. That's Joe Biden's America.

We should all be appalled.

Sarah Abdallah Tweets:

Joe Biden's "counterterrorism raid" has killed 13 people in Syria, including six children and four women. 

Liberal media applauds this as "bravery".

8:21 AM · Feb 3, 2022

Richard Medhurst Tweets:

The United States kills the same terrorists that it created and funded in the first place. This is how it keeps perpetual war going and raking in profits for the weapons manufactures. There is nothing “brave” about slaughtering countless civilians in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.

8:38 AM · Feb 3, 2022

Violence never ends. Dilan Sirwan (RUDAW) reports:

It was on Monday afternoon when Duhok police received a call informing them of the location of the body of a trans woman, murdered by her brother three days previously. By the time the police arrived at the corpse, the killer had long left the country. Another person had fallen victim to honor killing.

The call to the police came from a man who identified himself as the victim’s brother, explaining that another brother had killed his trans sister and left her body in the village of Mangesh, around 20 kilometers north of Duhok city center.

When police forces arrived at the scene of the crime at around 3:00 pm, they found the body of 23-year-old Doski Azad, a transgender woman, shot twice in the head and the chest.

The tragedy began for Doski when her long-gone brother Chakdar Azad returned to the Kurdistan Region over two weeks ago.

For Doski, who had left her family home over five years ago, her brother’s arrival in Duhok would have felt the same as the numerous threats she had received from her family over the years.

“She left the house five to six years ago, I had not seen her ever since,” Doski’s uncle Dlovan Sadiq told Rudaw English on Tuesday. “Doski made a mistake.”

Living in Duhok as a transgender woman was not easy for Doski. While she had established her own life over the years, working in a salon at Duhok’s Masike neighborhood and living her life as a woman, threats came thick and fast from her family.

Journalist Goran Shakhawan Tweets:

23 years old transgender Doski Azad from Duhok- #Kurdistan Region was killed by their brother who lives abroad. According to local reports their brother solely came back to kurdistan to murder Doski because of his gender change.

10:45 AM · Jan 31, 2022

Bob Satawake Tweets:

#DoskiAzad was a human being and was murdered for being human. @mklavers81

washingtonblade.com

U.S. condemns so-called honor killing of trans Kurdish woman

Doski Azad's brother shot her on Jan. 28.

7:24 AM · Feb 4, 2022

Miss Trans Global Tweets:

PLEASE HELP US AMPLIFY THIS STORY BY SHARING HER STORY/PICTURE OR THIS POST WITH THE FOLLOWING: #JusticeforDoskiAzad #SayHerName #WeWouldNotBeErased
Her name is Doski Azad, a make-up artist who was murdered in a so called 'honour killing' by her evil brother, Chakdar Azad!

6:35 AM · Feb 4, 2022

Violence is all over. You just have to marvel over the hate expressed -- whether it's a US president killing children or a brother killing his own sister.

What did he think he was doing when he murdered her? Did he think he was 'saving' her? How much hatred did he have inside himself to kill Doski? Like many victims, she had taken herself out of the orbit of those who could hurt her. She'd restarted her own life elsewhere which had to have been hard for her. But even that wasn't enough. The family wouldn't accpet her and even her moving away wasn't enough. The hatred was so intense that nothing would ever be enough. So she was killed.

Her murder, the murders of those children? I don't see a lot of difference. Innocent people should not be targets. That should be the no-brainer. In a better world, maybe it would be.

The following sites updated:

Friday, February 4, 2022

Moses J. Mosely

Earlier this week, CNN noted:

Moses J. Moseley, who portrayed one of the zombies on "The Walking Dead," has died, his talent manager Gail Tassell confirmed to CNN Tuesday.

He was 31.

"We are heartbroken by his loss and he will forever be in our hearts and deeply missed," Tassell told CNN. "He was a very beautiful person and an extremely talented actor. There really are no words to express the tragic loss of Moses. We just absolutely loved him."

Tassell said Moseley's death is currently being investigated after he went missing recently.

