PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE aired on FXM over the weekend. It's a Brian De Palma movie.
When I was in college, on campus, every Friday night, they'd have a movie and it would be on this huge screen. One of the films was Clint Eastwood's IN THE LINE OF FIRE -- which is how I saw that film for the first time. I love that film. But it would be this mix of new-ish films and older ones.
And I'd never even heard of PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE until I saw it in college.
It's a film that came out in 1994 and was directed by Brian De Palma. Paul Williams is the star and I doubt you've heard of anyone else in the film -- though maybe Jessica Harper.
He's like a Phil Spector music madman. And he steals the music of a man, destroys him, has him thrown in prison, etc. That man becomes the Phantom and wants revenge.
Gerrit Graham plays Beef and plays him very well. I wish he'd had a slew of follow up roles because he's very good in the role. Jessica Harper can sing but I'm not sure she can act in the film.
But it's a Brian De Palma film so it's a visual stunner and it's also, I believe, a really great movie. When we had it on our Friday movie night on campus, the film history professor gave an into before the movie explaining it was reviled by many in real time but people were starting to re-examine it. It's a solid film, even a great one.
My favorite Brian De Palma film? That's hard. Probably BLOW OUT.
But I also love FEMME FATALE, DRESSED TO KILL, CARRIE, SISTERS, THE UNTOUCHABLES, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, BODY DOUBLE, SCARFACE, REDACTED and RAISING CAIN.
Monday, April 27, 2020. Support for Tara Reade builds, calls for Joe
Biden to drop out continue, one of the fallen is remembered in
California, protests continue in Iraq, and much more.
Ryan Grim has a scoop at THE INTERCEPT: In interviews with The Intercept, Reade also mentioned that her
mother had made a phone call to “Larry King Live” on CNN, during which
she made reference to her daughter’s experience on Capitol Hill. Reade
told The Intercept that her mother called in asking for advice after
Reade, then in her 20s, left Biden’s office. “I remember it being an
anonymous call and her saying my daughter was sexually harassed and
retaliated against and fired, where can she go for help? I was
mortified,” Reade told me. Reade couldn’t remember the date or the year of the phone call, and
King didn’t include the names of callers on his show. I was unable to
find the call, but mentioned it in an interview with Katie Halper,
the podcast host who first aired Reade’s allegation. After the podcast
aired, a listener managed to find the call and sent it to The Intercept. On August 11, 1993, King aired a program titled, “Washington: The
Cruelest City on Earth?” Toward the end of the program, he introduces a
caller dialing in from San Luis Obispo, California. Congressional
records list August 1993 as Reade’s last month of employment with
Biden’s Senate office, and, according to property records, Reade’s
mother, Jeanette Altimus, was living in San Luis Obispo County. Here is
the transcript of the beginning of the call:
KING: San Luis Obispo, California, hello. CALLER: Yes, hello. I’m wondering what a staffer would do besides go
to the press in Washington? My daughter has just left there, after
working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her
problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the
press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him. KING: In other words, she had a story to tell but, out of respect for the person she worked for, she didn’t tell it? CALLER: That’s true.
King’s panel of guests offered no suggestions, and instead the
conversation veered into a discussion of whether any of the men on set
would leak damaging personal information about a rival to the press.
Tara Reade has accused Joe Biden of assault. Along with telling her
brother and a friend in real time (both have verified they were told in
1993 when the assault happened), Tara had stated she told her mother who
has since passed away. Now we have the above.
The allegations are not going away and Tara's case is only getting stronger.
Daniel Ponti (SLATE) explains: A video that has recently come to light from 1993 appears to show the
mother of Tara Reade, who has accused former Vice President Joe Biden of
sexual assault, calling the Larry King Show to discuss problems her daughter experienced while working for “a prominent senator.” The Intercept was first to report on the video and the conservative Media Research Group later quickly published the relevant clip. Reade then confirmed
that it was her mother’s voice on the call. “I’ve been crying because I
haven’t heard my mom’s voice in a few years. So it’s been a little
emotional,” Reade told CNN. “I miss her. I miss her voice.” Reade’s mother died in 2016.
Liz Peek is a name familiar to the community when wowOwow was an active
website (Women On the Web, was what the site was known on). She weighed in on Tara Reade this morning: The liberal media has naturally tried to minimize coverage of the
Reade accusation; she leveled the charge on March 25, but most major
news outlets ignored it until April 12, fully 19 days later. Criticized
over the delay, the New York Times’ editor Dean Baquet explained that
the paper wanted to have enough information about the charge that
readers could “understand” the story. But the Times even
edited its own story about Reade. It originally reported that, “The
Times found no pattern of sexual misconduct by Mr. Biden, beyond the
hugs, kisses and touching that women previously said made them
uncomfortable.” In later editions it dropped the last (and
most damaging) part of the sentence. Baquet explained, “The
campaign thought that the phrasing was awkward and made it look like
there were other instances in which he had been accused of sexual
misconduct.” Since when do newspapers run a story by a “campaign” for
approval? Nonetheless, the new video has given Reade’s
allegations new legs. In part, that is because Joe Biden has a troubling
history of inappropriately touching women – a record his backers
ascribe to his “folksy” manner and old-fashioned “tactile” politics. But,
one also wonders whether Democrats are beginning to face up to what
many have seen for months: Biden is not a strong candidate.
In a recent interview with Vice President Biden, CNN’s Anderson Cooper
discussed a wide array of topics, but one issue that was not addressed
is the allegations aimed against him, This, Tara Reade says, made her
lose respect for the journalist. Speaking to Fox News,
Reade expressed that “it’s shocking that this much time has passed and
that he is an actual nominee for president and they’re not asking the
questions.” Reade added that Biden has “been on ‘Anderson Cooper’ at least twice where he was not asked.” She further questioned, “if this were Donald Trump, would they treat it the same way? If this were Brett Kavanaugh, did they treat it the same way?”
Reade concluded that “it’s politics and political agenda playing a role in objective reporting and asking the question.”
