Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Sam Shepard



David Walsh (WSWS) notes:

Playwright, screenwriter, director and actor Sam Shepard died July 27 in Kentucky, reportedly from complications associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 73.
Shepard is best known to contemporary audiences for his appealing work as an actor in various American film productions, including Days of Heaven (1978), Frances (1982) The Right Stuff (1983, for which he earned an Academy Award nomination), Crimes of the Heart (1986), Baby Boom (1987), Steel Magnolias (1989), Thunderheart (1992), The Pelican Brief (1993), Hamlet (2000), Black Hawk Down (2001) and dozens of others.
Shepard specialized in tough-sensitive men, often from rural or Western backgrounds. He brought to the roles intelligence and dry humor. However, when called upon, he could summon up considerable venom and represent the cruelty and callousness of police officials, politicians and federal agents.


As an actor, Sam was the movie-helper. 

He was there usually to be the strong male and they went with him because he didn't demand rewrites.

Left out of the above?

I'd add COUNTRY (with Jessica Lange -- the best of the farm movies -- Sally Field, Sissy Spacek and Jessica Lange did farm movies the same year), SAFE PASSES (he's Susan Sarandon's husband) and SWORDFISH which was a bit of a genre twist for him.

In terms of personal life, I was surprised that David Walsh didn't mention Joni Mitchell.

They got involved during The Rolling Thunder tour and Joni wrote a few songs about him including "Coyote" (from HEJIRA):

No regrets Coyote
We just come from such different sets of circumstance
I'm up all night in the studios
And you're up early on your ranch
You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail
While the sun is ascending
And I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel
There's no comprehending
Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes
And the lips you can get
And still feel so alone
And still feel related
Like stations in some relay
You're not a hit and run driver no no
Racing away
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway

We saw a farmhouse burning down
In the middle of nowhere
In the middle of the night
And we rolled right past that tragedy
Till we turned into some road house lights
Where a local band was playing
Locals were up kicking and shaking on the floor
And the next thing I know
That coyote's at my door
He pins me in a corner and he won't take no
He drags me out on the dance floor
And we're dancing close and slow
Now he's got a woman at home
He's got another woman down the hall
He seems to want me anyway
Why'd you have to get so drunk
And lead me on that way
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway






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

 
Wednesday, August 2, 2017.


Both war profiteer parties are screaming that supporting diplomacy is treason. It was the same during the run-up to attacking Iraq & Libya.





Jill's right.  It's the same old story again and again and again.


And please remember Bully Boy Bush's lies included the lies about diplomacy.


It included the lies regarding weapons inspection.

It included so much.

We need to remember that so we don't come off as stupid as Ellen DeGeneres so recently did as she rushed to normalize him on her talk show.





Dog Eat Dog
It's dog eat dog
I'm just waking up
The dove is in the dungeon
And the white washed hawks
pedal hate and call it love
Dog Eat Dog
Holy hope in the hands of
Snakebite evangelists and racketeers
And big wig financiers

Dog Eat Dog
On prime time crime the victim begs
Money is the road to justice
and power walks it on crooked legs
Prime Time Crime
Holy hope in the hands of
Snakebite evangelists and racketeers
and big wig financiers

Where the wealth's displayed
Thieves and sycophants parade
And where it's made
the slaves will be taken
Some are treated well
In these games of buy and sell
And some like poor beast
Are burdened down to breaking

-- "Dog Eat Dog," written by Joni Mitchell (first appears on her DOG EAT DOG).





Link to headline article



Oh, it's not just a huge number of Britons -- it's a huge number all over the world.


And click here for ridiculous.



Oliver Miles explains to RT that it's not 'fair' for Blair to be prosecuted unless Bully Boy Bush is.

Bully Boy Bush is not a British citizen.

I don't know how Miles believes you allow a case filed by an Iraqi against Bully Boy Bush to go through in a London court.

There's a thing called jurisdiction.

Does Miles not grasp that?

Guess he also doesn't grasp that should the UK allow a case against Tony to go through, there would be pressure on other countries to allow similar actions.

So, in Australia, John Howard might be sued -- Oliver doesn't appear to remember John.

But if there's a chance to nail anyone of them, that chance should be taken.

As for 'fair'?

I believe it was bombed to death somewhere south of Baghdad in 2004.

As for Oliver?

Why is he being brought on?

He's not an expert on Iraq.

Did he protest against the war or speak out against it?

Nope.

He's a jerk who retired from office long before the Iraq War.

He could have spoken out -- he retired in 1996 -- but he chose not to.