Moseley was a young actor. Here's his filmography from WIKIPEDIA:

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	Joyful Noise	Club Goer	Uncredited
2012	Trouble with the Curve	Baseball Fan Antwan McCheese	Uncredited
2012-2015	The Walking Dead	Walker / Mike / Pet Walker	6 episodes
2013	The Internship	Googler	Uncredited
2013	The Hunger Games: Catching Fire	District 11 citizen	Uncredited
2014	Dysfunctional 2014	Jimmy
2014	The Lockhavens Show	Tito Moses
2016	Loose Screws	Dre
2016	Homicide Hunter: Lt. Joe Kenda	Keith Andrews	1 episode
2016	Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories	Steven
2017	Attack of the Southern Fried Zombies	Robbie	^[11]
2017	The Grindhouse Radio	Himself	1 episode
2017	Doll Murder Spree	Jeremy Winters
2018	Evidence of Innocence	Young Richard Miles	1 episode
2019	American Soul	Black man Running	1 episode
2019	Queen of the South	Tic Toc	1 episode
2019	Watchmen	Usher	1 episode
2020	Hank	Gabriel

I saw his photo this morning and he looks like my cousin Alex. That's what caught my eye (I'm sorry, I have not registered him previously). From TMZ:

The family of 'Walking Dead' actor Moses J. Moseley does not think he committed suicide ... they believe he was kidnapped and murdered.

Moses' sister, Teerea Kimbro, tells TMZ ... everyone who was close to Moses knew he loved life and she believes with all her heart he was kidnapped and then killed 3 days later.

We broke the story ... law enforcement sources told us Moses' body was found in Georgia Wednesday and cops were investigating his death as a possible suicide.

But, Moses' sister says he'd booked a taping for the Monday before his body was found but never showed up ... something she says he would never do. She went on to say he loved where his career was heading and they were planning big things in the near future.

Online, I stopped scrolling through headlines when I saw his photo because he looks like my cousin. And I read the article and thought I'd note it here. For his sister who wants answer and deserves them.

Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Thursday, February 3, 2022. Is Joe Biden bound and dtermined to go down as one of the worst presidents in history?

Tucker Carlson.

The above. Jen Psaki is not to blame for being a whore. The role of White House spokesperson is a whore position that's only ogtten more whorish with each administration.

That said, she needs to grasp that it is her not her job -- or anyone in the White House t-- to police podcasts. They need to shut the f**k up. I get it, she doesn't want to talk about real issues. If she prefers nonsense, should we discuss other topcis? Abortions paid for by married men in the administrations by women who were not their wives -- never their wives. They had wives. At the time. And then they said, for example, "I'm in Congress, if you have this baby, it's not just my marriage that's over, it's my political career."

Do we want to have those conversations, Jen?

I shrug at most of the nonsense out of Jen's mouth because it's her position. The spoikesperson isn't honest. And, especially under Jay Carney, they became attack dogs on the press. They're kown liars. I don't know the damage that does to your soul but I imagine it's intense.

But Jen's now ready to violate the First Amendment. That's too far -- even for a whore position.

Joe Rogan can say whatever he wants and anyone who wants to listen can listen. Jen Psaki needs to either move on treal issues -- and spin and lie about them -- or we can give her 'trivia' to talk about.

This is another example of the attacks on the press. At its most extreme, it finds Joe Biden persecuting Julian Assange.

As for Harry . . .

You don't know our country, you odn't know our history. We didn't beg you to come here and we don't need your ugly ass telling us what's what.

Some in the UK may be impressed with you. We're not. You've done nothing with your life, Harry. You're semi-famous because of your birth. Stop thinking anyone needs your uneducated thoughts. Want to boss people around? Go back to England. Stay there. In the US, we don't need you and we know you're a spoiled brat who never lived a real life and who doesn't know anything about even the most basic events of life. So be grateful that you were born into money and call that a win.

Or, bettter yet, if you must speak publicly, tell us about your uncle the pedophile.

We're interested in your thoughts on that, Harry.

An American Revolution did not take plae so that a little princess named Harry could escape to the US and lecture us. Princess can go back home if the US makes him so uncomfortable. Can go back home and should go back home. In the meantime, you're a guest, show the manners you were supposedly raised with.

Princess Harry -- a failure in the UK and now failing in the US as well.

Back to Joe Biden, the enemy of a free press. He continues his persecution of Julian Assange. The world is watching. The whole world sees Julian being targeted for telling the truth. The whole world watches as Democratic Joe Biden persecutes. He mars not just his own image throughout the world but that of the Democratic Party's as well. This is lasting damage and it is global. Exactly what does Joe think he's accomplishing?