CNN? They finally mentioned Tara on air Saturday. As Ava and I explained in "TV: Journalism isn't supposed to be melodramatic or provoke belly laughs,"
they did so because Ryan Grim reported Friday on the clip from the 1993
episode of CNN's LARRY KING LIVE where Tara's mother called in. But
they forgot to note that Ryan Grim had reported on the clip and instead
acted as though CNN had just suddenly discovered the clip all on their
own.
The Charmed actress may perhaps not feel like a heavyweight
who could inflict injury on a big political vocation. But because
previous Biden staffer Tara Reade alleged that the prospect sexually
assaulted her almost 3 decades ago, McGowan has turn into a 1-woman
military contacting out the hypocrisy of Hollywood and media elites, in
particular Alyssa Milano, who have backed the #MeToo and #TimesUp
actions but are nevertheless supporting the presumptive Democrat
nominee. The actress has now added her voice to the #DropOutBiden groundswell,
demanding this weekend in an excoriating community statement that the
applicant stop the race. “Fellow citizens, use your electric power, use
your social media voice,” McGowan tweeted late Saturday. “Tweet at Joe
Biden to close his marketing campaign efficient right away.” In her assertion, McGowan called out the mainstream media, women’s
groups, LGBTQ information retailers, Oprah Winfrey, and even feminists
like Gloria Steinem for their continued backing of Biden’s marketing
campaign.
As support builds for Tara, the people notice not just the silence of
the media and various celebrities but also the silence of Joe Biden
himself. March 24th is when Katie Halper's interview aired with Tara.
It's now April 27th and Joe Biden has refused to make any statement to
the American people on this topic. He has hid behind campaign staff --
hid behind female campaign staff.
Joe hides a lot. He's got a lot to evade -- that includes the
destruction of Iraq and the many dead. 34-year-old Diego Pongo was
killed in Iraq March 8th. Pongo was a Gunnery Sergeant in the Marines.
WTHR reports: Due to coronavirus restrictions on large gatherings, his family couldn't honor his life with a formal funeral or memorial. After
Diego’s brother Andres and his wife Andrea posted online asking for
support from the community, the city showed up in a big way. Thousands of people drove past the family's home to pay their respects to the fallen hero. Numerous emergency vehicles cruised by the home to honor Sergeant Pongo's life, too.
The Iraq protests are not a flash in the
pan. Rather, they represent a historical turning point for a new
generation that has tired of government ineptitude, politicized
sectarianism, corruption, and an unequal society. As long as these
symptoms persist in Iraqi society, so will the protests. The movement
has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic however, though its spirit
continues in smaller sit-ins in Tahrir Square in Baghdad and smaller
gatherings in Nasiriyya and Basra. Those still holding the fort are
helping to sanitize public spaces and distribute provisions to those in
need. The message from these camps remains resolute: Once the threat
from the coronavirus is contained the revolution will be back bigger and
stronger.
Yet two threats represent the greatest
impediments to the movement’s survival. First, repression by the state
and militias continues, including the targeting of activists and
assassinations. Only recently a female activist was killed in Nasiriyya.
Second, the unknown longevity of the coronavirus will test the ability
of the movement to maintain its momentum. For now at least the protests
have certainly been stalled, but they most certainly have not been
silenced.
Meanwhile the third prime minister-designate this year, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, struggles as much as the previous two. MIDDLE EAST MONITOR ONLINE reports:
Shia parties in Iraq have rejected the ministerial nominations of Prime Minister-Designate Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed
reported on Sunday. The London-based website said that Al-Kadhimi had
agreed to at least 12 ministerial nominees proposed by the Shia party
officials.
According to one anonymous
Iraqi MP, the leaders of the Shia parties met on Saturday night at the
home of former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, and then told the
PM-designate that they rejected a lot of his nominees. The MP said that
they would nominate new candidates for each ministry from which
Al-Kadhimi can choose.
The same source
claimed that Al-Maliki, the leader of the State of Law Coalition, and
Hadi Al-Ameri, the head of Al-Fatah Coalition, are the “prominent
obstacles” in the efforts to form a new government in Iraq.
The finale of the series marked the NBC comedy’s most-watched show in
more than a year. The show wrapped its second run — spanning 11 seasons
and 246 episodes in all, first from 1998-2006 and resuming in 2017 — off
a tenth in the demo from last week but on par with its season averages. VARIETY reports of EMPIRE:
Jussie Smollett harmed EMPIRE tremendously with his hoax. But the show could have survived that. The fans were upset that he wasn't Jamal. But if the cast and Lee Daniels had condemned this nonsense instead of lying -- which they did -- the show could have survived.
They lied to the audience and that disrespected the audience. I doubt Taraji has a career now. You can't spit on your fans and get away with it.
Which brings us to WILL AND GRACE. Debra Messing's a bitch. And she had her tantrums and fights from the minute the revival started. Then Megan got tired of Debra's constant shrieking about the 'news' -- it's not news, it's the daily outrage. And she just couldn't take her anymore. Could you work some Twitter Nitwit? Probably not. I know I couldn't.
So in season two, it was pretty much over. And as we learned about it, we were ticked. We, the viewers, were tired of Debra's shit. She's a stupid idiot. She didn't know the difference between a country and a university, for example. She thought the FBI did investigations based upon petitions. She's a moron who should be embarrassed to air her stupidity in public.
Could the show have survived?
Maybe, maybe not. But it could have had better ratings in season three. But they lied to the audiences. Eric was sent out to tell the world they all got along and there was no tenstion between Debra and Megan.
As Ava and C.I. noted, Debra Tweets constantly. If there was no feud, she could have Tweeted that at any time but she didn't.
So we knew we were being lied to and it's insulting.
Friday, April 24, 2020. Joe Biden maintains his silence on the rape
accusation, Iraq's prime minister-designate still struggle to come up
with a portfolio, Barbara Slavin sees US troops leaving Iraq, and much
more.
