Tuesday, March 16, 2021

The Oscars"

Kat' "Kat's Korner: Judy's good -- but not great -- album" and "Kat's Korner: Hail The Conqueror Nick Jonas" are two incredible pieces of writing.  The first is about Judy Garland's first album for CAPITOL RECORDS, the second is about new albums from Nick Jonas, Bonnie Tyler, Edie Brickell, Boy George, Kings of Leon, Animal Collective and Sia.

The Oscar nominees were announced today.  Not really impressed, honestly.


Sophia Loren should be winning for LA VITA DAVANTI A SE (THE LIFE AHEAD) but she's not even nominated for Best Actress.  Glad Viola Davis got another Oscar nod and made history with it (most nominations for an African-American actress).


I guess it's overdue, long overdue, for Glenn Close to win an Oscar so maybe she'll win this year for Best Supporting Actress but even that doesn't seem like enough to get me to watch the show.


From the Academy Awards website, here are the nominees:


Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees

Riz Ahmed

Sound of Metal

Chadwick Boseman

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Anthony Hopkins

The Father

Gary Oldman

Mank

Steven Yeun

Minari

Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees

Sacha Baron Cohen

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Daniel Kaluuya

Judas and the Black Messiah

Leslie Odom, Jr.

One Night in Miami...

Paul Raci

Sound of Metal

Lakeith Stanfield

Judas and the Black Messiah

Actress in a Leading Role

Nominees

Viola Davis

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Andra Day

The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Vanessa Kirby

Pieces of a Woman

Frances McDormand

Nomadland

Carey Mulligan

Promising Young Woman

Actress in a Supporting Role

Nominees

Maria Bakalova

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Glenn Close

Hillbilly Elegy

Olivia Colman

The Father

Amanda Seyfried

Mank

Yuh-Jung Youn

Minari

Animated Feature Film

Nominees

Onward

Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae

Over the Moon

Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley

Soul

Pete Docter and Dana Murray

Wolfwalkers

Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants

Cinematography

Nominees

Judas and the Black Messiah

Sean Bobbitt

Mank

Erik Messerschmidt

News of the World

Dariusz Wolski

Nomadland

Joshua James Richards

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Phedon Papamichael

Costume Design

Nominees

Emma

Alexandra Byrne

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Ann Roth

Mank

Trish Summerville

Mulan

Bina Daigeler

Pinocchio

Massimo Cantini Parrini

Directing

Nominees

Another Round

Thomas Vinterberg

Mank

David Fincher

Minari

Lee Isaac Chung

Nomadland

Chloé Zhao

Promising Young Woman

Emerald Fennell

Documentary (Feature)

Nominees

Collective

Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana

Crip Camp

Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder

The Mole Agent

Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez

My Octopus Teacher

Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster

Time

Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn

Documentary (Short Subject)

Nominees

Colette

Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard

A Concerto Is a Conversation

Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers

Do Not Split

Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook

Hunger Ward

Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman

A Love Song for Latasha

Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan

Film Editing

Nominees

The Father

Yorgos Lamprinos

Nomadland

Chloé Zhao

Promising Young Woman

Frédéric Thoraval

Sound of Metal

Mikkel E. G. Nielsen

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Alan Baumgarten

International Feature Film

Nominees

Another Round

Denmark

Better Days

Hong Kong

Collective

Romania

The Man Who Sold His Skin

Tunisia

Quo Vadis, Aida?

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Makeup and Hairstyling

Nominees

Emma

Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze

Hillbilly Elegy

Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson

Mank

Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff

Pinocchio

Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti

Music (Original Score)

Nominees

Da 5 Bloods

Terence Blanchard

Mank

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Minari

Emile Mosseri

News of the World

James Newton Howard

Soul

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste

Music (Original Song)

Nominees

Fight For You

from Judas and the Black Messiah; Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas

Hear My Voice

from The Trial of the Chicago 7; Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite

Husavik

from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga; Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson

Io Sì (Seen)

from The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se); Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini

Speak Now

from One Night in Miami...; Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth

Best Picture

Nominees

The Father

David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers

Judas and the Black Messiah

Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers

Mank

Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers

Minari

Christina Oh, Producer

Nomadland

Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers

Promising Young Woman

Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers

Sound of Metal

Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers

Production Design

Nominees

The Father

Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara and Diana Stoughton

Mank

Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale

News of the World

Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan

Tenet

Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas

Short Film (Animated)