THEN 24 reports:

A motion supported by around 60 members of all parties in the French parliament calls for asylum to be granted to the journalist Julian Assange, who has been imprisoned in Great Britain. The National Assembly will vote on the motion on Friday.

On Friday, France’s National Assembly will debate and vote on a motion to grant asylum to journalist Julian Assange, who is being held in Britain. Launched at the end of October 2021, the motion is supported by around 60 French MEPs from all political parties. The proposal is supported by Cédric Villani (Groupe Écologie démocratie solidarité), Jean Lassalle (Groupe Libertés et territoires), François Ruffin (La France insoumise) and Jennifer de Temmerman from Macron’s La République en Marche party.

The world is watching and Joe Biden is going down in history as we speak. It won't be a historical entry of praise. He's the man who persecuted journalist Julian Assange. That will not be forgotten. Joe could order all charges dropped and save his own image -- maybe even be seen as a hero. But he appears to want to be despised for hundreds of years to come. He wants the name "Joe Biden" to be met with curses and hoots of laughter.

At Swathmore's PHOENIX, Tarang Saluja notes:

On Dec. 10, 2021 (which was ironically international human rights day), the U.K.’s high court ruled that Julian Assange may be extradited to face trial in the U.S. and on Jan. 24, Assange won the right to appeal against the extradition. Assange’s team will now appeal to the Supreme Court in early February to see if he can be saved from the talons of the US government. The case against Julian Assange began when Wikileaks published information provided by U.S. Army Intelligence Analyst and whistleblower Chelsea Manning. Documents from Manning, including the Afghanistan War Diary and Guantanamo Files, revealed embarrassing and atrocious details of misconduct and deception by US military officials. One of the most horrific leaks was the extremely disturbing Collateral Murder video which uncloaked how U.S. military pilots murdered two journalists when they opened fire without provocation and further fired at unarmed adults and children who came to help the wounded. This humiliating and shameful experience for the U.S. national security state triggered a thirst for revenge which has made the crude destruction of one man’s life an instrument for assaulting the freedom of our press. If Assange, after being systematically abused by many so-called democratic countries and misrepresented by media stenographers for national security ghouls, is prosecuted with an indictment that criminalizes typical journalist activities based on the ill-defined term “national defense information,” it will deeply chill investigative reporting on the most secretive, unaccountable institutions in the U.S. and set a precedent for the violation of press freedom.

[. . .]

A shocking report also revealed that the CIA, unable to tolerate the leak of Vault 7 in 2017, had plotted to murder Assange by abducting and then assassinating him in a London shootout. This plot complemented the 2020 revelations that the CIA had a Spanish security firm spy on Assange and his fiance, Stella Morris, extensively. They went as far as using cameras and microphones to spy on meetings Assange had with his lawyers, tracking both Morris and her mother, and trying to steal their baby’s pacifier and diaper to do a DNA test.

Even though these shameful details reveal the danger U.S. officials pose to Assange, the U.S. has continued the extradition process, providing a flimsy assurance that they would not apply Special Administrative Measures or place Assange in a supermax prison unless Assange gives them a reason to decide otherwise. This is a condition that can be easily abused. However, the high court responded by ruling that Assange may be extradited, paving the path for his prosecution in the U.S. Eastern District Court of Virginia. As the Eastern District Court is near the Pentagon and CIA, the jury pool is far more sympathetic towards intelligence agents, and therefore it is unlikely that Assange will be acquitted if he is extradited to the U.S. Shortly after the ruling, it was revealed Assange had a stroke on Oct. 27, which was the first day of the high court appeal hearing, and Morris attributes this to his poor treatment and stressful experience during the extradition battle. Even if the CIA couldn’t personally kill Assange, he has been systematically abused to the point where there are legitimate fears he could die by illness or suicide. (It is noted on the Useful Idiots (42:30 – 43:30) podcast that Assange himself has clearly expressed he will not come back to the US alive because of what he expects to face here.) Recently, he has been given permission to appeal the decision that he can be extradited, and his legal team is currently working on that.