ADDED 4/24/203:28 EST: Ryan Grim has a scoop at THE INTERCEPT: In interviews with The Intercept, Reade also mentioned that her
mother had made a phone call to “Larry King Live” on CNN, during which
she made reference to her daughter’s experience on Capitol Hill. Reade
told The Intercept that her mother called in asking for advice after
Reade, then in her 20s, left Biden’s office. “I remember it being an
anonymous call and her saying my daughter was sexually harassed and
retaliated against and fired, where can she go for help? I was
mortified,” Reade told me. Reade couldn’t remember the date or the year of the phone call, and
King didn’t include the names of callers on his show. I was unable to
find the call, but mentioned it in an interview with Katie Halper,
the podcast host who first aired Reade’s allegation. After the podcast
aired, a listener managed to find the call and sent it to The Intercept. On August 11, 1993, King aired a program titled, “Washington: The
Cruelest City on Earth?” Toward the end of the program, he introduces a
caller dialing in from San Luis Obispo, California. Congressional
records list August 1993 as Reade’s last month of employment with
Biden’s Senate office, and, according to property records, Reade’s
mother, Jeanette Altimus, was living in San Luis Obispo County. Here is
the transcript of the beginning of the call:
KING: San Luis Obispo, California, hello. CALLER: Yes, hello. I’m wondering what a staffer would do besides go
to the press in Washington? My daughter has just left there, after
working for a prominent senator, and could not get through with her
problems at all, and the only thing she could have done was go to the
press, and she chose not to do it out of respect for him. KING: In other words, she had a story to tell but, out of respect for the person she worked for, she didn’t tell it? CALLER: That’s true.
King’s panel of guests offered no suggestions, and instead the
conversation veered into a discussion of whether any of the men on set
would leak damaging personal information about a rival to the press.
Joe Biden thinks he deserves to be president. But he doesn't think he
has to answer publicly when a woman accuses him of assault or rape.
Tara Reade has come forward to accuse Joe of assault. Katie Halper
interviewed Tara about the assault. At THE GUARDIAN this morning, she writes: You can hear and read
Reade’s heart-wrenching account yourself, but to summarize her claims:
she says she brought Joe Biden his gym bag as she’d been instructed. The
two of them were alone and that is when she says “he just had me up
against the wall and his hands were on me and underneath my clothes. And
then he went down my skirt, but then up inside it and he penetrated me
with his fingers ... Everything shattered in that moment.” Reade’s good friend Jane
(not her real name), who lived at the same residence and interned for
another senator at the time, told me that Reade called her after the
incident: “When I said, ‘Did you feel like you could walk away?’, [Tara]
said no. And that his hand went where it shouldn’t below the belt...He
said something that made [Tara] feel like a grain of dust… small and
insignificant. On the phone...you can’t see someone’s facial expression…
but you can tell when someone’s voice is shaking... She was definitely
confused, disoriented.” Reade’s brother also remembers learning about the incident: “First my
mom told me about it. She was up in arms. And I was like I don’t know
what happened. I think my sister was trying to spare me.” Indeed, Reade
did try to spare her younger brother somewhat but, as he told me, “I
remember my sister being specifically asked to handle a gym bag... And
there was a moment he had her up against the wall and made a hand move
under her clothes.” [. . .] Political leaders, the media and victims’ advocates for months have
refused to honor Reade’s request to be heard, sacrificing not only one
woman but basic principles at the heart of the Democratic party and the
survivors’ justice movement that brave Democratic women helped build.
The corporate media has done an appalling job covering the story. College newspapers, however, have led on this story. Genna Edwards (THE PITT NEWS) observes: Biden, like Trump, has been accused of sexual misconduct and assault by multiple women. And like Trump, he and his campaign deny these claims.
Biden’s history as a “Democratic” politician is littered with choices
that are incredibly un-Democratic. He’s more of a centrist than
anything, going wherever the money and power want him to go. He wavers on abortion, having supported the Hyde Ammendment. He is not an LGBTQ+ ally. He voted for the Iraq war. He is anti-Social Security and anti-Medicare. Tara Reade, a former staff assistant to Biden, has accused him of sexual assault — I believe her. I’ve seen the videos of Biden inappropriately touching and sniffing young girls. So.
As both a leftist and a queer woman, I am appalled. Losing Sanders robs
us of any dignity the American people may have had left. If I have to
choose between two unfit men in the fall to lead my country out of a
historic pandemic that neither are fit to fix given their policies, well
— I’m moving to an underground bunker. If
I thought myself naive for believing in politics before this, boy, is
that smacking me in the face now. I try to have hope, stupid white woman
hope, and I’ve tried to have hope again and again. I thought Sanders
was it this time, that we could escape this Trump hell and feel at least
marginally better about living in this country.
I disagree with Joe Biden on many issues. I believe that there were
better choices in the Democratic primary, and I voted that way. With his
ever-increasing delegate lead, though, I was begrudgingly becoming
accustomed to the idea of casting my vote for him in November. As much
as I remain opposed to much of his past and current work, I believed
fewer people would be harmed by his presidency than would be harmed by
another four years of Donald Trump in office. I still believe that. But I now know that no matter what happens in November, the Oval
Office will almost certainly be occupied for the next four years by a
perpetrator of sexual assault. This is not the first election where voters have had to choose
between two candidates who have caused direct harm. Black, Brown and
Indigenous voters have had to choose between the lesser of two evils—the
person less likely to rob them of their freedom and dignity—in nearly
every election where they have even been able to cast a ballot.
It would be politically convenient for me to forget Tara Reade, to
ignore the harsh reality about this member of my team. Many people on my
team have already made that choice. I understand it. But I will not do
the same.
Such
is the case for Alannah Raitt, a 25-year-old bus driver and barista
who’s also a volunteer aide for Joshua Collins, a Democratic candidate
for Congress in Tacoma, Wash. “I will not support people who can’t seem
to respect people’s bodily autonomy or can’t seem to understand the
concept of consent,” says Raitt, who identifies as a victim of sexual
assault. “I don’t understand how so many people can say ‘Oh, well,
Trump’s done it too.’ That’s the lowest bar on the planet, and that’s
not an excuse.”