Nominees

Burrow

Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat

Genius Loci

Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise

If Anything Happens I Love You

Will McCormack and Michael Govier

Opera

Erick Oh

Yes-People

Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson

Short Film (Live Action)

Nominees

Feeling Through

Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski

The Letter Room

Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan

The Present

Farah Nabulsi

Two Distant Strangers

Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe

White Eye

Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman

Sound

Nominees

Greyhound

Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman

Mank

Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin

News of the World

Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett

Soul

Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

Sound of Metal

Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh

Visual Effects

Nominees

Love and Monsters

Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox

The Midnight Sky

Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins

Mulan

Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram

The One and Only Ivan

Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez

Tenet

Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Nominees

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad

The Father

Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller

Nomadland

Written for the screen by Chloé Zhao

One Night in Miami...

Screenplay by Kemp Powers

The White Tiger

Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Nominees

Judas and the Black Messiah

Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King; Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas

Minari

Written by Lee Isaac Chung

Promising Young Woman

Written by Emerald Fennell

Sound of Metal

Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance

The Trial of the Chicago 7

Written by Aaron Sorkin 


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


Monday, January 15, 2021.  Protests continue in Iraq, AOC tries to justify fake assery with more fake assery, COVID continues to mutate and much more.


Starting with the pandemic, Iran is putting a temporary halt to flights from Iraq.  MENAFM notes, "According to a statement by the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, starting Sunday, Mar. 14 all the flights coming Iraq to the country were halted for one week."  LASTLY adds, "This decision was made on Sundat as a pre-emptive measure to protect the the Iranian citizens against the variant which was first detected in Britain late last year, Xinhua news agency quoted the Organization as saying in a statement."  New variant?  That's right, the virus is mutating.  Which makes US President Joe Biden's remarks last week even more ridiculous.  Niles Niemuth (WSWS) observed:


On May 1, 2003, then President George W. Bush delivered a televised speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln just two months into the bloody invasion of Iraq. Under a banner that read “Mission Accomplished,” Bush proclaimed that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended.” His proclamation was followed by an imperialist occupation that resulted in the deaths of one million Iraqis and nearly 4,500 American soldiers.

US President Joe Biden’s prime time speech Thursday evening, on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic, had a similar character. Striking the pose of kindly old grandfather, Biden presented the pandemic as if it were now under control with the Democratic Party at the helm. He reassured Americans that they are on track to defeat COVID-19, encouraging Americans to “mark our independence from this virus” by gathering with their friends, families and neighbors on July 4.


Biden made these remarks as scientists in the US and around the world are raising the alarm about the need to take action to halt a deadly new wave of the pandemic, as more infections and deadly variants spread and limited global vaccination efforts threaten a “hurricane” surge. However, governments all over the world, including the Biden administration, are removing whatever restrictions are still in place to stop the spread of the virus.

“Look,” Biden declared, “we know what we need to do to beat this virus: Tell the truth.” However, his entire remarks were based on a series of misleading, distorted and outright lying claims.


This morning at WSWS, Bryan Dyne notes:


As the different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus continue to spread, particularly those originating in the United Kingdom, Brazil, and South Africa, reported cases of the coronavirus have again begun to rise.

Since February 20, the number of daily new cases worldwide has increased steadily, from 361,000 cases then, to more than 422,000 cases now, up 17 percent. The increase is being driven in countries across the world. Currently there are more than 22,000 new cases each day in India (an 80 percent increase), just under 25,000 in France (a 24 percent increase), and 22,000 in Italy (an 83 percent increase). The main driver of the new wave is Brazil, where there are at least 66,000 new cases each day (a 36 percent increase) and climbing.

The total number of cases worldwide has now exceeded 120 million, with more than 2,660,000 dead.

Numerous other countries have also seen steady, and in some cases sharp, increases in their case counts, including Chile, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Germany, Iran, Paraguay, Poland and the Philippines. And in the United States, where the decline in cases has largely plateaued, there is still an average of more than 55,000 new reported cases each day.

There is every indication that this new wave, if allowed to continue, will be the worst yet. The previous wave was spurred on by relatively limited school and workplace reopenings, driving the number of new cases each day from just under 300,000 at the beginning of October to 745,000 at the beginning of January. Globally, more than 900,000 people died during that three-month period.


While we're speaking of Joe Biden and the region, let's drop back to that attack last month.  Joe Biden ordered a bombing on Syria.  What did Syria do?  Well, follow the 'logic,' Joe felt that Iran was behind attacks on US interests in Iraq.  So?  So he bombed Syria.  No one ever claimed Joe Biden's bread was fully baked.  The Iranian government now has an official response.  TASNIM NEWS AGENCY reports:


In a letter to the United Nations secretary general, Iran’s UN ambassador dismissed the accusations that Tehran has had a role in recent strikes against the US bases in Iraq.