The astonishing part of this twisted political saga is the behavior of many mainstream media outlets. As Assange is being indicted on uncorroborated charges for the very activities which investigative journalists engage with all the time, this trial has massive implications for the freedom of the press. However, mainstream media has mainly focused on contributing to the smear campaign against Assange. When Assange’s asylum was revoked, plenty of mainstream outlets, with an almost sick glee, reported extensively on allegations of “dirty,” unhygienic behavior. These same outlets never bothered to examine the change in Ecuadorian political leadership and the political motivations of Ecuadorian officials making these claims. Furthermore, they parrotted alarmist claims from national security officials about how Assange’s actions were irresponsible and dangerous, despite the fact that the government cannot prove that any harm was done to its sources and that their favored whistleblower of the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsburg, also argued that Assange’s actions are in the public interest.

Joe Biden is speeding on his way to being considered one of the worst presidents ever. He could have stayed 'retired.' Most people would have ignored Hunter Biden if that had happened. They would have ignored how 'working class Joe' became a millionaire on the taxpayer's dime. He would have been the drunk uncle that you wanted to believe was basically a good guy at heart.

Instead, he's now someone who threatnes journalists, who can't handle the economy, who can't respond to COVID . . .

In fact, maybe Jen and Joe need to use that anger and malice they keep aiming at Joe Rogan and focus it instead on actually addressing COVID. That would mean firing Fauci, of course, something Joe was told to do the first week after he was sworn in. Wasn't smart enough to do it that week. Hasn't been smart enough since.

The dottering old fool.

I have no idea if Donald Trump plans to run for president again or, if he does plan to run, whether he could get a nomination (from the GOP or any other party). But Joe's certainly worked hard to build a case for Donald. Where are the stimulus checks, Joe? What the hell have you done for the American people? Gifted them with inflation?

He's an abject failure. Ray McGovern (ANTIWAR.COM) notes:

The leaked text (to Spain’s El Pais) of Washington’s response to Russia’s December security proposals augurs well for an eventual peaceful denouement on Ukraine. The U.S. response may still seem to be only half a loaf, but includes an appetizing sweetener – verification.

Washington’s "non-paper" response directly addresses Putin’s chief concern. (Spoiler for any new readers of antiwar.com: It is not what you are probably thinking; it is not Putin’s reportedly insatiable lust to get NATO to sign a piece of paper banning membership for Ukraine; that’s the other half-loaf, and it has become rather stale – as well as moot.)

Rather, Putin’s primary worry has long been that missile launchers now deployed in Romania and soon, if not already, in Poland (ostensibly for anti-missile defense) can accommodate Tomahawk cruise missiles with ranges that put Russia’s strategic forces in jeopardy. Putin has voiced that concern loudly for years.

For example, after the US-orchestrated coup in Kiev in Feb. 2014, Putin explained publicly that US/NATO plans to deploy ABM systems around Russia’s western periphery were an "even more important factor" in Moscow’s decision to annex Crimea than the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO. (For one particularly telling example, readers are invited to view a short clip showing Putin’s frustration six years ago at his inability to impress upon Western reporters the urgency of the "ABM" missile emplacements.)

At Tuesday’s press conference, Putin began with a reminder that Russia had been "conned" when the West promised in 1990 not to move NATO one inch eastward. Putin then pointed out that, after the US withdrew from the AMB Treaty:

"Now anti-ballistic missiles are deployed in Romania and are being set up in Poland. … These are MK-41 launchers that can launch Tomahawks. In other words, they are no longer just counter-missiles, and these assault weapons can cover thousands of kilometers of our territory. Isn’t that a threat to us?"

What about similar deployment to Ukraine? The U.S. has already agreed not to do that. Western media largely missed this, but Russia’s readout of the Dec. 30 telephone conversation between Biden and Putin included this:

“… Joseph Biden emphasized that Russia and the US shared a special responsibility for ensuring stability in Europe and the whole world and that Washington had no intention of deploying offensive strike weapons in Ukraine.” [Emphasis added.]

Smoke That Peace Pipe Bury Those Tomahawks

The US "non-paper" revealed yesterday by El Pais, was labeled "confidential", and small wonder. Clearly, the Biden administration did not want its concession on inspection, for example, to leak. It will come as a shock for those predicting (some of them actually hoping for) the worst. Washington’s non-paper expresses willingness to discuss "a transparency mechanism to confirm the absences of Tomahawk cruise missiles at … sites in Romania and Poland." In other words, verification; which has worked well in the past – with the INF Treaty, for example, which saw the entire class of intermediate- and short-range missiles destroyed.