The same goes for Sarah Ann Masse, who was one of the first women in October 2017 to allege sexual misconduct
by disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. It doesn’t matter
which party the accused stands for, she says: “For me, sexual violence
is not a partisan issue. If we’re going to believe survivors, we have to
believe them regardless of the politics of their abuser and regardless
of whether we like their policies.”
Survivors are watching what happens. They are seeing this unfold and
they are fully aware that this is harmful to all women, to all
survivors. Instead of reporting, most outlets are attacking Tara
Reade. It sends a message. Fake asses like Alyssa Milano have used
#MeToo to cover for their failed careers. But when they could be of any
value at all, the Alyssa Milanos refuse to support women.
I might not be ready to tell my story, but I am sharing this anyways.
Nothing Tara did in the subsequent years after Joe Biden digitally
raped her disqualifies her story. Nothing I did in the years following
my assault changes what happened to me. Holding such a secret for so
long, living a lie as truth is a defense mechanism for those of us who
are not ready to tell. It is a way to pretend that “that thing” never
happened. That defense mechanism kicks into overdrive when the
perpetrator is a public figure. You become smaller, so you do more to
deny the truth. You share a different face publicly than the emotionally
scarred one.
As George Orwell said, if you want to keep a secret, you
have to hide it from yourself. Shame on everyone for trying to
psychoanalysis a victim that is still concealing their truth. Shame on
the Democrats for forcing Biden on all the women and men who can see
their story in Tara’s story. Who now see a version of their attacker in
what liberals claim is the “women’s rights” candidate for the President
of the United States. Biden is a secret the party is trying to hide from
themselves, and it is going to cost us all dearly in the end.
THE TAKEAWAY spoke to VOX's Anna North about the charges against Biden.
On THE KATIE HALPER SHOW this week, Katie offers an interview with
Tara's friend who corroborates Tara's story and was told of it in real
time -- after that she speaks with THE INTERCEPT's Ryan Grim and with
journalist Rich McHugh.
On the one hand, I can see what she's going for, healing. On the other,
I'm damn tired of women being the world's punching bag, the canary in
the coalmine. I'm tired of it.
Would INFINITE LUNCHBOX do a video about the need to help killers find
their way back? It's only when women are the targets that we have to
think about the criminals and the suffering of the criminals. Let a
woman be raped and the supposed 'fair' reaction is to think about the
suffering that the rapist is going through.
Assault is a crime.
It's not my job to humor or defend Joe Biden if he assaulted Tara
Reade. It's not my job to do that for anyone who assaults a woman.
I do get the whole let's-heal-America which, let's be honest, is largely
bulls**t. But I am going to repeat, we only have this attitude when
it's women.
We only have this attitude when it's women and man might suffer for his actions.
How is the nonsense INFINITE LUNCHBOX offers any different from the earlier nonsense of "boys will be boys"?
It's not. It's a new twist on rape culutre.
Danny Schechter used to bother me all the time for money. And then he
got his little feelings hurt when I said no more. That was after
terrorist Ike Turner died. I know Tina. I love Tina. She lived
through terrorism. But Ike dies and there's Danny claiming that Tina
forgives Ike or has to if she doesn't because . . . STFU. I told him
not to ask me for money anymore, not to bother me anymore. He was a fan
boy and that supposed to mean that a man gets to wipe away all of his
crimes.
Time and again, that's what happens to women. Ike abusing and
terrorizing Tina is well established. Even then, it becomes a case of
"Oh, well, he had a hard life and Tina's forgiven him or should . . ."
No one says that about a Palestinian who's been terrorized -- nor should
they -- or someone who was tortured at Guantanamo (nor should they).
But let a woman be attacked by a man and it becomes a case of the woman
has to soothe the delicate feelings of the male criminal.
Only women are expected to make things better for their attacker. That's bulls**t.
Four forged ministerial lists were circulated and were said to
represent the composition of Iraqi Prime Minister designate Mustafa
al-Kadhimi’s government, yet it was reported that the fifth list that
has been circulating for the past two days is the legitimate one.
The list which includes 14 ministers could be passed by the
parliament, while the rest of the portfolios are to be discussed between
Kadhimi and the political blocs that represent the three main
components in the country (Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds).
The PM-designate has not yet named figures who would head the defense and security portfolios.
Reasons behind this postponement vary. Some say differences over the
interior and defense portfolios are limited between Sunnis and Shiites,
while others suggest that Kadhimi wants to nominate both ministers
himself without resorting to blocs or components.
Mustafa al-Kadhimi remains prime minister-designate. He is the third
prime minister-designate so far this year. Will he succeed where the
other two failed?
At THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL, Barbara Slavin offers: A withdrawal of most US military forces from Iraq seems likely
this year as the Iraqi government seeks to maintain some sort of diplomatic and
economic relationship with the United States without alienating its powerful
neighbor Iran. How this withdrawal is managed will help determine future US
influence not only in Iraq but in the Middle East as a whole. Iranian support for Prime Minister-designate Mustafa
al-Kadhimi—who has had good relations with the United States—appears to be
predicated on his agreeing to negotiate a new Status of Forces agreement (SFA)
with Washington, which aims to remove the bulk of the several thousand US
troops still deployed in Iraq. The Americans’ mission was ostensibly to prevent the
resurgence of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and to train Iraqi
armed forces. However, the US jeopardized their continued presence in the
country by breaching the terms of a 2008 SFA; they targeted Iran-backed Shia
militias and the leader of Iran’s Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, on Iraqi soil
after a spate of attacks on American military and diplomatic targets last year.