Now he wants to say it would be unfair to prosecute only Tony and not Bully Boy Bush (again, the idiot forgets John Howard).

Don't listen to hacks like Oliver.


Meanwhile in Iraq, people talk of politics.




Nay.. nay to Iran in Iraq.. O Mullahs get out.. get out





Nay . . . nay to Iran in Iraq . . .
O Mullahs get out . . . get out
Amid all official, unofficial visits
By Iraqi officials
to Saudi Arabia
Sadr's visit is of
utmost importance,
major indications
Not only of
nature of
Saudi-Iraqi
ties currently
But also nature
of Iran's presence
in Iraq in particular
Sadr's visit
Given his charismatic
presence in Iraqi street
Has prompted all Iraqis
To demand dismantlement of Iranian
subversive project in Baghdad
And to raise three
Nays in face of Mullahs
No to Iran in Iraq, no
to Khamenei regime
No to Iranian theocracy,
no to Persian nationalism
Iraq is Arab state
As network of iran stooges
in iraq is being dismantled
Including Maliki
henchmen, IMIS, others
Let all chant as they
chanted two years ago
Iran . . . out . . . out



Dropping back to Sunday:



: Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman receives Muqtada Al-Sadr, leader of the Sadrist Movement in on Sunday


Again, though the western media ignores it, the political season has already started in Iraq.


Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr is fighting for his vision of Iraq.

Nouri al-Maliki's trip to Russia last week was about him attempting to sell himself as the leader Iraq needs.


Baria Alamuddin (ARAB NEWS) notes:

The past week saw the spectacular implosion of leading Shiite faction the Islamic Supreme Council in Iraq (ISCI). The council was put together in 1982 by Iran. It consisted of Iraqi exiles deployed to fight their own countrymen during the Iran-Iraq war. During this same period — with varying degrees of success — Iran was bankrolling militants in Lebanon, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, intended to forcibly overturn the established orders in those countries.
With ISCI and its armed wing, Badr (previously known as the Badr Brigades), perceived by Iraqis as having treasonously fought on the wrong side during the 1980s war (they were notoriously used by Tehran to torture and interrogate prisoners of war), ISCI was understandably regarded with suspicion when they returned to Iraq in 2003.
Iran spent a small fortune re-establishing ISCI on Iraqi soil. Badr capitalized on its dominance of the Interior Ministry for a wholesale takeover of the security forces. Along with the Islamic Dawa Party (led by former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki from 2006), and Moqtada Al-Sadr’s movement, these Shiite factions and their allies could secure around 50 percent of Parliament seats when Tehran coaxed them to act together.


The implosion is actually Ammar al-Hakim leaving to form National Wisdom.  IFP explains:

All Iraqi factions need to have a relationship with Iran. That is why Ammar Hakim has, in his speeches, thanked Iran for its support and assistance.
So, the new council that he has formed cannot be at odds with Iran; rather, it must be seeking a new atmosphere to secure a better social status. One of the new developments is the establishment of the new so-called “National Wisdom” current [created by Ammar Hakim] with national features which go beyond ethnic and religious lines. This has been one of the principles that new Iraqi parties and Iraqi people have favoured. Therefore, the National Wisdom current may be able to have a trans-religious and trans-ethnic performance. Moreover, some high-profile figures with long executive experience are still members of the ISCI. As already announced, they may be able to play a more constructive role in this arena by presenting their new programs and setting aside dynastic limitations.



That's a pretty important development.

Maybe at some point western news outlets will take the time to notice?





Major openness to in last 6 weeks. Hosted: • PM Abadi in June • Ariji in mid July • Muqtada Sadr today






MIDDLE EAST EYE notes:



In April, Sadr told Middle East Eye that "sectarian" PMUs have no place in Iraq.
Speaking from his home in Najaf, he told MEE that he favoured urgent dialogue with Iraq's Sunni politicians so as to prevent clashes sectarian clashes once the country no longer has a common enemy in IS.
"I'm afraid that the defeat of . . . [Islamic State] is only the start of a new phase. My proposal is inspired by fear of sectarian and ethnic conflict after Mosul's liberation," he said.
"I want to avoid this. I am very proud of Iraq's diversity but my fear is that we may see a genocide of some ethnic or sectarian groups."
Relations between Saudi Arabia and Iraq were severed after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and were only re-established in 2015.
Last month, Iraq's prime minister Haider al-Abadi met King Salman in Saudi Arabia in a bid to strengthen ties between the two countries. 




A curfew has been enforced on Al-Halabsa neighborhood north , no details known yet.





















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