Nor is it surprising that the US asked the Russians (and everyone else) to keep its "non-paper" secret. The Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence-Media-Academia-Think-Tank (MICIMATT) complex will be up in arms, so to speak. Not to mention Raytheon, which makes and sells the Tomahawks (at $2 million each). See, for example: Top Weapons Companies Boast Ukraine-Russia Tensions Are a Boon for Business.

In Iraq, no political news. Still no government. October 10th was election day. If you really wanted to stop ISIS, you wouldn't drag your feet about foriming a government.

We'll wind down with this from Senator Bill Cassidy's office:

WASHINGTON – Today, the United States Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee (SVAC) unanimously passed legislation to offer Post-9/11 combat veterans, including those suffering from conditions caused by toxic exposures, such as burn pits, access to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care.

U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Jerry Moran (R-KS), and Jon Tester (D-MT) led the committee in introducing the Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act yesterday.

“Veterans should not be denied health care because of federal bureaucracy. We made a commitment to these men and women,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Our bipartisan bill honors veterans’ service and expands VA health care for those exposed to toxic substance. Today is a step forward in fulfilling that commitment.”

“Post-9/11 veterans are the newest generation of American heroes to suffer from toxic exposures encountered during military service,” said Senator Moran. “The Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act is an important first step to make certain our veterans receive the care they need as a result of their service. I’m urging my colleagues to read our bill, to grow their understanding of this complex challenge, and to join our committee—every single member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee—in passing this bill to get one step closer to providing care and relief on one of the most pressing challenges facing veterans today.”

“Today, we took a critical step toward fulfilling our obligations to toxic-exposed veterans with our bipartisan Health Care for Burn Pit Veterans Act,” said Senator Tester. “This bill will connect more Post-9/11 veterans with the VA care they’ve earned to treat seen and unseen wounds of war, while moving the ball forward on addressing toxic exposure in the comprehensive way our veterans deserve. This is a necessary step in doing right by our nation’s veterans, and I urge my Senate colleagues from both sides of the aisle to join us in passing this critical legislation that’ll help us deliver on that promise.”

This bill will now go to the full Senate for consideration.

###

The following sites updated:

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

HOME TEAM

Watched HOME TEAM Monday night on NETFLIX.

HOME TEAM?

I hadn't heard a word of it. I just pulled up NETFLIX and was hoping there was something brief -- like 30 minutes -- that I could watch while I did some pre taxes work.

The main thing on the home page was HOME TEAM -- a film starring Kevin James (KING OF QUEENS). It looked interesting so I streamed it.

It was a really good movie. I only laughed out loud once. It's a family comedy. I was working on my taxes, remember. It may be much funnier than I saw. I'll have to watch it again for that.

But it was a really moving film.

Kevin's the coach for the Saints and takes them to the Superbowl and then a scandal gets him put on suspension. In that time, he goes back to Texas and tries to get close to his son. He ends up coaching his son's football team.

And it goes to his head and his own son has to confront him.

It was a really solid film. And it's probably very funny. Again, I was gathering receipts and making sure I had everything I needed for filing my taxes. And that's not fun. So I wasn't in the mood for a comedy, I'm sure.

But it was a really good movie. Kevin was really good in it and he created a character that was new and different from what I'm used to seeing him play. I strongly recommend you see it.

Be sure to check out Ava and C.I.'s "TV: Choices and realities."

Going out with C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, February 1, 2022. US President Joe Biden continues to persecute Julian Assange, greed and hypocrisy fueld the attacks on SPOTIFY, Nouri al-Maliki remains a big player in Iraq and much more.

Starting with Julian Assange who remains persecuted by US President Joe Biden for the 'crime' of providing sunlight in a democracy. Julian exposed the War Crimes that the US government was covering up and, as a result, he is persecuted. Journalism is not a crime.