Even if the US actions were justified both to defend Americans and to deter
future attacks, they represented a significant escalation in the rules of the
game—an unprecedented targeting of a senior Iranian official in a foreign
country. The attack near Baghdad, when Soleimani was on an
official visit, put Iraq in an untenable position. Iraq cannot afford to
alienate a powerful neighbor with which it shares a 1,400-kilometer border and
which has deep relations with a variety of Iraqi armed groups. If forced to
choose, Baghdad will choose Iran, not the United States. It is, therefore, not
in US interests to force Iraq to make such a choice. While Tehran has long sought an exit of US forces from Iraq,
Iran-backed militias did not attack US forces in Iraq while the US remained in
compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. The situation deteriorated after the US
withdrew unilaterally from that deal in 2018 and sought to put a total embargo
on Iran’s oil exports in 2019. That was when Iran commenced a series of
retaliatory actions in the Persian Gulf and Iraq that prompted the
assassination of Soleimani in early 2020. Also killed by the drone strike near
Baghdad airport, were several Iraqis, including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the
leader of the Kataib Hezbollah militia and deputy commander of all of the
Popular Mobilization Forces that had battled ISIS. The assassinations led the
Iraqi parliament to pass a non-binding resolution expelling American forces. Tensions abated somewhat after Tehran accidentally shot down a
Ukrainian civilian airliner on January 8, mistaking it for a hostile US
missile. The outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran and its neighbors also
took attention away from US-Iran strains. However, a second spate of
tit-for-tat attacks occurred in March, leading to the death of two more
Americans and a British citizen, as well as three Iraqi soldiers, an
Iraqi civilian, and several militia members. US forces have now been
withdrawn from three isolated outposts in Iraq and consolidated in the
relatively safe Kurdish city of Erbil and at the al-Assad air base
outside Baghdad. The United States also brought in Patriot missile batteries to defend these bases against militia rockets. This author has argued
elsewhere that the decision to kill Soleimani and Muhandis was an
overreaction to Iranian provocations that would make a long-term US
military presence in Iraq very difficult—if not untenable. That the
crisis came at a time when Iraqis had been protesting in the streets
against Iran’s excessive influence in their country made assassination
even more strategically questionable. Overnight, the issue became the
United States, not Iran. However, it is still possible to retain US influence in Iraq and
to offer Iraqis an alternative to complete domination by Iran. This goal would
be advanced by an effort to de-escalate tensions with Tehran; at a minimum, to
deal with any provocation by Iran-backed groups in a way that does not
humiliate Iraqi politicians by violating their country’s sovereignty. Ideally, the United States should re-examine its policy of
“maximum pressure” toward Iran, which has not and will not achieve its stated
goals. Iran is more, not less, aggressive in the region, continuing its
development of ballistic missiles—including its first successful satellite
launch—and has accelerated its nuclear program. More pressure will either lead
to war, strengthen Iranian hardliners, or both. Even a botched initial response
to the coronavirus does not appear to have increased the chances for regime
change. If anything, these crises have increased the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Corps’ economic and political dominance. The United States could use the pandemic as an opportunity to make
goodwill gestures toward Iran. While the Iranian government has rebuffed such
offers, they resonate with the Iranian people, whose views of America and its citizens
have historically been much more positive. The neutral US reaction to the first
transaction by INSTEX was a good first step and further guidance from OFAC
facilitating the supply of medicine and medical devices to Tehran was welcome.
Iran should, also, be allowed to receive the emergency loan it requested from
the International Monetary Fund and have access to revenue frozen in foreign
banks for medical supplies. However, even in the absence of any real improvement in US-Iran
ties, it should still be possible to remove Iraq from the middle of
hostilities. This will oblige the United States to significantly reduce its
forces in Iraq and restrict the remaining troops’ role to training and
counter-ISIS operations. Iran, in turn, should restrain its Iraqi proxies from
attacking US targets and give Kadhimi a solid chance to stand up a new government. Since 2003, little has happened in Iraqi politics without Iran
playing a role, which is predictable, given Iran’s long association with the Iraqi
Shia and Kurds that opposed the rule of Saddam Hussein. The US lost
opportunities to cooperate with or, at least, avoid antagonizing Iran, swayed
by those in the administration who hubristically believed that they could instigate
regime change in Tehran. Other mistakes—such as dissolving the Iraqi army,
failing to protect Iraqi infrastructure from looting, and installing a Lebanon-like
system in Iraq, with top positions for ethno-religious factions—doomed the
country to sectarian strife and increased Iran’s ability to manipulate
political developments. Nevertheless, as memories of
the 2003 invasion fade, young Iraqis are more focused on constructing a less sectarian
society that delivers jobs and other tangible economic benefits. They resent
Iran’s meddling and want to reconnect with the Arab world and beyond.
The United States can support this trend by keeping Iraq out of
its fight with Iran to make it easier for Iraqi politicians, businesspeople,
and security officials to maintain some sort of constructive relationship with
Americans. US intervention in Iraq has cost thousands of American and tens of thousands of
Iraqi lives as well as billions in US taxpayer funds. For those who died and
sacrificed on all sides since the invasion, the United States should find a way
to withdraw most of its military forces with dignity. Otherwise, US credibility
and influence throughout the region will fade to the benefit of Iran, China,
Russia and ISIS.
ET reports that scary monster Taraji P. Henson is stating that the conclusion to EMPIRE Tuesday night "will haunt me." What should haunt her is all her defense of Jussie Smollett -- even after everyone knew he was a liar.
That's what killed the series. No, not Jussie's hoax. That hurt the show. But Taraji's idiotic nonsense of saying he needed to come back even after FOX had said no, he was not coming back, Taraji's b.s. about how he was innocent and all that other crap.
She killed the show with her hood rat ways.
Now she thinks she'll get another show? Oh, no, no, no. She might end up a supporting character but she's too old, she's too rode and that face is frightening now.
EMPIRE ended. I watched. I was one of the few. SHOWBIZ 411 notes that EMPIRE's last episode of season one had over 17 million viewers but the end of the show last night delivered less than three million.
It's over and we're all tired of it.
Lee Daniels want to somehow film a 'real' ending. Give it up, no one cares anymore.
And that's Lee's fault to.
As America grew more and more outraged about Jussie Smollett's lies, Daniels and others refused to call him out. Over and over.