In the letter to Antonio Guterres and the rotating president of the UN Security Council, Iran's ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi categorically denied his American counterpart's efforts to accuse Iran of supporting the so-called "non-governmental militia groups" in Iraq.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran has not been directly or indirectly involved in any armed attack against any US individual or body in Iraq," he noted.


PRESS TV notes:


In his Sunday letter, Takht-Ravanchi also noted that Iran condemns the US' unlawful attack on 25 February against Iraqi forces along the Syrian border.

"Such dangerous measures, which are wrongly justified based on an arbitrary interpretation of the article 51 of the UN charter, are considered violation of the sovereignty of regional countries, and a symbol of blatant breach of the international law and the UN charter," he noted.

He warned that such attacks only exacerbate the already tense situation of the region, and in effect only serve the interests of terrorist groups in these countries.

The US airstrikes killed one member of the Iraqi resistance forces.

It was US President Joe Biden’s first illegal military action on the Iraqi-Syrian border to target the facilities of PMU fighters.

Observers compared Biden’s militaristic approach to that of his hawkish predecessor, Donald Trump. The attack killed one and wounded four others.


The attack on Syria was called out in Congress by . . .  Senator Tim Kaine.  Not a member of the squad there.  AOC, where was she?  Where is she ever, standing in front of her mirror or a camera trying to look pretty.  She's a Bratz doll nothing else.   Fiorella and Craig take on AOC in CONVO COUCH video below.




"There are only so many hours in a day," she insists.  24, AOC, twenty-four hours.  Is counting that hard for you?  "The more progressives we get, the more progress we get."  Save it for the Bratz movie, Alexandria.  She tries to force her work off on others -- others who aren't in Congress.  And her fans will lap it up but anyone with a thinking brain gasps just what a fake ass she is.  I would love it if she were genuine or had become genuine.  But she never was.  She lied from the start -- including about her background of privilege.  She was a fake ass and we called her out at the beginning.  She remains a fake ass.  I don't know what's more irritating when listening to her speak -- her repeated lies or that a 31-year-old female tries to speak in a little girl voice?  Grow the hell up and members of Congress need to spend less time putting on make up and more time getting off their lazy butts and getting to work.


They're not buying AOC's tired act on Twitter:

This is offensive. This is violence. JHC.
Neutral face
Quote Tweet
The Hill
@thehill
·
Rep. @AOC: "If you care about student debt cancelation it is go time for you. You need to mobilize."


Replying to
@letterandnumb
"Need to mobilize" LOL For what?!?!? The Squad has TONS of power. They aren't using it, well at least not on us. They are the ones that need to mobilize, and start doing the things they promised they would do. Because everytime AOC speaks all I can think of is this...
GIF


The Squad has a ton of progressive power, they are still only a small section of the House, they have no power in the senate and limited in the House.



AOC is a Twitter Warrior. And a proud member of the #FraudSquad.


She just told activists to kick rocks. She isn’t fighting anymore from her end.


The face and hair touching is bizarre


She did more good and a LOT less bad, when she was bartending.
AOC repeat after Me... Medicare For all...... !!!! eND OF CONVERSATION.... Push the Vote you Gaslighting DNC Cheerleader.. dO YOUR JOB... Stop gaslighting Force the Vote...... !!!!!!!
She is busy showing her new haor cut. She is the vain as s**t.



On the subject of fake assery, let's move over to Iraq's government.  THE NEW ARAB notes:


Iraqi citizens and their government have been facing off since October 2019, when protesters demanded 'Isqat al Nezam' - wholesale regime change.

Around this demand a protest movement crystallised, forcing then-prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to resign.

His successor, ex-intelligence chief, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, is seeking a truce, promising early elections scheduled for October 2021 in the hope of quenching protesters' demands.

Kadhimi's promise reads as an admission that the system under his rule is "bent, but not broken," vowing to rescue a structure caving under the weight of 15 years of inaction and poor governance.

It will be a tough sell. Tolerance towards the status quo and commonplace corruption has worn thin. The promise hinges on his ability to prorogue parliament, as the constitution demands, and cross-party consensus.

This is not without risk. Early elections would require parliamentarians to surrender their seats, but the glitter of power may blind their judgment on whether to stand with or against Kadhimi.