From RING OF FIRE, here's the transcript to the above video:

Mike Papantonio: Julian Assange has been granted the opportunity to appeal his extradition to the US, to the UK’s highest court. Thank goodness. Here’s what this, this story. I, every, you know my, you know my angle on this story is here we have these liberal snowflake types that used to love Assange when he was disclosing that the CIA was, was, was spying on us, or when he talked about mass surveillance, or when he talked about disclosing drone killings where we were using drones to kill people, or when he disclosed financials, where people are keeping money offshore. He was their hero. He was the snow, he was the snowflake liberal hero. Then what happens? They blame him for the Hillary loss, Hillary lost because she’s just incompetent. But they blame him and now all of a sudden he’s a villain. What’s your take on it?

Farron Cousins: I, I, I mean, the man has already spent essentially nine years locked up, right. You know, through his time in the Ecuadorian embassy, he has now been in prison for going on three years in conditions that even, you know, international human rights groups have said, what’s happening to him over in the UK right now is torture. There is no question, this is torture, what’s happening to this man. And they’re trying to lock him up because all he did was publish the documents from other individuals as an outlet. You know, outlets have all kinds of privileges here in the United States, but we don’t want to give it to him because he exposed the secrets about how horrible the government really can be across, you know, Democrat and Republican administrations.

Mike Papantonio: But Hillary takes him and he, Hillary wraps him around Russia, wraps him around this is the only reason I lost the election because of Assange.

Farron Cousins: The Podesta emails.

Mike Papantonio: And all the liberal snowflakes buy into it. Never ask the question, what did he do to disclose what was going on in this country? That never would’ve, it’s just like, it’s just like, it’s just like Snowden. It, it’s, it’s just like Manning. These people, or Dan, Daniel Ellsberg. So they’re villains? They’re villains because he takes, he didn’t intend to destroy Hillary’s election. She destroyed herself. I think she’s gonna do it again, right?

Farron Cousins: Yeah. It’s actually looking like that. And an important thing to remember is that after WikiLeaks published those Podesta emails that made him, you know, hated with the Democrats, her poll numbers didn’t move. Her poll numbers did not move downward in a real negative way till late October, when Comey came out and did his press conference. You can see it correct, you know, absolute clear as day correlation. It wasn’t because of him.

Mike Papantonio: Yeah.

Farron Cousins: And we all need to understand that these attacks on him, if they are successful and unfortunately they, they probably will be, it’s not gonna end with him. They’re not gonna say good. We got him. This is all of journalism that is at risk right now.

Mike Papantonio: Totally.

At THE HILL, James C. Goodale notes:

As the lead attorney for the New York Times in the “Pentagon Papers” case in 1971, I’ve been doing a slow burn ever since over the government’s behavior in that instance: lies, disregard of court rules, arrogance, destruction of documents. All of this was brought to mind earlier this week when a British court hinted in the Julian Assange case that the U.S. government has acted in the same way once again.

It asked Britain’s supreme court to determine the appropriateness of a late filing by the government that completely undercut a ruling that Assange could NOT be extradited to the U.S. This followed British trial court Judge Vanessa Baraitser, who was hearing Assange’s extradition case, ruling that Assange might commit suicide if held in a U.S. prison in solitary confinement under what is called Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) and, so, he could not be extradited.

As soon as she announced her decision, the U.S. government filed assurances that Assange would not be held in that kind of detention, although it reserved the right to revoke the assurance if circumstances changed.

The judge was unmoved by this assurance, but she was reversed on appeal. The U.K.’s supreme court has now asked to consider the timeliness of this filing.

I do not believe the U.S. government’s assurances are worth the paper on which they have been written. Its behavior in this case has been rampant. Most outrageously, the CIA discussed a plot to kidnap Assange from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he was holed up, and to kill him. The CIA also tapped into conversations in the Ecuadorian Embassy, including those with Assange’s lawyers.

There is not much question whether all of this is true. There was testimony about it in open court, and Mike Pompeo, the CIA director at the time and later secretary of State during the Trump administration, has conceded that there is “some truth” in the foregoing.

I do not pretend to be particularly familiar with the extradition laws of the U.K. But common sense tells me that you deliver highly important documents about a case — such as government assurances — before the case begins, not after it has been decided. U.K. counsel representing the U.S. disagrees, saying he can deliver documents when he wants and if he loses the appeal, he will start the extradition proceedings all over again.