He harmed the show. His actions are exactly why the 'morals clause' was put into contracts to begin with. When someone disgraces their employment, they need to be let go. Instead, Lee stayed in the background forever letting Taraji acting as bully to the American people. FOX may or may not have been okay with Jussie. But by that time, we all knew FOX was being folded into DISNEY and there was no way Jussie's hoax was going to be ignored by them.
Lee needed to read the room. He needed to step forward and condemn the hoax.
We the viewers were outraged.
This is not behavior we expected from our Jamal. (Jamal was the character Jussie played.) He disgraced the show. And there's was Taraji every other day taking her hood rat ass to some microphone and saying crap like, "Jussie is right. Jussie is telling the truth. Our brother will prevail."
Shut the f**k up.
Jussie's actions were so bad, it ruined the Harley Quinn film because no one could even stomach Jussie's sister after his hoax.
He has destroyed so many lives. He should have gotten honest long ago. Instead, he killed a popular TV show and possibly his own sister's acting career.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020. Joe Biden remains silent regarding the
allegations that he assaulted Tara Reade, his papers remain buried, his
campaign remains stuck in the 90s, a bunch of elderly failures,
burn-outs and sell-outs show up to lecture America's young people, and
much more.
That's Anthony Zenkus
explaining why he believes Tara Reade and why Joe Biden needs to release
his official records which are at the University of Deleware -- sealed
at the university. 2019 is when the files could have been unsealed.
But the University is now stating that there's a
two-year-out-of-public-life clause before the records can be released.
Tara Reade worked for then-Senator Joe Biden. She states that he
assaulted her. She states that she made a complaint about harassment.
That complaint -- and others -- could be in Joe's papers. But,
apparently, the world will never know. Certainly not before a vote
takes place in November.
-- which houses the collection of Joe Biden's senatorial papers -- just confirmed to me that the papers "will remain closed to the public until two years after Mr. Biden retires from public life."
Joe won't release his records, Joe won't go on camera and addresses the
charges lodged against him. He thinks he can get away with that. His
actions are making others suffer.
The Coalition Against Fraternity Sexual Assault publicly removed
Penn Democrats from their group on Tuesday. CAFSA said in a public
statement that Penn Dems was removed because they endorsed former Vice
President Joe Biden for president, a figure who has been accused of sexual harassment and assault.
CAFSA, an on-campus organization
officially founded in September 2019 to combat rape culture and support
historically underrepresented minorities, released their statement
in a Google Document on Twitter. CAFSA's document highlighted
allegations made against Biden and denounced Penn Dems’ response to the allegation that the former vice president had sexually assaulted Senate staffer Tara Reade in 1993.
"We are writing this statement not only to criticize Penn Dems for
endorsing a sexual predator for President, but also to reinforce our
commitment in supporting and believing survivors," CAFSA's statement
read.
We, as American citizens, are left to choose between two people who
were both accused of sexual assault. We are left to choose between two
people who do not want universal healthcare. We are stuck between two
people who both engage in racism, whether it be covert or overt, and it
was the Democrats that allowed this to happen. This is the same party that is supposed to “believe women,” yet have
selective hearing when it comes to the voice of Tara Reade. Reade came
out accusing Joe Biden of sexual assault while she was staffing for him
in the ‘90s. Since Reade has spoken she has received little publicity
and it seems that the Democrats have not noticed. Despite the party’s
criticism of Trump’s history of sexual assault accusations, they have
yet to apply it to their own electors.
Now, sexual assault survivors cannot exercise their right to vote
without acknowledging that if they do vote, either way they would be
voting for an accused abuser. The ones who say “vote for the lesser of
two evils” do not realize their privilege in saying that. These women
are at risk for reliving their trauma by casting a vote, and moderate
Democrats have turned a blind eye.
A story is playing out and most are ignorant of that fact. Most have no
idea or care for the issues Kessler and Singh are reporting on. That's
especially true of Joe's middle-aged to elderly base. They grew up
embracing rape culture. Let's not lie.
They embraced it, they celebrated it. It is what they know.
And they can't accept the reality that times have changed.
The young people in America are not going to put up with this nonsesne.
They're not. They are not going to weaponize assault, they are not
going to decry it for one person and ignore it for the other. Rankk
hypocrisy belongs to Joe's core supporters.
Support for rape culture is dying -- not as quickly though as the people who were raised with it and normalized it.
They continue to try to normalize it. The youth is not buying into it.
Equally true, survivors are not buying into that nonsense. Hannah Madden (SIMMONS VOICE) explains: Dr. Christina Blasey Ford’s testimony against Brett Kavanaugh came
four years after I was sexually assaulted. I began to speak, for the
first time, about my own experiences after listening
to Dr. Ford; after the #MeToo movement gained momentum and after
#BelieveSurvivors started trending. In no small part, this massive
public outcry helped me to break my own silence. Watching Tara Reade
come forward is a harsh reminder of why my silence felt necessary to
maintain for years. Tara Reade, a former senate aid,
first accused Joe Biden of sexual misconduct one year ago. Three weeks
ago, she further expanded on her allegations. The New York Times, in its
“examination’” of Reade’s account, claimed that in their
investigations, they could find
no pattern of misconduct from Biden. The Times then noted that Reade is
the 8th woman to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct
against Biden, and that his other accusers believe Reade’s account. Biden’s campaign has openly denied
the allegations. Major media outlets have been slow to report– most
outlets reported on it almost three weeks after Reade’s story initially
broke, (if they reported at all.) Every piece seems more concerned with
proving that Reade’s allegations are false than investigating Biden in
any substantial way. Elizabeth Warren is proud to say that she believes Dr. Blasey Ford. She is also proud to endorse
Joe Biden for president. Democrats rallied around the #MeToo movement
at a convenient time. Believing survivors became a pillar of progressive
politics in 2018– when believing one survivor suddenly had massive
political implications. Now, Reade represents a threat to the democratic
establishment, and is being treated as such. Skepticism abounds in any
article concerning her allegations. Paragraphs of comparisons to
accusations mounted against Donald Trump are included to remind us that
in the end, he is the greater of two electoral evils. To be clear, this transcends partisanship. Democrats intentionally look the other way while
the GOP capitalizes on an opportunity to shame and undermine opposition
to Kavanaugh. Any support I once witnessed from my liberal peers,
throughout the Kavanaugh hearings and beyond,
feels negated now. Conversely, after the attacks on Dr. Blasey Ford
from the right, now hearing their rallying cry that, “listening to every
accuser is only fair and just,’’ is equally as hypocritical. What I have learned from this is now,
as a survivor weighing the costs of coming forward, first I have to
figure out who will be inconvenienced by me speaking out. Once I know
that, I’ll have a better idea of who will pretend to support me, and we
can go from there.