Kadhimi's predecessor, Mahdi, made similar promises, but failed to secure full-spectrum political support to prorogue parliament. At the time, bubbling public anger (against misrule) and Mahdi's abandonment by US and Iranian sponsors, reduced his options to nil. The head of the system was replaced, its body unchanged.



The head of the system was replaced, its body unchanged.  Applies to Iraq.  Applies to the US.  It's universal.



Protests continued Saturday in Iraq.  ALMADA reported that protesters in Najaf, on Friday, began calling for Governor Luay al-Yassiry to be dismissed.  Protester Ali al-Dabhawi tells the newspaper that the approximately 3,000 protesters shut down six streets in their protests.  The protests continued on Saturday and ALSUMARIA offerd a photo essayBASRA TODAY Tweeted:


11 injured and 25 people suffocated by tear gas in #Najaf protests. . . . .
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Ali al-Mikdam also Tweeted about the protests:


The security forces are once again suppressing the Najaf protests with excessive force . -According to Al Hakim Hospital: 11 seriously injured and 25 suffocated from tear gas canisters.
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Protests also continued in Nasiriyah where the protesters today, ALSUMARIA reports.  They are demanding a new governor from a list of proposed candidates.


Protests continued Sunday.  Sura Ali (RUDAW) reports:


Violent clashes between protesters and security forces resumed on Sunday in central Iraq’s city of Najaf for a second day in a row, activists confirmed to Rudaw English, calling for the local government’s resignation.

Protesters have for two days gathered near the Najaf governor building, demanding the resignation of the local government for its failure to provide basic services and corruption. Others blocked several of the city’s main streets in the province, burning tires. 

On both days clashes erupted between security forces and the demonstrators, leading to the injuring of dozens, as well as random arrests, activists say.

"The demonstrations will continue until the dismissal of Luay Al-Yasiri [the governor] and his deputies," Najaf activist Saif al-Mansouri told Rudaw English on Sunday, saying they have received no indication from the government that it appears to heed their calls.


In a brief report, AP notes the protesters are "demanding the resignation of the regional governor and his two deputies because of corruption."  BAS NEWS offers a brief report as well.   RT Tweets:


Protesters blocked a highway in #Najaf, demanding the resignation of the regional governor and his two deputies because of corruption Follow our Telegram t.me/rtintl




Najaf was not the only scene of protests in Iraq today.  NRT Tweets:


Protest in Sulaimani to support imprisoned Duhok journalists, activists Decrying interference by parties into judiciary nrttv.com/En/News.aspx?i
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ZHYAN ENGLISH Tweets:


Politicians, journalists and activists on Sunday (March 14) called for the release of Badinan activists and journalists in a protest at Bakhi Gishti public park in Sulaimani. #ZhyanEnglish #PressFreedom #Duhok #Sulaimani #TwitterKurds #Iraq #FreedomofExpression
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As journalist Rasha al-Ageedi notes, this violence in Najaf (security forces shooting at protesters) took  place one week after Pope Francis' visit to the city.   Protests continue today.  BAS NEWS notes:


People took back to the streets on Monday in four provinces in southern Iraq to protest government’s failure in providing basic services.

According to local reports, scores of young men set tires on fire to block a main road in Nasiriyyah, the capital city of Dhi Qar province.

They also closed the mayor’s office in Jabab subdistrict of the province.

Elsewhere in Basra, Wasit, and Missan provinces, protesters including farmers and university graduates, staged demonstration to call for better public services and jobs.


Ryan Grim is supposedly back on the Tara Reade beat.  He's not.  He's a pathetic embarrassment.  Tara Reade did not lie about her academic background.  The proof, as we noted long ago, was no charges were brought against her.  As we noted in real time, they wouldn't be.  A Democratic Party member in California pretended she was guilty of something and said so allowing the press to run with it and pretend like she'd been discredited.  As I noted in real time, the same trick was done in 2008 to silence a Barack Obama critic.  (Republicans just keep you in prison without visitors -- ask Dan Quayle's alleged pot dealer.)  Yeah, in 2008, a man who knew his way around a cock (yeah, piss me off and I'll out some non-talking points that have been kept hidden) went after a critic of Barack who was due to hold a press conference.  The press immediately dropped any coverage and any plans to coverage.  And no arrests ever came from that either.  It's just what they float to tear apart someone's character and they know no one will ever hold them accountable.


Kat' "Kat's Korner: Judy's good -- but not great -- album" and "Kat's Korner: Hail The Conqueror Nick Jonas" went up Sunday.



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