This is the very same arrogance that was on display in the Pentagon Papers case, in which then-U.S. Solicitor General Erwin Griswold said the usual rules of evidence did not apply. His view of the law manifested itself in his introduction of new evidence in the case anytime the government was so moved. The claims were always extravagant: Publication of the new evidence would be a disaster for the country’s national security, etc., etc. They never were. Indeed, most of them turned out to be previously published.

As Joe Biden continues to persecute Julian Assange, he seems unaware that the world is watching. And, no, the world is not siding with Joe. EURO NEWS reports:

Four French MPs are pushing for Julian Assange to be offered asylum in France amid the WikiLeaks founder’s ongoing fight against extradition from the UK to the US.

Jennifer De Temmerman, Jean Lassalle, Cedric Villani and Francois Ruffin are due to speak at a press conference in Paris on 1 February where they will explain why Assange -- currently in prison in the UK -- should be given sanctuary in France.

THE CONNEXION explains, "The proposal highlights comments from France’s Minister of Justice Eric Dupont-Moretti, who qualified the 175-year sentence Assange is facing as 'undeserving and unbearable,' as well as comments from President Emmanuel Macron who stated that 'all liberties should be protected'.''

DECRYPT covers a new project supporting Julian:

On the heels of his highly successful "Merge" NFT drop on Gemini-backed NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway, celebrated digital artist "Pak" announced yesterday a collaboration with WikiLeaks to launch a line of NFTs that will support the Wau Holland Foundation.

Founded in 2003 and named after the co-founder of Europe's largest association of hackers, the Germany-based Wau Holland has raised millions in donations for WikiLeaks.

"They support freedom of communication and through their moral courage project Julian Assange's defense," Gabriel Shipton, film producer and brother of Julian Assange, tells Decrypt.

FAD adds:

Pak is famous for his NFT sale of the artwork Mass hosted by Nifty Gateway which in theory made him the most expensive living artist, knocking Jeff Koons off the top spot.

In the curiously designed sale, which brought in $91.8 million, 28,000 buyers bought 266,445 units of a Pak artwork that could, in theory, be combined into a single NFT owned by a single buyer worth the eye-popping, multimillion-dollar total.

Julian Assange is an Australian editor, publisher and founder of WikiLeaks. Earlier, the US charged him with hacking government computers and espionage after he obtained and published hundreds of thousands of classified documents between 2010 and 2011. However, Assange won the right to ask the Supreme Court to block his extradition to the US, allowing his lawyers 14 days to make their case.

The silence many in the US have on Julian is telling.

Let's turn to greedy musicians. Money, money, money makes the world go round, Joni Mitchell wrote/confressed. Yesterday, I noted that if she's calling for censorship for past actions, she needs to apologize for wearing Blackface on the cover of her 1977 album. An idiot e-mails this site (common_Ills@yahoo.com) to tell me she's not in Blackface "on the cover with thoset wo men."

Idiot.

That's Joni in Blackface. The largest person in the photo is Joni dressed as a man and in Blackface. I'm sorry you're too stupid to grasp that and that you're such an idiot that you would e-mail me without checking your facts first.

That's the cover of DON JUAN'S RECKLESS DAUGHTER. The only Joni Mitchell album I've never owned. I refused it when it came out in 1977 because of the cover. Joni thought it was funny. I ddidn't agree. The CD copy was in my home for three days. Actually longer. But the CD with the booklet was left in my home. By accident. I called the man who left it and told him he could come get it or I could send it to him. He'd pick it up, he insisted. He knew why I didn't want it in my home. When we got off the phone, I opened the case, removed the booklet and trashed it. A month or so later, when he finally picked up the CD, he was upset. I told him I did not allow crap like that in my home.

Standards. Some of us have them.

Greed.

David Rovics decides to weigh in. Who? Yeah, exactly. The supposed radical who lives in a veal pen the Democratic Party put him in. He's on Neil Young's side.

Neil and Joni are on the side they are on due to greed. I addressed this last week in the gina & krista round-robin. Joni's always been greedy and always has insisted she's been ripped off. Neil's the same. Turns out, so is David Rovics, "And lots more good music, too, although most of us artists are forced to spend a lot less money on recording albums, given Spotify’s priorities, namely to spend $100 million on a contract with Joe Rogan, rather than paying us for the music on which their platform was built." Good music? David, someone should have told you long ago, you have no talent. You can put words to music. But they say nothing. You don't understand metaphors and a third grader is more poetic than you could ever hope to be. You're not attractive. I don't know what you thought you were going to build a career on? Cheering the Democratic Party? Cher's already done "Happiness is a Thing Called Joe," David.