But Carl will be dead soon and the world will be a better place.
There's Casey Hayden. She's the 'feminist' that was with Tom Hayden --
the sexist pig who was kicked out of the Berkeley commune because of his
rank sexism. Casey, no one gives a damn about you. Years ago, you
pretended to care about women. It wasn't about women. You cared about
you. Your complaints basically were that because you yourself were a
woman you weren't allowed to rise higher in the SDS.
You've done nothing since to address the issues or concerns of women.
You're just a whore. And you know what I'm talking about Casey, be glad
I'm not detailing here.
Mark Rudd? Be glad I'm just quickly moving on.
Every one of these people is a whore -- especially Toad. They have done
nothing with their lives. In the sixties, they were full of passion.
That's why they're lecturing the young now. They're jealous. They had
passion when they were young and they can't stand the fact that they're
old, have a foot in the grave and no passion and no energy.
The young don't need to hear from embarrassing burnouts.
Who among them has, since 2009, raised even a public concern about the never-ending Iraq War?
None of them.
They're whores. They're elderly whores trying to ply a trade in a world they've aged out of.
If craven Tom Hayden were alive, I'm sure he would have signed the letter too.
Tom was the most accomplished of any of these losers. Of course, his
big accomplishment was marrying Jane Fonda and using the millions she
earned to buy elections. That's what he did. A state legislature race
that was more expensive that any Congressional race? He bought his seat
at the table. When he repeatedly betrayed Jane, the marriage ended.
And without access to constant millions coming in, Tom could no longer
buy races and his political career was over.
But while it was active, grasp that he didn't accomplish very much at all.
Appalled by the Democratic politicians who rush to the center and center-right?
Hey, Tom was part of that. Even ran a TV commercial in one race
distancing himself from his past to reassure every one that he was not
an activist or a radical or anyone who would ever make a difference. He
rushed to the center-right. To secure the Zionist vote, he went to
Israel to watch attacks on Palestinians. Watch? Hell, to cheer on
these attacks.
That's who these elderly freaks from SDS are. That's who wants to lecture the youth of today.
They need to shut the hell up. They should hang their heads in shame.
They want to be public? Then start taking public accountability for how
you betrayed the left, how you betrayed the needs of the American
people and how you continue to do that by trying to tell the young in
America to shut up and roll over and take it.
We all get it, that's how you've lived your lives. Carl Davidson, you
are the king of roll over. You're the king of rape culture.
They're failures, their entire lives are a testimony to failure. Why would anyone listen to them?
No one should.
I also question THE NATION's editorial coherence. They slammed the
Weather Underground in a lengthy article in the '00s. I remember
because we called that out. But now they're publishing a screed by
several members -- including Mark Rudd -- of the Weather Underground?
Katrina vanden Heuvel, I know your position on Palestinians, you don't
give a damn, you'll take money from any lobby. But can you at least be
coherent on where your rag stands on The Weather Underground?
Katty van van is as out of touch as Joe Biden. Alex Thompson (POLITICO) reports
that the elderly on Joe's team are whining that they should hire
Hawkfish, the company responsible for Michael Bloomberg's 'digital
presence.' The young on the campaign -- a small percenteage -- are
saying that Hawkfish shouldn't be hired.
Who's right?
The young.
Michael Bloomberg had no online presence. His name -- while he was
trying to buy the nomination -- was known because of the TV ads that he
bought around the country -- especially during the airings of JUDGE JUDY
-- especially the advertisements of Judy endorsing him.
He had no digital presence.
But the elderly on Joe's campaign -- the ones still asking where the
floppy drive is -- insist Hawkfish is a one-stop and can do it all.
And you wonder why Joe Biden has the worst campaign ever?
Dropping back to Monday's snapshot: Turning to Iraq, where women are attacked as well while men are protected. We've been covering the story of Malak Hayder al-Zubiedi --
a name Leonard Pitts never wrote about. She was the second wife to a
spoiled ass whose father is a colonel in the Iraqi military. She was
prevented from seeing her own family for over eight months. Some have
said she was 19, some have said she was 20 -- she would have been 20
this year at some point, whether she'd reached that milestone or not is
not established.
Per Malak's sister, her husband sent her to the hospital after he burned
her alive. He and his family immediately joined local authorities in a
hush-up of the scandal -- one of those moments Leonard Pitts says where
"principle may have become a luxury too costly to afford." Remember,
women's lives are nothing but 'luxuries.' Our lives don't matter.
Outrage prompted the province's governor to get involved and a real investigation -- or what passes for one in Iraq -- began.
On Saturday, we noted the news her sister had posted on social media: Malak had died.
Today, Human Rights Watch issued the following: The death on April 18 of a 20-year-old woman in Najaf, possibly at the hands of her husband, should act as a wake-up call for Iraqi
legislators to pass a law against domestic violence, Human Rights Watch
said today. Iraqi authorities should investigate and prosecute domestic
violence, and ensure appropriate sentences for violence against women. “Domestic violence has always plagued Iraq,” said Belkis Wille,
senior crisis and conflict researcher at Human Rights Watch. “We see
case upon case of women and girls dying at the hands of their families,
but Iraq's lawmakers have not done enough to save those lives.” On April 12, a video surfaced on social media of the woman in a
hospital with severe burn wounds. Her mother told Human Rights Watch
that eight months ago her daughter married a police officer who had only
allowed her to visit her parents once since then. On April 8, her
mother said, the husband called to tell her that his wife had a “slight
burn accident” and was in the hospital. The mother could hear her daughter screaming. She rushed to the
hospital, where the husband’s mother blocked her from seeing her
daughter. Police took the young woman’s statement while her mother was
blocked from the room, the mother said. On April 11, when she was able
to enter the hospital room, her daughter told her that her husband had
beaten her so badly on April 8 that she poured gasoline on herself and
warned him that unless he stopped, she would light herself on fire. “I still don’t know if he lit her on fire or she did it herself, but
she told me she burned for three minutes while he just watched, and
finally his father, also a policeman, came in and put out the fire,” the
mother said. “She begged them to take her to the hospital but they
waited for over an hour before doing so. Her father-in-law then
pretended to the police that he was her father and said to them the fire
had been an accident.” The young woman died on April 18. Najaf’s governor, Loai al-Yasiri,
told Human Rights Watch on April 15 that the authorities had established
an investigation committee and arrested the husband, father-in-law, and
the husband’s uncle. Al-Yasiri said that this case would likely be
resolved through a mediation in which the husband’ family’s ashira (clan) would negotiate with Samira’s family’s ashira to reach a non-judicial settlement. Domestic violence remains a serious problem in Iraq. The Iraq Family Health Survey (IFHS) of 2006/7 found that one in five Iraqi women are subject to physical domestic violence. A 2012 Planning Ministry study
found that at least 36 percent of married women reported experiencing
some form of psychological abuse from their husbands, 23 percent verbal
abuse, 6 percent physical violence, and 9 percent sexual violence. Thikra Sarsim, deputy director of Babel Tower, a Baghdad
nongovernmental organization, told Human Rights Watch on the day that
the young woman died: “She will not be the last one so long as the law
does not protect women. My organization has documented many honor
killings over the years, but the death certificates instead say
‘suicide.’” While the Iraqi constitution expressly prohibits “all forms of
violence and abuse in the family,” only the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has
a law on domestic violence.
Iraq’s criminal code, applicable in both Baghdad-controlled territory
and the Kurdistan Region, criminalizes physical assault but lacks
explicit mention of domestic violence. Instead, article 41(1) gives a
husband a legal right to “punish” his wife, and parents to discipline
their children “within limits prescribed by law or custom.” The penal
code provides for mitigated sentences for violent acts, including
murder, for “honorable motives” or for catching one’s wife or female
relative in the act of adultery or sex outside of marriage. Iraqi parliamentary efforts to pass a draft law against domestic violencestalled
throughout 2019 and 2020. Wahda Jumaili, a member of the parliament’s
human rights committee, told Human Rights Watch that some members
blocked the law because they do not believe that the state should punish
honor killings or parents’ corporal punishment of their children.
Shatha Naji, head of the Women for Peace Organization, said one member
of parliament told her, “Do you really want to make our society just
like a Western one, where I cannot even punish my son if he comes home
late?” The 2019 version of the draft anti-domestic violence law seen by Human Rights Watch includes provisions
for services for domestic violence survivors, protection (restraining)
orders, penalties for their breach, and the establishment of a
cross-ministerial committee to combat domestic violence. However, the
bill has several gaps and provisions that would undermine its effectiveness. One major problem is that the draft law prioritizes reconciliation
over protection and justice for victims. Naji said that victims of
domestic violence in Iraq rarely make criminal complaints via the
police. Instead, the community police play a mediatory rather than a law
enforcement role, and focus on reconciling victim and the abuser in
line with community practices. Iraq has few working shelters
and domestic violence victims are often temporarily housed in female
prisons. The 2019 draft law would establish government shelters in
coordination with local women’s rights organizations. In October 2019,
Human Rights Watch interviewed five Iraqi women living in a shelter who
said they had fled their homes because of years of domestic violence,
including rape and forced prostitution, by family members or their
husband. One 18-year-old woman told Human Rights Watch that her brother forced
her to marry a friend of his at age 14. Her family, the police, and
ultimately a local judge refused to help when she told them that her
husband beat her and forced her into prostitution. She said that after
she finally fled and went into hiding, her brother wanted to kill her.
“[It is] normal in my family to kill someone - my grandfather killed his
sister and my uncle killed his sister,” she said. Measures to combat domestic violence are all the more urgent in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. UN Women has warned that lockdowns can lead to higher rates of violence in the home, as evidenced by spikes in domestic violence around the world, including in Brazil, China, France, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, South Africa, and the UK. Speaking of Iraq, Naji, of the Women for Peace Organization said,
“Now you might have three families living together, 20 people, all in
one small home, and we have no adequate system to be monitoring the
potential escalation of domestic violence cases because they aren’t
being reported.” In 2019, Human Rights Watch interviewed two migrant domestic workers
who said that their employers routinely beat them and one said her
employer raped her. Migrant domestic workers face particular risks, with police rarely protecting even those who try to make a criminal complaint. Measures around the lockdown should include ensuring that domestic
violence victims are not arrested when seeking assistance or escaping
abuse. The authorities should immediately communicate zero tolerance for
domestic violence and ensure that hotlines and other assistance is
available to survivors, their neighbors, or families to report abuse.
The authorities should also set procedures to intervene, and assist
survivors by ensuring refuge or protection orders to expel abusers from
their homes, Human Rights Watch said. On April 9, President Barham Salih nominated
Mustafa al-Kadhimi as prime minister-designate. Al-Kadhimi, is expected
to present his cabinet to the parliament in late April. Iraq’s
parliament, elected in September 2018, is still in office, though
currently not meeting because of the pandemic. When parliament resumes its sessions, it should urgently revise the
draft law against domestic violence to ensure that it meets
international standards and then pass it without delay, Human Rights
Watch said. The government should meanwhile consult with local women’s
rights organizations to open more shelters for survivors of domestic
violence, and donor governments should fund private shelters for victims
of domestic violence.
“It should not take a global pandemic for Iraqi legislators to
address the other deadly pandemic of domestic violence, but failure to
do so will cost more lives” Wille said.