David wants you to know he worship Neil. He's always worshipped Neil.

Really? I know Neil. I even like Niel. He's no hero. He wasn't a hero when he destroyed Carrie Snodgress. He wasn't a hero in the 80s when he wrapped his arms around Ronald Reagan's policies. He wasn't a hero when he was spouting homophobia about AIDS. I'm confused when he was heroic.

I like Joni but we're talking a greedy and entitled woman.

What did she say about being sued by her housekeeper? That she just barely kicked her?

Grasp that. Don't turn these people into heroes. Love their music. Worship their art. Don't turn them into heroes. They are not.

They are, however, very greedy and that's what's really gotten them riled up. Joe's getting X for his popular podcast and Joni and Neil are acclaimed musicians. They don't sell records. They don't dominate the charts. But they feel they got a raw deal and want to whine.

And let's be very clear that Kat's point about Carly is true. The Neil, Joni axis and all those who are part of it were rampant homophobes. Carly's the only exception. She grew up around artists. She grew up around educated people. It's not off the mark to call Neil a hick or a redneck. And it's not wrong to note his homophobia or that homophobia was ingrained in the singer-songwriter set of that period. Again, Carly had a different upbringing. Outside of her, pretty much anyone you could name made a point to express homophobia and express it publicly. Maybe it's time for a reckoning? Maybe it's time for middle-aged David Rovics to not just admit that he's wasted his life but that he's an idiot for confusing the art with the artist.

Iraq's still not formed a government. A lot of "I think he can, I think he can" articles about Moqtada al-Sadr today. There's also one getting at thet ruth. ABNA reports:

Tense post-election days continue in Iraq. Muqtada al-Sadr as the winner of the October 2021 elections goes on with his tough and exclusionary approach towards the government formation. He has certainly been the top man of the Iraqi politics in recent months, attracting all of the attention to himself. He continues to insist on forming a majority government and shows no intention to walk back from his position.

In the latest comments, al-Sadr, who leads Sadrist Movement, reiterated his previous stances on the cabinet formation. In a televised speech, he openly opposed ex-PM Nour al-Maliki's participation in the new "national majority government." He held that he asked Hadi al-Amiri and Qais al-Khazali, leaders of two large blocs, to join the government but not al-Maliki, a proposal they turned down. The powerful cleric now seems more self-confident in confrontation of his rivals after federal court last week ruled the outcomes of the first session of the parliament were legal and thus not annullable.

To al-Sadr's frustration, however, the Shiite Coordination Framework (SCF), a bloc of Shiite parties excluding Sadrist Movement, insists on al-Maliki's role in forming the next government, and its leading political figures have stated that either al-Maliki will be part of the majority coalition or they will not join the government.

Ali al-Fatlawi, one of the leaders of the Fatah coalition, announced on Friday that the SCF has refused fo join a coalition government with al-Sadr and Sunnis without al-Maliki and informed al-Sadr of the decision. Now more than any other time in the past, Sadr-Maliki differences are on the Iraqi politics surface and this raises questions about the future possibilities and the reason behind al-Sadr's opposition to al-Maliki.

Continuation of differences or unwanted ceasefire

The tension between two leaders in the current situation makes unlikely any agreement and reconciliation between them, and the Sadrists, along with their Sunni and Kurdish allies, intend to form a national majority government, excluding the SCF. But looking at the history of politics and governance in different countries, there is a golden rule that suggests there is no permanent friendship and enmity in politics. Therefore, despite the current differences, it is also possible that a ceasefire takes place between al-Maliki and al-Sadr. A clear example of this is the alliance of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) with the National Freedom Party in Turkey, once political enemies, in 2018. Despite their conflict of views, the two Iraqi political leaders are not unlikely to reconcile.

Though the US press has repeatedly ignored Nouri al-Maliki -- throughout the lead up to the October 10th election and after -- he remains an important player. One of the most important. But, following US coverage, you'd never know it. Could he end up prime minister? I hope not but anything's possible right now and it's amazing how the US media has ignored him.

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